Chapter 2862

Shiler cursed in his heart.

He also had unspoken grievances; the master and apprentice duo of Pride were preparing something big, and he was watching from the sidelines, trembling with fear.

To put it bluntly, both of them were detective-type players, better at dismantling a mystery by following a single thread rather than pushing events forward through various threads like a mastermind.

Greed was about creating one thread, using another to push it, then using other threads to assist them, and finally weaving a dense, large web to slowly drive the development of events.

But Pride and Bruce were about dismantling one thread, then dismantling another, piling up the results of the dismantling, and just waiting for a key point to go all-in, turning it into fuel to send the rocket soaring into the sky.

So, it was foreseeable that they were bound to take risks, and these risks were not small; however, hindered by the principle of mutual independence, Greed found it difficult to directly interfere.

Moreover, it was too late to intervene now. Unless he had interfered from the moment Pride started causing trouble in Gotham, it was meaningless for him to talk about risks now that the fuel was fully prepared and the rocket was built, because this fire had to be lit whether he liked it or not.

Therefore, Greed could only try his best to provide a safety net, and the first thing to do was to find a reliable glove in the DC Universe.

After thinking it over, he didn't know many people in the DC Universe, and others might not meet his requirements; in the end, the main universe Batman was the most reliable.

Greed had never liked dealing with Batman, simply because this guy was both severely ill and too smart, and his appetite was enormous—he was not as easy to fool as Iron Man.

Looking at the undisguised greed in the eyes of the Batman opposite him, Shiler also felt a headache. He said, "With your great ability, why don't you go and pry information out of Pride directly? Selling intelligence to you is equivalent to betraying the interests of all Shilers."

"Otherwise, how could I see your sincerity?" The main universe Batman revealed an expression infinitely close to a smile, making Greed's heart thump.

"I'll name a number." Shiler spread his hands and said, "Five. You can pick five, Batman."

"Sorry, no need." Batman changed the subject and said, "I forgot to tell you earlier, I obtained the data on almost all Batmen from Gabriel."

Shiler felt his head buzzing. He said, "Then what do you intend to ask for?"

"Give me the data on the five people you think are the most threatening in your universe." Batman laid out his conditions.

"No, I can only give you one." Shiler still cherished the great world he belonged to; if Batman gained the upper hand, their people would definitely suffer.

"Three." Batman was relentless. He said, "This is my bottom line."

"Then you have to give me intelligence on the three most threatening Batmen."

"No way."

Shiler was choked up and complained in his heart about Batman's stinginess, but he still said, "Fine. Actually, your intelligence is useless to me, but if I tell you, you must guarantee to me that you will go and find out whether Bruce has made full preparations."

Batman pondered for a moment and nodded.

"Alright." Shiler calculated in his heart; this trade wasn't too much of a loss, because the strongest contestants on their side shouldn't have a very serious conflict with Batman—essentially, they were all maintainers of order.

"Mechanical Overlord Iron Man." Shiler threw out a name first. Actually, Calculation Element Iron Man wasn't particularly threatening, but he was indeed very strong, and he possessed the thing Batman feared most: information.

Shiler first recounted the glorious deeds of this Iron Man, briefly mentioned his abilities, and mainly introduced his style of conduct. It was actually quite simple: he was a hoarder who wanted to digitize anything fresh he saw and turn it into his own collection.

Batman frowned repeatedly as he listened. The villains in his universe were relatively balanced and comprehensive, with none who took such extreme paths, so he said, "Then if someone masters his strongest weapon, the Calculation Element, what will he do?"

"So far, no one has been able to master it." Shiler shook his head and said, "If you think you have the confidence, then go ahead and try, but I think with his ability, even if you take one away, there will be a second."

The second person Shiler introduced was Rune King Thor. This guy was also very strong, but he was a physical-type player; his brain definitely couldn't compare to Batman's. Plus, he was carrying the broken vehicle that was Asgard all by himself, so he had even more weaknesses.

Batman was noncommittal about him as well. In his view, Rune King was a hero, and it was unlikely they would be hostile if they met. Even if he broke into his world as an intruder, things concerning Asgard were not impossible to discuss.

For the last one, Shiler chose to introduce Loki. As the Goddess of Radiance he had crafted with his own hands, her combat power wasn't strong, and her intelligence was average, but her special feature was naturally the political correctness halo, which was almost invincible.

Sure enough, Batman frowned repeatedly as he listened. It was true; for the first time, he felt that if he encountered someone in this Battleworld game, he should take a detour. He couldn't afford to provoke them, but he could afford to avoid them.

When all three were introduced, Batman realized he had lost out big time. The ones Shiler provided were all people with strong paper stats, but in reality, if he truly encountered them, he would have had ways to deal with them even without this intelligence.

Or rather, if he ever really met these three people, he would definitely choose not to provoke them when making a cost-benefit judgment. Even if forced to face them, there were too many non-hardline methods to resolve the situation.

If there was any use at all, it was probably to understand more combat intelligence when playing PvP, but he didn't think any Batman would choose to play PvP; this was clearly a mode for those war-crazed maniacs to vent their energy.

Telling Superman when he got back wouldn't be a total loss, Batman could only comfort himself this way. If he had known, he should have asked for the three most threatening criminals, but in fact, these three could also be considered criminals, so no matter what, he couldn't extract more intelligence.

Having gained nothing from Shiler, Batman turned his gaze to Tim. Actually, he didn't know yet which Batman Tim corresponded to.

Shiler went to pour tea, and Batman looked at Tim and asked, "Did the Batman from your universe also come to participate?"

"Probably." Tim drank the last of his coffee and said, "Before coming, he mysteriously said he was going to attend a super cool party, but he actually didn't know at all that we had all received invitations."

Batman found it hard to imagine himself looking smug, so he said, "Can you talk about the crises you've encountered?"

He actually wanted to know how this Batman's combat power was, what his personality was like, and how he got along with the Bat-family.

Actually, just looking at this Tim, one could tell that this Batman must be a good father. If he was truly consistent in word and deed, then the work of dealing with Robin in the future could be handed over to him.

It would be better than handing it to Bruce; they really didn't need more crazy teenagers.

"Crises?" Tim scratched his head and said, "Does the whole family staying out all night causing Alfred to fly into a rage count as a crisis?"

"The whole family staying out all night?!" Batman raised his voice and said, "What did you all go do??"

"Uh, Dick went to attend a party."

Batman narrowed his eyes.

"It was a birthday party hosted by a school classmate." Tim said, "Batman was worried there might be contraband at the party, so he snuck into the party scene."

"And then?"

"Jason discovered Batman wasn't there and wouldn't be back all night, so he ran out to play."

"Where did he go to play?"

"To find criminals and play some little games." Tim said.

"Little games like lobotomies?"

"Don't worry, at most he just beats them up. He went with Cassandra, at most he beats them up twice."

"And you?"

"I discovered they weren't there, so I snuck off to the video game arcade with Duke." Tim shrugged and said, "I wasn't old enough at the time, so I could only sneak in to play gunfight games."

"And then you all didn't come back all night?"

"The Batman who followed to the party was discovered. Dick and his classmates took turns pouring drinks for him and got him drunk. They all rested at school. Jason went to Cassandra's base and studied equipment for the whole night. Duke and I played games too late and slept directly at the arcade."

"Batman allowed you all to be this rowdy?"

"He couldn't even save himself, because we could still say we were young and ignorant, but he was scolded by Alfred, lectured by Barbara, and was miserable for several days."

Batman felt a sense of understanding in his heart. It seemed the situation in this universe was indeed quite good; what Tim considered a crisis was actually the Bat-family staying out all night.

Batman hesitated for a long time before spitting out the name.

"Jason..."

"He's been back for quite a long time." Tim said, "For a long period, he slept with Bruce, during which he changed five or six psychologists, and only recently has he gotten a little better."

"Slept with Bruce?"

"Yes, during that time Bruce didn't go out to be Batman because Jason would always wake up in the middle of the night in a panic, and he would stay by his side to accompany him. It lasted about half a year, long enough for this city to almost forget Batman."

Batman remained silent. Tim took the tea from Shiler's hand and continued, "I've never seen them argue. The most intense conflict was just Batman demanding he dye his hair back."

"But they don't seem to be avoiding the topic either. I don't know what happened during those six months, but even though Batman emphasizes it repeatedly, I always feel that for him, Jason is the most special one."

"How do you feel?"

"Although we always emphasize to each other, 'I will definitely choose you first,' we also know that the other person being willing to say that is already very devoted. As for what they actually do, we shouldn't be overly critical."

"Actually, occasionally I also want to have those six months." Tim put down his cup, revealing a look of recollection, and said, "But if you asked me to experience everything Jason did to earn Batman's favoritism, I would absolutely refuse. Even just thinking about it makes my back feel cold, and I have to drink a cup of coffee to wake up."

"You are very clear-headed." Batman evaluated.

"All Drakes are clear-headed." Tim said, "At least definitely more so than your other two Robins, because it's very obvious that you are not my only option. I have other paths to choose from, so I can be more rational and objective."

Batman felt his heart go cold, but Tim continued, "But from another perspective, given that I have a choice, I would still choose you without hesitation. Perhaps I am even crazier than the other two."

Batman felt his heart lift again.

"Have you seen the Tim from my universe?" He asked.

"I don't know which one it is. Do you want me to find him for you?"

"No... I just hope you can protect him."

"Then you overestimate me. Among all the Tims, my skills are mediocre, far worse than their ability to go through life and death."

"Precisely because of that, I feel you can protect him, at least psychologically." Batman was rarely sincere. He said, "In exchange, I can protect the Batman of your universe in terms of force."

Tim's movements paused significantly, as if he were recalling the various aspects of his universe's Batman. Finally, he sighed, nodded, and said, "Deal."