Chapter 3157: The Detective Shall Die (19)

Batman was dying.

The wounds on the main-universe Batman had deteriorated to an irredeemable point. His HP had bottomed out, and the physical pain had led to a deterioration in his mental health. His consciousness was beginning to scatter.

Few people treated the Battleworld as a simple game because everything here was too real, including the pain and despair of death. Even Batman couldn't be an exception.

Just then, he felt a chill. The room door opened, and Shiler and Greed returned.

Greed threw the first-aid kit to Bruce, while Shiler organized the supplies. He said to the others, "We took a look. The lighthouse has nine floors. There's a guard room on the first floor; we should have killed all the dogs inside. There's a man named Jeff on the second floor, and we found our supplies in the warehouse on the third floor..."

"I plan to check the guard room on the first floor first. You can eat something to regain your stamina, and once you've recovered, we can explore the upper floors together."

"I'll go with you," the Pale Knight said after standing up. "I'm very interested in the man you mentioned named Jeff. Maybe I can find a way to persuade him."

"That's what I was thinking too," Shiler nodded, then said, "How is your combat ability? Can you protect yourself?"

"I can," the Pale Knight nodded. "To maintain a good image, I exercise year-round and have learned a few moves from friends. I won't hold you back."

After Bruce got the first-aid kit, he began to treat Batman, but the dice that fell in everyone's eyes this time were no longer red, but black-based with golden numbers.

No one knew what was going on, but the dice had already been thrown high. When they landed, it was a "1"—undoubtedly a critical failure.

*Slash! * The scalpel cut open Bruce's palm, and blood flowed profusely. He winced and had to bandage his own palm first.

Shiler, who had almost walked out the door, had to frown and return. Bruce shook his head and said, "Although I have a medical student background, I have no clinical experience, and my luck isn't very good."

"Mr. Policeman, you should know some first aid, right?" Shiler turned to look at Owlman. Owlman walked over and crouched beside the main-universe Batman, but his gaze remained fixed on Bruce's palm.

Owlman went over to check the main-universe Batman's wounds, shook his head, and said, "He's basically beyond saving. I can only try to stabilize his condition, but it's unlikely he'll survive the night."

Shiler's brow furrowed tightly, but he still said, "Don't give up. Let's go outside and look again to see if we can find anything more useful."

He then walked toward the door again, but the main-universe Batman, who had been keeping his eyes closed, suddenly said, "That Jeff... is not the guardian of the lighthouse... be careful of him..."

"I will," Shiler withdrew his gaze and left the room with the Pale Knight.

Seeing the pile of hound corpses on the ground, the Pale Knight's pupils contracted slightly, but Shiler walked straight toward the door opposite.

When the hounds rushed out, the door had only been opened a crack. Shiler opened the door directly, but appearing inside were a man and the corpses of two hounds.

A tall, thin man, looking to be around 50, had been shot once in the chest and slumped in the corner. Beside him were two dogs; one dog's head had been blown apart by a bullet, and the other looked like it had been slashed by a knife and died from excessive blood loss.

Shiler walked over immediately and saw "Beware of Jeff" written in blood on the wall behind the man.

Shiler stood where he was, reconstructing the crime scene in his mind. Someone had knocked on the door, killed a dog without a word, slashed the other dog when it lunged, and then shot and killed the man.

Judging by the height and angle of the man's gunshot wound, the opponent should be about the same height as him.

Shiler found human tissue and fabric in the mouth of the dog that had suffered the knife wound. It seemed this dog had given Jeff a bite.

The situation was becoming clear. Jeff was an intruder who had killed the original lighthouse guardian but had been bitten by a dog.

The Pale Knight also walked over to examine what was in the dog's mouth, then shook his head and said, "If he was only bitten on the calf by this dog, he definitely wouldn't have lost his mobility."

Shiler stood up immediately and said, "Yes, but he couldn't have survived the siege of five hounds with such an injury. This is the main reason he couldn't leave the lighthouse."

"But he knew the dogs were dead after seeing us, so he must be desperate to leave the lighthouse now. But looking through the window, we can see the outside is covered in heavy snow, and he just learned from our conversation that the door to the underground cave has been opened..."

Shiler thought while walking back with his gun. The information that the dogs were dead and the underground cave was open had been revealed by Greed. He knew that doing so might lead Jeff to the room where they were resting, because only that room had the entrance to the underground cave. What was he trying to do?

Just as Shiler and the Pale Knight crossed the lobby, they heard a "Combat start..." in their ears. However, unlike before, this wasn't the Beyonder's voice, but a slurred whisper that sounded bone-chilling.

Sure enough, they saw the room door had been opened. Jeff's tall figure stood at the doorway. Upon discovering someone behind him, he retreated into the room at top speed, leaving Shiler, who had already raised his shotgun, unable to aim.

Shiler had no choice but to put down the gun and walk to the doorway. Having just checked, he had already discovered that the bullet in the body of the person suspected to be the lighthouse guardian was a pistol bullet, meaning this Jeff should have a pistol.

He walked in and saw Jeff holding the pistol with both hands, back against the corner, saying with a ferocious face, "Get out of the way, let me down!"

"Calm down," Greed said from the side. "We shouldn't have any conflict. If you want to enter the underground cave, go ahead. No one will stop you."

"Give me your supplies!" Jeff said viciously. "And your clothes! Take off all your warm clothing and give it to me!"

"In that case, we have nothing to talk about," Greed said.

"You can take all the supplies," the Pale Knight walked out from behind and said very rationally. "We've confirmed there are no vehicles around here. If you want to leave the village on foot, your load can't be too heavy. We can give you some supplies so you can leave. Put the gun down first."

The black dice appeared before everyone's eyes again. Clearly, the Pale Knight had activated his Persuasion skill, but the dice spun twice in the air and landed—it was another "1."

Jeff became agitated instantly. He said, "You bastards! I just want to live!! Give me the stuff quickly, or I'll shoot!!!"

"You'd better not do that," Bruce, who was still treating the main-universe Batman, stood up and said. "Someone among us has been possessed by the Prowler. You should know what the consequences are of attacking a monster with firearms."

"What?! You've been possessed by the Prowler?!!" Jeff was clearly shocked. His hand gripping the gun tightened; he was clearly hesitating.

Taking advantage of his momentary shock, Shiler rushed forward, but just then the dice appeared. After spinning in the air, it landed—another "1."

*Bang! *

The moment Shiler snatched the gun, the muzzle deflected and hit the wall. The bullet ricocheted back and struck his shoulder. The pain made him grunt, his grip loosened, and he was flipped to the ground by Jeff.

Fortunately, Owlman had been on guard nearby. The moment Shiler moved, he also stepped forward and kicked the side of Jeff's knee. Jeff's leg went soft, and he was pinned to the ground by Shiler.

Owlman took over the work of suppressing him. Shiler stood up, took a deep breath, and looked down at his shoulder.

The bullet hadn't entered directly, so it hadn't penetrated deep, but it still needed to be removed. Shiler looked at Bruce's hands, walked over directly, took the scalpel from the other medical kit, and prepared to remove the bullet himself.

"Tell us what's going on," Owlman said in a deep voice. He twisted Jeff's arm and pinned him to the ground. Jeff was about to curse something, but when he applied force, Jeff screamed.

Owlman didn't hold back, pressing the pistol directly to his head. The deterrent power of the dark muzzle was greater than any language. Jeff swallowed and said, "Aren't you from the Church? People from the Church can't just kill people!"

Shiler asked while cutting a wound into his own shoulder, "Did you kill the person on the first floor?"

"I didn't want to kill him!" Jeff roared. "He set the dogs on me; I was just fighting back!!"

"Who is he?"

"What does that have to do with you? You damn outsiders! You must have brought the curse..."

Shiler's eardrums were swelling from his shouting. This Jeff seemed to be on the verge of madness, making it hard to question him normally, so Shiler looked at Bruce.

But it seemed that because Owlman had completely suppressed Jeff, the battle was won, and the skill list appeared before Shiler's eyes again.

The situation was getting worse. The dice had changed color for some reason, and no matter how they were thrown, they were critical failures. This meant that all future actions requiring checks would backfire.

Moreover, the previous hallucination made him feel that the Spirit Vision skill was very useful, so Shiler added another level to Spirit Vision. Now he possessed Level 1 Literature Reading and Level 2 Spirit Vision.

And the third skill point brought by this third battle meant that finally, someone could max out a certain skill.

Shiler didn't choose to do so because he didn't know if a Level 3 skill would be a qualitative change. If the improvement wasn't much, it would be more cost-effective to add a few more skills.

But just as he was looking at Bruce, wanting him to use his Psychoanalysis skill to analyze Jeff, Bruce suddenly let out a scream.

Shiler was slightly stunned. He remembered what the Beyonder had said before: the so-called Psychoanalysis skill was actually directly copying his talent.

But Shiler's talent wasn't entirely a talent; it was actually a hallucination produced in a pathological state. If Bruce acquired this talent, it meant he could see those hallucinations too.

Sure enough, Bruce stood up, covering his eyes with a blank expression. His eyes were completely unfocused, as if he couldn't see anything, and everyone's attention was drawn to his movements. ===== CHAPTER 3158 =====