Chapter 4897

Rodriguez Manor, formerly the viscount's estate. Tim was looking at the holographic projection set up by Brainiac, his arms crossed, his legs propped on the footstool in front of the sofa. Harley was stirring her coffee absentmindedly.

A figure pushed open the door, triggering a chorus of screams: "Close it, close it, it's terrifyingly trendy!"

Pamela turned to shut the door, tossed a large bag of snacks onto the sofa, then said: "The water outside hasn't receded. Why are you rushing to find me?"

"How are the fields?" Tim's main concern was livelihood, "Wasn't it said that those few acres of suburban farmland were flooded?"

"Nothing serious," Pamela said, "It might cause some reduction in yield, but it was experimental farmland anyway. Besides, part of it is still intact, so it's not a big problem."

"Where's Dick?" Pamela looked around, asking, "Why are only the two of you here?"

"He went to pick someone up," Tim said, "We don't have enough people. He went to find a first-year student from Mercury Academy, should be back soon."

Pamela sighed: "Really, not a single peaceful day."

She also sat down on the sofa, vigorously stuffing firewood into the fireplace, hoping to bake dry the pervasive dampness. Unfortunately, the moisture brought by the storm wasn't so easily dispelled, the fog outside grew thicker instead.

"Have you seen this?" Tim looked at the holographic projection and said, "Brainiac's game system is actually somewhat interesting."

Pamela raised an eyebrow, leaned in to take a look.

"Mist Realm?" Pamela exclaimed the name, then said, "Sounds like it might be related to Professor Xilei."

"It's inspiration gained from the professor," Tim said, "That kind of dungeon format is really monotonous. Brainiac wanted to make something different, so he referenced Professor Xilei's grey mist and Gotham's underworld, creating a 'loading system'."

"What do you mean?" Pamela asked, "How is it different from a dungeon?"

"Simply put, it's creating a dungeon for your city, like Gotham's underworld. All game quests are completed in the underworld, you can modify various parameters of the underworld, change modes, to achieve the desired effect."

"Sounds somewhat interesting." Harley took a fry and put it in her mouth, "The biggest problem with the Combat Realm is that there aren't many reality-based dungeons. Even if there are, they differ greatly from our real world. Either there's no magic, or technology hasn't developed much. I've never seen a fully realistic dungeon."

"Because it's somewhat difficult to implement, and players may not necessarily want to," Tim said, "In the later stages of the Combat Realm, few players cross over to the real universe, as many protested that it infringes on their privacy. Later, they stopped making reality-based dungeons altogether, and if they did, they had to include a bunch of disclaimers."

"The main protesters are Batman," Harley complained, "They insist this might expose their tactical deployments on Earth, letting ill-intentioned people understand Earth too well, which is not a good thing."

"He's not without reason," Tim said, "If you move a real Gotham into a dungeon unchanged, without limiting play counts, it's indeed possible that some people would conduct tactical drills there to better invade Gotham. The New Earth mode was shelved for the same reason."

"So what's different about this loading system now?" Pamela asked.

"Only those from this universe and invited people can enter, similar to a private server opened for a specific player group. Moreover, data doesn't need to be uploaded to the Brainiac network, but can be completely localized."

"What's the benefit for Brainiac then?"

"No harm to him either, because the servers need to be built by players themselves, Brainiac only provides creativity and technology. All implementation aspects must be completed by the players."

"Won't this be a bit too bold?" Pamela worried, "Can players really complete it? Won't things go wrong?"

"The player group certainly needs screening, currently only internal invitation slots." Tim crossed one leg over the other, then said, "And to let them experience the game, Brainiac has already prepared the Mist Realm system for our universe, and I've also invited some players."

"Wasn't it supposed to check on Dr. Manhattan?" Harley said, "I thought we were going to his amusement park to play."

"His amusement park hasn't opened service yet, you didn't know?" Pamela also grabbed a bag of chips, chewing while saying, "After we went to play once last time, it blew up, and it's still not repaired."

"That's because his skills are lacking." Harley said without a hint of self-awareness, "When opening service, he should have anticipated someone like Lucifer coming. He prepared inadequately, so blowing up is not unjust."

"Can Brainiac withstand Lucifer then?"

"The professor will definitely be able to stop Lucifer," Tim said with a dismissive lip curl, "Moreover, he definitely has no interest in a fully reality-oriented dungeon, so why would he come? To open a bar?"

Pamela nodded, feeling Tim made sense. Actually, she thought Lucifer wouldn't be very interested in this kind of game. Last time it was purely Anatoly dragging him along, and after playing, he might be even less interested.

"Dr. Manhattan wants to act against this universe, certainly not just for revenge, but also to stop Brainiac from stealing his business. So we need to first promote Brainiac," Tim said, "I've invited several Robins from various universes, they're sufficient."

"Batman agrees too?" Pamela said, somewhat surprised.

"No reason to disagree," Tim said, "In fact, Batman would prefer a completely realistic training ground, which could help him test tactical arrangements. I heard from other universes' Robins that Batman has already sounded out Brainiac several times, asking about our underworld. But unfortunately Brainiac came late, so he doesn't know."

"The underworld can indeed play a greater role in Batman's hands, rather than like our universe where it merely expands residential areas. If we could truly rebuild Gotham City, it would be equivalent to having a mirror redundancy, capable of great effect in crises." Harley said.

"Little Bruce is still quite smart," Tim said, "He knows Batman is the highest-net-worth consumer in the entire universe. If he's willing to pay for something or expend effort, then the Bat family, the Justice League, and indeed all forces on Earth will have to follow his lead. There's no worry about players."

"This is just the first step, right?" Pamela asked, "If it's free creativity and technology, that's only earning reputation. What does he plan to develop?"

"Of course it's the multiversal communication system, that's the forte of electronic life," Tim said, "His goal is to collect all the Brainiacs from all universes for himself, then form a multiversal communication network, completely monopolizing the multiversal communication industry."

"Perhaps there's also a multiversal media network?" Harley said, "The Combat Realm's communication system is actually not bad, but its social and entertainment attributes are lacking, and the requirements are too many and too troublesome."

As the Combat Realm became more regulated, restrictions also increased. For example, teleportation landing points—this is not allowed, that is not allowed. New teleportation permits are hard to obtain, old ones need relocation. Many players also complain.

Communication system restrictions are also quite strict. Cannot send images or videos, no real-time video calls, voice calls have some delay. Basically only the text message system runs smoothly.

Actually those entertainment functions aren't impossible to make, but now the Combat Realm system is already bloated. Expanding communication to perfection would require increasing maintenance staff, but new hires aren't that easy to find. Even angels are barely sufficient.

Brainiac is precisely the most suitable to eat this meal. He is an electronic lifeform, he can maintain himself, and he's naturally best at optimizing programs. Once he devours all the Brainiacs of the multiverse, the multiverse will come alive. All single universes will seem to be operating within his body.

The information they transmit is the electrical signals within Brainiac's body, their will jointly constituting Brainiac's brain. At that time, the multiverse will be Brainiac, and Brainiac will be the multiverse.

Of course, to realize such an ambition requires a very long time. Currently the small goal is to first get the Mist Realm for attracting popularity done, and settle Batman this big client.

So-called wanting to win over parents, first win over the children. Tim used his connections to call in some Robins. Let the Robins test the waters first, naturally Batman will see the value of this system.

"I'm more curious how Brainiac did it," Harley said, "Building a world in an electronic system isn't hard, but how to load it onto the real world? Can this be done?"

"Since it's called Mist Realm, naturally Professor Xilei helped," Tim said, "Professor Xilei has the Grey Lantern Ring, whose ability happens to be 'turning the illusory into the real', similar to turning thoughts into reality. Brainiac utilized the Grey Lantern Beast Mist Dragon to achieve the construction and loading of the Mist Realm."

"Now I understand," Harley suddenly realized, she sipped her coffee and said, "Professor Xilei actually has quite an interest in this. Is this his plan?"

"You're overthinking it. The professor never had any plan. Although he didn't state the true purpose, but I and Brainiac both feel he can't stand the delay in the Combat Realm communication."

"Truly like him," Pamela commented, "He's the kind of person who would overhaul the entire Earth's power grid just to watch TV better."

"Bang"—the door was opened again. Dick walked in with several people, namely Cassandra, Blue Beetle Ted, and Heavenly Lily Lilith. These are all first-years from Mercury Academy, now mostly working on Krypton.

"I'm here," Dick said. Several people again urgently shouted at him to close the door. But just this short while, the chips placed on the table became visibly soggy to the naked eye.

Several people sat down. Blue Beetle looked at Tim and said, "Brainiac said someone wants to frame and harm me, how's the investigation going?"

"Most likely Dr. Manhattan, but there's no evidence. Your two power forms are indeed somewhat similar."

"But I have evidence." Ted directly produced the Blue Beetle, "Blue Beetle is a technological construct, Brainiac can read its logs. Given Brainiac's ability, he should be able to tell we haven't used shapeshifting abilities."

"No need," Tim waved his hand, "You and Cobpot have no grudge, no motive at all, never been on my suspicion list. Moreover, in dealing with Dr. Manhattan, whether there's evidence or not doesn't matter."

Ted raised his eyebrows, he didn't expect Tim to be this attitude. Tim glanced at everyone, then said, "Factional struggles between multiverses have no justice or evil to speak of. If Dr. Manhattan looks like a villain, then Brainiac isn't?"

"Even, to prevent multiversal disasters, having to strengthen control over each universe's Batman, doesn't that also look like that kind of interfering tyrant? Such matters have never had right or wrong, only who strikes first prospers, who strikes later suffers."