"Many people might think that resilience is the core nature of Jason Todd. I don't deny this. The harsh growth environment would indeed give him a higher-than-average endurance.
This endurance doesn't mean being insensitive to pain, otherwise, it would lead to numbness. However, in Mr. Todd's personality, the aspects of avoidance and numbness are very few, even less than the average person. He always faces difficulties head-on, precisely identifying solutions without being overly reliant on past paths. This is partly due to his wisdom, but more so, it stems from his strong inner drive and surging emotions.
I believe that what constructs his inner drive is the key to shaping his personality. At first glance, I thought his inner drive stemmed from self-awareness. He is unwilling to be trapped here, dissatisfied with mediocrity, so he struggles to climb upward. This is the common inner drive for many intelligent people at the bottom.
Because they are smart enough, they have a deeper understanding than others and are thus more dissatisfied with the status quo, yearning to see a bigger world and live a better life. This is extremely common, almost becoming a rule. But I don't think Jason Todd is like this.
Jason's inner drive comes from his empathy. In other words, he doesn't generate the desire for self-improvement from self-awareness but from the situations of those around him. More accurately, he feels the hopes others project onto him, which generates a strong inner drive.
He is a born revolutionary, and revolutionaries are always both painful and passionate. Their pain comes from: revolution is more like a curse of being unable to stand by and ignore others' suffering, a responsibility to lead others out of predicament without hesitation, urging the revolutionary to become a protector, a leader, a glimmer of hope in despair, a beacon in the snowy wilderness. This is the source of his strong endurance and willpower.
What excites them is the hope projected onto them by others, conferring on them an unparalleled sense of mission. No matter how small the group, no matter how dire the situation, any slight improvement can provide spiritual encouragement far more enjoyable than any material incentive. Many people often say revolutionaries are good at enjoying hardships, but that's not entirely true. In times of progress, they can genuinely disregard all material conditions and feel happy from the bottom of their hearts.
Empathy makes people selfless, but selflessness doesn't always get rewarded. This doesn't seem to fit the tides of modern society, but in Gotham City, in the dark age that I didn't explore much, it was a very valuable survival trait.
It might sound strange, but I believe the dark age was not a jungle for survival of the fittest. On the contrary, excessive and heavy suffering filtered out the most empathetic, those who could empathize with others' sufferings, revolutionaries. They joined forces, struggling to survive in the quagmire, even cutting a bloody path.
Like in primitive societies, pressure to survive was so great that people couldn't survive without uniting. On this basis, we built gregarious societies. In such a model, figures like Jason Todd are bound to emerge one after another. Besides, others' social attributes will certainly be stronger. To adapt to society, understand society, love this society and the people in it.
This is why Gotham underwent several social changes in a short time without triggering large-scale internal chaos. Gothamites love each other more than imagined. They once got through so many nights hand in hand, supporting and looking out for each other. The dark age is not their stain, but a torch lit by their humanity, burning brightly, never extinguished, until today, until the future."
As Jenna finished speaking, everyone couldn't help but burst into applause. Even Victor couldn't help but commend her: "You should run for mayor, Miss. This is necessary because Brainiac could never deliver such an inspiring speech to unite everyone at a moment like this."
"I could," Brainiac said, "Fun fact, Dr. Freeze, I have a function called recording."
Jenna became a bit shy, she smiled and said, "Thanks for the praise, it's not that great. It's best if I can help."
"It helped a lot," Shiller said, "Now I am even more confident. Let's prepare a bit, and then start."
Though it's just a brief preparation, it still takes a while. Because freezing and chemical treatment aren't that easy. But just as they were preparing, another piece of good news arrived: the Super Body indeed seemed able to potentially revive the living dead.
The reason why it was said to be potential is that she discovered that once the Life Force and Power of Death reach a balance, it could indeed allow the human beings to return to their living state. Humans would grow due to the Life Force and wither due to the Power of Death. The normal life process for humans follows this.
However, as it was potential and not already successful, it indicates problems still exist. The biggest issue is the soul, or more precisely, the spirit.
The body might be restored to a living state, but the spirit controlling the living corpse doesn't seem to be the original soul of the person, but more like an illusion constructed by the Power of Death. It's because the authority of the Power of Death is high enough, the illusion is indistinguishable from the original, making the problem hard to detect.
It's like an original file that has been thrown into the recycle bin and then completely shredded, no longer existent. But there's a high-authority administrator who read the file's record left in the recycle bin and rewrote an identical one. One could say it's the original file, or not.
If this is all there is, there wouldn't be much of a problem, but this administrator added some of their own twists. Clearly, they tampered with it; otherwise, they couldn't ensure the living corpse would follow their command. The Super Body couldn't repair these twists because she doesn't have such high authority, can't see what the original file looked like, and therefore has no way to start.
The problem returns to the original point: How did Hugo break free from the control of the behind-the-scenes manipulator and help Noel break free as well? Solving this problem makes revival not impossible.
In other words, to revive, they have first to resolve Hugo. But the Super Body cannot handle Hugo, and Brainiac even prevents her from meeting Hugo. Because Hugo's abilities are indeed a bit sinister, any emotional intelligent life could be brainwashed by him. If he truly brainwashed the Super Body, it would be a complete disaster.
It means they still need to wait for Shiller to defeat Hugo before they can study the revival matter.
However, this made Brainiac's attitude slightly soften. Because it's clear that revival isn't as simple as the Super Body thought. This has a threshold and is certainly very difficult, which ironically makes it plausible to achieve on a small scale, without belonging to stealing God's authority.
Because the Super Body aimed to revive those people, she also got involved in Shiller's plan. Though she very much disagreed with freezing and injecting chemicals, she also knew that if that's not done, there's no other way.
The Super Body conducted a series of examinations on Noel, concluding similarly to Brand: Noel wasn't resurrected through a normal process; she more likely activated her brain and controlled the corpse through willpower.
This also means the Super Body cannot directly dispel the Power of Death, or Noel might directly become a corpse. Of course, she would turn into a corpse upon dispelling anyone, as the Life Force naturally restrains the Power of Death. Dispelling means leaving nothing left, with no Power of Death to control, the living dead would naturally turn into a dead body.
Since there was hope for revival, the Super Body hadn't dispelled the Power of Death in any living corpse, so she dared not act rashly. If the intensity wasn't well-controlled, the physical body could also be damaged.
Soon, everything was ready. Jonathan and Victor, those two mad scientists, worked efficiently, it only took a little more than a day to get everything almost completed.
Noel's side, however, required the least preparation. So far, she's been very obedient. The nurse just told her it was medicine for treatment, and she drank the potion Jonathan prepared.
Of course, stepping into the cryogenic chamber, she had strong doubts. But after breaking free from the behind-the-scenes manipulator's control, she didn't feel the need to resist. So eventually, she went in.
Shiller always watched her from a place Noel couldn't see, observing her every expression and move, confirming his thoughts further. He probably figured out where Noel's strong will to survive came from.
Entering the Spirit Domain wasn't difficult either. Shiller directly found Jack and had him drive a truck through the Kingdom of Dreams. After pinpointing Noel's Spirit Domain, the vehicle stopped at the doorway.
"You can't just crash directly inside." Jack got out of the car to check and then said, "Otherwise, it might cause irreversible damage to her spirit. You can only open a small entrance here and walk inside by yourself."
Shiller nodded, also preferring not to make a big uproar. Until he saw Jack take a chainsaw from the car.
With a deep frown, Shiller showed his disapproval. Jack said helplessly, "Don't make that face. This is a dream, do you understand?"
"Can't you make this dream less terrifying? You now look like a Texas chainsaw killer."
"Are you saying a Texas chainsaw killer is scarier than the Joker?"
"Not really. But does the style have to be this way? How about My Little Pony?"
In the end, both sides made a compromise. Jack turned his chainsaw into My Little Pony colors and cut a gap big enough for one person in the wall.
Jack stuck his head in to sense and then said, "Your plan is working. That cold feeling is gradually dissipating. The Power of Death seems to be leaving her Spirit Domain."
"Now is the best time." After saying this, Shiller walked inside.
No light and shadow changes, no bizarre or mind-boggling scenes. He almost instantly stepped into a familiar setting. The fireplace at Wayne Manor was quietly burning, everything steeped in the melancholy silence of more than a decade ago.