Chapter 44 God, can you cosplay for me for a bit? I'm going to play...

The atmosphere was just right. Wen Yue popped out from behind Tim with her standard smile, "This wise and brave young Mr. Tim, would you be interested in learning some more skills?"

Jason couldn't bear to look at him and retorted, "Do you know you look like the Big Bad Wolf kidnapping Little Red Riding Hood?"

Wen Yue covered Jason's ear to avoid hearing the negative comments and continued to coax Tim: "It's like this, I intend to take you as my apprentice. Some of my noble qualities, skills and wisdom need to be passed on and inherited."

Tim's eyes lit up, and he readily agreed, "It would be my pleasure!"

"Great!" Wen Yue exclaimed inwardly.

Robin Bird successfully checked in.

New Achievement: Gain Robin's Approval x3

[Complete Hidden Mission 1: Gain Tim's Approval]

[Complete Hidden Mission 2: The player establishes a close relationship with Tim Drake (Timothy Jackson Drake)]

[Reward received: One red Robin Bird]

There is no game panel; players manually add achievements and game rewards for themselves.

“Tim, I know a place with a really good view that overlooks the entire Batcave. Let me take you there.” Dick abandoned his research on the beyond-recovery computer and went to his new friend’s side.

“Great, where is it?” Tim excitedly followed Dick.

Dick climbed up the empty display cases, reaching the top where he turned and gave Tim, who was right behind him, a handshake. He then waved his hand forward with a flourish: "This is it!"

Without Butler Afu's supervision and deterrence, Wen Yue, the patriarch, is turning a blind eye again. Oh well, what can they possibly do but work diligently?

The Batcomputer was completely destroyed despite attempts to salvage it. Red Hood swept aside the jumbled parts piled on the desk and announced that it was utterly broken. Using the excuse of being worried about the Red Hood gang, Jason rushed back to the gang that night to continue his role as the mob boss. Meanwhile, Dick, who was the same age as Tim, hit it off immediately. Dick, the native, was leading the new Bat family member on an exploration of the Batcave.

Wen Yue left the Bat Cave space to the children and went upstairs to Wayne Manor to talk to the world consciousness.

Moonlight streamed through the window, casting a soft glow across the floor. Inside the study, a warm, eye-friendly floor lamp shone, but even more dazzling than the gentle light were the fragments of the world, representing the very essence of the universe.

Wen Yue retrieved the long-stored fragment of the world and returned it to the world's consciousness. She couldn't afford to lose something she had finally found; she had to return it to its rightful owner as soon as possible.

"How is Gotham while I was away?" The player, as Batman, politely inquired about his home turf, Gotham.

[Not good.] The world consciousness answered truthfully: [This was a trending topic in Gotham a few days ago—]

The computer screen on the desk lit up, and the moment it opened, it unleashed its ultimate feature—

"Please, Batman, come back! I really can't take it anymore. You used to say I was too loud, but I was ungrateful. Please continue being your vigilante and don't abandon us! The Batman who's filling in for you is a complete scoundrel!" The spokesperson was in tears, clearly heartbroken and desperate.

"Batman, I rarely say such weak words, but today I really want to say this: Come back. Even if you come back and continue to beat me, it's fine, because I know I'm guilty of heinous crimes, and I deserve it. No matter how much you beat me, I won't say a word. But now, just come back, do whatever you want!" He sounded like a composed gang leader, and his words, spoken in a righteous tone, were hard to believe.

"Batman, I only realized how unbearable my criminal life was without you. I've truly seen the light and will definitely behave better from now on. Please come back and save me one more time. Don't give up on us, waaaaah!" This was the statement of a criminal who voluntarily surrendered, explaining that he couldn't endure the current Batman's torment and sought refuge in prison.

[?] Wen Yue's cerebellum has atrophied: Is this still Gotham? Are these still criminals? Did the player come to the wrong world or something? [What's going on?]

The World Consciousness remained silent for a moment, then directly displayed a video recording: [This is a video recording that circulated widely on Gotham's intranet some time ago—]

The scene is dark but extremely high-resolution. The black-clad Batman brandishes a machine gun, firing wildly in all directions. The flashes of fire from the muzzle are the brightest lights in the darkness. The lower half of Batman's face, clad in his cat-eared suit, is contorted with undisguised arrogance, his words more brazen than any criminal's: "Hahahaha, die! You bunch of bastards, none of you will escape today! That's what Batman said!"

In the video, Deathstroke, dressed in a Batman costume, laughs loudly, while in reality, the smile on the player Batman Wen Yue's face gradually disappears.

He got really excited and burst into maniacal laughter when he saw Batman.

What are you doing, Deathstroke? I told you to play Batman, not The Laughing Man! You think you can just let loose after putting on the mask? I told you to put on the mask, not take it off. What, are you going to act like a jerk too? Are you trying to leave a dark mark on your Batman identity to use as leverage against Batman himself?

Wen Yue wiped her face, trying to clear her mind. [When did this happen?]

[The day Deathstroke took over as Batman.]

"I hadn't left yet then, right?" Wen Yue asked to confirm.

【Yes. 】

Having received a positive response from the world's consciousness, Wen Yue's world collapsed yet again. Her player reputation was ruined; how could future Batman players face anyone now?!

But players dare not withhold payment from the mercenaries, fearing they will suffer the same fate as the criminals in the video.

[How are those criminals doing?] The players' humanitarian spirit rarely showed any presence.

【fine. 】

【Oh, it's good that she's not dead.】 Wen Yue felt a pang of sadness. Since she was still alive, everything was alright, and there was still room for redemption.

After covering her face and sulking for a while, Wen Yue forced herself to cheer up and brought up the old topic again: "By the way, what's the deal with that Damian you mentioned last time? Did another one appear in that world?"

Yes, but not many anymore.

[What? Is the person gone?] Was the player too late?

No, it's that Damian doesn't want to leave. The two Damian's have already joined the Wayne family in that world as the Wayne Twins.

Wen Yue paused suspiciously for a moment, then asked, "How's Bruce doing?"

With two Damians on the field, Bruce must have broken some divine law to suffer this kind of extreme torment.

[That's not good. Ah Fu has also gone back to England to visit relatives and take a vacation.]

That's awful, but Wen Yue felt comforted. It seems the best way to improve one's mood is to know someone is having an even worse time than the player. The Fourth Calamity grinned wickedly: [That Bruce is in luck, hehehe!]

Regaining her composure, Wen Yue immediately called Deathstroke, saying, "Good evening, this is Bruce Wayne."

"Bruce Wayne! You're finally back from your business trip! Hurry, hurry, I need to finish this job right now. Filling in for Batman on night patrols is no job for a human." Deathstroke's voice came through the phone, his tone revealing his undisguised despair.

"Huh?" Wen Yue thought Deathstroke was having a great time, since he looked like a cheerful and sunny bat in the video.

Happy my ass. He only had a good time for a few days. Deathstroke really couldn't laugh for a while after that.

Deathstroke began to complain: "Recently, a new criminal named Bane has appeared in Gotham. He's always yelling for the old Batman to come back, saying I'm not worthy of being Batman. I've fought him a few times, and he's really tough. His strength and intelligence are beyond human comprehension. Is he sent by God to torment me? And he's disgusting. He always releases Arkham criminals to interfere with me, and they hide like rats, impossible to catch. The moment I relax, he launches a huge attack. Fighting him is pure torture. I can't take it anymore. This job... let whoever wants it do it. I've unilaterally decided that tonight is my last day. After this job, don't contact me again. I will never take a job like this again!"

"Bang! Beep beep beep—" The phone was abruptly hung up on the other end.

Wen Yue: "..." This death knell is useless at crucial moments.

What are players supposed to do? With Wen Yue's consistently terrible combat skills, are players supposed to fight Bane? Seriously?

Wen Yue was dumbfounded: It's over, Bane is here. The players' good days are over.

Is this the start of a Brokeback Mountain battle? Wen Yue definitely won't engage in a war of attrition with Bane. The last Batman who fought Bane in a war of attrition had a spine as fragile as a biscuit. His spine was broken by Bane's signature move, Brokeback Mountain, leaving Batman paralyzed on one side and bedridden. Although Batman later recovered and regrouped to return to Gotham and reclaim everything that belonged to him, the suffering he endured is truly indelible.

Having learned from the previous Batman experience, Wen Yue dared not casually don the Batman suit. Otherwise, with the player's limited physical skills, he would be lying on the ground as soon as he stepped out. This time, the player must play to his strengths and avoid his weaknesses, and absolutely cannot engage in direct combat with Bane.

Seeing that things were going badly, Wen Yue activated her cheat code and pulled out her damaged Angel Halo, urgently seeking help from the world's consciousness.

"The cheat you gave me is a bit cracked, could you fix it for me?" The guilty player smiled obsequiously.

The world consciousness looked at the countless cracks that covered the entire halo and slowly typed a question mark: [?] Is it cracking a little?

As a trusted game cheat manufacturer, Wenyue, a player who is also a loyal customer, ultimately chose to be tolerant and began working to fix the Angel Halo.

While the cheat was being fixed, Wen Yue finally asked the question that had been nagging at her: "What did you use to power up the cheat's aura before?"

[The Anti-Life Equation.] The world consciousness's response.

[I knew it.] The moment Wen Yue first used the cheat to fight Barbatos, and the aura energy fully erupted, she sensed the opposing force transformed from the Anti-Life Equation, hidden beneath the magic circle. The player saw the Life Equation, the most fundamental logic, which was completely incompatible with Barbatos's dark power. That's why the player was able to retrieve the Life Equation so easily when remotely logging into the world consciousness account in the other world.

Countless blazing starlight converged to fill the cracks, and the vast galaxy gathered within to form a perfectly harmonious halo. The mysterious and sublime all-encompassing energy condensed into a grand destiny, radiating an aura of supreme status and omnipotent authority.

Wen Yue, with a ring of discs around the back of her head, fell into deep thought: No, do you think this is right? Upgrading the halo to a disc, directly smoothing it out, isn't this a wrong direction in evolution?

The world consciousness spoke with unprecedented gentleness: "There's something I want to tell you, but don't be afraid."

Wen Yue trembled, already starting to feel afraid.

[You know, last time I had a conversation with God... and then the God of this universe packed his bucket and ran away... oh wait, I mean, he packed his bags and went on vacation.]

These few words contain a wealth of information.

Isn't this omitting too much? And what you just said was about running away with the bucket, right? Even God thinks this universe is beyond saving?

The world consciousness continued to drop its trump card: [Before leaving, God entrusted you with authority. During His absence, please temporarily assume this role.]

"Are you sure it's temporary?" Wen Yue couldn't help but believe her.

[The moon shines brightly over the vast sea, fleeting like a white horse galloping past a crack in the wall; it's over in the blink of an eye, no need to worry.] The world's consciousness is working hard to reassure the players.

Wen Yue replied expressionlessly: Oh, so you mean the players couldn't finish this in several lifetimes.

[He left a message before he left.] A note slowly floated up in mid-air and fell down.

It must be some kind of arrangement by God of this world; he's quite responsible!

With a smile returning and a sigh of relief, Wen Yue opened the note—"The world is so big, I want to go see it."

You son of a bitch—

This universe is beyond saving.

Destroy it, quickly!

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Author's note: In the end, the players bore the brunt of it all...