Chapter 4049

"I, however, feel that this is not entirely the Prime Universe Batman's plan," Schiller said. "At least the fact that Erik didn't die might not have been in his plan."

Stark and Steve both assumed an attentive posture. Schiller continued: "Batman certainly wouldn't let Apokolips live to return to his own universe, but he wouldn't choose to destroy Apokolips at this point in time. Because their team hasn't yet gained a sufficiently large advantage, losing their base could lead to a total collapse."

"Batman is a very greedy person." To be precise, he believes he can have it all. He wants to eliminate the threat to his universe's future and also wants victory in this war. He already had a foolproof plan to do both well, rather than sacrificing one to achieve the other. Destroying Apokolips at this moment would greatly increase the risk of losing the war, which is not what Batman wants.

"Moreover, although this war looks like just training, it concerns the struggle for leadership in the multiverse. If the Prime Universe Batman loses too much in this war, his confidence and leverage to become the leader won't be sufficient, and it might even allow Owlman to take advantage of the situation. This is also not what he wants."

"So I am inclined to believe that using Magneto to frame Darkseid was indeed one of the Prime Universe Batman's plans, but Magneto not dying must have been unexpected."

"In the Prime Universe Batman's plan, killing Magneto—no matter which universe he's from—would inevitably enrage the mutants and make them act prematurely. This would not only disrupt our strategic deployment but also put Darkseid in crisis."

"However, because Magneto isn't truly dead and will be resurrected in Battleworld, even if the mutants want to fight, they would do so according to conventional methods: first besieging, then probing, breaking the shield, and invading the planet. In any case, it certainly wouldn't be such a violent erasure of the Apokolips domain."

"During this period, the Prime Universe Batman would find a way to turn the tide of the war. Either he would take advantage of the mutants' weak defenses to send an elite squad to strike from the rear, or he would use a feint to launch another attack on the Asgard base."

"In short, once Apokolips is beaten to the point where it can no longer defend itself, they would have long since achieved quite good results outside and could smoothly retreat to other bases to continue fighting. This would just be a strategic relocation."

"But now, Apokolips has been suddenly destroyed, and Batman's next attack plan hasn't had time to be implemented. Their hurried retreat looks very much like a panicked flight, which is a severe blow to the Prime Universe Batman's reputation. And just when Owlman has arrived, the Prime Universe Batman's leadership position might even be shaken."

"Wait a minute," Steve interrupted Schiller, "could it be that Owlman did this?"

"If Owlman had this ability, he wouldn't have been chased to the point where he couldn't even return to his own universe," Schiller shook his head and said.

"The key lies in the fact that after the program error occurred, Erik disappeared but was not resurrected in Battleworld. That leaves only two possibilities: either he is truly dead, or he was captured. Both situations are more serious than being resurrected in Battleworld."

"With this situation, the mutants won't be taking their time with any siege; it's more likely that a destructive existence like the Scarlet Witch would strike directly, taking down Apokolips in one fell swoop. And the Prime Universe Batman's next arrangement hasn't taken effect, so he can only rush away in a hurry. This is clearly not what he wanted to see, so the fact that Erik didn't die shouldn't be the Prime Universe Batman's doing."

"Then why didn't the Prime Universe Batman think of countermeasures when he realized Magneto wasn't dead?"

"Because he might not have known at that time that this was the Central Universe's Magneto," Schiller smiled and said. "Magneto in most universes is a lonely old man, and even if he is entangled with Professor X, Professor X clearly doesn't have the ability to destroy Apokolips directly."

"I understand. Then it was the person who created the program error who set up the Prime Universe Batman. He knew that the one hit by the Omega Beams was our universe's Magneto, so he deliberately created a program error to let Magneto survive, creating the illusion that he was truly dead or captured, in order to force our universe's mutants to destroy Apokolips."

"Something like that," Schiller said. "Although the Prime Universe Batman recognized it was Magneto, he didn't immediately try to find out which universe he was from. He might have thought that even if he were captured, the mutants of that universe wouldn't have any way to deal with it. He didn't expect to hit the jackpot and capture exactly the one from our universe."

"That's not just 'exactly'," Stark said. "After all, the one who was unlucky at the time was our universe's Thanos. And Thanos has always been at odds with Magneto; the police section of the Ring Sector Daily has always been about the two of them fighting, which is known to everyone. So when Thanos was unlucky, it must have been our universe's Magneto who rushed up to mock him immediately; who else could it be?"

"In that case, the mastermind behind the scenes is someone from our universe? Because only people from our universe would be very familiar with the grievances between Thanos and Magneto, while those from other universes would be more likely to assume that Thanos and the mutants have no great enmity..."

As Stark and Steve were talking, their gazes both fell on Schiller's face. But Schiller shook his head and said: "This time it really wasn't me, and I didn't even instigate it. Besides, as you both said, the grievances between Magneto and Thanos are known throughout the universe; such things that frequently make the news can be found out with a casual search. People from the neighboring world have been here long enough; they should have found out by now."

"No," Stark realized the problem again. "This matter is so well-known, the Prime Universe Batman couldn't possibly not know it. So when he saw Thanos and Magneto appear at the same time, he should have known it was from our universe; it's impossible that not knowing it affected his judgment..."

And Steve had already taken out his phone. He began to connect to the interstellar internet, searched for relevant information, and then handed the phone to Stark.

Stark flipped through it, revealing a surprised expression, and then said: "What's going on? Why were those news reports deleted? I remember there were many news reports about the conflicts between the Interstellar Security Committee and the mutants; how are they all gone?"

"Remember? We used Jarvis to delete all information like 'Earth will run' from the interstellar internet. The other side likely played the same hand, deliberately deleting all the conflicts between the mutants and Thanos to mislead the Prime Universe Batman."

"Jarvis, Jarvis?" Stark called out.

"I'm here," his phone made a sound, "what's the matter?"

"Can you find out who deleted these news reports?"

"One moment... hmm, they were deleted quite cleanly, leaving no traces. However, from certain details, it can still be seen that it seems to be our old friend."

"Who?"

"Ultron."

Both of them looked at Schiller again.

"Why do you always look at me? That butler of mine has been busy being an internet celebrity lately and has no time to participate in these things. The one who caused a big stir before wasn't the Ultron I'm most familiar with."

"You mean the one who ran to the neighboring world?" Stark said with some surprise. "But as far as I know, he doesn't seem to have this level of intelligence, right? This really screwed over the Prime Universe Batman; if he had this ability, wouldn't the multiverse have been turned upside down by him long ago?"

"It's just that the method is very similar, but it might not be him," Schiller said. "You might as well think about who can surpass their master."

Schiller and Steve's gazes both fell on Stark's face.

Dark Quadrant, in a temporary base located deep underground in the royal palace. The Prime Universe Batman stared at the screen. A Superman walked in; it was the Superman from the Adventure Universe.

He patted the Prime Universe Batman on the shoulder and said: "Don't blame yourself too much; this isn't your fault. The gap in strength between us and the opponent is indeed very large. Have you thought about how to protect our new base?"

"I'm still thinking," the Prime Universe Batman said. "Has it already started causing trouble upstairs?"

"It's fine, most of the Batmen who choose to follow you don't look down on Owlman's style. No matter how much they jump around, it won't affect the overall situation. The Batman from my universe is also actively fighting for you; it's fine, don't put too much pressure on yourself. It was just a practice run, after all."

The Prime Universe Batman remained silent, saying nothing. The Adventure Superman felt he might be blaming himself a bit, but it wasn't appropriate to comfort him too much, so he could only walk out silently, leaving the space to the Prime Universe Batman.

But the Prime Universe Batman just stood there quietly, looking not like he was thinking, nor like he was sad, just like a statue without joy or sorrow, making people unable to fathom him.

Suddenly, the lights in the room flickered and then went completely silent. A figure with a slight shimmer gradually appeared behind the Prime Universe Batman.

And the Prime Universe Batman didn't react to any of this. He just stood there quietly, as if he had expected it, as if he were waiting.

Not until a slightly cool hand rested on his shoulder did the Prime Universe Batman turn his head slightly to look at that cold and beautiful face.

"Batman..."

This female voice sounded very low, with a sharp, mechanical edge at the edges, and a sexiness that made it impossible to distinguish the gender.

The Prime Universe Batman turned around, and the other party withdrew her hand, standing there quietly watching the Prime Universe Batman, her eyes lowered, shimmering light floating, the whole person as cold as a mermaid just salvaged from the deep sea.

Then she suddenly raised her eyes, looked at the Prime Universe Batman, and said: "The taste of failure doesn't feel good, does it?"

The Prime Universe Batman remained silent and did not answer.

"You need me." Her figure suddenly flickered, disappearing from where she was and appearing at the side of the Prime Universe Batman, her voice still as low as if it were coming from all directions. "You don't want to experience such a failure again, do you? I can help you. Your new base needs protection, and I can make this planet possess a magical defense network."

"Super-Body," the Prime Universe Batman called her name for the first time, "you misled me, leading to the destruction of Apokolips, just to make me beg for your help?"

"I don't need you to beg me." Super-Body suddenly laughed, but the smile had no warmth, looking like a crack on ice. She said, "It is my honor to be able to provide you with help. I just need to prove my existence."

"What if I refuse?" the Prime Universe Batman looked at her.

"You cannot refuse." Super-Body said, "Successive setbacks have already left you in a precarious position; if you don't want to lose the war, you can only choose to accept my help."

"It seems you are very good at leaving people with no choice." The Prime Universe Batman turned back again, his fingers lightly brushing across the screen, his tone equally low, "But unfortunately, you didn't learn the essence... you are too slow."

In an instant, the entire space solidified. The dimension was like a piece of paper, peeled off by someone, and the part belonging to Super-Body was firmly nailed down, like a butterfly that wanted to spread its wings and fly but was suddenly nailed into a specimen frame.