What bad thoughts can Batman have?

Chapter 981 The Mandatory Teaching of the Void Hand: Dr. Manhattan Learned It
The Hand of the Void finally faced backlash.

His previous ability to bring Papetua into the game doesn't mean he can do it again and again.

Once Papetua had a moment to process what was happening, as the creator of the DC multiverse, she was certainly capable of countering the Void Hand's attack.

Although she still doesn't understand the rules governing the Void Hand's abilities, just as the Void Hand still doesn't understand how Perpetua reverses the facts in the timeline out of thin air, Perpetua can still change his position in the story, preventing the entire storyline from moving in the direction the Void Hand wants to push. Just as the Void Hand can break free from Perpetua's modifications and place his own normal reality above the various defeat CGs that Perpetua concocted for him.

Throughout the story, Papetua remains the evil witch living in the forest, but the evil witch commits a betrayal, which fits the character of the evil witch, doesn't it?

A true hero is someone who, even betrayed by a witch, ultimately finds happiness and completes his mission. If he cannot do so, the whole story would cease to exist—this is indeed true, and naturally, flaws are hidden within it.

The warrior cannot stop the evil witch's betrayal; you can only passively accept it. This is the rule of the story, binding both Perpetua and the Void Hand.

So... that's how the story unfolded. Our hero, Void Hand, was stunned, about to be entangled by the ropes created by the evil witch Perpetua. And in an instant, he was indeed caught. Perpetua reached out her hand to him, and immediately, Void Hand was about to be taken away from the Watchers universe, away from Dr. Manhattan's castle, and completely enslaved by the evil witch Perpetua.

Ah, this is the hero's suffering. At the end of the story, the hero will surely defeat the witch, obtain some treasure, and escape his enslavement. But at least now he is about to become the witch's slave, and the end of the story will come much later, or perhaps it will never come.

The Void Hand was not originally incapable of altering the course of the story and creating tales of warriors breaking free; it was the creator of the story. Even if Papetua had analyzed the power of storytelling and gained a preliminary understanding of it, he could not prevent the Void Hand from rewriting the narrative.

He could have done it, but there's a special circumstance now.

The story of the Void Hand that we see now is actually a distorted version.

The Warrior once wanted to escape back to his homeland, a small village called [Endless Void], remember? The Hand of the Void. Wasn't his plan to make a drastic sacrifice by injecting some energy into the DC multiverse? As long as he left the DC multiverse, he could eventually reclaim that energy. He truly intended to do just that: the Warrior would retire, then return to the DC multiverse at the right time to clean up the mess and continue the Warrior's story. Who says that wouldn't be a good story?
Dr. Manhattan said no.

The Void Hand's actions were halted by Dr. Manhattan's absolute power. This was not the use of story power at all; it was purely Dr. Manhattan's quantum power that, like a tidal wave, forcibly interrupted the Void Hand's attempt to break through space and temporarily withdraw from the DC multiverse.

There's another thing: when Void Hand wanted to run away, it also wanted to take the essence of N52 Superman with it. If that thing was taken away, then Void Hand wouldn't have come away empty-handed. Between confronting Doctor Manhattan head-on and trying to continue pushing the story forward to see what Doctor Manhattan really wanted to see, Void Hand chose the latter, which was more advantageous to itself...

However, this also means that the Hand of the Void no longer has the power to resist Perpetua's ability to reverse his actions and thus directly alter the course of the story.

But just then, Dr. Manhattan, the super-evil dragon who had been observing silently, suddenly moved. The story goes like this: the azure magical dragon waved his hand gently, and the magical rope vanished into starlight. A gentle yet irresistible force swept over the astonished Perpetua. Perpetua could have chosen to resist, but she did nothing. Thus, Dr. Manhattan simply tossed her out of the castle, leaving behind only the increasingly distant, furious screams of the evil witch—oh, that's more like the evil witch in the story, isn't it?

Resisting the story created by the Void Hand comes at a price, and for Papetua, it was far more difficult than anyone else imagined. When Dr. Manhattan decided to similarly alter his own trajectory within the script, she went along with it, temporarily leaving the story.

The castle fell silent. The armored warrior Void Hand, sword in hand, stared blankly at the blue dragon, but then something even more terrifying happened to him.

A soft light began to emanate from the evil dragon Dr. Manhattan, and his dragon-shaped body began to change and shrink... Finally, standing before the Void Hand was a king wearing a jeweled crown, with wise but weary eyes.

"How could this be?" The righteous warrior, the Void Hand, said, each word distinct and deliberate.

Once the story begins, everyone is given an identity by the Void Hand. Even Perpetua's resistance to the power of the "Story" is merely a matter of making choices within the story that benefit himself and are detrimental to the Void Hand's plot, while bearing the identity forcibly imposed upon him by the Void Hand.

But Dr. Manhattan's current actions completely break this rule. He not only directly abandoned the ultimate boss, the evil dragon, that the Void Hand had set for him, but also created a character identity out of thin air that was completely outside the control of the Void Hand. The Void Hand knew nothing about this so-called identity. In the realm created by the Void Hand, Dr. Manhattan created an identity out of thin air, just like ruthlessly playing his own music in a symphony.

At this moment, although Dr. Manhattan does not possess the ability to independently construct a story like the Void Hand, he has now become a legendary fan fiction master who can freely fabricate stories based on the original work. Even if he creates abstract OOC stories that completely deviate from the original content, such as "The Forbidden Love of Harry Potter and Snape" or "10 Stories That Superman and Batman Have to Tell," you cannot deny that these stories do exist in front of you.

"This is unbelievable..." The Void Hand was speechless for a moment.

“Thank you, my brave child,” the king’s voice was filled with emotion, no longer hollow and inhuman, but warm and human. “I was originally the monarch of the neighboring ‘Watchers’ Kingdom. Because I explored the truth of the universe too deeply, I was cursed by an ancient sorcerer, the Pharaoh, and turned into a dragon. In the end, I could only hide in this Watchers’ Castle, my own homeland. The core of the curse can only be lifted when I am truly touched by the heart of someone whose courage stems not from killing and conquest, but from protection and responsibility.”

Within the Watchers universe, the Pharaoh, now half-dead and universally hated, is left in a state of near-death after his plan to massacre millions in exchange for peace is exposed.

?

My body hurts so much. Someone is chasing me again. This safe house is going to be abandoned again.

I have a feeling someone is talking about me... Never mind, I'd better run.

The king, now back in human form, stepped forward, looking kindly at the still-shocked Void Hand. "I saw it the moment you charged at me. There was no hatred in your heart, no desire for destruction, not even a thirst for personal glory. There was only the unwavering belief that you would never give up, even if it meant cooperating with former enemies, to complete your mission and protect others. That pure, persistent, and even somewhat clumsy light of courage, like a key, finally shattered the last ring of the curse that bound me."

Beyond the story, Chen Tao's eyes widened.

To be honest, the stories adapted from Dr. Manhattan always have a strange feeling to them, like they're being mocked.

In short, the story has progressed to the point where it's been arbitrarily altered by fanfiction masters. It's already quite good that it's been changed to this extent. It hasn't given you any weird male-male pairings like Dr. Manhattan and the Pharaoh. It's already a rare and pure fanfiction story.

When Dr. Manhattan transformed back into a human from a dragon, the stalled gears of Watcher's Castle began to turn joyfully, the eternal twilight sky was infused with the golden light of dawn, and the residents' eyes regained their liveliness and spirit. The castle welcomed its truly clear-headed and benevolent master.

The Void Hand struggled frantically.

He gritted his teeth, trying to break free, but Dr. Manhattan wouldn't give him that chance.

The golden sunlight finally dispelled the eternal twilight above Watcher's Castle, and a grand celebratory banquet was held in the Star Hall at the heart of the castle. The warrior Voidhand, however, seemed somewhat out of place. He wore the lord's new robes, but he felt far less comfortable in them than in his old cloak.

He stood by the window, gazing into the distance, his gaze seemingly transcending time and space, landing on his tranquil, empty village. He longed for that simple peace, free from the burden of the entire castle's fate.

The king, holding a cup of mead, approached him, his voice gentle yet insightful: "My lord, your heart seems to be elsewhere, having flown to distant fields."

The Void Hand turned around, his face showing a mixture of honest melancholy and ferocity.

He was forced to remain in the story created by Dr. Manhattan, and he had lost control of the story. Everything was completely out of control, and he no longer had the power to lead the story. The plot was no longer developing according to his wishes, and he could only struggle as much as possible, trying to change the plot by controlling his character's behavior.

“Your Majesty,” he said softly, “I am truly happy that you have been freed from the curse, and I rejoice that the castle has been reborn. But… I am but a boy from the countryside. My courage may only be enough for one adventure after another, not for day-to-day governance and protection. Everything here is too grand, too complicated. What I long for is the simple smoke from the chimneys and the peaceful nights of my hometown. Please allow me… to relinquish my duties as lord after the banquet and return home.”

Void Hand really wanted to draw his sword and stab Dr. Manhattan.

The king didn't immediately object. He gently patted the Void Hand on the shoulder and led him towards the noisy balcony. Just then, the band in the hall suddenly stopped playing. The crowd parted automatically, and a little girl, gently pushed forward by her mother, clutched a handkerchief embroidered with rainbow thread. A small figure holding a sword was crookedly sewn on it, the tip of which was a gleaming gold button. She mustered her courage, ran to the Void Hand, stood on tiptoe, and slipped the handkerchief into his hand.

The Void Hand's face twisted in horror. Help! Where did this girl come from? Dr. Manhattan's abilities were becoming increasingly terrifying; he had actually created a character out of thin air—a character that simply appeared in the story, a character capable of speaking, not some inanimate object or background like the forest the Void Hand had created before.

“Thank you, my lord,” the little girl’s voice was as clear as a silver bell. “My mother said that it is because of you that we can see real stars dancing again. This… is for you, I hope it will help you remember the stars here.”

The Void Hand was forced to freeze, the small handkerchief in his hand, still warm from the child's touch and clumsily stitched, seemed heavier than any treasure. He revealed a sinister smile, "Very well, very well."

The people surrounded the warrior. There were no shouts of slogans, only the simplest and most sincere gifts and words expressing their feelings. The Hand of Emptiness was enveloped by this silent torrent, and he felt something melting, loosening in his chest.

He desperately wanted to draw his sword and kill everyone there, but he couldn't, because King Dr. Manhattan was standing kindly beside him.

The king spoke softly in his ear at the opportune moment, his voice filled with wisdom and compassion: "Look, child. The peace you yearn for may not exist solely in your geographical homeland. True home is built upon the feelings of 'being needed' and 'protecting.' Listen—"

The king pointed out into the hall, where the glittering Milky Way seemed to form a giant, smiling pattern in the night sky—a joyful expression of the castle's will. "—This castle, and all the hearts here, are calling to you; they have come to regard you as an indispensable part." The Void Hand lowered its head, a warm and resolute power replacing its previous hesitation and homesickness. He was forced to take a deep breath, raised his head, and his eyes shone once more like the stars on his cloak. He turned to the king, and to all those who gazed at him expectantly, a genuine, relieved, and resolute smile spreading across his face.

The warrior Voidhand, because of his ultimate wisdom, perseverance, and courage to break through his own limitations, was officially appointed by the king as the lifelong lord of this wondrous castle, to guard its balance and mysteries together with the king.

He recalled what Batman's Dragon said: the greatest power does not come from external help or sharp swords, but from a heart that can still think independently in desperate situations, never give up, and know how to properly use courage and wisdom.

From then on, the warrior Hand of the Void spent a long period of time in the Watcher's Castle, filled with unknown challenges, flashes of wisdom, and true happiness. His story has become a legend that is sung throughout the multiverse.

(End of this chapter)