The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 3740 The Perilous Situation of Dark City (3)

Chapter 3740 The Perilous Situation in Dark City (Part 3)

First, let's rule out Paul Walker, the Angel of Death. His actions don't really qualify him as Batman. So, could that kid named Toni from the original story be Batman's successor?

In the comics, Toni is Bane's son, making him, in a sense, an orphan, and also the leader of the resistance. In the comics, he's the one who stormed into the cathedral to save the injured Batman, and seems like a decent guy. Perhaps he really is Batman?

Schiller suspected that the young man in the jacket who had run past him earlier was Tone, and judging from the smell of blood, the kid couldn't have escaped. So, should he turn back to save Tone now?

Since it was just speculation without evidence, Schiller couldn't be completely certain that his guess was correct. So he decided to use an exhaustive approach: first save this one, then go and save the Angel of Death, and then save Toni. Surely he could guess one of the three correctly?

Schiller glanced at the shelf in front of him, utterly baffled by its workings—allowing someone to be decapitated yet still alive, with a gaping hole in their skull, and still able to think normally. What kind of apocalyptic technology was this? Was the Angel of Death, Paul, some great scientist?

Schiller looked around and found a toolbox nearby. He took a wrench out of it, walked over to Batman, and said, "Let me make it clear beforehand, I have absolutely no idea what he's made of this thing. I can only take you off first. If it hurts, just bear with it."

Then, Batman watched as he picked up a wrench and started banging on the metal frame.

"No! Wait!" Batman shouted.

Clearly, he shouted too late, or rather, Schiller's strength was beyond imagination. With three "bangs," one of the supports was snapped, and the entire frame tilted to the right.

Batman crashed heavily to the ground, his long spine twisted. Fortunately, he fell forward; although he broke his nose, the glass jar containing his brain was unharmed.

After breaking one side, Schiller then began smashing the chains securing Batman's torso, snapping them all in a few blows. Now Batman was indeed no longer restrained, but without limbs, he could only lie prone on the ground.

“This situation is getting a bit out of hand,” Schiller said. “Shouldn’t this count as successfully rescuing you? But I can’t carry you away like this. Is there any way to put your head back into your body?”

"Spine...you put the spine..."

Because his nose was broken, blood was choking him, making it difficult for Batman to speak properly. Just then, a noise came from the cellar entrance; the pursuers had clearly arrived. Schiller wasn't going to waste any more time; he grabbed a wrench and smashed it down on the thick spine.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three blows, and the center of his spine was smashed to pieces. But after smashing it, he realized that the thing couldn't be pulled out of his body—there was a fixation device attached to his neck. Schiller thought for a moment and decided that the head was more important than the body, so he simply picked up Batman's head from the ground, grabbed the spine attached to the head, and ran out.

As soon as he rushed out, he encountered the limping Angel of Death and the members of the cult behind him.

Upon seeing what he was carrying, the Angel of Death swallowed all his words. The other members of the cult also stopped in their tracks.

Finding himself surrounded by a number of people, Schiller drew his gun, but the enemy charged at him too fast, and within seconds they were in close combat range.

Schiller took a few steps back, instinctively reaching for his fist blade, but with a gun in one hand and Batman's head in the other, he had no free hand to grab a melee weapon. The enemy was already charging at him, so he had no choice but to swing Batman's head.

Bang!

He smashed a member of the cult onto the head, knocking him off balance. Schiller then swung his gun again, taking down two more men who rushed at him. He fired two more shots in that direction, successfully breaking through the encirclement.

He rushed out along the road, but suddenly, as if remembering something, he looked back at the Angel of Death.

The other man's wounds had only been simply bandaged, and the movement caused them to bleed again. However, since only one bullet had entered his abdomen, he didn't seem to be in mortal danger. Schiller hesitated for a moment, then left with Batman's head in his hand.

He rushed out of the cellar, only to find a battle raging above—red-clad members of the Order and black-clad warriors were locked in fierce combat. He spotted Lady Shiva in the crowd. Lady Shiva noticed him too.

Just as the other person was about to rush towards him, they saw what he was carrying and took a half step back.

Schiller, meanwhile, was wondering if Ms. Shiva could actually be Batman. After all, in the comics, she was somewhat of a good guy. Although the gender didn't match, those were minor issues.

"Are you alright?" he asked her. He needed to make sure the shots he fired wouldn't kill her.

Upon hearing this, the other party took a step back, even abandoning what he was about to say, and turned to run back into the samurai group.

Seeing her brisk steps, she didn't seem to be in any danger. Schiller was relieved. He knew that the lethality of a pistol was actually limited; if it didn't hit any vital organs, there was a high chance of saving her. Besides, these people weren't ordinary people, so they probably wouldn't die.

Schiller searched the area but couldn't find Tone. He guessed that Tone might have been captured but not brought to the cathedral; he was probably being held at some branch base. He had to go back to the place from yesterday to look for him.

Schiller left quickly. Mrs. Shiva stared at his retreating figure, silent for a long time. Watching the fight unfold, she suddenly shouted, "Stop!"

The two sides quickly stopped fighting. Although they each stood on one side, the tense atmosphere from before was gone. Soon, a tall figure wearing a red cloak emerged.

"What happened? Why is this guy using a gun?!" Ms. Shiva stepped forward and questioned, "You told me that even Batman doesn't use guns. I took three shots from him!"

“Me too,” the Angel of Death said grimly. “Who knows where this monster came from?”

"He took Batman away?"

"He only took his head with him."

Ms. Shiva opened her mouth and said, "He shot me the moment he saw me. I didn't have time to give him the nanotech equipment. How is he supposed to resurrect Batman with just one head?"

“He never intended to resurrect Batman,” the Angel of Death said. “The frame was knocked down, and his spine was broken. Would you save someone like that?”

Ms. Shiva fell silent. Then she said, "What do we do now? We have to find a way to get Batman's head back. Only he can perfectly control the nanodevices, only his hatred and killing intent can stop these otherworldly visitors."

“I’ll send people to search for him,” the Angel of Death said. “But you’d better not expect Batman to be alive. He just used his head as a flail and knocked down three people.”

“Batman will convince him,” Ms. Shiva said firmly. “He will gain his trust and get him to find a way to resurrect him. And I will find a way to give him the nanotech equipment, and then there will be no problem.”

Schiller carried Batman's head back to the street where he had seen Tone earlier, but he didn't see anyone there, and the corpses on the ground weren't from the previous night.

Schiller had to find another house; he needed to make some repairs, especially to clean the bullets that had been stained with blood.

This time he found a hotel-like building. Inside, he found it not only deserted but also very clean. He found a room, put Batman's head aside, sat on the bed, and began cleaning the bullets.

This time, the interval was a bit long, and a lot of the blood on the bullets had congealed and was still stuck in the gaps, which could cause them to jam. Schiller had no choice but to go to the hotel's backyard, where he found a bucket filled with rainwater. He washed the bullets in the bucket before reloading them.

Batman woke up from his coma. Schiller had used it as a weapon, which caused him to suffer a concussion and had just passed out.

"Where is this?" he asked.

"It shouldn't be on your neck."

Schiller explained as he carefully reloaded the bullet. He had deliberately controlled the angle when he fired, so most of the bullets didn't hit the bone and therefore didn't deform, making it usable after reloading.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

"I'm here to save Batman."

"But you only saved his head."

Schiller glanced at him and said, "I don't think you can be considered Batman, so you're lucky you got a head back."

"You don't think I'm Batman?"

"I asked you, are you? You said you used to be. I asked you again, are you now? You said you don't know. Then why should I think you're Batman?"

The other person seemed a little confused by such simple and straightforward logic. Schiller then added insult to injury: "But that's not the main reason. The main reason is that you were actually made to look like this. Batman shouldn't be that weak. The Batmen I know are ridiculously strong; they can defeat an entire city's criminals in one night."

A flicker of fear suddenly appeared in those cloudy blue eyes. Schiller keenly caught it. He chuckled inwardly: Got you.

Broken Bat had seen Arkham Batman. Schiller thought this proved that Arkham Batman had indeed broken into the cathedral and saved him, but the mission still failed. Therefore, the possibility that this Batman wasn't Batman increased.

However, Schiller was still unsure how Arkham Batman had saved this Batman. So he asked again, "Do you know Ms. Shiva?"

"...I've heard of her. Back when I was Batman, she was the world's number one assassin, and she served under the League of Assassins."

“On my way to rescue you, she came looking for me. I saw her again near the church earlier. The warriors of the Assassin's Guild were fighting with those cultists in red robes.”

"What did she tell you?"

"Nothing important. She said she wanted to defeat the Order of the Saints and restore order to Gotham. After she said that, the League of Assassins started fighting the Order of the Saints."

“Perhaps we can cooperate with her,” Batman said. “They both want to rule Gotham, and we can use that to make them fight each other.”

“No interest,” Schiller said. “My priority right now is saving Batman. Everything else can wait.”

Batman's lips moved, as if he wanted to say something. This subtle expression did not escape Schiller's eyes.

Sure enough, this Batman knew that Ms. Shiva possessed the nanotech equipment that could save him. This proves that someone must have tried to save him using this method before. Whether it was Robin or Batman from Arkham, at least one person had attempted this route, but failed.

This proves that Batman, now equipped with nanotech gear, has dragged the city into an even deeper abyss, just as in the original story. Those who rushed to the rescue probably never imagined that their arduous efforts would result not in rescuing the persecuted Dark Knight, but in bringing back a complete madman. This is the main reason for their failure.

What puzzles Schiller now is: if Batman had obtained the nanotech equipment, how did he return to the cathedral's underground and revert to his original victim form?

Bang