Chapter 1911: U: Beyond the Great Event (37)

Lord Superman looks at Bruce with some suspicion. He is about to open his mouth, but finds the question he is about to ask is still a bit impolite, but he can't care about that anymore. He asks, "Your parents... uh, you are Batman from another universe, then could it be..."

"What's wrong?" Bruce seems a bit confused.

"I mean, since you are Batman, what made you become Batman?"

"It's Gotham City's tourism revenue." Bruce seems a bit embarrassed. He grins and says, "Maybe also the mayor's loud voice."

Lord Superman seems to have suddenly thought of something. He mutters to himself, "That's true. Although every universe has a Batman, the reasons they become Batman might not be the same. Could it be that just..."

Lord Superman can't continue. He turns his head away as if deflated, no longer able to maintain that serious and majestic expression. After being stunned for a while, he turns to look at Bruce and says, "Then is Martha there too?"

"Neither of them is here right now." Bruce shakes his head and says, "They probably think I'm too annoying, so they went traveling."

Lord Superman takes a deep breath and opens his mouth as if wanting to say something, but in the end, he doesn't say it.

His mood becomes even more complex, because he suddenly realizes one thing: his previous understanding of parallel universes might be a bit narrow.

He only knew that every parallel universe would have his own counterpart, and also a Batman counterpart, and they were one-to-one correspondences, but he never thought that even if the background and identity were the same, the experiences could be completely different.

For example, Lord Superman once heard the Batman of his own universe talk about some of his experiences. Actually, he didn't take the initiative to talk about it; it was just that Lord Superman asked tirelessly when he was still Superman, and occasionally he could catch glimpses from Batman's reactions.

He knows Batman's parents died very early, and during several visits to Wayne Manor, he also learned from his butler that this was very likely the most important catalyst for Batman becoming Batman, bar none.

In recent times, Lord Superman has always been thinking, if Batman weren't Batman, how good would that be? Then he would inevitably think, if Batman's tragedy hadn't happened back then, and he were just a rich kid with a genius brain, how good would that be?

But he knows this is impossible. The tragedy that has already happened cannot be reversed. Even if Superman had a way to travel through time, Batman wouldn't allow it. He has been trapped in this vicious circle for too long.

But now it seems that not every Batman in every universe became Batman because his parents died. Could it be that only the Batman of his own universe is particularly unlucky?

Then why? Lord Superman feels a sense of oppressive resentment piling up in his chest. Why is it that even if someone does nothing, they can avoid tragedy, while others are destined to fall into the abyss and be unable to extricate themselves?

But beyond this unventable annoyance, Lord Superman can't help but think, if the tragedy were compensated, would everything still have room for redemption?

The biggest catalyst for Batman putting on that suit was the death of his parents. So if Batman were allowed to see his parents again, would he be able to break free from this endless vortex of pain and return to the right track?

Superman's perception, far beyond ordinary people, allows him to clearly feel Batman's pain, but his powerful strength has no effect on saving this pain, which makes him empathize and often feel like he has fallen into an ice cave.

In saving Batman, Superman is always like punching cotton.

Just like the metaphor used before, they stand on the shore desperately encouraging the drowning Batman to swim up. It's not that they don't want to take any practical action, but they simply can't find where the lifebuoy is.

Now Lord Superman feels he has found it.

He looks at Bruce with a gaze that becomes more intense, because he knows he must find a way to persuade this kid, at least to let the Batman of his universe go see Thomas and Martha one more time.

When there is something to be gained from Bruce, the attention Lord Superman projects onto him is not just simple exploration and curiosity. He starts to truly want to understand Bruce.

Bruce, who is talking to Arthur, feels Lord Superman's gaze, which is like substance, and raises the corner of his mouth lightly.

At this moment, Molecule Man Owen, standing on the stage, suddenly shouts loudly. He waves his arms and says, "Hey, distinguished guests, please allow me to interrupt your conversation. Give me a moment, okay? Our first round of betting is about to start!"

Everyone turns their eyes to the stage. Owen is being watched by so many people for the first time and is a bit nervous. He clears his throat and says, "Uh, it's like this. In the next game, the competing duelists will encounter an illusion. What we are betting on is who breaks free from the illusion first."

There is silence in the spectator area.

Owen looks a bit embarrassed, so he has to beckon to everyone and say, "Next, you can ask me questions, asking about some details of the next game, so you can place your bets."

Spider-Man looks left and right, and has to be the first to raise his hand and ask, "What kind of environment is it? Will it be very scary?"

"It's not scary, but it's very deceptive."

Spider-Man wants to continue asking, but Owen points a finger at him and says, "Sorry, you can only ask one question each."

Constantine thinks for a moment and asks, "What is the key to breaking the illusion?"

"A key item."

Constantine nods. Next, it's Bruce's turn. He ponders for a moment and asks, "Can destroying the environment break the illusion?"

"No." Owen shakes his head and adds, "Even if you destroy the world, it won't work. So whether it's killing, destroying items, or causing an explosion, you can't leave the illusion."

Arthur, sitting in his seat with his head hanging, clicks his tongue and asks, "Believing in one's own memory and firming one's own personality are the keys to breaking the game, right?"

Owen is stunned.

Then he shouts in a bit of a breakdown, "Why would you..."

Bruce laughs twice and says, "You said the illusion is very deceptive, which means the people in it might not know they are in an illusion, or the illusion has a way to make them think this is the real world, so they have to choose whether to believe their own memory or believe the illusion."

Owen purses his lips and stands there, looking a bit sad. Lord Superman frowns and says, "I won't ask. Let's just start betting."

With four "swish, swish, swish, swish" sounds, four projections are displayed in front of the stage, which are exactly the four contestants. Owen then stretches out his arms and shouts, "Start betting! Start with one duel point. The winning prize is three points. You can bet repeatedly, but if multiple people bet on the same target, the prize will be split. There is no refund for failed bets."

"Tch." Constantine makes a sound of disdain and says, "I thought you would play something more interesting, like winner-takes-all. Don't tell me you and the organizer of the previous match are from the same school?"

Owen is about to get angry when Spider-Man raises his hand and says, "I bet on Dr. Schiller."

After speaking, he extends his hand, and a point of fluorescent light flies from the pattern on the back of his hand, landing above Schiller's projection, showing an Arabic numeral "1".

"I'll buy this doctor too." Constantine also raises his hand and says, "A psychologist's ability to control their own memory is often stronger than others. If he is really a master of psychology, he will definitely break through the illusion faster than others."

Lord Superman hesitates for a moment and also follows with Schiller. Owen's gaze falls on the last two people who haven't bet yet.

Arthur raises his hand, but the light flies straight toward the main universe's Batman. He pouts and says, "He is the most humorous among them. I'm very optimistic about him."

When only Bruce is left who hasn't bet, everyone's gaze focuses on him. Bruce extends his hand, but the light spot doesn't fly toward Schiller, but lands on Natasha's head.

Everyone is shocked.

Bruce shows a mysterious smile but doesn't explain much, just casts his gaze toward the screen.

In the hazy white light, Schiller opens his eyes. What appears before his eyes is a room with soft lighting, and then he hears a soft call.

"Schiller, Schiller, are you okay? Can you hear me?"

His gaze gradually focuses. The figure in front of Schiller sways twice in his field of vision before finally becoming clear.

It is a female doctor with brown hair and a pair of gray-green eyes, who is looking at Schiller with worried eyes at this moment.

"You've zoned out during treatment again, Schiller. How do you feel? Are you still fantasizing that you are giving a lecture to students?"

Schiller finally fully recovers his sanity. He looks at the female doctor with a slightly sharp gaze and asks, "What's going on with the treatment? And what's going on with the fantasy?"

The female doctor wore a helpless expression, but she quickly composed herself and explained in a very professional manner: "This is the Hansenville Mental Rehabilitation Center located in Colorado. Your name is Shiler Rodriguez, a patient with schizophrenia and delusions that we admitted seven years ago. My name is Aveline Priterson, your attending physician."

"Since you were admitted, you have insisted that you are a psychology professor, possess multiple psychology doctoral degrees from prestigious universities, and teach at many universities. You also think you have many superhero friends and are constantly improving their psychological problems."

"The current time is 1:32 PM on July 18, 2006. You are sitting in my office for your routine check-up and diagnosis three times a week. You just zoned out for about two minutes. Are you awake now, Schiller?"

Schiller stares at her fixedly. After a while, he opens his mouth and says, "You mean I am a mental patient with delusions, and you are the psychologist responsible for treating me?"

Dr. Aveline nods.

"Which university did you graduate from?" Schiller asks.

"Schiller, continuing to fantasize that you are a highly respected psychology professor is of no benefit to our treatment..."

"Answer me, and then I will answer you."

Dr. Aveline seems to know Schiller would say this, and has heard him make such requests countless times already. She answers fluently, though with a bit of helplessness, "I graduated from Columbia University, then went to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for further studies, and obtained two doctoral degrees in psychology and psychiatry."

"What do you want to ask?" Schiller looks at her expressionlessly and says.

"Have you been taking your medicine on time lately?"

"If I say I have, will you believe me?"

The expression on Dr. Aveline's face becomes even more helpless.

"Who were your master's and doctoral supervisors?"

Dr. Aveline says a few names. Schiller finds them very familiar; they are basically acquaintances who would appear in journals.

Then he looks into Dr. Aveline's eyes and says, "You should be a very excellent psychologist, right?"

Dr. Aveline smiles calmly and says, "Probably not as excellent as the version of yourself you fantasize about."

"Very good."

"What?"

"Please systematically review how Bandura's conclusion in his social learning theory of reciprocal determinism—that interpersonal factors and social environmental factors appear together as interlocking determinants—can be mutually verified with the generation process of his observational learning theory part." ===== CHAPTER 1912 =====