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"Uh, Batman?" Gwen Spiderman called out tentatively, but soon she realized that the silhouette looked different from the photos of Batman shared on the Spider App forum.
The figure did not respond, and in the moment his foot stepped forward, Gwen Spiderman could only see a blur of red light flash past her, and then the strange Red Batman appeared behind the Time Manipulator.
A streak of blue light flashed in the Time Manipulator's eyes. The red figure retreated to the center, and suddenly a glint of golden light burst forth from his body, followed by another lunge forward.
The clash of blue and gold illuminated the sky, and Gwen Spiderman finally saw a hint of surprise on the face of the Time Manipulator.
With a whoosh, he appeared on a distant high-rise building, and then behind Gwen, staring intently at the stationary Red Batman, he said in a deep voice, "Who are you?"
"That's not important, tell me what time is."
"Your speed transcends time," the Time Manipulator said. "If you didn't know what time is, you couldn't have done this."
"Answer me! What the hell is time!!!"
Gwen Spiderman stood in between the two men, a bit lost. She didn't know whether she should leave or if the men would let her go. As she hesitated, she caught a glimpse of a reflection in the distance of the alleyway.
Then, Miles peeked out and gestured her to come over. Gwen Spiderman hesitated slightly, then shot out another thread of Spider Silk and leapt into the alleyway, with no one attempting to stop her.
The moment Gwen Spiderman landed, two Spidermen burst out behind her, one the gun-wielding Shadow Spider-man, and the other the Scarlet Spider-man.
"How did you all get here?" she asked.
Another figure then emerged. Gwen Spiderman turned her head, and to her surprise, it was Gwen. Gwen immediately made a 'shush' gesture with her hand, signaling Gwen Spiderman to swallow her exclamation.
"They said there's a super machine here that needs my expertise," Gwen said. "Just get me over there."
Gwen Spiderman immediately grasped what Gwen was referring to, which was also the result of the Spider-Men's investigation over the past few days.
Charles and the Mutants were investigating the Soulstream Sect, the New Warriors Team was investigating the Flame Gang, and the Spider-Men were very interested in the mysterious X-Alliance.
They had been circling this Alliance, and though they hadn't penetrated deeply, they had found an important clue.
The people in this Alliance seemed to have no major goals and it was not clear who the Boss was, but recently they appeared to be collecting materials everywhere to build a machine.
No one knew exactly what the machine was or what it was for, but the Spider-Men were always interested in machines. Unfortunately, Spider-Men who had not passed tests were not allowed into the Psychic Battlefield, and most Spider-Men could not pass.
Nick set high standards for this mission, starting with a mature mind, which ruled out the vast majority of Spider-Men who had not finished college.
One couldn't be too nice; this was no place for jokes. Determination was necessary, and the unspoken rule was that those who did not kill were not allowed in. After all, it was a matter of life and death, and hesitation to take lives at a critical moment meant risking one's own life.
Most importantly, there were too many psychic ability users in the Psychic Battlefield, so team members couldn't be too emotional, which blocked 99% of the Spider-Men.
However, there were still a few tall figures among the short; Gwen Spiderman was somewhat morose by nature and had decent abilities, barely qualifying. Shadow Spider-man and Scarlet Spider-man were more suitable, and Miles was there for logistics, as not many Spider-Men were willing to handle support.
They had originally planned a direct assault on Huanglong, but the Time Manipulator had unexpectedly intervened. Gwen Spiderman had intended to lure him away, but let alone drawing him off, her flashy maneuvers hadn't moved her half a meter from her original spot.
The abilities of the Time Manipulator had been mostly figured out; the problem was that no weakness could be found. His ability had no cooldown period; he could manipulate time unconditionally, directly causing his opponents to rewind.
However, one characteristic was that after he reset an opponent's time, their memory was not reset, which the Spider-Men thought might be a breakthrough, though they hadn't had time to study it in depth.
The Spider-Men peeked out from the alleyway next door, and quickly began to discuss.
"Who is that guy who looks like Batman?" Miles asked first. "Could he be a Batman from another cosmos, with each universe's Batman having a different color?"
"No, Peter said most of them are dressed in black, and this one is quite bright; I think he might be a variant of Batman," Gwen speculated, stroking her chin.
"He can also control time," Shadow Spider-man said in a low voice. "The Time Manipulator said that this Batman has transcended time, but it seems this Batman believes the Time Manipulator is stronger and appears to want something from him."
"Something like what?" Gwen Spiderman asked, turning around.
"Didn't you hear? He seemed to be constantly asking about what time is and the like."
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"He wanted to know what time is, but there probably isn't a standard answer to that," Miles said with some confusion. "To everyone, time means something different. For example, to me, time is a vague and intangible thing. What happens within time is what truly has meaning."
"I think time is a tragedy," Gwen Spiderman said. "If something can never stop moving, it's destined to be a tragedy."
Shadow Spider-man and Scarlet Spider-man didn't comment on this topic; they were clearly more concerned with the current situation.
The two on the street were now fighting to a standstill. Red Bat's feet were shimmering with a golden light, which grew denser with each instant he vanished and reappeared, eventually covering his entire body.
A tangible blue glow began to appear around the Time Manipulator. His black hair floated about, and his eyes were filled with lightning-like blue light.
Each of their clashes was brief, so fleeting that to the naked eye it didn't seem like they fought at all. Each confrontation was just an instant of disappearance and reappearance, but the lingering images of blue and gold in the air told of an eternal battle fought in that moment.
"That Batman's ability seems to be movement," Shadow Spider-man said. "He moves so fast that he generates a type of energy, and then he uses this energy to move even faster."
"Is he really just moving? Why do I feel like he's passing through some kind of alternate space?" Gwen Spiderman said, surprised. "He keeps appearing and disappearing."
"Because he's too fast, he has surpassed time," Shadow Spider-man explained. "During his movement, time doesn't flow, so the Time Manipulator's control over time is meaningless. He can't reset time at a point where time is not flowing."
"But won't that kind of energy run out eventually?"
"It seems he's not just a user of this energy, but a producer," Shadow Spider-man said. "If he were just a user, he wouldn't be from this cosmos. The energy he brought would be limited and he couldn't afford to waste so much of it."
"Unless he himself is the source of this power. Each of his actions generates this force, which is why he can use it so recklessly," deduced Shadow Spider-man.
"So, what do we do now? Who should we help?"
"Let's wait and see," Shadow Spider-man said after thinking for a moment. "I think this Batman is no match for the Time Manipulator right now. He doesn't seem proficient in using this energy. Once they decide the outcome, we might be able to talk with the Time Manipulator."
Just as Shadow Spider-man had predicted, the Time Manipulator indeed couldn't reset the time of Lightning Batman while he was running. However, once Lightning Batman stopped, he would be reset.
Therefore, Lightning Batman had to keep running, but the problem was he was Batman, not The Flash. Batman had never used Divine Speed in the first half of his life, and he had only taken on The Flash's mantle for a very short time.
He had to either run within the Divine Speed or step out of it to attack the Time Manipulator; he didn't know how to both run within Divine Speed and attack the Time Manipulator at the same time.
The tactics Batman usually used with Divine Speed, such as charging with the force of speed and directly dragging someone into Divine Speed, were ineffective. The Time Manipulator could easily dodge the former, and when Lightning Batman reached out to grab him, his hand seemed to reach into a cold void where there was nothing at all.
Lightning Batman felt that in that instant, he had touched time. He thought that the Time Manipulator might actually be time itself, or at least a part of it, which is why he was more anxious to get answers from the Time Manipulator.
Unfortunately, he didn't find a way to break through the Time Manipulator's defenses. His anxious state caused him to lose the qualities a Batman should have, and just as he emerged from Divine Speed, a burst of blue time energy erupted, and with a swoosh, Lightning Batman found himself back at the point where he had just exited the teleportation portal.
With Lightning Batman gone, the Spider-Men came out. In reality, Gwen Spiderman didn't feel very confident, but Shadow Spider-man was quite composed.
"Hello, I'm Spiderman," Shadow Spider-man introduced himself to the Time Manipulator and said, "I know that my friends have been loitering around your base recently, which must have felt threatening, but we just want to know what's going on."
"I don't know if you're aware of what's happening in the real world, but clearly, neither the Psychic_Battlefield nor the real world can continue like this. Otherwise, disaster will destroy us all."
The Time Manipulator, who had been expressionless until now, suddenly showed a hint of emotion. He said, "War is wrong and must be stopped."
"I couldn't agree more," Shadow Spider-man said earnestly. "I come from a different era than they do. Unfortunately, my homeland has just erupted into the Second World War."
The Spider-Men heard a distinct gasp, but it wasn't from anyone of their group.
They stared as the expression on the Time Manipulator, who had been impassive, suddenly cracked.
Even though their time was immediately reset and the Time Manipulator returned to his expressionless state, Shadow Spider-man realized there was something off about his attitude towards war.
War is indeed a terrifying thing, but without experiencing it firsthand, one will never truly comprehend how horrific it is.
Had the Time Manipulator experienced war? Shadow Spider-man wondered, but that seemed impossible. The master of this Psychic_Battlefield was very young, and there had been no large-scale wars in the world during his lifetime, nor any reason for him to go to the front lines. It made no sense for him to have such a reaction.
"Peace is what everyone seeks," the Time Manipulator said. "Our only goal is to prevent the outbreak of war. If you want to do the same, find me at the National Library."
Shadow Spider-man watched his departing figure, but what he saw wasn't a vibrant young man. It was more like the homeless veteran he'd seen while attending street speeches with his parents.