Chapter 4646: Desperate Escape (25)

"The mechanism stopped?" Charles said, panting heavily. "It seems the plan succeeded. I never imagined we could cooperate so tacitly with a group of strangers..."

"It doesn't look like it succeeded," Eric said, clearly more professional in mechanical engineering. He looked down at the support rod below. Although there were no gaps between the metal rod and the floor, and he couldn't see much looking down, based on the tactile feedback from just a moment ago, Eric felt this wasn't a normal clearance.

Logically, if the scale had been lifted and was supporting the ceiling, the design principle should involve a latch locking it into place after reaching a certain height. But Eric hadn't felt the vibration of a latch engaging at all. On the contrary, the pillar had trembled for a long time before suddenly stopping. This didn't look like a normal mechanical process; it looked more like it had broken.

Charles had already collapsed onto the floor. He rolled over to lie on his back, looking at the steel needles inches away, and said, "Regardless, we've cleared the stage. Good God, I wouldn't have lasted another minute."

"You really need to exercise more." Although Eric said this, he was also soaked in sweat and panting heavily. He turned over to lie down as well, taking advantage of this precious opportunity to rest.

"What do you think the level designer will do if someone really broke the mechanism?" Eric asked.

Charles thought for a moment, then said, "I guessed earlier that there must be staff in this dungeon. Perhaps in places we can't see, there are several staff passages. Employees of some evil tech company are shuttling through those passages, debugging equipment and monitoring us. Now that the mechanism is broken, they might be trying to find a way to fix it."

"After they fix it, do we have to do it again?" Eric said, unable to bear it. "That's completely breaking the rules!"

"That was broken by other players first." Charles shrugged. "But I think this game has no rules to begin with. They build the dungeon, we cause destruction; everyone relies on their own abilities. When they designed the mechanism, they should have considered all possibilities of it being destroyed. Otherwise, it just means their design is poor."

"I hope they won't play dirty," Eric said. "I don't have the strength to do it again."

"No, don't let me lie down, Clark." Batman took a deep breath and said, "If I lie down now, I might not have the strength to get back up."

"But we've already passed; we can rest now."

"Far from it." Batman remained solemn. "Judging from the situation just now, it doesn't look like a normal clearance process; it's possible a mechanism was broken by someone. The level designer might want to repair the mechanism and then have us do it again."

"How can they do that!" Superman said indignantly. "Their own mechanism quality is poor, they didn't implement safety measures, and it got broken by someone—do we have to pay the price for that?"

"That depends on whether this dungeon instance has a background story." Batman knelt on one knee, his voice still firm. "If it really is some company conducting human experiments, you can't expect them to have a moral bottom line."

"But isn't the plot designed by the Domain administrators? Would they really design such an inhumane scenario?"

"There aren't many administrators with humanity." Batman hit the nail on the head. "I suspect there are at least two Jokers, three Schillers, and perhaps some others from Arkham Asylum mixed in."

"I told you queuing for high-difficulty instances is asking for trouble!" Superman wailed. "What kind of good stuff can this bunch of lunatics design?!"

"I have to admit, the level design is actually quite good. The guidance is clear, the goals are specific, and it has a certain degree of openness; it's a test of both the players' psychological and physical qualities. In all fairness, I'd give it a seven." Batman evaluated.

"You're truly crazy!" Superman couldn't help but say. But then, he felt a pang of heartache and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that, but every time you say cold jokes so calmly while covered in wounds, it always reminds me of that piece of green chewing gum."

"When I'm not in a good state, I need something to distract my attention." Batman said. "Let's guess the plot. The mastermind brought us here; it shouldn't just be to let us break his mechanism."

"I thought about this earlier," Superman said. "Do you think it might be like *Saw*, where they brought us here to make us understand some truth, or to punish us?"

"If we had specific identities to play, that would hold up. But the instance hasn't placed any restrictions on us. Why do you think I keep calling your name, Clark?"

"Uh, I thought you were in a good mood," Superman said. "You like to call my name when you're in a good mood, instead of just calling me 'Superman'."

"Hmm, perhaps that's my habit." Batman explained. "But the main reason is that I wanted to know if this instance has identity restrictions. It doesn't seem so now. There's also no information revealing our respective background stories, so the punishment theory shouldn't hold."

"Clark, if there's anything about me worth punishing... what about you? I really can't imagine what excuse Jigsaw could have to punish you. You love life, are helpful, smart, capable, kind, and simple. If someone like that could be captured by Jigsaw, then he could truly be called a terrorist."

"Oh, Batman, you're praising me so much I'm embarrassed." Superman smiled shyly. "But in my view, he has no reason to capture you either, Batman. You've accomplished feats that ordinary people can't with a human body; you've almost saved Cat Getan. What is there to interrogate someone like that for?"

Batman's movements paused. He changed the leg supporting him at a very slow speed. Superman saw he had something on his mind, so he asked, "What's wrong, Bruce? Is there something you can't tell me?"

"I think there are still some reasons." Batman glanced at Superman, but quickly looked away. "I have to admit, Clark, I'm not honest enough with my friends. I suspect and I guard against them. If he asked me about this, I would truly have nothing to say."

"Oh." Superman showed a helpless expression. "Look at who your friends are. An alien powerhouse, an Olympian demigod, a green interstellar police officer, a Martian telepath, a super mechanical hacker, the King of Atlantis... and you, you're just a vigilante with a human physique. If you had no defenses against them, that would only prove you're a fool."

"From my own perspective, I also think this is necessary. I wouldn't be arrogant enough to think I'm immune to everything. In case someone controls me to destroy the Earth one day, then the defensive measures you've taken could save the Earth, and at the same time save me. Because if I really destroyed the Earth while under control, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."

Superman turned to the side, looked at Batman, and said, "Believe it or not, Batman, no one in the Justice League doesn't know this—that we can live on Earth so peacefully, living among ordinary people, all relies on you being the final insurance policy. Otherwise, at the speed Earth encounters crises, I wouldn't dare live within the solar system; otherwise, I'd easily become a weapon in the hands of those guys invading Earth."

Batman fell silent, as he usually did, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, as if making a silent resistance. But Superman was clearly someone who liked to press the advantage in emotional matters.

"You don't want to face this because you always feel no one can understand you..."

"No." Batman suddenly spoke up. "I just feel that if you are all so reasonable, I owe you even more."

Batman wasn't sure if this was the first time he had mentioned indebtedness in front of Superman. He didn't like this topic, but if he didn't say it, it would be Superman's turn again.

He had expected Superman to say something like "You don't owe us anything," but he didn't expect Superman to say: "Then let's owe each other. We feel we owe you, and you feel you owe us; that way, the Justice League will never think of breaking up."

Batman seemed greatly shocked. He was silent for a full ten seconds before saying, "Who taught you that?"

"Bruce, you still don't want to believe that in order to understand you, I've truly put in all my effort, even trying to understand how the lunatics in Cat Getan get along. You don't like loving relationships at all; you either owe each other, hurt each other, or both. If you're more used to this, then I accept it."

"No, no, Clark." Batman's voice became deeper when he was somewhat out of control. "You are Superman; you are not a lunatic from Cat Getan."

"But you just like to invest more energy in them." Superman pointed out sharply. "Just because I'm willing to mix some pathological elements into our relationship doesn't mean I'll become evil because of it. I'm just catering to a friend's preferences. This is precisely a manifestation of my love."

Batman finally showed a painful expression. He used his hands to support himself on the floor and slowly turned to lie down. Superman was startled and hurriedly reached out to support him, saying, "Didn't you say if you lay down you might never get up again? Bruce, wake up, are you okay?"

"I'm not doing well," Batman said, "but I'm afraid it's not because of excessive blood loss, Clark. This mechanism broke at such a bad time."

"Loki! Loki!" Thor hugged his brother directly. The moment the mechanism stopped, Loki collapsed. According to Thor's understanding of Loki, he was absolutely exhausted.

In fact, Loki being able to hold on until now already far exceeded Thor's expectations. One had to know he had injuries on his body and was very sensitive to pain. Pain was very energy-consuming. Thor had thought he wouldn't be able to hold on for long, but the two of them had persisted for at least ten minutes, which was quite beyond expectations.

Thor turned Loki over to check his condition. Fortunately, Loki was conscious; he had just exhausted his strength and couldn't move. He laid Loki flat on the ground to let him rest.

"I understand." Loki muttered to himself. "This is also part of the level."

"What?"

"When people are... exhausted and in pain, they are always more likely to express their... emotions, and will also... be unable to suppress their emotions." Loki spoke with some difficulty, panting for a long time before finishing. "They will be mentally excited... and have a stronger desire to confide..."

Indeed, Thor's heart was still pounding violently. This was a side effect of excessive physical exertion. He could feel he was very clear-headed; although he was very tired, he didn't want to sleep at all and still wanted to chat more with Loki.

"But is there any harm in this?" Thor asked.

"There's no harm to us," Loki said, "because there's no conflict between us anymore. Except for those few times you abandoned me, except for you taking risks, except for you never listening to me..."

"Alright, alright, Loki." Thor wiped his face and said, "If we keep talking like this, I'm afraid the other teams won't have as many conflicts as we do."

"Fine. In short, if their relationship isn't good enough, or if it's good but has some deep-seated conflicts, it's very easy for them to erupt at this time. Even if there isn't, just pouring out one's heart is very energy-consuming. Many things said without thinking at this time might linger in the mind, affecting one's reason."

"That's why I said, there was no need for you to go to the trouble of repairing it." Greed crossed his arms and looked at Stark. "On the surface, the mechanism is broken and we have to pause the process, but in reality, this is also another test of their feelings. Look, Batman almost fell for it, didn't he?" ===== CHAPTER 4647 =====