Shiller cursed inwardly.
He too had his unspeakable grievances; Arrogant and his disciple were preparing something big, and he watched beside them, his heart trembling with fear.
To put it plainly, these two were more like detective type players, better at unraveling mysteries along a single line rather than acting like behind-the-scenes manipulators, pushing developments along multitudinous threads.
For Greed, the technique was to create one line, propel it with another, then assist them with additional lines, and ultimately weave a dense net to slowly drive the developments.
But Arrogant and Bruce were about dismantling one line and then another, stacking up their findings until they could go all in on a key point, turning it into fuel for a rocket's soaring launch.
Thus, it was foreseeable that they were bound to take risks, significant ones at that; however, due to the principle of mutual independence, Greed couldn't very well direct them overtly.
Now, it was too late to intervene unless he had meddled from the moment Arrogant started causing troubles in Gotham. Now that the fuel was ready and the rocket built, discussing risks bore no significance, for the fire had to be kindled regardless.
Now, Greed could only do his best to cover the bases, and his first task was to find a reliable backer in the DC Universe.
After pondering, he didn't know many from the DC Universe, and those he knew might not meet his needs, leading him eventually back to the most reliable Primary Universe Batman.
Greed had always disliked dealing with Batman, simply because the fellow was incredibly sick, too clever, and possessed an immense appetite, nothing like the more easily fooled Iron Man.
Seeing the undisguised greed in Batman's eyes across him, Shiller too felt a headache coming on as he said, "With your capabilities, why not directly extract information from Arrogant? By sharing intelligence with you, I'm essentially betraying all of Shiller's interests."
"Otherwise, how could I see your sincerity?" Primary Universe Batman showed an expression closely resembling a smile, making Greed's heart skip a beat.
"I'll name a number." Shiller spread his hands and said, "Five, you can pick five, Batman."
"Sorry, that won't be necessary," Batman changed his tone and said, "I forgot to tell you earlier, I have acquired almost all Batman data from Gabriel."
Shiller felt his head buzzing, and he said, "Then what do you want?"
"Give me the information of five people you think are the most threatening in your universe," Batman stated his terms.
"No, I can only give you one." Shiller was very protective of his own vast world; if Batman gained an advantage, their people would definitely be at a disadvantage.
"Three," Batman persisted, saying, "That's my bottom line."
"Then you need to give me the information on three of the most threatening Batmen."
"No way."
Shiller choked for a moment, internally complaining about Batman's stinginess, but he still said, "Well, actually your information is of no use to me, but if I tell you, you must promise me that you will find out if Bruce is fully prepared."
Batman pondered for a while and nodded.
"Alright." Shiller calculated internally, this deal wasn't a total loss because the strongest competitors on their side weren't likely to have serious conflicts with Batman, fundamentally, they were all upholders of order.
"Mechanical Overlord Iron Man." Shiller first threw out a name. In fact, Calculating Element Iron Man wasn't particularly threatening, but he was indeed powerful, and he controlled what Batman most dreaded—information.
Shiller first recounted some of Iron Man's glorious deeds, touched briefly on his abilities, but mainly described his style of operation, which was quite simple: a collector's obsession, wanting to digitize every new trinket he saw and make it part of his collection.
Batman listened, frowning intermittently. The villains in his universe were more balanced and comprehensive, none with such an unorthodox approach, so he asked, "Then, what would he do if someone took control of his most powerful weapon, the Calculating Element?"
"So far, no one has been able to." Shiller shook his head and said, "If you feel confident, then give it a try. But I think with his capabilities, if you take away one, there will be a second."
The second introduction by Shiller was Rune King Thor. This guy was also strong, but more of a physical type. His intellect couldn't compare to Batman's, and since he was managing Asgard all on his own, his vulnerabilities were even greater.
Batman was noncommittal about him. In his view, Rune King was a hero, and if they met, they were unlikely to be adversaries. Even if he, as an invader, entered his world, discussing Asgard couldn't be out of the question.
The last one Shiller chose to introduce was Loki, whom he had crafted into the Goddess of Glory. Her combat power wasn't strong, her wisdom was mediocre, but her special feature was naturally the Politically Correct Halo, which was nearly invincible.
Sure enough, Batman listened and frowned continuously. Indeed, for the first time, he felt that in the Battleworld game, he had to avoid someone altogether. Invincible, he could dodge them.
When all three were introduced, Batman realized he had lost big time. Shiller provided information on opponents who were strong on paper but, in reality, Batman could have handled them perfectly well even without the information.
Or rather, if one day he truly did encounter these three individuals, when weighing gains and losses, he would definitely choose not to provoke them. Even if forced to confront them, there are many non-confrontational ways to resolve the issue.
If there has to be a use for this, then it probably lies in gaining a bit more battle power information during PvP combat, but he didn't see Batman opting for PvP. That was clearly a mode for war mongers to vent their energies.
Telling Superman also seemed like not a loss. Batman could only console himself with this thought. He should have asked about the three most threatening criminals, but actually, these three could be considered criminals, so no more information could be pried out anyhow.
Having gained little from Shiller, Batman then turned his attention to Tim, not yet knowing which Batman Tim corresponded to.
Shiller went off to pour tea, and Batman looked at Tim, asking, "Has the Batman from your universe also come to compete?"
"Probably." Tim finished his last sip of coffee and said, "Before coming here, he cryptically said he was going to some super cool party, but he didn't know—or rather, we've all received the invitations."
Batman found it hard to imagine himself looking proud and said, "Can you tell me about the crises you've encountered?"
He actually wanted to find out about that Batman's combat capabilities and personality, and how he got along with the Batman Family.
Actually, just by looking at Tim's demeanor, one could tell that Batman would definitely be a good father, and if he truly was consistent inside and out, then he could be entrusted with handling the dealings with Robin in the future.
It would certainly be better than entrusting it to Bruce—they really didn't need more crazy teenagers.
"A crisis?" Tim scratched his head and said, "Does the entire Batman Family staying out all night causing Alfred to lose his temper count as a crisis?"
"The entire Batman Family stayed out all night?!" Batman raised his voice and asked, "Where did you guys go??"
"Uh, Dick went to a party."
Batman narrowed his eyes.
"It was just a birthday party hosted by a schoolmate," Tim said. "Batman was worried there might be prohibited items at the party, so he sneaked into the party."
"And then what?"
"Jason found out that Batman wasn't home and wouldn't be back all night, so he went out to have some fun."
"Where did he go to have fun?"
"To play some small games with criminals," Tim said.
"Like brain surgery type of small games?"
"Don't worry, at most he just beat them up. He and Cassandra went together, so maximum, they beat them twice."
"What about you?"
"When I found out they were all gone, I sneaked out to the arcade with Duke," Tim shrugged and said, "I was underage then, and if I wanted to play shooting games, I had to sneak in."
"And then you all didn't come back home the whole night?"
"Party-going Batman got found out. Dick and his classmates took turns getting him drunk, they drank him under the table, all of them stayed over at the school. Jason went to Cassandra's base and studied equipment all night, and I played games with Duke till too late, so we ended up sleeping at the arcade."
"Batman just let you guys goof around like this?"
"He couldn't even take care of himself, because we could still claim our youth and ignorance, but he got a thorough scolding from Alfred and a lecture from Barbara, and was upset for days."
Batman understood somewhat; it seemed the situation in this universe was really quite good if what Tim considered a crisis was merely the Batman Family not coming home at night.
Batman hesitated for a long time but finally said that name.
"Jason..."
"He has been back for quite some time," Tim said. "He and Bruce slept together for a long time, switching through five or six psychologists before recently starting to feel a bit better."
"Slept together with Bruce?"
"Yes, during that time Bruce didn't act as Batman because Jason would often wake up in the middle of the night, and he would stay by his side. This went on for about half a year, so long that the city almost forgot about Batman."
Batman remained silent, and Tim took the tea from Shiller and continued speaking, "I never saw them argue, the most intense conflict was about Batman asking him to dye his hair back."
"But they didn't seem to be avoiding the topic either. I don't know what happened during that half year, but even though Batman stressed it repeatedly, I always felt that, for him, Jason was the most special one."
"How do you feel about it?"
"Even though we always stress to each other, I would choose you first, but we also know it's enough that the other is willing to say that, showing utmost effort. As for what they really do, we shouldn't be too harsh."
"Actually, occasionally I also wish I had that half-year," Tim put down his cup, revealing a reminiscent expression as he said, "But if you ask me to go through everything Jason did, then exchange it for Batman's favoritism, I would absolutely refuse. Even just thinking about it makes me feel a chill down my back, so I need to quickly drink some coffee to wake up."
"You are very clear-headed," Batman remarked.
"All the Drakes are clear-headed," Tim said. "At least certainly more so than your other two Robins, because it's quite obvious that you are not my only option, I have other paths to choose, so I can be more rational, more objective."
Batman felt his heart turn cold halfway, but Tim continued, "But from another angle, the fact that I still choose you despite having other options might also make me crazier than the other two."
Batman felt his heart rise again.
"Have you met the Tim from my universe?" he asked.
"I don't know which one. Do you want me to find him out?"
"No... I just hope you can protect him."
"Then you're overestimating me, I'm the least skilled among all the Tims, far from their aptitude in risk and battle."
"That's exactly why I think you can protect him, at least psychologically," Batman rarely spoke so sincerely, "In exchange, I can protect the Batman of your universe physically."
Tim paused for a moment, seemingly recalling his universe's Batman, eventually sighed and nodded, saying, "Deal."