[{"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-975":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},2323543,4544,"Chapter 975","my-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel-chapter-975",975,"\u003Cp>When Batman went to get rice, he kept staring at the place where Alfred was, hoping his butler would glance at him, but Alfred, who had always cared for him with meticulous attention in the manor, now acted as if he didn’t recognize him at all, eating while chatting merrily with demons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several strong old miner demons sat with the overseer; the group was chatting enthusiastically, and soon Schiller and the overseer Batman had previously known joined them—a table of seven or eight demons and two humans, creating a bustling, feast-like commotion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The food in the bowl was unremarkable—boiled vines and two pieces of strange roasted wild meat; the taste wasn’t good, but edible. Batman ate while keeping his eyes fixed on the other side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A clatter rang out as utensils were set down on the table. Batman turned to see Merkel, who was also twisting his neck to stare straight across. Before Batman could speak, Merkel sighed first and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’ve been mining all morning and still can’t figure out how Mr. Pennyworth ended up with them. Mr. Wayne, did you see how?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Call me Batman.” Batman turned, glanced around, lowered his voice slightly, and asked: “How did you get here? Where’s Zatanna?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Miss Zatanna opened a portal, then—well—she fainted from exhaustion. Mr. Alfred took her upstairs to rest in the manor. We two entered the portal and ended up here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Weren’t you captured by that giant sandworm?” Batman asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Merkel shook his head. “Our landing spot wasn’t far from here—a cave underground. Seeing signs of habitation, Mr. Alfred led me over.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Were you looking for me and Schiller?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“At first, yes. But later, Mr. Alfred seemed to have other things he wanted to do, so we stayed here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Merkel finished speaking, a black tendril stretched toward him from his side. He started to rise, but Batman turned and said: “Liu Jiao, I was just looking for you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Jiao slowly drifted over. In clearer light, he looked like a ball of twisted black vines—not so much a demon monster as a plant that had gained sentience. Seeing Batman’s gaze, Liu Jiao lowered his eyes, inspected himself, and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What’s so surprising? Shadow monsters are just the most common cave plants—shadow vines—that awakened consciousness. Oh right, you just arrived in Hell, so you probably don’t know…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Jiao used a tendril to pull over a chair and sat down, then tossed a piece of meat into his mouth. Batman couldn’t see where his mouth was, but the meat vanished into the center of the tendril mass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is he your friend?” Liu Jiao rolled his eyes toward Merkel, who still watched the creature warily. Batman nodded, then looked at the tendrils and asked: “How’s your wound?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your healing magic worked wonders—the pain is gone. But…” Liu Jiao waved a tendril, then sighed. “Never mind.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Batman wanted to press further, but at that moment, he saw Alfred on the other side rise and leave. A moment later, Schiller followed. They were probably meeting up.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Batman and Merkel both stood, intending to follow, but the overseers had finished eating and turned their attention back to them. Batman and Merkel knew they couldn’t act rashly, so they sat back down and resumed eating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After a while, lunch ended. On the way back to the mine, Schiller slowed his pace and walked beside Batman, leaving only one sentence: “Midnight tonight. Abandoned mine shaft halfway up the mountain.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After another afternoon of labor, Batman began slacking off too—but he didn’t steal ore from other demons. Instead, he piled heavy rock fragments at the bottom of his basket.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Schiller was responsible for transporting the ore carts, but his attention wasn’t on them at all. Batman carried a full basket that looked impressively productive—no sign of slacking—but when he dumped it into the cart, the bottom layer was entirely rock debris.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Schiller glanced at the slag in the cart and raised an eyebrow at Batman. Batman heard him murmur: “Pity—you’ve already graduated. Otherwise, I’d have given you two extra points.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Batman shook his head as he walked back. “If I hadn’t graduated, you’d have deducted two points.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At midnight, Batman quietly moved aside his straw mat and began studying the crack in the wall. He suspected it might be a trap set by the demons, so he didn’t act rashly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>First, he swept away loose stones with his hands, feeling the airflow inside. Then he held his torch over the crack and looked down—there truly seemed to be a passage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Judging by the direction and strength of the airflow, there was definitely an exit on the other side, the path wasn’t rugged, and the opening had no cover.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That meant the exit’s location was inherently concealed—no extra barriers were needed to hide the opening, yet the airflow remained so strong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Batman first used his armored fingers to widen the crack slightly, then held his torch inside and saw clearly—the tunnel’s end pointed toward the opposite mountain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Batman recalled the full layout of the mine from earlier. He calculated the tunnel’s distance and realized the exit should lie directly behind the right rear of the mine’s fortress, at the mountain’s base.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The spot was exposed, with no cover—but almost no one ever went there. The nearby smaller mountain was too far, separated by erupting smoke vents; guards couldn’t possibly see activity here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After discovering this, Batman began digging. The previous miner who dug this tunnel had clearly intended easy passage—the entrance was loosely packed. A few light shovels cleared half of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After crawling into the tunnel, Batman filled the entrance with earth again, then reached out one hand to pull the straw mat over the hole to conceal it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After he left, several black tendrils stretched over, swept away the loose soil from digging, then silently retracted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Emerging from the cave at the mountain’s base, Batman found a winding, hidden path and began climbing toward the halfway point. As soon as he entered the abandoned mine shaft, he saw Schiller already waiting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Batman was about to speak when Alfred entered, leading Merkel and carrying two torches. Merkel fixed them in place, and for the first time, light pierced the darkness of the abandoned mine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing everyone had arrived, Batman cleared his throat—but no one paid attention. Schiller stood first, stepped forward, and shook Alfred’s hand. “Hello, comrade.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alfred removed his hat and replied to Schiller: “Hello, comrade. I am Big, an operative of the First Directorate of the Soviet State Security Committee. I convey greetings from Moscow.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Merkel stepped forward and shook Schiller’s hand again. “Specially contracted member of the Fifth Directorate of the Soviet State Security Committee, Oliver…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Schiller nodded, glanced at them both, and said: “For security reasons, I cannot reveal my real name or rank. But please believe—we are all fighting for the cause of communism.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, Mr. Rodriguez, Moscow has sent a telegram affirming your revolutionary leadership in Central America.” Alfred placed his hat on the table, and both men sat down. Alfred continued: “Comrade Vasilievich has expressed approval and praise for your achievements in Central America.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In his personal letter, he called you the eternal friend of the Mexican people, the banner once again flying over the soil of the Americas.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Schiller shook his head. “We all know there is no savior. Revolution is inevitable, spontaneous—it needs no glorious, great leader. This is the will of the Mexican people, the will of the land of the Americas…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“On that land teeming with endless evil, the Mexican people have been silent too long. A single spark is enough to ignite the entire soil of Central America. They need only a passerby to guide them onto the right path—not a leader. That’s why I never stepped forward.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Regardless, Comrade Schiller, you have achieved the unprecedented, injecting fresh blood into the heart of Moscow.” Alfred’s expression was solemn.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Schiller shook his head again. “The communist cause has no heart. Here, every comrade, every idealist, every person who has walked this path—or still walks it—is an indispensable vein.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Batman saw Alfred’s brow gradually relax. Schiller continued: “Comrade Alfred, I know that at one time, you questioned certain pioneers on this path. But that’s entirely normal.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“On the path of exploration, we always face confusion. Someone will always voice disagreement, veer onto another fork. But if you never take a step, you’ll remain forever still.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t feel disappointed because of others’ mistakes. Rather, your confusion and disorientation precisely because you disagree with them proves you still remain faithful to your original ideals.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Believe me—the veins that have always surged forward have never stopped moving.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Perhaps the heart that once beat most fiercely is no longer young, like the people of that era—some wavered, some aged.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But new blood will always join. A young, vibrant heart will beat anew on fresh soil.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Schiller’s tone remained calm, as if stating a fact. But Batman had never seen such emotion on Alfred’s face—he even saw his old butler’s eyes begin to glisten with tears.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Batman had never witnessed such passion in this old man. He was always mild, slow, like an ancient tree at life’s end—twisted, gnarled, every vein a story.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But today, Batman saw new life on the branches of that old tree—or rather, the blood, long hidden beneath layers of ancient bark, surging back up from within.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Alfred stood, shook Schiller’s hand again, and both men remained silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Batman clearly saw—they needed only one glance to speak of decades of world-shaking upheaval, of life’s turbulent rises and falls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Between their souls pulsed a force Batman couldn’t comprehend, making them brighter, more vibrant than the rising sun—even here in Hell, surrounded by demons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Merkel seemed moved too. He fell silent beside Batman. After a long stillness in the abandoned mine, Schiller and Alfred opened their mouths at the same time—and stopped at the same moment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You go first.” Schiller gestured. But Alfred shook his head. “No, you go first. I believe your rank is higher than mine, and your achievements surpass mine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Schiller didn’t refuse. He nodded, stood, and said: “Now we have three people—we can form a provisional command. Let me briefly outline the spirit of this operation.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The land of Hell has endured ten thousand years of change. The people of Hell have suffered endless hardship. Demon lords are mountains crushing the heads of ordinary Hell-dwellers.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“We, as oppressed, exploited, yet tenacious and defiant commoners of Hell, must fight the stubborn old forces to the end!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Schiller stood, gazing at the smoke rising beyond the ruined cavern. His voice echoed through the mountains:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“All oppressed people of Hell, all exploited and abused lower races, all demons who have suffered injustice—unite! We shall make the ten thousand miles of Hell dare to change its sky!”\u003C\u002Fp>",1800,"2026-06-20T16:39:22.658Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","12d8819258bec5b7b7c37c8201533f41541df19b7032661a411e86f38fc20d42","my-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel-chapter-976","my-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel-chapter-974",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fmy-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel-cover.jpg"]