104

"You clearly knew that the victory conditions you set might make Arrogant the target of public criticism. Are you dissatisfied with his performance?"

In Central Hell, by the fence at the edge of the Tower of Thought, Marvel Schiller leaned against the railing, turned to Superego and asked.

Superego shook his head and replied, "I am not unsatisfied. I am just a manager who represents the will of all personalities. I will only make decisions that are beneficial to the personality."

"Do you believe that Arrogant is no longer suitable to be the personality controlling the body?" Marvel Schiller questioned further.

The Superego shook his head again and explained, "He just needs a break. Don't tell me you haven't noticed that his efforts to merge with his other half have been consistently unsuccessful."

"I thought you weren't aware of this. Isn't he trying to sneakily merge together?" Marvel Schiller raised a surprised eyebrow.

"That's not the case. You might think that because I was the one who initially split Arrogant into two parts, I would oppose their merging.

"But in reality, I split Arrogant into two because the Tower was unstable at the time. Arrogant, after all, is a negative personality trait. If he were to rise to the surface in complete form, it could potentially lead to mental breakdown."

"However, now that the Tower is fully restored, there's no danger should they merge and rise again."

"Then why did you initiate this competition?" Marvel furrowed his brows and asked.

"His merging process was bound to face difficulties." Superego sighed and said: "I hope for their merger's success. But on one hand, the Joker virus is indeed unique, which we can say is the will of the cosmos and not easily controlled."

"On the other hand, he shouldn't be with Batman during the merging process – the Joker virus is most active when he's around Batman."

"Therefore, I started this competition, causing all the personalities to aim at Arrogant. It is almost impossible for Arrogant to take the stage, so Batman will bear all the pressure."

"Arrogant knows this. So he will certainly choose to leave. This will temporarily separate the Joker and Batman, allowing the merge to go much more smoothly." Superego explained.

Marvel Schiller chuckled, "You truly understand him. He talks tough, but he actually cares about Batman."

"Unlike you, Arrogant isn't one of the internal driving forces of a personality. He doesn't have such a strong subjectivity since he represents Sloth. Because of this, he is more open to any emotion, regardless of whether it brings benefits, while you are quite the opposite."

"I've always believed that emotions without benefit backing them are rootless drifters." Marvel Schiller narrowed his eyes, looking at the empty Tower, and said, "Even if they don't pay me, they should serve as my observation samples. I'll only love them as long as they give me a sense of achievement."

"This just proves that you're still sick." Superego turned around, leaning against the railing and said: "We all clearly know that our emotions are an act. However, if I had to pick a personality that might be cured, it would probably be Arrogant."

"The more arrogant one is, the more easily they're broken. When he is no longer in control, he can't act anymore. Perhaps, then, he will experience a faint emotion—weakening him further and increasing the possibility of his cure."

Marvel Schiller shook his head and asked, "Do you actually expect Batman to play doctor? I do not expect much from him; he is not a…"

Just when he was about to finish, the ground of the Tower began to shake. Marvel Schiller stumbled, clutching his aching chest where he had bumped into the railing. He looked rather puzzled as he stared down the atrium, asking, "What's going on? Why is the ground shaking?!!"

Superego too changed his expression. Marvel Schiller looked at his face and realized this wasn't part of his plan. Both of their faces turned serious and they hurriedly rushed into the elevator, descending to the ground floor.

The moment they arrived on the first floor, a figure stumbled through the main door— it was Conspiracy Xile.

At this moment, Conspiracy Xile was very much in a state of disarray. His black robes were covered in a layer of ash from the flames. The garment was tattered, with the hood being almost torn off. After bursting in, he collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air.

Marvel Schiller looked at him in shock and asked, "What happened??"

Just then, the Tower trembled again, and a loud rumble echoed in from outside. Conspiracy Xile was toppled once more.

After climbing back up and struggling to catch his breath, he pointed outside the door and said, "Batman…Batman…he's gone mad!!! Batman's gone mad!!!"

Both Marvel Schiller and Superego followed his pointing finger to look outside the door. Conspiracy Xile, with a dying effort, crawled to the door and closed it.

After shutting the door, he slumped to the ground, leaning against it. It was as if he had narrowly survived a calamity. He removed his hood, took a sigh of relief, and said, "Batman has gone mad... He really... "

Swallowing hard, he continued to speak, "...He's behaving too much like Batman… the Batman we used to see in the comics, the full-fledged Batman. It's terrifying!"

"What exactly happened?" asked Marvel Schiller.

"He stormed into the palace, killed Beelzebub and ate him!"

"He evolved his soul to be stronger than even demons. He punched Atrigan into the ground, a blow so heavy he couldn't get up. He tied a death knot into Dasala's snake hair, hung her on a chandelier, and she's still there."

Conspiracy Xile swallowed, then said, "Is this the Batman that Arrogant Schiller usually faces? He said this world is just a tiny bat?"

"He calls this guy a tiny bat?! Did he actually read the comics seriously?!"

Marvel Schiller frowned, recalling his stint at DC. "Batman's not that special. He's just the slightly weakened, youthful version in the comics, isn't he?"

"Young… indeed, young…" Conspiracy Xile wheezed out, then lifted his voice, "Weakened version? Do you have any idea what we've been through in the past three days?"

"Batman's gone mad!!"

With Conspiracy Xile's narration, Marvel Schiller began to understand a Batman vastly different from his own perception.

Originally, Batman was in a bad state, fires everywhere, difficulties on all sides. But in the following few days, the development of events surprised all the Schillers because Batman truly withstood all their attacks.

Within ten days, thousands of strategic decisions, all were the best answers. Even when execution faltered, he used even more decisions to turn the tide, minimizing losses. To achieve this, the number and complexity of decisions were doubled.

But not only did Batman manage it, he did it perfectly.

At the time, Schillers hadn't realized the severity of the situation until Batman began counterattacking.

Sieges and counter-sieges were always the fixed theme of frontal battles. Batman won every siege and, with astonishing tactical perfection, arranged numerous counter-sieges, capturing many prisoners.

The Schillers thought he would fortify his defense, relying on the citadel. But they were wrong; Batman started a counteroffensive - not just launching an attack on one front, but all four.

Due to the sudden nature of events, Batman nearly battered the armies of the other Demon Lords. The most terrifying part was the fastest marching army chasing for over 100 kilometers, leaving Conspiracy Xile's three deployed regiments covered in bruises.

Like a madman, Batman kept increasing the difficulty for himself. As a result, the number and complexity of decisions grew exponentially, but he didn't falter once.

The Schillers reacted quickly and formed a defensive counter-offensive line, but it still proved ineffective.

Their opponent was a perfect strategic machine that never made mistakes. Every one of his decisions was like a divine inspiration, blessing to the soul.

Batman could always select the most advantageous option from various circumstances and the highest gain from multiple possibilities.

Not even a supercomputer or artificial intelligence could achieve this because the battlefield situation changes rapidly and the personalities of the opposing commanders vary. An AI cannot predict human thoughts. Even if small tactics could be precise, large strategies couldn't be as accurate.

The more terrifying aspect was that Batman could exploit various strategies he had established to form cross-covers, weaving a huge net. He didn't only resist Schiller's attacks but also set traps using overlapping strategies. Several Schillers less proficient at strategy fell right into them.

"Three days…" Conspiracy Xile held up three fingers. "From defense to defensive counterattack, to a full-scale counteroffensive, it took him only three days!! I know you think I'm dreaming, but he's Batman!"

Conspiracy Xile's fingers trembled. "If he's indeed the young Batman as you claim, then what the hell did Arrogant Schiller feed him, turning him into a celestial being overnight?"

Just as Marvel Schiller was about to answer, Superego looked at the crevice of the door and said, "This is no time to discuss this, have you led him here?"

"I had no choice!" Conspiracy Xile stood up, looking distraught and wronged. "This must be one of Arrogant Schiller's plots! He always told us that Batman was so bad he couldn't even write an essay!"

He walked over to Marvel Schiller and spread out his hand, "I'm sure you've heard about Greed. Arrogant Schiller often complained about how, after a hard journey across, all they came across was such a young version of Batman. Not only did he make things boring, but he also degraded his academic level…"

After speaking, Conspiracy Xile pointed at the door, "You should be glad I ran fast. Had I been a moment slower, I would now be the one hanging from a chandelier!"

"Is it really as terrifying as you say?" Marvel Schiller raised an eyebrow, a tad disbelieving. He pushed Conspiracy Xile aside, walked to the door, and took a peek outside.

The next second, Marvel Schiller turned back, rubbed his eyes, and took another peek. He then put his finger to his lips and whispered in alarm:

"What on earth has Arrogant conjured up?! Has Barbados been notified?!"

Superego shook his head, stepped forward, and peeked through the crevice. Then he saw a curtain of shadows blanketing the sky.

As he looked up, he saw an enormous black bat blocking the entire Hell Sky, staring coldly at him.