However, Shiller eventually went to see Stark. Stark was tutoring Little Morgan with her homework, and the scene was a bit chaotic. One would think such a great scientist would struggle with a child's homework, but upon closer listening, you'd find out that the father and daughter were having an intense discussion about the different routes of nuclear fusion.
When he saw Shiller at the door, Stark was momentarily stunned. Shiller had a bad feeling. This guy is notorious for going off on tangents, so he couldn't give him a chance to ramble on.
"Did you know the Batmen have come over here?"
Stark, still in a daze, shuddered and said, "What? Who?"
"Batman. Things over there got a bit chaotic, and they had to call in help. They're now staying in the collective consciousness world..."
"Wow, Batman!" Little Morgan exclaimed. "Dad, I want to meet Batman, he'd definitely agree with me!"
Stark immediately called for the nanny to send Little Morgan to Obadiah. He then put on his glasses, walked to the desk, and said, "What happened over there?"
Shiller described it in the briefest way possible. But Stark shook his head a bit helplessly and said, "What I want isn't a novel synopsis, but specific data. Otherwise, how am I supposed to assess the crisis level?"
Shiller had to message the Batmen. Soon, they sent over a lot of data. Ordinarily, those monitoring instruments are attached to their bodies. When they retreated, they likely had no time to observe, so they shouldn't know some specific energy data from the event.
However, the Batmen had their ways. They managed to deduce some things based on the visually observable circumstances at the time, and while escaping, they performed some calculations and obtained quite a bit of reliable information. Shiller couldn't help but marvel: they truly had the credentials to be tough and ambitious, with the capability to match their savior-like ambitions.
Or rather, every tough individual is like that. If they didn't have enough strength to support their obstinacy, they would have long been worn down by harsh reality. In other words, those who are absurdly insistent in their ideas and actions always have some tricks up their sleeves.
After looking through the data, Stark adjusted his glasses and said, "I'm more curious about which genius orchestrated such an elaborate spectacle. It's not another Batman, right?"
"Is that important?" Shiller asked.
Stark lightly nodded and said, "What I'm more concerned about is that the means seem ridiculous, but they're actually quite effective, aren't they?"
"But Batman was..."
"Didn't he also not get trapped?" Stark said. "That's why I'm asking you, was the orchestrator Batman? If so, he'd know his counterparts would surely have a way to escape, making it a flawless genius plan."
Shiller sighed inwardly. He knew it. The mad scientists on the Marvel side were far more prevalent and insane than those in DC. While Luther and Superman could make a child, Reed could make one with every member of the Justice League—even Batman, and even including Joker.
"Explain more specifically." It wasn't that Shiller wanted to listen, but if Stark didn't finish his genius insights, he'd never get to the point.
The Batmen had witnessed how Earth, carrying the Apocalypse Domain, collided with the Black Death Emperor, and they described this process to Stark. Stark said, "The key lies in the Dark Domain."
Shiller furrowed his brow slightly. He knew the Dark Domain was actually Barbados's domain. He suddenly realized that during the incident, Barbados was being entangled by Nya, which was why Bruce was able to borrow his domain to do such a big thing.
However, now that Nya and the Outer God had fled, Barbados should have snapped out of it. And because the thread stringing this bunch of candied haws together is the Dark Domain, hasn't he already noticed the situation on the Origin Wall?
Although he contributed a stick, since his main body didn't go over, he should still be able to move freely now.
"I suspect this was intentional," Stark said. "The mastermind behind all this is deeply connected with Barbados, otherwise, they wouldn't have the authority to open the channel. What they were hoping for wasn't you or Batman; they wanted Barbados to rescue them."
Shiller was slightly taken aback. "Will Barbados rescue him?"
"That depends on how important he is," Stark said. "But, as far as I know, Barbados is an enemy of the Multiverse, and also an enemy of the Batmen. What do you think he'd think if he saw so many Batmen hung on the wall?"
"He would definitely award Bruce the Best Dark Knight Award," Shiller said. "You know how difficult it is to deal with Batman; no subordinate of Barbados has ever achieved this level."
This wasn't an exaggeration. Barbados's most famous major event as a backdrop is Metal. In Metal, many Batmen were harmed by the Batman Who Laughs, but most of them were minor roles. Other than those few in the Dark Knights, the other Batmen, once they appeared, were clearly not proper Batmen, all being odd ducks, many without their own independent universes, merely having a setup.
The accomplishments of the Batman Who Laughs are in quantity, but in quality, they can't compare with Bruce's. Moreover, the Batman Who Laughs hadn't had time to trigger the Metal event, so Bruce's accomplishments are unique.
And in front of Barbados, Bruce has always performed outstandingly. He cares, is diligent and responsible, and truly works after getting funding. He had organized the Dark Knights all over the universe not long ago. One could say his working hours with Barbados far exceed those with the Justice League, making him an unparalleled right-hand man.
Of course, you can't expect an entity like Barbados to have feelings, but speaking purely from an interest perspective, this Bruce is someone who must be rescued. After all, there are many Batmen hung up, but there are also many who aren't; they must keep striving.
"Can Barbados fish him out?"
Stark shook his head and said, "He doesn't want Barbados to fish him out; he wants to catch Barbados too."
Shiller widened his eyes slightly. Three candied hawthorns on a skewer weren't enough; he had to add another. The mysterious entities of the Multiverse were dealing with Bruce as if they'd seen a ghost.
"Can he pull it off?" Shiller asked.
"It's likely," Stark said. "I don't know what the God over there is thinking, setting these giant traps around each universe. But if you haven't encountered it, anyone would fall for it."
Shiller agreed. Who would've thought that the universe's protective barrier was a giant mouse glue trap? If you unknowingly run into it, wouldn't you just get stuck?
Barbados probably had no idea. After all, he had already been tricked by Bruce once, stuck in the Dark Domain without a way out, becoming a forced homebody, still having to share with others, and waking up every day to run campaigns, probably completely fooled by Bruce.
"So, Bruce is using Batman as bait to trick Barbados into getting stuck?"
"That's right," Stark confirmed. "Without Barbados, Bruce can recklessly exploit the Dark Domain's power."
"Why do I feel like he can't handle the Dark Knights and is forced to hang the boss because he's reached a deadline?"
Shiller's guess wasn't without reason. Ever since Bruce graduated, he finally learned the proper way to graduate: if the thesis isn't going to be completed, it's fine, just fool the advisor; if the mission can't be accomplished, it's fine, just get rid of the boss.
"Then who does he expect to pull him out?" Shiller asked. "It's not me, not Batman, not Barbados; who else could do it?"
"That's for you to ask," Stark said, taking a sip of water. "He must have done something else that we don't know about."
"You can't figure it out either?"
"I can try," Stark said. "However, I'm ultimately a serious scientist and have no experience with these Multiverse-level disasters. I suggest you find an expert in this field."
Shiller wanted to refute his "serious scientist" claim, but on second thought, compared to Reed Richards, Tony Stark really is a serious scientist.
"What's Reed up to?" Shiller asked.
"Recently, he poked a hole in the Battleworld," Stark thought for a moment and said, "It took him a long time to patch it up with Franklin. Lately, he seems to be working on some anti-matter universe passage. If you go to him now, you might be able to provide a valuable research subject for his project."
Shiller thought about it and felt that Reed was indeed a professional fit in every aspect. His way of thinking might just be on the same wavelength as Bruce's, and he might see some clues.
So he took the information to find Reed. Reed was inspecting the Crux, probably looking for a landing spot for the anti-matter passage. His temporary base was on a spaceship, and when Shiller boarded, Reed was busy at the lab bench.
"Oh, you're here," Reed glanced up at him and said, "Is Anatoli back?"
Shiller froze on the spot and looked at Reed. "You know Anatoli?"
Reed seemed surprised that Shiller would be surprised. He said, "Of course, he came to me before and took some energy from the warehouse. What, hasn't he fired yet?"
"What's your relationship with him?" Shiller asked.
"After Franklin was born, I took him on many time-space travels. I happened to meet Doctor Shostakovich, who was busy collecting energy in the Old Skrull Empire. The two of us developed the Tears of the Sun collection plan together. I provided technical support using the M'Kraan Crystal to open passages to different universes to collect stellar energy, and I also kept the key to the warehouse."
Shiller couldn't help but cover his eyes. He thought the collection plan was very much in the doctor's style, but the means of implementation seemed a bit too localized, looking like something a local put together. He didn't expect Reed from time travel to be his technical advisor.
"But I have to apologize to you," Reed said. "The side effects of using the crystal all stayed in your body. But seeing you're fine, I'm relieved."
"What?" Shiller didn't react for a moment. "What side effects?"
"You didn't know?" Reed raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Using the M'Kraan Crystal makes people very unlucky, commonly known as cursed. Haven't you noticed how unlucky you are?"
Shiller was left speechless. He indeed couldn't be considered lucky, but now he thought he might know why the mundane was so unlucky.