Chapter 990: Battle for the High Tower (25)

Although Batman felt that this must be some kind of plan of Shiler's again, he still had to save Shiler, because the one who caught Shiler was General Fuxin, and he would have to deal with General Fuxin sooner or later.

And Shiler's weak state earlier left a shadow in his heart. He did not know what was going on with Shiler's inexplicable state later, nor did he know whether this state would affect his performance when facing a powerful demon general.

Merkel immediately wanted to rush into the tunnel and confront General Fuxin head-on, but Batman held him back. He said in a deep voice: "Now is not a good time to chase. General Fuxin must not have come alone. If we go over, we will just fall into the encirclement of the army."

"But... but..." Merkel stomped his feet somewhat anxiously. He gritted his teeth and said: "It's all my fault. If I hadn't cut down that broccoli, Mr. Shiler's allergy wouldn't have been so severe!"

"Do you really think his current state is entirely due to allergies?" Batman asked while pulling Merkel back.

Merkel opened his mouth, but still said somewhat hesitantly: "I cannot reveal the employer's privacy... well, the situation is special now. Don't you think Mr. Shiler has become a bit more... um, how should I put it? More crazy?"

Batman looked at him, and Merkel said to himself: "When I first met Mr. Shiler, I discovered that he was a somewhat rigid, taciturn, but very reliable person. I have seen many such gentlemen in England."

"He is a lover of detective literature, likes to set up various puzzles, and then solve them himself. Occasionally, he also needs me to solve them, but I always break through with violence. I really didn't expect him to be able to tolerate me for so long."

"Although he looks somewhat serious, his temper is not strange, and his interaction with everyone is very measured. But..." Merkel paused, seeming not to know if it was a bit inappropriate to talk about his employer behind his back like this, but he still said: "Haven't you noticed? Mr. Shiler's mental state has become increasingly unstable."

"This broccoli incident is just the fuse for the outbreak. Before this, there were many precursors." Merkel shook his head and said.

Batman recalled carefully, and he found that it was indeed the case. When he first started dealing with Shiler, although Shiler was a fairly responsible teacher, he was also about the same as most university teachers. He came to class and left after class, almost having no communication with any students.

Batman remembered that during the first semester, he deliberately made his grades very poor, but Shiler did not care. In the second semester, he deliberately completed all the credits for a subject, creating a feeling that he was cheating, consolidating his playboy persona, but Shiler did not say anything either.

However, he only enjoyed himself for these two years. Starting from his junior year, Shiler did not know why he began to grasp grades strictly. Not only Bruce Wayne's grades, but other students were also tortured to death by him.

Logically speaking, freshman and sophomore years are the most critical time to lay the foundation. There is no reason to let students be loose at this time, and only think of grasping grade points when the courses are almost learned and they are about to intern.

And by his senior year, things became even more uncontrollable. Shiler had a mysterious obsession with papers. In the process of discussing papers with Shiler, Batman found that he appeared somewhat paranoid, often grabbing Batman to modify for several hours because of punctuation, paragraphs, and wording problems.

At that time, Batman thought that Shiler did not want him to be a street hero, so he did this.

But later, he found out that Shiler did not just ruin him alone. He almost used up all his rest time to engage in such long mutual torture with every student who could write a paper.

This was indeed mutual torture, because not only Batman knew, but Shiler and the students themselves also knew that they could not embark on such a professional path. They did not have this talent, nor would they be willing to put in more effort for this. There was absolutely no possibility of any achievement, but Shiler still had to use that ridiculously high professional level to require them. This actually had no meaning at all.

Although Batman could not be sure that he was sick, he was very sure that Shiler was sick.

At present, it seems that it should be more of a manifestation of the autism spectrum, but from time to time it will also be accompanied by some obsessive-compulsive manifestations of anxiety attacks.

Has Shiler's mental illness worsened? Batman thought about this question while walking back. Although it is said that a doctor cannot treat himself, there should be no events that would cause Shiler's mental state to continuously deteriorate.

However, he agreed with one point Merkel said, that is, the broccoli incident caused Shiler to be so weak, which was not an accident.

It is very likely that the mental pressure accumulated over a long period of time broke out at a node, causing Shiler to have a very serious stress reaction, which would cause him to have such a serious externalization manifestation.

Thinking of this, Batman quickened his pace and returned to the mine tunnel where troops were stationed with Merkel, explaining the situation they just saw to Alfred.

Alfred nodded and said: "Indeed, we must seize the time to deal with General Fuxin. As long as he is in the mine for one day, we cannot steadily develop our forces."

"Now, the overall situation in the Underworld is changing rapidly. Belial did not adopt the strategy of vertical and horizontal alliances we imagined, but declared war on several surrounding countries at the same time. Not all generals agree with this decision, and the internal situation is becoming increasingly tense."

"Only in troubled times can one become a king. We must seize this opportunity." Alfred looked at Batman and said: "This may be the only time you can personally participate in a regular large-scale group army operation. For anyone who needs to study military theory, this is an opportunity that cannot be sought."

Batman nodded, obviously also knowing the importance of this war. The three people present knew very well that what demons are like actually has nothing to do with humans. They have no matter how great a holy heart, what they want to liberate is all mankind, not the whole Underworld or the whole heaven.

But the reason they want to participate in this war is, on one hand, to practice their ideals. Since some things are already impossible in the real world, then changing a way to verify the correctness of their theories is also an excellent opportunity for them to study this theory more deeply and perfect their own thoughts.

On the other hand, it is also to provide Batman with an opportunity to exercise. Although Batman's previous assumptions were a bit like paranoid delusion, after learning about the existence of a more vast world and mysterious magic, Batman had a premonition that sooner or later, he must throw himself into a more vast world and personally experience the magnificent war epic.

By then, practicing would be too late. Once such a disaster befalls mankind, every minute and every second is a critical moment of survival. He must have the ability to make the final decision.

Once Batman made up his mind, almost no one could stop him. He was responsible for strategic planning and tactical arrangement, equivalent to the commander-in-chief of the mine army, while Merkel was responsible for ideological guidance and training, equivalent to the political commissar of the mine army.

Batman originally wanted Alfred to be responsible for ideological guidance, but Alfred shook his head and gave this opportunity to Merkel. He explained it this way: "No matter what, I am a spy. For a long time, my thinking has been more inclined to intelligence warfare."

"It is not that I cannot change the direction of my thinking, but I am worried that there are still unfinished businesses in the real world that need my efforts. Once my way of thinking changes and affects the decision-making of a key decision, it may lead to disastrous consequences."

"Conversely, Merkel has not achieved any outstanding results in espionage. He is more inclined to single-soldier combat, but this just makes him a blank sheet of paper. If he can possess the ability to unite people's hearts in large-scale operations, then it will neither affect his current work nor lay a good foundation for the future."

Batman nodded to show understanding. The old butler had also been brilliant in the past, able to compete on the same stage with Philby. His espionage technology must have been superb. Having done this for half a lifetime, there must be some thinking modes that are solidified, but this is not entirely a bad thing.

Long-term espionage work will train keen intuition and conditioned reflexes. Sometimes, these inadvertent intuitions can save lives.

But if you force yourself to change your thinking mode in a very urgent situation, it is very likely that you will grind away this precious intuition. If you need to use it in the future, it will be troublesome.

Although Batman did not hope at all that Alfred would go to participate in those dangerous jobs, he also knew that he could not stop such people.

Whether it was Merkel or Alfred, after understanding their ideals, Batman knew that he had no chance to persuade them.

Thus, Alfred went to be responsible for logistics. Although demons do not need to eat, drink, or defecate, equipment manufacturing, trap making, and intelligence exploration are also very important. Alfred is also quite proficient in this.

After determining the basic division of labor, the three of them became busy in an orderly manner. Among these three, although Batman did not have much practical experience in strategic and tactical aspects, his theory and wisdom could be called top-notch. Alfred was responsible for logistics. No one would understand logistics better than Batman's butler.

The only thing that was slightly unfamiliar was Merkel. He had no practical experience in ideological guidance, and he was not proficient in training troops. However, fortunately, he learned quickly.

And his good skills and the professional knowledge he had learned in the past allowed him to train his own elite squad. Whether it was used for reconnaissance or combat, it had quite good effects.

The central mine had completely collapsed, but the Second Mountain, Third Mountain, and Fifth Mountain were all connected at present. The Fifth Mountain was the second largest mine, with a very large mine tunnel that could be used for stationing troops and training.

The three mountains united together, and also had greater defensive depth. Batman's set of tunnel warfare tactics, after having more sufficient cooperation and drills, exerted greater effects. Not long after, the Fourth Mountain, which was guarded by a small number of demon soldiers, was also taken down.

However, because the Sixth Mountain and Seventh Mountain were closer to General Fuxin's stationing field, after the central mine incident, the army directly occupied the Sixth Mountain and Seventh Mountain. Among them, the Sixth Mountain still had room for relaxation, but the Seventh Mountain was completely the hardest bone to chew.

That was the location of General Fuxin's castle and the big eyeball. And after Shiler was taken away by General Fuxin, the tunnels they had dug out before were completely destroyed. General Fuxin also set up magic arrays underground to defend against tunnel warfare, and sent heavy troops to guard it, establishing a large defensive camp nearby.

And if attacking the mountain from the ground, one would encounter the same situation as the central mine before. Batman stood in front of the sand table, staring at the location of the Seventh Mountain. After thinking about all the tactics in his mind, he found that there was no shortcut to take the Seventh Mountain.

Then, next, there would be a hard battle to fight. ===== CHAPTER 991 =====