American comics: Starting in Arkham, a system-based Batman

Chapter 117 The Origin of Everything

Things seemed to be moving in a positive direction, but a lingering worry remained in Jung Eun's mind.

Is it really that simple?

The scene of Superman and Batman talking faded away like the tide. Zheng En was used to this development, but unlike before, this time there was no longer a fixed scene around him. Instead, it was as if he was in some kind of strange passage, with countless fragments of pages flying by.

Just from the gunshots that rang out in the alley, Jung Eun saw three different scenes.

Or, in a family of three, both parents fall to the ground, leaving only the child kneeling on the ground, crying helplessly.

Or perhaps their young child dies tragically, causing the couple to go their separate ways and become mortal enemies;

Or perhaps a taller child appeared, who shot and killed his parents, and also accidentally killed his brother;

Zheng En had seen many similar yet different scenes. They flew by like arrows at great speed, but strangely, he could see them clearly without much effort, as if those scenes had already passed through his mind.

At the same time, he also saw how the story would unfold.

"We've found the Black Canary's body, and we're still searching for a way to wake Shazam."

"Green Lantern died in the battle against the Yellow Lantern Corps."

"Mars Manhunter was burned to death, and the killer has not yet been found."

"Doomsday has reappeared, and he's even more powerful than before, Superman—" The Flash lowered his head dejectedly, "Perhaps I should just give up."

"No, you can't." Batman, who was facing him, couldn't be seen looking at, only his back was visible on the screen. "This will only make things worse."

Zheng En saw the Flash's sad expression, and his hands clenching and unclenching as he lowered them.

"Maybe you're right, Bruce, but I don't think things can get any worse."

What happened next?

Jung Eun tried to grab the picture, but her hand felt like it was passing through water and she couldn't touch anything. "The Flash tried to go back in time, but as I said, things only got worse."

A familiar voice came from behind him. In a flash, Zheng En realized something and turned around sharply to see Batman appear behind him at some point.

Unlike the Batman he often saw at Wayne Manor, the Batman in front of him had a more composed and mature demeanor, and his armor was the latest product, which had been updated many times over.

Jung Eun's eyes widened. "Commander Bat!"

Damn it, he could tell at a glance that this was his family's missing bat!

The other person removed their hood, and their perpetually furrowed brows relaxed, revealing faint frown lines. "Long time no see."

Although they had known each other for a long time, before this, he had always communicated with Jung Eun in the form of a mentor, solely through spiritual means. This face-to-face exchange was a first for both of them.

Even though he didn't know his current situation, it didn't stop Zheng En from excitedly looking around at Batman. The other man's Batman costume was more handsome than any he had ever seen before.

He reached out and touched the other man's arm armor, tapping it with his knuckles. "The feel, the quality... this is way cooler than the original Batman."

Batman sighed helplessly, but did not stop him.

"Would you like to know what happens next?"

Zheng En jumped to her feet and shouted, "Yes!"

Although briefly overwhelmed by the joy of reunion, he didn't forget his business. The development of that unknown universe, just as his Batman and Superman had predicted, was heading in the worst possible direction.

"So what happened after The Flash rebooted the universe?"

"Nothing happened." Batman's tone was calm. "Because the timeline of that universe was inherently chaotic; it was a flawed universe that shouldn't have been born."

"How could this be?" Zheng En murmured involuntarily, but he knew it wasn't impossible. The Dark Multiverse was a good example; those universes of Batman all met their demise.

Multiple flawed universes are nothing to him; he's just emotionally unwilling to accept them.

"You should understand that not all universes can develop stably in the long term."

The pages that had been flying by suddenly slowed down. Batman strolled forward slowly, his gaze lingering on the images. "Old universes fall, new universes rise, and some universes don't fall completely."

"These universes did not completely disappear. The debris they produced continued to fall and accumulate. When the mass increased to a certain level, my universe was born."

Zheng En guessed it.

Of all these universes, those he knew and those he didn't, they were all here. Images of many universes flashed by in an instant, but this universe was the most unfamiliar to him, and he observed it for the longest time.

He was certain he had not encountered this version of development, so the most likely source was the unified bat.

"From its inception, it was destined to be a universe that could not develop stably."

After the destruction, the scattered remnants, these seemingly endless memories, solved Batman's doubts: "There was no conspiracy, no mastermind, it was just that the story couldn't continue."

"It's like a pen running out of ink, so it comes to an abrupt end."

"And then the system appeared?"

Jung Eun realized that this was why the other person had become her mentor.

"Yes, the system's purpose is to maintain the stability of each universe." Batman confirmed his guess. "The stability of a universe is of great significance, even if it is a universe destined for destruction."

"When the ink in the pen runs out, we can refill it; that's the function of the system."

During this time, he processed a large amount of memories, and the contractual terms that were supposed to be blocked were lifted after the conditions were met, so he knows much more than Jung Eun. "It can be used as a medium to collect ink, but someone needs to carry it out."

"Is this why it came to us?" Jung Eun stroked his chin.

Batman nodded. "The system determined that I was the most likely to complete the mission and the most suitable character to guide the player, so it approached me before the universe was destroyed."

"I can understand why it chose you."

In terms of reliability, no one in the entire DC universe can compare to Batman. Batman always manages to save everyone from dire situations, and who cares how those situations sometimes arise?

"But why?"

Zheng En couldn't help but wonder. He had lived for over twenty years and never felt that he was anything special. How did he become an important figure in saving the world and reshaping the universe?

"The human soul has weight," Batman explained. "You were the highest-quality human being the system could find at the time, on the verge of death."

"To rebuild a destroyed universe is like reigniting a pile of extinguished firewood."

He described it in the simplest language possible: "An extinguished firewood will not spontaneously combust, so the system found an external flame, which is you."

Seeing that Zheng En nodded to indicate that he understood, Batman continued.

Do you know Schrödinger's cat?

Zheng En shook her head.

"Simply put, it's about a guy named Schrödinger who put a cat, poison, and a radioactive source into a box. Before the box was opened, nobody knew whether the cat inside was dead or alive."

Batman omitted a lot of details, only focusing on the idea that the experiment was trying to convey: "This is what the universe is like in its reshaping process. Every task we undertake is a process of gradually opening the box."

"The stories that have been written down are established facts, while the parts that have not been written down are unknown."

Jung Eun listened attentively and gave an example in his own way: "It's like an open-world game with a randomly generated map. Before I leave my territory, the area outside my territory is a fog of ungenerated scenery."

"You can understand it that way." Batman smiled, the corners of his mouth quickly returning to their straight state.

"But just like game data can become corrupted or infected by viruses, a very small number of people's memories can also become distorted for some reason, allowing them to learn about events that occurred before the universe was reshaped."

"Clown!" Jung Eun punched his fist hard in the palm of his hand. "I knew something was wrong with him!"

With claws, clown toxin, and Dionysus factor, this doesn't seem like the level of power a newly debuted clown should have.

It turns out the villainous boss returned to the starting village with a max-level character, trying to bypass the protection mechanism and easily defeat the low-level protagonist.

"Shameless," Jung Eun-te exclaimed. Batman looked over and said, "You're right."

Zheng En wasn't sure if his words were directed at the first half of the sentence, the second half, or both, but she proudly accepted the praise.

"The Joker is like a virus, wreaking havoc in a program that's still loading, which led to the current situation."

Following Batman's gaze, Jung Eun looked at the scattered pictures around her.

It was a clown grinning widely, holding a camera as if mocking them.

I'm speechless. How come it's still haunting us here?

Zheng En rolled her eyes, then saw that the picture on that page was overtaken by another page that came up behind it.

The tyrannical Superman pierced the Joker's heart with his hand.

This coincidence caused Zheng En to fall silent for a moment.

He turned to Batman and asked, "And then?" He could tell that Batman seemed to be organizing his thoughts, and what the other man was about to say might not be good news, but he couldn't feel sad right now.

"In gaming terms, the clown disrupted the original mission progress, causing the program to malfunction."

Since Zheng En used the example of a game, Batman followed his line of thought, "Just like newcomers have a protection period and cannot move on to the next level until they reach a certain level, we are also being guided and protected when we accept missions from the system."

"Although there are occasional cases of accidents, in most cases, neither the players nor the mentors are in mortal danger."

"But things are different now."