Chapter 990: The Battle for High Tower (Twenty-four) (Patreon)

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When the ground tremors came, Batman glanced at Merkel, who covered his mouth. But in the next moment, he turned and signaled to the Demons, "Retreat! Listen to me, retreat!"

With that syllable, all the Demons, as if a switch had been flipped, immediately dropped their tasks and began to gather together, then systematically rushed towards the mine. Their movements were so swift, their reactions so quick, that Batman felt somewhat astonished.

Merkel also ran towards the depths of the mine, with Batman following closely behind. Because their reaction was too fast, the magma had not even erupted yet when all the Demons retreated into the underground escape passage.

The escape passage was above the magma, but because of their speed, all the Demons had traversed it before the magma gradually erupted, destroying the interior space of the Third Mountain.

As they retreated into the mines below Second Mountain, before people could catch their breath, a Triton emerged from the passage and said to Merkel, "Comrade Merkel? Comrade Alfred sent me to assist you. The remarkable victory you achieved in Third Mountain has greatly inspired the comrades of Second Mountain..."

Upon hearing this Triton speak Soviet Union jargon, Batman covered his eyes. He glanced back at the Demons behind him, still shaken and disoriented, suddenly feeling somewhat stuck.

Batman really didn't want to bring this group of Demons he had with him in front of Alfred, much like not wanting to show him his academic transcript.

But there was no choice. Merkel had already moved forward, so Batman could only follow suit. When he saw Alfred, he was directing a group of Lava Demons, moving huge logs to the top of the mine to reinforce its structure.

Alfred was pleased to see Batman. He chuckled and said, "I saw the collapse of the central mine. It's good that you're alright. Holding out for so long there is truly a miracle."

Batman was taken aback. He hadn't expected Alfred to praise him so bluntly. He paused for a moment but still said, "Actually, I drew inspiration from..."

"No matter what you drew inspiration from, being able to hold back the elite Demon soldiers adaptively for so long is enough to demonstrate your excellent level in tactical arrangements and strategic planning."

Despite being praised, Batman didn't seem overly happy because he was actually full of questions at the moment. Alfred noticed his state. He gestured to the Triton beside him, who led Merkel and his army, as well as Batman's army, deeper into the mine.

In the center of the mine, only Batman and Alfred remained. Alfred led Batman to the side of the log pile where a campfire was burning. Unlike before, there was also a rock slab for grilling, with a perfectly cooked piece of meat on it.

"Eat some. I brought this over from the canteen manager. Tastes pretty good," Alfred said, cutting a piece of meat with a sharp ore and pushing it towards Batman.

Batman hesitated for a moment but didn't eat. Alfred shook his head, saying, "You've been like this since you were a child. If you're not in the mood, you won't eat, which will mess up your digestive system."

In front of Alfred, Batman seemed more vulnerable and childish. As if sulking, he moved away from the slab of rock. Alfred chuckled and said, "I guess you're feeling puzzled about Merkel's achievements, thinking you're smarter but unable to command these Demons effectively."

Batman opened his mouth but closed it again. Eventually, he spoke, "Well, that's one of the questions, but not the only one."

"What else?" Alfred cut the meat, then skewered it with a makeshift fork carved from wood and brought it to his mouth.

"Actually, you've always... I mean, you've never given up on your ideals, right? You've wanted to do this for a long time, haven't you?" Batman looked at Alfred, asking.

Alfred lowered his head, but then nodded, saying, "A person can never truly give up on their ideals. If they say they have, perhaps they've just buried those ideals deep down, unwilling to mention them to others."

"But it's not because they no longer believe, or because they're ashamed to speak about it. It's because a mature person realizes that shouting their ideals loudly, no matter how many times, won't matter when the timing isn't right."

"Why haven't you..." Just as Batman was about to say this, he seemed to feel his tone was too aggressive, as if he was questioning. So, he softened his approach and said, "Why have I never heard you talk about these things?"

Alfred looked into Batman's eyes, remaining silent for a long time. Until his silence made Batman feel somewhat eerie, Alfred sighed and said, "When Thomas and Martha were still alive, I wouldn't hide anything from them, wouldn't instill certain ideas into a child who knew nothing. It would've been unjust."

"And after they passed away..." Alfred fell silent again for a while. Batman kept his eyes on him, then he heard Alfred say, "Your mental state really isn't suitable for any deeper philosophical contemplation right now."

Alfred's words were expressed with great tact, but Batman had already understood his meaning. He was about to speak when Alfred interjected, "I know, at that time, you had many questions, you urgently needed someone to answer them, but I couldn't let you go down that path at that time."

"If you seek this kind of philosophy out of desperation, treating it as your only lifeline and truly believe it offers redemption, then, in essence, it's no different from placing your faith in God."

Alfred looked at Batman with those aged eyes, his tone carrying a deep sense of conflict and pain.

"At that time, I could have handed you a key as a spiritual anchor. But the cost would have been that you could never again see this philosophy from an objective perspective."

Alfred's tone suddenly became somewhat fervent as he gripped the edge of the rock slab, ignoring its heat. He looked at Batman and asked, "Do you know what 'liberation' means?"

Batman shook his head slowly, and Alfred said earnestly, "The liberation we seek for all humanity, in a sense, is to give everyone the autonomy to make all choices and the right to choose the answers they want."

"I've said before, this isn't the Bible. It's not about memorizing all the theories and having a God whisper all the answers in your ear. But if I had given it to you at that time, you would have surely thought so."

"I couldn't let it become your faith when you were so eager to question the world, because it would mean you would never truly understand the essence of this philosophy..."

"It can answer all questions for everyone because it tells you that you, yourself, can answer all your own questions."

Alfred's words made Batman reflect on his mental state at the time. He didn't remember clearly what had happened, everything seemed shattered, but he remembered clearly that he had tried everything to find an answer to ease his pain.

And at that time, Alfred was the person he trusted the most. If Alfred had told him then that everything was God's will, he would have believed it. Perhaps Marxism would have been the same.

But Alfred hadn't said anything, so now Batman believed in nothing.

Alfred sighed again, sounding somewhat guilty, "I know that if I gave you an answer, it would have made you feel better, but it would have deprived you of the right to choose."

"At that time, that's what I thought. But now I regret it a bit because the consequences have been much more severe than I imagined."

Setting aside their roles as master and butler, Alfred seemed to speak more freely. Batman had never heard Alfred speak to him in this manner. Alfred continued:

"I only considered the future at that time, but I never thought about how much trauma you would suffer, to the extent that it would affect your future personality, even possibly your education and descendants..." Alfred shook his head, seeming to feel that there was no better way to handle this.

When such unexpected events befall a genius, it's inevitable that their already suppressed emotional vulnerabilities will be thoroughly shattered. No matter what others do afterward, it's just closing the barn door after the horse has bolted.

But Batman gleaned some other information from this. He looked at Alfred and asked very seriously, "So, am I really sick?"

Alfred was momentarily stunned by his question, then he suddenly became somewhat hesitant. He stammered, "Uh... well... maybe... one of your mentors, I mean, the one who was always very strict, perhaps he expressed some opinions about your mental state in front of you?"

"I thought he was scolding me," Batman said bluntly. "I'm sure he was scolding me."

"Why would he scold you?"

"No reason, he just likes to scold me." At this point, Batman paused for a moment, then continued, "He particularly enjoys scolding me."

Alfred turned his palm, indicating that everything was understood without words. Batman took a deep breath and sighed again.

As to whether Batman realized that he might have some physiological mental illness, he was actually aware of it. But he mistook it for his rational thinking overpowering his emotional thinking, resulting in emotional dullness.

But now it seemed that his situation was not just about being emotionally dull. Some of his emotional responses were becoming increasingly weak, even affecting his empathy.

His reason and logic told him whether the other person was happy or sad. But once he put himself in the other's shoes, he found that although theoretically the situation should make the other person happy or sad, he himself felt nothing.

This also led to his empathizing becoming increasingly skewed, and his judgments of behavior might also be biased. Batman felt that this might also be why he always struggled with psychology. He understood the theories, but once he engaged in empathetic analysis, everything became a mess.

But then again, he had a mental illness, didn't he? Did Schiller not have one? Everyone had mental illnesses, so why could he become a psychology expert?

Batman was puzzled, so he decided to ask Schiller. He looked at Alfred and asked, "Where is Professor Schiller now?"

"Oh, him? After leaving the central mine, he went to the seventh mountain, the one closest to that big eyeball," Alfred replied. Then he added, "I just organized the Demons to dig a retreat passage there. We can meet him there later."

Upon hearing that Schiller was on the mountain closest to that big eyeball, Batman had a bad feeling. So, he immediately called Merkel, and the two of them went through the retreat passage to the mine of the seventh mountain.

As soon as they arrived at the seventh mountain, they saw General Putrescent standing on the edge of the mine, overlooking Schiller lying on the ground.

He raised his harpoon high and pierced Schiller's clavicle. Schiller grunted, and the Demons behind General Putrescent grinned menacingly as they approached.

They produced a huge rusty circular clasp and threaded it through the hole pierced by the harpoon, locking it around Schiller's shoulder and clavicle. They then dragged Schiller, covered in blood, out of the mine.

Merkel was horrified and exclaimed, "We must immediately rescue General Putrescent!!!"

Batman turned his head to stare at him. Merkel hesitated for a moment, then immediately covered his mouth, his voice escaping through his fingers:

"Uh, I mean, we must immediately rescue... Mr. Schiller!"

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