Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 447 A Restrained Man

The scene of Louise confronting Clark came to an abrupt end.

Clark and Mazhaodi in the Speed ​​Force continued upstream. The scene they had just witnessed vanished like a dream, but Clark knew that it was real, happening in this dark multiverse.

The road ahead seemed long, and they continued to travel in the Speed ​​Force, but the scenes mostly consisted of Louis's battles.

Clark remained silent, lost in thought, unsure how to react to the outcome. He had been Superman in Metropolis of his own universe for quite some time, but he had never imagined that Louis would take such a path or have such thoughts.

"Was I wrong?" he repeatedly asked himself. "Have my choices all along been right? Should I have done more? Can I make the world a better place?"

"Does Louise really think that way deep down?"

"Don't overthink it, Clark."

Ma Zhaodi's voice startled Superman from his reverie: "The Dark Multiverse is different from other universes. They are inherently flawed. It may seem that a small change in a detail caused the collapse of the entire world, but in reality, everyone in this universe has a more or less distorted and deformed mind. It's just that some people show it more obviously than others."

"The Louise in this universe and your girlfriend Louise are not the same person, so don't worry too much about it."

“But she’s right, I have the ability to do more for humanity.”

"How much is enough for humanity?" Ma Zhaodi countered. "Can a child who is always carried by his parents learn to walk? Can someone who is always wearing a lifebuoy learn to scuba dive? If there really is an omniscient and omnipotent God, the only thing humanity will do is pray—we like you, not because you are omniscient and omnipotent."

"That must account for at least part of the reason, right?"

"Okay, there's also a small portion—anyway, you'll see the control group soon enough."

After a brief conversation with Ma Zhaodi, Clark's mood improved considerably.

"Regarding my principle of not killing," he asked again, "what's your opinion?"

"Didn't you already have your own code of conduct a long time ago? Why do you need to ask me?"

"The Dark Multiverse has been a wake-up call for me. Our universe has always been like this: bad guys get arrested and then come out to commit crimes again. If possible, I hope to avoid going to extremes, but it seems like people like Luthor or the Joker will never get better."

"Perhaps making it impossible for them to ever do evil again is a responsible thing to do?"

"This question," Ma Zhaodi thought for a moment, "depends on the person."

“You see, Bruce is Batman, and Clark is Superman, but people rarely criticize Bruce’s extravagance or praise Clark’s integrity and kindness, because these two identities are human, not heroes.”

"From the moment Batman and Superman became heroes, they gradually became symbols. Symbols represent an image; they are very pure things, and any noise will cause these symbols to collapse."

"Therefore, Batman will always represent Gotham City's nightmare. Everyone will fear him, even if he does nothing but fly through the night sky of Gotham City, criminals will be scared back to their dens, and citizens will subconsciously feel afraid of that figure." "Superman is the same. He will always represent the sunshine of Metropolis. Everyone can draw spiritual strength from him. People know that there is such a god walking among humans, and they know that he only does good deeds, so people will like him and will not fear him."

“You two, as symbols, cannot kill, because that would cast a shadow on people’s concepts of ‘punishing evil’ and ‘promoting good.’ Uncontrolled extrajudicial punishment is called vigilante justice, and a god of the human world who kills is terrifying. Even if you are not out of control, people will think you are, and then they will lose faith in the image that the symbols represent.”

“Where we live, it’s generally called ‘public figures must be mindful of their social impact,’ but ordinary people don’t have that concern.”

Superman thought for a moment: "But in reality, no one is perfect. Bruce and I are human, not symbols."

"This is the second reason why you can't kill people. If you've noticed, Bruce is actually a madman."

Upon hearing Ma Zhaodi's words, Clark opened his mouth but couldn't refute them—he wasn't very good at lying.

"Not killing is the bottom line he sets for himself. A Batman who kills will only become a complete madman because he is a mental patient to begin with. This bottom line is not a shackle he puts on himself, but the last dam for him to maintain his rationality. The more he kills, the madder he will become—at least that's how it is in the comic book universe."

“And you, well, it’s even easier to understand,” Ma Zhaodi continued. “Today, you want to execute super-criminals; after a while, people will start complaining about ordinary criminals, and if you kill all the ordinary criminals, then those with low morals will become more and more conspicuous.”

"Generally speaking, everyone is subjective, which is fine, because when we cause trouble, we only affect a few people at most, and then others will correct us. But a subjective person with superhuman power can cause a huge mess with a single slip of the mind, and no one can stop him."

"The advantage of procedural justice is that no one can decide the life or death of others based on their own subjective will. Of course, the disadvantage is that things are not done decisively and efficiently, and loopholes may be exploited—but these are areas that should be left to human beings to improve themselves, and this is not a responsibility that should be given to you."

"So, it's okay for me not to kill anyone?"

“That’s right, it’s more appropriate for me to do the killing.”

Clark was startled.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not joking.” Ma Zhaodi shrugged. “Although we all say that heroes shouldn’t kill, I don’t really have the title of a hero. My moral standards are also quite flexible. If it weren’t for Batman and you opposing allies killing, I would have already drawn my gun and shot some supervillains. I don’t kill, it’s just out of respect for my friends.”

“But, but,” Clark stammered, “you just said that these things should be left to humanity to correct itself. Shouldn’t we remove evil from its root?”

“I am human. A life for a life, a debt for a debt, and helping those in need are the most primitive self-correcting mechanisms of humankind.” Ma Zhaodi smiled enigmatically: “Legal matters address the root cause, while killing evildoers addresses the symptoms. If one is lacking, the other will automatically make up for it. Who can say that using both approaches is wrong?”

Clark sighed.

"This is not justice. You just said that we have no right to subjectively decide the life and death of others."

Ma Zhaodi replied, "Believe me, if I really can't help but bypass procedural justice to do things, it must be because procedural justice itself is lacking."

"The lack of rules can only be filled by the rage of common men, and I am definitely the most restrained of those common men."

(End of this chapter)