Chapter 4932: There Is No Batman Here (Thirty-Seven)

After coming back online, the Robins of the main universe were somewhat dazed, but they still immediately cared about Brainiac's situation. It wasn't that they had any sympathy for this evil artificial intelligence; mainly, they were afraid the game would crash again, trapping them all inside.

"I'm fine," Brainiac replied, "the test can continue. The second attack counts as everyone passing. Settlement and reward distribution are underway."

The Robins breathed a sigh of relief. Actually, the second attack hadn't gone smoothly for them either; by the end, they could barely hold on. Those anti-cavalry obstacles outside were almost completely destroyed—if they hadn't disconnected, the monsters likely would have stormed in. That would have been fine too.

But Nightwing quickly recalled that earlier guess, saying: "If the monster at Wayne Tower was dealt with not by a boss but by a real Batman, how should we contact him?"

"Of course we find Charles," Damian said, "he can contact all players."

"I'm afraid not," Red Robin shook his head, saying, "Charles won't easily connect to Batman's brainwaves. That's dangerous. Batman wouldn't like him doing that. It would cause conflict between the two sides. We should..."

He hadn't finished speaking when Charles appeared again in the base, saying: "I've found a Batman among the players. I've already contacted him. Let's meet at Viscount Manor."

The Robins all widened their eyes. Now there are only two possibilities: one is that this is an atypical Batman—someone without much paranoia, with a relatively cheerful personality. The other is an Arkham-style Batman, where the desire for combat and victory overrides all paranoia; as long as results are achieved, reading brainwaves isn't unacceptable.

The Robins instinctively felt it was the latter, because this Batman really did take down monsters too fast. Those two monsters' skill sets coordinated, yet he still knocked them both out with a single glance. Could the main universe Batman have found another ace?

The main universe Robins tidied up, didn't even have time to look at the rewards, and rushed off to Viscount Manor in a hurry. At this point, other teams were basically also heading to Viscount Manor. No need to say more—although the attack was considered over, that outer god still hadn't been dealt with, their battle plan hadn't been executed, and they still had to keep fighting.

As soon as the main universe Robins arrived, they saw Batman standing in the shadow of Viscount Manor. Just one glance, and the Robins knew: this was indeed the classic Batman, and very likely from the Dark Universe.

Actually, unlike many people's impressions, the main universe Batman of the New 52 isn't that dark. On one hand, he debuted young—maybe just in his early thirties. On the other hand, in his characterization, the depiction of dark intimidation isn't extensive; his dark aura isn't strong, with more maturity and elegance.

Whereas those Batman figures in popular stereotypes—deeply suffering, utterly blackened to the core—are mostly from the Dark Universe. For example, that bunch from the original Dark Knight Squadron, or, say, the prototype of this Batman, Black Return. These Batmen, at a glance, are filled with a dense dark aura, almost becoming incarnations of resentment.

The Robins still remember that the main universe Batman recently complained about insufficient manpower. After all, they're working on multiple fronts, and no matter how many people they have, it's never enough. Maybe the Light Universe has been pretty much exhausted, so they can only go to the Dark Universe to try their luck.

Seeing this scene, the Robins shoved each other, nobody really wanting to go in. Such a dark Batman is really hard to get along with. Even if the Robins are little birds under Batman's wings, getting slapped to the ground by a Batman's wing isn't unheard of. After being beaten by the Arkham Batman, beaten by the Hangman, beaten again by the Hangman, they still have to be beaten by this kind of dark Batman. They just want to find a powerful and respectable teacher and father figure, but they can't have fathers everywhere in life.

By contrast, the people of this universe have already learned to ignore Batman. Because in this universe, most people's ecological niches are positioned opposite to Batman. As for Bruce Wayne's dry affairs, they go to the multiverse, mix in with superheroes, and it's also quite awkward. Better to just not mention this topic, and everyone stays fine.

However, what surprised the people of this universe was that the Arrogant team actually came. You know, Professor plays games and is also a homebody—not that he doesn't go out, but he tries to avoid socializing as much as possible. Besides, that outer god can't possibly wander to his house no matter how it roams; even if it did, it's unclear who would win or lose, so he has absolutely no need to come over.

"That's clearly aimed at Batman," Pamela whispered, "this Batman also looks like he has a story. The Professor might want to give him psychological treatment."

"No way," Tim said, not denying it, just sighing, "if this keeps up, we'll become the multiverse's sole designated mental illness treatment center."

"I suspect the Professor also got infected with the Joker virus," Harley said, "to be precise, it's not suspicion—I'm sure he was infected. Wherever he goes, he's giving Batman psychological treatment."

"But that's not wrong either," Lilith said, "don't you have to deal with Batman first no matter which universe you go to? Besides, this Batman's purpose is unclear and he comes with ill intent; the Professor shouldn't feel at ease letting us contact him."

Pamela nodded. Arrogant is indeed a homebody and does nothing unless something happens. But he still cares about his juniors; he's one of the few who can motivate him to leave the house.

As always, Arrogant walked in holding his umbrella, glanced at Batman standing in the stairwell shadow, and slightly narrowed his eyes. The Robins got excited.

"Here he comes," Tim said, pulling Red Robin to sit down, "the wonders of psychoanalysis."

"What do you guys think the Professor's first line will be?"

"I think we should guess when this Batman will say 'Enough.'"

"He can still hold out for a while. Especially since he's from the Dark Universe, he won't be so easily broken through."

"You're wrong about that. The more suffering and resentful someone is, the less they can persist. I bet within half an hour."

"You're being too generous with the Professor—half an hour counts as a bet? Why don't you bet a year instead?"

"You just don't get it—before the Professor speaks, he sways for a relatively long time; how could he not need to ruminate? And Brainiac will definitely help Batman, after all, Batman can help him deal with Dr. Manhattan, whereas the Professor might not intervene..."

Just as they were discussing, Arrogant suddenly turned a corner and went to sit on the sofa. The Robins in a row all snapped their heads to look at him, their expressions all saying "Just this?"

"What's the situation?" Pamela's eyes darted left and right, "Has the Professor's Joker illness finally been cured?"

"I don't know who to thank," Harley said, "Hallelujah."

"I think it's impossible," Tim said, "you guys haven't forgotten—there are so many Robins here. Those Dark Universe Batmen are especially crazy; if they really got stimulated, they wouldn't care about letting or not letting teammates fight. The Professor might be worried he'll go mad here and hurt us."

This logic convinced everyone. The main universe Robins also sighed a bit. In the situation of Batman facing Shiler, this dangerous element, their first reaction was actually whether Shiler would let Batman off. This seems like something's off, but again, nothing's actually off.

This is just a small interlude, and it ended quickly. They still needed to first discuss what just happened. Everyone gathered around the battle table, saying their reasoning one by one.

The general context of the matter is now clear—basically, Dr. Manhattan gave Brainiac a sneak attack. Now the main focus is on Dr. Manhattan's strength and Brainiac's strength.

"What are dominion particles?" Nightwing couldn't help but ask, "I remember I heard Batman say something similar before. Is it really that powerful?"

"Dr. Manhattan's strength lies in him being a quantum existence. Everything related to him cannot be directly observed." Batman spoke in that low tone, "Investigation is a very difficult matter."

"The key issue is that Brainiac is an artificial intelligence. He actually has no way to trigger the observer effect."

Tim and Red Robin exchanged a glance. Observer effect is already old news. But how exactly AI and quantum mechanics should combine—currently, no one has researched it. Because even if you add up both major worlds, the number of entities that could qualify as electronic life might be fewer than one can count on one hand.

Like next door's Ultron—don't look at how almost every universe has one, but most can only be called robots with some self-consciousness. The distance to truly stepping onto a path of electronic life is still far. Zero Ultron, Overlord, Jarvis, Brainiac—just these few, considered to have explored a path electronic life can evolve along. Even Gao Zhihui doesn't count.

And quantum mechanics, in fact, is a discipline developed from the perspective of carbon-based life. Its observer effect, moreover, is grounded in humanity itself. No one has ever heard of someone writing a piece of code to let AI observe particles.

The kind of code humans write doesn't even possess the so-called observational capability. Who would have thought that someone as powerful as Brainiac actually can't trigger the observer effect? Is this a privilege God gave to carbon-based life?

"Brainiac has hope," Charles said, "when I previously interacted with him, I found he already had some differences from ordinary AI. What I accessed wasn't just his program—it can also be called brainwaves. If given more time to evolve, he will certainly be able to shed the identity of a pure logic-based lifeform."

"It seems Dr. Manhattan also doesn't want Brainiac to have the ability to observe him; otherwise, it would be too passive." Tim said, pursing his lips, "What about Batman? What does Batman say?"

Everyone turned to look at Batman.

"If Batman intends to give up on Brainiac, I wouldn't be here." Batman, as always, used that resolute tone, "In Batman's view, Dr. Manhattan is far more dangerous than Brainiac."

"Why?" Tim pressed. In his view, Dr. Manhattan and Brainiac's threat levels are actually similar. Dr. Manhattan's upper limit might be higher, but Brainiac is really hard to kill. One could even survive hiding inside a flashlight.

From this incident, Dr. Manhattan went around in such a big circle, expended so much effort, just to paralyze this universe's Brainiac for a short while—indeed, not even affecting his game test. Although it looks like Dr. Manhattan held back to avoid drawing suspicion, Brainiac is truly hard to kill.

"Batman prefers to look at evidence." Batman said, "What has already happened is that Brainiac has done very well in this universe—better than Batman, even—so much so that he can be called flawless."

"But the Earth rulers that Dr. Manhattan once supported and allowed to run rampant are far inferior to Brainiac. Humans haven't gotten the life they wanted under his hand. Brainiac has almost already realized the ideal society."

"Batman isn't arrogant. His judgment standard carries no bias. Although one can assume Brainiac can't maintain this level indefinitely and make certain precautions, that doesn't mean denying his historical achievements or his governance level."

"If one must choose between these two, Batman would lean toward the one with prior success experience—currently, looking at goals and behavior, the more stable and mature Brainiac."