"You're just, you're just amazing..." Superman did not hide his admiring gaze. He didn't know how Batman thought of this plan, but it really worked.
Although Superman still didn't know what the correct process was, he just knew that Batman's method was certainly unconventional, but they really pulled it off.
"It's precisely calculated, Clark." Batman's tone had no hint of boasting, he said it very calmly.
"From the beginning, I observed that the water in the Water Prison where you were was not seawater. This means that the place we're in isn't deep under the ocean, there is no deadly water pressure, and we can completely withstand the impact of the water."
"But the water burst the walls." Clark said.
"That's a problem with the walls." Batman said, "The bricks on the wall could even be picked away by hand, how sturdy do you think the wall could be?"
"Oh, right." Superman came to a sudden realization.
"I calculated the volume of the passage and the two rooms, and the amount of water needed to fill these places. I predicted the time needed to fill the entire space with water within our holding breath limits with the maximum drainage speed, so we can allow the water to fill the whole space.
"However, the drainage outlet is small. If we use it to drain all the water in the space, we might have drowned already. So, after the water fills the entire room, we close the door tightly. If we only drain the water from the two rooms, it won't take long for us to have breathing space."
"What if the door leaks?" Superman asked.
"The door on your side is absolutely watertight." Batman said, "If it leaked, you wouldn't have been in danger of drowning from the start."
"Oh, my God." Superman just realized this point.
"I previously observed the drainage speed of the outlet, it was very fast. So even if the door leaks, it's far less than the drainage speed, and it can still quickly free up breathing space for us."
Superman stared at Batman without blinking, his eyes full of unabashed admiration, especially when he saw the water in the two rooms was indeed being drained at an extremely fast speed.
"But how did you know the water would stop filling? What if there's a lake above?" Superman was still trying to think.
Batman shook his head and said, "Since I can distinguish seawater, I can also distinguish lake and river water. Although it's freshwater, the scent and state of natural water are different. Don't be fooled by the water coming in pretending to mimic river water; the amount of sand and microorganisms is clearly insufficient, so it doesn't have the smell of natural water."
Batman could already reach the ground with his feet, and he looked up at the ceiling and said, "In fact, this place wouldn't be under any natural water body. The humid atmosphere near natural water bodies is different, there would be a mix of a lot of humus and microorganism scents nearby, which is easy to smell."
Superman tried to sniff hard, but actually couldn't smell anything. He sighed and said, "Actually, I couldn't smell it before, maybe I should try to smell more in the future."
"Yes, with your super-sense of smell."
"Oh, Erik, you're surely going to say something like 'I'm not convenient for action,' or 'I'm a mind power user, my body is fragile,' and then leave me to go in alone while you stay outside to face the danger." Charles' tone gradually cooled down. When those blue eyes no longer contained a gentle smile, they were cold as a starless cosmos. "Do I need to remind you? Now you're just an ordinary person too! You, like me, have no abilities beyond the ordinary, you have no capital to put on airs."
"I'm not putting on airs." Erik said, "A fact is, my past life experience might be about ten times richer than yours. Leaving me to adapt is the smartest choice. Charles, don't make me feel that losing your Psychic Ability means you've lost the most basic judgment."
"Oh, right, you're going to say again, you'll say you were born in a concentration camp, you fought in wars, you've been an Agent, you've interacted with such dangerous people, so nothing you face is a disaster, and pain doesn't count as pain." Charles opened his hands, staring straight into Erik's eyes and said, "How many times do I have to tell you, I don't accept any of it, I don't accept your experiences, nor your statements. Everything you've endured is not necessarily something anyone should endure. Don't expect me to change my view!"
"Now is not the time for this discussion." Erik said, "Our psychology and physical health lessons can wait for a while. I suspect this is a competitive speed game, if we fall behind, the situation might be worse than now. So you must go in."
"No, absolutely not." Charles said, "Erik, you always say now isn't a good time to talk. Before the crisis, it's not because you need to prepare for the crisis; during the crisis, it's not because you need to weather the crisis; after the crisis, it's not because you're already tired and need rest. You've been avoiding it for decades, and wanting to talk to you has become seen as causing trouble by you. It's not easy for you without that helmet of yours, right?"
"Charles, we always fail to align on this, and it's not just my fault." Erik said, "If I were as unrealistic as you, I would've died in the concentration camp long ago. Let's put aside philosophy and psychology, and look more at the real world, okay?"
"I..." Charles stopped here suddenly.
Both he and Erik felt a subtle vibration. Years of wandering had given them a strong sense of crisis. Erik suddenly pulled Charles towards himself.
Crash——
The flood surged in. Erik instinctively raised his hands to fend it off, and the two of them were quickly submerged.
As Erik instinctively moved his limbs to adjust his posture due to sinking into the water, he felt Charles embrace his waist and push him towards the door while swimming. He began to struggle fiercely.
But Charles was evidently the kind of person with professional training who was very skilled in the water, just like in the movie where he jumped directly off the boat to save Erik who had jumped into the water. It was nighttime in the ocean, next to a massive ship, and Erik was completely uncooperative. Anyone who has swum in the ocean understands how valuable saving someone in such waters is. Young Charles just retrieved Erik like that back then.
One could say, if his swimming skills weren't so good, he wouldn't have been able to hold his breath for ten minutes in the Water Prison before. He had been paralyzed in the real world for a long time, so this skill was basically useless, but in the game, getting back into the water was like coming home.
He very skillfully flattened his body, that is, parallel to the ground, using both hands to embrace Erik's waist. This made it hard for Erik to grab him or reach him with his legs, while his struggling limbs could barely touch Charles, who could meanwhile use his legs to push off the wall beside him to propel forward.
He hugged Erik and slammed into the door, which was immediately pushed open, and the two of them were swept inside by the rush of water, draining out through pipes on all four sides of the room. They lay drenched on the floor.
"What did I say?" Charles turned to Erik and said fiercely, "There was clearly a way to have the best of both worlds, you didn't need to sacrifice! Why can't you understand, you damned fool—after all these years, I'm always right!"
Erik lay on the floor gasping for breath, slowly turning his head to look at Charles, then grinned.
"Oh!!!!" The two embraced figures were swept into the room by the water. As the water receded, Harley brushed the wet hair from her face back, and Pamela sat up supporting herself, coughing out several mouthfuls.
"Phooey phooey phooey! Phooey!"
"We're really something," Harley said with a shake of her head, "I dare say, no matter how many people play this game, no one would use this method."
"It's complete opportunism," Pamela said, "But looking back now, it seems to be a correct solution."
"I've said it, physical qualities are also qualities, body type advantages are also advantages," Harley vigorously wiped her face, "If it was male teammates, there's no way this trick would work."
Pamela looked at the door. The method they used was actually quite simple, that is, the two of them embraced and squeezed directly through.
Walking ahead, Pamela also saw the writing on the wall and she and Harley guessed that it was likely only one person could enter. However, what they thought was, the door might only open enough for one person to pass through, and once one person went through, the door would immediately close.
Harley's clever mind thought of their advantage as two females, having smaller body types, both relatively slim, and quite flexible. They could even switch positions sideways in the passage. Perhaps they could squeeze through the door meant for one person.
This isn't really the correct solution, but it worked. Because when they embraced to try it, the water surged in. The door was rotating fast, but they were embraced tightly, like one person, with naturally no front or back order, they were swept in together by the water.
Harley examined the writing on the wall, quickly coming to a revelation, she said, "It's a word puzzle, look at the shadow of the torch."
Pamela turned to look at the wall, she already noticed the writing style was somewhat strange. Several words were written at varying heights, with different heights in the letters within each word, clearly designed.
The two torches on the wall, though close to the edge, were not at the very edge, meaning they would cast shadows on each other. The shadow on the other two walls and ceiling formed an angle, the intersection point within the text. The intersecting lines crossed four letters.
"B…L…O…T? Stain? What stain?" Harley spelled out a word with some confusion. She approached the wall and began carefully inspecting the bricks.
"Oh, found it." Harley pointed to a brick on the wall above. That brick was darker in color than the others, but not very obvious. Up close, you could see some black stains adhering to it, exactly the clue indicated by the word.
She pressed the brick with her hand, but nothing happened. Pamela also leaned close to inspect, then said, "This looks like scorch marks? Need to be burned by fire?"
Both of them looked at the torches on the wall. Harley reached to take down one torch, then used the flame to scorch the brick. Suddenly, the door they just entered started to move slowly.
"I get it," Harley said, "It's to prevent idiots from being unable to enter, it's a backup measure, not a clue to get out."
"Hold on," Pamela said, "After taking one torch, the angle changes, might create a new word?"