civilwarnovels Chapter 3742 The Perilous Situation of Dark City (5)
Chapter 3742 The Perilous Situation of Dark City (5)
Chapter 3742 The Crisis in Dark City (Part 5)
A normal person would indeed feel terrified if they saw a head suddenly appear in front of them. However, instinctive fear and cognitive fear react completely differently.
Instinctive fear originates from human instinct. Before any cognitive process, instinct prompts people to feel fear; while cognitive fear, on the other hand, arises after cognitive and rational judgment, when one believes they are in a dangerous situation, and only then do they feel fear.
Instinctive fear typically arises when something beyond human common sense or cognition appears before a human, such as a monster with obviously distorted limbs, or a ghost; while cognitive fear usually falls within human common sense, such as a madman holding a blood-stained knife, or a thug aiming a gun. The former is perceived as dangerous by the brain because it exceeds common sense, while the latter is perceived as dangerous by the brain because it is threatening within the realm of common sense.
A moving head is clearly the former, especially considering that half of the skull has been removed, with a long spine attached below. This kind of thing is obviously far beyond the realm of common sense, and should evoke an instinctive fear upon seeing such an abnormal shape.
However, Tone didn't feel fear when he saw the shape. His fear only arose after he saw Bruce's face, and even after a fraction of a second of trying to discern it. This proved that his fear wasn't due to the strangeness of the head—he was afraid of Bruce Wayne.
Things are getting more and more complicated. Schiller thought to himself: It seems this isn't the first time Tone has experienced something like this. But then again, if Batman has already retrieved the nanotech equipment with the help of other players, then he might have killed Tone as well. It's normal for Tone to recognize and fear him.
“My time is precious,” Schiller said. “Originally, I wasn’t going to help you find the nutrient solution, but since I’ve already included it, I have no choice but to work overtime. You stay here and persuade him, and I’ll go find the nutrient solution for you.”
“No! Wait!” Batman shouted. “He’s injured. If you leave us both here, we might get captured by the Order.”
“No, this young man has successfully fooled his pursuers.” Schiller recalled the situation on the rooftop. “He climbed up the wall of the narrow alley, deliberately leaving bloodstains on the left eaves, actually entering the right rooftop; after the pursuers saw the bloodstains and entered the left rooftop door, he came out from the right, jumped to the left, chased after the pursuers, and ambushed and killed them from behind. To prevent anyone from searching again, he locked the left rooftop door from the outside, opened the right rooftop door, put the body in the right house, came down from the right house, entered the left house through the front door, and hid in the left house. This way, once the pursuers arrive, find the climbing traces in the alley, and come to the rooftop to check, they will find the body in the right house and instinctively think this is the primary crime scene, thus searching this house; while seeing the left rooftop door locked from the outside, they will think that if someone went in, they can't lock the door from the outside, thus lowering their guard and not searching carefully. In conclusion, it is safe here for now.”
“So you’re going back to the cathedral? It’s very dangerous there,” Batman continued.
“I don’t think you can offer any help, and even as a weapon, you’re not very handy. I can go alone. I just infiltrated there, and the Order won’t assume I’m bold enough to go and come back so soon, so now is actually the best time.”
After saying that, ignoring Batman's calls, Schiller turned and left. But instead of going down the stairs, he went back upstairs, through the rooftop door, and waited there for a while.
Although the building wasn't very tall, it still offered a panoramic view of the nearest streets. About five minutes later, several groups of people, all members of the cult, could be clearly seen approaching.
“Sure enough, they were able to pinpoint Batman’s location.” Schiller squinted and whispered, “No, it must have been Batman who sent them the signal, because he was worried about dying if he fell into Toney’s hands. Batman is indeed in league with the Order.”
Somewhat unexpectedly, two teams of warriors were also heading in this direction. He frowned slightly and said, "Is Ms. Shiva with them too? Then why doesn't she give the nanotech equipment to Batman herself?"
“Oh, I see.” Schiller continued to mutter to himself, “To make the rescuers create a vicious Destroyer themselves, so that it can psychologically damage the Robins or Batmen who come to rescue them. It seems to be a trap specifically designed for the rescuers.”
Then he thought to himself: This is indeed a good trap, because the biggest gimmick in the dungeon's introduction is "The Most Miserable Batman." Most players who buy this scenario and participate immediately are there to save Batman, such as Robin or other Batmen. In other words, the dungeon's attributes filter out the kindest players.
The various situations he encountered on the road were clearly aimed at those who uphold justice and are kind. No matter how ruthless Arkham Batman may be, he is ultimately a righteous Dark Knight, and in most cases, he wouldn't stand idly by while people suffer. Baseness is the passport of the base, nobility is the epitaph of the noble.
Shortly after Schiller landed, he encountered an old man wearing the Kane family's pinky ring; then, on his way to the cathedral, he saw what appeared to be a baby who had fallen from the window earlier; and today, on his way to find Tone, he encountered the victimized woman. Essentially, he brought together all the vulnerable groups and innocent victims; absolutely no normal Batman or Robin could ignore these victims.
With Batman's intelligence, he could have at least suspected it was a trap, but even so, he would still go to save them. That's Batman for you.
This shows that even as president, Arkham Batman's power remains undiminished. He probably completed all the side missions involving rescuing people, then stormed into the cathedral and single-handedly rescued Batman. If he hadn't been betrayed by Batman with his nanotech gadgets at the end, Gotham City would have been conquered overnight.
This is the brilliance of this trap: brute force is useless, because the real fatal blow comes from the psychological attack. When rescuers expend tremendous effort, even fighting to their last breath, to save Batman, only to discover that he is not the city's hope but another destroyer, killing everyone they rescued right before their eyes, anyone would feel despair.
But no, Schiller still didn't think that would be the main reason for Arkham Batman's failure. His spirit was unbreakable; even if Nanobatt suddenly betrayed him, it was unlikely he could kill him instantly; even if Nanobatt killed all the innocents, Arkham Batman wouldn't give up easily. This would motivate him even more, because Batman wouldn't shirk responsibility for making wrong decisions; he would personally clean up the mess, which might actually make Arkham Batman's fighting ability even stronger.
Even with Nanobattler's formidable fighting abilities, and with teammates like the Angel of Death, Shiva, defeating a peak-powered Arkham Batman wouldn't be easy. So why did he fail?
Schiller waited, lost in thought, and soon saw the fastest group of people enter his building. Schiller didn't move; he knew these people wouldn't come up to the rooftop, because Batman didn't have much time left.
"If it's just a head, it certainly won't consume much energy, but the problem is that a head can't store much energy either. Just the things he's said along the way are enough to use up all his energy. If they really are in cahoots, Batman will definitely have the Order members take him back to the cathedral to replenish his energy."
This is the biggest weakness of this shameless Batman—he's afraid of dying.
This is not an arbitrary conclusion, but a reasonable judgment based on his past actions. Batman and the Angel of Death had a final battle, the Angel of Death won, and Batman was captured—but there is a major problem here: Batman didn't die.
Batman can die, and normally he would. If there were other options, he might choose a strategic retreat, but this universe's Batman clearly had none, yet he still survived. He was righteous during the final battle, but perhaps at the last moment, certain survival instincts prevailed, preventing him from choosing a glorious death.
This isn't about moral blackmail, nor is it saying that Batman should be martyred and those who aren't are cowards. Rather, as this universe's Batman himself said, he has a deep connection with the Angel of Death, and they didn't just meet during the final battle. Therefore, he should know something about the Angel of Death, Paul, and should know that he's a paranoid madman, and that falling into his hands would be disastrous.
So even if it's not out of justice, but purely out of self-interest, choosing to die is better than choosing to live a life of ignominy. Since this Batman didn't choose that path, it must be because his will to survive was too strong, overriding all reason, which led to the later situation.
"Having an overly strong will to survive" is just a euphemism; to put it bluntly, it's being afraid of death. But being afraid of death isn't necessarily a flaw. Everyone is afraid of death; otherwise, how could those who are fearless of death be called heroes?
The key issue is that the sunk cost of Batman in this universe is too high. He's been tormented for over a decade. If he were to die today, more than a decade later, he'd be dead sooner or later anyway. Why didn't he just die on the night of the final battle? That way, he would have suffered less.
So, having already suffered for over a decade, he would absolutely not allow himself to die. This would intensify his already strong will to live, making it extremely extreme, and he would not allow himself any risk of death whatsoever. This obsession would further oppress and destroy his reason, leading him to make extremely unwise decisions.
He wasn't exactly a brilliant Batman, otherwise he wouldn't have been defeated by the Angel of Death. Schiller only slightly emphasized the importance of timing, and he assumed Schiller wouldn't hesitate for a moment, would rush to the cathedral immediately, and would call the Order over without hesitation.
Besides wanting to save his own life, he might also want to take advantage of Schiller's trip to the cathedral to find nutrient solution and set a trap inside, so that he could eliminate this player as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, Schiller wasn't as eager as he appeared. He never intended to go to the cathedral for any nutrient solution; his goal was simply to gather all the conspirators together—so he could wipe them out in one fell swoop.