Chapter 3784: Crisis in the Dark City (10)

Shiller found more information about the experiment in the archive room, and then he learned: 15 years ago, around the time Batman was defeated by the Death Angel, a riot broke out in Arkham Asylum, with countless lunatics and criminals escaping, the most famous of whom was, of course, Batman's arch-nemesis—the Joker.

Although the experimental data did not record exactly how the Joker was captured, it is known that the Death Angel didn't take much time to capture this group of criminals. Almost all the super villains had their genes extracted 15 years ago, and the Joker was among the first.

According to the "Batman-Joker Law," if Batman was no match for the Death Angel, then the Joker was destined not to be too strong and was understandably caught by the Death Angel. After capturing them, the Death Angel did not imprison them together with Batman but instead transformed the original Arkham Asylum, placing these super villain experimental subjects in the lab underground at Arkham Asylum.

To find the Joker, Shiller had to make a trip to the original Arkham Asylum. Although the leaders of the two factions in the city were now dead, their minions were still patrolling diligently, making it not so easy to cross half the city.

The first problem he needed to solve was the vision issue, which was why he brought up Arrogance and Greed. His previous severe injuries indeed allowed him to spot Lady Siwa immediately, proving this technique effective. But because the pain was too intense when seriously injured, it wasn't suitable for daily activities; he needed to find a balanced state where he could move freely while also having visual assistance.

Shiller found descriptions of the solution in the jars in the room where Lady Siwa was, in many documents. Rather than calling the solution in the jars a gene petri dish, it was better described as an artificial blood used to transfuse Batman.

Different blood types have different effects, allowing Batman to possess various abilities. But from the experimental logs, it seems Batman was not suited for these blood transfusions, as most of the solution injections caused him pain, preventing him from using his abilities well, so the experiment was not successful thus far.

But Shiller didn't really want any special ability; what he needed was controllable pain that wouldn't affect his daily activities, making the solution injection his best choice.

However, the choice of which solution to inject was crucial; if it caused any mutation, that would be bad, especially one that affects sanity like the Joker's. In the end, Shiller targeted Bane's solution.

Bane's special ability actually originated from a steroid toxin named "GL11," which was supposed to be in his blood, making him extraordinarily strong and powerful. However, the downside was that he needed an injection every 12 hours; otherwise, not only would he lose this strength, but he would become very weak.

According to the experimental records, after Batman was injected with the drug, he showed obvious pain, but unlike Bane, he didn't develop a notably strong physique, just a slight increase in strength, and he also required an injection every 12 hours. During the drug's effective period, he felt neural pain constantly, offering him minimal enhancement, with significant side effects, rendering the experiment a failure.

But for Shiller, it seemed quite suitable. Further strength enhancement was just an added bonus; having stable, continuous neural pain for 12 hours was the real advantage for him. Administering a shot every 12 hours wasn't much of an issue; each dose was less than 10 milliliters, and the jar had enough to last him forever.

Shiller bypassed the patrol squads to return to that room, finding plenty of syringes on the workbench Lady Siwa had faced. He first used a beaker to take some liquid from the jar representing Bane and then filled about 10 syringes.

Undoubtedly, this carried a certain risk because he wasn't Batman, and his physique was different, so the reaction might not be the same upon injection. But wandering blindly in the city was obviously more dangerous, so Shiller almost hesitated not at all and injected the first syringe into his vein.

About three seconds later, the solution began to take effect. The first thing he felt was an inexplicable pain. Shiller could clearly feel the pain from his joints grinding, internal organs clashing, and muscle movements. It wasn't very intense, but the vast range of the pain made it hard to endure.

Shiller realized that this solution seemed to be suppressing the release of certain pain-immune dopamine in the brain, somewhat akin to the pain addicts feel during drug withdrawal. The description seemed like some kind of escapist illusion, but the pain was indeed real.

The human body naturally produces pain during activity, just that some brain secretions make one immune to this pain. Drugs disrupt this secretion mechanism and reduce these secretions, so those withdrawing from drug addiction feel the pain from their body's internal organ activity every second. This pain tormented them, making drug addiction hard to shake off.

However, this level of pain was just right for Shiller; it wasn't the sharp, severe kind that could knock someone out in an instant but more like a long-lasting, continuous moderate pain, just right for him to open his hallucination vision without affecting normal activities.

As for the increase in power, Shiller didn't notice much. His strength was already quite substantial in this state, not needing any further boost. Shiller felt there might be some endurance improvement but couldn't verify it yet.

With the drugs stored inside the inner pocket of his coat, Shiller, now with hallucination vision, smoothly bypassed all patrol personnel and returned to the surface.

But the ground had completely changed.

As soon as Shiller came out, he heard the sound of explosions. He was all too familiar with the sound of modern firearms' explosions. Looking in the direction of the sound, he indeed saw flames and smoke, along with many charred corpses of sect members.

This was clearly not done by the Assassin's Union. Shiller suspected that it might have been the rebel army previously led by Tone. They were numerous and had been lurking in the shadows. So what made them suddenly show up and use firearms that had never appeared before?

Just as this thought crossed his mind, Shiller heard a sharp whistling sound overhead. He instinctively ducked into the chapel building, then saw an unidentified fighter jet scream past, dropping several packages into the city.

"An airdrop?" Shiller thought of what Arrogant had said earlier, the behind-the-scenes manipulator was pursuing a false sense of fairness. Previously, neither Batman nor Robin used firearms, so the city's enemies didn't either. Now that Shiller had a gun, the enemies naturally could use firearms too.

But the weapons they're using aren't just any small handguns. From that explosion earlier, it's clear that these airdrop supplies likely include military-grade bombs and probably other standard-issue military weapons. They might even have automatic weapons.

The nearest airdrop was about 800 meters away in a straight line, but the routes within the city are complicated. If he had to go around, it would take about 1.5 kilometers. Compared to the possible presence of military bombs and automatic weapons, this distance isn't far, but Shiller had no intention of going.

This is clearly another way for the behind-the-scenes manipulator to wear him out. No surprise, just on the short 1.5-kilometer path to find the airdrop, there would be at least a dozen side quests, the kind where you wouldn't get the mission reward without completing them all. He wouldn't waste his time.

The power of bombs and automatic weapons is indeed great, but they have no use for achieving his mission objectives because he had no intention of killing his way through. Turning on the illusionary vision was to avoid patrols, so if he were to confront them directly, would seeing them or not make any difference?

Shiller still underestimated the weather in this city. It does have a day-night cycle. That previous dark and foggy lighting condition was actually daytime, and now, Gotham had entered the night.

"A rare piece of good news," Shiller thought. Just in the short hundred meters he had just covered, he narrowly avoided two patrolling teams. He could avoid them using his illusionary vision, but in such extremely poor visible conditions, they couldn't see anything and were practically blind. Unless someone showed up with nano-equipment, they were no threat.

Shiller first climbed onto a building to determine his direction. The information in the archive room didn't specify Arkham Asylum's exact address. Even if it did, after 15 years of turmoil, various place names and signs had long become untrackable. To find the insane asylum, he had to rely on himself.

Before that, Shiller went to the nearby Municipal Building, the place where he killed the Death Angel, Batman, and Tone. Once again at that balcony, he glanced inside: the Death Angel's body was still lying there intact, but Batman's head and Tone's body were gone.

With just a glance, Shiller didn't do much investigation. He searched the Municipal Building, eventually finding a map of Gotham in a place that looked like an archive room. Although it was 15 years old, it could roughly show that Arkham Asylum was north of the Cathedral, relatively far away, and would take about three hours on foot. If he were to avoid patrols, it might take even longer.

Shiller didn't linger, heading in that direction as fast as he could because he had a hunch: if the Broken Bat was indeed alive, he was likely also going to find the Joker.

After nightfall, Gotham was as dark as thick ink with no moonlight and no lighting. Whether indoors or outdoors, it was purely pitch black. Standing in the city felt like being blind. Moreover, due to the fog, the torches held by sect members illuminated only a small patch of ground in front of them.

People without night vision goggles were as good as blind, but Shiller seemed to have an all-seeing map. He could see others, but they couldn't see him, so he arrived at the designated location an hour earlier than expected.

Arkham Asylum, an already ancient building, had become even more dilapidated and decrepit after years of neglect, seemingly just a step away from collapse. The windows in the pitch-black night resembled portals through which unspeakable things peek into the real world.

Standing at the front gates of Arkham Asylum, Shiller heard rustling noises from inside. He turned to look at the marks on the stone bricks at the entrance, realizing he had arrived a step too late.