[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-my-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel":3,"chapter-my-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel-my-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel-chapter-947":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","My Life as a Mental Mentor in Marvel",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2323515,4544,"Chapter 947","my-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel-chapter-947",947,"\u003Cp>Zatanna tilted her head and looked at Batman: “That’s right—the entrance marker is obvious. If you check every room, you’ll find it eventually.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Batman recalled the building’s map in his mind and said: “Forget whether there are other secrets in this building or how to deal with the psychotic killer Shiler constantly hunting us—do you even know how many floors and rooms this structure has?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How many?” Zatanna asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If that map is accurate, the building has nine floors, each with at least ten patient rooms, plus functional rooms, storage closets, and tool rooms—we’d need to check over a hundred rooms just to have a chance of finding the exit.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s not so many,” Zatanna shrugged. “It’s not a skyscraper with hundreds or thousands of rooms. Besides, the rooms here are simple—just open the door and glance inside. No need to go in. Checking a hundred rooms shouldn’t take more than a few hours.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then we might need to consider the fact that the one constantly hunting us—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Batman stopped mid-sentence as all three heard the “tap-tap-tap” sound echoing from the stairwell. After a brief pause, they moved in perfect unison, sprinting forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Honestly, can’t we try to defeat him?” Constantine said as he ran. “I think the three of us together shouldn’t be too hard.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“True, we have a chance of success,” Batman replied while running. “But you must consider the consequences of failure.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That group of Shilers in the Mind Palace—no one knows where they went, but they could return at any moment. If we’re delayed and Shiler’s main force finds us, what do you think happens then?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Constantine opened his mouth to reply, but Zatanna cut in: “We can’t outrun him! Prepare for the fire circle!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a wave of her hand, another circus fire ring appeared before her. The three leapt in succession; the ring vanished, reappearing in another empty room. Zatanna gasped for breath: “My teleportation range is shrinking—it’s draining too much power. I can only do this three more times before I can’t cast it again…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Batman spoke: “I think your method has merit. We no longer have time to search slowly for clues.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Brute force isn’t unusable…” Batman walked to the table beside the room’s bed, pulled out the notebook from the cookie box, flipped to a blank page, and began sketching the building’s layout.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The map I saw depicted the ward structure: essentially, the building is C-shaped, with stairwells at both ends and patient rooms in the middle.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Because the building is old, each floor’s layout is likely nearly identical—but the map had a note taped beside it: showers on the third floor, cafeteria on the first—probably to help new staff find their way.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When I arrived in this space, I was born inside the very room where Shiler was. There was no exit there. That means Shiler doesn’t resist returning to his own room. If he doesn’t resist returning to his own, he’s even less likely to resist entering someone else’s.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Batman marked an X on the building layout he’d just drawn and continued: “If patient rooms are unlikely, then other functional rooms are more probable.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“First, the follow-up room isn’t the correct exit—which means other rooms with similar functions, like treatment rooms, probably aren’t either.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How can you be sure the follow-up room you found isn’t the exit, so none of the others are?” Constantine asked, staring at the sketch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We’re not trying to deduce the correct location all at once. We rank possibilities by probability and start checking from the most likely. That’s how brute force works correctly.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before the other two could speak, Batman continued on his own:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Based on our current clues, Shiler’s medical records state that after each episode, he’s taken to an observation room. That’s the only other room explicitly tied to him besides the follow-up room—so it’s the most likely. We check it first.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Second, other living spaces—cafeteria, showers, activity rooms, reading rooms, study rooms—come next.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Follow-up rooms are ruled out; similar rooms like treatment rooms and prep rooms come third.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Patient rooms, the most numerous but least likely, come fourth.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We must search in this order to find the exit room as quickly as possible.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zatanna glanced at Batman, then looked away. “Bruce, you’ve changed a lot.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Enough with the sentimental talk,” Constantine said, eyeing Batman’s map. “Let’s try it this way. I’ve got a bad feeling things are getting worse.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was right. Since the restraint gown—the weak point of this memory space—was taken, the entire space had grown darker and more oppressive. Before, some rooms on each floor still glowed with light; now, all were pitch black.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just then, the “tap-tap” sound returned. Zatanna widened her eyes: “That’s impossible—my teleportation range is at least four floors. How could he get here so fast?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I told you—things are getting worse,” Constantine said, his hand glowing faintly. “Either he’s speeding up, or he’s gained tracking ability. While he hasn’t arrived yet, let’s go.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The three burst from the room—only to find the pitch-black corridor filled with countless tentacle-like tendrils emerging from the thick darkness: the restraint gown’s straps, now like demonic hands reaching from an endless abyss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Constantine waved his hand—a magical shield appeared, just barely blocking two lashing straps. Zatanna stepped back, preparing to cast another fire ring, but Batman stopped her and said to Constantine: “Don’t fight—get away first!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Constantine fired several beams of light, momentarily halting Shiler’s assault. The three sprinted down the corridor again until the metallic “clack-clack” faded, then slowed their pace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“According to the map’s labels, the observation room should be on the top floor. Shiler’s downstairs—we’ll go up first.” Batman walked toward the stairwell. The three reached the ninth floor and found the observation room at the end of the corridor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a pitch-black room—though all rooms were dark now. This one differed: no windows, only a small observation slit in the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The floor, walls, and ceiling were all plastic. The lights were circular safety lamps embedded in the ceiling. Only one chair stood in the center, bolted to the floor, its metal rings designed to secure the restraint gown’s buckles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the darkness, Batman seemed to see Shiler, clad in the restraint gown, strapped to the chair, head tilted up, staring directly at the overhead light.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, Batman felt an unprecedented pang—as if he’d glimpsed his own future on some timeline.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A man born mad is tragic. His world differs from others’. To tame himself enough to blend into ordinary society, he must break his bones, peel his skin, drain his blood, and rebuild himself entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to him, those born into ordinary society, living calm, sane lives, are undeniably lucky.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, ordinary people letting themselves slip into madness are trampling underfoot what others dream of but can never attain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that instant, Batman understood why Shiler sometimes radiated hostility toward him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If those memories were true, then perhaps they embodied the saying: one madman strives to become ordinary, while one ordinary man lets himself become mad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Batman saw Shiler seated, gazing upward at the light—as if staring at the moon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps then, he never imagined he’d one day meet a bat, ignoring the perfect moon, diving straight into the abyss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, Batman’s mind lit up—he found the answer he’d come here seeking: What did Shiler fear most?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Gotham incidents Shiler subtly orchestrated yet always won—those killers in his dreams, the Joker who appeared and vanished just in time, the words Shiler spoke in the church…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Batman didn’t know if Shiler created these events, spoke these words, forced him to learn—because he didn’t want this absurd world to produce another madman, strapped to a chair, staring at the moon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps if Batman ever truly laughed from madness, it wouldn’t just be the Joker who felt sick and shattered—but also some ordinary man born mad.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He heard the answer in his heart—but it flashed and vanished, leaving no deep impression in his memory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It wasn’t like before, when he’d vowed to preserve the answer somewhere absolutely safe, even if the world collapsed and his soul shattered, so he’d never forget.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hard-won answer drifted past like a crumpled paper ball tossed on a parabola, landing forgotten in a corner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before turning to leave, Batman glanced once more at the chair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where Zatanna and Constantine couldn’t see, Batman, hidden in darkness, strained every facial muscle, exerting great effort, and forced out a grotesque, ugly smile.\u003C\u002Fp>",1416,"2026-06-20T16:39:22.658Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","947255694b31ba3e92f152dd6108aba1a2a5db51177c7806384bac5420c2e729","my-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel-chapter-948","my-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel-chapter-946",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fmy-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel-cover.jpg"]