The Comprehensive Evolution of American Comics.

Chapter 1327 Zul En Achi
"boom!"

"Well…"

Dick felt a dull pain in his back, and then his mouth and nose were covered. The batarangs in his hands had been removed by Zul earlier, so he had no weapon and could only fight back with his fists and feet.

However, Zul's body belonged to Batman, and Bruce possessed physical abilities that surpassed the limits of human physique. His arms were as thick as building timber, and Dick's still underdeveloped arms and legs were no match for him.

Gradually, Dick's struggles weakened as he suffocated, until his limbs drooped limply and he completely lost consciousness.

At that moment, Zul withdrew his hand from the other person's mouth and nose.

...

When Dick woke up again, he found himself in the Batcave, and everything around him was very familiar to him. However, this time he was no longer a half-owner of the place, but a prisoner.

Dick scanned the room with his eyes. He was currently locked to a bed, which he believed to be the surgical bed Batman used for emergency treatments.

Because anesthesia can have side effects, Batman usually has to grit his teeth and endure the pain during minor surgeries and treatments.

However, even the toughest man sometimes finds it hard to resist his body's instinct to escape pain. Therefore, in order to prevent the injury from being aggravated by moving around during treatment, a restraint belt was added to the operating table.

However, the restraints could be untied by the patient himself, because the buckles were designed to be placed near the patient's hand after he lay down. Dick reached out and touched them, and sure enough, the metal buckles turned into a rough, unsightly lump of iron.

Clearly, the buckles of the restraints were damaged by high temperatures, which essentially turned them into a knot that couldn't be untied.

Dick couldn't possibly solve it on his own; he doesn't have superpowers like the Superboys. But if he had some tools, he might be able to.

After all, the restraints were made of ordinary material and could be cut with a sharp blade. The key issue was that his clothes had been stripped off, and he didn't even have any pockets, so where would he find any tools?

Dick wasn't like those guys in prison; he wouldn't use his body to hide tools.

"You finally woke up."

Dick was trying to figure something out when he heard the sound and turned around to see Zul En A walking towards him.

"What's your purpose?"

Seeing that he had no way to break free for the time being, Dick came up with another idea: to ignore everything else and see if he could get his hands on the intelligence.

Dick himself was also curious about Bruce's alternate personality, and logically he didn't believe that the latter would deliberately create something that would hurt the people around him.

Bruce isn't someone who likes to take risks without being sure of the outcome, and Dick believes that Bruce would take precautions against any possible event, such as this second personality in front of him, who is indeed capable of doing such a thing.

However, Dick believed that if Bruce wanted to create a personality, he would definitely mold it in a righteous direction, and the current Zul En A was obviously very abnormal.

Something terrible must have happened to cause this situation to occur.

Dick's task was to figure out exactly what had happened; only by seizing this crucial moment could they turn the tide. "I know exactly what you're up to; after all, in a way, you're my apprentice."

"Don't try to get too close to me. What could we possibly have to do with each other?" Dick changed the subject, while also disliking Zul's words.

"Please don't say that, after all, I can see what Bruce has been through."

Zul sighed, "This was originally Bruce's way of giving me the authority to deal with all sorts of unexpected situations. After all, in the game, I only appear when he breaks down or is unable to fight for other reasons."

"But what he didn't expect was that this also gave me room to maneuver."

As Zul spoke, he moved closer to Dick until the former’s tall figure completely blocked the light, making him look like a dark shadow from above.

"Can you imagine? I've been living deep in Bruce's mind since I was born. Before he needed me, I was like a mental patient bound in straits, watching the videotapes the doctor played for me but unable to utter a single whimper."

Dick thought about those days and couldn't help but shudder. Even an iron man couldn't endure that kind of life.

“These are all fine, after all, my purpose in being here is to protect Bruce. What I really can’t stand is his attitude! His attitude towards those criminals.”

"I've been around for a few years now, and during that time Batman has been constantly catching criminals, putting them in jail, and letting them escape, playing this cat-and-mouse game with endless relish."

"Bruce isn't tired of it, but I am. Those sinners don't reflect on their mistakes. The only two things they think about are how to escape and how to torture others more cruelly."

"Bruce is one of the victims, but every time he needs me, he refuses to let me show up and then has to tough it out on his own. What's the point of my existence then?"

Are you kidding me?

Zul's expression turned ferocious; Dick never expected to see Bruce make such an expression one day.

“I am increasingly dissatisfied with this kind of life, but I am only a second personality after all, and I do not have the authority to take control of my body from the main personality.”

“I thought I would live like this forever, until I was buried in the ground with Bruce Wayne, but I never expected that opportunity would quietly come knocking at this time.”

Zul revealed a smug look on his face and continued, "That clown kidnapped you at the right moment. Do you know what he was thinking when he learned that his most dangerous enemy was going to harm his loved ones?"

"Later, combined with your experience, Roy's words, and the Joker's death, these multiple factors impacted Bruce's mind, which gave me a chance."

"Finally, I made a little more effort and easily bypassed Bruce's psychological defenses without him noticing. I quietly gave him a psychological suggestion and finally gained control of my body."

"Unfortunately, I can't completely remove Bruce's personality, but I do have a way to make him never wake up."

As he spoke, Zul pulled out a knife from somewhere, raised it high, and then stabbed it at Dick.

(End of this chapter)