Chapter 28: Because I am Batman

Batman had already hacked into the communication line between Luo Yajun and headquarters, allowing Chu Cheng to eavesdrop on their conversations. As a result, he learned about Agent Luo's plan to sacrifice himself to stop the mental storm.

Chu Cheng couldn't sit back and watch. He asked himself if he were in Luo Yajun's position, would he be able to act with such fearlessness? This made him admire the detective even more.

Luckily, Chu Cheng didn't need to make any noble self-sacrifice to accomplish the task at hand. After all, he was just a gamer.

In the game, he could do things he wouldn't dare do in real life, use abilities he didn't possess, and not worry about getting hurt or dying. He could do what was right without attracting unnecessary attention.

It coincides with the very idea that gave birth to Batman as Bruce Wayne.

As a human, no matter how wealthy or well-trained, one is still made of flesh and blood and vulnerable to being targeted and killed. But by donning a mask and becoming someone else, becoming a symbol, one becomes indestructible.

And now, with the operation of his keyboard and mouse, Chu Cheng has also transformed into that indestructible symbol.

Batman marched into the heart of the storm, where the mentally polluted laughter overwhelmed him. The 360-degree laughter surrounded him through his earphones, as if he himself was in the scene.

It's a sign of infection. That voice will echo directly into people's minds, deafening them and making it impossible for those who are not determined to go to the eye of the wind.

But Chu Cheng's method of dealing with this irritating voice was simple; he turned down the volume on his headphones.

The strangeness of the laughter was greatly reduced when the volume was turned down. In fact, he could even directly block the game volume if needed or simply turn on background music to play the Teletubbies in a loop. It's a common trick players use against horror games. Whether it's ghosts or ancient gods, those who like to pretend to be such beings are no match for the Teletubbies.

It didn't take long for him to reach the center of the storm.

Standing there was a man who still appeared to be Guan Ye, but he was no longer human. The irreversible deep infection had turned him into an endorsement of some ancient existence beyond humanity, and he had become a mobile source of infection.

When the figure appeared in his field of vision, Chu Cheng had already controlled Batman to lock onto the target from afar. He selected a weapon from the equipment bar, held down the right mouse button to lock on, and tapped the left button. The small dart flew out of his hand like a bat piercing through the air.

But the man seemed to have sensed the approaching dart from afar. He tilted his head slightly, and the dart flew through the air but missed, nailing into the wall behind him with a snap.

"Missed~ ha." The man's mouth opened in a more terrifying arc. "It seems that your aim is not very good."

Unbeknownst to him, two dim red lights were flashing on the dart nailed into the wall. Suddenly, the explosives within the dart detonated with a bang.

The wall was blown to pieces, and the shock wave carried the fragments flying around. The man was blown to the ground in disgrace.

He quickly stood up just as Batman rushed towards him, but he didn't have time to adjust his stance. He attacked with a head-on jab, but Chu Cheng skillfully maneuvered Batman to slide to the flank with a step and then manipulated him to punch back.

The man reacted quickly, spreading out the five fingers of his right palm, as if he could take Batman's punch with his great strength.

But he miscalculated.

The moment Batman's black glove hit his palm, an azure blue electric current burst out suddenly, and countless electric arcs bloomed from the front of the fist, blasting the opponent's palm into a **** mess. Chu Cheng seemed to be able to smell the scent of barbecue through the screen.

Batman's gloves were equipped with a powerful electric shock function. Although he never used lethal power when dealing with street gangsters, he didn't hesitate to use it against non-human beings, and the power was maxed out.

Chu Cheng exclaimed, "Wild infected people have appeared! Come on, Batman, use 100,000 volts!"

The effect was outstanding!

Although the electric shock couldn't kill him, the infected person's arms visibly weakened, and his muscles seemed to relax under the electric shock. On Chu Cheng's side, a prompt immediately popped up above the opponent's head, reminding him that the opponent fell into a dizziness or freeze. He could choose different moves to let Batman finish him off.

Execute on the spot!

People with an infection level of more than 80% would have died long ago, and the infected people are just walking dead like zombies, so Batman's principle of not killing naturally does not apply.

Batman snatched up behind the man, and a Batarang bounced off his hand with a snap. He bound and imprisoned the man from behind, raised the dart, and dropped it.

The sharp blade cut through the man's throat like a hot knife through butter. The red dart trailed a long trail of blood, and the man's head was severed up to his neck.

The headless body twitched twice, then knelt down with both knees bent and fell to the ground, with bright red blood flowing from the fracture site.

After the head fell to the ground, it miraculously rolled around twice, dragging blood, and stopped in a pool of blood. The laughter stopped.

But the surrounding storm didn't stop, on the contrary, it seemed to be more intense. The surrounding streets and buildings were all submerged in the boundless storm, and the overwhelming cloud made people breathless.

The head that had been severed and landed turned back towards the screen.

Chu Cheng saw that it was not the face of the man named Guan Ye, but the face of a middle-aged man with distinct western features and a mustache.

From that face, there could still be traces of handsomeness, but it had been severely damaged by the tragic death. The moment he saw this face, the Batman in the picture suddenly took two steps back uncontrollably, as if his heart had been hit hard.

"Father... Father!?" Chu Cheng's heart trembled violently.

At this moment, he realized that this face belonged to Batman's father, Thomas Wayne. But how is it possibly here? At this time? In this kind of place? Chu Cheng suddenly realized that at some point, the camera on the screen seemed to be slightly tilted by a few degrees.

The screen filter also darkened, and the edges of the screen became a bit blurred. He quickly realized that this is the way many action games hint to the player when the protagonist is poisoned or hallucinating.

So, what I am seeing through the screen now is an illusion from Batman's perspective?

In other words, even Batman, who is a game character, cannot be immune to the infection when delving deep into the spiritual storm?

"Why... didn't you stop him?"

Thomas Wayne's bulging eyeballs and empty eyes already belonged to the dead, but his dry and pale mouth continued to speak.

Chu Cheng, who was familiar with Batman's story, soon realized that Thomas was referring to the gangster who shot and killed the Wayne couple.

"You should have tried to stop him, like a man..."

When Chu Cheng heard this, he knew it was all nonsense. Batman was only eight years old then, just a helpless kid. If he had tried to rush up to fight the gangsters, the world line would probably have changed, and it would not be the Waynes who died but him.

This wasn't the real Thomas Wayne, and the real Thomas could never have thought that way. It's just that Batman himself is digging himself into a hole. After so many years, he still blames himself. He still feels that if life could be repeated, if there was even a small difference in the past, his parents would not have had to die.

"Me..."

The Batman in the picture was a bit confused. He stumbled and took two steps back, not daring to face the shocking head on the ground.

But when he turned his head, a new scene had emerged in the dark storm behind him.

It was a dark alley with a few street lights in disrepair. A broken necklace with pearls that were originally strung on it crackled and rolled all over the ground, like the tears of a mermaid.

The beautiful woman in expensive clothes had fallen into a pool of blood, her head tilted, staring at Batman.

"Bruce... help... us, it's dark in here... I'm so scared..."

Batman shuddered again and stumbled back.

"Mother..."

It's a bit brutal, but that's what makes Batman at his core. Just like all Spiderman screenwriters are unwilling to let poor Uncle Ben go, every time there is a Batman story, the screenwriter always drags his parents out and flogs the corpse repeatedly.

There was even an over-the-top cosplayer who cosplayed as the Wayne couple at one time. When he saw Batman at the comic show, he threw himself on the ground. That scene was funny, really funny. Just a smile could make twenty years of good deeds go away...

Chu Cheng hurriedly manipulated Batman's perspective to move away from the illusion of the Wayne couple. The WASD keys on the keyboard could still control Batman's movement, but his pace was significantly slower. He could only walk but not run and jump, and the attack button did not respond.

Then he fell to his knees, and the filter darkened to the extreme.

The alley disappeared, and the surroundings became a chaotic storm again, as if boundless nothingness. A voice came from the depths of nothingness, a piercing laughter.

"You see, this proves me even more right."

The voice resounded in the void.

"Everyone's afraid of nothingness, of uncertainty, of feeling like you're not in control of anything," said the voice. "You're especially like that, aren't you? I don't know who you are, but I can feel it.

You have a strong fear of certain things, more than most people fear in their hearts. And the way you choose to fight that fear is by donning this costume, this symbol of your power and control. It's like you're trying to become a force of nature, something beyond fear and uncertainty."

Batman remained kneeling. A flickering exclamation mark had popped up in the upper left corner of the screen.

It was explained in the description of the beginner tutorial. The exclamation mark signified that the hero was on the verge of the limit. Maybe the blood volume, the physical strength, or the mental tank was about to bottom out. Once the hero became unable to continue the mission, the system would forcibly recall him.

It was basically equivalent to the death of a character in a traditional game.

Another burst of laughter echoed in the void.

"You see, we are actually identical, or almost carved out of the same mold," said the voice. "You put on this bodysuit and tried to fight fear in this way, and the way I chose? It is the direct incarnation of 'nothing'."

"That's what my abilities are for. For all those people who are disturbed by the unknown, those who cannot control their own lives, my ability can help them become their own masters once again. They can release their true inner thoughts, tear away the rules, and no longer need to hide behind hypocritical disguises. They can be their true selves and become 'nothing,' making those who think they have mastered the rules feel the horror of 'nothing.'"

As he spoke, the figure of "Guan Ye" appeared again, smiling wildly and holding a fire ax in his hand that seemed to have come out of nowhere.

Chu Cheng was almost banging his face against the keyboard, but the Batman on the screen still wasn't responding. However, the camera on the screen shook slightly as Chu Cheng typed.

"Guan Ye" stopped in front of Batman, lifting the fire ax with a smile.

Chu Cheng thought he saw Batman's fingers move, almost reflexively, he took out the unicorn arm hand speed that he had been practicing for more than 20 years alone and frantically tapped the right mouse button repeatedly. It was the key for defense and counterattack, and it could control Batman to counterattack at the moment of being attacked.

The fire ax fell. Just as the sharp and heavy edge of the ax was about to land, Batman suddenly moved. He hit the opponent's wrist with a palm, causing the ax to miss its target. At the same time, he rolled on the ground, narrowly dodging the ax. Only the corner of his cloak was sliced off in the process.

"What!?" The other party seemed stunned that Batman had recovered his mobility under such circumstances.

But it was too late for him to retrieve the ax. Batman's electric fist hit him twice in a row, and the full-power electric current paralyzed his nerves. Batman grabbed his arm, pulled him over, and the dart landed on the man's throat.

"Why?" "Guan Ye" looked astonished, and even his crazy smile weakened a little due to shock for the first time.

"You are not even a special person, how could it be..."

He couldn't comprehend it, and he couldn't accept it. Only one answer came from Batman.

"Because,

I am Batman."

The bat dart flew across, and the man's head fell to the ground.

The dark storm suddenly stopped.

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I wanted to take a moment to apologize for the delay in updates. As you know, life has a way of throwing unexpected curveballs our way and I have been dealing with a lot of events lately such as exams, hanging out with the homies, and even my junior-senior prom. On top of that, I've been working hard on Chapter 2 of our research project, which I'm happy to say is finally finished!

However, with 4th quarter approaching, I expect my schedule to get even busier with a ton of homework and other responsibilities. I don't want to make any promises that I can't keep, but I'll definitely try my best to upload whenever I have the time.

Speaking of which, I've managed to squeeze in some time to work on 2 new chapters for you all. Unfortunately, I've hit some roadblocks and have been feeling frustrated lately, especially after accidentally closing Chapter 28 without saving it multiple times. But I won't let that stop me from providing you with quality content.

So, thank you for your patience and understanding. I hope you'll enjoy the new chapters and as always, feel free to share your thoughts and feedback with me.