Chapter 4799

Only the final major threat remained, and even Arkham Batman had to speed up his actions, because when only one person was left, the escape route would open, and the agent's victory condition had been changed—running out also counted as his victory.

Although Arkham Batman could also be considered victorious, he still felt dissatisfied. After exerting so much effort and defeating so many strong opponents, only one remained unresolved, which was truly infuriating.

The map did show the location of the escape route, but there were probably seven or eight of them, and they were relatively far apart. If the first choice was wrong, it would basically be impossible to block the opponent afterward.

In the previous game, the escape route was underwater. This time, it was reversed—the escape route was via the ventilation ducts upstairs to board a helicopter. Arkham Batman couldn't help but think this exit method was truly befitting an agent.

Arkham Batman hesitated not, and directly walked toward one of the passage entrances. The agent would certainly choose this entrance, for no other reason—judging by his luck, he could only encounter this most central and conspicuous ventilation shaft. The others hidden in corners, he probably hadn't even seen.

As expected, before Arkham Batman even reached the passage entrance, he encountered the agent there. The agent again ejected and vanished, but Arkham Batman wasn't anxious. He simply guarded that passage entrance, completely motionless.

As expected, after the agent went out to test his luck, he discovered he might indeed only be able to escape through this entrance, so he could only sneak back, and upon seeing Arkham Batman, he felt a headache.

"I say," the agent spoke from a distance, "otherwise just give me a quick end."

"No," Arkham Batman refused.

"Why? My skills are already on cooldown," the agent said, "if you chase me now, I can't run."

"You should realize there's actually no conflict between us," Arkham Batman said, "your escape doesn't affect my victory. And after your victory condition was modified, even escaping alone counts as a successful withdrawal, earning you rewards."

Indeed, winning the game, like fighting in the Battle Realm, also comes with rewards. Although the mall system and such aren't open yet, points are clearly usable for purchases. Arkham Batman thought the agent might care more about this.

"Indeed, that's correct, so why are you still blocking here?" the agent asked, "since we can both win, just let me pass."

"That won't do," Arkham Batman narrowed his eyes at the agent and said, "you accepted my recruitment, but the matter wasn't settled. Agent, don't you think you should give me an explanation?"

The agent licked his lips: "So you want me to apologize? For my betrayal?"

"You didn't betray me," Arkham Batman pointed out again, "because you're merely a mercenary, loyalty doesn't apply. But you failed to accomplish the task, so you should apologize for your incompetence."

"If I were truly incompetent, I wouldn't have survived to the end," the agent's tone also turned cold, "I failed not because I don't believe you won't abandon me after I'm no longer useful."

"What evidence do you have?" Arkham Batman asked, "Every time I hired you, I paid full wages. And each time you left safely."

"That's because I had leverage. Even if you took silencing actions, I could still escape. In this game, there's no such option. My life and death hinge on your single thought. Helping you might even accelerate my own demise."

The agent further said: "If I could seize victory myself, I wouldn't need to wait for your charity. And if I couldn't, kneeling to beg you for mercy would only add humiliation. Even agents wouldn't do that."

"It seems I can't convince you," Arkham Batman said, "then unfortunately, you indeed bring about your own destruction."

After speaking, he quickly walked toward the agent. The agent directly dove into the adjacent room. Just as Arkham Batman reached for the door handle, the trap the agent had installed on the handle detonated, slamming the door panel once again into Arkham Batman's face. The agent swiftly fled the room through another door.

Immediately afterward, Arkham Batman pursued again, but that door still had a trap. He was tripped again, and the agent escaped once more.

The agent entered another room, Arkham Batman became wary and didn't touch the door with his hand, but kicking it with his foot also triggered the trap. He was delayed again.

After darting through three or four rooms consecutively, the agent's skill had recovered, and a single ejection allowed him to escape.

Originally, the agent seemed to have done nothing—aside from encountering Arkham Batman's takeoff and finding a safe—he was merely using his skill to set traps on door locks everywhere, laying traps. Basically, the doors on the routes he frequently traveled were all trapped by him.

And because in previous instances, he always used ejection to vanish in a puff of smoke, Arkham Batman had no interest in pursuing, naturally never circling around doors, thus never triggering traps, and thus unprepared. Hence, he suffered consecutive setbacks at this moment.

Arkham Batman took a deep breath, knowing the agent likely wouldn't return to this passage entrance, so guarding here was meaningless. But he wasn't sure which passage the agent could still find. Now it's just a matter of comparing whose luck is worse.

Arkham Batman casually chose a direction and walked that way. This direction had a passage entrance far away. He walked all the way, and upon reaching the entrance, saw the agent climbing upward.

Seeing him, the agent was startled, climbed halfway, then backhandedly injected a sedative needle, but it was basically useless. Arkham Batman rushed forward, reaching out to pull the agent down. The agent turned and fired a shot.

Bang!

This shot came from above downward, thus directly hitting Arkham Batman's headgear, the effect was much better, dazing Batman for about a second. The agent seized this opportunity to climb up.

And because Arkham Batman wasn't restricted in movement, he could also climb up. The agent climbed the ladder with hands and feet, lowered his head, saw that huge shadow trailing behind him, and at that moment his soul nearly fled, wishing he could grow a few more hands and feet.

Moreover, the speed of climbing the ladder is also related to base speed. The agent climbed with absolutely no speed comparable to Batman's, seeing he was about to be caught, the agent directly took out an item and threw it downward.

That was a bottle filled with chemical adhesive, capable of slowing pursuers. Arkham Batman originally wanted to dodge, but the passage was too narrow, he had nowhere to hide, and took the hit head-on, white smoke rose from his armor, and his movements slowed.

He gritted his teeth, silently cursing: this agent is also stingy with supplies—he didn't use them even in such dire moments before, yet still had items. Also blame greed, actually giving all supplies away, letting his teammates become filthy rich.

The agent used hands and feet, hurriedly climbed onto the next platform, quickly identified direction, then found another ladder to climb upward. Arkham Batman had just thought to surge upward when another smoke bomb exploded overhead.

Arkham Batman was both angry and amused, had no choice but to pause on the platform waiting for the smoke to clear, marked the agent with a bat dart, then continued climbing upward. Otherwise, if another smoke bomb came later, he wouldn't know where the target was.

When climbing halfway and about to be caught again, seeing the agent about to throw another item, Arkham Batman jumped to the adjacent ladder to dodge. Sure enough, the item missed, but the agent didn't even look, continuing to climb upward.

In the end, the agent's items were exhausted, yet Batman still caught up. Seeing that shadow clinging like a bone-deep maggot, the agent pressed his lips together.

"Ready to apologize? Sir?" Arkham Batman still had the leisure to jab, "the exit is right before you."

Indeed, the exit light was now visible, but the distance between them was already insufficient for the agent to run out.

"Impossible," the agent said, "if you truly want to hear my apology, hire me in reality. See if you can truly find a task beyond my capability."

Batman surged upward violently, throwing a punch.

Bang!

Contrary to the expected scene of a corpse falling, instead, the agent seemed to suddenly draw strength from this punch, surged upward violently, reached the handle above the exit, and directly climbed out.

Arkham Batman widened his eyes. He climbed a few more steps and surged upward too, but the agent had already staggered to the helicopter. Between flashes of light, his face grew increasingly pale, those gray eyes dimmed to colorless, like a wolf dying in the snow.

Arkham Batman clenched his fists. The agent was truly too different, to the point he forgot— the agent is also Shiler, and after injury becomes stronger.

"Goodbye, President." The helicopter took off, the rotor wind blew their hair, the agent grabbed the upper rope ladder, swaying as he ascended, "this is the agent-style exit you wanted, isn't it?"

His figure gradually vanished into the night. Suddenly, Arkham Batman saw his own shadow standing on the rooftop. The settlement screen appeared, and within his field of vision appeared the large word "Victory."

"All the greedy ones met their end here, you and your subordinates completed a perfect engagement. The casino remains like a monster devouring everything, and soon will welcome new guests……"

The ending plot wasn't finished when suddenly interrupted. Dr. Manhattan's phantom appeared before Arkham Batman, then said: "Sorry, the game's final data settlement encountered some issues."

"What happened?" Arkham Batman asked.

"The player who escaped from your hands has abnormal data. At the end, he shouldn't have had such speed."

"Isn't that his skill?"

"No," Dr. Manhattan said, "I never gave him such ability. It's his special ability, breaking through data calculation, ultimately causing the anomaly."

Arkham Batman understood, it should be Shiler's ability to grow stronger as he weakens, not accounted for in Dr. Manhattan's calculations. However, it seems the Battle Realm's suppression of such ability isn't strong either— in many instances that restrict abilities, Shiler can still retain this ability. This proves it might not be a physical issue, but a spiritual one.

"I now seek your opinion," Dr. Manhattan said, "I can cancel his victory settlement and rewards. Do you want me to do this?"

"You probably misunderstood something," Arkham Batman coldly said, "being unable to restrict his ability is your problem. You should apologize to everyone for your incompetence."

Dr. Manhattan fell silent. Batman inwardly snorted coldly. This sowing discord is rather low-level. Although he and the agent indeed had some conflict in the game, this is a competitive game—conflict is normal. This has nothing to do with their real-world relationship.

Arkham Batman was about to turn and leave when Greedy crossed his arms and approached with the other players. Arkham Batman thought they were coming for him, since he had nearly killed them all in the game, but when Greedy spoke, it was the same old tone.

"Doctor Manhattan, the game data is abnormal—shouldn't you be giving compensation? Your incompetence isn't affecting just one or two people; everyone's gaming experience has deteriorated."

"If you dare shirk responsibility and refuse compensation, I guarantee my negative review will be loud enough for the entire multiverse to hear. If you know me well enough, you'll know I can do it."

"Now! Immediately! Issue compensation!"