"Let's welcome the big winner of the desert—Batman!!!!"
When two figures that looked quite similar appeared on the screen, everyone paused.
No way, is this even fair?!
Indeed, the screen showed two Batmans. One was dressed in shining metal armor, head tilted slightly, and the lines from head to toe were as sharp as a drawn blade.
While the other was much more profound. He was cloaked in a black cape, tall and slender, carrying an aura of dark yet elegant mystery, and also instilling that primal sense of oppression Batman is known for.
It was Arkham Batman and Primary Universe Batman. When the others on the scene recognized them, most burst into laughter.
Oh well, the square root of the father's power, right? If there's anything harder to deal with than a Batman with Superman's body, it's probably a Batman with Batman's body.
What's scarier is, appearing here was Arkham Batman. Which means, their physique was that of Arkham Batman—inside this terrifying body are two even more terrifying souls.
One Batman can manipulate a body to solve all of Gotham's crises in one night and unravel all mysteries. So if there are two Batmans, they likely only need half a night.
This is not just metaphysics. If Batman has two processors, he can perceive the external world while engaging in internal thought; react rapidly while making meticulous judgments; observe others' reactions while managing body movements; collect behavior data while conducting instant analysis.
"Haha," Stark laughed: "Shiller is going to be in trouble."
"Hope you can still laugh later." Steve knows Stark's true nature all too well.
Then, the Transcendent announced the most perplexing area, the "Moon," and its winners—Arrogant and Nya.
Interestingly, the screen showed only one individual, Arrogant, while the other had no tangible form, just a mass of black shadow. The entry of Greed and Gray Mist was similar, featuring only Greed and a floating gray mist behind him.
So, these two appeared together, one on each side. Instantly, the atmosphere dropped from peak to freezing point. Some already began glancing around, searching for escape routes.
Actually, if one were to interview the audience about who might ultimately win the game, few if any would choose Shiller. The remaining contenders have such overwhelming paper strength; who among them isn't capable of moving mountains and filling seas?
But if asked who might most likely destroy the venue, kill the host, and send everyone back home, nearly everyone would answer Shiller. This guy is just too good at causing trouble.
Practically in every scenario involving Shiller, it's hard to say how he alters the plot, or measure his contribution to completing the mission, but he always earns praise for the admins' coding skills—being able to patch these holes and tie this narrative together, no wonder you all became gods?
When facing problems, Shiller typically has two choices: either jump out of the problem to view it, or turn himself into the problem, thus nullifying it. Both choices test Battleworld code stability tremendously—he's the sort who would order a stir-fry in a tavern.
Thus, when Shiller isn't around, people care about who's stronger; when Shiller appears, everyone just worries about where to run if the code explodes.
Actually, not many really worry. If the code does explode, running won't help; if it doesn't, they don't need to run. So, they can spare time to consider other issues, like which between Shiller and Shiller could win.
Most don't know that Shiller is the same person. They think different Shillers are akin to different Batmans, equivalent entities from various universes. They remain curious about who might come out on top.
But they're more intrigued by another question—who the hell dares duo queue with Shiller?
When the Transcendent mentioned Nyarlathotep and The Nameless Fog's names, those aware of these Outer Gods suddenly understood. No wonder, if it's Outer Gods, then it's not surprising.
Yet, this spawns another question: which of these two Outer Gods is stronger?
So, the atmosphere quickly reignited. Since running isn't feasible, might as well resolve internal doubts. People started discussing what Nyarlathotep is all about and where the rarely seen The Nameless Fog came from.
Due to Nyarla's more active role in DC, and Batman's tendency to pursue the root of every matter, DC's superheroes understood Nyarla better. The most knowledgeable was Evil God Batman, who sat in the audience, seemingly a defeated contestant from some region. Others listened to him recount Nyarla's tales.
On the Marvel side, they understood Gray Mist more, mainly Shiller's universe. They're unclear about The Nameless Fog's origins, only aware of its general nature, which is quite extraordinary alone.
Enough said, let's get to the point. The Transcendent announced: "The rules are simple, draw lots for matchups, and duel until only the champion remains. Now tell me, who are you most looking forward to?!"
Responses varied. Amidst the cheers, the drawing began. In these contests, drawing lots is also a spectacle. The Transcendent placed a giant jar in the center. The audience could see what they drew, but the participants could not.
The drawing follows the entry order. First up was Scarlet Witch, who floated forward, shook the jar with The power of Scarlet, appearing somewhat nervous, but still reaching in, grabbing something from within.
A red ball floated out. She looked at it, but found that she couldn't open it, so she realized that the person who grabbed the ball of the same color as hers would be her next opponent.
Then it was Magneto's turn. He came over and used his magnetic power to spin the can, pulling out a ball from inside, but it wasn't red, it was yellow.
Next up was Main Universe Superman. He thought about it, didn't spin the can, and instead directly pulled out a ball. It was blue.
Three misses in a row, and the audience began to boo. But when Batman took the stage, the noise quieted down.
Batman wasn't into any of those fancy tricks, he casually reached in, and the ball he pulled out was blue.
The audience burst into enthusiastic cheers, and everyone started shouting at the top of their lungs. You see, on Superman's side, it was Main Universe Superman, and on Batman's side, there was Primary Universe Batman too! What is this? This is Superman vs. Batman!!!!
Bruce's ears were hurting from the noise below. He quickly took a bite of the corn cob, and it burned his tongue, making him gasp for breath. Selina rolled her eyes and said, "If you can't handle spicy food, you should've said so earlier."
"How was I supposed to know the original flavor would be spicy?!"
"This is Mexican corn cob, my dear. Haven't you ever gone to watch a football game?"
"You know, I always sit in the box seat. If I'm not having a cheese platter, it's organic juice. How would I know the original flavor of a Mexican corn cob?"
"Stop eating it, I'll go get you some ice cream to cool down. There's quite a show coming up later."
Wiping his mouth, Bruce said, "Main Universe Superman actually teamed up with Batwoman. He's out of luck, running into his universe's Batman; he's likely to fall."
"I don't think so. Main Universe Batman understands Main Universe Superman, doesn't that mean Main Universe Superman understands Main Universe Batman too? Understanding is mutual. Besides, Superman's body is still stronger than Batman's, right?"
"I wouldn't be so sure."
Then it was Arrogant's turn to draw lots. He pulled out a yellow ball, which means in this match, he'll face off against Magneto.
The last one left didn't need to be picked, it was certainly red, which meant Greed and Gray Mist would be up against Wanda and JARVIS.
Gray Mist let out a complaint, saying, "Why like this? The power of Scarlet really hurts when hitting. What bad luck."
"Who do you think would be good luck to draw then?"
Gray Mist thought for a while and said, "If I have to say one, it would probably be Magneto. Anyway, Professor X is attacking you, and the electromagnetic force doesn't really bother me."
"You're truly my good partner," Greed said, "I actually think Wanda and JARVIS are easier to handle. Since JARVIS doesn't have a body, he actually can't do much, and we don't have anything he can hack into, so it's really just Wanda alone. We just don't know what his skill is."
"Definitely very strong," Gray Mist said, "too deadly."
"I guess it should be an area attack. Because they just announced he had four consecutive kills. I guess maybe he used a big move when his HP was low and directly got a quadra kill, otherwise it would be hard to achieve. But if it's an area attack, it's actually good news for us."
"Why?"
"Think about your passive skills, you'll get hit no matter where you stand. If it's a high-damage, low-hit-rate single-target skill, hitting you wouldn't worry about accuracy. But if it's area attack, the damage coefficient won't be very high, and the attack frequency won't be too high, otherwise it would be ridiculous. Hitting you would actually be less damaging."
"Hope so," Gray Mist said.
"I'm wondering what Arrogant's skill is," Greed said, "It can't just be breaking through others' defenses through language, right?"
As he spoke, he looked over there and clearly saw that Arrogant's face didn't look good, but Arrogant's face never looked good, so it was hard to tell what was going on. But if they could win, their strength must not be weak.
"Nyarla isn't easy to deal with," Gray Mist said, "My spiritual influence might not work on him, my ultimate might be useless, so no delay tactics can be used."
"Don't rush; we'll find a way when we get there. Besides, with our level, we might be eliminated before even facing him."
On the other side, Arrogant also glanced at Greed, sighed, and thought to himself, "I think there's no need to be too tense. With our level, we might be eliminated before even meeting him."
And besides them, almost everyone was saying in their hearts to their partner, "It's okay, don't be too nervous. We might be eliminated before we even meet Shiller."