In the span of just two sentences, Batman realized that the man opposite him was startled, and not by anything from the real world. It was as if he had suddenly thought of something and began to space out.
This was very abnormal. Batman furrowed his brows deeper. Even an ordinary person wouldn't so easily be lost in thought in a perilous environment, let alone allow his mind to wander after just meeting a stranger, disregarding the changes in real-world situations. It wouldn't be possible for him to have survived till now.
Unless there's something in his mind.
"You idiot, snap out of it, he's noticed." Venom's angry, anxious voice rang out in Eddie's mind: "He's discovered me, don't try to deny it. Just don't respond."
"Who are you talking to?" Batman asked.
"It's none of your business." Eddie retreated two steps backward, then said: "You have the shard, don't you? I also got my share, and there's no second one, so you're better off staying away from me."
After speaking, Eddie wanted to retreat to the corner and then turn to leave, but Batman stopped him, saying: "You've seen that Array."
Eddie's body stiffened noticeably. He shook his head and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"The Array etched on the wall over there, you've seen it. And you've seen something else."
Eddie stared hard at Batman and said: "I've already said I don't know what you're talking about. You'd better not bother me, my teammates will be here soon."
After saying this, he still wanted to leave, but Batman interrupted him: "You have no teammates. You're all alone."
Eddie was about to open his mouth, but Batman beat him to it: "There is another life form inside your body, you two are considered as two individuals, therefore you alone make up a team, you have no other help."
Eddie looked at him with wide eyes.
"The priest cannot attack anyone. Whether you or the mysterious creature is the priest, it means that neither of you have the ability to attack others. Do you realize what a disadvantage this puts you at?"
"What are you trying to do?" Eddie slightly lowered his center of gravity, assuming a defensive stance.
"Don't be nervous, I'm saying we can cooperate." Batman put forward his most weighty bargaining chip, he said: "The rules have never stated that killing everyone means victory. Anyone with a bit of brain would realize that this is designed to provoke us into killing each other. But the name of this game is unity."
Eddie's shoulders slightly relaxed, but he still stared closely at Batman, showing no signs of wavering.
"Despite that, not everyone is smart. There will certainly be participants who will interpret this as a massacre, and if you unfortunately encounter such a person, your chances of survival are low."
"But I'm different from them, I understand that the key to this game might be the secret behind the fog. If you can provide me with enough information, I can escort you for a while, or find you a safe place to hide. Once I find a way out, you can leave too."
Eddie seemed to be tempted. Just as he was lost in thought, three Batman darts, shimmering with cold light, brushed past his ear. Eddie gave a big jump, glaring ferociously at Batman.
Batman looked at him and said: "If you don't give me information, I won't let you leave. You should know that the best choice is to cooperate."
Eddie immediately showed a conflicted expression, wanting to move but not daring to, but soon he reluctantly said: "I don't have any information that can be useful to you. I'm not some kind of great detective."
"You must have seen something." Batman was very sure: "Tell me what you know about that Array."
Eddie stood there hesitating for a moment, then sighed and said: "I saw two people standing in front of the Array."
The spectators in the projection hall immediately tensed up. Wouldn't this man named Eddie have seen the conversation between Shearer and Loki?
"One of them was wearing a long robe, holding a magic wand inlaid with gemstones." Eddie recalled, rolling his eyes as he said: "He has black hair. I couldn't see what color his eyes were, but his hand was glowing."
"How did he appear?"
"I didn't see that. But soon after they left here, they disappeared."
"What about the other one?"
"A young man, in a white sweater. There was nothing special about him, just that he was very handsome. Black hair, blue eyes."
"Did you hear them say anything?"
"I was hiding on the roof at the time and the wind was a bit strong. They seemed to be talking something about magic runes or something. The two of them agreed to cooperate, saying they were going to look for clues about these patterns. I didn't hear anything else."
Batman took a step forward, and Eddie tensed up again. He stood his ground and shouted: "Don't come any closer, you look like some kind of antisocial madman."
Batman paid him no mind and continued: "You saw more than that, didn't you? Here's the deal, I said I would ensure your safety and I will. We can talk while we walk. Where do you want to go?"
"I don't know." Eddie lowered his head and spread his hands out: "I haven't even figured out the rules yet. I just want to find a safe place to stay."
"When I came here, I passed by a high-rise building on the road, it didn't collapse too badly. The underground parking lot should be a good place to hide."
Eddie paused, once more spacing out, seemingly listening to the creature in his mind. When he regained his senses, he didn't hesitate to approach Batman.
"Is he smarter than you?" Batman asked.
"Not really…"
"That's right, this goddamn fool. I'm probably a million times smarter than him."
Even Batman was startled by this sudden, raspy, and evil voice. He turned his head towards Eddie and immediately discovered a pitch-black ghostly face and a mouth full of sharp fangs.
Batman instantly became alert, his hand already reaching for his taser.
"No, wait." Eddie seemed able to handle this situation quite well. He immediately took two steps back, held out his hands, and said, "His name is Venom. He's just a bit ugly. Believe me, he's not a bad guy."
"My God, Venom, stop it or we're going to die.... Okay okay, you're not ugly. You're the most handsome symbiote in the whole world, okay?"
Batman then saw Eddie struggling like he was fighting with himself. He swayed left, then he surged right, as though he was battling with the air. After a while, he finally took a deep breath, placing his hands on his knees, gasping for air.
"Sorry, he's a little unruly, but please believe me that he is a rational, communicative, intelligent life form, not an evil villain. Plus, he's actually smarter than me. He believes that you are trustworthy, so we can proceed."
Batman hesitated a bit.
However, at this moment, Eddie sighed and said, "I did see something else, but it was a bit strange. I feared you wouldn't believe me, so I didn't mention it. He said he can tell you, maybe you can figure something out of it. If you're willing to listen, let's walk and talk."
Batman continued walking with Eddie. He turned his head to Eddie and said, "We're all here to play the game. What could possibly be unbelievable? Tell me what you saw."
"Have you seen other arrays?" Eddie asked.
Batman silently nodded, but didn't say anything else.
"Do you know how they appear?"
Batman shook his head. Then he looked at Eddie with a probing gaze. Eddie sighed and confessed, "I won't lie, my Totem Shard was found in the building where the array is."
Batman immediately perked up because if this was true, Eddie was definitely the first one to arrive at this building. He might have even been there before the array appeared.
"I saw a deep red light." Eddie said hesitantly. "It was similar to the arrow color on the map pointing to the Totem Pillar Fragments and the red light emitted from the location of the Totem Pillar."
"Then the array appeared?"
"I didn't see the specific process of its appearance." Eddie shook his head gently. "There was nothing there originally. After the red light disappeared, I went out and saw a huge array in its place."
"Where did the red light come from?" Batman asked a critical question.
Eddie remained silent for a longer period this time, but eventually he said, "From underground. It was from underground."
The viewers in the theater gasped.
"So isn't that pattern drawn by Professor Schiller? Where did the red light come from? Could it be that Schiller knows magic?" Nightwing asked in surprise.
"I guess it might be a blind eye technique. The red light has nothing to do with the array, but Professor Schiller took some measures to make this guy named Eddie think they are related." Red Robin speculated.
Peter however adjusted his glasses and said, "Let's watch the replay."
The camera focused on the profile faces of the two men. The scene swiftly started to rewind and in the next second, the two faces that appeared on the screen were Eddie and Schiller.
"Long time no see, how have you been? Eddie, have you been having regular mental check-ups?"
Eddie, who had just gone upstairs, took a deep breath and said, "Doctor, you don't always have to rush to prove your identity. Apart from you, who else would have us undergo a psychological assessment?"
"I'm doing it for your own good."
"You're doing it for Nick's financial statement." Eddie chuckled and walked over to pat Schiller on the arm, asking, "What are you doing here? Is your spawning point near here?"
"Not exactly, I just rushed over here. Listen, I have a plan that needs your cooperation..."
The viewing hall was silent.
"So, all of these are his acquaintances?!" Red Robin said in disbelief. "Even if they are acquaintances, they should still be cautious about criminals who can impersonate others, right?"
"But I'm afraid apart from Doctor Schiller, no one would remind them to undertake a psychological assessment every day." Peter shrugged and said, "This is a perfect anti-counterfeit measure."
"I'm finding it harder and harder to understand what he's doing." Red Hood murmurred, pursing his lips. "What's the gain in teaming up with others to deceive Batman?"
Jack suddenly started laughing breathlessly and after a while, he choked. After a great deal of coughing, he finally managed to say, "Although I feel that he might just find this interesting, nobody understands Batman better than him."
Beside Jack, another Batman turned to look at him. Jack quickly turned towards him and raised an eyebrow, "Bats are mysterious creatures, yet they're also not that mysterious. The person who understands Batman most is always the Joker."
"Usually, Joker's biggest dream is to play games with Batman, but if Joker is a bit greedier, he can actually do a lot more with Batman."
On the screen, Batman and Eddie had arrived at the underground parking lot of the building. Eddie looked around, sighing, "Actually, your guess is right. My partner and I ran into some trouble. The best option now is to hide until the game ends."
"However, I hope you won't disclose my hiding place to anyone. I'll stay here for a while. If you win, you can go. I'll wait for you here."
"No." Batman suddenly shook his head and said, "You said that the red light came from below the ground. I must go check it out; we will go together."
"He took the bait." Venom said in Eddie's head.