Chapter 1945 U: Beyond Major Event (34)_1

In the moment of seeing through the truth of the game, Batman jumped onto the cage, enabling the little boy's head to poke through the gaps of the cage. He then grabbed the boy's armpits, pulled him out, and once again jumped down, placing the boy back on the ground.

Natasha, dirtied, also jumped down. Patting the dust off her hands, she looked at Batman and said, "So, great detective, unveil the answer now."

Sitting in the spectator seat, Bruce stared at the scene on the screen and asked, "What do you think the original rules of this game were? What do you think, Arthur?"

Bruce turned to look at the Joker - Arthur. Arthur's eyes were still deeply set in their sockets, his gaze dark with no visible emotion. However, he shifted slightly in his chair, supporting his high cheekbones with one finger as he said, "You should be asking me how boring this game would be if it were played according to that idiot's plan."

He coughed twice, as if choked by smoke, covered his mouth with the back of his hand and continued, "I think your Professor is quite an artistic performer, with a sense of humor. He has made this otherwise dull game somewhat intriguing."

"So what's going on?" Spider-Man asked in slight bewilderment, "Is the man in the suit the murderer? Who did he kill?"

"He's not just a murderer." Bruce blinked and said, "He's a serial killer."

"There are prostitute killers in many places in Europe." Constantine blew out a smoke ring and continued, "They usually target women involved in flesh trade in slums or frequent the Red Light District. Using money and the guise of an elite, they deceive prostitutes and murder them at deserted places."

"Many of them don't do it entirely for money. How to say it, sadist? Or some peculiar sexual fetish? They prefer killing their partner during intercourse. Prostitutes are the easiest targets. They are helpless and have little resistance."

"And that woman." Constantine, cigarette between two fingers, pointed at Natasha on the screen, "She belongs to the same category. I can see it, she's a venomous spider, murdering every man she sleeps with."

"We always more easily identify those of our own kind." Constantine smirked, slightly turning his head towards Bruce. "Like you and that guy are of the same kind, not like me."

Spider-Man furrowed his brows deeply. He too realized that the rules of the game were not as simple as 'Gem Man' stated. After pondering for a while, he asked, "Why answer questions?"

"That's the key point." Bruce interjected, "Think carefully about the questions he asked."

"Assuming the game develops according to the normal flow, what questions would he ask next?" Bruce pondered, "Have you ever killed anyone? How many people have you killed? How many people have you slept with? After you slept with them, did you kill them?"

"Why should he ask these questions?" Spider-Man asked, not understanding.

"Because the man standing on the ground is the savior, and those in the cage are desperate lambs awaiting rescue. But are they really innocent? Or are they just demons in another sense?"

Suddenly, realization dawned on Spider-Man.

"Those are the rules of the game." Batman, standing in the arena, said, "In the first half of the game, you make us answer questions."

"As time progresses, the questions you ask each person edge closer to their inner secrets until we are unwilling to divulge the answers."

"The cage keeps rising higher and the people in the cage grow more fearful. They'll start blaming us for not answering questions, for just watching them fall to their deaths."

"You want us to feel guilty, to be tormented by morals, and perhaps even blame us. All it'd take is to utter an answer to save a life."

"But that's only half of the game." Batman's voice went deeper, "You ask every individual that comes here about their opinion on human nature. Perhaps only when we provide an unexpected answer."

"Perhaps others engage in an intense debate with you, but as you said, you want us to see for ourselves."

"When the iron cage reaches the highest point, you'll switch the subject of your questioning from us to them."

"You begin to question the dark secrets of those inside the cage, in the same way. If they answer, the cage can be lowered. If they refuse, the cage won't move."

"Ordinarily, who wouldn't want the cage to be lowered? Just answer every question, they land safely. Isn't that the best opportunity for self-rescue?"

"Regrettably, the majority in the cage are not ordinary people, or rather their inner secrets, unspeakably grim, are more likely to violate ethical and legal boundaries. They're murderers."

"The cage goes up, they fall to their deaths. Yet, if they confess their secrets for the cage to descend, they'd face retribution. What will they choose?"

Batman excelled at phrasing each question as a statement. However, this time, a hint of doubt truly marked his tone. But soon, he asked and answered his own question, "The fear of legal penalties can never exceed the fear of death. Under your coercion, they will confess one by one their heinous crimes – murder, dismemberment, rape, abuse, framing... This would make all our efforts to save them seem like a joke."