Chapter 4956

When he entered the undersea tunnel, Bruce knew he had to do something. Ever since entering the game, he had never exercised any subjective agency. Although he had tried to faithfully carry out all of Batman's various little habits, in the grand scheme of things it was completely insufficient.

Many dominant Batmen possess natural leadership. In a team they always play the role of leader and decision-maker, even naturally becoming the squad leader, letting everyone follow at their side and listen to their arrangements.

This part is actually the hardest to imitate; Bruce didn't want to overdo it. He needed a suitable entry point, and the moment of entering the undersea tunnel was a good opportunity.

Everyone knew Brainiac wouldn't be kind enough not to arrange any monsters inside the undersea tunnel. Although the tunnel basically had space for four lanes of traffic, it wasn't as spacious as outside. Moreover, the monsters in the South District had mutated; there was bound to be a hard battle inside.

Although Bruce's actual days as Batman weren't long, among the subjects Batman excelled at, the one he was truly best at was actually tactical arrangement. His alley-fighting level was quite good; vehicle combat and gunfights were even better than many Batmen.

Bruce stopped at the entrance and said: "Jason and Dick take point, the two Tims cover the rear flanks with guns. Polaris, don't act blindly; the dark energy those monsters use lies between matter and spirit, neither aspect can be fully guarded against, so you must be careful to maintain your shields properly. Pamela, take the side route..."

With this one round of arrangements, everyone was convinced. Not just because of his Batman identity, but because it genuinely made sense. They had originally thought with Polaris they were already invincible, but the strange dark energy permeating the South District made everyone feel unwell all over, and even Polaris was somewhat hamstrung.

Mutant abilities are strong, but the Black Tide in Batman's heart is one of the universe's fundamental rules; almost no power can completely surpass Batman's dark side. This is suppression at the level of rules.

The few of them entered very cautiously. Inside it was pitch black; clearly the power had not been restored. Polaris placed his hand on the wall, and the lights lit up one by one, but only forty or fifty meters in, the darkness ahead swallowed everything. Polaris said: "There's a strange force here; my ability is being suppressed, and the propagation strength of light has also decreased."

"If only Bruce were here." Tim sighed and said, "The power he uses from Heaven happens to be the nemesis of this dark power. Failing that, he also wields Barbatos's dark power; maybe he could crack this dark power."

"If he were here, we might not all arrive safely." Harley shook her head and said, "If all his wild ideas were unleashed, the East District wouldn't be collapsing only now."

Bruce gritted his teeth inwardly: Talk behind whoever's back when they're not around, huh?

"Bruce is reliable at critical moments." Pamela said a sentence. Bruce immediately nodded vigorously in his heart, but then Pamela added another sentence: "But playing a game definitely doesn't count as a critical moment in his heart; if he came, we'd be in for a world of hurt."

Bruce let out a long sigh in his heart: Raising you lot is worse than raising a piece of char siu!

Actually, compared to other Batmen, Bruce and the Robin of this universe are more like an ordinary father and son. Because Bruce doesn't need to teach them any survival or combat skills, nor take them out at night to fight crime. The thing Bruce worries about most every day is their studies: how classes are going, how homework is going, how relationships with teachers and classmates are...

Moreover, aside from Dick, Jason, and Tim, the slightly younger children were basically all raised by him. For a long stretch of time, Bruce attended parent-teacher conferences at school more diligently than he went to Wayne Enterprises. Finish yours, go to his; finish his, go to hers...

Fortunately, this bunch of teenagers basically all chose to stay local for university; as long as he raised them through high school graduation, the rest could be left to Shiler to worry about.

Thinking like this, they had already walked into the tunnel. Suddenly, Bruce caught sight of that shadow, but when he looked closely, it vanished again. In the mere fraction of a second his gaze turned elsewhere, Bruce discovered he was standing in a damp alley.

"Please." Bruce said in his heart, "This routine again? This cutscene, I've watched hundreds of times in various occasions."

Various villains and illusion masters are like game designers from a tiny workshop with an extremely insufficient budget. One CG animation — play it at the start, play it in the middle, play it at the end. As long as their enemy is Batman, and they want to use a mental attack to deal with him, it's the alley, gunshots, pearl necklace...

They seem trapped in some vicious cycle; as long as the matter involves Batman, they absolutely must play this animation once, or the big event can't end. Even without this type of mental-attack villain, they have to forcibly insert a flashback scene and play this animation once. It's a bit like that 20th Century Fox logo at the start of every movie, or that lion roaring in a circle.

Bruce stood there somewhat speechless, already prepared to watch a panic-stricken little boy run out, then bang bang two gunshots, followed by blood flowing out from the alley entrance. Honestly, Bruce even suspected Batman himself might have become desensitized; the so-called sadness, grief, and loss of control are purely acted out to deceive villains.

But unexpectedly, there was neither a little boy nor gunshots. Bruce felt a shadow cast over his head; he looked up and saw Shiler, holding a black umbrella, face slightly pale, standing on the second-floor balcony.

Bruce's eyes widened instantly. The next second, two batarangs grazed past Shiler's neck, leaving a faint blood mark on the side of his neck. The next second, the boundless Black Tide drowned the entire world.

Bruce startled awake, and almost simultaneously Tim broke free, panting heavily and saying: "What did you see?"

"Oh, what else could you see." Tim shook his head self-mockingly and said, "I'm sorry for what happened to your parents; my condolences."

Bruce opened his mouth but said nothing. He looked at the people around him and immediately saw the tottering Charles; he hurried over to support him.

Charles's eyes were somewhat bloodshot; that layer of gentle mask had been completely torn off, and his blue eyes sunk in blood-red became somewhat eerie.

The next second, a violent mental storm swept across all of Gotham. The few people lying on the ground all woke up, looking somewhat bewildered as they stood up from the ground.

"Did he suppress you?" Bruce asked.

In an instant, Charles took a deep breath: "This power is indeed a bit bizarre; he wanted to pollute my spirit by stirring up my negative emotions; it's truly hard to deal with."

Bruce narrowed his eyes. Charles continued: "This isn't simply Batman's dark side, or pollution from an Outer God; it's more like a combination of both."

"Outer God Batman?"

"No." Charles said, "What dominates isn't an Outer God, but that rule-level dark power. This power has gained an Outer God's pollution ability; the Court of Owls has probably created something extraordinary."

"It's Brainiac." Bruce said. He tilted his head slightly and shouted in his heart: "Brainiac, what the hell are you up to?"

"Not seeing illusions, not being mentally controlled, doesn't mean I can't use this kind of power." Brainiac said, "Precisely because I absolutely won't suffer mental pollution, these powers with a polluting nature become my sharp blade."

"You're simply insane." Bruce shook his head and said.

"That's also being driven insane by Doctor Manhattan." Brainiac didn't yield an inch, "You don't know how strong he is; if we can't find a power to suppress him, everyone will be in danger."

Bruce let out a light sigh; he had to admit Brainiac's thinking was correct. Actually, the one in this world most suited to using Outer God power, and those dark powers that stir up people's dark sides, really is Brainiac.

Other intelligent lifeforms, after prolonged contact with Outer Gods, all get polluted; that Evil God Batman is a very good example. Their entire universe has been in symbiosis with an Outer God; although reason remains, their condition can't be called too good either.

Batman's dark side is even more dangerous. This dark power can awaken the darkest part of a person's heart; anyone who comes into contact with it has the possibility of falling.

Mortals of flesh and blood, wanting to utilize even one of them, must pay an enormous price. Even Batman can only probe slightly and dares not research deeply, let alone combine the two.

Only the electronic lifeform Brainiac — he is currently at an evolutionary stage where he is powerful enough to understand these powers, yet not polluted by them. Neither as rigid as a pure logic lifeform, unable to utilize things without tangible sensation, nor like an emotional lifeform, mostly crashing upon touching such mysterious polluting powers.

So he not only contacted Nya, letting him inject a portion of power into the game system, but possibly even contacted a certain Batman, obtained the dark power from his body, and then combined these two powers together.

This operation is truly no less than when Shiler created Madness Wine back then. Jonathan's mood watching Shiler mix fear toxin and Joker virus together — that's exactly Bruce's mood watching Brainiac mix these two things together — there's actually a time when he calls someone else crazy!

Judging by the current results, the effect is very good; even Charles couldn't guard against this blow. Doctor Manhattan's power is strong, but in terms of mental control, he truly may not win against the God of Mind. This intensity is enough to give Doctor Manhattan a heavy blow.

"Think it through clearly." Bruce continued in his heart, "Once Batman discovers you're playing with this, he will absolutely treat you as the number one arch-enemy. Also I want to ask, which Batman is so bold as to actually give up his own dark side..."

"The Batman Who Laughs."

Bruce fell completely silent.