Damian had been suppressing his anger with a meditative stance since the beginning, and he didn't even know whom to vent this nameless fire on. Bruce seemed to be interested in Brucey, and Damian couldn't fathom where that put his mother. After thinking for a while, he mentally flipped off Drake, the playwright.
"Damn Drake, pretending to be all proper on the surface, never expected him to come up with such a heartless soap opera plot!"
Regardless, Lucius managed to evacuate the crowd, although many people remained at home. According to Batman's investigation, these individuals had been severely affected by some unknown entity, experiencing a dual collapse of mind and body.
It wasn't this severe a couple of days ago; today's situation seemed to foreshadow something ominous.
Among those present, Brucey was the only one armed. She gave Bruce a cold glance as she pulled out her gun and approached the door.
"The lockpicker of ours?" Dick inquired.
"No problem, leave it to me," Baia said confidently.
Lockpicking 56/41, failed.
Baia's lockpick broke in the lock, making the situation somewhat awkward.
"No big deal," she coughed, "we can either force the door or... go through the balcony?"
She lifted her head and noticed many oddly shaped plants growing on the second-floor balcony.
Glancing at Dick in the wheelchair, Brucey said, "Let's see if we can find a way to open the door first. Dick can stay here."
"What's the joke? I'm fine now!" Dick stood up immediately. "Fine enough to take another punch?" Damian scoffed.
Baia also disapproved of Dick continuing with the investigation. His best option now was to drop out, meaning leaving the game due to reasonable circumstances, like having to be hospitalized because Batman beat him up so badly. That would be a good reason.
The reason being, Dick was too prone to losing his sanity and slipping into temporary madness. If he lost more than one-fifth of his original sanity points within a short period, there was a high chance of him experiencing a mental breakdown. Whether they would have the energy to control Dick if he lost control was another matter.
Brucey, in his early twenties, was just one word: strong.
He adjusted his posture slightly, and with one kick, he kicked the door open.
It seemed that with Brucey on board, their tabletop gaming session progressed as if they were cheating.
But the scene inside the room was nauseating.
Their feet touched something slippery and sticky, and the air carried a putrid smell mixed with a strange sweetness. The room was covered in colorful, thick fungal carpets, with vivid fungi and molds everywhere. Baia felt like she was standing on a moldy orange, and amidst the fungal filaments was a corroded, gray-white skeleton, its jaw wide open as if it were screaming before death.
"Come on, Dick, sanity check," Tim's voice, once helpless, now sounded somewhat amused. "Ah, a sanity value check of 1d8, you're not far from permanent madness."
1d8=3.
Dick lost 10 sanity points within 24 hours, meaning he would enter a state of temporary madness.
The specific state of temporary madness turned out to be interpersonal dependency. This was a peculiar negative state, indicating that Dick would regard someone present as his most important person and strive to maintain that relationship.
Everyone's heart sank.
The Bat-family's most emotionally intelligent and affectionate eldest brother blinked his blue eyes in confusion, then turned his gaze to Damian.
"Dami—-" Dick called out softly.
With his temper still simmering, Damian was barely able to suppress the urge to punch Grayson when Dick suddenly hugged him, kicking and struggling angrily. "Grayson, let me go!"
"Don't worry, big brother will protect you," Dick dreamily rubbed his cheek against Damian's black hair, "my precious little sister—"
"Dami, killing is against the law," Baia coughed lightly.
Breathing heavily like an angry little wolf, Damian slowly calmed down. "Grayson, let go of me."
Not wanting Damian to have a bad impression of him, Dick reluctantly let go of his sister.
"Go," Damian commanded, "You stay by the wheelchair, or else I'll hate you forever."
Dick hesitated for a moment, but with Damian glaring at him, he went.
Others also lost some sanity points, but not as severely as Dick. At this point, Brucey had returned from the body, having just finished scouting and finding quite a few things.
"This phone," Brucey picked up a phone from the table covered in slime and fungus, "is unlikely to be Windsor's. She died outside, and Vandring wouldn't use a case like this. This is Erika's phone. The bones on the ground belong to Vandring, and he had a matching ring with Windsor."
Baia suppressed her disgust and opened Erika's phone, finding a message inside.
"That hole is summoning me."
The only useful fragment amidst Erika's incoherent voice was this, with almost every other word incomprehensible.
"Very well, there's another hole." Baia wrinkled her nose.
Jason shrugged and found a diary in the drawer. "As expected. Um, this is Vandring's diary. Who writes a diary anyway?"
Dick, who had been ordered out to stand as punishment by Damian, felt offended.
Vandring's diary provided all the answers. It turned out, Windsor was an astronomy enthusiast, so Vandring planned to give her a meteorite on her birthday. His smuggling ship, the Aurora, discovered this meteorite—a Star Prism Egg—on an island during its voyage in the open sea. The initial narration was relatively clear, but it became completely chaotic later, with phrases like "that light," "stay here," "melt" being discernible.
"Look at this. 'That light' melted a hole in the ground. That's the meaning of all these words."
Damian opened another door.
It looked more like a gate to hell.
The floor had vanished entirely, replaced by a gaping abyss. Black, ugly vines and veins crawled out of the bottomless pit, writhing and pulsating on the ceiling.
A creature, resembling both a cat and a person, watched them from the corner of the ceiling. It had strange elongated limbs, like flowing tar. It had at least thirty eyes, but no skin, resembling a melted mass of flesh and blood with a few strands of yellow hair. It emitted a hoarse, screaming sound, but it sounded like an adult man.
It said, "Stay here!"
"This thing couldn't be Vandring, could it?" Jason slowly retreated.
"Probably Vandring plus Erika plus a cat. Ugh, disgusting," Damian remarked.
A first-generation Bat dart flew out, accurately hitting the unidentified creature's head, causing 2d6=10 points of damage.
"Whoa, Brucey, this isn't random killing," Baia couldn't help but exclaim.
"Probably, if you don't mess around, it might end faster," Jason pulled Baia behind him, then turned to Brucey, "Give me the gun!"
Brucey never hesitated during a fight; she tossed the gun to Jason. Jason skillfully disengaged the safety and fired three shots at the creature until his arm felt slightly numb. After all, he was just a randomly selected character, not as physically fit as himself.
Three shooting checks, two successes, one failure.
The monster fell into the hole while lunging towards Brucey, and Brucey had already shielded the beautiful blue-eyed woman with an appearance of 96 behind him.
Damian's face turned cold as water. "You, stay away from my aunt."
"And you," Damian looked at Brucey again, despite her being his beloved father, his voice still sounded a bit gritted, "...can you justify yourself?"
The old father didn't want to explain, he just felt too tired.
Baia suddenly felt lucky that she hadn't attracted the attention of young Brucey. If Brucey were replaced by her, it would basically be a scene of social death.
Fortunately, it was Brucey who was socially dead in front of the children now.
However, it could only be said that it was not only about appearance. Brucey was far more mature, stable, and tormented than the Bat in the Illusion. She had a natural attraction to Brucey.
"Let's take a look at this." Baia squatted at the edge of the hole, making Jason nervous, fearing that something might drag the green-eyed girl down.
"Baia, have an insight," Tim said to Baia as she gazed into the darkness.
Baia sighed. So, it was finally her turn.
Insight 30/60, succeeded.
As she looked into the hole, she saw that it was filled with black water, or some indescribable, stagnant liquid. A mist, gathering all the colors in the world and containing unheard-of colors in human art history, floated in the air. Among them appeared the pale, long-dead face of Erika, soaked in water, smiling at her.
Baia broke out in a cold sweat, but Jason caught her well as she retreated.
She then underwent another sanity check of 1d3. If this continued, she would soon follow in Dick's footsteps.
"What's down there?" Jason decided not to experience it firsthand this time.
"The light, a ball of light, I can't describe its color with words... It looks like the universe itself, with all the unknown things," Baia said, her face pale and uncertain. "Endless black water, and corpses."
Jason stroked her hair as if comforting a puppy.
Bruce released a sonar Bat dart to determine the shape of the hole. Although the dart quickly lost contact, he still received some information.
"We can basically confirm that this hole leads to Gotham Harbor," Bruce said. "Gotham Harbor is a man-made port, and for... this thing, returning to the sea from here might not be easy. The harbor's foundations, dry docks, and breakwaters are all made of concrete."
"But it's probably collapsing soon," Jason said, squatting down and wiping the corroded edge of the floor with his hand.
"It's better to be in the sea than on land," Damian said, arms crossed, watching them. "Let it harm fish rather than citizens, right?"
Baia started to think about the consequences. "If it really goes back to the sea through this hole, then the entire hole will be filled with incoming seawater."
"It hasn't collapsed yet," Jason said, looking at the structural diagram returned by the Bat dart, realizing that there was now a huge cavity underground. "Let's not worry about what happens next for now."
Bruce added, "Putting this thing back into the sea may have even more unpredictable consequences."
"In that case, we'll call Superman to handle it," Baia said naturally, then quickly corrected herself, "Or the... um, Department of Marine Environmental Management."
She had wanted to say Aquaman, but considering that Batman probably didn't know about Aquaman's existence, she quickly changed her wording.
Baia had this idea because she already knew the nature of the Star Prism. Once these creatures mature, they leave Earth and make the surrounding area barren. It's better to let it suck the life force out of the ocean than all the people in the city.
However, Batman didn't know, and they couldn't tell him. He would naturally think that such a hasty and reckless plan was unlikely to be agreed upon.
As Baia was trying to come up with a solution, the ground beneath her feet began to shake.
"The epicenter isn't here," Brucey said, placing one hand on the ground to feel it. "If our assumptions are correct, it should be over near Gotham Harbor. Are all the civilians evacuated?"
Brucey was very authoritative. Having commanded numerous battles alongside the League, she was much more mature than the young Bat. Even Bruce seemed stunned after hearing her command. "Evacuation is in progress."
"Then let's go, see what's happening," Brucey said, casually wiping the slime off her hands onto her pants.
"Gotham Harbor."
Except for Dick, who had his eyes covered, everyone else underwent a Sanity check.
They didn't face the nearly mature Star Prism directly, but on the shores of the shallow sea, they witnessed a part of a giant beast. A massive tentacle, shimmering with iridescent colors, wrapped around a ferry, tearing it into two halves.
Despite the chaos, there were still people lingering at the harbor. The crowd screamed and dispersed as the tentacle struck. Bruce actually wanted to rush towards the tentacle, but Baia grabbed him. "Are you out of your mind? You can't handle this!"
"I can," Bruce replied coldly. "You all need to leave."
"You might as well summon that idiot with the S on his chest for help," Jason snapped irritably. "This is just a derivative spawn. Can't you be a bit more level-headed?"
He stared into those familiar steel-blue eyes and suddenly felt that something was off.
"Tim, I need to make a Psychology roll just to assess Bruce's mental state," Jason said cautiously.
Tim replied, "You'll find that Batman's eyes are filled with fanaticism. He's been influenced to some extent and is acting very impulsively."
Hearing this, Jason exchanged a glance with Brucey, attempting to use Charm, hoping for a success.
Brucey responded with a Bat glare.
As the sky began to darken, even though it was still morning, it swiftly turned pitch black as if all light was being absorbed by the darkness.
A figure emerged—its ears had turned into some sort of fin, and its body was covered in scales. Baia couldn't even say if it was still a person.
Despite this, as he approached, they recognized him as Nash, still wearing a life jacket. Nash, with his sharp fluorescent green eyes, dragged a wet figure ashore and then jumped back into the sea.
Before long, he pulled another person ashore.
Baia realized that his deep-sea heritage had awakened. That was why the tentacle hadn't harmed him. However, in this situation, he was barely maintaining his human rationality. Of course, this rationality couldn't last long, and he would inevitably be corrupted, dragging his victims down with him in some rescue operation in the future.
The earthquake continued, and like in doomsday movies, the ground cracked, revealing churning seawater underneath.
The group struggled to stay upright and passed a Luck check to ensure they didn't fall into the sea.
Unfortunately, Damian was the most unlucky.
"Damilie!" Brucey roared angrily, about to jump into the sea after him, but Bruce grabbed him tightly.
"Stop," Brucey said, gripping his shoulder. "I'll go."
This attracted Dick's attention, who was still in a state of interpersonal dependence madness. But Baia, even though she noticed Dick's abnormality, said, "Tim, I need to use Strength to subdue Dick!"
Strength check: 48/50, success.
Baia pressed Dick to the ground, and he whimpered, "Let me go save Damilie, even if we die together!"
"Listen, Brucey," Baia said, handing Dick over to Brucey. "I need you to take Dick to a safe place, right now!"
Following Tim's tactical view, she found a relatively stable spot.
Suddenly, animal roars echoed throughout Gotham Harbor, the world plunged into darkness, and it began to rain.
"Are you all out of your minds?" The harbor had already collapsed, submerged in seawater. Jason was breathing heavily, scales appearing around his waist.
"Tim, I need to use Charm on Bruce," Jason said, clenching his fist.
"Are you sure?" Tim asked painfully.
"Just do it, now."
Success rate: 1/5, major success.
Since Bruce wasn't entirely clear-headed at the moment, there was no need for that Will check. Jason's gamble paid off.
After a moment of silence, Tim said, "Because it's too dark to see Jason's face clearly, Bruce can only see your beautiful fish tail and your pure blue eyes. And behind everything, he feels your golden heart."
"Forget about the heart," Jason gritted his teeth. "Both of you, and you, Baia, get out of here now."
Ignoring Brucey and Baia's reactions, he dove into the sea. Even in eternal night, his fish tail still shimmered with brilliant reflections.
In the churning seawater, all sounds—the wind, the rain, and the monster's roar—ceased, except for occasional bursting bubbles. Jason couldn't hear anything else.
No, there was a sound.
Here, in the depths of the ocean.
Nash said, "I can't stray too far from the ocean. It pains me, sometimes I feel like jumping in and swimming deeper, until I'm buried in the darkest depths of the Mariana Trench. That doesn't sound bad."
Jason seemed to hear an indescribable voice murmuring beside him.
Swim deeper...
Away from the light, away from Gotham's knights, away from everything he believed in and suffered for.
He saw humanoid shadows swiftly darting underwater, but he felt no fear. Even as he witnessed the distorted forms of gigantic terrifying creatures, he remained unfazed.
In the water, there was such joy and freedom.
Nash said.
Jason saw Nash, or rather, it, had fully acquired the appearance of a deep-sea dweller, with dark green skin and a frog-like face. It was clutching Damian.
Nash had lost its sanity but was still struggling.
Jason roared, moving much faster in the water than on land. He lunged towards the deep-sea dweller like a red lightning bolt.
Did it have claws? Good, because he had his too.
The sound of rolling dice echoed as Jason grappled with the creature. Marine creatures attracted by the blood circled from afar, not daring to approach until one finally snapped the neck of another, and then the sea serpents and mutated beings swarmed in.
On the shore, the strangely calm waves subsided. All creatures on the shore, except for Brucey, who had rolled Willpower checks twice, Baia, Brucey still struggling, and Dick subdued, inexplicably one by one, leaped into the sea, leaving with the owner of the tentacle.
Gradually, it became quieter around.
The sea was empty.
Something was calling them, deep within the ocean.
In the depths of the ocean, a dazzling, magnificent light emerged.
This light gathered all the colors in the world, existing and non-existent, dreamlike like the grandest aurora, the towering column of light so intense it resembled a nuclear explosion, illuminating the darkness into daylight once again. Baia's green eyes reflected thousands of intertwined, indescribable colors.
The sky brightened.
Bruised and battered, Brucey stumbled to the shore.
"No..."
Baia heard her whisper softly.
"Jason..."
Not far away, a shade of pearl red floated on the waves.
"Jason!" Baia shouted, "It's Jason! He's okay!"
From afar, she saw a pair of beast-like eyes. His neck seemed to have scales, and his hand was holding Nash's body in a strange posture, which didn't seem possible unless he had claws over ten centimeters long. His other hand was supporting Damian, allowing him to breathe on the surface.
But Jason seemed puzzled, unsure whether to bring Damian back to the shore or tear him apart.
But when you're saving someone, you know... dragging another person along, that's my only reason to return to the shore.
Nash said.
For him, there was more than just that one reason.
He tentatively swam towards Brucey.