amaotonovel Chapter 3738 The Perilous Situation of Dark City (1)
Chapter 3738 The Perilous Situation of Dark City (1)
Chapter 3738 The Crisis in Dark City (Part 1)
"Batman? It's been so long since I've heard that name. I remember... about 15 years ago, some madman who called himself 'Saint' defeated Batman. Since then, no one has heard from him again. The Church of Saints took control of Gotham, arresting and executing all those who opposed him. Since then, Gotham has become a complete dead city..."
A wisp of thin smoke drifted out from between the withered fingers, and the scattered firelight was reflected on the surface of the water in the cracks of the moss-covered stone bricks, carrying an indescribable sense of gloom and twilight.
The old man, slumped against the wall like a skeleton, finished his last cigarette. A boot stubbed out the fallen butt. Pale fingers took a ring from the old man's palm. Engraved inside the ring were small words: "God bless the Kane family."
Schiller looked up as flocks of blackbirds swept across the church steeple. The sky was overcast. The night rain had just stopped when he arrived. The damp stones, the corpses scattered everywhere, the fleeing and shouting, the endless flames—it all made him feel as if he had returned to the fourteenth century, a time when life was cheap and meaningless.
There was no Batman here. Schiller stood at the alleyway's entrance, silently gazing at the inscription on the ring. He had expected this, but he hadn't anticipated that the "saint" who had succeeded Batman would do such a terrible job. A victory had set the entire city back four hundred years, back to an era of rampant church rule and widespread plague.
There wasn't a trace of modern technology on the streets. No electricity, no skyscrapers, let alone the high-tech equipment Batman had installed in the city. The entire city was as black as ink and as silent as death. No wonder several rescue teams had failed here.
Without modern technology, equipment was unsupplied. Schiller was no exception. He carried only a G19 with a 15-round magazine and its accompanying suppressor, along with 60 rounds of ammunition, some gunpowder for reloading, a carbon fiber tactical knife that could be concealed in his boot, two incendiary flares, two injections of adrenaline, two injections of healing potion, and a small amount of morphine for pain relief.
Schiller was dumped in a ruin on the outskirts of town. On his way into the city, he saw many corpses lying by the roadside, some still quite fresh. After a preliminary examination, he determined that they had all died from melee weapon wounds, with no signs of poisoning, and most had died from excessive blood loss.
The dead were of various races and ages, but without exception, most showed signs of malnutrition. This meant that the city's resources must have been strictly controlled. Forget weapons supplies; even food and water were difficult to obtain.
While the game world does issue quests and sometimes provides equipment, it doesn't grant players superpowers that allow them to survive without food or water. Players must find all the necessary survival resources during quests themselves. For most short-term quests, players will carry their own compressed food or nutrient solutions; for longer quests, they will need to scavenge for resources within dungeons.
Schiller was aiming for a swift victory, so he carried no food or water, and even his weapons and medicine were minimal. He had to complete the mission before these supplies ran out.
Upon landing, he received the main mission: "Rescue Batman and restore order to Gotham City."
After arriving in this world, Schiller had some guesses about the plot. After listening to the words of the old man from the Kane family, he became even more certain: this must be the world of the "Broken Bat" in the Dark Multiverse.
In *The Dark Knight Falls*, Batman's spine is broken by Bane, and he spends a long time recovering. Paul Walker, the Angel of Death, receives the Batman cape but fails to inherit the Dark Knight's will. He becomes a tyrant who only knows how to use violence to control violence, killing all the criminals and plunging Gotham back into chaos and turmoil.
The returned Batman defeated the Angel of Death, restored order to Gotham, and led the city out of the shadows.
Sounds wonderful, right? But unfortunately, this is a story from the Light Multiverse. In the Dark Multiverse, the returning Batman failed to defeat the Angel of Death; instead, he was defeated by the Angel of Death.
The Angel of Death removed his limbs, cut off most of his muscles, replaced his original spine with an artificial one, opened his skull, and replaced his original brain with artificial brain matter. He then imprisoned Batman for a full 30 years.
Over these 30 years, Batman has not only been physically tormented—his body has been constantly restored only to be damaged countless times—but the Angel of Death has also been tormenting his mind, making him aware of the tragedies unfolding in Gotham, yet he is powerless to stop them.
Thirty years later, a young man named Toni leads one of Gotham's few remaining resistance fighters in a battle against the Angels of Death, capturing Central Cathedral and rescuing the imprisoned Batman. Ms. Shiva provides Batman with nanotech equipment, restoring his body. The entire city eagerly awaits the return of the Bat-Signal.
Unfortunately, Batman had gone completely insane after 30 years of inhumane torture. The moment he reappeared, he killed Toni and Ms. Shiva, as well as the "Saint Batman" played by the Angel of Death and his Saint Order, and then ruled Gotham in the same brutal way, plunging the city into darkness once again.
Having grasped the general plot, Schiller needed to know where Robin's team and Batman from the Arkham Knight universe had met their demise. He had some guesses, but no concrete evidence yet. He wasn't here to reminisce about the past; he needed to resolve this quickly.
Schiller didn't delay any longer. He checked his equipment, tightened his trench coat, pulled his hat brim down, gripped his loaded pistol, and walked toward the street corner.
His figure was frozen in the light and shadow projected by an old-fashioned projector. In a dimly lit space with towering Gothic spires, several figures sat high on chairs floating in mid-air. Their shadows were stretched long and cast onto the ancient, dilapidated walls. As the projected light shifted, the pale face of the tall, thin figure in the center was illuminated, revealing an eyepatch covered in steel spikes and a gaping, blood-red mouth.
“Our old friend has finally arrived,” he said with a laugh. “Schiller Rodriguez. Let me introduce him to you—he…is nothing! Hahahaha!”
A figure sitting to his left narrowed his eyes. The figure with a round, owl-like eye patch spoke in a deep voice, "Have you forgotten how much trouble that Batman in metal armor caused us last time, Batman Who Laughs?"
"So what?" The pale figure known as the "Bat of Laughter" grinned again. "He still slunk away, didn't he? His expression was hilarious! I can't wait to watch the highlights again..."
“It sounds like you all know him.” The Batman sitting to the right of the Batman Who Laughs was muscular, but his attire differed from the others. He resembled Darkseid, the Dark Lord, more than Batman. His gaze passed over the Batman Who Laughs in the middle and landed on the figure sitting to the Batman Who Laughs's left who had just spoken. “Night Owl?”
“I was once matched with him in the same instance,” Night Owl said in a deep voice.
"Sounds like the ending isn't going to be good," the burly Batman said again. "Hopefully, they won't have to use the Anti-Life Equation this time."
"Stop thinking about the Anti-Life Equation." A clear voice came from behind, but no one was sitting there. Only the shape of a clock tower was faintly visible behind him. "The Batman Who Laughs, you said this instance would attract many Batmen to rescue him, but so far, we've only seen one. The rest are just insignificant minor characters. If that's the case, when will we be able to weaken Batman's manpower?"
"What's the rush?" Mang Xiao crossed his legs, parted his lips to reveal more of his blood-red gums, and said, "The big fish will be hooked soon. We just need to wait patiently."
“Don’t forget our deal,” said Batman, who sat on the far edge, wearing a red cape and dressed somewhat strangely. “You promised to let me rule this city forever before I would allow you to use this place as your hunting ground. That damned Batman caused too much trouble here last time. This time we must finish this quickly.”
With that, he flicked his cape, rose from his seat, and left the room without looking back. The Batman Who Laughs's face suddenly darkened, and he muttered under his breath, "What an idiot. If I didn't need bait to lure the Batman of the multiverse, I would have torn him to shreds the moment I saw him!"
“Calm down,” Night Owl said. “After all, he’s not Bruce Wayne, he’s Paul. It’s inevitable that he’ll be a little foolish. But once the most crucial Batmen fall here, he’ll be useless.”
“That day won’t be far off,” the Batman Who Laughs said, rubbing his hands together. “Now, let’s see what this Schiller Rodriguez has to say. How does he plan to rescue the poor, crippled Batman? With his psychological knowledge? Hahaha…”
boom!
The laughter abruptly ceased with a dull gunshot.
Schiller lowered his eyes, put away his gun, and without even glancing at the figure he had shot down, walked into the room. Some disordered footsteps came from upstairs, and another member of the Order in a red robe rushed down.
"you……"
boom!
He too collapsed on the stairs, his body tumbling down the stairs. Schiller stepped forward, used his dagger to pull the bullet from his heart and put it back in the magazine, wiped the blood from his hands with his red robe, and went up the stairs.
The last member of the cult in the room had just opened the door when, with another "bang," he fell to the ground. This time, the bullet had lodged in his skull through his eye socket. Schiller had no choice but to grab a chair, smash his head open, and retrieve the bullet from his brains.
"Within seven steps, the gun is fast and accurate," he muttered to himself, before entering the room where the cult members were.
They were eating. There were two half-cold sandwiches on the table, along with canned beans and other snacks. Schiller didn't even glance at them, instead finding a long knife that had been laid down beside his seat. He picked it up and examined it, but seemed dissatisfied with its weight, so he put it down.
On the other side of the table, he found a fist blade with a handle at the bottom and a sharp double-edged dagger on top. He weighed it in his hand, thought it was good, and put it in his trench coat pocket.
After exiting, he went up two more floors via the stairs and opened the door to the rooftop. Schiller stood on the roof, looking down at the surrounding area.
The surrounding high-rise buildings had been completely destroyed; almost all buildings taller than five stories had been reduced to ruins. The building he was standing on was now the tallest he could find, making the Gothic cathedral standing in the center all the more conspicuous. It was as if it were telling the players that what they were looking for was right there.
Schiller didn't hesitate. He rushed over there as fast as he could.