PFC Chapter 4618 The Day of Brightest Day (77)
Chapter 4618 The Day of Brightest Day (77)
Chapter 4618 The Day of Brightest Light (Seventy-Seven)
However, Schiller eventually went to see Stark. Stark was tutoring little Morgan in the middle of a chaotic scene. One might assume that even such a great scientist couldn't handle a child's homework, but upon closer listening, it turned out the father and daughter were having a heated discussion about different paths to nuclear fusion.
Stark paused for a moment when he saw Schiller appear at the door. Schiller had a bad feeling. This man was a big shot in family matters; he couldn't give him a chance to ramble on.
"Did you know the Batmen were here?"
Stark, still in a daze, snapped to attention and said, "What? Who?"
"Batman. Something's gone wrong over there, they had to call for backup, and they're currently in a large group of consciousness worlds..."
"Wow, Batman!" Morgan exclaimed. "Dad, I'm going to see Batman. He'll definitely agree with me!"
Stark immediately called the nanny to take little Morgan to Obadiah's place. He then put on his glasses, walked to his desk, and asked, "What's going on over there?"
Schiller gave a brief summary. But Stark shook his head helplessly and said, "I don't need a synopsis; I need specific data. Otherwise, how can I determine the level of the disaster?"
Schiller had no choice but to message the Batmen. They quickly sent back a lot of data. Logically, since the monitoring equipment remained on their bodies, they shouldn't have had time to look at it when they left, and therefore shouldn't know the specific energy data from the incident.
However, the Batmen had their own methods. They managed to deduce some things from what was visible to the naked eye at the time, and made some calculations during their escape, obtaining a lot of reliable information. Schiller couldn't help but sigh: they really had the qualities to be a great villain, and their abilities were truly worthy of their savior ambitions.
Or rather, every truly stubborn person is like this. If they didn't have enough strength to support their unwavering stubbornness, they would have long since had their edges smoothed out by harsh reality. In other words, some people who are ridiculously stubborn in their beliefs and actions always have some real skills.
After reviewing the data, Stark adjusted his glasses and said, "I'm more interested in knowing which genius orchestrated this huge stunt. Could it be another Batman?"
"Is this important?" Schiller asked.
Stark nodded slightly and said, "What I'm more concerned about is that the methods he used seem absurd, but they are actually quite effective, aren't they?"
"But Batman was..."
“He wasn’t trapped either, was he?” Stark said. “That’s why I asked you if the person who made the move was Batman. If so, he would know that his counterpart must have a way to escape, and that would be a flawless, ingenious plan.”
Schiller sighed inwardly; he knew it. Marvel had far more mad scientists than DC, and they were far more insane. In the time it took Lex Luthor and Superman to create a child, Reed could create one with every member of the Justice League—even Batman, and perhaps even the Joker.
"Tell me more about it." It wasn't that Schiller wanted to hear it, but he absolutely wouldn't get down to business unless Stark finished explaining his brilliant insights.
The Batmen witnessed firsthand how Earth, carrying the Apocalypse Sphere, crashed into the Black Death Emperor, and they described the process to Stark. Stark said, "The key is the Dark Sphere."
Schiller frowned slightly. He knew that the Dark Realm was actually Barbatos's realm. Then he suddenly realized that when the incident happened, Barbatos was entangled with Nyarlathotep and therefore didn't realize that Bruce had used his realm to carry out such a huge operation.
However, now that Nyarlathotep has run away with the Outer Gods, Barbatos should have come to his senses by now. And since the skewer on this string of candied hawthorns represents the Dark Realm, doesn't that mean he's already discovered the situation on the Origin Wall?
Although he contributed a stick, his main body didn't go there, so he should still be able to move around freely.
“I suspect this was intentional,” Stark said. “The mastermind behind all this has a close relationship with Barbatos, otherwise he wouldn’t have the authority to open the portal. He’s not counting on you or Batman; he wants Barbatos to come and rescue him.”
Schiller paused slightly, "Will Barbatos rescue him?"
“That depends on how important he is,” Stark said. “But as far as I know, Barbatos is an enemy of the multiverse and an enemy of the Batmen. What do you think he’d think if he saw so many Batmen hanging on the wall?”
“He’ll definitely give Bruce a Best Dark Knight award,” Schiller said. “You know how tough Batman is, Barbatos has never had any of his followers do what he does.”
This is no exaggeration. Barbatos's most famous background event is Metal. And within Metal, while many Batmen have been harmed by the Batman Who Laughs, most are just minor characters. Apart from the Dark Knights, the other Batmen are clearly not the real Batmen from the start; they're all bizarre and many don't even have their own independent universe, just a background setting.
The Batman Who Laughs may have a large number of kills, but in terms of quality, he can't compare to Bruce. Moreover, the Batman Who Laughs hasn't even had a chance to launch the Metal Event yet; Bruce's achievements are unparalleled.
Furthermore, Bruce has always performed exceptionally well in Barbatos's presence. He's incredibly attentive and responsible, truly putting in the work for the project. He was even organizing the Dark Knights across the universe not long ago. It's fair to say that he works far longer with Barbatos than with the Justice League, making him an absolutely invaluable asset.
Of course, one can't expect Barbatos to have any feelings, but purely from a profit-driven perspective, Bruce is someone who must be brought in. After all, quite a few Batmen have been brought in, but many others haven't, so we need to keep trying.
"Can Barbatos get him out?"
Stark shook his head and said, "He doesn't want Barbatos to pull him out; he wants to hang Barbatos up there too."
Schiller's eyes widened slightly. Three candied hawthorns on a skewer weren't enough; he needed another one. These mysterious beings from the multiverse were really messing with Bruce.
"Is it possible?" Schiller asked.
“It’s probably possible,” Stark said. “I don’t know what God over there was thinking, setting up such giant traps around every universe. But if you haven’t been exposed to them, whoever comes will fall for it.”
Schiller thought about it and agreed. Who would have thought that the universe's protective shield was a giant sticky mouse trap? If you unknowingly walked right into it, wouldn't you get stuck?
Barbatos is probably genuinely unaware of the situation. After all, he was tricked by Bruce before, trapped in the Dark Realm and forced to become a shut-in, sharing an apartment with others and spending every day playing role-playing games. Bruce has probably kept it completely from him.
"So, Bruce used Batman as bait to lure Barbatos in and get him hooked too?"
“That’s right.” Stark affirmed this point. “Without Barbatos, Bruce can squander the power of the Dark Realm even more recklessly.”
"Why do I always feel that he couldn't handle the Dark Knights, and since the deadline was approaching, he had no choice but to put the boss on the hook?"
Schiller's conjecture is not without merit. Since Bruce graduated, he has finally learned the correct way to graduate: it doesn't matter if you don't finish your thesis, just fool your advisor; it doesn't matter if you don't complete your assignment, just get rid of your boss.
"So who does he expect to get him out of there?" Schiller asked. "Not me, not Batman, not Barbatos, who else could do it?"
“You’ll have to ask you that,” Stark said, taking a sip of water. “He must have done something else, we just don’t know it.”
"Can't you tell either?"
“I can give it a try,” Stark said. “However, I’m a proper scientist after all, and I don’t have much experience with multiverse-level disasters. I suggest you find an expert in this area.”
Schiller wanted to refute his "serious scientist" remarks, but then he thought that compared to Reed Richards, Tony Stark really was a serious scientist.
"What's Reed doing?" Schiller asked.
“He caused a huge mess in the Battle Realm a while ago,” Stark said after thinking for a moment. “It took Franklin a long time to fix it. And lately he seems to be working on some kind of antimatter universe portal. If you go to him now, you can provide him with some very valuable research material for his project.”
Schiller thought about it and realized that Reed was a perfect match for his expertise in every way. His thinking might actually be on the same wavelength as Bruce's, and he might even be able to see some clues.
So he took the information to Reed. Reed was conducting research in the Southern Cross constellation, presumably searching for a landing site for the antimatter channel. His temporary base was in a spaceship, and when Schiller boarded, Reed was busy at his workbench.
“Oh, you’ve arrived.” Reed glanced up at him and said, “Is Anatoly back?”
Schiller froze on the spot, looking at Reed and asking, "You know Anatoly?"
Reed seemed surprised by his surprise, saying, "Of course, he came to me before and took some energy from the warehouse. What, haven't you fired the cannons yet?"
"What is your relationship with him?" Schiller asked.
“After Franklin was born, I traveled through time with him many times. We happened to meet Dr. Shostakov, who was busy collecting energy in the Old Skrull Empire. The two of us jointly devised a plan to collect the Tears of the Sun. I provided him with the technical support to use the M'Kraan Crystal to open channels to different universes to collect stellar energy. I also kept the key to the warehouse.”
Schiller couldn't help but cover his eyes. He had said that while the collection plan was very much in the style of The Doctor, the methods used to achieve it were a bit too localized, looking like something a local would do. He never expected that Reed, the time traveler, would be his technical advisor.
“But I have to apologize to you,” Reed said. “The side effects of using the crystal are all still in your body. But I’m relieved to see that you’re alright.”
"What?" Schiller didn't react for a moment. "What side effects?"
"You didn't know?" Reed raised an eyebrow in surprise. "People who use M'Kraan crystals become very unlucky, or as the saying goes, extremely unlucky. Haven't you noticed how unlucky you are?"
Schiller was speechless with emotion. He certainly wasn't lucky, but now he seemed to understand why mediocrity was so unfortunate.