"What's wrong?" Lucifer looked at Anatoli's somewhat displeased expression and asked, "Who took down these bricks from the wall?"
"Shiller." Anatoli said in a deep voice, "There's no one else it could be. Only his kind of ability might be unrestricted in this simulation."
"Oh, you mean his..." Lucifer obviously also knew about "the worse Shiller's state, the better his state becomes."
He then inhaled sharply because he realized that to pry open these tiles, given their robustness, would require an astonishing amount of force. This meant Shiller's condition might be very bad.
He nervously flapped his wings, then said, "Shiller ended up in the same group as us. Wait a minute, didn't he enter the game with Bruce?"
Anatoli turned to look at him: "How do you know?"
Lucifer was momentarily tongue-tied: "Good question, but if I explain this to you, we might just end up in last place for sure."
"Long story short." Anatoli said.
"Alright, then I won't talk about the past. Anyway, just know that as long as those two are together, this kind of thing will happen."
"What do you mean by 'this kind of thing'?"
"Like stabbing each other, or stabbing themselves, or first stabbing the other and then themselves..." Lucifer gestured as he spoke.
"Don't look at me, I don't know why either." Lucifer flapped his wings again, and the mental anxiety momentarily made him forget the pain, "Over the years, I've been working with the Justice League to keep them apart, let them each mind their own business, and ideally not meet. Otherwise, this situation arises."
"I thought Shiller had gotten much better." Anatoli said.
"You're being too optimistic." Lucifer shook his head vigorously, "I won't deny, Shiller's become much more normal. In fact, Bruce after quitting being Batman is also like a normal person. But when they're together, the abnormal parts of their personalities explode. Then what follows is blood, blood, and more blood."
"Seems like you're pretty impressed with that." Anatoli lowered his eyes, "After this game ends, you have to tell me all about it."
Hearing his tone was a bit off, Lucifer swallowed and said, "Actually, I think, he's not so... well..."
After searching for a reason for a long time, Lucifer couldn't find a better excuse, so he tried the emotional appeal: "He must be trying to help you by doing this. Although I don't know why he wants to pry the tiles, it should be useful, right?"
Anatoli nodded. His expression didn't reveal any emotion, but Lucifer feared this.
Anatoli began analyzing: "Of course it's useful. We can use this to damage the equipment."
"How to damage it?"
"I guess he got inspired from a lever." Anatoli looked at the device and said, "The lever principle. Since the device is electrified and can't be touched, pushing it over is very difficult. Even if you have the strength, you can't get close. If you want to topple the device without touching it, the best way is to leverage the principle of the lever."
Anatoli had already removed several bricks. Among them, the one closest to the seam had most of the base dug out, and the edge of the machine's base was faintly visible.
Lucifer leaned over for a look and was taken aback: "It's buried so deep."
"No, it's actually buried too shallow." Anatoli said, "The designer probably didn't expect anyone could destroy the tiles and thus didn't bury it too deep."
"Yeah, theoretically, these tiles couldn't be destroyed either." Lucifer shook his head and said, "But I feel you would find a way to damage it even without Shiller, right?"
Anatoli nodded and said, "There's not no room to maneuver. There are tiles around the hole we just climbed through, and the seams there are easier to pry."
"Are you planning to pry all along the way?!"
"There's no reason why not. You know, I'm very professional in this, and it won't take long."
"The level designer is lucky to have you two." Lucifer shook his head, "Blame Battleworld for being too realistic, with almost identical physical rules to the outside. If it were truly like games, with air walls everywhere, let's see how you'd use violence then."
"If that were the case, most people wouldn't want to play." Anatoli said, "If you can't hone your skills in an almost completely simulated world, what's the point of Battleworld's existence?"
"True." Lucifer said, "If it weren't realistic enough, Batman wouldn't waste his time playing. It's just because it's almost identical to the real world outside, but without actual injury or death, that Batman treats it as a training ground."
"Alright, let's see if we can move this mechanism." Anatoli lifted his gaze to look at the other side of the balance, "If it's a very complex and unscientific device, there's no need to cover it. Covering means there's probably no supernatural force; if not covered, people would see through it at a glance."
Lucifer nodded and said, "Indeed, covering that side of the balance does seem a bit guilty. Probably worried about being lined up against mechanical engineering geniuses like Iron Man or Batman, who would directly guess what the next level is like."
"This shows that there's absolutely nothing good in the next level." Anatoli snorted coldly, "We better hurry up."
"Batman, are you okay?" Superman couldn't help but turn his head. He saw Batman's fingers resting on the wall, turning a pale white.
Superman walked over to hold Batman's hand, then said, "If you're cold, just lean on me."
"No, if we run into any sudden situation, you need to react quickly. If I put my weight on you, it might delay your actions." Batman didn't show any weakness, looking no different from usual, but his even paler lips said it all.
Superman reached out to him. Batman instinctively dodged, but obviously, the loss of blood made him less agile than usual, so he didn't dodge in time. Superman simply touched the side of his neck.
"Oh God, you're as cold as ice." Superman ruffled his hair vigorously, "We can't keep doing this, Batman, we can't go on. I want to quit. I really want to quit."
"Clark, I've been through much worse situations than this. If I easily gave up, I would've been dead long ago. What I mean is, this is also a kind of training for me. That's why I joined the game, isn't it?"
"God! Isn't reality tormenting you enough?" Superman looked completely broken down, "Why can't I be you, or why can't you be me? Sorry, I might be a little mentally unstable right now, just talking nonsense…"
Batman reversed the grip on Superman's hand: "You think it's a good thing for me to become you, which proves you are satisfied with your life. That's one of the reasons I strive hard, isn't it?"
Superman was speechless, just trying hard to suppress something. Despite Batman's opposition, he supported him forward until they reached the next room.
The entire room had only one platform and a door, but the entire ceiling was full of cold, menacing steel needles.
There was no doubt that if the ceiling and the steel needles came down together, everyone in the room would be pierced. However, there was a pillar in the center of the platform, holding up the ceiling, temporarily keeping the needles from falling.
The platform was about a meter high, but it was not welded to the ground, and the pillar supporting the platform came from below the floor, suggesting there was something underneath supporting the pillar as well.
Superman was very confused, having no idea what this was all about. Batman seemed to have thought of something; he looked up at the steel needles and then said, "This thing is descending."
"What?!" Superman hadn't noticed at all.
"Very slowly, but it's indeed continuously descending," Batman said, "We need to support it from below the platform, otherwise if this thing falls, we'll be pierced."
Superman opened his mouth; he still didn't quite understand how to pass this challenge. Batman looked up and said, "The exit is above."
He then started to feel the wall, ignoring Superman's confusion. Sure enough, there was a lever on the wall, but human strength couldn't move it at all; it seemed to need something to knock it down.
Batman examined the position of the lever and then said, "As I suspected, after this thing is knocked down by the ceiling, the passage will appear."
Batman tapped the wall again and said, "This is hollow on the other side, leaving some room to hide, and then we can step onto the ceiling and leave from the exit."
Superman was completely confused; he couldn't follow Batman's thought process at all and couldn't imagine how to solve this puzzle.
Batman took a slight breath, starting to explain more thoroughly: "If I'm not mistaken, there will be a switch or something under the platform. Once it's pulled, the ceiling will fall directly."
"Hiss… won't that crush people to death?"
"No, we can hide beneath the platform." Batman pointed to the platform, "The platform is quite big, almost enough for two adults to hide, and the top is metal, it won't be pierced by the steel needles."
"Oh, then what? Just hide there all the time?"
"When the ceiling falls, it will knock down the lever on the wall. The wall there will open, and one of us can crawl over, stand directly above, just in time to climb onto the ceiling. There should be an exit above."
"I don't understand." Superman was even more confused, "Why do we have to climb up there? Can't we just hide under the platform forever?"
"Once the switch under the platform is opened, the platform itself should no longer provide support," Batman continued to observe the structure and stated, "The weight of the ceiling falling onto the platform needs us both to hold it up."
"Then let's hold it up."
"It's going to be very heavy, Clark. We won't last long."
"Then doesn't this turn into a dead end?" Superman asked, "You said, the weight needs us to hold up, if we let go it'll crash down, so it's impossible for both of us to step onto the ceiling together. There always has to be someone holding it from beneath, doesn't that person ultimately have to die?"
"That's the significance of the last round's mechanism," Batman said, "If one end of the balance is heavy enough, it can lift the other end, which should help us hold up the ceiling. It's the only way for both of us to leave."
"Then we'll just wait here," Superman said, "Didn't you say the plan could work? We'll wait until the balance holds up the ceiling." Superman spoke and then realized—now that the ceiling was also descending, that meant they couldn't wait indefinitely. Either both held up the ceiling together, or one person held it while the other ran.
"The question is, can the plan really succeed?" Batman asked. "This is a dual game, the core logic is whether you've contributed yourself, and whether you trust others to contribute."
Superman rubbed his forehead and said, "Is there really time to explain the specific principles? Batman, you're the one who contributed, so I trust your judgment."
"I'm usually a pessimist," Batman said, "Even if we've already made sufficient contributions, I can't say the plan will guarantee success. So the best choice now is…"
Batman instinctively glanced upward, only to meet Superman's unwavering blue eyes staring directly at him. Never had Batman seen those clear eyes filled with so many negative emotions—anger, sorrow, even resentment.
He suddenly remembered Superman had told him: that until now, Superman had always understood him, but there would always be one time he wouldn't. It depended on how many more times he was going to abandon Superman.
It was like continuously adding more weights to the scales, making Superman's heart heavier, until one day it completely sank to the bottom. Batman realized each weight was precious and must be used in the right place.
"I think we can try," he said, "Although I'm not lucky, maybe you are."