Chapter 3742: Crisis in the Dark City (Part 16)

This shot startled every Batman in the room.

A shot opened a bloody hole directly in the head of The Batman Who Laughs, crisp, clean, and merciless. From raising his hand to pulling the trigger, there was not the slightest hesitation, leaving no time for anyone to stop him. More importantly, it bestowed no noble meaning of life or death, nor did it have any philosophical intent to discuss righteous judgment; it was so understated that it was somewhat contemptuous. To Batman, it was practically a provocation.

Batman does not kill. This is the principle of every righteous Batman. Every character, every faction, enemy or friend, inside or outside the walls—who knows how many arguments have been fought over this principle, and how many entanglements and troubles have been derived from it. It makes everyone who understands this principle—everyone who understands Batman—have to think twice and be extremely cautious when taking actions related to him.

Perhaps they also carry a special complex, whether it's killing or not killing. More than the act of killing itself, it's more like wanting to know how Batman will react to his attitude on this matter. Essentially, it's about wanting to get Batman's attention. Not killing is obedience; killing is rebellion. The standard is always set by Batman.

This leads to the fact that everyone who dares to intend to deprive others of life in front of Batman has too many thoughts beyond killing, carrying a kind of dialectical philosophical temperament, making them appear deep, melancholy, and overly present.

But Shiler is not. There is no cage of thought in his brain, no moral shackles on his arms, no emotional ties between his fingers. The gunshot is not the falling gavel in a courtroom, and the bullet is not a train carrying thoughts—this shot was simply pure killing.

Because it is pure, it is sharp; because the murderous intent is too straightforward, it instead makes people feel fear.

Owlman looked at the fallen Batman Who Laughs, somewhat dazed. Then he looked at the other Batmen. The room was silent; all the Batmen were silent.

Owlman suddenly felt a kind of absurd ridiculousness. Why are all the gentlemen present not saying a word?

Are they afraid he'll shoot them too?

Owlman had no doubt that if anyone jumped out now to lecture Shiler not to kill, Shiler would shoot them without hesitation. This is something all those who argue with Batman about whether to kill or not would never do. Because arguing means they still care, while killing directly means that even if 99% of the people on the field don't like killing, the person pulling the trigger doesn't care. He doesn't care what Batman thinks or sees of him, and he doesn't even care about the potential military threat of so many Batmen.

It seems that when he holds the gun, he becomes God. The world begins with the pulling of the trigger and ends with the blooming of blood. The fraction of a second the bullet flies interprets the entire universe he has created. Any rules and preaching cannot be his god, yet they create a solemn aesthetic of violence that even Batman cannot help but appreciate.

Shiler slowly put away the gun and looked around, as if he didn't know why they were silent. A second before the Main Universe Batman opened his mouth, Shiler said: "He is a combination of Batman and Joker; he won't die so easily. I just wanted him to be quiet."

Better not to explain. Owlman thought. If he didn't explain, it was just ruthless; after explaining, it was more like a provocation.

The Broken Bat swallowed his questions. He really couldn't find an opportunity to question him. He wasn't sure about other Batmen, but he knew that if he took such a shot to the head, he definitely wouldn't survive.

Fortunately, Shiler had already put the gun away. He didn't seem to notice the strange atmosphere, but lowered his hat brim and said: "I still have half of my mission left, and now I need to reorganize Gotham's order. Who among you is coming with me? Or are you staying here to solve them?"

He looked back at The Batman Who Laughs lying on the ground. The other didn't look like he was dead, but he was unusually quiet. Shiler guessed he still had a backup plan; after all, his most proficient skill, "prediction," hadn't been used yet.

"I advise you not to enter the city," Owlman suddenly spoke up. "The Batman Who Laughs has assembled Batmen from the Dark Universe; by now, spatial rifts have probably opened everywhere, and the army will arrive soon."

"It seems he is determined to make me fail the mission," Shiler sneered. "Even so, his stupid plan better be truly effective. Otherwise, he can wait to take another shot."

After saying this, he walked toward the outside of the church, making the several Batmen in the room look like they were neither staying nor going.

Logically speaking, the best method now is to catch the several Dark Batmen in the room, figure out what their plan is, and what arrangements they have made in the city, so that a counterattack plan can be formulated. But to be honest, compared to Shiler, who was determined to dive into the city, these Dark Batmen didn't look that dangerous anymore.

"You go watch him," the Main Universe Batman walked to Arkham Batman's side and whispered. "The Batmen of the Dark Multiverse aren't completely beyond saving; don't let him kill all those people, otherwise we will be very passive later."

Arkham Batman glanced at the Broken Bat, saw the complex emotions surging in his heart, didn't say anything, and nodded.

The Batman Who Laughs talked a bit too much nonsense, but today he rarely said a few human words. For the Batmen of the Dark Multiverse, everything they suffered—these inhumane disasters—was not their own fault. If all living beings in the universe were like this, then one could still say "Heaven is unkind"; but unfortunately, there is still the normally developing Light Multiverse. The worry is not about scarcity, but about inequality.

How much resentment the Dark Batmen have after knowing this, and how much effort they use to resist and break free from the shackles, is all deserved. Even if this might endanger the Light Multiverse, the Batmen of the Light Multiverse would never decide to kill all the Dark Batmen because of this. They still want to save as many as they can.

But now it seems Shiler intends to line them up and shoot them. So even if catching the mastermind and forcing the plan out is important, they must first stop that killing machine.

This task was naturally handed over to the most capable Arkham Batman. It's not that the Main Universe Batman and the like couldn't do it, but since Shiler chose to skip the dialogue with The Batman Who Laughs and shoot him directly, it's estimated that other Batmen going wouldn't be an exception. This means Batman's clever brain and eloquent mouth are basically useless; it's better to send someone who can fight.

Arkham Batman got back into the Batmobile, turned the steering wheel, drove out from the main entrance of the church, and returned to this broken city once again. He should have had some emotions, but before the thought could sprout, it was startled away by a familiar gunshot.

Arkham Batman turned the car around at the fastest speed. There was no time for those meaningless thoughts; Shiler's combat style of skipping all plot dialogue made him need to be faster than ever.

The Batmobile stopped. When Arkham Batman got out of the car, he saw Shiler already entangled with a powerful figure. The spatial rifts that hadn't fully closed around them indicated that this should be another Batman from the Dark Multiverse summoned by The Batman Who Laughs.

That figure was different from the usual Batman: wearing a dark gray tight-fitting suit, a shorter cape, and a fully wrapped mask on the head, with two sharper ears on top of the mask that were smaller than the usual Batman; and what was most eye-catching was that there were many bright red lines on his tight-fitting suit—this was not a style Batman liked.

There was no doubt that his skills were very good, able to fight back and forth with Shiler, who had a gun. Shiler fired two shots in a row but failed to hit him. Just as Arkham Batman was about to rush up to subdue the two, a red laser suddenly shot out from the eyes of that strange Batman.

Arkham Batman was very familiar with this kind of energy: "Omega Effect?"

Shiler's movements also paused slightly. He did a roll, avoided the incoming ray, and then stood straight to size up the opponent.

The attire of this Batman opposite was truly too special, so he almost immediately found the corresponding character in his memory—Omega Batman from "Batman: Last Knight on Earth."

This is a DC Black Label work, belonging to an independent universe. Although not explicitly stated, the darkness and bloodiness of its story can basically be judged that this universe belongs to the Dark Multiverse. When mentioning the "most miserable Batman," the Batman of this universe is also a strong contender. Didn't expect him to be seduced by The Batman Who Laughs too.

But thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. Whether it's the Broken Bat or Omega Batman, they basically belong to innocent disasters in the plot. That is to say, they were originally good Batmen of justice and kindness, but the times were difficult, they were helpless, and finally, they were driven mad.

Such Batmen have much greater resentment than those born evil. In Shiler's view, a Dark Legion composed of such Batmen is even more formidable than the Dark Legion organized by The Batman Who Laughs in the original comics, because they are victims of the universe's injustice.

When facing these victims, the Batmen of the Light Multiverse have many concerns. They will never give up on saving these victims, which will make them timid in their attacks, and they might even cut off their own arms, making them more deterrent than those evil-to-the-bone bad guys.

"Who is he?" Arkham Batman asked. This wasn't a question, because he seemed certain that Shiler would explain it to him.

Answering him was a gunshot.

"Bang!" Taking advantage of the moment the laser in the opponent's eyes was retracted, Shiler fired another shot. This time it finally hit, and it hit the lumbar spine directly. The opponent fell to the ground in response. Shiler wanted to fire a follow-up shot.

"Wait," Arkham Batman stopped him and said, "Don't kill him. I need to know who he is, and what exactly is going on."

"They betrayed me..." Omega Batman, lying on the ground, spoke slowly. "They rushed into the Hall of Justice and tore me into pieces..."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw the dark, hollow muzzle appear before his eyes. Shiler stared down at him and said: "Shut up."

Arkham Batman frowned. He turned his head to look at Shiler and said: "We need intelligence on the Dark Multiverse; you should let him finish."

"No, you don't," Shiler said without even looking at him. "I know every one of them carries an unspeakably tragic background. But their background wasn't caused by me, and I have no obligation to be responsible for it, let alone listen to his complaints and help him solve his problems."

"But you don't have to kill him either."

"Living might be more painful for him. All my kindness combined is only enough to give him a bullet to end it all. Are you sure you want to stop me?"

Arkham Batman seemed somewhat at a loss for words. Shiler's logic seemed a bit too smooth, but he still couldn't let him do that. So he said: "You shouldn't have many bullets left; there's no need to waste them on this meaningless kindness. Forget it."

Shiler put away the gun and said: "I'm not arguing with you. You must realize that for this group of people seduced by The Batman Who Laughs, the best ending they can welcome is to die cleanly at my hands. Missing this opportunity, they will only fall into a more miserable situation."

"Is it really that exaggerated?" Arkham Batman seemed somewhat skeptical.

Shiler didn't answer him, just glanced at Omega Batman lying on the ground, and then left without looking back. ===== CHAPTER 3743 =====