Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Chapter 5927: Chapter 4947: There’s No Batman Here (34)

"This trick is very likely like this." Tim pauses for a moment and explains: "Not long ago, Doctor Manhattan used his superpowers to control Ogway. He fooled Victor using Cobblepot’s name—or simply disguising with superpowers—and obtained 200 tons of ice from him."

"He manipulated these ice blocks, possibly including something that can interfere with Brainiac’s operations, like a nanovirus. On the surface, they look like just a pile of ice blocks, but once melted, they can pollute Gotham’s underground water sources."

"This ice was then shipped to Cobblepot’s underground cold storage and kept there as a source of contamination, continuously melting and seeping into the underground water system. The pollutants in the water didn’t act immediately but waited until they spread with the water cycle throughout Gotham, including near Professor Shearer’s house and the lake, before the contamination started to show signs."

"Due to the discovery of underground water pollution, Brainiac began investigating, but it was difficult. Again, Gotham’s underground water situation is too complex. Besides natural pollution, Jonathan’s decades-long poison, there are many bizarre things. Brainiac couldn’t figure out the source at once."

"I suspect he might first investigate something like industrial waste discharges, then Shiller and others throwing pollutants into the water. This led them to believe Brainiac’s target was investigating the lake monster. But actually, Brainiac wasn’t using water pollution as an excuse to settle old scores, he was genuinely investigating the water source pollution."

"Brainiac’s thinking fell into a misconception. He assumed the pollution source was likely dumped into the underground water system. Whether it was polluted industrial wastewater or the lake water that created the lake monster, it polluted the entire underground water system through liquid water."

"He didn’t realize the source of pollution was actually solid ice blocks. Under Ogway’s operation, the ice blocks melt at a preset rate, directly discharging into the underground water. This rate must be slow enough so that Brainiac wouldn’t notice immediately."

"With this, Brainiac’s server room next to the Schiller’s house was corroded. He suspected that maybe the lake monster was the culprit, believing the lake monster was the source of pollution, prompting him to investigate more on the lake monster affairs. Those initially involved in this thing started to distance themselves."

"However, Brainiac should quickly realize the influence of the lake monster wasn’t so significant. This incident wasn’t accidental, but someone deliberately poisoned. And when it comes to poisoning, the first person to investigate would be Jonathan Crane."

"Coincidentally, Jonathan indeed poisoned someone. This made Brainiac believe confining Jonathan in prison would solve the problem. The next step would be purifying the water."

"But things are far from simple." Tim’s tone becomes increasingly serious: "Doctor Manhattan’s aim is definitely not just to pollute the underground water source or to undermine Cobblepot’s confidence. His target has always been Brainiac itself."

"The things he deployed in the underground water system using ice blocks aren’t just simple corrosive material. Because even if he destroyed one of Brainiac’s server rooms, Brainiac has numerous servers scattered globally. He even has backups on Krypton and other outer planets, even in other universes."

"To cause real damage to Brainiac, one must hack into his system, at least access the underlying code. I’m not sure if Doctor Manhattan has such expertise, but now, it seems he succeeded."

Pamela, folding her arms and leaning on the back of the sofa, says: "So the game system issue is very likely not just because Brainiac’s program is poorly written, but someone tampered with his system."

"Yes, this not only caused a system crash but also led to certain protective measures that should act during a meltdown failing to operate, leaving some players’ spirit bodies stranded in the system. Once these spirit bodies are harmed, this kind of fatal error is absolutely unacceptable, and no one would want to play the game Brainiac made."

"I understand," Red Robin sighs lightly, "previously Doctor Manhattan’s own game system encountered a problem, and Brainiac happened to release a test version at that time. This would divert the clientele from Manhattan Amusement Park. To disrupt the competitor, Doctor Manhattan must make Brainiac commit a bigger mistake."

"That’s right, although Manhattan Amusement Park’s system crashed, luckily it didn’t harm anyone. Even though it’s not up yet, it can definitely come online after adjusting for a while. But Brainiac’s testing led to player danger, and once this spreads to the multiverse, his game system can never launch."

"Really despicable competitive methods," Damian says, "but they picked the wrong people this time. Those trapped in the game system aren’t pushovers. What means does Doctor Manhattan have to threaten these people?"

"I guess Doctor Manhattan’s target should have been you guys," Harley says, looking at people from other universes, "On one hand, few of you have superpowers. Once the spirit body is trapped, the disordered game system is enough to harm your spirit body."

"Once you’re harmed, Batman would surely investigate, possibly causing trouble for Brainiac. This matter would spread to the multiverse, damaging Brainiac’s reputation."

"But for some reason, the plan execution hit a snag. You guys weren’t trapped, but those mind power users were stuck instead. These folks aren’t amateurs. No matter what danger Doctor Manhattan arranged in the system, it won’t succeed."

"I’ll definitely inform Batman about this." Nightwing also knows how significant it is. Doctor Manhattan dared to hurt Robin, intending to destroy Brainiac’s reputation. Even if his ultimate target is Brainiac, Batman won’t let him off easily."

"What exactly went wrong in the plan?" Red Robin ponders this question, "Why was it those mind power users who got stuck instead?"

"I think not only didn’t you guys cause trouble, but you might have saved yourselves." Dick thinks and says, "I suspect Doctor Manhattan wouldn’t predict we’d impulsively play with that gun, causing system errors that might not have been on the nodes he planned. So although achieving the same effect, the wrong people were chosen."

"It’s like he planted a landmine, intending to detonate when a car passed by, but instead a big elephant walked over it. The landmine exploded prematurely, didn’t hit the car, but blew up the elephant instead."

Everyone nodded, thinking it was a likely possibility. Red Robin pondered and then said, "But why these people? Even if the detonation time was wrong, it would more likely have been those at Viscount Manor at the time, right? After all, we stayed together."

"There’s a connection between them," Tim said.

"Collective unconscious," Harley added, "Death connects them together."

The topic started to veer into metaphysics but was soon brought back on track. Red Hood asked, "What do we do now? Rescue Brainiac, investigate Dr. Manhattan, or head back to the Prime Universe for a bit..."

"No," Tim said, "We’re going to find the Joker."

After many years, the Robins of the Prime Universe finally reunited with Jack. The scene was indeed a bit awkward, primarily because Joker Jack was somewhat impatient with them.

Normally, when the Joker saw the Robins, his eyes would light up. To him, the Robins were the start button for his game with Batman. Just grab one, and Batman had to play along. The Joker was quite fanatic about the Robins.

But at the same time, the Joker also hated the Robins, because they took away Batman’s attention from him. So whenever he caught a Robin, he would mercilessly torture them. Various comics depicted the Joker’s abuse of Robin.

We’ve seen fervent hunters, seen those driven mad by hatred, but Joker Jack might be the only one in the Multiverse who finds Robins annoying.

A sleepy-eyed Jack opened his door to find a line of Robins standing outside. He slammed the door shut with a "bang."

"Wait," Tim called out, "Uncle Jack, don’t be so heartless. We’re just visiting, and we even brought your favorite barbecue..."

"I feel like I’m dreaming," Damian said, leaning against the wall of the East District Apartment Building, "I haven’t woken up since I went to bed last night."

"Here you should really call him Uncle Jack," Tim turned back and said to him, "He held you when you were a kid."

"You don’t have to mention that again!" Damian shouted, "It’s not like I wanted to be held by him! Wasn’t it Bruce who stuffed me in his arms?! Dare I move?"

Instead, it was Red Hood who was the boldest. He walked straight over, knocked on the door a few times and said, "Open up, open up!"

Jack opened the door, his face written with disdain. "What do you guys want? I spent the whole day driving yesterday and just slept for less than six hours..."

"The Joker actually needs to sleep," Red Robin whispered to Nightwing, "That’s the first I’ve heard of it."

"We need to talk to you," Tim didn’t care about Jack’s attitude and casually slipped through the door crack, placing the barbecue he held on the coffee table. The others followed suit.

Jack tried to stop them, but to no avail with Pamela and Barry on their side. One used vines to prop the door open, and the other turned into a bolt of lightning, bringing everyone in.

Actually, Jack’s house was quite spacious. He had been a truck driver for a long and stable time. In America, truck drivers earn quite well, arguably one of the highest-earning blue-collar jobs. Long before Brainiac came around, Jack already had his own house.

After Brainiac arrived, he painted a nature reserve for him, but due to the dense population in the East District and many people unwilling to leave, the nature reserve was limited to two combined apartments, taking up half a floor, about the size of the Viscount Manor’s living room, which wasn’t small.

Harley and the others were evidently familiar with the place, indicating they often harassed Uncle Jack. Mainly because Barry’s Divine Speed wasn’t great for taking people. Joker Jack’s ability to traverse the Kingdom of Dreams with a truck was the most convenient and quick mode of transport the Young Avengers could find. This place had become their bus stop.

Jack didn’t want to drive them, but the Robins were shamelessly fearless. If he didn’t drive them, they’d stick around shamelessly without leaving. What could he do? It was the holiday, and they were here, still kids after all.

Jack watched the Robins filing in and sighed, going to look for his truck keys.