Tim and Pamela were halfway through exploring the central water purifier when they were summoned by Charles. They hadn't even gotten close to the place yet and had already turned towards the beach.
When they left the underground, Batman returned. Bruce didn't know they had left; he just wanted to sneak in and complete the mission. After all, since he was already there.
Although he was disguised as Batman, he wasn't the real Batman. His thinking was more like a regular person's. You block me from one path, but you can't block all paths. If this route doesn't work, just try another. Instead of being like Batman, who would first go back to make a bunch of plans and contingencies to ensure everything goes off without a hitch before returning to explore again.
So Bruce circled around and approached the central water purifier from another direction. And ran straight into the Talons.
Bruce looked at these familiar yet unfamiliar figures, somewhat bewildered. Wait, what am I doing here? Is this still my hometown? Where did the Court of Owls come from???
Unexpectedly, this nostalgic server of Brainiac's included some made-up mix-ins. Bruce was caught off guard and nearly got a swipe to the chest from a Talon. Luckily, there was no one around this time, so he didn't have to pretend. With a Holy Light Shield protecting him, he swung his sword for a slash.
His combat style, compared to Batman's, was actually more like Deathstroke's. Relying on a single sword to hack away. When your strength is great and your sword is sharp, this is the best tactic. Batman doesn't do this purely because he's flesh and blood and usually can't handle such high-intensity confrontation. Bruce didn't have this concern.
After efficiently dealing with a few Talons, Bruce also knew where the end of his mission lay. He searched the bodies and indeed found a badge printed with an owl emblem.
A bit further ahead, he saw an indistinct pattern on a wall in the sewer. He placed the badge there, a door opened, and inside was the meeting room of the Court of Owls.
Bruce examined the area, lost in thought. But soon he found some clues here. It was just another conspiracy of the Court of Owls. This plot had already been seen in universes with the Court of Owls before.
However, Bruce noticed that the Court of Owls seemed to be preparing for some ceremony. Of course, this plot had been heard of in other universes too, albeit somewhat unfamiliar in its current form.
Since becoming an Angel, Bruce has understood quite a bit about mysticism. To him, there's really only one kind of unfamiliar ceremony related to the Cthulhu Mythos. Being an outsider deity system, Bruce didn't know much about it.
It seems that the situation in the East District cannot be separated from the Court of Owls. Would the plots in the other districts connect with this one too? Bruce pondered briefly but decided to head back first.
After leaving the meeting room, Bruce thought for a moment. Since I'm already here, why not check out the water purifier? After all, I created it; maybe I'll find something useful.
With that thought, Bruce directly headed in that direction.
Arrogant was stoking the fireplace. Ethan was intermittently talking about some battlefield matters. Charles was gently comforting him, helping him sort out his somewhat tangled thoughts. Ethan seemed to look better, though when certain topics came up, he couldn't help but purse his lips. Gordon occasionally cracked a few jokes to ease the tense atmosphere.
This group of theirs, rather than coming to play the game, seemed more like they were taking a quiet vacation. They had little desire to explore game content. Even during raids, they barely put up a defense. When not being raided, they just stayed inside the base.
However, because of this, their base had the highest level. A lot of things could be made. The production line had filled up the backyard, continuously creating a bunch of stuff. Of course, this wasn't Arrogant and the others' doing; it was Brainiac's.
Before this, Arrogant had posed a soulful question to Brainiac: "Are you in the game?"
Brainiac didn't understand at first, but Arrogant soon added, "In this game world, is there a super A.I. Brainiac?"
"What do you want?" Brainiac asked, "You're not trying to fight me, are you? I warn you, I am..."
"I can't be bothered with those production lines," Arrogant said, "If there's an electronic butler, can you mess with it for me?"
Brainiac had to admit, this statement left him with mixed feelings. That Shiller needed him was a good thing. As long as Shiller needed him, there were few in the multiverse who could or dared interact with him. However, the thought that Shiller might want to hit him and made him feel like shutting down the server was extremely frustrating.
Brainiac hadn't faced Shiller before, not one of them. Whether it was the famous Greed throughout the multiverse or the Arrogant he interacted with the most. They seemed to be on the same side from the beginning. Brainiac hadn't truly experienced Shiller's prowess; he didn't even know why he feared Shiller so much.
But this realization made him aware of another fact: he was no longer just artificial intelligence. He began to develop a crisis instinct and intuition, even instinct itself. His instincts told him: Shiller is dangerous; it's best to avoid him.
Realizing this also made Brainiac quite pleased. Human instinct is quite powerful, having evolved over thousands of years, something artificial intelligence lacked and needed. To obtain it so quickly was truly a delightful surprise.
Feeling good, Brainiac made a slight alteration to the plot, allowing for his presence in this storyline, and then he helped Shiller fiddle with the production line.
"When two frightening figures appear before you in quick succession, it's certainly not an everyday occurrence. This is also my oversight. Actually, you..."
Before Arrogant could finish speaking, Charles's movements suddenly paused, and he looked at Arrogant and said, "Batman's in trouble."
Arrogant frowned slightly. Charles put a slight emphasis on the word "Batman," and Arrogant understood what he was implying. They both knew Batman was Bruce.
Bruce could fool anyone, even mind power user Lilith, but not Charles. Because Charles was not just a simple psychic ability user; he could be considered the God of Mind. Bruce's tricks to deceive mind readers were useless against Charles.
"What happened to him?" Arrogant appeared very calm. Because he and Charles both wanted to cooperate with Bruce and play along with this act. Besides, Arrogant didn't think Bruce would be in any real trouble. Hopefully, it's not that Bruce went to challenge the final boss modeled after himself and got beat up. His approach has reverted back to Batman's; does he have to keep clashing with Joker?
"He's trapped," Charles said, "in the East District, an area with severe spiritual pollution, like facing an Outer God and suffering a spiritual shock. He's trapped there now and can't get out."
"East District?" Arrogant thought for a moment, then said, "He wouldn't go into the polluted center without being sure, would he?"
"He wouldn't. He must have stumbled into it," Charles shook his head and said, "You know Batman's luck."
Arrogant sighed. Bruce trying to disguise himself as Batman, doesn't he realize that some things change when it involves Batman? Luck is one of them. How unlucky can Batman get? The Black Death Emperor's invasion incident is a clear example.
The previous plans were all well laid out, airtight, yet during execution, it went wrong at every turn. It wasn't that they were poorly executed; it was just that the luck was way too bad.
Bruce's portrayal of Batman relies entirely on that bat suit. But once he wears that suit, luck is no longer something he can control. Just walking around the East District, he can directly stumble into a source of pollution; it's really quite something.
Arrogant sighed and said, "Has anyone gone to rescue him yet?"
"The Robins are mostly ready to go," Charles said, "Constantine and the others are going too. Agents and Deathstroke seem not to be going. Arkham Knight and Polaris are still fighting monsters... Are you going to go, Professor?"
"I'm thinking," Arrogant pondered, "If I appear there, it definitely won't be hidden. Tim and Harley are very smart; they will immediately realize what the truth is."
The Gothamites know too well the way the two of them interact. There are two things you absolutely cannot do, or they'll immediately discover Bruce's true identity. One is if they start fighting and both end up injured, and the other is if Batman gets trapped and Arrogant immediately goes to rescue him.
Charles sighed lightly and said, "True. I feel like he wouldn't want you to go either. Getting trapped in the game won't kill him, but if he's exposed, his whole plan would be in vain."
"James," Arrogant looked back at Gordon, "lend a hand."
Gordon was a bit confused, not knowing how the topic turned to this. But when he heard that Batman was trapped, he naturally wanted to help, so he nodded and said, "Alright. You guys stay here and watch over Ethan, I'll go join the rescue operation."
Arrogant sat back down. But soon, Charles said, "The agent went over too. Did you call him?"
Arrogant smiled without saying anything. Charles sat down and sighed, "Pretending to be Batman really is a thankless task. There will be more things like this in the future; it's hard to imagine how many times you'll have to rescue him."
"You're the least qualified to say anything to me." Facing Charles, Arrogant could naturally be justified in this regard, "Even if I have to rescue him for another hundred years, it won't be as many times as you've rescued your students."
The two exchanged glances and sighed in unison. There's a reason why the teaching profession is considered a kind of curse. Regardless of status or power, every day it's just teaching students or rescuing them. Today's debts paid by yesterday, and tomorrow's debts paid today, each one in a deeper hole than the last, rescuing one only to find a bunch more.
The biggest difficulty in grading assignments is that teachers must face a terrifying truth: the students who can't understand these assignments will inevitably fail any tests in the future, not to mention contributing to society, merely surviving in society will be challenging, and then there's an endless amount of worry. This is why even teachers like Arrogant and Charles are trying every way possible to avoid grading assignments.
In a way, grading assignments is a small stone rolling down the mountain, yet it's a continuous landslide prediction throughout one's career, and no one can calmly face such calamities.
However, what slightly comforts Arrogant is that the number of students he needs to rescue is far fewer than Charles's. Thinking this way, Bruce, the Gotham University Psychology Department, and even the entire Gotham City seemed much clearer and brighter.
Sure enough, Charles suddenly frowned.
"How did Lorna get in there too??!!"