Chapter 588: The Adventure of Cat City Gotham (Part I) (Patreon)

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On the other side, a rescue team consisting of Batman, Constantine, Superman, and Victor arrived at Schiller's Manor. Their purpose here was not to investigate any clues but to borrow something.

Merkel, the butler, received them. Upon learning about Schiller's condition, Merkel allowed them entry into the Manor. Constantine's target was the bottle of wine Schiller had placed on the bookshelf in the guest room.

This particular bottle of wine had brought down many individuals. Both Constantine and Merkel had been drawn into dreams by it before. But now, it had become a shortcut for them to enter Dreamland.

If they merely fell asleep innocently, they wouldn't be able to meet in the consciousness space. After all, there was no one in Gotham like Professor X who could directly connect their brainwaves, allowing them to meet in dreams.

If they each slept separately, Batman could access Dreamland through a unique tunnel in his consciousness. However, the others lacked such a passage, and meeting in Dreamland individually wasn't a wise idea as it might lead to danger, isolating them one by one.

So, their plan was to use the Crazy Wine to enter dreams together. After entering the same dream space, they would proceed to Dreamland, which would be safer.

The effects of Crazy Wine need no elaboration. The moment Constantine uncorked the bottle, everyone entered a dream. In the real world, Merkel placed them on the sofa in the guest room.

In the dream, they were supposed to appear in a room resembling the guest room in the real world, part of Schiller's Temple of Thought. However, the moment they entered the dream, they began falling, tumbling down like dumplings.

They got up, still a bit dizzy. When they looked up, they saw a massive ship parked beside them. Schiller's heads lined the deck, peering at them.

"Oh! My goodness, we found Professor Schiller!" Clark was the first to stand up and waved towards the ship. "Hi, Professor, what are you doing here? Why aren't you back in the real world? We were worried about you!"

Batman got up from the ground, rubbed his head, and looked at the line of Schillers until he saw a figure with green hair. Joker Jack jumped down from the ship and landed in front of Batman.

He dashed over to Batman, laughing hysterically. "Batman! Have you ever heard such a hilarious joke? Someone lost their house and can't get back to the real world! They're counting on Batman to save them, hahaha!"

Batman sidestepped Joker and climbed onto the ship, eventually finding one Schiller wearing a doctor's uniform. At this moment, Marvel Schiller was sitting at the edge of the deck, gazing into the endless white space, pondering where his home had gone.

Before executing this plan, DC Schiller hadn't informed all the Schillers on board about what he was going to do. The Schillers on the ship were merely taking a break and had no idea why their home had vanished or where it had gone.

"Don't look at me, I don't know anything," Marvel Schiller shook his head. He was still in a state of confusion and said, "I just returned on the ship and saw the entire high tower had disappeared."

"Disappeared? How did it disappear?" Constantine asked.

"It was... submerged by a group of cats." As Marvel Schiller uttered these words, it felt unbelievable even to him. He couldn't describe the details, only repeating, "Suddenly, it was submerged by a group of cats."

Batman narrowed his eyes, clearly skeptical. His expression seemed to say, "You're making up a wild story." However, Constantine suddenly said, "Thousand Cats' Dream, it must be Thousand Cats' Dream."

Then, Constantine recounted an ancient legend to the others. "It is said that Earth was ruled by cats in ancient times. Back then, the human race wasn't thriving, but cats had already formed tribes and built cities. They even became the masters of humans, forcing them to create various landscapes for themselves."

"However, humans united to escape enslavement. They collectively dreamt a dream involving a thousand people and used it to cover reality. In this dream, humans became the masters of Earth, and cats became their servants."

"But this dream didn't completely cover all of reality, leaving behind certain traces. For example, Egypt's culture worshipping cats is one of the proofs of this legend."

"Yet, the cat race never gave up on reversing this situation. When a thousand cats dream together, they can return to that glorious era. The dream representing cats is the Thousand Cats' Dream."

"The dream god represents dreams, so naturally, he can control the Thousand Cats' Dream. I guess Morpheus, during his visit to Schiller's Temple of Thought, had an accident that caused him to release the uncontrollable Thousand Cats' Dream."

"So, Schiller's Temple of Thought has likely been pulled into the dream of cats."

"So, now we need to enter the cat's dream to find Schiller..." Batman said.

Constantine nodded, then thought for a moment and said, "We need to go to Dreamland first, find the place where the dream god stores dreams, and then find a cat's dream to enter the Thousand Cats' Dream."

This plan sounded reasonable, so they immediately set off. Although Schiller's High Tower was gone, the hole in the ground was still there. They descended through it and arrived in Dreamland, which lacked a dream god.

From the environment, it seemed peaceful, far from the danger Constantine had warned them about. However, they quickly realized why Constantine had been cautious.

Dreams were a place where anything could happen, as the dreams of any creature were bizarre and surreal. This also meant that there were many beings here that exceeded human understanding, and they were dangerous.

As soon as they landed, they encountered colorful tentacle creatures that looked like they had been splattered with paint. The first one to attack was Batman, who deftly rolled to avoid the ever-changing, colorful tentacles. Constantine's magic lightened up in his hand as he swung, cutting the tentacles with a beam of light.

Clark took to the air and fired his heat vision, causing the monsters in his path to scatter in panic.

Constantine relaxed and patted Batman's shoulder. "I told you, with him around, we're much safer."

Batman didn't say anything, just continued walking forward along the path Clark had cleared. Along the way, they encountered strange ostrich-like birds with sharp beaks, flying discs with a dozen legs, walking coconut trees, and various other bizarre creatures.

Most of them liked to chase after people, and after being attacked, they scattered in all directions. Of course, it might have been because of Superman's powerful attacks; all creatures instinctively sought safety.

After dealing with these troubles, they finally arrived at the place where dreams were stored. It was a starry expanse, countless bubbles floating in the space, resembling stars.

Constantine used a Mysticism method that the others couldn't comprehend to identify the contents of these dreams. Suddenly, his gaze stopped on one of the bubbles.

The others didn't see anything different about this particular bubble, but Constantine reached out and gently touched it. In a moment, they were all absorbed into the bubble.

They found themselves on a beautiful grassy plain. If you ignored the enormous mice in the distance and fish flying in the sky, it was quite peaceful here. Clark surveyed the space and said, "It looks like a cat's pleasant dream—mice, fish, and a vast grassy plain."

"In theory, every cat's dream should connect to the Thousand Cats' Dream. That means we should be in the same dream space as Schiller now. But finding his specific location might be tricky. Where could he be?" Constantine said, turning his head, seemingly contemplating how to locate Schiller in this space.

However, Batman instinctively headed in one direction. The others, somewhat puzzled, walked after him, trying to stop him. But Batman said, "I can feel it; this is the direction of Gotham."

"What's the basis for that?" Clark asked in confusion. "How could there be Gotham in the Dream Realm? And this is a cat's dream."

Victor held Clark back, who was trying to stop Batman, and said, "I've often heard Schiller say one thing: those who don't belong to Gotham will always leave, but some people belong to Gotham, and they will find their way there, no matter where they are."

Watching Batman walk ahead, Victor sighed, shook his head, and then followed his pace. Clark felt somewhat bewildered, but Constantine, who approached, patted his shoulder and joined the others. Clark had no choice but to follow them.

They walked for who knows how long, passing through the vast grassy plain, then several small towns, and finally reached the opposite side of a river. They immediately crossed the river and came to the sea.

In the dream realm, distance was not an obstacle, and they didn't feel fatigue or the passage of time. They continued walking until they reached a shoreline.

On the other side of the shoreline was a massive city. Under the moonlight, it appeared dark and eerie. No one needed to utter its name; everyone thought of the same word in their minds—it was as if all such cities were called Gotham.

Batman stood on a rocky outcrop by the sea. His cape fluttered in the wind. Before he could speak the deep and brooding lines he was contemplating, Clark descended from the sky and said, "What's going on? Why is the city filled with cats?"

The solemn atmosphere around Batman disappeared in a moment. He looked at Clark, who shifted his gaze and said, "I can't be mistaken. Inside that city, it's all cats."

"Indeed, in a cat-ruled Dream Realm, it makes sense that it's all cats. The problem is, in the dream of Thousand Cats' Dream, humans might still be servants. If we enter like this, it could be challenging..." Constantine said.

"Do we really need to worry about facing a few cats?" Victor asked. "Even if all the residents of Gotham are cats now, they're just cats. Can't we handle them?"

Victor pointed at Clark. Unexpectedly, Clark, with a serious expression, said, "No, how can I harm little cats? I have a pet cat at home; I really like it. My parents taught me from a young age never to pull a cat's tail. If I see a stray cat in trouble on the street, I should help as much as possible. We need to be compassionate..."

Victor was left speechless for a moment. Constantine agreed, "I'm afraid the cats here are different from what you imagine. If the legend of Thousand Cats' Dream is true, in the Dream Realm of cats, they have ruled Earth like humans and have developed advanced science and technology or magic over the years, possibly no less powerful than humans."

"If we charge in, we might not only face the siege of thousands of cats but also encounter weapons we can't even imagine. After all, these sharp-clawed little guys can do anything, and once they have weapons, it won't be as simple as pushing a bottle off a table..."

Batman gazed at the city he knew so well, squinting. He was the first to suggest, "We should transform into cats and infiltrate."

"But we're humans. How do we become cats?" Clark asked.

"Don't forget, this is the Dream Realm. One unchanging rule of the Dream Realm is 'belief becomes reality.' As long as you believe you're a cat, you can become one. Just like this..." Constantine's voice fell, and with a "bang," he turned into a golden-striped cat, with fur somewhat resembling his hair color, and his eyes still clearly Constantine.

The second to transform into a cat was Batman. His willpower was formidable, and he became a sleek black cat. Even his long tail seemed tailor-made for combat.

Victor hesitated for a moment, not because he couldn't do it, but he was uncertain about what kind of cat to become. After some thought, he transformed into a Russian Blue cat, a shade bluer than the typical blue cat. He said, "I like blue. It's not bad, right?"

Finally, only Clark remained bewildered on the spot. He asked, "What do you mean, believing you're a cat makes you a cat? But I'm not a cat."

Batman's cat face displayed a helpless expression, and Constantine approached. He patted Clark's pants leg with his paw. Clark squatted down and picked him up, grabbing his front paws and shaking them. He smiled and said, "It really looks like it. My pet cat at home is orange."

Constantine sighed as well. In Clark's hand, he raised his paw and with a flash of magic, Clark transformed into a striped orange cat. When both cats landed, Constantine licked his paw and said, "If your imagination falls short, let magic fill in the gaps."

Clark stared in astonishment at his own paws. Suddenly, he flew up from the ground. The other three cats watched him in amazement.

Batman turned his head to look at Constantine, who hesitated for a moment and said, "His superpowers seem to transcend the boundary between reality and dreams. He won't be weakened in either world, even as a cat."

"That gives us even more security," Victor said. Clark landed back on the ground and walked to the front of the other cats. He extended his paw, pointed toward the city, and said, "Let's go; Cat Squad is here to save the world."

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 589: The Adventure in Cat City Gotham (Part II)