What bad thoughts can Batman have?

Chapter 547: The light appears after a long wind (5000 words, the climax of this volume begins)
(I would like to use this chapter title to commemorate the 12nd chapter of Volume 6 of The Legend of the Great Sage, "The Winds of Thousands of Miles Break the Green Ivy," written 32 years ago, and my childhood, which was a little regretful but still happy.)
Imagine that such a book exists.

It encompasses everything that is happening, everything that has happened, and everything that will happen.

Everything in the world is all-encompassing.

The book was heavy and covered in leather from a beast that had never existed.

The only person who has read this book is a pair of blind eyes. Apart from the book in their hands, there is only darkness in these eyes.

This book is the universe, and only the blind fate has witnessed how the universe transforms into infinite stories... Perhaps he is also the only one who has read all the stories created by the universe.

It was chained to him, either to protect the book's safety, or to prevent the blind owner from escaping, or to indicate fate... it was one with the book.

He neither knew nor could he tell anyone else.

Destiny carries the universe.

Destiny will also read itself in this book...

Although it is uncommon, it does happen.

After all, fate also exists in the universe in its own way.

At this moment, he turned a page and read about himself.

In the book, he is strolling down the corridor...

"I am Destiny from the Endless Family. Here, my sister, I stand in my gallery and call upon you."

Fate saw himself appear on the page of the book, now standing in front of a portrait in the corridor, and in front of him was a portrait of Death, painted by a painter named Vincent.

"I call upon you, my sister, though I know not why."

Then Fate saw Death walk out of the painting in a puff of mist... like the cold, misty vapor of a winter night.

Death is through the hazy twilight, the wet dream.

"You can read on to find out."

"You know I can't..."

"Just kidding. You know I always say that."

Death revolved around fate. She held an umbrella with her feet off the ground, dancing and beautiful like an elf in the night.

Destiny held the page of the book and he turned to the next one.

Then he really saw why he was here.

"Fate brings Death," said Death.

"The Batman of that universe changed fate and invited death."

Fate saw himself on the page and said, "He broke free from the fate woven by Barbatos."

“I see,” said Death.

In the cracks of the dark multiverse.

These are worlds that were eaten into empty shells by Barbatos. Barbatos did not fulfill his duty. Instead of destroying these worlds, he ate them.

The energy that constitutes these universes was swallowed by Barbatos instead of returning to the cosmic furnace.

And all the dead creatures in this universe, all the rebels, surrenderers, supplicants, and innocent people, are now wandering in this empty shell world. Although they can be simply called ghosts, they are actually just a group of monsters that are neither alive nor dead.

Therefore, the word "residue" may be more suitable for them.

It's not just this empty shell universe.

In the dark multiverse, there are countless empty shells like this, and they are all the evil consequences caused by Barbatos usurping the power of the World Forger.

Remnants like them have long lost their complete consciousness, and even the power to maintain their existence comes from the remaining power of Barbatos, like the nuclear radiation left after a nuclear bomb explosion.

They could only wail in pain, but many of them no longer had the strength to even wail.

They should have maintained the status quo forever, until the last "nuclear radiation" was exhausted, or until Barbatos perished, releasing the energy he had swallowed, leading their souls back to the World Crucible and reshaping it into a new world.

Apart from that, they can only wail.

But now…it’s different.

Something happened.

The entire dark multiverse is vibrating at a certain frequency.

Boom!
It felt like a heavy hammer hitting something hard.

A remnant raised its head and stared at the sky blankly.

In the gray sky, a white light appeared, followed by cracks as dense as a spider web.

Boom!
The next moment, the spider-web-like cracks began to spread throughout the world. Loud crackling sounds were heard from the world, followed by the sound of the empty shell universe collapsing.

The dazed remnants finally realized what was happening.

They looked up in disbelief and then looked at each other, an action that gave them the illusion that they were still conscious.

They howled according to their instinct, but the howling sounded more ecstatic than before, and it seemed like an illusion.

A remnant was wailing towards the sky, and as he howled, black liquid like tears began to flow from what looked like the eyes on his face.

Those are the tears and blood of the dregs. If you look closely at the face of the dregs, you will find that it looks very much like Bruce Wayne...

Of course, it is a version of a dark multiverse, from some inferior, incomplete, and inherently weak world. He once had Alfred, Nightwing, his own Justice League, and love, but all of this has long gone with the wind.

In his world, although he is called Batman and he and his companions hold up the world on their shoulders, a speck of dust from history that falls on him is like a mountain that he cannot carry.

He failed, and then lost everything...and so did those scum who wailed with him.

They have been trapped on the border between life and death for many years. They have been forgotten by everyone. No one will remember those ordinary people who have been submerged in the tide of history. They are just superheroes to their family and friends, but they are ants under the wheel of the times.

For countless years, no one has ever been able to resist and reverse the fate of Barbatos, but today...

The time has come.

The scum raised his head.

There was a deep darkness above his head, which was the realm of death. For a long time, these remnants had been on the brink of neither life nor death, but as the empty shell universe that contained their bodies was completely destroyed, they finally took a big step towards death.

But not enough.

not enough.

They are not yet able to embrace death, and at the moment of death, they still have unfulfilled wishes.

So many years of resentment and unwillingness, are like thinking you have crossed a single-plank bridge through an army of thousands, but seeing instead a thick, sad, insurmountable barrier, and then banging your head on it until it bleeds.

Countless heroes of the dark multiverse, all the dead people—

We! Still have! Unfulfilled wishes!

What a spectacular sight it is, endless debris rushing into the realm of death, passing through it, but leaving without hesitation, and then gathering together, crossing thousands of mountains and rivers -

Return to the world again!
Chen Tao felt a hand on his shoulder, and then it disappeared in an instant, followed by the next hand, the next hand, and the next hand.

Those remnants of the dark multiverse were nothing but empty shells. Both their flesh and blood and their souls had been eaten clean by Barbatos. The power they could provide to Chen Tao was not even one thousandth of that of an ordinary adult, and could not even last for one thousandth of a millisecond.

But in the dimension invisible to the human eye, they were desperately rushing towards reality, reaching out their hands one after another, gathering Chen Tao in the center, like the ancient Mayans worshiping their gods.

We...we are so lucky that I can cross thousands of mountains and rivers and gently put my hand on your shoulder.

"What the hell is this?" The Anti-Monitor cursed Barbatos in his mind.

He has projected enough power, which is close to the upper limit of what the puppet can bear, but it can still only barely hold off the huge force brought by the collision of the two universes.

As time goes by, the inertia of Luthor driving the universe to impact gradually weakens, and he will definitely win in the end, but now...

Someone dropped the last straw that broke the camel's back.

The power of the residues is too weak, so weak that it can be almost ignored. After all, they are just straw, common, replaceable, and just consumables.

But at this time, it became a straw...

This seems like a mockery of fate, but also like a mercy of fate.

Boo!
The Anti-Monitor can no longer retreat.

In the space behind him, a crack suddenly opened.

It was a tiny crack between the dark multiverse and the light multiverse, which he tore open with his own hands in order to exile Superboy-Prime.

At this moment, the entire universe of Night Owl was like a drop of water attached to a mirror, covering the entire gap fiercely.

This tiny gap, which was only big enough for one or two powerful individuals to pass through, was so close that it appeared directly inside the universe. The Anti-Monitor...

Beside.

"How did you find this gap so accurately..." Then the Anti-Monitor realized.

It's a purple lantern ring.

With the help of the ring, Batman monitored the exact location where Superboy-Prime lost contact and disappeared.

But all this has lost its meaning.

Batman held him tightly, pushing him towards the gap;

Countless souls from the dark multiverse lifted him up like stars surrounding the moon. "Damn it, let go! Let go!"

Useless.

No matter how the Anti-Monitor struggled, his puppet body could not burst out with stronger power. The infused power was already close to its limit.

So he could only watch the gap getting closer and closer.

He saw cracks beginning to appear on Batman's body, and immediately realized what had happened to him:
“You are almost unable to bear the push of those forces, the power of two universes is pressing down on you.

You just exploded your body in an attempt to release more power... Even though you can repair yourself, if you continue like this, you will also break apart."

“Stop it, you can’t defeat me even if you push me into the bright multiverse. I am unharmed, but you are seriously injured and on the verge of death.

Separated by the boundary between the two universes and without the help of those dark multiverse batteries, you are no match for me."

The Anti-Monitor originally wanted to persuade Batman to give up this action, but as he spoke, he felt that Batman's efforts would not be in vain since he paid such a huge price.

"What on earth do you want to do?!" He couldn't say any more and asked angrily.

"Drink!!!"

In response, he heard Batman's roar and was pushed to the edge of the gap by Batman. The Anti-Monitor grabbed the edge of the gap with his hands.

Then he saw Batman's grin and his fist raised high.

The fist was covered with hideous bone spurs that belonged to the ravager.

"I am a mortal in a cloak who intends to shake up the dark multiverse."

Peng!
"I am the one who never stops fighting, I am bound to be the loser, I am the tragic protagonist whose fate cannot be reversed."

Peng!
"I am Don Quixote, the mad and laughing Don Quixote, the man who seeks his own death, the willing sacrificer, the incompetent planner, the powerless foolish lunatic."

Peng!
When Batman grabbed the Anti-Monitor by the throat, the Anti-Monitor heard a deafening roar like a huge bell:

"I scare death away. Do you want to know who I am? Do you want to know what I do?!"

"I am the wail of the dead in the dark multiverse!!!"

"I am Batman!!!"

There were tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of hands, numbering in trillions, they were shouting silently, humming loudly, and the endless residue was surging behind Batman like a tide, covering the sky and the sun, with raging waves!

They sang in unison:
Fly!!! Fly!!! With all the resentment and hatred of the dark multiverse, rush to the bright world!

Give me a high one - fly up!
boom! ! ! !

In an instant...

The deafening noise was gone.

Chen Tao felt himself falling with the Anti-Monitor.

The scent of mint, the light of the fishing port lighthouse...it's like standing by a fire...and hearing the creaking of old wood.

Time... time stood still until the raindrops fell silently.

Chen Tao felt like he had become a grain of sand, falling with the sunlight.

He fell into the boundless river of stars, crossed the darkness, and came to the world of light.

He saw the blue Earth in the distance.

Then he heard the Anti-Monitor's voice in his ear: "Have you thought about how to die?"

……

……

……

clack.

Death opened the door.

Bruce Wayne from a certain dark multiverse jumped up from the sofa as if he was asleep, and he looked at everything in front of him in surprise.

The fire beside him was burning brightly.

"What happened?"

He asked loudly, and then answered his own question:

"I... I'm fighting the crazy Luthor... He killed the Joker and thus became one with him..."

Bruce tried desperately to recall:

"He's allied with Darkseid! He placed nuclear weapons in Metropolis, and when Darkseid invaded..."

He raised his head and looked at the girl in front of him.

Then it dawned on him what had happened.

"I remember now. The Justice League failed, and we were defeated miserably by Darkseid. The nuclear bomb went off. I died. Right?"

Death looked at him with sympathy.

"Yes, and your world is destroyed."

That Bruce held his head.

A great fear and sorrow overwhelmed him in an instant, and then he looked at death:

"So, you...you...you are..."

He turned his head suddenly and saw the residue in the room, the last thing he had left behind, and then he recognized that the residue... was himself.

"Oh my God," he groaned.

He clutched at his own remains, trembling.

"My life was horrible as hell, and in the end, I didn't save anything, that's all."

"No...No! My world, my everything!"

He rushed towards Death and grabbed Death's shoulders.

Even the calm and wise Batman, when faced with death, still grieves like a child:
"How could you do this to me, how could you be so cruel?!"

"I tried my best to save my world! But it was all in vain, all in vain!"

"I can't change this, Bruce," said Death.

"The end of your story was already recorded in the Book of Fate, a fate drawn by Barbatos... even before you took your last breath."

"No, I beg you! Is it impossible to change this? Is everything I have done in vain?"

Then it dawned on him.

He recalled.

He remembered putting his hand on the other Batman's shoulder.

He turned suddenly and looked towards Death.

"You've already changed these. You already did."

"Batman changed these," Death said, "but you guys were involved as well."

She looked straight at those tears in her eyes:
"Your power is meaningful after all."

Then she held out her hand to Bruce:

"So, can we go now?"

Every residue will see its own death.

When facing the elderly, death is an innocent and lovely child; when facing young people, death is a youthful member of the opposite sex; when facing teenagers, death is a gentle mother.

As Batman wielded the universe as a sledgehammer, countless non-living and non-dead remnants bound by Barbatos became true revenants, and Death was responsible for taking away each of them.

Death said that she was neither holy nor noble, she had no mercy, this was just her job, and in reality, she did not help the Bruce of that universe overcome the crisis that would inevitably destroy him and his universe, and she did not give that Bruce hope.

But she redeemed them in her own way.

"and many more……"

That Bruce looked up and said:

"I wonder... him... I mean the Batman. He's already been badly damaged, how can he defeat the Anti-Monitor even in the bright multiverse?"

Then he dropped the question again.

"Forget it, none of this matters to me anymore."

"I have to go now."

He took the hand of death and melted into the white light along with thousands of remnants.

The past years, the dark days, no need to chase after them, but the road to the future...

Bright and shining.

(Note: As for how the severely injured Batman fights against the Anti-Monitor in the bright multiverse, you will need to subscribe to the next chapter to find out! Hehehe!)
(End of this chapter)