Chapter 298: A Great Task Entrusted to This Person (Part 2)

In the morning, in Schiller's office at Gotham University, he was sipping coffee and reading the newspaper when Victor arrived and asked him: "Have you seen the report on the commercial street fire?"

"I'm just getting to that part."

Schiller shook the newspaper, then fixed his gaze on the front page of the Gotham Daily, which devoted an entire section to the fire on Central Commercial Street—but the accompanying image was not of the damaged street, but of a black-clad figure walking away.

Above it, bold text read: "BATMAN—Savior of Gotham or a Fraud Performing for the Crowd?"

Though the headline was a question, the article inside gave its answer, vividly describing how a reporter on the scene saw Batman stand on a rooftop, glance at the fire, then hurry off without acting.

According to the reporter, Batman showed no emotion as he looked down at the burning commercial street, turned away without hesitation, as if he had merely appeared for a moment and had no intention of saving anyone.

His description, paired with the image of Batman walking away from the flames, was highly convincing; when Bruce set down the paper, he pressed his temples and let out a deep sigh.

When Elsa had activated her father-summoning spell, Bruce had just put on the Batman suit, so he appeared before the two children in his Batman guise—and Dick thus learned that Bruce was Batman.

He had seen the newspaper report and said indignantly: "You saved so many people, and they're calling you a coward who fled the scene? How could they…"

Fantasy

"Enough, Dick. Are your school things ready?"

"... m." Dick made a nasal sound, sounding dejected. "Batman, can't I really go out with you to fight injustice? I think you need a partner—if I'd been there this time, I could've stayed behind to rescue people while you went to another fire, and they wouldn't have misunderstood you…"

"I don't care if they misunderstand me."

Dick looked at Bruce's exhausted face. If Bruce's overly youthful appearance had once made Dick feel awkward, unable to see him as an elder, now, facing this version of Bruce, Dick truly dared not raise objections.

Bruce's current complexion was beyond merely bad—he looked as if he had aged years overnight. After all, the past two days had been nothing short of inhumane.

By day, he dealt with the Joker's chaotic games, where lives hung in the balance, made up for Gotham PD's shortage of detectives, helped Gordon investigate the serial killings tied to the Twelve Apostles, and pursued leads on the Twelve Families and the Big Boss. By night, the moment he opened his eyes, he faced those four miserable things…

Day and night were different kinds of exhaustion, yet they fed into each other: daytime chaos left him no time to analyze the weaknesses of the four killers in his dreams or devise plans against them.

At night, without a plan, he remained stuck in reactive combat, repeatedly failing to make progress, still lacking any effective way to handle the two strongest killers.

Repeated failures drained him completely, forcing him to collapse into unconsciousness just to return to reality—and because he was so depleted, his days were foggy and inefficient, trapping him in an extreme vicious cycle.

The public opinion surrounding Batman was escalating, and though it was unclear whether the Joker had orchestrated it, Bruce was indeed suffering psychological torment, as everything spiraled downward, moving exactly opposite to his hopes, as if nothing would ever improve.

Both his body and mind deteriorated, yet under this multi-layered torment, a certain thread in his mind grew steadily tougher.

When a person is pushed to the limit, their potential surges rapidly: Batman's growth over his first year had been a gentle slope—but starting these past two days, the trajectory shot straight upward, becoming a vertical line.

Three days later, Bruce visibly lost weight, but within the hollows beneath his brows, a new, unyielding light began to gleam.

By day, he followed leads to unravel the tangled relationships among the Twelve Families, examined crime scenes, deduced the killers' methods and motives. By evening, he met with Gordon to consolidate case details. At night, after returning home, he devised plans to confront the four killers.

Once asleep, Batman began executing his plan. Through repeated failures, his mental endurance increased—he could now attempt dozens of times without dizziness or fatigue.

After countless trials, Batman found the optimal solution to defeat these killers.

He realized that though the killers were brutal, they never coordinated—they acted independently. And whenever they clashed, none would yield, giving Batman ample room to maneuver.

He also discovered that using his will to block attacks or manifest weapons was futile: Schiller's will constantly interfered, causing his manifested weapons to either be flawed or disposable—useless in practice.

But Batman never lacked backup plans. He began trying to use his will to create obstacles in the alley. At first, he attempted altering wall structures to form blind corners—but quickly realized it drained his energy too fast. He switched to smaller, more practical obstacles.

First, piles of construction debris—though they couldn't fully block sightlines, they disrupted the killers' positioning. Then, shards of glass, fluttering newspapers, flashlights to blind, loudspeakers to create noise and distract.

Batman deeply understood the advantages of diversified and localized tactics: sometimes, these small distractions offered better tactical opportunities than relying solely on batarangs or daggers.

After countless trials, Batman meticulously crafted a trap.

He exploited the killers' behavioral logic: the moment he appeared, all four would relentlessly pursue him until he was dead.

When he stood at the entrance to Wayne Manor, the killers' positions were: the Pale Face and Hockey Mask at the outer edges, the Chainsaw Killer third, and the Iron Claw Monster on the inner wall.

As he stepped out into the alley, all four moved toward him simultaneously—the two towering killers advanced first, then the Chainsaw Killer, finally the Iron Claw Monster.

Batman placed two massive piles of debris, one on each side, occupying most of the alley's width. He sprinted forward at full speed, using agile footwork to slip past the two towering masked killers. The killers, originally heading toward Wayne Manor, turned to chase him.

Except for the Iron Claw Monster, who could walk on walls, the other three had to stay on the ground. The Pale Face and Hockey Mask moved at nearly identical speeds, so they would get stuck where the two debris piles met.

By then, Batman had reached the alley's center, facing the Chainsaw Killer directly.

But Batman did not choose to knock him down with martial arts, as it was meaningless: even if he seized the chainsaw, it was a poor weapon, and useless against the other three killers.

He placed four oil drums at the far right end of the alley. When he drew the Chainsaw Killer's attention, he slowed his pace and moved toward the drums.

At that moment, the Iron Claw Monster's attack should strike. Batman rolled aside behind the drums. Though the monster's claws could pierce flesh easily, when Batman focused his will to reinforce the drums' defense, the claws only scratched their metal surfaces.

This conclusion came from dozens of failures: believing the drums' metal shells were strong enough to block the claws was far more reliable than believing his own body could withstand them.

After missing, the Iron Claw Monster circled around the drums to continue attacking, but by then, the Chainsaw Killer had arrived—and based on speed estimates, the Pale Face and Hockey Mask should be right behind him.

Chainsaws spark when cutting metal. When it sliced through the drums, it ignited them, causing explosions that blasted everyone outward.

The plan's key was precise timing: each killer's speed had to be calculated so that when the drums exploded, all four were close enough. The other challenge: Batman himself would be blasted away—he had to believe he'd emerge unharmed.

He failed many times calculating speed and positioning. He had mentally rehearsed the entire sequence on the first try—the difficulty lay in maintaining focus, sustaining the manifested objects, and precisely controlling his own movement and the killers' pace.

After dozens of failures, Batman realized not only had his endurance increased, but his concentration and control had undergone a qualitative leap. In the end, he could even make the drums float and collide with the chainsaw.

As his willpower grew, his margin for error widened. Finally, with the chainsaw's roar and the drums' explosion, all four killers and Batman were blasted into the air.

At that moment, he must believe the killers were destroyed and he himself unharmed. When the smoke cleared, Batman rose from the ground.

He was not unharmed. His entire Batsuit was shattered. In the final moment, Bruce gambled, focusing his will on maximizing the explosion's impact and lethality.

The consequence of weakening defense was severe external injuries—but equally, by firmly believing he'd inflicted maximum damage, he ensured the four killers were badly wounded.

The least injured was the Hockey Mask—he was only slightly torn, now climbing to his feet. The Pale Face and Chainsaw Killer were similarly wounded, lying slumped in corners. The Iron Claw Monster was covered in black smoke, seemingly unable to control his direction.

Batman's goal wasn't to kill them, but to escape the alley. He looked up: the central tower still stood silent against the black night sky. He knew his destination was there.

Leaving the alley, the once-distant terrifying eyes drew nearer—endless monsters now filled Gotham's streets and alleys.

Facing them, Batman realized the emotion surging within him was no longer the initial confusion or exhaustion, but something indescribable… excitement.

————EXTRAS————

Sorry, I wasn't feeling well today, so this is late.

If there's no update by around midnight, don't wait—just check tomorrow.