Chapter 63: Shendu and Realization

Chapter 63: Shendu and Realization

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Goodness is intuitive, and perhaps expressed in different ways, while evil is usually good at camouflaging and hiding. The equipment of the Gotham Police Department is much more advanced than that of most other cities. Dean can shoot the Black Mask in the head with one shot. There is no reason why other police officers cannot do the same, but they cannot seem to uncover the hidden evil and enforce justice.

Dean did not wear Superman's glasses during this trip, and he was followed by a row of paparazzi. People were watching him overtly and covertly. This situation may improve after the mayor's election ends in a month.

Penguin, not being a good person, will, when he takes the position of mayor, undoubtedly sympathize with others and oppose dissidents. The Court of Owls is obviously not on Cobblepot's list of allies.

However, when the paparazzi noticed Dean's destination, they quietly stopped following him.

Dean drove a police car to the gate of the manor and rang the doorbell.

"Hello, I'm Officer Dean. I've taken the liberty of coming to visit."

After verifying Dean's identity, the door to Wayne Manor automatically opened, and Dean drove straight in. As we all know, there is only one person who speaks in Wayne Manor, and that is Alfred Pennyworth. Batman owes his life to this octogenarian man.

In the reception room of Wayne Manor, Alfred was receiving Dean.

"Welcome, Gotham's Demon Cop. I'm glad you could come to Wayne Manor. How can I help you?" Alfred brought over a cup of coffee and added two pieces of sugar to it.

"If you are looking for Master Wayne, I'm afraid you'll have to try another time. He is not at home right now—he's rarely home. Perhaps you should make an appointment with him to meet at a later time. Not here at Wayne Tower."

Alfred was very enthusiastic about Dean because he gave the old man a little hope—a hope for Bruce to hang up his cape. Unlike Gordon, Dean, as the second-generation Bright Knight, could possibly replace Batman. His role could be to serve as a restraining force for justice against evil.

Dean took the coffee, took a sip, and then set it on the table.

"I'm not here for Mr. Wayne. It's just that, during the investigation, I accidentally discovered that a certain key item was stored in Wayne Manor, so I came to visit."

Alfred looked serious. "There can be no items related to crimes in Wayne Manor."

Because those items were stored in the Batcave.

Dean explained: "You misunderstood. What I'm looking for has nothing to do with crime…"

Before he could finish, a joyful shout interrupted him.

"Look, who's here? Isn't this the Knight of Light who has been in the limelight recently?"

(T/N: Knight of Light is another nickname that Dean received, tho Batman agreed that it's a bad nickname, worst than Demon Cop.)

Hearing this slightly childish voice, Dean's expression dropped subconsciously. He had forgotten that there were more people in Wayne Manor than just Batman and Alfred.

And his great partner.

Damian, wearing a suit, extended his hand toward Dean. "I am Damian, Damian Wayne. No need for an introduction. Your news has been all over TV recently. I can say I know you quite well."

After Damian introduced himself proudly, he assumed Dean wouldn't recognize him, but what Damian didn't know was that his secret identity was never a secret to Dean in the first place.

Dean pretended to be surprised and shook his hand. "Mr. Wayne also has a child. Well, that's the first I've heard of it. Damian, nice to meet you."

Since Dean's training, his acting skills had greatly improved. At least Damian was pleased with Dean's reaction. He planned to first become friends with Dean, so when his identity was revealed, Dean would be too stunned to say anything. Damian was already imagining that scene in his head.

Dean, who was going along with the act, noticed the gleam in Damian's eyes and easily guessed his thoughts. The thoughts of boys his age were always easy to understand. But at least Damian appeared to be recovering well, and it seemed that Dean's therapy had been quite helpful.

Damian sat across from Dean. "Let's continue. You said there is a key item in Wayne Manor. How are you so sure?"

"Because someone who prefers to remain nameless told me that it is in the collection room of Wayne Manor. Can you take me there to have a look?"

The message Harley had sent to Dean was brief, but it completely altered his perception. She had told him something incredible.

The Tiger Talisman—one of the legendary twelve talismans—had originally been inside an ancient statue located in Wayne Manor. And the one who had accidentally unearthed it?

Harley Quinn.

While messing around, she had discovered the talisman buried inside a dragon statue.

What's more, the power of the talisman had been triggered, leading to an unexpected phenomenon—Harley and Harleen were split into two separate individuals. That revelation had sent Dean running straight to Wayne Manor.

"Of course, Alfred, take us to the collection room." Damian agreed without hesitation.

"Yes, young master."

Alfred made no objection, even though the Wayne family's collection room was filled with priceless works of art and antiques, and it was obviously inappropriate to let him enter during the first meeting. But Alfred looked at Damian, who was walking alongside Dean. It was rare to see the young master so happy. Since both young masters were willing to give Dean their trust, he would certainly not be stingy.

Alfred took Dean to a locked room. After entering the password, the door opened automatically.

"Here are hundreds of years of Wayne's collection. Please don't reach out and touch it. This sentence is for you, young master."

Damian secretly pouted. "Isn't it just that when I first came here, I took a sword from the wall for morning practice? Do you still remember it now?"

"That sword belonged to your great-grandfather, and I didn't remember it deliberately. Every day when I tidy up the yard, the bushes that are the objects of morning exercise will remind me."

Damian and Alfred were sarcastic towards each other like grandfather and grandson, but Dean did not participate in it.

Dean walked quickly around the collection room. What he saw were some works of art that he could not understand, as well as many exquisite porcelains. Normally, Dean might stop and comment on them, but he came here just for one thing. And that thing was not here.

Dean searched from beginning to end, but still couldn't find it. He didn't give up and asked Alfred, "Is this the entire Wayne collection and nothing else?"

"That's all." Alfred nodded.

Damian crossed his arms and said, "It seems you are looking in the wrong place, Dean."

"No, she has no reason to lie to me. She won't get any benefits from lying to me…" Dean frowned. Could it be that Harley Quinn reported false information that could be easily exposed just to delay time?

"But Alfred is the person who knows Wayne Manor best. If he says it's all, it's all."

Alfred bowed. "No, young master, I don't fully understand this manor. At least I didn't know that owls build their nests here. But Officer Dean, you can describe to me the appearance of the item you are looking for. Maybe it is placed elsewhere in the manor as a decoration."

"A huge stone statue with a golden surface and a dragon with a coiled body," Dean briefly described it.

"The golden dragon statue? I have the impression that it was placed elsewhere by the young master."

Alfred took them to an inconspicuous room, and the procedures required to open this room were ten times more complicated than the previous collection room. Alfred struggled with irises, fingerprints, and passwords. It took a long time to open the door.

Damian was surprised because even he didn't know this room existed.

"The young master doesn't know; that's normal. This is the room where the young master stores the belongings of Master Thomas and Mrs. Martha."

The room was filled with worthless trinkets, toys, and photos, but Dean could see the love his parents had for their son.

"The young master rarely enters this room. He doesn't want to dwell on the past."

The large items here were covered with a layer of dust-proof cloth, and only a few outlines were exposed. It was impossible to identify the items inside from the outside, but Alfred walked directly to a piece of red cloth. He recognized everything here because he would come in and sort them out every month.

When the red cloth was lifted, the ferocious-looking dragon head was exposed to the air. The intricate dragon body formed the entire main body of the statue, with twelve octagonal holes carved abruptly on top.

Alfred introduced, "This statue was obtained by Mr. Thomas at an auction before the young master was born. It was originally placed in the collection room, but in an accident, someone removed the stone from the hole. For safety reasons, I just moved it here. That took me a lot of effort." Alfred touched his waist.

Apparently, Batman didn't care about the little property damage Harley caused him, otherwise he would have recognized that the spell had been in his home from the beginning.

"Are the holes above originally empty?"

Alfred fell into memories. "Originally, there were three holes that were filled. After… that incident, two of them were empty, and the last one was lost after Harley Quinn caused havoc in the manor."

"Those three stones should be engraved with some kind of animal patterns, can you tell me?"

"Of course."

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Not long after Dean left Wayne Manor, Damian, who had changed into his Robin uniform, found him.

"You went to Wayne Manor. Is there any clue about the talisman there?" Completely different from the vigor and vitality he had in Wayne Manor, Damian acted bitter and resentful at this moment.

Dean did not expose Damian: "Well, I found the owner of the spell—the Shendu, but all I found was the statue. There is no soul in it."

The stone statue is very lifelike, just like a statue made of a real dragon that has been petrified, and this is indeed the case. It was precisely because of this that Thomas Wayne photographed it. But the statue can only be said to be lifelike because it lacks one thing—the finishing touch. The eyes are where the soul of the dragon lies, and the eyes on the dragon's head are dull. No matter how many details there are, it is just a statue. It is missing the most important thing—the soul.

There are only two possibilities. One is that the Shendu's soul did not come to this world with the body, and the other is that the Shendu's soul also came, but he gave up his body…

According to Alfred's recollection, when Mr. Thomas brought this large stone back from the auction, there were only three runes on it. The one that Harley Quinn poached was the Tiger Charm, and the ones stolen by the Court of Owls were the Pig Charm and the Horse Charm.

"Robin, you know, we always thought that extradimensional visitors like Groudon and Manaphy only visited this world recently, but now it seems that we were wrong—very wrong."

At least before Batman was born, the petrified Shendu had already come to this world. Think about it, in nineteenth-century America, what could the Shendu in his soul state do?

"Robin, call the Justice League. This is not just an internal Gotham matter."

When rescuing Groudon, Dean told Damian about the possible consequences of Groudon being controlled. His face was not so solemn at that time because that situation could still be undone.

But this time, it cannot be undone, nor can it be stopped.

Robin immediately started calling Batman.

So Dean's police car automatically popped up a projection screen, which showed the scene in the Hall of Justice. All members of the Justice League gathered together, and Batman sat in the middle of the conference table. It wasn't because Dean was too proud, but he just happened to catch up with the Justice League meeting.

"Hey, Dean!" Flash waved excitedly at him at the speed of light.

"I heard about the good things you did. I really hope you can come back to Central City. I will enjoy working with you."

Hearing Little Flash's declaration of blatant poaching, Batman immediately showed disapproval. Currently, Groudon and Manaphy have not found their destination, and Dean cannot leave Gotham for the time being.

"But I don't like it! Because some super-fast guy will turn me into a loser sitting in an office doing nothing."

Dean stared at the Flash unkindly until he avoided it with a guilty conscience.

"I'm just trying to help other people…"

"Including helping the old lady cross the road before me?"

The Flash didn't reply at this time. Seeing that the style of the conversation was becoming more relaxed and humorous, Batman quickly used his voice with terminal laryngeal cancer to bring the atmosphere back to the main tone of darkness and depth.

"Quiet, Flash. No matter what kind of dispute you have with Dean, you can spend five seconds to go to Gotham after the meeting. Now, let me listen to Dean's reason for calling the Justice League."

Hal put his arms under the back of his head and agreed: "Yes, I was just reporting… summarizing all the recent abnormal events in sector 2814, and you interrupted my summary. Hey, do you know the concept of sector 2814? Let me tell you, that is 138 planets, including the Earth…"

"Hal, Hal-" The Flash pulled Hal's uniform and whispered his name.

"What's wrong, Flash?" Hal stopped rambling.

"Look over there."

Hal turned to meet Batman's eyes and immediately raised his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay, I lost control. This should be my time," he emphasized again.

Batman turned to look at Dean.

"I am very happy to see the joyful interaction of the Justice League, but I am sorry that you may not be in the same mood next time."

Dean sent Batman a photo of the petrified Shendu that he took with his cell phone, and the photo was displayed in front of all the alliance members.

"This is what I found in Wayne Manor, another outsider who does not belong to this universe, but all I found was this body, and his soul was hidden."

"I can handle this piece of broken rock by myself, let alone other alliance members. This is not a problem," Hal said confidently.

Dean corrected him: "No, Green Lantern, outsiders are not the main problem. The real issue lies in the time when the Shendu appeared. He has left video records since at least the 19th century."

Batman realized the seriousness of the matter: "Dean, have you confirmed it?"

"The pig charm is in your hand, Batman. You can go to Wayne Manor and see. The charm can be perfectly embedded in the holes of the stone statue because it belongs there."

Batman enlarged the holes in the petrified Shendu's body and compared the size with the talisman, which matched perfectly.

Now Hal could no longer maintain his previous relaxed look: "Impossible! The records of the Lantern Ring show that the first [Collapse] occurred two months ago. How could there be outsiders in the 19th century?"

The Green Lantern Ring itself is equivalent to a miniature supercomputer, connected to the "Book of Oa," which stores the knowledge of the entire universe and is updated every moment. In theory, nothing in the universe can be hidden from the Green Lantern Corps. But Hal's statement is not unreasonable. In the 19th century, it was the former owner of his ring, Abin Sur, who was responsible for protecting Sector 2814. It is impossible for this legendary Green Lantern to not notice the aliens landing on Earth.

Dean noticed Hal's wording: "Collapse, is this the Justice League's name for the phenomenon of aliens coming to Earth? It is indeed very vivid, just like the aliens visiting Earth in the original science fiction novels."

"But I think, everyone in the Justice League, you seem to have got it wrong at the beginning. The Collapse first happened two months ago, and the Outsiders appeared in the 19th century. These two things are not contradictory."

Dean's statement directly awakened the Justice League, and no one interrupted the young policeman's speech this time.

"These outsiders are not as simple as the parallel universes in science fiction works. They are very far away from us and can be said to have no connection, but they have come to our world.

Let us zoom in and assume that there are parallel universes in our world, divided by similar universes. Let me call it the DC universe, and divide other universes of the same scale into one system. Then, within this system, time and space would be meaningless because the DC Universe includes all timelines and parallel universes."

This is why Dean urgently called the Justice League. No matter how many collapses were observed in total, the time and place of each collapse could not be predicted. As a result, the quick-reaction defense mechanism developed by Batman is completely ineffective against Collapse, because no matter what, the only thing the Justice League can decide is the present, and changing the past will only make things worse.

And every Collapse may change the timeline.

"I don't know how the Collapse phenomenon is caused or what the rules are, but everyone in the Justice League, the changes brought by Collapse to this world are not only affecting the present but also a reflection of the past. These events will definitely affect the future!"

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