"Do you remember the others who were contaminated?"
Manipulation raised his eyelids and said, "Working with an Evil God is very dangerous, but at the same time, the conditions that an Evil God can offer are very tempting—they can grant you power far beyond that of ordinary people."
"Take Cobblepot, for example, and Gordon. They are both people who have bowed to the Evil God to some extent, so they are still alive today. Those who were not qualified to learn of the Evil God or who chose not to cooperate with the Evil God all died in the hotel."
"I know what you are guessing. After Martha was tortured to the point of mental breakdown by Nyarla, she very likely chose to submit, which is why she managed to gain a moment to breathe,"
"I'm not familiar with this Outer God called Nyarlathotep and what kind of Evil God he truly is, but I know that if he is a schemer, he will necessarily follow certain principles. If he makes a deal with humans, he will at least make the transaction seem fair on the surface."
"Fairness is too tempting for humans." Manipulation shook his head slightly and said, "The society people live in is forever lacking in fairness. From a subjective perspective, they can never attain fairness because everyone wants to be treated more fairly than others."
"So, you don't even need to add any other conditions. As long as you exhibit fairness beyond the societal average, to humans, that is the utmost temptation because if someone is willing to maintain fairness for you, it's akin to them favoring you, and people always like to be chosen."
"I can't say Martha was such a person, but if she was driven into a corner, she wouldn't be completely without the possibility of making terms, because she's a smart woman. She knows the being that harmed her must have something in mind, and if that's the case, then what follows is no different from business negotiations,"
"Martha, although contaminated, gained some power just like Cobblepot and Gordon did. I guess she used this power to remodel the hotel, but if Martha chose to preserve her own ghost, then she most likely wouldn't stay in this hotel."
"I'm more inclined to believe that this hotel is a trap," Manipulation concluded.
"Prepared for whom, Nyarlathotep?" Greed frowned, lightly tapping his chin with a pen and said, "Martha must know that the power gained from Nyarla cannot possibly defeat Nyarla."
"So it might just be bait," Manipulation said. "She just wants to lure Nyarla here."
"Then what is the real trump card?" Arrogant frowned and said, "Does Little Bruce know his mother's plans?"
"He wouldn't suddenly start investigating matters related to his mother." Greed said, "He must have noticed something."
Greed continued to flip through the material, and then he saw a part of the Bishop's speculation. He said, "The Bishop speculated that there is another power in the hotel originating from Gotham's local pollution."
"You mean Barbados?" Arrogant frowned and looked at him, "Martha should also know of Gotham's contamination. Even if she didn't know before, she should be able to see it now after having gained the power of the Evil God. Does she intend to use the original powers of the DC World to fight Nyarla?"
"Then she is probably miscalculating," Manipulation said. "Barbados's influence is not enough; only the Archangels might have the power to harm an Outer God."
"Perhaps it's not about causing harm," Greed said. "What's the greatest demand of a mother? After Martha got a chance to breathe, she most certainly wants to save her son above all."
"But nothing has changed," Arrogant tapped the table and said, "Little Bruce was still sought out by Nyarla, which means Martha's arrangements might be ineffective."
"If they were completely ineffective, this mutation wouldn't have happened," Greed said. "This proves the plan isn't finished; the best is yet to come."
Arrogant shook his head and didn't speak any further, evidently finding Greed to be the stronger when it came to complex schemes; Arrogant wasn't willing to think through these interlocking plans in detail.
Greed sighed softly and said, "No matter how you look at it, Martha couldn't possibly stand a chance against Nyarla; the gap between humans and Outer Gods is too vast."
"But since the mutation has happened successfully, we can only see if Martha has any backup plans. Even if she truly intends to use Barbados, we can help her, so at least we'll see if this unstable Nyarlathotep can shake the main characters in the Cartoon World."
Shiller hadn't forgotten that The Mad Laugh had not yet officially stepped onto the cosmic stage; he was currently in the stage of recruiting in the Dark World. As a backdrop for such an important character, Barbados obviously couldn't be troubled at this time.
If Nyarla faces Barbados at this time point, who wins and who loses remains uncertain. If Nyarla causes too much of a commotion, even the Archangels may have to step in.
The TV series "Gotham" has a fair amount of universal popularity, having managed to produce four seasons. If Nyarla causes too much disturbance here, he might not end up well.
Then they began to ponder what they could do amid these circumstances. After all, they would be the ones to deal with Nyarla in the future. Sooner or later, Nyarla would target them because he still had unfinished plans. Once he was free, Shiller must be ready for a direct confrontation.
So, before that, he had to find a way to probe this being and see what he could do in this world, to prevent being caught off guard by Nyarla.
"I believe we must give Martha some treatment," Greed still insisted on his view. He said, "Even if she's now a ghost, we need to understand how she was contaminated and to what extent. Addressing Martha will let us resolve the issue at its root."
"Martha isn't in the hotel," Manipulation insisted, sticking to his view. He said, "Let Spider-Man try to leave the hotel, and if he can, have him check out Wayne Manor."
Shiller had little hope for this, suspecting the hotel wouldn't be so easily escaped. He was curious as to why Manipulation was so certain Martha was at Wayne Manor, so he raised his own question.
"Mothers and fathers are different," Manipulation said. "Paternal love is not pure enough, always intertwined with patriarchy, or you could say they are essentially one and the same, compliant to patriarchy as a prerequisite to obtaining paternal love."
"By contrast, maternal love isn't conditional to the same extent. Whether it's influenced by hormones or a natural feminine sensibility, maternal love tends to be more straightforward, more direct, without second thought."
"Women submit to emotions, men to instincts. Women are always in search, while men are always displaying. Therefore, I do not think Martha keeping her ghost is necessary for the plan to work."
"The balance in the hotel is well maintained and not easily disrupted. She needs not be a behind-the-scenes manipulator. In fact, her presence could potentially be a flaw in the entire plan because, even as a ghost, she obviously couldn't defeat Nyarlathotep head-on."
"So, preserving her brainwaves wastes power and might cause risks. Without some special reasons, she wouldn't have done it. I think, perhaps Martha just wanted to look after Little Bruce."
Greed raised a question. He said, "Martha was with him for at least ten more years. When we met Little Bruce, he said his parents had just died not long ago, and he was already quite grown up. This proves that Martha didn't die giving birth to Little Bruce."
"Was that really Martha?"
Manipulation's statement made everyone's hair stand on end because, given what he had said before, Little Bruce's personality could very well be the result of external manipulation. With the personalities and capabilities of Martha and Thomas, it was unlikely they would raise a son with a mania.
The only explanation was that they were no longer themselves.
For Shiller, the notion that Little Bruce could have been raised by an Evil God was somewhat shocking, but on reflection, it was not entirely impossible. They had never seen such a hot-tempered and rude Batman. His later choice to align with the Evil God also seemed off. If all was a result of nurturing and suggestion, then it made sense.
"Martha isn't Martha..." Greed murmured softly, then he added, "So, you think the real Martha anticipated this day, so she deliberately left her ghost behind to help Little Bruce."
"The real Martha might have succeeded," Manipulation said. "If Little Bruce were entirely raised by an Evil God, his condition might be even worse now. But currently, he maintains basic human decency and even gave way repeatedly to the insurance investigator, proving another force has influenced him, teaching him kindness and restraint."
Greed felt a headache coming on. He said, "But Little Bruce never mentioned this."
"Because he himself may not be aware," Manipulation said, then abruptly changed the subject, "What kind of power do you think Martha gained from the Evil God?"
Neither Greed nor Arrogance answered; clearly, this was a matter for the Magic Side. They couldn't quite fathom what power an Evil God, especially an Outer God, could grant to a human.
Shiller, in his wizard's robe, said, "The anomalies appearing in the hotel aren't without origin. If Martha can create these anomalies, it proves she must possess all the capabilities behind the hotel's abnormalities."
"Isn't that too powerful?" Greed said with a furrowed brow. "Then how can anyone distinguish her from the Evil God?"
"Martha might very well have become an Evil God in a sense," Shiller in the wizard's robe said. "It's not surprising. She could be a Follower, an Offspring, even a Spouse. Any of these could give her far beyond normal human power."
"Wait, if Martha is a spouse, then doesn't that mean Thomas could be..." Greed's expression grew embarrassed, but then his eyes widened as he raised his pitch and said,
"Nyarla is the God of Thousand Faces. He couldn't possibly be Thomas Wayne, could he?!"
This guess took everyone by surprise again.
But, regrettably, the more they thought about it, the more possible it seemed.
Nyarla's track record in this arena was notorious; he was best at adopting various human guises to deceive people. Becoming Thomas to impregnate Martha with his child meant that the Batman of this universe wasn't just an Evil God's Follower but was simply the Evil God's Offspring.
"Now Little Bruce can never escape his father's shadow," Greed sighed, half-jokingly adding, "The good news is, both his parents might still be alive."
"Turning Batman into his own offspring..." Arrogance said pensively. "Even if it's only in one of a myriad universes, it indicates that Nyarlathotep's ambitions are significant. We must be more cautious."
Greed then stood up and said.
"I'll tell the Bishop to contact Peter to see if he can leave the hotel. I will go out in my own body in a while to prepare for a possible encounter later."