Chapter 28: Because I am Batman

Batman had already hacked into the communication line between Luo Yajun and the headquarters, so Chu Cheng listened to their conversations. So he naturally also learned about the way to stop this mental storm and Agent Luo's plan to sacrifice himself to complete this mission.

Then, of course, he couldn't just sit idly by.

Chu Cheng asked himself that if he stood in the position of Luo Yajun, he would definitely not be able to be so fearless, and it was precisely because of this that the behavior of this detective was more admirable.

But fortunately, he didn't need any noble self-sacrifice to accomplish important tasks.

Because he's just a gamer.

Because it's a game, he can boldly do things that his real self would 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 whatever he wants.

It even faintly coincides with the core idea of how 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 and becomes a symbol, he is indestructible.

And now, relying on just a keyboard and mouse, Chu Cheng has transformed into an indestructible symbol.

As Batman walked closer into the heart of the storm, insane laughter started to surround him. Chu Cheng's headset blasted an ear-piercing laughter, giving a sense of immersion.

This laughter is a sign of an infection. A voice will directly echo in your mind, which gets louder and louder. A normal person would have gone insane by now.

But Chu Cheng's method of dealing with this annoying voice is also very simple.

He turned down the volume on his headset.

The laughter is naturally greatly reduced when the volume is turned down. In fact, if necessary, he can even directly mute the game volume or turn on some music.

This is a common trick players use against horror games. Horror games are less scary when you have music in the background.

It didn't take long for him to get to the center of the storm.

There stood a man. It took the appearance of a man named Guan Ye, but it was obvious he was not human anymore. The deep infection has turned him into an embodiment of an ancient existence, making him a mobile source of infection.

When the figure appeared on screen, Chu Cheng had already controlled Batman to lock on to the target. He selected the weapon from the equipment bar, held down the right mouse button, and tapped the left button, and a batarang flew out of his hand, piercing through the air.

But the man seemed to have sensed the approach of the batarang from afar. He tilted his head slightly, and the batarang missed him and hit a wall behind him.

"Missed, ha." The man's mouth opened in a large smile: "It seems that your aim is not very good."

But he didn't notice that there were two dim red lights flashing on the batarang nailed into the wall,shortly after the batarang exploded.

Boom!

The wall was blown to pieces, and the shock wave sent fragments flying around, which sent people tumbling to the ground.

He stood up just as Batman rushed to him, and he didn't even have time to get in a proper fighting stance before he attacked with a jab, but Chu Cheng skillfully let Batman step to the side and counterattack.

The man reacted quickly and used his right hand to block Batman's punch.

But he miscalculated.

The moment Batman's fist hit his hand, an electric current burst out and fried his hand into a smoking mess.

Batman's gloves are equipped with a powerful electric shock. Although he would never use a lethal shock when dealing with street gangsters, when dealing with hostile aliens, he had no issues directly maxing out the shock.

Chu Cheng: A wild infected has appeared; come on, Batman, use Thunder Punch!

It was super effective!

Although the electric shock couldn't complete the kill, the infected person's arms were visibly weakened, and the muscles were fired by the electric shock. On Chu Cheng's side, an execution trigger popped up above the opponent's head—this is a reminder that appears when the opponent falls into dizziness or freezes. You can choose different moves to let Batman complete the final blow.

Execute on the spot!

People with an infection level of more than 80% have died long ago, and the infected person is basically a zombie, so Batman's principle of not killing naturally does not apply.

Batman went up behind the man and locked him from behind. He raised a batarang and used the sharp blade to cut the man's throat like a hot knife cutting butter.

The red dart trailed a long trail of blood, and the man's head was severed up to his neck.

The headless body twitched twice, then kneeled down and fell to the ground, causing bright red blood to flow out of the body.

The head fell to the ground and rolled a bit, staining the ground with blood, and when it stopped, it formed a pool of blood.

The laughter stopped.

But the surrounding storm didn't mean to stop; on the contrary, it seemed to be getting more intense. The surrounding streets and buildings were all submerged in the boundless storm, and the overwhelming wind could send a truck flying.

The head that had been severed suddenly rolled around on the ground by itself and faced towards the screen.

Chu Cheng noticed that the head had changed appearance.

The head was now the face of a middle-aged man with distinct western features and a mustache.

The moment he saw this face, Batman on the screen suddenly took two steps back in shock.

"Father... Father!?"

Chu Cheng's heart trembled violently.

At this moment, he realized that this face belonged to Batman's father, Thomas Wayne.

But how is it possible here? Here?

Chu Cheng suddenly realized that, at some point,the screen seemed to be slightly tilted. The screen also darkened, and the edges of the screen became a bit blurred.

He quickly realized that this happened in many action games: when the protagonist is poisoned or hallucinating, the game uses the screen to hint at the player.

So what is on the screen now is an illusion from the perspective of Batman?

In other words, after going deep into the spiritual storm, even Batman, who is a game character, is not immune to the infection.

"Why...didn't you stop him?"

Thomas Wayne's bulging and empty eyes already clearly belonged to the dead, but his dry and pale mouth was still talking.

Chu Cheng, 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 Chu Cheng heard this, he knew it was nonsense. Batman was eight years old then, just a helpless kid. If he really tried to fight the gangster, then I would be in a different universe where it would not be the Waynes who died but him.

This wasn't the real Thomas Wayne, and the real Thomas would have never thought this way. This illusion was just a mental scar of Batman, where he still blames himself for the deaths of his parents.

Batman on the screen seemed shocked. He stumbled and took two steps back, not daring to face the head on the ground.

But when he turned his head, a new scene emerged in the dark storm behind him.

A dark alley, a few dim street lights on the alley floor, and a broken necklace. The pearls on the necklace cracked and rolled all over the ground.

A beautiful woman in expensive clothes lied in 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..."

It's a bit brutal, but this memory is what made Batman; it is his core. Just like all of Spiderman and their cannon events with Uncle Ben, every time there is a Batman story, his parents almost always end up dead.

Chu Cheng tried to control Batman to move away from the illusion of the Wayne couple. The WASD of the keyboard can still control Batman's movement, but his pace is significantly slower. He can only walk but not run and jump, and the attack button does not respond.

Then he fell to his knees, and the screen darkened further.

The alley disappeared, and the surroundings became a chaotic storm again, as if boundless nothingness. A voice came from the depths of nothingness; it was piercing laughter.

"You see, this proves me even more right."

The sound resounded in the void.

"Everyone's afraid of nothingness, of uncertainty, of feeling like you're not in control of anything," said the voice. "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 most people fear in their hearts. And the way you choose to fight that fear is by dressing yourself up in this costume.

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 has popped up in the upper left corner of the screen.

It is explained in the description of the tutorial. The exclamation mark sign means that the hero is on the verge of their limit. This means that the hero may be running out of health or that their mental condition is on the verge of collapsing. Once the hero becomes unable to continue the mission, the system will forcibly recall them, leading to a game over.

Another burst of laughter echoed in the void.

"You see, we are actually identical, or almost carved out of the same mold," said the voice. "You put on this costume and tried to fight fear in this way, and the way I chose is to become the incarnation of 'nothing'.

That's what my abilities are made for. For all those people who are disturbed by the unknown, those who cannot control their own lives, my ability can make them become their true selves.

Everyone can release their 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 "Guan Ye" appeared again. He smiled wildly and strangely, and he was holding a fire ax in his hand as he walked forward.

Chu Cheng was almost slamming the keyboard with his face, but Batman on the screen still didn't accept the input. But the screen camera shakes slightly with his input.

"Guan Ye" stopped in front of Batman, and he lifted the fire ax with a smile.

I don't know if it's an illusion, but Chu Cheng seems to have seen Batman's fingers move.

Almost reflexively, Chu Cheng quickly hit the right mouse button. That is the key to defending and counterattacking, and it can be used to trigger a counterattack when being attacked.

As the fire axe was about to land on Batman, he suddenly moved. He suddenly hit the opponent's wrist with a palm and redirected the ax. At the same time, he rolled, dodging the ax, with only the corner of his cloak getting cut.

"What!?" The other party seemed stunned that he had recovered under such circumstances.

But it was too late for him to attack again with the axe. Batman used his electric gauntlet to punch him twice with a full-power electric blast. Batman grabbed his arm and pulled him over quickly, using a batarang on the man's throat.

"Why?"

"Guan Ye" showed a look of astonishment, and even the crazy smile on his face weakened because of shock.

"You are not even immune to the corruption; how could it be?"

He couldn't figure it out.

Only certain people have the ability to be immune to infection, and even then, they are only immune up to a point. Once they are infected by an infection source beyond their tolerance, they cannot recover their sanity from the infected state easily.

Something that even the immune system can't do, let alone this man in a bat costume who is not even immune.

In response to his shock, the man in the bat costume responded.

"Because I'm Batman."

The batarang flew across, and the head fell to the ground.

The dark storm stopped suddenly.