mtl008 Chapter 4611 The Day of Brightest Day (7)
Chapter 4611 The Day of Brightest Day (7)
Chapter 4611 The Day of Brightest Light (Seventy)
Although Schiller's consciousness is still in the conscious stage, he can feel the boiling of his mental world at this moment—what does it mean for a tower to bounce on the spot?
Schiller took a deep breath, trying to appear sorrowful. Fortunately, Anatoly was more familiar with Schiller's morbid state than with the agent. He was currently lost in his own thoughts and had no time to observe Schiller's emotions, while Schiller had ample opportunity to observe him.
Unfortunately, the agent wasn't skilled in psychoanalysis, and his perception of emotional fluctuations wasn't particularly acute. However, he could tell that Anatoly wasn't grieving. He was just somewhat lost in thought, as if absorbed in memories. Schiller couldn't be sure whether the most important protagonist in his memories was the Soviet Union or Lucifer.
After a moment, he came to his senses and asked, "Where did you get this?"
“Given to me by Constantine of the main universe.”
"Lucifer stuffed it into his brain?"
“Not really,” Schiller said. “Lucifer lost a bet and gave it to Constantine. Constantine intended to use it to make a magical artifact, but found that its power was too weak, so he kept it hidden away until recently.”
"You went to him to ask for it?"
"Of course not, how would I know he had it? It was during the multiverse war that he tricked Batman. Batman wanted to treat him and locked him in a mental hospital. He tried to escape, but always failed, so he resorted to some crooked methods."
“By the way,” Schiller paused for a moment, then continued, “that pendant was also given to me by Constantine. Apparently, Lucifer broke a glass while drinking with him, and he made the piece into a pendant. Now that I’m returning it to you, it’s like returning it to its rightful owner.”
Anatoly lowered his eyes slightly. The biggest difference between Slavic eyes and those of other white races is that their upper eyelids are more rounded, but their brows are straighter and lower. This creates a strong sense of conflict, which, to some extent, reflects the "inner character" of their ethnicity.
When he lowered his eyes, the rounded arch that made him look younger and more childlike disappeared, revealing his straight and deep brows, which carried a touch of classical melancholy, reminiscent of the Bronze Horseman by the Neva River in St. Petersburg at sunset, his features becoming more angular as the sky darkened.
"Returned to its rightful owner?" he said. "I'm glad I only got two percent back."
When Schiller returned to 125 Kazsovo, Constantine was reading a book, which looked like a notebook. Seeing Schiller enter, Constantine looked up and said, "Did you give him that thing?"
Schiller nodded and said, "He's organizing the Justice League to figure things out. I think he still has a long way to go."
“This is certainly not an easy task.” Constantine’s expression was serious. “Batman is a human being, which means that he is vulnerable in some ways. The hardest part of the rescue plan is not efficiency, but safety. But no matter how we do it, this is far from safe. What I want to know more about is who put Batman in such an unsafe situation.”
Schiller was clearly pleased with his sticking to the point. Thank goodness Constantine had no family matters to discuss, and he didn't even want to talk about the trivialities of Hell and the Underworld. Schiller knew he must have many stories to tell, but he always kept them to himself and wouldn't mention them to anyone unless absolutely necessary—making him a perfect teammate.
“You know, Batman has several enemies,” Schiller said.
“Oh, that’s quite a rare thing. Before saving the world, the Savior was at odds with the whole world,” Constantine said. “If he only had a few enemies, what need would there be for saving the world?”
“In a way, it’s their own doing,” Schiller quickly revealed. “There were indeed some people who were very reckless and took some radical measures to deal with the great enemy of the multiverse. But if the Batmen don’t step in, they won’t be affected.”
Constantine was clearly deep in thought. He said, "Since the Batmen took the initiative to come forward, do you think they wouldn't have had a contingency plan?"
Schiller paused. He said, "Given their character, it's impossible that they didn't. But I really haven't seen any evidence."
“This proves that their contingency plan may not exist in the real universe,” Constantine said. “I think we should all remain steadfast in our judgment of Batman, shouldn’t we?”
Schiller nodded. He thought Constantine's words made sense. Obviously, the main universe Batman couldn't possibly lead so many people to such a dangerous universe unprepared. He knew Bruce's character all too well. Even if he hadn't expected Bruce to be so impulsive, he must have considered what to do if they encountered insurmountable problems.
The Batman of the main universe has already encountered magic, and he is not entirely unprepared for the mysterious forces of the cosmos. Therefore, when faced with overwhelming disasters in the real universe, he might consider seeking refuge in a non-real universe.
There are many realms that do not belong to the real universe, such as Heaven, Hell, the Spirit Book Hell, the magical world of Maiar, and Mount Olympus. But the most troublesome thing about these places is that there are too many powerful beings there.
If the Batmen are forced to leave the real universe for refuge, their situation is likely already dire. Facing these powerful beings again would be tantamount to sending lambs to the slaughter—utterly pointless.
Where could it be? Schiller pondered. If Batman had already made contact, he might be prepared there; if there weren't many powerful beings around; if he himself had some ability to resist; and ideally, he'd have someone to meet him.
An answer is becoming clear—"Dreamland".
Constantine looked up at him, his fingers tapping lightly on the armrest. "I've seen the Sandman once."
"When?"
“A long time ago, when I was about seven years old,” Constantine said, “he said something in my dream, but I forgot it all when I woke up. It wasn’t a pleasant experience, more like… eerie?”
Have you ever entered the dream realm?
Constantine shook his head and said, "The message that the angels and demons want to convey to me has completely taken over my dreams. It's almost impossible to get through these things and reach the real dream realm. At least, I can't."
“But the Batmen can,” Schiller said. “Nothing can outrun their thoughts. I can get away this way, and so can they.”
Schiller hadn't forgotten how Pride had escaped. In fact, he hadn't escaped at all; his body was still trapped on the Origin Wall. However, his consciousness could return to the tower and then leave. The speed at which he crashed into the Origin Wall was fast, but it couldn't outpace the speed of his thoughts.
If Batman had made prior arrangements in the Dream Kingdom, then in the instant a crisis occurred, it was possible for him to directly sink into his subconscious, then access the Dream Kingdom, and allow his consciousness to leave.
It's uncertain whether all Batmen could do this, but the main universe Batman and the Arkham Batman certainly could. Other high-level Batmen should also be able to. And this time, the main universe Batman brought only top-tier fighters; if they had planned it beforehand, it wouldn't be surprising that they all escaped.
The strange thing is, if they really entered the dream realm, they would have returned by now. Even without a physical body, they could contact Ron through the spiritual world, at least letting the Justice League know they are safe, and then work together to find a way to reclaim their bodies.
But now, neither the Justice League in any world has received any news from them, not even from the Battle Realm. This means that even if they successfully escaped from the Origin Wall, they must have encountered other troubles and are still out of contact.
Schiller felt a headache coming on. While it wasn't fair to blame Batman for being too proactive, their overly comprehensive plans sometimes led to unexpected situations, catching everyone off guard.
“We two probably need to make a trip to the Dreamland,” Schiller said.
"Go find Batman? Are you sure they haven't run into trouble?"
“Not to find Batman, but to find the Joker,” Schiller sighed. “Although I think he might be in trouble too.”
In Schiller's speculation, the contact in the dream world that Batman's crew was looking for might be Jack the Joker. Indeed, compared to the Nameless Bat, Jack is much more plausible. You can't say he isn't another kind of Pale Knight; even if the vehicle is a truck, he'd travel thousands of miles for Batman.
The truth is, after Gotham was saved, Jack's workload decreased significantly. He no longer needed to buy bombs or tools for his crimes, and Brainiac didn't collect property taxes, so earning a pittance was enough to feed him. This gave him a lot of free time, most of which he likely spent in the Dream Kingdom. After all, it was an infinite open world with countless things to explore.
In some ways, Jack Sparrow's level of self-exploration surpasses that of all the Jokers. Because of this, he doesn't need to derive pleasure from exploring Batman's psyche. The main universe Batman can easily see this. Having him act as a contact in the dream world sounds absurd, but it's entirely feasible.
Because of his advanced knowledge of the dream world, all he needed to do was drive a truck and pick up Batman. It was a simple task. If he failed, it meant he was likely in trouble.
While it might seem that Schiller and Jack combined should possess all the authority of a Dream God, this is not actually the case. Their life forms do not support them becoming Dream Gods. The Sandman is a naturally mystical being; only such beings can truly and completely control a mystical realm. Life forms in the material world cannot do this, so it is also possible that Jack could be trapped in the dream realm.
“How do we get there?” Constantine asked.
“Come with me to a place first,” Schiller said. “Don’t be surprised by anything you see, and don’t ask them why they’re happy. Just keep going.”
Schiller took Constantine to the tower. Unsurprisingly, another heated debate was unfolding, the topic being "who should we side with if Lucifer and Anatoly were to fight?" The agent completely ignored this and led Constantine into the abyss.
This perfect teammate did not disappoint him. Although Constantine was slightly surprised, he remained silent, neither asking nor commenting, but simply accepting it all.
However, their journey into the dream realm was not smooth. They dived all the way to the bottom, only to find that the passageway was closed. Since they couldn't stay at the bottom for too long, or they might lose themselves, they had to surface.
The other Schillers, preoccupied with watching the spectacle, were completely oblivious to the malfunction in the passage. Schiller could only sigh and return to the real world with Constantine, preparing to find another passage—the one leading to Constantine's mental world.
Everyone has a channel beneath their subconscious, but not everyone can delve that deep. Constantine had never explored his own subconscious. He quickly mastered the method, but unfortunately, his channel was also closed.
“This is very wrong,” Schiller said. “I’m afraid the entire Dream Kingdom is in trouble.”