บท 4099: Chapter 3208: The Detective Will Die (22)
Shiller finished the food in his hands, feeling his blood volume rise and his mental health value gain some improvement, clearing his previously blurry vision.
However, Shiller thought this kind of recovery might only be applicable to those who weren't severely injured. For someone like the Primary Universe Batman, suffering from a serious illness, there probably wouldn't be a chance to eat anything.
Right now, the most urgent problem to solve wasn't the life or death of the Primary Universe Batman, but rather the dice that had suddenly changed color.
Before this, Shiller had basically summed up the pattern of the dice's appearances. Generally speaking, for actions within the normal range of human behavior, there was no need to roll the dice.
For example, they didn't need to roll the dice to succeed at eating a meal, and they didn't need to roll the dice to evaluate how well they walked.
If delving a bit deeper, like previously checking the thickness of the snow, though it was also an action easily performed by any normal human, the ability to deduce clues from it related to personal capabilities.
Eating and walking are something anyone can do without needing to be smart. But to deduce the duration the snow had fallen from its thickness and current snowfall required a certain level of intelligence, naturally calling for a dice roll.
Then there were the hardest scenarios, such as dressing Batman's wounds and healing him. These called for professional medical skills on top of rolling the dice, the strictest of all situations.
Yet what puzzled Shiller was, why during their encounter with a staggering corpse where they fought round by round and had to roll the dice to dodge, was he not required to roll when attacking the dogs?
Shiller felt that if it wasn't an issue on his part, it must be related to the dogs. Perhaps attacking humans required a check, but attacking dogs did not?
But Shiller also considered another possibility, that engaging in normal battle was only required when fighting things possessed by aberrations. Although the group of dogs might also be influenced by odd forces, they did not show any abnormalities or mutations, which possibly meant they didn't need to enter battle.
However, none of these were pressing matters, the critical issue was that there was something wrong with the dice.
Shiller felt that although none of their luck could be considered good, rolling several critical failures in a row seemed excessively bad. It must have been more than just bad luck; someone must have tampered with the dice.
Shiller remembered the house number 1913 that fell from mid-air. With a shared memory bank, he was aware of the Bishop's encounter in that mysterious hotel; the number plate looked identical to the ones in the hotel.
After that, they hadn't heard the Transcendent's voice again, and the color of the dice had shifted from red to Black Gold. When it came to Black Gold, one would naturally think of Nya.
But Shiller felt this was incorrect.
Even though all the evidence currently pointed to Nya, it was exactly because it was too conspicuous that Shiller felt it was a setup.
Sorting through the known information in his mind, the most crucial was the skills of the few individuals.
Since they couldn't speak about characters transcending their roles, words like 'skill' weren't supposed to be brought up, and everyone, taking the easy way out, hadn't discussed their own abilities.
Skills were different from the knowledge associated with their roles. For instance, as clergy, Shiller could preach the Bible, and others would accept his words as correct; this wasn't a skill but rather a capability that came with his role.
It was the same for Bruce. He could examine the Primary Universe Batman's wounds because he was a medical student, not because his innate Skill was Healing.
Shiller's initial skill was Soothing Soul, which meant he could enhance his own or others' mental health values. Apart from that, the specific skills of the other individuals remained unclear.
Shiller suspected that Wind Blade might be Greed's initial skill since that role didn't have any particular strengths. As a photographer, the professional abilities conferred were too few, so it made sense for the skill to be relatively strong.
But releasing Wind Blades also didn't have much to do with the profession of a photographer, so Shiller thought Greed's role wasn't a photographer, and certainly not the child of a wealthy family. He might be some sort of magic-using role similar to clergy.
The pale knight claimed his initial skill was Persuasion. However, when he demonstrated his persuasion skill, he had already acquired two skill points. Shiller had seen similar skills to Persuasion in the skill list, so it was possible that it was gained later, not an initial skill.
Night Owl was a police officer with a low profile, barely revealing any skills, and with Bruce's status as a doctor, claiming his skill was medical treatment wasn't open to dispute.
And the Joker, as a painter, like the photographer, didn't have any significant advantages inherent to his identity. It was unlikely that drawing a picture for a monster would let him off the hook, so his skill should also be quite strong.
Speaking of painters, Shiller suddenly thought, could the change in the dice color be related to the painter?
Shiller felt that if it were truly Nya behind these actions, he wouldn't be so overt about it, not with dropping a number plate and changing the dice to his signature color. Such a cunning and astute being would likely remain low-profile if intending to trap someone, maintaining the status quo until delivering a fatal blow at the crucial moment.
Following this line of thought, Shiller began to understand. The door number might have been concocted by Greed into the background story specifically to frame Nya, and the dice might have been tampered with by the Joker.
Of course, one must ask, what did Greed stand to gain by this? Under normal circumstances, Greed was very familiar with Arrogant and would naturally know he hadn't partaken in the game much and wasn't very versed in the rules; the story he crafted was likely conservative, possibly not designed to leverage the peripheral background story to his advantage.
If Arrogant hadn't left, he might have remained blindsided, initially assuming irregularities were caused by monsters. As things became increasingly suspicious, he would presume perhaps Nya was involved in the game, throwing them off, the kind of misdirection that could lead Arrogant to serious misjudgment.
Plainly speaking, it was all to bring about a major misfortune for Arrogance.
And the Joker causing Batman to encounter such bad luck didn't need any more reason than that.
But why had it coincidentally been Black Gold? Shiller didn't believe in such coincidences—could these two have colluded beforehand?
If this was one of Joker's Skills, then it shouldn't be manipulating dice at will, but rather replacing the dice with one that could only roll a disastrous failure. Once thrown, failure was certain.
To return the dice to their original form, they would need to face the consequences of their own actions. After thinking it through, Shiller said, "Right now, there are dangerous reeds beneath the cave entrance, and outside there's a blizzard. The only place we can search for clues is inside the Lighthouse. I'm planning to explore it a bit more, what do you think?"
"I'll go with you," the always silent Night Owl suddenly spoke. But Shiller shook his head and said, "No, you're not in good condition. Better to rest here. Those who are feeling stronger can come with me."
After speaking, he looked towards Greed, Joker, and Pale Knight, and added, "Doctor needs to stay here to tend to the injured. How about you three come with me?"
It was clear that the three of them had their own agendas.
Pale Knight was the first to nod and say, "No problem, but I'm not very strong and I don't have any special Skills. I hope I won't hold you back."
After thinking for a moment, Joker also said, "I'm fine with it, but I'm not in great shape, and I'm quite a coward. If we run into some monster, don't blame me if I throw you under the bus to escape."
Greed, however, shook his head and stated, "I've already made a trip with you. I can't always be the one taking risks. Next time you guys go, I'll stay here and look after the injured."
Of course, Shiller wouldn't let him get away with that, retorting, "Aren't you a photographer? And now you can tend to the injured?"
"I'm not going to heal them, just watch over this place. Don't forget, Jeff just charged in here. If I go with you, only the doctor and two patients will be left. What if we have more invaders?"
Shiller gave Bruce a meaningful look, but it was very unfortunate that Bruce couldn't see the look at all—he was truly blind now.
"I'll go with you," Bruce suddenly said, "I can't treat anyone in my current state anyway, and going out might be good for my mental health."
Just as Shiller was about to say something, he saw Bruce signalling to him. It was impressive that he could still find his target in this situation.
But what was Bruce up to? Shiller was puzzled. He didn't believe Bruce was unable to see through Greed's ill intentions. Was it really okay to leave Greed behind with the dying Primary Universe Batman?
Then, Shiller suddenly remembered that when they were dodging the reeds, these three Batmen somehow ended up at the very back. Logically, this should have been impossible.
As previously mentioned, actions like walking and running didn't require rolling dice. Running speed was primarily determined by physical fitness. The Batmen might not have the strongest bodies in this version, but they definitely knew the most efficient running postures to save energy. They shouldn't have fallen behind.
The two Jokers present were not very strong. It seemed that they hadn't invested enough Skill Points in both body type and strength. Universe Batman, being a Hunter, shouldn't be unable to outrun a painter and a lawyer, right?
Could someone have tampered with something at that moment?
Bad news, Shiller thought, Bruce might be in cahoots with Greed.
Firstly, the professions of photographer, painter, and doctor are not likely to come from the lower class. Achieving success in these fields would definitely require a great deal of effort and money, which means they belong to the same social stratum.
Greed, Joker, and Bruce, aware of their own professions, would have likely taken this into account when crafting their backstories, not going out of their way to fabricate a character who struggled up from the bottom but rather using their class advantage to embellish their own stories.
In such a scenario, it was possible that their backstories intersected and they might even share common interests, making it not beyond the realm of possibility that they could join forces to kill the Primary Universe Batman's Hunter.
Under these circumstances, the Pale Knight, playing a lawyer, might also defect to their side because to practice law in America is not easy—most lawyers come from relatively good backgrounds and serve the upper class for life.
But after further thought, Shiller felt something was off. Beyond considering their professional identities, he also had to consider what kind of people they were.
The Primary Universe Batman's actions spoke for themselves. Despite criticism, he had always tried his best to be a hero.
He was a true hero, and he naturally would arrange a heroic backstory for himself. Pale Knight was the same.
Pale Knight was a true hero who had risen from the bottom, enduring despair and madness. But like lightning cutting through the darkness of a lightless night, he had brought a glimmer of hope to the City of Sin.
Such a person, when crafting their own story, would probably not create the image of an attorney who did dirty deeds for money. They would prefer to portray a good lawyer who rose from the bottom while always fighting to uphold justice.
Shiller believed Pale Knight was an ally worth pursuing, and within moments, he made his decision.
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