What bad thoughts can Batman have?

Chapter 996 Version T0 Hero Cognitive Impairment Laughter
The Bat Who Laughs has made up his mind that no matter what the situation, he will not throw a punch.

The drugs injected into his body made him... made him feel nothing.

The Laughing Bat felt that things were better than ever before.

He felt himself becoming stronger.

The feeling of weakness throughout my body also disappeared.

Of course it's powerful enough! The current Batman Who Laughs has basically gathered all the power of the superheroes in the DC multiverse. A large amount of power has been integrated into the Batman Who Laughs, making it into a terrifying balloon.

Meanwhile, on the far other side, Dr. Manhattan was still diligently recording experimental data.

How did the Batman Who Laughs transform from a traitor to the hope of the DC multiverse?

Good heavens, Dr. Manhattan is so curious.

His understanding of the DC multiverse has become increasingly profound; he can now even feel the pulse of the DC multiverse through the Watchers universe... The mysteries of the universe have opened the door to him without warning, allowing him to see everything.

Dr. Manhattan was so focused on the movements of the DC multiverse that he failed to notice the existence of the Bat in the main universe. Of course, this was also a consequence of the Void Hand having once entered the Watchers universe.

His arrival not only brought narrative power to the Watchmen universe, but Perpetual also reshaped the Watchmen universe's South Pole, which had been destroyed by the Void Hand. All of this provided cover for the actions of the main universe's Batman. The effectiveness of the 6th-dimensional armor completely overwhelmed the technology of the Watchmen universe. The main universe's Batman scanned the entire Watchmen universe almost immediately and then located his target:
Pharaoh.

The discussions with Batman and Dragon surfaced in his mind one by one; those memories appeared in his mind at the right time, and then were deleted again.

Even a half-second delay in Dr. Manhattan's investigation due to this abnormal secrecy would have a huge impact on the entire battle.

In short, through a brief recovery of his memories, the main universe's bat found his objective: to capture the Pharaoh alive.

The Pharaoh is now the most wanted criminal in the Watchers universe for causing the deaths of hundreds of millions of people. No one knows where the Pharaoh is hiding, nor what he is planning, but that's not a problem for the 6th Dimension Armor.

When the main universe bat gave the order to his 6th-dimensional armor, this weapon, forged by the World Maker, scanned the entire Earth of the Watchers universe. In fact, before the operation, the main universe bat also wondered if doing so would attract the attention of Dr. Manhattan, but in the end, it did not.

Almost simultaneously with his scanning of the entire Watchmen universe, our Laughing Bat did something else that caught Dr. Manhattan's attention: he pulled out the Manhattan Bat right in front of Dr. Manhattan. This was a direct attack on his face, and compared to such a huge stimulus, the impact of the main universe bat scanning the entire Watchmen universe was almost negligible.

Therefore, when the scan was complete, the main universe Batman had already located the Ogre King's position. He knew that he now had to capture the Ogre King alive, control him, and take him to Antarctica, the only place in the Watchmen universe that was not originally intact and untouched, which was feared to have been destroyed by the Pappetua and then restored. He brought him to this mess of strange creatures crawling around, which were created arbitrarily by the Pappetua.

So what's the next step?
The next step for the main universe bats is unclear.

His memories have been erased again. Perhaps only after he completes this step will the direction he needs to move forward appear in his mind. But the only thing the bat in the main universe can be certain of is:

Their current plan is not wrong.

Oh, to prevent the Pharaoh from freezing to death, he must first build an Eskimo igloo out of ice and snow, and then prepare a large campfire.

The main universe bat, clad in 6th-dimensional armor, spread its white wings and moved swiftly across the vast snowfield.

……

……

……

"Bruce, you've recovered."

The laughing bat was extremely anxious.

He has been trapped in this illusory world for a long time, and he has been holding back from making any possible move to throw a punch in order to prevent himself from being used by Batman Dragon.

Although he knew everything before him was fake, he was now in complete control of his body, and there was no possibility that anyone was manipulating him. This was the best possible outcome.

But as time went on, the Laughing Bat found that he was living in this illusory world for longer and longer periods of time, as if there was no end in sight.

His body was no longer as weak as when he had just woken up, and Alfred had been administering medication to him.

His power has returned, not the power of Mandrake or the Void Hand, but the pure, physical power of Batman that he possesses innately.

He has fully recovered. His bat family is helping him manage Gotham, just like when he was sick.

This left the Laughing Bat somewhat unsure of what to do.

What's the situation outside? How can he escape this illusory world?
Attacking others is not an option, because it would be exploited by Batman Dragon, who might directly throw a punch at Papetua, thus revealing all his trump cards.

Suicide was out of the question; he feared that Batman Dragon might use this to sever his consciousness. If he died in this illusory world… the simplest question was, if he were Batman Dragon, he would definitely find a way to ensure that the Laughing Maniac would never wake up again.

Waiting to die of old age? Putting aside how many years that would take in this illusory world, who can guarantee that the outcome after dying of old age will be completely different from suicide?

What if Batman Dragon could sever his consciousness simply by killing his physical body in this virtual world?
The Batman Who Laughs has created many different repositioning containers within his body. As long as his consciousness remains, he can freely reposition himself into other containers through his brain.

Wait a minute, does anyone know that the Batman Who Laughs' brain has never actually been inside his head?
Think about it, when the Batman Who Laughs worked for Barbatos, and when the Batman Who Laughs worked for Papetua.

Who can prove that the Batman Who Laughs's brain has always existed inside the Batman Who Laughs's body?

The Batman Who Laughs was only definitively proven when Wonder Woman killed him with a chainsaw, at which point his brain was inside his skull.

But what about other times?

No, not. Being killed by Wonder Woman with a chainsaw was a crucial step in the Laughing Maniac's transformation into the Manhattan Bat, so his brain had to be returned to its original position. But normally, his brain is hidden away, ready to shift his consciousness at any time to prevent himself from being killed.

Of course... his real brain doesn't exist inside his skull at this moment.

This is one of the reasons why he was able to establish contact with the Manhattan Bat, though nobody knew this.

The Laughing Bat needs to be released.

He can't stay in this illusory world. He just needs to escape this illusion created by Batman Dragon, an illusion he's currently trapped in... This false world must be aided by the power of the Void Hand's stories, damn it, the power of the stories combined with all those different personality influences Batman Dragon has instilled in him, otherwise it wouldn't be so hard to leave.

He had to think of a way. A way to break the fundamental logic of this illusory world and story.

"Alfred?"

The Batman Who Laughs raised his eyes. He heard the voice of the Third Robin, Tim Drake, coming from beside the door.

It was Robin Tim the Third who returned to the Batcave, but Alfred was not with him at this time.

“Oh, Bruce. How are you feeling?” Tim came over to check on Batman. He wasn’t worried that anyone would try to harm him, since Batman’s room had been equipped with state-of-the-art forced-stop systems ever since he contracted the Laughing Virus, provided by Cyborg from the Justice League.

Its purpose is to stop the other party when Batman goes crazy. He went crazy once before, not only suddenly attacking all of them, but also talking about his power called Mandrakronk and the Void Hand. After attacking them, he started performing pantomime and then made a gesture as if he had killed them.

Batman is now a patient, a seriously ill patient.

Tim will try to talk to the other person as much as possible while ensuring his own safety, hoping to awaken his memory and help him resist the effects of the drugs.

Then, somewhat to his surprise, his Bruce turned around and grabbed his shoulder. The instruments in the room flickered, but did not detect an attack.

The Bat Who Laughs stared directly into Robin's eyes.

"Uh, what's wrong, Bruce?"

The Laughing Bat remained silent; he had just devised a plan, a brilliant one.

Perhaps he can overcome the obstacles that Batman Dragon has set for him, or try to force the other party out.

As long as I lie low enough, and make the other party realize that I would rather die than cooperate with you...

The Laughing Bat finally calmed down, and its intelligence began to prevail.

Batman Dragon needs him more than he needs Batman Dragon.

So all he has to do is do something that Batman would never do.

So he looked Tim in the eye and said, word by word:

"I'm planning to retire."

"Oh... Ah? Wh... What?" This unconventional answer completely baffled Robin.

"Youth will eventually fade, Tim. Youth is gone, golden cups are emptied, and old dreams are hard to hold onto. Batman was just a dream that an eight-year-old didn't want to wake up from... and now it's time to wake up."

He was laughing hysterically, trying to organize his thoughts.

“I’m going to live a normal life, the life I deserve. You too, Tim.”

"You are academically successful, exceptionally intelligent, and have both a father and a mother."

"You have no idea how rare this is!"

"You deserve all the good things in the world. You should go to school and meet your soulmate someday."

"She'll have blond hair and sea-blue eyes, or burgundy hair... She might have the last name Gordon, or Brown, but one day she'll have the last name Drake."

"You will get to know each other, fall in love, my child... Such a youthful and pure love is something I will never have the chance to do again."

"We should all escape this nightmare."

With a crash, the tray Alfred was carrying behind them fell to the ground and shattered.

He covered his face and cried tears of joy.

"Is this real, Bruce? Am I really not dreaming, Bruce?"

The Laughing Bat coldly watched Alfred weep.

Of course, all of this was fake; the plan had only suddenly popped into his head in a flash of inspiration. Now it was just a matter of waiting to see if it would work.

He was nervous, but he was certain...

3, 2, 1.

The Batman Who Laughs silently counts down in his mind. If Batman Dragon can control his fake world, he will definitely try to intervene in some way to disrupt his drastic changes to the plot.

Batman: Dragon will surely lead him to a scene in the original storyline that will inevitably require him to throw a punch in this fictional world.

But the Batman Who Laughs interrupted this prematurely, just as the Void Hand tried to control Doctor Manhattan to play the role of a dragon. But Doctor Manhattan was powerful enough to break free from the Void Hand's story, and the Batman Who Laughs was able to break free from the Batman Dragon story and make actions that did not conform to the original.

He needs to force Batman Dragon to come out and negotiate with him, so that the Batman Who Laughs will have a chance to pull off his tricks. He must know when to throw that punch so he can then use his skills; he can't be manipulated unknowingly, like accidentally hitting a dummy while trying to punch someone else.

He cannot accept this.

He was certain that Batman Dragon would come out and talk to him.

With a loud bang, he saw the bat mite appear before him wearing a skull mask, and the world froze. Despite the appearance of a fifth-dimensional creature, the Bat Who Laughs was almost certain who he was facing.

“Batman: The Dragon.” A smile crept onto his lips.

That most classic Batman Who Laughs—a smile full of malice, as if everything is under control.

It was chilling to the bone. Whether it was Alfred or Tim Drake, the words that moved them were nothing more than the Bat Who Laughs's random ramblings. He didn't actually mean it that way; he was just lying.

He was a master liar, like a clown, claiming to everyone that he had a miserable and unfortunate childhood, and then using that as a justification for his violence and atrocities.

This is exactly what the Joker excels at, and the Man with the Laugh is equally adept at. In his universe, he used this very trick to deceive Alfred and capture him alive. That's how he won—by exploiting Alfred's old heart, making him believe that a part of him still met his expectations—it's the most terrifying lie imaginable.

The laughing bat bowed slightly.

"welcome."

(End of this chapter)