Chapter 1928: U - Beyond the Great Event (54)

Bruce, however, withdrew his gaze, as if he had said nothing at all. Constantine stared at him straight-on like a vengeful spirit, and only after a long while did Bruce utter a single sentence.

"Someone has paid his debt."

Constantine's eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets. He said with absolute certainty, "Impossible. No one can afford to pay it."

Bruce smiled mysteriously and said nothing more.

Constantine began to grow restless.

On the screen, the Batman of this world (Bat-Man) was still in a constant debate with the doctor. He brought up the examples mentioned in his previous conversation with Schiller, such as how to explain his extraordinary intelligence, his knowledge of business, and his understanding of mathematics and physics—things clearly beyond the reach of an ordinary psychiatric patient.

In truth, the doctor had already revealed many flaws by this point. For instance, when Bat-Man first claimed to have business experience, the doctor told him he was indeed a businessman who had simply gone insane later on.

But when Bat-Man claimed to have knowledge of mathematics and physics and proved it with his performance, the doctor claimed he also had hobbies in those areas—yet such academic levels were clearly impossible for a mere hobbyist to achieve.

By now, the doctor was being questioned by Bat-Man until his words were incoherent. By all logic, Batman should have been able to confirm that this was indeed a fabricated illusion, not some "Yellow Millet Dream" reality.

Bat-Man was also Batman; although his personality wasn't as extreme as other Batmen, he possessed the traits of the vast majority of them. By all logic, once he confirmed this, Batman would not waste any more time on this issue.

Knowing this was a game and having roughly guessed how it was played, he should have hurried off to collect clues. Why keep pestering the doctor?

Yet Bat-Man did not. He simply sat there, arguing with one doctor after another that he was not a psychiatric patient, that he was Bruce Wei En, that he was Batman, and that he had never suffered from schizophrenia or delusions.

Seeing this, even Spider-Man and Highlord Superman felt something was off.

Batman was skilled at verbal debate, but he didn't enjoy it. Highlord Superman shook his head and said, "Or rather, I feel he doesn't like talking to anyone. He likes being alone. Sometimes I wouldn't hear him say a sentence longer than three words for an entire week."

"Words without the support of power are meaningless," Bruce said, looking at the screen. "So what if you win the debate? It's not like you've won the game. In other words, as long as you find the clues and win the game, what does it matter if a fictional character calls you a lunatic? Who would bicker with a game character?"

"He looks a bit paranoid," Spider-Man said, scratching his head. "I don't know how to describe it. He's a bit like a friend of my uncle's. When I was a kid, that friend kept telling me he was a college student, that his son would be a college student, and that there were four or five college students in his family."

"But my uncle said he never went to college," Spider-Man paused before adding, "Later on, his son didn't get into college either. I heard he had some kind of mental illness."

"The less people have, the more they want to emphasize it," Bruce concluded. "This is essentially a form of self-hypnosis. Their mindset stays at 'If I had done such-and-such back then, I would definitely be such-and-such now,' leading to 'Although I'm not such-and-such now, I could have been,' then evolving into 'I deserve to be such-and-such,' and finally becoming 'I am just like this.'"

"It's not hard to see that this Batman once had a moment where he very genuinely doubted his own sanity," Bruce mused. "But he is unwilling to admit he ever had such a moment of wavering, so he wants to prove that he has always been firm in his own existence, never to be seduced by any situation."

"I think I understand a little," Spider-Man said, looking thoughtful. "Actually, he didn't suddenly go crazy at the end. His mental state was wrong from the very beginning."

"You could say that," Bruce nodded.

"We arrived here at different stages of our lives, experiencing different things," Arthur said with a low chuckle. "Maybe there's a world-richest-man infant coming here."

"Sorry, but I might have to disappoint you," Owen suddenly spoke up. "Only those with basic combat capability come here. It is meaningless for an infant without behavioral capacity to come here."

Arthur snorted, "I know you just want to watch the show."

The lights in the consultation room remained on, and doctors were swapped one after another. Highlord Superman couldn't bear to watch anymore. He said, "Since the setting is that he is a psychiatric patient, why do these doctors bicker with him? Can't they just feed him some medicine and send him back?"

Clearly, this murderer also wanted to prove that what he said was true. The two of them were locked in a stalemate.

Facts proved that no one could out-stubborn Batman. In the end, the doctors were nearly exhausted, and Bat-Man naturally returned triumphantly to his ward.

By this time, everyone already knew the scene on Schiller's side. Batman went to find Schiller, and the two discussed the issue of Bat-Man. They decided to give Bat-Man a psychological examination.

Later, the camera shifted to the evening when Bat-Man went directly there, but a segment was clearly missing in between.

What followed showed something they hadn't seen before: how Batman convinced Bat-Man to undergo the examination.

Around the time of resting after lunch, Bat-Man was peeking at the door, seemingly wanting to talk to a nurse, but he saw another version of himself walking over, so he opened the door and waited for Batman to enter.

After entering, Batman sat on the edge of the hospital bed, just as he had sat on the edge of Schiller's bed. He said, "It seems this is the difficulty of this level."

"This can't be considered a difficulty," Bat-Man shook his head. "This scam has no logic and can't fool anyone at all. They aren't even willing to prepare evidence."

Batman shook his head slightly and said, "They don't need evidence. They have trapped us here."

Then he tilted his head slightly, examining Bat-Man's expression. In Bat-Man's field of vision, Batman appeared somewhat puzzled.

Bat-Man spread his hands, sat down on his bed, leaned back, and rested one hand behind his head. "I was planning to find a nurse to gather some intelligence. Do you think it's possible for us to be discharged through official procedures?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, but I think you can try." Batman poured a glass of water for Bat-Man.

"Don't pour me water. You aren't really here to visit a patient," Bat-Man said, looking back at his actions.

Batman's movements paused, but his expression was well-hidden. Bat-Man couldn't see any expression on Batman; he was as deep and serious as a corpse.

Bat-Man's gaze lingered on Batman's face for a long while, but he still couldn't see anything. He seemed to feel a bit frustrated, let out a soft breath, and said, "Tonight, I will go look for the Dean's office. There might be some information about this hospital there. I believe the secret might be hidden within, perhaps the key to finding our way out."

Batman did not refute him, only saying, "Do you know that Dr. Schiller is actually a world-renowned psychology expert?"

Bat-Man paused noticeably, but he still said, "At least not renowned in my world."

"Nor in mine, but I have a certain understanding of him. He indeed has a high level of professional expertise."

"So what? Do you like others analyzing your psychology?"

Batman shook his head and said, "But he hopes to give you a psychological examination. Or rather, he is very interested in the psychology of every Batman."

Hearing the first half, Bat-Man had already opened his mouth to object, but hearing that Schiller seemed to want to study Batman's psychology, he was actually less resistant.

The onlookers clearly saw the problem too. Highlord Superman said, "What is going on? He doesn't like the examination of a normal psychologist, but instead likes others using him for research."

"This shows that compared to being researched, he dislikes the psychologist's examination even more. It seems he has always been worried that the psychologist would give him some examination result that requires mandatory admission to a psychiatric hospital for treatment."

Bat-Man sat on the edge of the bed, hands on his legs, and sighed. "If I don't agree, will he go crazy?"

Batman's complex expression was revealed for only a split second, but Bruce immediately translated his meaning: "Even if you agree, he might still go crazy."

Bat-Man, however, did not notice this trace of a complex expression. He just sat with his back to Batman, nodded, and said, "Fine, one more time won't hurt."

"Do you often undergo psychological examinations?" Batman stated again.

"Yes. Actually, the results of every examination don't change much, but I don't like this feeling of having my inner self pried into."

"I don't like it either, but if it can effectively ensure your psychological health, then it is worth it," Batman stood up and said, "While you still have psychological health."

After saying this, Batman left. They had clearly reached an agreement on this matter, and it was not hard to see that Bat-Man's state was wrong throughout the process. He was resisting, yet he did not refuse.

This was a very strange state. If one had to use a word to describe it, it would be "coyly refusing." He seemed to dislike psychological examinations very much, yet he also seemed to be looking forward to something actually being diagnosed. This contradiction was felt by everyone in the viewing gallery.

"If I'm not mistaken, he should be at a certain critical period in his life," Constantine said, tapping his lips with his finger. "He realizes that something is wrong, but he hopes too much that nothing is wrong—or rather, he hopes that no one can see the problem, but he also hopes that he or others can solve it. That is why he is so contradictory."

"What could the problem be?" Highlord Superman looked at Bruce.

After thinking for a while, Bruce finally reached a definitive conclusion: "He is thinking about whether he should abandon Bruce Wei En."

Highlord Superman and Spider-Man both looked puzzled, but Arthur laughed. He said, "According to his own words, those versions of himself that didn't survive the disasters were all abandoned by him."

"And clearly, Bruce Wei En either didn't survive the last disaster, or almost didn't. He is thinking about whether he should abandon the identity of Bruce Wei En and become Batman completely."

"What is the difference between the two?" Highlord Superman asked.

"Bruce Wei En is a person with normal emotions, while Batman is a heartless god, a machine that executes justice, and the eternal Dark Knight of Gotham."