Shane Freak
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Chapter 978: Battle for the High Tower (Twelve)
🕑 Added 2024-02-12 05:41:19 +0000 UTCIn DC World With Marvel Chat Group : Table of Content/Chapter List
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By the time they returned to the dormitory in the evening, Batman hadn't said a word, and Hexagon started chattering away, his tone filled with an unprecedented excitement.
"Did you see that? The big guy got whipped! Let me tell you, that's not pleasant at all. He must have been taken to the eastern mines to carry lava rocks. That's not an easy job. Exhausting and facing the most brutal overseers. Anyone who doesn't work well gets sent there!"
Hexagon kept gasping for breath, his voice becoming coarse. He said, "I can't believe it. When I said those words, my feet were shaking. I couldn't even look the overseer in the eye. My god, how could you humans come up with such sinister schemes?!"
"You really predicted it. Those imps surely spoke up for me because they've had enough of that idiot. And Aofei hates him more than I do because he killed Aofei's two children while smashing rocks before. Even though Aofei has over twenty children, those two were the strongest and most likable..."
Hexagon muttered about their past, talking about how Aofei was produced, how the two children grew up, and how they were killed by the rock smashing. It sounded like family gossip, all of which Batman noted down as intelligence.
"You seem quite happy?" Batman asked.
"I... I am a bit... but I don't know why. This afternoon, I felt extremely excited. I even worked harder than usual, I was just too happy, finally don't have to endure that idiot anymore!"
Then, Hexagon's tone became somewhat resentful as he said, "Those damned Lava Demons should all roll into the magma. They always bully us, relying on their strength. If not for the uproar this time and too many people speaking up for me, the overseer would surely have punished me too!"
But then he sighed and said, "But this trick can only be used this once. And lately, they urgently need ores. I heard there's going to be fighting on the front lines, so everyone's busy catching up. I'm nearly dead tired..."
"Who was the overseer who came today?" Batman asked, and Hexagon thought for a moment before saying, "I heard they said he's the boss of the big mine. Don't we have seven mines here? Each mine has a boss, and there's a head boss for the entire mine, General Putrescent, and beyond that... I don't know."
"Does he often whip people?" Batman asked again.
"Of course, all the lazy miners get whipped, especially by the big boss. Lava Demons almost fall apart after being whipped once. If it were me, I'd probably die on the spot." Hexagon's tone trembled a bit, and he said, "I've seen it with my own eyes. The big boss used that whip to whip Aofei's grandfather to death..."
"Why?" Batman asked.
"Because of flame powder. Oh, that thing the overseer was holding when you saw him whipping. It refreshes the mind and relaxes the body. Although I've never tried it, I've heard it's good."
"When the overseer was whipping the flame powder, he spilled a bit on the ground. Aofei's grandfather picked it up and took a puff, then he was found out and beaten to death."
Hexagon sounded fearful, and Batman said, "Just for this little thing?"
"Not a small thing. Only the overseer can smoke flame powder, oh, some old miners can too, or those who are favored by the overseer, have a chance to smoke it. It's a symbol of status."
"And what about those imps? What if they smoke flame powder? It would disgrace everyone, but since they produce so many, killing one or two doesn't matter."
"Aren't you afraid of being killed by them?" Batman paused for a moment, then asked.
"Of course, who isn't afraid of death?" Hexagon's tone sounded a bit timid, and he said, "But I don't cause trouble, and I work well, so it's not easy for me to die."
Batman fell silent again. Hexagon's tone, demeanor, and behavior reminded him of someone, although they were vastly different, they shared many similarities, that was the little girl who died of hypothermia in Wayne Manor.
Once, Batman couldn't understand their ignorance, as if living day by day, never thinking about the future, never considering the potential crises, unwilling to make any changes for these crises, unwilling to self-rescue.
But later, when Batman, alone, walked the streets of the slums, he understood where this ignorance came from.
They weren't unafraid, they just chose another way to avoid the reality of fear and powerlessness, which was to live for the moment.
Sitting in the dark and narrow room, Batman seemed to hear the rain of Gotham, and he thought, perhaps Gotham lacked a thunderstorm to wake people up from this ignorance, to make them realize that besides quietly dying, there was another possibility after being driven to desperation.
Would he be that thunderstorm? Batman asked himself inwardly, but soon, he got a negative answer.
Because he knew, the trauma in his heart brought him vigilance, defense, and suspicion, making him only a lone walker in the rainy night, unable to raise a flag and ignite fire.
Batman had once wondered if Godfather and Schiller were waiting for him, but now he realized that neither Godfather, Schiller, nor he himself were the saplings Gotham was waiting for.
They weren't the thunderstorm that fell on a rainy night, nor were they the ones who raised flags in the waves. Perhaps their entire lives were merely loosening the soil of evil, allowing the roots of the seeds to dig deeper.
Ultimately, who would thunder down during the early spring awakening? Who would emerge from the soil at the onset of a rainy night?
Contemplating this question, Batman found that he didn't care. After facing the dark reality of Gotham, he no longer had so many meaningless fantasies. Purifying such soil had already exhausted him for a lifetime.
In such thoughts, Batman slowly fell asleep, and when he woke up in the middle of the night, he found that Hexagon next door was still awake, his breathing still heavy, seemingly unable to sleep due to a tangled mess of thoughts.
Batman didn't linger for too long. It was time for the assembly tonight. He followed the same path as before, arriving at the halfway point of the mountain where Schiller and Alfred were already waiting.
The three waited there for a few minutes until Merkel arrived late, looking a bit hobbled. Schiller looked at him and asked, "What happened? Are you injured?"
"Yes, twisted my ankle a bit, but it's nothing serious." Merkel gasped for breath, then he pulled out a whip from his coat.
Putting the whip on the table, Batman noticed a faint green glow emanating from the handle, obviously the same type of whip he had seen the overseer using during the daytime.
"How did you get this?" Batman asked.
Merkel frowned in pain and said, "Stole it, of course."
Then, somewhat incoherently, he said, "I was originally an undercover agent, specializing in activities behind enemy lines. I've said it before, I don't do undercover work... no one listened to me..."
Alfred raised an eyebrow and said, "What agency are you from? The fifth agency? I've been meaning to ask, how come the fifth agency has started doing undercover work? Aren't you guys specialized in assassination and sabotage?"
Merkel shook his head and said, "I'm just unlucky. There were too many elite agents in our batch. If my physical fitness test scores were compared to previous batches, I could have ranked first or second. But in our batch, I only ranked third from the bottom. I couldn't get important tasks, so I had to go undercover."
Schiller wore a strange expression. It turned out his butler was an undercover agent specializing in physical activities, not a professional spy. He joked with a half-smile, "By this standard, you're quite professional, I mean, when you break things."
Merkel rubbed his eyes hard, Alfred shook his head, but Batman seemed a bit melancholic, as if he had finished his homework on time, only to find out that his classmates had not only completed their assignments but also practiced extra.
Originally, Batman wasn't the type to rush headlong into things. Before executing a plan, he liked to make thorough preparations and investigate all the information. But now it seemed he had to juggle both.
Batman squinted at Merkel. His current mindset, in simpler terms, was: Someone dares to pull one over on me? Watch how I deal with you.
Sure enough, during the subsequent information exchange, Merkel didn't gather much information. Over the past few days, he had used the skills of an undercover agent to observe the overseer's schedule, map out all the infiltration routes, and steal his whip while he was off guard.
Batman shared all the information he had understood about the various races, inter-tribal relations, and interpersonal dynamics deep within the big mine. The information he gathered was very detailed and matched the information Schiller and Alfred obtained from the overseer.
The main consensus was that everyone in the mine was in a hurry, especially the overseers. With the front-line warfare looming, Belial seemed unprecedentedly eager to do something. In preparation for the troops, they needed a sufficient amount of ore for smelting and forging. Therefore, the pressure from above was intense.
The big overseers didn't produce anything themselves. To alleviate this pressure, they could only pass it down to the lower ranks. The junior overseers could only continuously urge the slave miners. In the past few days, there had been several conflicts, and several slaves had been beaten to death.
"They're using the deaths as a warning to scare the rest into working harder. As the target date approaches, the pressure they face will gradually drive them to lose their minds, and their methods will become increasingly brutal. There might be a large-scale bloodshed event." Schiller said.
"You mean, Carnage?" Alfred pondered for a moment, then questioned, "But shouldn't they also understand that if they kill too many, there won't be anyone left to work?"
Schiller shook his head and said, "They only care about those big bugs. They see the slave miners as disposable. Even though, practically speaking, the number of people they capture is far less than those they kill, as long as they have the thought that 'slaves are endless, killing a few doesn't matter,' they won't hesitate to kill."
"Let's not waste any time. Let's get into action." Schiller stood up and said, "I'll assign tasks."
"There are many races in the mine, but our main targets are the underworld races. The demon overseers fail to recognize their power simply because they are foolish and short-sighted. But we all understand that when these seemingly insignificant races unite, they can wield tremendous power."
"Next, each of you will be responsible for liaising with one race. First, connect the dots and then expand to encompass the larger group. Before the outbreak of large-scale bloodshed, we must sow the seeds of resistance."
"Batman, you've already met a shadow monster and maintained a good relationship with it, so you'll be contacting the shadow monster."
"Imp race is very important. Alfred, you'll handle that."
"Merkel isn't very good at persuasion, so he'll be in charge of the sludge demons with the lowest intelligence. Remember, start with complaints, then envision, don't give big reasons, just talk about what's happening around you. The situation is dire, but the future is promising."
"What about you?" Batman asked.
Schiller smiled, but there was no warmth in his eyes, appearing cold and arrogant. He looked into Batman's eyes and said:
"Me? I'll go do what I do best."
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Next Chapter>>Chapter 979: The Battle for High Tower (Thirteen)
