"I killed Captain America."
"It was an unexpected accident, but I can't claim I was totally oblivious. I think we both made mistakes, but it's too late to talk about it now."
A pair of eyes, glowing faintly silver, moved away from the camera. Tony Stark's face appeared fully on the screen.
From the background, it looked like he was in his lab, clad in his symbiotic battle armor, but the cocky grin was gone from his face. He seemed thoroughly serious.
"I admit it was a wrong decision. It alerted S.H.I.E.L.D. and Congress to my intentions prematurely. They started doing everything they could to block the software I was creating."
"Killing a national hero turned me into the most wanted criminal. Spider Man saw me as a threat, Nick Fury was after me. This is not the situation I wanted to find myself in. I need to find a way to change it all."
"Fortunately, the enormous power that was originally used to propel the universe gave me the chance to build a time machine that would shake the world. Now, I have to go back in time to reverse the situation and recover everything."
"I've decided to leave this video record of my plan. I need to remind myself that they'll never understand what a great mercy it is for you to give them a way out, unless you push them to desperation first."
The gleaming pupils moved away from the lens again. Stark's face vanished into the darkness from above, and then, wearing the brightly lit armor, he turned around and walked into the massive machinery behind him.
Following a burst of signal interference, the screen went dark. The tablet was put back on the table, and there was a faint sigh.
The young man turned his head, lowered his gaze to hide his weary, gray-blue eyes, and looked at the owl sitting by the window.
He wanted to reach out and stroke the owl's head, but a twinge of pain from a wound on his arm stopped him.
"I really don't understand, little fellow. A God powerful enough to create a separate universe, and put so many people in it for a competition, why would he resort to such primitive ways of delivering messages?"
"Eek!"
The owl called out. The young man raised his hand to stroke the owl's head despite the pain. The owl squinted its eyes and shook its wing feathers.
He turned around again, picked up the tablet, and looked at it from all sides, as if studying a rare treasure.
Suddenly, the screen of the tablet lit up again. A blurry figure appeared on the screen. After the camera had focused, the young man raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Hello, Bruce Wayne. I know you've participated in the Battleworld competition before. Don't be surprised by what's happening to you now, and please listen carefully."
"The Doujie System is under maintenance. The organizer is making an all-out effort to upgrade the game system. During the upgrade we need individuals to test our functionality. We sincerely invite dozens of internal beta testers to verify all functions."
"It has been specified in the beta invitation delivered to you by the owl that you will be testing the mission system. Your indicated agreement and signature on this invitation will be regarded by us as accepting the game rules for the internal beta test, cautionary notes, and other clauses…"
Bruce raised the tablet level with his line of sight and watched the figure on the screen say, "If I remember correctly, you should be Doctor Schiller, right? Someone showed me your photo once, they told me to stay away from you."
"Now's not the time to make small talk, Bruce."
"Of course, I get it." The young man shrugged, turning his head to the side. "I think it's a great opportunity, so I agreed. I need equipment and resources."
The Schiller on the screen was momentarily taken aback. He actually didn't know who this Bruce was; he was just reading out the usual disclaimer.
It really was true that living a long life allowed you to see all sorts of strange things, would Batman actually say to him that he needed equipment and resources?
While there were indeed many and varied types of Batman, they all had one thing in common: they never lacked equipment and resources. How else could they be Batman?
Schiller picked up a document from the side and flipped through it. The more he read, the deeper his brow furrowed. He turned off the camera, turned his head, and shouted, "Nick? Nick! How did you pick this guy?!"
Nick poked his head in and said, "What's the matter? Isn't that Batman?"
"How did you manage to select the worst Batman out of all batmen?"
"But didn't you say that the Batman you know is the worst one? I eliminated him first!"
Schiller was taken aback; he found it hard to argue with that because for a long time he had thought exactly that. But exceptions always exist.
There was a time when Schiller even suspected whether he had arrived at a numbered universe in an official comic. Although it was later confirmed that he hadn't, the universe he suspected at that time was the famous Earth No.1.
The DC Universe's Earth No.1, a highly fascinating Earth, famous because the Batman of this Earth was considered the worst Batman.
This title was not an injustice to him at all. His most fatal flaw was that he did not have the high intelligence like most Batmen of other universes. In terms of software, he was slightly better than the ordinary people. Due to the death of his parents, he had a heavy psychological shadow and was somewhat paranoid. All in all, he was average.
On the hardware side, he learned some hand-to-hand combat, but he was not like a majority of Batmen who traveled around the world studying from masters and learning unique skills. The combat skills he had acquired were those that ordinary people could learn. At most he had the resources to hire better, more dedicated instructors because of his wealth. Apart from that, he was at the level of a well-off fitness enthusiast who doesn't use performance-enhancing drugs.
Due to the lack of a high IQ, he couldn't invent any epoch-making equipment. All the bat equipment he had was made by scientists he squeezed from his company. It basically could be considered a legitimate cosplay outfit, except for adhering to the image of Batman; it had nothing to do with bat equipment.
The comics from this universe appeared to present to us a more scientifically accurate, more realistic world logic version of a Batman — a comical Don Quixote.
Previously, Shiller had suspected that the Batman he knew was Batman from Earth No.1, and it wasn't without reason. After all, the Batman from his universe had surprisingly chosen to attend university instead of going on a world tour at the age of eighteen; that seemed like something Batman from Earth No.1 would do.
The document in Shiller's hand suggested that the Batman he was currently communicating with might be the reportedly most incompetent Batman.
Shiller reopened the communication line, only to find that Bruce was tapping a tablet. He even brought his face close to the camera and said, "Hello? Hello? Are you still there? You haven't told me what I need to do yet?"
Shiller opened his mouth, but quickly closed it again, leaving only the last sentence, "Good luck," before ending the communication.
The tablet in Bruce's hand folded into a chip the size of a fingertip in a way he couldn't understand and was placed on his arm.
With a swish, a virtual projection popped up saying, "Battle World Chip loading completed. Participants need not worry; only the participants themselves can see the content released by this chip."
The moment Bruce's finger touched the chip, another line of text popped up, "Please do not attempt to destroy the chip violently. The organizer will claim compensation at a thousand times the price."
Bruce withdrew his hand.
Next, a line of projection text popped up on the chip.
"Main Mission: Prevent Ultimate Iron Man Tony Stark's plot to control the world."
A picture was displayed below the text, featuring Ultimate Iron Man, whose face belonged to White Can and whom Bruce had seen before in a video.
"Side Mission 1: Prevent Ultimate Iron Man Tony Stark from killing Captain America; Mission reward: Full Set Standard Bat Gear."
"Side Mission 2: Investigate the truth about the spread of the Last-Resort Virus and find the virus host; Mission reward: Bat Weapon Production Line Blueprint."
"Side Mission 3: Obtain all information about the time machine developed by Ultimate Iron Man; Mission reward: Bat Surveillance Equipment Production Line Blueprint."
"All side mission rewards will be issued on the spot upon completion, and main mission rewards will be settled at the end of the mission."
After the text was finished, the chip's light went out completely. After hesitating for a moment, Bruce chose to first inspect his surroundings.
He turned back and found he was in a rather tidy apartment, a one-bedroom suite that suggested, from its layout, that the location was likely prime real estate.
Sure enough, when Bruce walked to the window and pulled open the curtain, he saw a bustling cityscape, towering buildings, crowded streets, and—unusually—clear blue skies and bright sunshine.
Although Bruce thought the city skyline looked familiar, he couldn't remember which city it was instantly. So, based on the architectural style of the city, he guessed it might be on the West Coast.
Glancing at the clock, it was noon. Bruce immediately set his action plan, which, in short, was to order food.
Bruce found a jacket hanging up. He put it on and found it quite fitting. He also found a set of keys and a phone on the coffee table.
The phone was unlike ones that Bruce had used before. It took him a while to get used to it. He also noticed that there was a car key amongst the keys. Judging by its shape, it was for a Ford vehicle, but the exact model couldn't be determined.
Taking these things, Bruce tidied up his appearance. When he searched his pockets, he found 200 US dollars and some loose change.
Bruce paused when he saw the money. Then he quickly checked all his pockets and every possible spot in the room where important items might be stored.
Obviously, his total worth was now less than 300 US dollars.
Meaning, he still had to make money here to support himself.
Bruce glanced at the tasks on the chip imprinted on his arm again, wearing a troubled expression.
Leaving other issues aside, just from this text, it was clear that this Ultimate Iron Man must be super powerful. C'mon, the guy invented a time machine, what level of scientist did you have to be to do that?
And he was supposed to stop this guy from killing someone else who also sounded pretty tough. Also, he had to uncover the truth about some virus, find the info about the time machine, and take it. And he had to somehow feed himself amidst all this.
Right now, Bruce had one thought: was this even a game?
Behind the screen, Schiller, who was monitoring all of this, slapped his forehead. He waved his hand at the others and said, "Go! Send support! Send support!"
"But isn't this 'Batman difficulty' that you carefully designed?"
"Yes, but..."
"Isn't he Batman?"
"He is, but... Never mind, it's too hard to explain to you guys. We need to find him a helper... let me think... you. Go."
As Bruce, fully dressed, opened the door, he looked down and saw a little girl, who looked a lot like him, standing at his door looking up at him.
"Dad!"