The day before setting off for the Arkham Batman world, Shiller entertained Lucifer in his office at the sanitarium. He placed a cup of coffee in front of Lucifer. Lucifer just rubbed his finger along the rim of the cup, looking somewhat despondent.
"Did Director Chris pull you into discussing the war of the fallen again?" Shiller found his expression a bit amusing and said, "If you knew what he told me, you'd feel your ordeal was nothing."
"What did he say?"
"He said he wanted me to take turns with all my personality traits to discuss with him, so he could find the most suitable one for his performance."
Lucifer spat out his coffee, but it did revive him a bit. He sighed and said, "You people in this universe are too crazy. I just want to go home now."
"Don't rush, there's one more thing I'd like to ask for your help with," Shiller said. "Do you guys have a Moon God over there?"
"Moon God? You mean the mythological kind? There shouldn't be any, but Heaven has angels specifically responsible for celestial operations. Why are you asking?"
"I want the position of the Moon God," Shiller said. "Simply put, it's having the ability to control moonlight on your side."
Lucifer didn't show any difficulty. He just asked, "Why do you suddenly want to become the Moon God?"
"Batman came to me, hoping I could help oversee things on his side. But the identity of an ordinary person inevitably lacks deterrence. He hopes I can join the Justice League as a superhero, to facilitate his upcoming moves. I think Moon Knight is a pretty good identity, what do you think?"
"What specific kind of power do you want?" Lucifer asked. "If it's controlling the Celestial Moon, it might be very difficult. You know, Earth is the center of the universe, and any celestial body's operating rules related to it are very important and cannot be changed easily."
"So I don't want to control the Celestial Moon, just need the Power of Moonlight. Of course, that might inevitably cause some changes to the Celestial Moon's form. But I promise not to break the Moon."
"Alright. Are you planning to give this power to Khonsu?"
"Why would I give it to Khonsu?" Shiller seemed to see what he was thinking and said, "Although in this universe Khonsu is needed to act as a middleman, if you can directly give me the power, why go through a middleman?"
"It's just that you might not be able to adapt to being a superpower user," Lucifer said. "Controlling energy isn't that simple. If possible, it's best to let someone else handle it."
Shiller seemed to catch onto something and stared closely at Lucifer, "Don't tell me that I also have some setup where I'll be incredibly unlucky if I come into contact with superpowers or magic."
"You don't," Lucifer shook his head and said. "When your mental state is too poor, you have strong muscle strength. What do you think happens when your mental state is too good?"
"What do you mean?"
"Energy being directly infused into your body might make you overly excited and lose control. That's not a situation you want to encounter, is it?"
"But before, I also got a lot of magic energy."
"That wasn't actually you receiving it, but the Gray mist," Lucifer explained. "Whether you want to admit it or not, our anchoring relationship has never truly been severed. This affects you in many ways, most of which aren't really good for the life you want."
"No wonder you're so good-tempered in front of me."
"I'm always well-tempered," Lucifer said. "Only the weak resort to impotent rage. Besides, I seem to have no reason to be mad at you."
"Is that so? Even if it's because of me that you returned to Heaven?"
"That's different," Lucifer laughed and said. "Even though you got me back to Heaven, you also dragged Bruce along. That dreary place is no longer boring after millennia. It's chaotic every day, quite interesting."
"Alright then. How about giving the Power of Moonlight to the Gray mist?" Shiller asked.
"Sure. But are you sure you only want the Power of Moonlight? Perhaps you could choose something more intimidating. You might also ask Nyarlathotep..."
"I'm joining the Justice League," Shiller said a bit helplessly, "not invading the Multiverse."
"You better not be," Lucifer rolled his eyes.
Inside Gotham, at the Akam Knight's Base, he frowned, staring at the images on the monitor screen, utterly puzzled.
"So you're saying, just now, I was talking to myself there? There was no other person from start to finish?"
"Yes, Jason. Although I hate to say it, if a can of beer leads you to hallucinate, maybe you shouldn't drink anymore," Barbara's slightly worrying voice came through the headphone.
"I wasn't drunk!"
"That's what all drunks say."
The Arkham Knight clenched his fist, grabbed the giant Batman puppet nearby, punched it twice, and then asked, "Has Batman called you?"
"No. He should be busy with Amazon's diplomatic affairs lately. You know, that's Wonder Woman's homeland. He was delayed from his routine visit to Amazon due to previous trips to East Asian countries, and Princess His Highness was already a bit dissatisfied. This time, twelve countries' diplomatic statuses were elevated, but not Amazon's. Wonder Woman must be furious. He's got plenty of troubles to deal with."
"A small country that made its fortune from tourism dares to tussle with the Federation?" The Arkham Knight was somewhat surprised, and he said, "Isn't everyone on Paradise Island a demigod? What kind of diplomatic status are they seeking? The kind where you exchange wedding rings?"
"Jason," Barbara couldn't help but chide a bit in her tone, she said, "Just make sure you don't get caught by the reporters. If you give an interview like this, the President's last half-year efforts would be in vain."
"I'm not stupid, how could I say such things to reporters?" The Arkham Knight raised an eyebrow and said, "I'm serious, what standing does Wonder Woman have to criticize the President's diplomatic policies?"
"She's not criticizing; she's just actively striving. You know her reputation is very high internationally. Amazon has always stood on America's side. Over the years without credit, there is labor. If their diplomatic status is shaken, international opinion won't favor us."
The Arkham Knight sighed slightly and said, "I don't believe Batman would really delay the routine visit just because he went to other countries. And isn't it just a diplomatic status in name? Raise it if you want to, it's not like it's too much for him. Why go out of the way to make trouble with Amazon?"
"I don't know," Barbara said.
But suddenly, the Arkham Knight had a thought. He said, "Do you think it has anything to do with what he plans to do?"
"What he plans to do? Do you mean something that might exacerbate internal conflicts in the Justice League? He is suppressing Amazon to gain Wonder Woman's support?"
"I guess that's probably the case," Arkham Batman said, "He used to be at a disadvantage in the Justice League because he wasn't the president. Sometimes, even when Superman and Wonder Woman united against him, he had no recourse. But now it's different. He holds great power."
Arkham Batman's tone became somewhat low and complex. He said, "Simply adjusting the Central State's agricultural policy earns him applause from Superman. Giving Amazon the cold shoulder diplomatically, and Wonder Woman must paste on a smile. That must be the joy of being president."
"I don't think Wonder Woman would yield because of this," Barbara clearly held a different opinion, she said, "When it comes to issues of bottom lines, she won't change her mind due to Amazon. But if it's not a bottom line issue, why go to such great lengths?"
The Arkham Knight clearly didn't know what's going on either. When it came to weapons and combat, he was precise, but when it came to political struggle, he was completely clueless.
Since Arkham Batman took office, he couldn't understand almost any of his policies. But he could keenly feel that after many twists and turns in the court, the Federation was now the new emperor's world.
He sat in the chair in front of the desk thinking, and finally decided to solve the immediate problem first. He asked Barbara again, "Are there other places in the city showing unusual energy fluctuations?"
"Not at the moment, you're his last stop — if he exists at all."
"I told you I'm not drunk, that wasn't my illusion!"
"Then how do you explain why nothing was captured on the monitoring system of your mask? And the bullets are still in your gun, not on the ground. And..."
The Arkham Knight abruptly hung up the communication. Just as he was packing up his things and getting ready to go out for another round, he received a communication from Batman.
"Come to the Wayne building," Arkham Batman said concisely.
The Arkham Knight grabbed his gear and headed to the Wayne building. As soon as he entered, he saw a familiar figure standing by the window—not Batman, but the Moon Knight he had just seen.
The Arkham Knight immediately placed his hand on the gun. But soon he heard Batman say, "Why are you standing there dumbly? Let me introduce, this is Moon Knight, the new member of the Justice League."
"Why did you bring him here?" the Arkham Knight asked, "I mean, if he's the new member of the Justice League, shouldn't he be going to the Justice League?"
"Yes. So I've invited the Justice League to Gotham to offer some valuable opinions on the new base construction. What do you think?"
"You're crazy, Batman!" The Arkham Knight said with a hint of anger in his tone, "Haven't you considered how much trouble those dangerous elements could cause here? Or is it intentional?"
"They're not dangerous elements, nor will they cause any trouble here," Arkham Batman said. "I require you and the rest of the Batman Family, in association with Gordon, Moon Knight, and other inner Gotham forces, to keep an eye on them for me."
Arkham Batman's tone was too cold, and the Arkham Knight shivered. He opened his mouth but couldn't say anything for a while, finally just squeezing out, "What are you planning to do to them?"
"Now you're worried about them?" Arkham Batman sneered before walking behind the desk and sitting down, "I have some very urgent matters to handle. But this can't be known by the Justice League. The resulting consequences might lead to the entire Justice League opposing me. To avoid chaos, I must take the initiative first."
The Arkham Knight remained silent. He could feel that Batman had changed since taking the presidency. In the past, he would never have used such a brute method. Before convincing the Justice League, he wouldn't do anything that might make them collectively oppose him.
But the Arkham Knight couldn't help but wonder, what could possibly make the entire Justice League oppose him? Surely Batman isn't planning to start World War III?
The Arkham Knight shook his head to clear those ridiculous thoughts. He took a deep breath and said, "I'll listen to you, you tell me what to do."