Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics Chapter 5929 - 4949: There’s No Batman Here (36)

"It’s really not that we are unwilling to go," Tim said, "You guys should think, once Doctor Manhattan realizes he can’t manipulate you, will he find a way to strike again? He needs all these tricks to deal with Batman, but he doesn’t need them for Robin."

Nightwing paused his hand: "So that’s why you brought us to Joker’s place?"

Tim didn’t hide anything, he nodded and said: "Exactly. Doctor Manhattan is strong, but he’s not omnipotent. At least the Kingdom of Dreams is beyond his interference. If he decides to force his way, we can immediately retreat into the Kingdom of Dreams."

"I think he’s afraid to mess with Joker." Pamela squeezed ketchup onto her potato wedges, "Doctor Manhattan belongs to the super-dimensional creatures, he should have an administrator’s perspective and clearly understand Batman and Joker’s uniqueness, so he won’t easily provoke them."

"He probably never thought you’d bring us to Joker’s place." Damian swallowed the meat in his mouth, "Now even the super villains are being too cautious."

"Don’t say that," Harley shrugged, "You’re old acquaintances with Uncle Jack, and with Bruce not around, he has the obligation to protect you as the elder."

Red Hood gagged a little, waving his hand, "Sorry, I just choked, you guys continue."

What you said wasn’t disgusting since Joker is indeed protecting them now. The Robins are not ungrateful people. But if you say that owing Joker a favor is terrifying, well that’s really something. Fortunately, Batman isn’t here.

"Are we just hiding here?" Damian clearly wasn’t too happy, but despite that, his cheeks didn’t stop moving.

"Now we’re just watching Batman’s next move." Tim looked at Jack and asked, "What do you think Batman would prepare?"

"What else can Batman prepare?" Jack said while chewing, "Of course, it’s Batman."

"Are you saying Batman has already arrived?" Red Robin’s eyes moved, "Where is he? Did he enter the game?"

"Oh, wait," Pamela suddenly realized, "It’s an open-world game, and Brainiac hasn’t publicly revealed the player list, it’s possible Batman is participating, just too far from us to meet."

"It’s really possible." Blue Beetle Ted said, "Do you all remember the Batman we encountered at the Wayne building? I later thought, that didn’t quite seem like the final boss because Brainiac said the final boss was modified, but that Batman felt very much like Batman..."

"Could that have been the real Batman?" Damian felt a bit shocked, but at that time they assumed it was the boss, so didn’t dare stay too long or look closely, otherwise they would have recognized him.

"Not necessarily," Tim said, "For a formidable Batman, taking out two monsters is no big deal."

Arkham Knight agreed on that point. Those two monsters had a tricky skill set, but for Arkham Batman, it would basically be a matter of two rounds.

"But why didn’t he pick up equipment?" Damian asked, "If they are players, why leave the equipment behind?"

This made Arkham Knight realize that it probably wasn’t Arkham Batman who came. Arkham Batman is a skilled game player, he wouldn’t refuse to pick up equipment.

"Perhaps it’s the classic Batman." Harley said, "The kind who doubts everything, doesn’t trust equipment from others, only trusts his own."

"That’s not the classic Batman," Nightwing said, "We serve as the standard for classic Batman in the Prime Universe, we should judge based on our Batman."

Tim and Harley squinted, indicating that they don’t have a clear understanding of their universe’s Batman.

"Come on, when does Batman doubt everything?" Nightwing retorted, "I mean towards teammates and friends, he’s not the kind to destroy unity due to unwarranted suspicion."

"That’s true," Tim said, "But the equipment in the game’s system is provided by Brainiac, who is hardly a positive figure; most Batmen would consider him an evil AI, right?"

Red Robin sighed, "But even if Batman entered the game, he should be stuck along with us now, right?"

"Not necessarily." Tim shook his head, "Batman might not be an expert in mind reading, but his control over his own mind is strong, maybe he’s connected with those people, or used some other method to stay inside."

Nightwing was about to say something but Tim interrupted him, "Don’t tell me you want to help Batman, that’s just walking into a trap."

Nightwing couldn’t help but glance at Joker who was chowing down across from him, "Hard to say who brought us into the trap."

In the gaming system, Shiller’s deduction and the plans he developed were basically in agreement with the Robins - it’s Doctor Manhattan causing trouble, and now all they can do is wait.

Firstly, if Batman has a backup plan, they can wait for Batman’s move. If not, Doctor Manhattan will sooner or later realize something’s not right, either come to check or simply give up.

Brainiac isn’t that fragile, even if the Earth’s node is removed, there’s still Krypton’s; even if the Solar System’s gone, he’s already stationed forces elsewhere in the cosmos, maybe in some nook his computer room is hidden. Even if this universe is gone, there’s a backup in the Injustice Universe. He won’t die easily, before long he’ll return.

So now they just have to wait, either for a Savior to appear or for Brainiac to resurrect from the dead. There’s very little they can do in the meantime, at most just waiting here until Doctor Manhattan realizes he caught the wrong person.

Shiller didn’t think Doctor Manhattan would have the courage to act after discovering he caught the wrong person. Back then, Doctor Manhattan’s game system was ruined by Greed, so he should have a clear understanding of how much harm Shiller can cause. Especially now, there are three Shillers here, committing suicide doesn’t need such a flashy method.

Moreover, Doctor Manhattan shouldn’t fail to recognize Charles. Going to a death duel with Professor X’s spirit body? That would be quite heroic.

Lilith wasn’t in a hurry either, as her prophecy ability isn’t completely random. If she were in danger herself, she would see it coming, but since she hasn’t seen anything yet, everything’s fine.

Compared to that, the discussion between Arrogant and Charles about psychoanalysis is more worth listening to. Although Lilith doesn’t quite understand psychoanalysis, she is a Mind Reading Technique user who enjoys studying psychology, and she wouldn’t want to miss a master’s course.

So, while Arrogant discussed academic issues with Charles, Lilith listened, the agent fiddled with his gun, and Bishop was daydreaming. They waited here for half a day until a shadowy figure emerged from the dense fog.

"Batman?" Lilith looked at him in shock.

The others also stood up with expressions that could only be described as incredibly varied. Charles was initially surprised, then raised his eyebrows in understanding. Arrogant frowned and his expression became unpredictable. The agent sized up this Batman, confirming he hadn’t seen him before. Bishop was indifferent, seemingly lost in thought.

"How’s Brainiac doing?" Arrogant asked.

"He’s fighting his way out of the Netherworld," Batman said in a low voice. "That gun induced a temporal paradox that teleported the entire game console to the Fire God’s temple, it seems some anti-lock system kicked in."

Lilith sighed in relief, "Thank the Olympian Gods."

Although Zeus wasn’t reliable, Diana and the Fire God still were. Luckily, Brainiac wasn’t seriously affected, the delay was likely because the Fire God never dreamed of interacting with artificial intelligence. He probably didn’t even know how to communicate with a game console.

"Doctor Manhattan..."

"It’s him," Batman said. "He used dominance particles to invade Brainiac’s base system library, and the Brainiac system in this universe nearly collapsed completely. However, the game console remained safe."

The agent revealed an understanding expression. Their tampering with that broken gun, combined with the observer effect-induced temporal paradox, not only failed to destroy Brainiac’s game system but also inadvertently preserved it, and sent it to Mount Olympus.

Doctor Manhattan either hasn’t noticed or doesn’t want to deal with the God Clan, so he hasn’t touched this piece of consciousness. Brainiac, a super-intelligent AI, can even survive in a human’s ordinary hard drive, let alone his complex game system. The main console stuffed into the Fire God’s temple nearly squeezed the Fire God out.

"When will he return?" Shiller asked, "Or should we head out first?"

"No need." Batman tersely replied, "After Brainiac returns, the game will proceed as usual."

Arrogant nodded, understanding. Doctor Manhattan wasn’t trying to completely annihilate Brainiac. He knows that’s impossible. His actions were meant to sabotage Brainiac’s game test, and ironically, such actions make Brainiac more determined not to let him succeed.

"Is everything okay?" Charles asked with some concern.

"I think we should be more worried about ourselves," Arrogant sighed, turning away, "If the game continues, we’ll have to find a way to enter the psychology department building, Doctor Manhattan should be more ruthless."

"What about those who logged out?" Lilith asked worriedly.

"They’re fine," Charles said, "I just checked, they’re at Jack’s house having a barbecue, probably finishing up now."

"You left?" Lilith asked in surprise.

"I never actually came," Charles said, "What you’ve been seeing is just my mental projection, essentially an illusion. No one knows where I am."

"But isn’t Brainiac unable to see illusions?" Lilith asked again, "How can he recognize you then?"

"Brain waves can be converted to radio waves," Charles said, "If you have a friend who is very skilled with Magnetic, you can learn this trick. I can interfere with radio waves to show Brainiac what he wants to see, even creating electronic illusions."

"Your people are amazing," Lilith sighed, "Once the storm tides pass, I’ll go check it out."

As soon as he finished speaking, the patterns on the floor slowly spread, walls layer upon layer stacked up, incredibly real moist air pervaded, dense fog rose, and the game system began reloading.

"I’m back." Brainiac’s voice was slightly rigid, obviously, this punch from Doctor Manhattan was not without effect on him, "The game system is reloading, all players will be sent to the base safe zone, countdown 10 seconds. 10, 9, 8..."

Shiller, with a jolt, realized he’d returned to his own home, and the first thing he did was let out a long sigh. Charles said nothing, just patted him on the shoulder.