Chapter 29: Mom... Dad
Final Bonus Chapter
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Batman had already hacked into the communication line between Ivan Petrov and the headquarters, so while they were speaking, Charlie naturally listened to their conversations. As a result, he learned how to stop this spiritual storm and Ivan's plan to sacrifice himself to complete the mission.
Of course, he couldn't just sit idly by. Charlie asked himself, 'If he stood in the position of Ivan, would he be as fearless? The answer was a decisive no.
It was precisely because of this that the detective's behavior was more admirable. Fortunately, he didn't need any noble self-sacrifice to accomplish essential tasks.
Because he's just a gamer.
Since it's just a game, he can boldly do things that his real self dared not do. Because it's a game, he can use abilities that he doesn't have. He doesn't have to worry about getting hurt or dying, and he doesn't have to worry about attracting unnecessary attention. He can do the right thing as he wants. It even faintly coincides with Bruce Wayne's idea when Batman was born.
As a human being, no matter how rich and well-trained he is, he is still flesh and blood and will be targeted and killed. But if he becomes someone else by means of a mask, becomes a symbol, he becomes indestructible. And now, relying on the operation of the keyboard and mouse, Charlie has also transformed into that indestructible symbol.
Batman calmly walked into the heart of the storm, but soon, the mentally polluted laughter became overwhelming. Charlie's earphones sounded with ear-piercing laughter as if he himself was in the scene.
That's a sign of infection. That voice will directly echo in people's minds, becoming deafeningly louder and louder. It is impossible for those who are not determined to go to the eye of the storm.
But Charlie's method of dealing with this annoying voice is also very simple. He turned down the volume on his headphones.
The weirdness of the laughter is naturally greatly reduced when the volume is turned down. In fact, if necessary, he can even directly mute the game's volume or simply turn on music software in the background playing Lofi hip-hop on a loop. This is a standard trick players use against horror games. Be it ghosts or ancient gods, those guys who like to pretend to be gods and ghosts are no match for Lofi.
It didn't take long for him to reach the middle of the storm. There, stood a man. Although he still looked like Greg, inside, he was no longer human. The irreversible deep infection had turned him into the embodiment of some ancient existence outside of humanity and a mobile source of infection.
When the figure appeared in view, Charlie had already controlled Batman to lock on the target from afar. He selected the weapon from the equipment bar and held down the right mouse button to lock it. He then tapped the left button, causing a small dart to fly out of Batman's hand like a bat piercing through the air. Unfortunately, the man seemed to have sensed the approach of the dart from afar. He tilted his head slightly, and the dart flew through the air, nailing into the wall behind him with a snap.
"Missed, huh." The man's mouth opened in a terrifying arc. "It seems that your aim is not very good." But he didn't notice the two dim red lights flashing on the dart nailed into the wall; soon, the explosives placed inside 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 a disgraceful posture.
Batman approached quickly, but he stood up even quicker, just before Batman rushed to his face without even having time to adjust his stance. Greg attacked with a jab head-on, but Charlie skillfully let Batman slide to the flank with a step, then he manipulated Batman to punch back. The man reacted quickly, spreading the five fingers of his right palm to block Batman's punch.
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 bloody mess. Charlie seemed to be able to smell the scent of barbecue through the screen. Batman's gloves are equipped with a powerful electric shock function. Although he would never use lethal power when dealing with street gangsters, he naturally didn't hold back when dealing with non-human beings, and the power was directly maxed out.
The effect was outstanding! Although the electric shock couldn't complete the kill, Greg's arms were visibly weakened, and the muscles seemed to be relaxed by the electric shock. On Charlie's side, an execution reminder popped up immediately above the opponent's head—this reminder will appear when the opponent falls into a dizziness state or freezes. You can choose different moves to let Batman complete the final blow.
Tossing a Batarang to the left, Batman Slid up behind Greg, holding him in place.
Swoosh
The Batarang came back with incomparable precision, slicing Greg's head from off his neck. The headless body twitched twice, then knelt down with both knees and fell to the ground with blood oozing from the neck.
Half a second later, the head fell to the ground; it rolled around twice, creating a swirl of blood, finally stopping in a pool of it's own creation.
The laughter suddenly ceased.
But the surrounding storm didn't mean to 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 it hard to breathe. The head that had been severed turned around to face Batman.
But when it turned back, Charlie saw that it was clearly not the face of the man Greg. It was the face of a middle-aged man with distinct Western features and a mustache. From that face, one could still see traces of his past handsomeness, but his current tragic state had severely reduced his appearance.
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!?" Charlie's heart trembled violently. At this moment, he realized that this face belonged to Batman's father, Thomas Wayne.
But how could he possibly be here? At this time? In this kind of place? Charlie suddenly realized that at some point, the camera on the screen seemed 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 how many single-player action games portray the protagonist as being poisoned or under hallucination.
What he saw through the screen was an illusion from the perspective of Batman? In other words, going deep into the spiritual storm, even Batman, who is a game character, can't be immune to the infection?
"Why... didn't you stop him?" Thomas Wayne's bulging eyeballs and empty eyes already clearly belonged to the dead. However, the dry and pale mouth was still talking. Charlie, who was familiar with the story of Batman, soon realized that he was referring to; the gangster who shot and killed the Wayne couple.
"You should have tried to stop him, like a man..." When Charlie heard this, he knew it was all nonsense. Batman was eight years old then, just a helpless kid. If he had tried to rush up to fight the thief, there would probably be no Batman in the world; it would not only be the Wayne Couple who died but also him.
This wasn't the real Thomas Wayne; the real Thomas would never have thought that way. This is simply Batman's inner turmoil. After so many years, he is still blaming himself. He still feels that if life could be repeated, if there had been even a little difference in his past actions, his parents would not have had to die.
"I..." The Batman in the picture was confused. He stumbled and took two steps back, no longer daring to look at the head on the ground. But when he turned his head, a new scene had emerged in the spiritual storm behind him.
There was a dark alley with a few street lights in disrepair. A broken necklace, the pearls that were originally strung on it, cracked and rolled all over the ground like the tears of a mermaid. A beautiful woman in expensive clothes fell 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..."
Charlie hurriedly manipulated Batman's perspective to move away from the illusion of the Wayne couple. The WASD of 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, the alley disappearing, 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 right," said the voice. "Everyone's afraid of nothingness, of uncertainty, of feeling like they're not in control of anything," it continued. "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 what most people fear in their hearts. The way you choose to fight that fear is by dressing yourself up in this demonic form.
You're trying so hard to fight against the nothingness of uncertainty, to keep things under control, precisely because you're living with a fear that most people can't reach." 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 sign means that the hero is on the verge of the limit, whether it be the health, the stamina, or the mental gauge about to bottom out. Once the hero becomes unable to continue the mission, the system will forcibly recall him. It is 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, almost carved out of the same mold," said the voice. "You put on this costume, trying to fight your fear this way, while I chose to become the direct incarnation of 'nothing.'
That's what my abilities are made for. All those people who are disturbed by the unknown, those who cannot control their own lives, my ability can make them become their own masters again. Everyone can release their true inner thoughts, tear away the rules, and no longer need hypocritical disguises. They can happily be their truest selves, and they can all become 'nothing', making those who think they have mastered the rules feel the horror of 'nothing'."
While speaking, the figure of "Greg Hunter" appeared again. He smiled wildly and strangely, holding a fire ax that came from nowhere as he walked forward. Charlie was almost slamming the keyboard at this point, but the Batman on the screen still didn't accept the input. The only change caused would be the slight shaking of the POV camera.
"Greg Hunter" stopped before Batman, lifting the fire ax with a smile. Charlie seemed to have seen Batman's fingers move. Almost in desperation, Charlie frantically tapped the right mouse button.
That is the key for defense and counterattack, and it can control Batman to counterattack at the moment of being attacked.
The fire ax fell. As the sharp and heavy ax was about to split him in half, Batman moved. He suddenly hit the opponent's wrist with a palm, changing the direction where the ax fell. At the same time, he rolled on the ground, completely avoiding the fatal strike in a thrilling manner, with only the corner of the cloak getting cut off.
"What!?" The other party seemed stunned that he had recovered his mobility under such circumstances. But it was too late for him to make another swing with the ax. An electric fist punched him twice in a row; the full-power electric current paralyzed his nerves. Batman grabbed his arm and pulled him over, fully embedding another Batarang in the man's throat.
"How?" Greg looked astonished, and his crazy smile weakened a little due to shock. "You are not even a specialist individual; how could it be that..."
He couldn't figure it out; he couldn't comprehend it. Only idiosyncratic individuals can be somewhat immune to infection, but even then, they can only resist most infections. This is something that even a Specialist individual can't do, let alone this lunatic in a bat costume.
Amidst his confusion, he only got a cold but determined answer.
"Because... I'm Batman."
The Batarang swooshed across, and a head once again fell to the ground.
This time, the storm slowly subsided.
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