LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 4096: 305
Batman was dying.
The wounds on the Primary Universe Batman had deteriorated to an irreversible extent; his blood volume had bottomed out, and the pain of his body was causing his mental health to deteriorate as well; his consciousness was starting to fray.
Very few people regarded Battleworld as a mere game, because everything here was too real, including the pain and despair of death, even Batman was no exception.
At this moment, he felt a chill; the door to the room was opened, and Shiller and Greed returned.
Greed threw a first aid kit to Bruce, while Shiller sorted out the supplies, then said to the others, "We checked; the Lighthouse has nine floors; there's a Guard room on each floor; we should have killed all the dogs there. On the second floor, there's a man named Jeff; we found all our supplies in the storeroom on the third floor…"
"I'm going to check out the Guard room on the first floor first, you guys can eat something to recover your Physical Strength, and after recovering, we can go up and explore together."
"I'll go with you," said the Pale Knight as he rose to his feet, "I'm quite interested in this Jeff you mentioned; maybe I can figure out a way to persuade him."
"I was thinking the same thing," nodded Shiller, and then he asked, "How capable are you in combat? Can you defend yourself?"
"I can," the Pale Knight nodded, "To maintain a good image, I work out all year round and have learned a few fighting moves from friends and acquaintances; I won't hold you back."
After Bruce got the first aid kit, he began to treat Batman, but this time, the dice that fell in everyone's view were not red, but black with golden numbers.
No one knew what was going on, but the dice were already tossed high into the air, and when they landed, it was a glaring "1," an undeniable critical failure.
With a hiss, the scalpel cut open Bruce's hand, and blood gushed forth. He grimaced and had to dress the wound on his palm first.
Shiller, who was almost out the door, had to return with a frown, and Bruce shook his head, saying, "Although I have a medical background, I lack clinical experience, and my luck isn't great either."
"Officer, you must know some first aid, right?" Shiller turned to Night Owl, who approached and knelt beside the Primary Universe Batman, though his gaze remained fixed on Bruce's palm.
After checking the Primary Universe Batman's wounds, Night Owl shook his head, "He's pretty much beyond saving. I can only try to stabilize him, but it's unlikely he'll survive tonight."
Shiller's brow furrowed firmly, but he still said, "Don't give up; we'll go outside and see if we can find something more useful."
Then he walked toward the door again; the Primary Universe Batman, who had his eyes closed all along, suddenly said, "That Jeff... he's not the Lighthouse Guardian... be careful with him…"
"I will," Shiller withdrew his gaze and left the room with the Pale Knight.
Seeing the pile of Hunting Dog corpses on the ground, the pupils of the Pale Knight constricted slightly, but Shiller went straight for the door opposite.
When the Hunting Dogs had burst out, the door had opened just a crack. Shiller opened it fully, but inside, there was a man and the bodies of two Hunting Dogs.
A tall, skinny man in his fifties was slumped against the corner of the wall with a gunshot to the chest. Beside him lay two dogs; one had its head blown apart by a bullet, while the other appeared to have been stabbed and bled to death.
Shiller immediately walked over and saw "Beware of Jeff" written in blood on the wall behind the man.
Shiller stood still, his mind reconstructing the scenario of the crime: someone knocked on the door, shot one dog without a word, then stabbed the other as it lunged, and finally shot the man.
Judging by the height and angle at which the man was shot, the perpetrator was about the same height as him.
Shiller found human tissue and fabric in the mouth of the dog that had been stabbed, suggesting it had bitten Jeff.
The situation was becoming clearer: Jeff was an intruder who had killed the original Lighthouse Guardian but had been bitten by a dog.
The Pale Knight also examined the matter in the dog's mouth, then shook his head, "If he was only bitten in the calf by this dog, he definitely didn't lose the ability to move."
Shiller stood up and said, "Yes, but with such injuries, there's no way he could survive an attack of five Hunting Dogs; that's the main reason he can't leave the Lighthouse."
"But after seeing us, he already knows the dogs are dead, so now he must be eager to leave the Lighthouse. However, looking through the window, we see that the outside is covered with heavy snow, and he just learned from our conversation that the door to the underground cave has been opened…"
As Shiller walked back with his gun in hand, he thought that the information about the dogs being dead and the underground cave was all disclosed by Greed. He knew that this might lead Jeff to the room where they were resting, as that was the only place with an entrance to the underground cave. What was he trying to do?
Just as Shiller and the Pale Knight were crossing the hall, they heard a voice say, "The battle begins…" But this time, it wasn't the voice of the Transcendent but a muffled, low whisper that was chilling to hear.
As expected, they saw the door of the room had been opened. Jeff's tall figure stood at the doorway. When he realized someone was behind him, he retreated into the room at top speed, preventing Shiller, who had already aimed his Shotgun, from getting a clear shot.
Shiller had no choice but to put down the gun and walk to the door. Having just completed his inspection, he had discovered that the bullets inside the body suspected to be that of the lighthouse guardian were from a handgun, which meant that Jeff likely possessed a handgun.
When he entered, he saw Jeff raising his hands with the handgun, his back against the corner of the wall, his face twisted as he said, "All of you back off, let me go down!"
"Keep cool," Greed said from the side. "There's no need for any conflict between us. If you want to enter the underground cavern, then go ahead, no one will stop you."
"Give me your supplies!" Jeff said viciously. "And your clothes, take off whatever can keep me warm!"
"If that's the case, we've got nothing to talk about," Greed replied.
"You may take all the supplies," the pale knight stepped out from behind and said very rationally. "We've confirmed that there is no transportation available around here. If you want to leave the village on foot, you can't carry too much weight. We can give you some supplies to help you leave, but first, you need to put down the gun."
The black dice once again appeared in front of everyone, obviously the pale knight had triggered his persuasion skill, but the dice spun twice in the air and landed on a "1."
Jeff got agitated instantly and said, "You bastards! I'm just trying to survive!! Hand over your stuff quickly, or I'll shoot!!"
"You better not do that," Bruce, who was still treating the Primary Universe Batman, stood up and said, "One of us has been possessed by a Wandering spirit, and you should know what happens if you attack a monster with a firearm."
"What?! You've been possessed by Wanderers?" Jeff was obviously shocked, and his gun-holding hand tightened, showing his hesitation.
Taking advantage of his momentary shock, Shiller rushed forward, but just then the dice appeared again, spinning once in the air before landing on yet another "1."
Bang!
As Shiller tried to disarm him, the gun discharged against the wall, with the bullet ricocheting and hitting him right in the shoulder. Pain made him grunt and his grip loosened, and he was flipped to the ground by Jeff.
Fortunately, Night Owl had been on guard, and the moment Shiller made his move, he stepped forward and kicked the side of Jeff's knee. As Jeff's leg buckled, he was pinned down by Shiller.
Night Owl took over holding him down, and after Shiller got up, he took a deep breath and looked down at his shoulder.
The bullet had not entered directly, so it hadn't penetrated deeply, but it still needed to be removed. Shiller glanced at Bruce's hand, walked over, and took a scalpel from another medical kit, ready to extract the bullet himself.
"Tell us what on earth is going on here," Night Owl said in a stern voice, twisting Jeff's arm and pinning him to the ground. Jeff tried to curse, but Night Owl applied pressure and Jeff cried out in pain.
Without showing any mercy, Night Owl pressed the handgun against Jeff's head, the intimidating presence of the dark barrel outweighing any words. Jeff swallowed hard and said, "Aren't you people from the Church? Church people can't just kill!"
As Shiller carved a wound on his own shoulder, he asked, "Is the person on the first floor the one you killed?"
"I didn't mean to kill him!" Jeff shouted. "He set the Hunting Dog on me; I was just retaliating!!"
"Who was that person?"
"What's it to you?" Jeff yelled. "You damned outsiders! You must have brought the Curse..."
Jeff's shouting made Shiller's eardrums swell; Jeff seemed to be on the brink of madness, making it difficult to question him normally, so Shiller looked towards Bruce.
But perhaps it was because Night Owl had Jeff completely subdued and the fight was won that the skill list appeared once more before Shiller's eyes.
The circumstances were getting worse, the dice had changed color for some reason, and no matter how it was thrown, it would be a major failure, meaning that any future action requiring a check would end up backfiring.
Moreover, the previous illusion had convinced him that the Clairvoyance skill would be very useful, so Shiller added a level to his Clairvoyance, now possessing level 1 Document Reading and level 2 Clairvoyance.
And this third point of Skill Points from the third battle meant that finally someone could max out a skill.
Shiller didn't choose to do so because he wasn't sure if a level 3 skill would be a qualitative change. If the improvement wasn't significant, it made more sense to learn a variety of skills.
But just as he was looking at Bruce, wanting him to use his Spiritual Analysis Skill to analyze Jeff, Bruce suddenly let out a scream.
Shiller was taken aback; he remembered what the Transcendent had said. The so-called Spiritual Analysis Skill was actually just a copy of his gift.
But Shiller's gift wasn't solely a talent; it was actually hallucinations from a morbid state. And if Bruce acquired this gift, it meant he could see those hallucinations too.
Sure enough, Bruce stood up, clutching his eyes in bewilderment, his gaze completely unfocused, as if he could see nothing at all, drawing everyone's attention with his commotion.