Capítulo 3266: Chapter 2409: Mental Assault (27)_1

The efficiency of the two Batmans was certainly more than just 1+1=2. They quickly completed their search through the majority of historical records and actually discovered some issues.

Firstly, both Batmans focused on the historical fragments they saw before entering Doctor Sophocles' room, and combining some details described in the books, they basically confirmed that those were scenes from Ancient Times to the Roman Empire period.

But the problem was that there appeared some things that should not have emerged in human history, such as ravens with red glowing eyes and those ships and weapons.

This suggests that history indeed conceals other things or, to put it another way, if one flips the pages of human history books, those things originally hailed as myths might be real.

Of course, even through Wonder Woman's narration, Batman knew that gods existed on Earth, but after all, Wonder Woman is also a descendant of gods, and her description of the Olympus Gods is more from the perspective of the gods themselves.

And through the search of historical texts, Batman realized that these gods had a vast following on Earth during certain periods and might actually be the same as some of the countries they were familiar with.

From this perspective, it seemed unlikely for Barbados to have only the Court of Owls as his followers. It's not possible that he came to Earth only after America was founded. If he came earlier, then his followers are more likely to be in Europe or Asia, which were the densely populated regions in ancient times.

Realizing that the Court of Owls might not be Barbados' only followers, Batman began to look for ancient beliefs that leaned towards darkness, a similar concept and description existed in almost every Deity System, with every early religion having some god representing the mysterious night.

In this regard, they indeed did not find the target, but while searching, Batman discovered that an ancient tome discussing the origins of human totem worship mentioned a tribe that worshiped the Bat God.

Almost every Batman was interested in bats. Upon finding this tribe, they decided to set aside the matter of the Dark God and investigate what this bat-worshiping tribe was all about.

They stumbled upon their goal when, in materials used to display totem images, they found the Hebrew spelling of Barbados.

This was unlikely to be a coincidence. First, the Hebrew spelling method is entirely different from English, and the construction of the word 'Barbados' in Hebrew is very unusual. It does not seem like a name that a nation using Hebrew could come up with. It looked more like a forced fit, trying to spell out this pronunciation with the letters of their language.

Secondly, the central figure of this totem was a pattern, but it didn't look like a giant bat; it seemed more like a dragon with bat wings, and the name of this tribe was even more intriguing. They called themselves the Judas Cultists.

After finding this clue, they started flipping through more books, and then they realized the so-called Judas Cultists had quite a significant influence, mentioned in almost every primitive totem worship.

Then, both Batmans gradually found out that the so-called bat was simply because those who compiled these books thought the totem looked like a bat and assumed they were ancient bat worshipers. However, in the inscriptions left by the Judas Cultists, they never said they worshiped a bat. They referred to their deity as the great Dark God.

Now, the image matched that of Barbados completely.

The two Batmans found Constantine, who had started drinking again, in a pub in Oxfordshire, but this time they stopped her before she got drunk, held her head down, and made her find more records about the Judas tribe in the mystic world.

The most useful of these was a book Constantine found from the Forgotten Bookstore, which contained the account of a chieftain from the Judas tribe dreaming of the Dark God.

The story roughly went that one night, the chieftain dreamed their god descended upon the land, and the great Dark God told him that night would ultimately fall upon the day, and the bat was the pathway.

The last sentence was much more complex and secretive than this, but after the two Batmans decoded it, they found that it meant just what Barbados had said.

Note that the bat referred to here as the pathway was an actual bat, the same as the English pronunciation of bat. However, due to the language barrier, the chieftain at the time did not understand the true meaning.

This, however, inspired both Batmans, especially the main universe's Batman. He thought if darkness and light are two worlds and Barbados is the master of the dark world, then the night will ultimately fall upon the day, indicating Barbados definitely wants to invade the light world.

And 'the bat is the pathway' is also easy to understand. Among so many cities in the world, he specifically dropped the Court of Owls into Gotham and steeped Gotham in a thick power of darkness. Could this be to initiate his own birth?

Because Gotham is so corrupt and infested with criminals, a Batman is bound to emerge. If it's not him, it would be someone else. And some special aspects of himself might make it possible for him to become the channel for Barbados to descend into the Light Universe.

When the main universe's Batman was telling Batwoman about these things, Batwoman said it was too abstract and difficult to understand. But Constantine provided a reasonable explanation.

"Mysticism is like that. A god choosing you might not be because of any special abilities or excellence on your part but simply because your name has some special meaning."

"In the eyes of humankind, things that seem meaningless and produce no effect are not necessarily so in the mystic world. Your date of birth, the state of the sun and the moon at the time of your birth, the meaning of your name, the goodness or evilness of certain actions you perform—all these have significant implications to those mystical beings."

"So, I am the chosen one," Batwoman said with a deep frown. "But there's no way I could open a portal for an evil god. How could he use me to descend into this world?"

"Really?" Batman looked at her and asked.

Batwoman was taken aback for a moment. She turned to look at Batman, about to refute, but seeing the depth in his eyes, she realized something.

"This cosmos is just an enlarged version of Gotham," Batman said. "Pervaded by dark energy, flooded with criminals, one tragedy after another—can you say you'll never lose control?"

"What about you, then? Haven't you ever lost control?"

"Perhaps I have, but in the end, I've always found my way back," Batman said. "It's not because my will is stronger than yours but simply because the universe I am in is much better off. Even if some mistakes occur, there's room for correction."

Batwoman stopped talking and started thinking. Assuming these bizarre visitors from different worlds hadn't come, and she had gone to negotiate with the Queen of the Sea, but they parted on bad terms—would war inevitably ensue between the sea and the land?

If war really broke out, could she truly ensure that neither the land would be annihilated nor the sea cleansed, ultimately achieving a peaceful outcome?

She couldn't be completely certain, Batwoman thought. The preparations she had made were far from ensuring that everything was under her control. So why did she even contemplate starting this war?

Suddenly feeling an emptiness in her chest and her breathing becoming rapid, she then felt a hand on her shoulder. Batman looked at her and said, "Calm down. The thoughts surfacing in your mind may not be your own—they're the result of the influence of the power of darkness. He wants you to think this way, to lose control, and then to open a gateway."

Gasping sharply, Batwoman forcibly calmed her pounding heart, but a shadowy gloom lingered in her mind.

"Let's go back," Batman said. "I guess you have a final plan for Atlantis. Get it; let's go and talk to the Queen of the Sea. Now is not the time for infighting."

Realizing that the culprit had been manipulating them both from the shadows, Batman felt a sense of urgency. They rushed back to Gotham, and Batwoman showed Batman her last resort.

"It's a massive machine composed of an energy storage unit, a control center, a multitude of mechanical arms, and an operating table."

"In the moment of necessity, I will transform myself into the ultimate weapon," Batwoman said. "If I inject the energy storage unit with sufficient energy—energy that can control the direction of the transformation, such as Atlantean energy—I can channel this power into my body in a different form, to possess their abilities, or even become stronger than them."

"This is a terrible idea," Batman commented. "I think you now realize that you're more out of control than you thought. How could you even think of turning yourself into a weapon? What makes you believe you won't lose control?"

At this, Batwoman had no reply because she indeed could not guarantee that she would remain herself after becoming a weapon, and she hadn't realized this when she was working on the machine.

This was unlike her, and in fact, unlike any Batman. Although Batman had contingency plans for every potential element around him that might lose control, he actually had the most contingency plans for himself becoming uncontrollable.

Batman had many nightmares, but among them, the worst weren't about Superman or Green Lantern losing control—it was always about himself losing control. In his view, a Batman without reason was far more terrifying than any criminal.

Batman looked up at the energy core and asked, "What amplifies the energy once it's injected inside?"

"A meteor, to be precise, the metal inside the meteor," Batwoman replied. "It fell in Egypt and was originally kept in the Egyptian Museum, but during a battle, it ended up in my hands. I found that this material had incredible properties, which is why I created this machine."

Pointing to a container beneath the energy hub that emitted a strange glow, Batwoman said, "That one there. Any energy that passes through this metal is amplified, restructured, and compressed, gaining more miraculous properties and becoming more potent."

Batman shook his head, clearly still astonished at Batwoman's audacity. He said, "We can't take this thing to meet the Queen of the Sea. She might not understand what it's for, nor does it possess sufficient deterrent power."

"Where's your workshop? I think we can modify it a bit to make it an obvious weapon, specifically targeting Atlanteans. That way, she might calm down enough to talk to us, and it might also come in handy later."

Batwoman sighed and said, "I can't be sure I'm still clear-headed, so you should do it. The workshop is over there."

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