Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Bruce really wanted to howl in his heart, why pick now to go smoke a cigar? You might as well smoke me like you used to!

Bruce was urgently trying to figure out what the deal was with this Agent, but he didn't know much about this new Shiller.

This was the drawback of the Behavioral Analysis Method. First, you needed a sufficient amount of past behavioral data to perform analysis.

The key issue was that even after Bruce had synthesized all the behavioral data for Agent Shiller since the game started, he still couldn't understand the purpose of his actions, mainly because there was just too little data.

Since the start of the game, the Agent had been moderate in his behavior. Bruce could roughly tell he was capable of fighting and was more flexible and pragmatic than other Shillers, and he also knew the Behavioral Analysis Method.

But this information alone was not enough to explain his current actions.

The Pale Knight said the Agent wanted to gather intelligence, but the problem was that after their rendezvous, they would naturally share everything openly with others. At the very least, they would certainly discuss how Batman and Greed had cooperated and what plans they had made. He would eventually find out these things, so there was no need for him to take action.

Bruce did not think that any Shiller would be foolish enough to not understand the situation. The Primary Universe Batman had already made his stance very clear, and anyone with a brain should understand that they were going to unite against Joker next.

The premise for cooperation was information sharing; wasn't obtaining intelligence just a matter of time? Why then, should anyone kill?

Even those mad, Morbid Shillers had reasons for their killings; they didn't randomly choose a lucky audience member, and they wouldn't forsake easily obtained benefits to satisfy their mental needs. They might be antisocial, but they were not truly insane.

Could he really have encountered a madman?

"He needs to confirm the information is real," the Pale Knight said in a deep voice that echoed in the corridor.

"But we will tell…"

"He doesn't believe what we say; therefore, he will use his own methods to verify it."

"Isn't that crazy?!"

"No, he isn't," the Pale Knight's tone was as steady as ever. He said, "It makes sense. Batman and Greed have been playing us all along. Even if they had noble reasons, it doesn't change the fact that they had been hiding something."

"If they could hide it before, they could do so again. Why should Shiller believe they would tell him the whole truth without reservation?"

Bruce muttered to himself, "Just because of that? But they don't have any obligation to…"

"In the eyes of an Agent, of course, they do. From an Agent's perspective, everyone should tell him the truth unconditionally; otherwise, he will find a way to get it himself. This is the method he's decided on."

Bruce covered his forehead with a pained expression.

Is there not even one! A sane Shiller?!

But howling would not solve any problems; Shiller had created a massive problem for them, especially for him.

Whom was he supposed to save?

Theoretically, Bruce should, of course, save Greed and give up on Batman, because after all, he was more familiar with Greed and did not like the Primary Universe Batman as much.

But their current enemy was Joker. The only one who could handle Joker was Batman. Yet, of the three Batmans in their team, one had turned rogue, and one wasn't Batman at all. Only the Primary Universe Batman was the legitimate Batman.

If the Primary Universe Batman died, who would be assured of being able to handle Joker?

And if something went wrong and they lost the game, Greed would also lose everything; knowing his personality, making him lose Points would be as good as taking his life.

"Save Batman!" Greed said weakly, "If we lose this game, I won't let any of you off the hook."

"Greed can't die," Batman's voice also came from the room. He said, "Little Sirtek's identity is much more significant than a Hunter, and he can activate the laboratory; Joker definitely has more up his sleeve. Only the stuff in the laboratory can take him down."

"You all are thinking about this too early,"

A voice came from the end of the hallway as if whispered by a devil. Shiller's arm holding the gun did not lower as he said,

"I still have five bullets, night vision goggles, and I'm confident I can take down three of you. Do you think the one with the First Aid Skill will be included?"

"You're really fucking crazy!" Bruce yelled out, "Who did Joker kill among us?! You're planning to wipe us all out!"

"Wouldn't that be better?" Shiller's voice came through, "If you all die, Joker would never be able to defeat you."

"But you'd lose the game!"

"Who says I'm definitely going to lose?" Shiller's voice was tinged with mockery. He said, "I'm from the Church. Once everyone is dead, no one will know I was ever in the village. Can Joker escape the Church's manhunt?"

Bruce was taken aback, immediately realizing that Shiller's backstory had not been fully revealed.

Bruce considered himself quite familiar with Arrogant. If Arrogant wrote the backstory, it was unlikely to contain any fresh twists, and it would rather be a standard, ordinary story.

But the issue was that the role of Church personnel was special in itself. If the Church was the only organization in the world able to deal with strange phenomena, then the power of this institution could not be underestimated.

If everyone in the village died, Shiller just needed to make up some excuse to explain his absence, Bruce thought he would definitely be able to deceive his colleagues and superiors, and then the Wanderer's incident would have nothing to do with him.

Or perhaps he was sent by the Church from the beginning, and after tidying up the matters here, he could go straight back to report.

In that case, he would still be clergy of the Church, and for Joker to attack an employee within such an organization would be extremely difficult, as any act of aggression could potentially lead to relentless pursuit by the Church.

After all, even the survivors of bizarre incidents were silenced by the Church, they would never let go of anyone who dared to cross them.

Under these circumstances, it would be much simpler for Shiller to strike at Joker, he might not even need to take action personally, just assist from the sidelines, and Joker would be hard-pressed to escape.

"No," the pale knight spoke up, "Joker won't let you leave the village alive, he must have a way to keep you here."

"And how do you know I have no way to evade?"

Just as Bruce was about to accuse him of sophistry, Greed's voice came through, "He really has a way; he has a doorplate that could possibly allow him to hide in a place nobody else can enter."

Bruce was completely stunned.

So this guy wasn't someone swayed by emotions after all, he had considered everything before making a move.

He really wanted to say, could the conflicts between you Shillers not involve others? But he really had no right to say this because Batman and Joker's conflicts often involved others too.

Moreover, Shiller's actions seemed to be prompted by something Batman said, it was essentially Batman's fault after all, with Greed getting caught in the crossfire.

"Do you have any other solution?" Bruce looked towards the pale knight, then towards Night Owl.

"Two lives and a skill mean inevitably, one person will die," the pale knight squatting on the ground supporting Greed lifted his head to look at Bruce and said, "This is an unsolvable Gordian knot, you will inevitably have to make a choice."

Bruce was still not giving up; he looked at Shiller and said, "Even if one of them dies, after the other recovers, with so many of us against you alone, your death is certain."

"I have a way to avoid Joker, naturally, I have a way to dodge you," Shiller said. "Frankly, I don't even know if that door can be opened, or what's on the other side once it is. If something emerges that you don't want to see, don't blame me."

"He can't be allowed to open it!" Greed's tone was slightly pained, his breath becoming more pronounced as he said, "It resembles something from another world, and in that world, there's a monster behind that door, a monster you can't deal with. Once the door is opened, it's mutual destruction."

"Then how could he use that thing to hide from Joker?"

"I know, but Joker doesn't know; without any guard up, it's more likely that the monster will kill Joker first, then wouldn't he have won?"

Bruce fell silent; how the hell could this even be a strategy?

"Where did that thing come from?" Bruce asked again.

Greed remained silent.

"It's not from one of your fabricated stories, is it?!"

Greed closed his eyes and said, "It was originally a last resort to be used in the final confrontation, who knew…"

Bruce suddenly understood.

Greed never intended to cooperate with Batman all the way; his real intention was to use Batman to take Joker down first, then find a way to eliminate Batman and emerge victorious alone.

He knew it! He knew it! Bruce clenched his teeth inwardly – this was Greed, in a situation where he could take it all, why would he choose a win-win?

"Then why isn't that thing with you?!"

"I told you, I can't beat him!"

Perfect circular reasoning.

Bruce closed his eyes silently; even though he knew Greed must also be cursing on the inside, for he couldn't have anticipated being placed in a game with Arrogant, who then brought an agent along.

Wait, Bruce suddenly thought, could Arrogant have foreseen all of this, and that's why he brought the agent over?

Bruce was unsure whether Arrogant or Greed was a better fighter, but he knew Arrogant was someone who wouldn't easily initiate conflict, avoiding all battles if possible. It was improbable for him to engage Greed over a doorplate.

So it turned out that Arrogant, who withdrew from the fray early on, was the real winner, making all of them seem even more like jokers in a deck of cards.

Bruce knew he couldn't risk everyone being annihilated here by a mysterious monster to take action against Shiller.

One between Greed and Batman was already dead; facing Joker would become much harder. If they were to lose another, especially an agent with such comprehensive abilities, the advantage he had obtained through strategic planning would be wiped clean.

More importantly, if he persisted in releasing a dangerous monster, the pale knight would definitely oppose it, and he might defect, turning them utterly disjointed, a situation that would make Joker laugh in his dreams.

This feeling of being manipulated and unable to retaliate was really irritating; Bruce rarely experienced this because he and Arrogant usually dealt honestly with their mutual hurt, and in his universe, even Joker stood on his side to an extent, so Bruce hardly ever faced such dilemmas.

Bruce was always aware that once free from Batman's shackles, the outside world would be fascinating, but now it's a bit too much so – Joker's dilemmas are still chasing after me!