For the young Superman, Batman's tolerance was even greater, imbued with a subtle benevolence akin to that of an elder. But what was more peculiar was that Clark also showed a subtle kindness toward him. Beneath the mutual affection, their cooperation was nothing short of flawless.
Hal was the first to break free, he shook his shoulders and grumbled to Clark, but he still went to rescue Atlanna and the Queen of the Sea.
Using the Green Lantern energy, Hal restrained the Queen of the Sea. When Batman approached to question her, she appeared sullen and seemed unwilling to answer anything. After Batman asked for quite a while, he only got one sentence in response.
"Don't waste your effort. You can't save anyone."
Batman narrowed his eyes.
Piecing together what he had seen in the Queen's diary earlier, this person didn't seem to be going to war but rather seeking death.
Batman wasn't certain whether the Queen's counterpart in other universes was Arthur, but if it was, this kind of passive attitude didn't quite resemble the Arthur Batman knew.
Unless she had suffered some kind of blow that made her completely lose the will to resist.
This kind of opponent was actually the most troublesome: almost devoid of desire, she only sought death, which also meant that Batman couldn't get more information out of her.
With an endless stream of Atlantean army in the distance, Batman could only say to the Queen, "Hand over the throne to Atlanna. Tell your subordinates that Atlanna is Atlantis's new king."
Atlanna snorted coldly, clearly mocking this absurd reality. He was the greatest Emperor in Atlantis's history, and now he had become the new king of Atlantis.
The Queen also snorted and said, "It's useless."
"You want to find Batman, right? He is your last hope, because you know that no matter who gives up, Batman never will. You want to give it one last try."
"But you are aware that your current state will only worsen things. If I'm not mistaken, you feel tired, muddled, and confused, you're also not sure what you'll end up doing. Do you think you're in the right state to negotiate?"
The Queen of the Sea pursed her lips and kept silent. Batman continued to coax gently, "I'm also Batman, a Batman from another universe. No one understands Batman better than Batman himself. Besides, we haven't been here long, our minds are still clear. If we negotiate on your behalf, maybe we could achieve a favorable outcome for both sides."
The Queen of the Sea seemed somewhat tempted. Clark chimed in from the side, "If you don't agree, I'll just freeze you and your army here and then look for Batman myself. But by that time, we won't be negotiating for the sea people. Resolving the human race's problems is paramount."
Her meaning was clear now. The Queen of the Sea knew that if she didn't cooperate, this group, the only ones with hope of solving the universe's problems, wouldn't care about the Atlanteans. Atlantis had to send a representative, but the Queen knew she wasn't up to it.
She took a deep breath and with the little rationality she had left, said, "Batman is not doing well. I can't be sure. You go."
Then, she let out a sharp cry from her throat, and instantly several whirlpools appeared in the sea. The Atlanteans, after hearing it, looked up in perplexity.
Eventually, it seemed they understood something, slowly laying down their weapons, and Atlanna floated above the armies, shouting, "I am Atlanna, the greatest Emperor in Atlantis's history. I have returned. You must obey my command."
The Atlantean warriors were all uneasy, but they could feel a sort of power in Atlanna that was completely different from those of the land dwellers.
They began whispering anxiously to each other. Then the Queen shouted again, barely managing to keep them in check.
Next, the group prepared to go ashore, but none of them knew anything about the mysterious Batwoman, and the Queen of the Sea was not willing to divulge more. They still had to investigate on their own.
Given the current situation, directly approaching Batwoman would not yield answers and could potentially exacerbate the conflict.
By now, everyone had noticed that most people in this universe were mentally unstable. If you confronted them, they would go completely mad. It was evident that Clark and Hal had quite extensive experience dealing with such patients.
"Let's sneak into Gotham first," said Clark. "Don't let Batman know. Then look for his friends, or visit the places he frequents to figure out what exactly happened to him, before finding him."
Hal agreed with a nod, then looked at Batman and asked, "When you and this city are about to lose control, who do you think will remain lucid until the end?"
Batman didn't hesitate.
"Gordon, James Gordon."
A silhouette stood in front of a floor-to-ceiling window watching the downpour outside; the coffee on the table had nearly gone cold.
The lock clicked, and the sound of high heels approached from the doorway, bringing with it the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. The brunette woman gathered her long hair and set a cup of fresh coffee next to the cold one.
"Stop drinking that special blend of 'motor oil' and try some freshly roasted beans. The Riddler's death case has been closed. Maybe we can take a few days off to rest. Don't be too hard on yourself."
Without a response, the woman looked at the figure by the window—she was dressed in a crisp police uniform, her ponytail falling over her shoulder. However, from her posture and silhouette, she was no longer young and appeared exceptionally world-weary.
"Jessie."
Only when someone called her name did the policewoman at the window snap back to reality. She turned, smiled at her colleague, went over to pick up the coffee for a sip, but anyone could tell her smile was forced.
"Are you worried about Batwoman?"
"There's more I'm worried about," sighed the policewoman known as Jessie. "Her loss of control is too severe. Like a madwoman, she's been chasing Joker, has killed Penguin Man and Riddler, and now she's got her sights on the patients of Arkham Insane Asylum, where there are hardly any supervillains left, just some poor schizophrenics."
"In her eyes, they are still criminals," her colleague sighed, "They indeed hurt people when they had episodes."
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"That's also the main reason I'm facing such huge pressure right now," Jesse closed her eyes and said, "It's hard for me to resist both Batwoman and Bruce Wayne, especially when they've both gone mad."
"I think she'll lay low for a while, considering the weather's bad, and it's difficult to track down criminals. You should take this opportunity to get some rest…"
"I got it, the weather's lousy, you should drive home early before the water on the roads makes this year's insurance look pretty bad."
Her female colleague, knowing persuasion was futile, nodded her head and left. Eventually, Jesse was left alone. When she turned around, her police badge on her chest gleamed with a name—Jessie Gordon.
Bang! Crash!
The sudden noise on the balcony startled Jesse, and she instinctively pressed her hand against the gun at her waist, crouching down behind her desk.
Seeing those two pointed ears, she breathed a sigh of relief, stood up from behind the desk, and said, "Batwoman, don't you ever take a break? Are you that eager to trouble me in this kind of weather?"
Her tone was somewhat light-hearted, tinged with resignation, but the tease was more evident than the interrogation.
What responded was a deep, male voice.
"Call me Batman."
Jesse was stunned, staring dumbfounded at the robust figure emerging from the window, forgetting for a moment to draw her gun.
"Good heavens, you... you... hmm???"
"I'm Batman from another universe, male."
Jesse's mouth fell open in utter disbelief. After a long moment of astonishment, she finally managed to say, "You too, I mean, Batman? That's so weird, you're a man, how can you wear such tight suits? Not that you can't wear them, but... it's so weird."
Jesse turned her head away, seemingly unable to bear looking directly, while Batman didn't care, saying, "Something seems off about this city. Tell me what happened to this universe."
The city was indeed off. Although Batman had only glanced at it on the way here, he could hardly believe that there could be a Gotham in some universe worse than his own.
The Gothams of other Batmans he knew were mostly a bit better than his own, and there were ones like the one where Bruce was from that were significantly better than the Prime Universe, but mostly they were fairly similar.
Just in that brief moment, Batman estimated that there weren't many living humans left in this city, mostly wandering zombies teetering on the edge of losing sanity. If this was the result of drug use, Batman seriously doubted if drug lords ruled this world.
"You're from another universe?"
"Correct, a normal universe."
Jesse frowned deeply and said, "Are you implying our universe isn't normal?"
"Abnormal to the extreme," Batman confidently stated. "I can tell you for certain, most universes' Gothams aren't like this. They're bad, yes, but not to this extent."
This obviously resonated with Jesse. She pressed her hand hard against her forehead, gritting her teeth, and said, "It's always been bad, recently it's gotten worse, because Batwoman has started to go mad."
"What happened to her exactly?" Batman took a step forward, his commanding presence nearly blocking out the dim desk lamp, plunging Jesse's side of the room into darkness.
But it was not a chaotic or frightening darkness; the darkness brought by this Batman had a solid, dignified solemnity. Jesse had seen this trait in Batwoman too, but lately, it was gone completely.
It made her tentatively trust Batman as she said, "Ever since Silvestre died, Batwoman has been getting more and more out of control, savagely avenging herself upon all criminals, particularly those with superpowers."
"Who is Silvestre?"
"Catman."
Now it was Batman's turn to fall silent, as he seemed to be trying hard to cast some imaginations out of his mind.
"Your universe doesn't have this person?" Jesse asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Catwoman," Batman said succinctly. "Selina."
"Are your genders reversed from ours?"
"Perhaps so. In my universe, the Police Commissioner is James Gordon, a man."
"Oh, that's my son's name," Jesse pondered for a moment before adding, "Alright then, I can understand that."
"In any case, a superpowered criminal killed Batwoman's lover, which completely changed her perspective. She began to hunt and kill all criminals relentlessly."
"Riddler's dead, died recently, but he was lucky enough to stay hidden and not be found by Batwoman. The others were not so fortunate, dying even earlier."
"What about Joker?"
"You mean Harley Quinn? She's gone missing. We're looking for her and hoping she won't be found by Batwoman. Right now, she's probably the only one who can stop Batwoman's mad pursuit."
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