บท 3678: Chapter 2806: Star Core Rescue (56)
Because the nightmare of this bad movie was so ferocious, the talented individuals of each Individual Universe turned to countless ingenious measures, and all civilizations resisted with all their might. Therefore, the spread of the nightmare was quickly contained. Roughly a week later, even a civilization as underdeveloped as the human race had essentially controlled the situation's development, preventing the bad movie from causing greater harm.
Once the situation was basically stabilized, everyone had no choice but to start pondering a question: Where did this bad movie come from?
Although it manifested as dreams, with the vast majority of people serving as a flesh-and-blood camera in their dreams, most civilizations still felt that this disaster wasn't caused by a glitch in the cosmos's operations, but was a deliberately crafted creation, someone had arranged this dreamscape in such a way.
Although most people were at a loss with dreams, to arrange this thing, there must be some sort of prototype, right? Even if it's impossible to trace back to the source via a chain of evidence, by looking at the scenes and the logic present in the bad movie, it was still possible to guess which race had done the deed.
All civilizations turned their gaze to Earth.
It wasn't based on their stereotypes. The problem was that many scenes in the movie were indeed filmed on Earth, and although Earth was well-protected, many Earthlings had ventured out and informed others about their hometown's customs. New York's urban construction was quite distinctive, and it wasn't difficult to recognize.
But there were too many Earths in the Multiverse, and most New Yorks on these Earths looked nearly the same, making it difficult to pinpoint the specific Earth. Therefore, the investigation had to start with the space stations.
Most universes' Earths hadn't developed the technology to create such space stations, so this narrowed down the list of suspects considerably.
The hulls of the Stella Core Space Stations were made of a special Molten Steel Alloy, an alloy that appeared during certain technical exchanges between Stark and other civilizations, and was thus recognized by some civilizations.
Consequently, rumors that the prototype of the bad movie in the nightmare came from the universe where the Iron Demon God resided spread like wildfire.
In reality, among the ordinary civilizations of the Multiverse, the Iron Demon God had a bigger reputation than Shiller; Shiller's fame was primarily prominent among Abstract Entities. Ordinary civilizations were accustomed to the various Multiverse-level Iron Men and Doctor Stranges popping in and out, so most civilizations referred to a particular universe by the Iron Man or Doctor Strange who resided in it.
As a result, the cosmos's attention was once again focused on the universe where Shiller resided.
Of course, most ordinary civilizations were clueless, but Abstract Entities weren't. Once they saw the universe was the one Shiller resided in, they didn't need to think further: the bad movie was definitely Shiller's doing, with no other possibility.
Eternity rushed to find Shiller, urgently.
According to his own words, it wasn't that these invincible Abstract Entities were truly frightened of some bad movie, the main concern was that its continued spread was not a good look. So, why not be magnanimous, retract your divine powers? The price was negotiable.
But how could Shiller be so vulgar? He immediately expressed, it wasn't a matter of money at all. It's just that this was the way things were. If you wanted to know what was going on, then it was simply that. In short, he played the delay tactic; neither admitting nor denying, avoiding responsibility.
Shiller was waiting.
He was waiting for Mad Laugh to crack.
Rumors about the origin of the bad movie's director spread throughout the universe, becoming increasingly detailed. Some said it was sponsored by the Iron Demon God, some said it was shot by a host infested with a Symbiont, and others said, in fact, there was a mysterious psychologist behind it all.
Actually, this last claim wasn't widely accepted initially due to a complete lack of substantive evidence compared to the first two. Nevertheless, a number of people who had participated in the Battleworld came forward to support this claim, and that included the superheroes.
Shiller's reputation in the Battleworld was well established; he'd reached the point where some would see him and run away, practically to the extent of scaring children out of their nightly cries.
Following the emergence of the bad movie nightmare, communication between the various Multiverses was strengthened. Even civilizations that couldn't leave their Individual Universes found ways to connect with civilizations from other Multiverses with the help of various forces, joining forces to confront this terrifying nightmare crisis. Some Multiverses even achieved real-time communication.
The superheroes who participated in the Battleworld were skilled, with significant reputations in their own universes. When they spread the news, which was then verified by other experienced superheroes, it became the most reliable claim.
As a result, the entire complex Metaverse began a wave of mass criticism against a certain psychologist.
The gist was, if the psychologist had nothing better to do, why didn't he go scoop up the manure at the village entrance instead of making movies? And for the ruler of the Nightmare Dimension, just keep dreaming—who could dream better than you? Are you two even eating your pancakes?!
In any case, curses akin to Nataru and others were rapidly exchanged across the Metaverse, eventually becoming universally recognized.
And finally, Shiller got what he wished for—on an evening a week later, he saw that deep-grief-stricken smile outside the door of his bedroom.
Mad Laugh had cracked.
Yes, he had not cracked when the entire Multiverse furiously insulted the movie, nor when professional media analysts discussed how terrible it was, and not even when Abstract Entities learned to vomit.
But when someone said that the terrible film wasn't his work, his defenses were shattered.
This logic seems entirely nonsensical, but in reality, Laughing bat is just that kind of person.
When he opposes the whole world, he feels like a lone hero, misunderstood by everyone in the universe, all intelligent beings too lowbrow to appreciate his groundbreaking masterpiece.
When he's cursed by everyone, he believes that insects are indeed insects; they can't grasp the exquisite taste contained in his earthshaking work, only using such uneducated and base language to misrepresent his noble intentions, which precisely proves they are inferior beings, not on his level.
Even if every intelligent being in the universe blames him, says his work is trash, he'd only feel a lonely sense of fishing against the backdrop of an indifferent populace through the ages.
But if someone claims that the lousy film he made was directed by someone else, he would think, what?! You actually believe a pioneering masterpiece like this could be made by someone other than me?!
Right, his threshold for breaking down is so high, yet so low; he can stand firm against the entire universe, but is also prone to shattering if someone says a lump of dog poop isn't his doing.
The Laughing bat confronted Shiller for the second time.
Shiller sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard, propping his head with his hand, and looked at Laughing bat who made no attempt to disguise his contempt, yawning.
The Laughing bat started to speak, but the first voice to emerge was Shiller's, "I'm really sorry, Mr. Wayne, truly, it wasn't me who said it was a piece I shot, I didn't even leave a signature, but some people in the universe are so stubborn, they insist it was my doing, and that's quite vexing, right?"
The corners of the Laughing bat's mouth dropped slightly.
"Actually, this started back in Battleworld; I really didn't want to be famous at all, but some people spread rumors, insisting everything from alien invasions to overturned trash cans had something to do with me. I've been denying it with all my might, but they still think this way, guarding against me like I'm a thief; I'm powerless to change their minds," he continued.
"Moreover, these rumors are getting more and more outrageous; everyone thinks I'm the Behind-the-scenes Manipulator in any major event in the universe. Have they gone mad? I'm just a humble psychologist, how could I have such influence? But no matter how much I deny it, they refuse to believe me."
"Look at what happened now. Although I had a friend edit the film, after all, you wrote the screenplay, you directed it, and you had the final touch, but they insist it was me who made the film, and no clarification from me seems to help. It's really frustrating."
The corners of Laughing bat's mouth had now stretched into a straight line.
"Some even said, this is just a part of some greater conspiracy of mine. This is defamation, absolute defamation! I…"
Shiller had just gotten to this point when a roar interrupted: "Shiller!!! Bring your crummy movie and get over to the Court of Life!!"
Looking up, a huge and mysterious colossus loomed above Earth, and then whoosh, vanished.
Shiller stood up, stretched lazily, and said, "Look, they want me at the Court of Life for a trial again. Not only will various Abstract Entities be there, but under the scrutiny of all Multiverse level beings, maybe the entire Omni Universe will witness my judgment. How unlucky is that…"
The corners of the Laughing bat's mouth visibly turned downwards.
Shiller sighed inwardly; performance personalities are just Laughing bat's underlying trait, the basic logic behind everything he does is to gain attention, believing that if not seen, an act is meaningless, like a junkie desperately craving attention.
Unlike Laughing bat, Shiller has an incredibly strong inner self, so he doesn't care if the attention he gets is insults or praise; any form of attention excites him, gives him a sense of achievement, and brings him supreme joy.
He even wishes that everyone curses him as an evil bad seed; being labeled as "The Behind-the-scenes Manipulator" is like the highest honor for him because once such a reputation is revealed, all victims will immediately pay attention to him, drowning him in their gaze, wallowing in a sea of contentment.
Following this logic, Greed has too much capital to break Laughing bat's defenses, because in the Marvel Universe, he has long been a bona fide Behind-the-scenes Manipulator.
No matter how much Laughing bat jumps up and down, everyone will only see him as one link within Shiller's chain of yarn, a chosen scapegoat, a small pawn manipulated and toyed with by Shiller, unworthy of serious attention or consideration.
Ignoring is the sharpest spear against performative personalities.
Shiller walked up to Laughing bat, folded his arms, sized him up, and then said, "How about it? Want to join me at the trial? Perhaps you'll get a chance to let everyone know it was all your doing."
Laughing bat stretched his wide grin again, and for once in a hoarse voice, he said briefly, "…let's go."
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