Batman saw the life gradually fading from the vertical pupils of the Elder So Snake Demon. But in his last swift glance, Batman realized that he was not the only one who learned from history.
No matter which world, there was always the first awakened person. They emerged from the smoke and clouds of the vast land to observe the historical rivers, proclaim the truths to the world's citizens, and tread the thorny path of pioneering.
At the same spot, Batman closed his eyes, his teeth clenched tightly. He repeated the mantra to himself ten-thousand times — do not think you are the only smart one in this world, stop considering yourself as a savior.
If there were saviors in this world, then those who were saved would never realize the principle of not relying their lives on others.
To truly save them, they must understand how to save themselves. To allow them to achieve fairness, they must seek it on their own.
To let them earn freedom, they must first gain self-awareness.
The Elder So Snake Demon's body turned into ashes as its final spark of life vanished. The So Snake Demons surrounding his body began chanting an ancient ballad in a sorrowful chorus.
Batman slowly rose and looked at the demons staring at him in awe. Then he told them:
"Let's go, find a safe place."
Moving forward without uttering a word, Batman led the demons who followed him now in shock, fear, and confusion, unsure of their destination.
Batman led these remnants towards the Third Mountain, nearest to the Central Mine. These two mountains, like mother and child, were interconnected. The Third Mountain was two-thirds the size of the Central Mine, but their proximity was undeniable.
For unexplained reasons, the demon elite forces which were supposed to be everywhere now seemed quite disoriented. As if oblivious to the Central Mine's collapse, Batman noticed this in surprise but could not investigate at that moment. Instead, he decided to move his group to the Third Mountain as quickly as possible during the confusion.
Another reason to choose this location was that it's where Merkel worked, Batman thought he could involve him and hence gain an ally.
The Third Mountain was not that big and had only around a dozen caves. When they first entered one of the caves, it was eerily silent, not a single demon in sight.
Batman ordered most of the group to rest there while he ventured deep inside the cave alone, searching for Merkel.
The geography of the Third Mountain was quite simple, basically a straight line without many detours. As such, Batman quickly found traces of Merkel. He was just at the center of the hall when he heard Merkel's voice echo from a cave further inside:
"Why should we learn? Here's the perfect example. The first team used their prior classroom knowledge to successfully set up a trap. As you saw, the supervisor holding the powerful weapon also fell under the power of their teamwork..."
"Lolo was once the weakest Miniature Demon in the Third Mountain. But even she, who was frail from just having given birth, was able to use the dagger in her hand to kill the supervisor oppressing her!"
"Perhaps not many of you know, but Lolo has 32 children. However, she should have had more. Her two children from the last batch were not even as big as an average demon's fist when, just two days after their birth, they were used to amuse the drug-affected supervisors…"
At this point, Batman heard a thin cry erupting from within the cave. Merkel's voice faded, but another sharp, louder voice filled with immense hatred took over, causing Batman to tremble slightly.
"Those damn green skins! The most fierce and wicked green monsters in hell took my newborn children straight from my nest!!!"
"They snatched my children's tails and competed to see who could throw farther! My two poor children had just learned how to walk when they were thrown against the wall and smashed into a pulp…"
There was a group intake of breath from inside the cave. Even in hell, there were rules to abide by, and what was just described was horrendously brutal.
The sobbing got louder and more shrill, seemingly coming from the Miniature Demons. They were jumping around, crying and begging, lamenting their relatives and their children who had been brutally murdered.
Batman knew these weren't fictions because there were too many of these little demons. Thus, the chances of them being persecuted are higher than that of other demons.
When the supervisors get angry, they take out their frustrations on them. When they overdose on drugs, they take these demons for amusement. They end up doing all the dirty and heavy work, and wherever they went, they were kicked aside.
Demons weren't emotionless creatures. Since they were created by God just like humans and angels, their rationality and sensibility, logical thinking, and emotions coexist. Fear is a human instinct, and so are anger, jealousy, and feelings of being wronged.
At that moment, Merkel's voice rose again: "Facing such persecution, should we not fight back?! Answer me, Miniature Demons! Given the chance not to endure such atrocities and humiliation, what would you do?!!"
"Kill them! Kill them!! Throw them into the magma!! Let them experience pain deeper than ours!!!"
"Kill them all!!!!"
The Miniature Demons began to cry out again, heating up the atmosphere in the cave. Many demons, stirred up by emotion, began to roar. But at this point, Merkel intervened and threw cold water on their enthusiasm:
"But you are the weakest demons in hell. Look at yourselves, several of you bundled up together don't even have arms as thick as other demons. Those powerful Demon Soldiers can easily crush you into flesh."
The atmosphere abruptly cooled down, and while the Miniature Demons continued to chatter amongst themselves, they couldn't articulate any complete sentences. It was at this moment that Merkel spoke again:
"But just now, we succeeded in killing a powerful Supervisor Demon who was even wielding a powerful weapon. We didn't lose a single demon while dismembering him. How did you manage to do that?!"
"Unity! Unity! I know! I learnt this word!" Immediately a Miniature Demon stood up and said, "We had over 20 demons, together we made ropes, first blinded him, then tripped him, and crushed him with stones before piercing his heart. We may lack in numbers, but we are not afraid of him!!!"
Dozens of Miniature Demons started shouting again, seemingly in extreme excitement. But at this point, Merkel, with his impeccable timing, moderated their enthusiasm, "Could you have achieved that if you hadn't learnt how to make ropes, or practiced how to aim for the supervisor's eyes, or practiced the coordination required to move boulders?"
The Miniature Demons gradually quieted down. Every one of them, their eyes wide open, was looking at Merkel. At that moment, Lolo, who had just been praised, stood up and shook his head, "Of course not, we wouldn't even know that the plant fibers stacked in the corner could be made into ropes..."
"I learned for two days on how to twist the rope forward, then wind it back, it was difficult at first, but I finally got it. Also, aiming for the supervisor's eyes, my God, I didn't even know where the supervisor's eyes were, we couldn't see them before!"
"This is why I say, everyone must learn."
"Learning, learning! Learning enables you to defeat enemies who are many times stronger than you. Although we are physically no match for that group of soldiers, we should stimulate our brains, learn things we never knew before. We can and they can't. They naturally can't beat us."
Merkel's words were straightforward. There was no complex logic in them. The central theme was simple - I know a lot of things, as long as you follow my commands and learn from me, we can kill anyone, as many as we want.
Soon, the atmosphere in the cave reached a climax with all the demons shouting "Unity! Learning! Unbeatable!"
Batman stood there pondering for a while, then turned around and walked back to his group of demons.
Looking at a group of demons still sitting in shock, their faces frozen in fear, Batman sighed deeply, then showed that smirk in which his mouth tilted downward.
He opened his mouth, but couldn't get a word out because he didn't know what to say next. After pondering for a while, he decided to walk towards the corridor.
Batman knew he had to ask Merkel about what he had learned at Butler School.
Merkel was surprised when he saw Batman, "Oh, my God, Mr. Wayne, why are you here at this time? I heard you were leading a demon uprising in the Central Mine?"
Merkel extended his hand to shake Batman's, but Batman wasn't accustomed to this kind of ceremony. However, seeing the sincere light in Merkel's eyes and thinking about what he had to do next, he reached out his hand and shook it with Merkel's.
To Batman's surprise, Merkel walked over to him and said admiringly, "Mr. Wayne, although you're not one of us, your incredible act fired the first shot for our mine's liberation. I believe that you, like us, have a great ideal."
Merkel turned his head and looked at Batman with admiration, "Honestly, Mr. Wayne, I should learn from you. Your tactical mind and strategic vision are things I simply don't have."
"I just emphasized the importance of learning to my comrades here. I believe that it is necessary for me to set an example, constantly arm myself on the endless road of learning and improvement."
"Awareness without means won't allow you to achieve the achievements you have." Merkel suddenly stopped, walked in front of Batman again, extended his hand and said,
"Comrade Wayne can I call you that temporarily? I sincerely invite you to give a lecture here, to share the amazing victory you achieved in the Central Mine, to inspire our comrades' revolutionary confidence, and to improve our comrades' tactical level."
"At the same time, I will also be learning in the audience, taking you as a model of combat, preparing for the first battle of liberation at Third Mountain, supporting Comrade Alfred and the comrades struggling hard in Mexico, and also providing a satisfactory answer to our Supreme Commander in Moscow."
Merkel's words were strong and decisive, leaving Batman with no chance to refuse. Looking into Merkel's passionate and sincere eyes, Batman began to understand.
He suddenly understood why that distant nation was able to create such extraordinary miracles in just a few decades. The sincere devotion to ideals is incredibly moving, no matter where you are.
Batman looked around and found that the demons here were much more lively than those in the Central Mine. Although they still looked grotesque, they were not leaderless.
The Miniature Demons gathered in small groups, learning how to make ropes under Lolo's guidance, while the Giant Demons piled the ore next to the earth pile, and the Magma Demons melted small pieces of exposed ore into arrowheads and daggers using the sparks from their bodies.
It seemed that everyone had something to do, and everyone knew what they were doing and why they were doing it.
Batman realized that his long-frozen heart had leaped in this atmosphere.