bookbashuk Chapter 3749 The Perilous Situation of Dark City (2)
Chapter 3749 The Perilous Situation of Dark City (2)
Chapter 3749 The Crisis in Dark City (Part Twelve)
Thinking about the process, Schiller truly felt the difficulty of this instance. This instance demanded an extremely high level of skill from the player. Mere strength wasn't enough, nor was mere intelligence. Not only did one need to be proficient in both martial arts and strategy, but also possess the stamina and willpower for prolonged battles. Even with all of the above, a significant amount of good luck was still required.
Basic combat skills aside, they at least need to find a way to infiltrate the cathedral. They can't overlook crucial information during the search. If they don't know that Batman's body has been contaminated by the Joker's genes, then even if they later find the real Batman's brain and reinstall it, they'll only end up saving the Joker.
Another key challenge is figuring out which is the Joker and which is Batman's mind. This is actually the most difficult part, because not everyone has Schiller's hallucinatory vision.
It's hard for the average person to think of a brain transplant. Even if they could, who could guarantee that Batman's body contains the Joker's brain, while the one in the water tank is Batman's? Even if the Angel of Death isn't dead, he probably won't tell the players. It's up to the players to decide.
There aren't many people who can find this place, and even fewer who can figure it out. Judging from the information from Batman's brain, it seems that only Arkham Batman succeeded.
Even so, he was still forced to place Batman's brain into the contaminated body. This is understandable, given that Batman doesn't kill. He probably didn't kill any of the three people involved—the Angel of Death, Toni, and Ms. Shiva—during the previous events, resulting in a lack of a suitable body after finding Batman's brain, forcing him to make do with the damaged body he had previously possessed.
But this also means that Batman in Arkham at that time desperately needed someone else's help. This proves that he was definitely not in good condition. Either he was injured, or the situation had become so critical that he couldn't handle it alone.
Schiller searched the room and found a portable device, which was probably the preservation device used by the Angel of Death to transport Batman's brain here. It was a box that could hold solutions.
Schiller first poured some of the solution out of the tank, then retrieved Batman's brain and placed it in the box. Although he didn't know the principle behind this peculiar brain-transplant technique, since the Angel of Death had succeeded, there was no reason why he couldn't.
Schiller picked up the box, didn't even glance at the clown's brain in the jar, and quickly left the basement of Arkham Asylum.
As soon as he got back to the ground, Schiller was speechless. The patrol team that had just passed by him was wearing night vision goggles. They didn't have them when he arrived.
This proves that the mastermind discovered his night vision ability. In pursuit of fairness, he added night vision goggles to the airdropped supplies. It's clear he didn't want Schiller to have any peace.
“This is hypocritical fairness,” Schiller thought to himself. “The mastermind saw that I could see in the dark, so he gave the cult members night vision goggles, but he didn’t realize that my night vision ability comes at a price, while anyone can wear night vision goggles. This is completely unfair. It’s disgustingly hypocritical.”
"But that is precisely his weakness. These cult members were originally just ordinary people. When they can't see, they become extremely vigilant, afraid that something might jump out from the darkness and attack them. Fear makes them far more cautious than ordinary people. But once they have night vision goggles and are free from the fear of struggling in the dark, they feel confident of victory and become more relaxed. They are also easier to deal with. The maniacal laughter's control over human psychology remains as superficial as ever."
"That's enough." Schiller paused as he darted out of the alley. He thought to himself, "Can't you two just be quiet for a second?"
“This is just a necessary reminder,” he thought again. “Being able to see in the dark doesn’t mean there are no blind spots. And the sense of security that comes with regaining their sight will make them lower their guard. I can take advantage of this to make the journey back to the city easier.”
"Stop analyzing, let's get to work," Schiller thought.
He nimbly traversed the alley. Despite carrying a suitcase, his agility remained undiminished. The patrol members equipped with night vision goggles, on the other hand, were indeed less vigilant. Unlike before when they couldn't see, they no longer looked around or turned their heads back and forth. Instead, they strode forward with a bold and unrestrained air, much like crabs crossing the street.
Moreover, the number of rebel members on the road was increasing, and their equipment had been upgraded from slingshots to artillery. Many had also obtained night vision goggles from the airdropped supplies. The two sides were evenly matched. The occasional explosions and machine gun fire on the streets perfectly masked the sound of Schiller's movements, making the return journey relatively safe.
After hiding and maneuvering for over three hours, Schiller finally returned to the vicinity of the cathedral. He once again slipped underground.
Members of the cult apparently weren't allowed into the laboratory room. This meant Ms. Shiva's body was never found. Schiller searched the room again and then found the lantern that had previously contained the nanotech equipment.
He took the lantern near Ms. Shiva's body. Some particles flew out from Ms. Shiva's body and into the lantern.
When Schiller killed Ms. Shiva, he discovered that she didn't have a good grasp of the nanotech gadgets. Her healing was slow, and she lacked any means of using the nanobots to kill her. She wasn't even as powerful as the nanotech Batman from the comics. Therefore, he guessed that controlling these things probably required a certain talent. Perhaps, apart from Batman, no one could perfectly control nanotech gadgets.
Picking up the lantern containing the nano-equipment, Schiller returned to the city hall. The body of Paul, the Angel of Death, remained in the same spot. Because of the recent time of death, it appeared unchanged.
He turned the body over, placed the nano-equipment on his chest, grabbed the Angel of Death's hand, held the lantern containing the nano-equipment, then smashed Paul's skull and put the brain, which was in solution, inside.
“It’s ridiculous,” Schiller couldn’t help but say. “This universe is ridiculous from beginning to end. Every universe here is ridiculous.”
“Shut up,” he continued. “Both of your universes are absurd in their own way.”
Then he paused again, rubbed his temples, and said in a low voice, "Can we stop arguing with ourselves? I don't want Batman to think I'm crazy!"
"There is no such thing as 'us.' I am Schiller. Besides, ordinary people sometimes argue with themselves, right? And sometimes their thinking is interrupted by ideas that are irrelevant to the current event. This proves that I have taken another step towards becoming an ordinary person. How wonderful."
"I need to shut out all that psychoanalysis in my head about the relationship between the Angel of Death, Batman, and the Joker in this universe. My brain doesn't need this soap opera-like garbage!"
"Of course I need to. How can we catch the mastermind behind the scenes if we don't analyze their motives clearly?"
"Didn't I tell you? The mastermind wouldn't dare to get involved personally. What's the point of catching him by the tail?"
“That’s not right. If he won’t step in, I can force him to. Not relying on the courage of the mastermind behind the scenes, but leaving him with no other choice…”
Batman, who was reawakened in the body of the Angel of Death Paul using nanotech equipment, saw the guy who saved him standing in the darkness by the door, talking to himself like a madman.
"Are you alright?" Batman asked in the voice of the Angel of Death, finally pulling Schiller out of his own world.
Schiller felt a headache coming on. He really hadn't expected that having multiple personalities surface in his consciousness at the same time would cause their thoughts to interfere with each other.
They certainly don't talk like people with dissociative identity disorder, exchanging sentences as if different people are having a conversation. But they are indeed more like ordinary people, whose thoughts diverge when they think about something, sometimes going in one direction and sometimes in another.
This is actually normal, because if a person's thinking is always focused on one trait and in one direction, they will become very biased. More divergent thinking means a more comprehensive and diverse perspective, which helps to improve the activity of the mind and the stability of the spirit, leading to a healthier mental state.
But the problem is that Schiller doesn't want health right now. It must be admitted that some obsessive people are indeed more powerful. This is because their thinking is unwavering and undisturbed by any external factors. Because of their focus, they are powerful.
Schiller's mind was now racing with analyses and ideas, one after another. He'd just finished analyzing the mysterious and unpredictable relationship between the three main characters, and then he was already thinking about how to weave a long, complicated web to strangle the mastermind behind it all. He was completely unable to focus on the situation at hand.
However, considering that he would need to use the illusionary vision in combat later, Schiller had no choice but to make do for now. But he soon discovered that the interference was more serious than he had imagined.
“Tell me what happened,” Schiller said to the Angel of Death—who is Batman.
“You’re mostly right,” Batman said, “except for one thing. Paul the Angel of Death didn’t intend to turn me into that. It was for the experiment. I also completely disagreed with his plan to transplant my brain. Because I don’t think anyone should have to go through that kind of pain. Not even the Joker. But he went ahead anyway. That’s how we broke up.”
“I’m afraid it’s not that simple,” Schiller chuckled. “If the Joker wasn’t acting voluntarily, even if the Angel of Death could defeat and capture him, it wouldn’t be possible so quickly. It could have taken several years. But if I’m not mistaken, his brain was swapped right from the start of the experiment. Almost all the suffering was borne by the Joker.”
“…He saved me.” Batman’s voice became dry. “I have to admit it. Even if he was a criminal and a madman, he took fifteen years of my suffering for me. For a long time, I couldn’t understand why he would do that. But…”
"The criminals in Gotham love you more than you think. Whether it's the Angel of Death who defeated you or the Joker who swapped brains with you. You initially thought they were vicious and devoid of any normal human love or compassion. But after all this happened, you realized that wasn't the case. What you find most unacceptable, yet you have to accept, is that twisted love is still love. As a beneficiary, you can no longer stand on the moral high ground and accuse anyone of being twisted."
Batman opened his mouth to speak, but Schiller covered his forehead with one hand and stretched out the other, saying, "Sorry, I didn't mean to flirt with you. I'm just... a little confused."
Then he turned and roared in his own mind's surface: "Arrogance!! Get down here!!!"
Hahaha