"For you, we specifically found a place without light," the Arkham Knight said as he removed his helmet.
They were now in a sealed factory, which had no windows since it was originally designed for producing hazardous chemicals. It resembled a large black box. The factory had ceased operations years ago and served as an ideal base.
The Arkham Knight had ample experience in constructing bases for himself. In just half a night, he had managed to acquire a range of machines and many living necessities. Of course, he was assisted by the Undead Creatures summoned by Doctor Strange.
Ever since discovering that the undead creatures he summoned could do more than fight, the Arkham Knight had completely revised his opinion of Doctor Strange, and the two of them could even exchange a few words now.
The Arkham Knight was actually quite shocked that Moonlight Shiller had come back intact. He suspected that Batman might not have been at home, allowing Shiller an easy infiltration; otherwise, how could he have remained unscathed?
However, he noticed a change in the color of Moonlight Shiller's clothes. They were originally entirely black, but now some sections, although still black, shimmered with silver if viewed at an angle.
This made the whole outfit look like a black lake rippling under the moonlight, which was a lot more appealing than the original plain black suit.
After they settled in the base, Doctor Strange began devising battle strategies. To execute the plan better, introductions were in order.
Doctor Strange was here primarily for a slaughterfest. As a Necromancer, he could absorb the life force of beings. The more he killed, the faster he healed and the better positioned he was to negotiate with his deceitfully righteous counterparts.
He didn't keep his current poor state a secret from the others and admitted that the injuries he had were inflicted by other versions of himself.
This Necromancer Doctor Strange was also quite unlucky. How he became a Necromancer didn't need explaining, but the problem was he had never encountered other Doctor Stranges and thought everyone was just like him.
So, his entry into Battleworld was tragic. Strange already had a bad temper and became even more morose and peculiar upon becoming a Necromancer. He clashed with the other versions of himself after only a few words.
When the argument turned to fisticuffs, his secret was exposed. Most other Doctor Stranges, as Supreme Magicians, were accustomed to defending justice and attacked the group practicing Black magic.
As a result, the Necromancer Doctor Strange became the target of a beatdown. Unfortunately, the base they were at was located in the Himalayan Mountains, a stronghold of other Supreme Magicians. The Necromancer was chased around and nearly beaten to death.
Luckily, he wasn't the only evil Doctor Strange. Later, another one arrived with The Book of Dark God, and the Supreme Magicians turned their pursuit towards that newcomer, allowing him to barely escape with his life.
He then sought a copy where he could recover some strength, aware that this type of copy would pair him with other teammates. Should he encounter several justice defenders again, he would be unable to kill for sustenance or face another beating.
So he chose what seemed to be a vampire copy. Killing humans would get him beaten up by superheroes, but killing vampires should be fine, right?
It turned out his choice was correct. The few he encountered were all lone wolves without moral burdens.
The Arkham Knight's situation was quite similar. He had not progressed to the beatdown stage, but his giant Batman puppet had drawn too much hatred. He felt that if he didn't leave soon, the other Jason Todds would devour him, so he opted for a copy where killing was enjoyable.
After both had spoken about their identities, capabilities, and energy, they turned their attention to Shiller.
Shiller remained silent.
The Arkham Knight, noticing his reticence, did not intend to press further, but suddenly, a tall figure appeared in the corner of the room.
The figure with the skeleton falcon's head startled them. Since he never obtained the title of Supreme Magician, the Necromancer did not recognize this obscure deity of the African Deity System.
"I am Khonsu, his Guardian God," Khonsu introduced himself, then decided to speak for Shiller. "His name is Shiller. I advise you not to provoke him nor allow anyone else to."
After speaking, Khonsu vanished.
Doctor Strange was mainly reflecting on Khonsu's last words, but at that moment, the Arkham Knight's mind kept echoing one phrase—"His name is Shiller…"
It's probably a coincidence, the Arkham Knight thought.
If it weren't for that reminder, the Arkham Knight would not have thought much of it. But now that it had been mentioned, he couldn't help but take a good look at the bits of Moonlight Shiller's face that were visible.
That look sent chills down his spine.
The bad news was it very much resembled Shiller. The worse news was that Shiller was looking right back at him.
No big deal, just a counterpart from a different cosmos, the Arkham Knight reassured himself. But in reality, he wasn't that comforted. His experience with Shiller was far more harrowing than with Batman.
"Dissect him, or I dissect you."
The devil's phrase echoed in his ears, replacing the Joker's maniacal laughter for a long time as the main theme of his nightmares.
At this point, the Arkham Knight faced the same question as Batman: If this person were a younger version of Shiller, then how did he develop into what he later became?
Although this guy doesn't look like a pushover, he's nothing like the doctor we met later. Without needing to probe further, I knew he was clearly more adept at physical therapy, mainly studying medical theories that concluded if you're dead, you naturally don't have any illness.
He doesn't seem like someone who would engage in a civilized conversation with you.
Yet Doctor Strange seemed a bit dissatisfied, saying we had agreed to exchange information. Both of us have spoken, but when it's your turn, you remain silent. Do we look that easy to fool?
Just as he was about to speak, The Arkham Knight raised a hand to stop him, then said, "I'm familiar with Mr. Schiller's counterpart from another cosmos. He's naturally not much of a talker."
Doctor Strange gave him a skeptical look. In his understanding, the self-proclaimed Arkham Knight wasn't someone who talked much either. So why was he speaking up now?
"Let's talk about something else," The Arkham Knight suggested.
"But if he doesn't talk about his abilities, we can't plan our assignments," the Necromancer Doctor Strange said. "Even though he looks to have some superpower, what if there are certain conditions to trigger it, and we don't know..."
"He probably doesn't have superpowers," The Arkham Knight shook his head and said. "That should be the power granted by the god named Khonsu. As we just saw, he's quite a fighter, a good asset in a melee—more or less like that."
Doctor Strange wanted to ask more but was quickly diverted to another topic by The Arkham Knight. It's not that The Arkham Knight didn't want to share intelligence; it was just that Schiller seemed reticent, but what if he was feigning it?
What if Schiller starts practicing his 'talk therapy' and sells us out, and we end up counting money for him?
So it's good that he isn't talkative. Let's not worry about his silence for now. It's best to let things slide one moment at a time. Besides, there's always a chance that Schiller was always like this when he was younger.
The Arkham Knight thought to himself that he was lucky this time around. It was the younger Schiller he had encountered, not the older version who hadn't shown up — if it were the same one who sliced up the Joker last time, his fate would be sealed.
Inside Wayne Manor, when the Robins woke up, they all felt dizzy and muddled, courtesy of the side effects of the foggy anesthetic, leaving everyone a bit confused, unable to remember clearly what had transpired towards the end.
Cassandra was seriously injured and had been taken to the medical bay by Batman, incurring a major loss before the battle even officially started, which left the Robins somewhat disheartened.
However, just as Batman had predicted, they soon rallied, filled with righteous indignation and determined to avenge Cassandra.
Batman was somewhat helpless about this. The Batman Family was built around him at its core, but Batman was more than just their boss; he was also their father, and as a result, the organization's structure was deeply intertwined with personal relationships.
To put it more precisely, compared to a formal company, it resembled a sect driven by passion more than profit, often acting impulsively.
While this fostered stronger bonds and unity amongst the Robins, it also presented significant organizational weaknesses. To illustrate, the last person who ruled an organization with street-gang methods was "Advantage is mine," indicating the profound impact this approach could have on organizational strength.
Jason, who had a fiery temper, was the first to lose patience. Grabbing a gun, he was ready to take on the vampire in a final showdown, with Damian supporting him. Tim urged them to keep cool, and Barbara also mentioned that acting rashly with insufficient intel could lead to self-destruction. They then shifted the argument to who was closest to Cassandra.
Normally, Dick was supposed to intervene, but he was aware that he had exposed the existence of magic in the last battle. If he spoke up now, it might lead others to turn their guns on him. Feeling somewhat guilty, he remained silent.
In fact, Dick had played a significant role in maintaining the balance within the Batman Family organization. He often managed and mediated various conflicts and squabbles on Batman's behalf, and everyone generally respected him.
But now Dick wasn't speaking up due to his guilt, and with no one else holding sufficient authority to mediate, they either joined one of the two camps or couldn't maintain neutrality. The impulsive faction and the rational faction were at loggerheads, neither able to convince the other.
Some might wonder, doesn't Batman intervene?
After all, a father and an older brother are not the same. The eldest among siblings is regarded as one of their own, where matters end with him. It's a completely different matter compared to running complaints to dad. They also didn't want Batman to interfere in these matters.
So inadvertently, Schiller's strategy had come into effect — the Robins split into two factions, one advocating for aggressive measures, while the other felt they should investigate and bide their time first.
And no matter which faction the mole was hidden in, they would strive for the advantage to win Batman's trust, allowing them to covertly manipulate the Batman Family's actions.
The Robins began to take turns approaching Batman, expressing their thoughts, hoping he would support them.
Only Dick went to Schiller; it was obvious that he had been exposed in the previous incident. Although no one mentioned it openly, many were subtly avoiding him, which was disheartening for Dick.
Yet Batman was paying close attention to Dick's situation. Seeing that Dick was disheartened and going to Schiller set alarm bells ringing in his head.
What Schiller actually wanted was to talk to each Robin individually. He was confident that none of them could hide their true selves under his pressure.
So this formed an odd quadrangle — the Robins went to Batman, Batman went to Dick, Dick went to Schiller, and Schiller sought the Robins.
The Batman Family had seen complex relationships before, but this time an outsider was involved, which immediately irked the Robins. They began clamoring to approach Schiller, eager to test his true intentions.
Watching his 'birds' one after another drawn like moths to a flame, Batman was overwhelmed. To put it plainly, it felt as though he had developed two ulcers in his mouth overnight.