"Did the mechanism stop?" Charles panted, "It seems our plan worked. I never thought we'd cooperate so seamlessly with a group of strangers..."
"It doesn't seem like a success," Erik, clearly more adept in mechanical engineering, replied. He looked down at the support rod below. Despite the lack of visible gaps between the metal rod and the floor and nothing seemingly out of place, Erik relied on the earlier tactile feedback to sense something was amiss with the normal clearance process.
In theory, if the balance had been lifted and supported the ceiling, the design should have a latch that clicks into place at a certain height. But Erik felt no such locking vibration. Instead, the pillar just wobbled for a while and then abruptly stopped. This did not seem like the process of a properly functioning mechanism but rather like something had failed.
Charles had already sprawled on the ground. He flipped over and lay on his back, looking at the steel needles perilously close to his face, saying, "Whatever the case, we've passed the level. Good heavens, another minute and I wouldn't have made it."
"You need to exercise more." Though Erik said this, he too was drenched in sweat and panting heavily. He turned over to lie down and took the precious opportunity to rest.
"What do you think would happen if someone really broke the mechanism?" Erik asked.
Charles pondered, then said, "I've suspected that there must be staff in this dungeon chamber. Maybe there are several employee passages we can't see, and some employee of an evil tech company is wandering those passages, debugging equipment and monitoring us. Now that the mechanism is broken, they might be trying to fix it."
"And when it's fixed, they'll make us go through it again?" Erik was on the verge of losing his temper. "That's completely against the rules!"
"It was other players who broke the rules first," Charles shrugged, "though I think this game never really had rules. They build dungeons, we cause havoc; everyone does their best. When designing mechanisms, they should anticipate all possible ways for it to be broken. Otherwise, it's just bad design on their part."
"Let's hope they don't cheat," Erik said, "I haven't got the strength to go again."
"No, don't let me lie down, Clark," Batman drew a deep breath. "If I lie down now, I might not have the strength to get back up."
"But we've already passed, we can rest now."
"Far from it," Batman remained dour. "The recent situation didn't seem like the normal passage of a level; it might be a mechanism someone broke. The level designer might want to repair the mechanism and make us go again."
"How can that be fair!" Superman fumed. "Their mechanism's quality is flawed, lacking safety precautions, and it gets broken—why should we foot the bill?"
"It depends if this instance has a background story," Batman said, half-kneeling on the ground, his voice firm. "If it's truly operated by some human experimentation company, you can't expect them to have moral boundaries."
"But isn't the plot also created by the Dojo Administrator? Would they really design such inhumane scenarios?"
"Not many administrators possess humanity," Batman hit the nail on the head. "I suspect there's at least two Jokers, three Shillers, maybe even a few others from Arkham Asylum among them."
"I told you picking a high-level instance was self-inflicted pain!" Superman wailed. "What good can these madmen design?"
"I must admit, the level design is rather good. The guidance is clear, the objectives are distinct, and there's a degree of openness, challenging both the player's mental and physical strength. Honestly, I'd give it a seven," Batman appraised.
"You're insane!" Superman blurted out. But then, he relented, feeling remorseful, and said, "Sorry, I didn't mean it that way, but whenever you calmly crack jokes while battered and bruised, it always reminds me of that piece of green gum."
"When I'm not in great shape, I need something to distract me," Batman remarked, "Let's speculate about the plot. The mastermind who brought us here likely didn't do so just for us to break his mechanisms."
"I thought about that," Superman interjected, "Do you think, like in Saw, they brought us here to teach us a lesson, or as some form of punishment?"
"If we each had assigned roles, that would hold true. But the instance hasn't imposed any such constraints on us. Why do you think I keep calling you by name, Clark?"
"Uh, I thought you were in a good mood," Superman said. "When you're in a good mood, you call me by name instead of just 'Superman'."
"Hmm, perhaps it's a habit," Batman admitted. "But the main reason is that I wanted to see if there were any identity restrictions in this instance. So far, it seems there aren't. Nor have we received any information about our respective backgrounds, so the punishment theory doesn't stand."
"Clark, if there's any aspect of me that deserves punishment... then what about you? I can't imagine what excuse Jigsaw would have to punish someone like you. You love life, you're willing to help others, smart, competent, kind-hearted, and unpretentious. If someone like you gets captured by Jigsaw, then he truly is a terrorist."
"Oh, Batman, you're making me blush with all these compliments," Superman smiled shyly. "But in my eyes, he also has no reason to capture you, Batman. You've achieved feats no ordinary person could, nearly saving Gotham. What is there about you to condemn?"
Batman, however, paused for a moment. Slowly, he shifted to support himself with the other leg. Superman noticed something was on Batman's mind and asked, "What's wrong, Bruce? Is there something you can't share with me?"
"I think there's some reason to it." Batman glanced at Superman, but quickly looked away. "I have to admit, Clark, I haven't been completely honest with my friends. I have my suspicions, and I am guarded. If he asks me about this, I really have nothing to say."
"Oh." Superman showed a helpless expression, "Look at who your friends are. An alien big guy, a demigod from Mount Olympus, a Green Interstellar Police, a Mars Mind Reader, a Super Mechanical Hacker, the King of Atlantis... And you, you're just a volunteer police with a human physique. If you're not guarded against them at all, that would only prove you're a fool."
"From my own perspective, I also think it's necessary. I'm not arrogant enough to think I'm invincible. If one day someone controls me to destroy the Earth, then the defensive measures you have taken could save the Earth, and also save me. Because if I really were controlled and destroyed the Earth, I'm afraid I couldn't forgive myself."
Superman turned sideways and said to Batman, "Believe it or not, Batman, everyone in the Justice League knows this – we can live so carefree on Earth, among ordinary people, all thanks to you being the last insurance. Otherwise, given how often Earth is in crisis, I definitely wouldn't dare live in the Solar System; it'd be too easy to become a weapon in the hands of those invading Earth."
Batman fell silent, as usual, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, like he was engaging in a silent protest. But Superman evidently likes to pursue an emotional victory relentlessly.
"You don't want to face this because you always feel like no one can understand you..."
"No." Batman suddenly spoke up, "I just feel that if you all are so understanding, I owe you even more."
Batman wasn't sure if this was the first time he talked about being indebted in front of Superman. He didn't like this topic, but if he didn't say it, it would again be Superman's turn to speak.
He thought Superman might say something like, "You don't owe us," but unexpectedly Superman said, "Then let's owe each other. We feel we owe you, and you feel you owe us; this way, the Justice League will never disband."
Batman seemed greatly shocked. He was silent for over ten seconds before he asked, "Who taught you that?"
"Bruce, you still don't believe that to understand you, I've really made every effort, even attempted to understand how the Madmen of Gotham get along. You all don't like loving relationships at all. You owe each other, or you hurt each other, or both. If you're more accustomed to that, then I accept."
"No, no, Clark." When Batman lost some control, his voice became deeper, "You're Superman, you're not a Madman from Gotham."
"But you just prefer to invest more energy in them." Superman pointed out sharply, "I'm willing to mix some morbid elements into our relationship, it doesn't mean I'll become evil because of it. I'm just accommodating a friend's preference. That's precisely a manifestation of my love."
Batman finally showed a pained expression. He used his hand to prop himself up, slowly turning onto his side. Superman was surprised and hurriedly reached out to support him, saying, "Didn't you say that if you lie down you might not be able to get up again? Bruce, stay conscious, are you okay?"
"I'm not okay," Batman said, "but it's probably not because of excessive blood loss, Clark. This mechanism broke down at such a bad time."
"Loki! Loki!" Thor directly hugged his brother. The moment the mechanism stopped, Loki collapsed immediately. Based on Thor's understanding of Loki, he was definitely exhausted.
In fact, the fact that Loki could hold on until now had already exceeded Thor's expectations. Knowing that he was injured and very sensitive to pain, which is very draining, Thor thought he wouldn't hold on for long, but the two of them had at least persisted for over ten minutes, which was already far beyond expectations.
Thor turned Loki over to check his condition. Fortunately, Loki was conscious, just exhausted and unable to move. He laid Loki flat on the ground to let him rest.
"I got it." Loki murmured, "This is also part of the challenge."
"What?"
"When people are... tired and in pain, they are more likely to express their... emotions, and also... harder to control their emotions." Loki spoke laboriously, gasping as he spoke for a long time. "They become mentally excited... have a stronger desire to confide..."
Indeed, Thor's heart was still pounding. That was a side effect of excessive exertion. He felt very clear-headed, even though he was very tired, he didn't want to sleep at all and wanted to chat more with Loki.
"But is there any harm in this?" Thor asked.
"For us, there's no harm," Loki said, "because between us, there's no longer any conflict. Except for the times you left me, or put yourself in danger, or never listened to me..."
"Okay, okay, Loki." Thor wiped his face and said, "If you go on like this, the conflicts in other teams probably won't be as numerous as ours."
"Alright. Anyway, if their relationship isn't good enough, or it is good, but there are some deep-seated conflicts, it's very easy for them to erupt at this time. Even if not, merely pouring out their hearts, the emotional fluctuations are very taxing. Even a lot of reckless words spoken at such times may linger in one's mind, affecting one's rationality."
"That's why I say, you really don't need to work hard to fix it." Greed said, folding his arms and looking at Stark. "On the surface, it's the mechanism that's broken, and we have to pause the process, but in fact, it's another test of their emotions. Look, even Batman almost got caught, didn't he?"