Chapter 2863

Batman's squad broke through the fifth layer, and the whole process could be said to have been a narrow escape; the sixth layer was a muddy swamp, and here they did encounter some problems, namely that the vines overhead that could be used to pull oneself up were a bit too loose, and when Batman went up and tugged on one, he ended up with a brand-new vine.

"You want to tell me that cultists have to go through this kind of ordeal every day just to get back to their own bedrooms?" Batman wondered, baffled.

Superman and Wonder Woman didn't have much to say either; they knew this was indeed a bit too abrupt, but it didn't matter, as long as they were fully committed, all of this would be real.

"I think we should call in our partners who are better at handling all of this," Martian Manhunter suggested. "Let Aquaman come."

"Are you sure he's good at handling swamps?" Batman asked doubtfully, while Superman deliberately brought up the matter of the Court of Owls.

"Do you still remember that mysterious organization we saw in the secret chamber?" Superman asked. "I suspect this place might not be their lair, but merely a trap they left behind before withdrawing."

Batman nodded and then stopped paying attention to Martian Manhunter, intending to contact Aquaman. After thinking for a moment, he said: "They must be extremely cunning and also very evil. In all my years in Gotham, I haven't noticed such a magnificent ancient city underground."

"Maybe your surveillance has a blind spot," Wonder Woman said. "But I can also understand—who has nothing better to do than stare at the sewers?"

Superman didn't want to discuss this topic further with them, but instead guided Batman to say: "Do you think they might be related to that evil clone with glowing red eyes?"

"I think that's the weapon they left behind," Batman said. "They wanted to replace me with another Batman and then trap me forever down here. I won't let their evil plan succeed."

"By the way," Batman then turned to Superman and asked, "You said the recycling plan was a scam—how exactly does that work? What do you actually know?"

"Sorry, but that's what that evil Batman told me, and I can't be sure whether what he said is true, so I didn't go into detail explaining it to you, for fear of interfering with your judgment." Superman's astonishing candor, no matter where he is, he spread his hands and said: "He said there's actually no such thing as a raw material recycling plan, the so-called life factors don't even exist, and it was the Court of Owls who misled your parents..."

"Tell me in detail."

"He said the Court of Owls had long ago mixed a toxin into Gotham's buildings, which, besides driving Gothamites mad, also weakened their bodies' self-repair speed, as if some kind of raw material were lacking."

"Then they revealed the concept of the so-called life factors to the Wayne couple, making them believe that by recycling themselves they could replenish life factors and thus save the world, so they would bring about the self-destruction of the previous generation of superheroes, allowing the Court of Owls to remain idle while wiping out all superheroes without lifting a finger."

Everyone else sucked in a breath of cold air, and Martian Manhunter said: "This is too dark—how could an organization called the Court of Owls be this evil?"

"But the lack of raw materials isn't limited to Gotham," Batman said. "Doesn't Metropolis have the same problem?"

"We can't prove it, because our collective is missing something," Superman said, shaking his head. "Currently, only the Waynes have researched this theory, but they left behind no reliable research data—only conclusions, no process."

Batman very much wanted to refute this, feeling his parents certainly weren't such reckless people, but indeed, as Superman said, all the research data the Waynes left behind consisted only of results, merely stating that life factors do exist, but it's unclear exactly how they arrived at this conclusion.

Batman is also a scientist, and he knows that results without argumentation are unreliable; he also can't just boldly claim there's no problem simply because his parents did the research.

"So, is the weakening of the body's self-repair ability possibly a natural phenomenon?" Wonder Woman frowned and said: "Then are we doomed to destruction?"

Superman then recalled Shiler's theory—that their bodies' self-repair ability might be weakening because their universe hasn't been chosen, but is instead about to be forgotten.

And it is precisely the choice of the Waynes and the previous generation of superheroes that is driving the universe toward oblivion, because this sacrifice is too cruel, not accepted by some who have voting rights, so their universe is headed for destruction.

And if we assume this life factor theory is actually someone misleading the Waynes, then their real purpose is to use the Waynes' hands to commit such a cruel act, so that the universe will not be chosen.

And their plan has almost succeeded halfway.

Long ago they achieved their goal, and now they've released the Batman clone, whose purpose, as the clone himself said, is to cause even greater casualties.

Seeing ordinary people suffer, superheroes couldn't possibly stand by idly; when they see countless lives continuously fading away, they might very well make the same choice as the Waynes.

But if that's the case, then the cruel thing happens again, their universe will be even more despised, and in that case, there will be no hope left at all.

Superman and the others know the Court of Owls is actually made up, but they also feel the Waynes' conclusion that life factors exist is far too hasty, and it's certainly possible they were misled.

Although the behind-the-scenes organization isn't necessarily called the Court of Owls, if we can guide Batman to deal with them, it would naturally be much more advantageous than these outsiders coming in.

That's why Superman, Wonder Woman, and the others are cooperating to stage this act—to make Batman believe there really is a behind-the-scenes manipulator who misled his parents; otherwise, given his feelings toward his parents, he couldn't accept that his parents are the masterminds behind all of this.

As long as we first draw a target in the void, get Batman to think of a way to shoot at it, then we can use that shooting to directly take out the person behind the target—this is also the idea of the main-universe Batman and Shiler.

You don't need to worry about whether it was actually the Court of Owls that did this; as long as someone did it, I'll say he's the Court of Owls, and he is the Court of Owls. The other party saying they're not the Court of Owls is useless—who made you the villain?

Aquaman soon arrived—he's the most unserious person in the entire Justice League. As soon as he came, he kept waving his hands and saying no, he can control water, but he needs a trident; without this weapon, his remaining superpower is just talking to fish.

But it's obvious there are no fish in the swamp for him to communicate with, and he didn't bring his own weapon. On this swamp, aside from the vines overhead that can be used to grab onto, there's nothing else—no path, and the walls are all covered in spikes, so you can't walk.

And this vine is obviously unreliable—actually, it was originally reliable, but due to a parts assembly issue, it's definitely unreliable now.

Just as Batman was pondering how to break through, Deadpool gave Shiler a call, saying he'd already found a spot—right in the center of Gotham Airport.

Actually, Shiler could also predict where he'd look—Gotham's skyscrapers are packed tightly together, wide-open spaces are rare, the roof of Wayne Tower is a decent choice, but it's too high, so probably the only option is the airport.

Gotham Airport is on the sea, a product of land reclamation, relatively remote, and driving there takes some time.

Shiler prepared to go check it out first—after all, even though monsters are rampant inside Gotham now, flights are still taking off and landing normally. If they need to open a portal there, they'll have to figure out how to suspend flights for a while.

The main-universe Batman also needs to confirm that opening a portal there won't cause too much impact on the city, so he went there together with Shiler and Tim.

This led to the Batcave having no one left—or rather, no one normal left; there's still one abnormal person, namely Dick.

And the Batman currently breaking through the levels, who seems to be stumped by the sixth level, but in fact, aside from the superheroes, there's also someone who's been watching them all along—namely, the Joker.

The Joker can't wait to see Batman's ugly expression when he realizes all of this; this time he won't let Batman escape, but will definitely make him admit verbally that the thing he hates most is him.

In front of so many friends, acting like a fool being toyed with will surely make him completely hate the mastermind, and by then, whether it's that oddly shaped clone Batman or the solemn-faced psychiatrist, neither will dare to steal his position as the behind-the-scenes manipulator—whoever steps forward first to admit it will be the one.

Batman will surely hate him, hate him to the bone; just thinking about this scene, the Joker is already eagerly puffing out pink bubbles.

But it's still not enough—this damned ancient city has thirteen levels, so when exactly will he get to see Batman's expression when his defenses break?

Anyway, since everyone's been deceived, why not shorten the process a bit? The Joker thought it over and felt it wasn't out of the question to help Batman a little, so he could finish the remaining seven levels as quickly as possible.

This coincides with Dick's idea, so when the two met on the seventh level, they were both startled.

Dick had taken equipment from the Batcave, blasted through a wall from the sewers, and come in—he originally wanted to go to the sixth level to help Batman get through the swamp, but he dug in the wrong spot and ended up directly in the seventh level, which had clues.

The Joker wanted to simply drill through the sixth level's ceiling and all the levels below, so Batman could just drop straight down to the thirteenth level.

Dick was holding a drill, exposing a fake smile as he said: "I want to say I didn't come here on purpose—would you believe me?"

"You tell me?!" The Joker revealed an evil smile.

Soon Batman's communicator rang, and on the screen appeared Dick's face, on the verge of tears, as he said.

"Batman, I've been kidnapped by the Joker! He threw me into a terrifying ancient city deep underground! Can you come save me?!"

Batman widened his eyes and said to Dick on the screen: "You're saying you were kidnapped by the Joker to the Court of Owls' ancient city?! Which level are you on?!"

"I don't know, but that madman said this is the very bottom, and also said you don't have the ability to get down here, nor can you save me—he'll use a crowbar to beat me into pieces..."

Superman and Wonder Woman silently stepped back two steps, because they saw the fire already flashing in Batman's eyes.

"The Joker... the Joker also said." Dick took a deep breath, as if summoning immense courage, and roared into the camera.

"He said Alfred's little cookies are terrible!!!!"