SWNOVELXO Chapter 223: Chapter 223: Make Him Admit That He Is Sick!
After receiving Lucas's electric shock treatment, Batman staggered back as if drunk.
[CHAT GROUP]
Thomas Wayne: Group Leader, isn't this a bit too much?
Lucas: Come on, aim doing this to help him
Howard Stark: Since Group Leader said so, Bruce must have done something truly absurd in the original future.
Thomas Wayne: Group Leader, is this really the case?
Lucas: Of course! In the original future, a group of superheroes on Earth formed called Justice League. Your super suspicious son used the trust of his teammates to gather information on all of them.
Senju Tobirama: I have an ominous feeling that this Bruce attacked his teammates?
Lucas: That's not true! He just made contingency plans that could neutralize all the superheroes, and then accidentally let a supervillain get hold of his plans. Then, Bruce's teammates suffered terribly.
Uchiha Madara: The ability to deceive one's own people feels a bit like Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō! Useless when facing foreign enemies, but fierce when fighting against one's own people.
Lucas: I can't say that Bruce doesn't have some skills when dealing with enemies. Although he's similar to Sarutobi Hiruzen and Shimura Danzō, he's always extra kind when dealing with his adversaries.
Senju Hashirama: Does the Group Leader mean that Bruce is more ruthless when dealing with superheroes than with supervillains?
Thomas Wayne: No way? Bruce can't be so stupid.
Lucas: Don't worry, how can Batman be so stupid? There is no distinction between good or bad in his eyes, only the level of threat! Like the superheroes in the Justice League—even if they are good people, their great strength determines their threat level, so Bruce won't show mercy to them.
Lucas: But the criminals in Gotham City are different. Although they kill, commit arson, and all kinds of evil acts, they are too weak in comparison, so Batman graciously allows them to live.
Lucas: The powerful often only look at interests and positions, not right or wrong or good and evil. Although Bruce is not so cold-blooded, his way of thinking is somewhat similar. He came from a wealthy family and was trained to think like the elite from an early age.
When Batman fights Superman, it's a real battle to the death. After all, Superman's strength is too immense and the threat too great—Batman isn't bound by his no-killing principle in such cases, and focuses only on winning.
Sebastian Shaw: That means, if Gotham City's mentally ill had powerful destructive abilities...
Lucas: If those mentally ill villains had the powerful abilities of Charles Xavier and Magneto, Batman would definitely abandon his principle of not killing. After all, he's not a pedantic fool.
Golden Lion Shiki: Shihahaha! The principle of no killing? This reminds me of that unlucky guy Zephyr. It seems that this Bruce is not so rigid in his thinking.
Lucas: Of course! Batman doesn't kill because he doesn't think he has the right to decide the life and death of others, and he doesn't want to cross his own moral boundaries. After all, once that line is crossed, it's almost impossible to go back.
Lucas: But if there's a villain who wants to destroy the world and has the corresponding ability, this principle will definitely be broken. When the world is ending, why would such concerns matter?
Although Batman has his no-killing principle, the DC world, like Marvel, restarts in various parallel universes and timelines, and Batman has killed many times in different versions.
Even in the early comics, Batman had no such principle at all—it was a character trait added to him later.
Senju Tobirama: Got it! Some of the superheroes working with Bruce are too powerful to control, so Bruce developed plans to neutralize them. Is that right?
Lucas: Almost! Maybe Bruce didn't want to kill them in the first place, but that's not the case when the supervillain got hold of the plans. I have to say that Batman has a major weakness—why would someone so paranoid not secure his contingency plans better? Those plans are the most dangerous things!
Howard Stark: Then what happened? After Bruce made such a huge mistake, how did it end?
Lucas: The superheroes survived, but Bruce was kicked out of the Justice League.
Senju Tobirama: He deserved it! Worrying about others endangering the world all day long—I think he is the one who threatens the world the most. Other superheroes might threaten the world with their power, but he threatens it with his paranoid thinking.
Thomas Wayne: Bruce is not so bad, I believe he will improve. Group Leader, Bruce is a qualified superhero, right? He is a good person!
Lucas: Not exactly! Your son calls himself the Dark Knight of Gotham City and wants to use fear to deter crime. Maybe he never regarded himself as a superhero or a good guy. Deterring criminals like a bat in the shadows is what he aims to do.
Sebastian Shaw: Speaking of this, Tony Stark, who is in a similar situation to Bruce, has he done something equally foolish?
Lucas: Yes!
Howard Stark: No way? In the original future, what did my Tony do?
Lucas: In order to protect Earth from alien invasion, Tony Stark decided to build a robot army. He planned to let the robots fight the aliens, which could effectively reduce casualties on Earth.
Howard Stark: That's a good idea! It's completely different from Bruce spying on his teammates. What did Tony do wrong?
Lucas: To better control the robots, Tony Stark developed an artificial intelligence called Ultron.
Howard Stark: I bet this artificial intelligence went rogue, right? I've seen too many similar scenarios. To be honest, artificial intelligence is indeed both beautiful and dangerous.
Lucas: Yes! Tony programmed Ultron to protect Earth. After being activated, Ultron connected to Earth's networks. After processing vast amounts of information, it calculated that eradicating humanity was the best way to truly protect the planet.
Sebastian Shaw: That's completely messed up! It seems Tony Stark made the mistake you mentioned earlier—he equated humanity with Earth. Human arrogance! Did he really think he could represent Earth?
Howard Stark: After the unbiased calculation of artificial intelligence, it turns out humans not only don't represent Earth, but are virus-like threats to the planet. That's quite the reality check. I think after this incident, Tony must have matured significantly.
Thomas Wayne: Was Tony Stark also expelled from his superhero team after doing something like this?
Lucas: How could Tony Stark be expelled from his own superhero team? Do you feel a little unfairness in your heart?
Thomas Wayne: I'm just curious. Didn't the disaster he caused create a major crisis?
Lucas: If you want the full story, the AI he created was just one of many problems. Later, these superheroes caused civilian casualties while pursuing villains, and the World Security Council wanted to regulate them.
Lucas: There happened to be a powerful individual whose family was killed by the Avengers, who discovered the existence of the Winter Soldier, and learned that the Winter Soldier had killed Howard Stark. He used this incident as a catalyst for revenge, which directly split the Avengers.
Thomas Wayne: How could this happen? The dissolution of their superhero team seems even worse than Justice League.
Howard Stark: On one side, just a superhero was fired, and on the other, the entire superhero team was divided. Have they essentially become two different teams? If so, then the loss might be smaller.
Lucas: No! Captain America defended the Winter Soldier, believed in freedom without regulation, led people to start the Avengers Civil War, and raided a prison to rescue captured superheroes. The result was simple—they became fugitives!
Uchiha Madara: Superheroes becoming fugitives?
Whitebeard: What's so strange about that? The government and heroes aren't always on the same page.
[OUTSIDE WORLD]
Lucas glanced at Catwoman, who was trying to sneak away quietly. With a heartbeat, he summoned shadowkhan who swiftly captured both Catwoman and the cat.
Then Lucas used his spatial power to appear directly in Arkham Asylum, specifically in the Joker's ward.
"Wow~ arriving in such a miraculous way! Who are you? Are you a superhero or a supervillain? Or are you a genius scientist who just invented something?"
The Joker looked at Lucas with a big smile on his face, studying him with interest, trying to discern something from Lucas's appearance.
Lucas laughed: "Joker, what do you think of Batman?"
The Joker looked serious and said with surprising gravity: "Batman is a lunatic with a serious mental illness. He obtains psychological comfort by oppressing criminals. If Batman dies, Gotham City will not be saved."
The Joker looked at Lucas expectantly and said, "Do you have the ability to move through space? Take me out of here. This world is crazy, isn't it? We have to change this disgusting world."
Lucas laughed: "How do you want to change the world?"
The Joker said firmly: "The world is sick, and Gotham City, as the birthplace of the virus, must be dealt with first. To save Gotham City, we must first save Batman. Arrest him and make him admit that he is ill!"
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