"Willpower is actually a very broad concept. It can be simply summarized as the quality of people making a determined decision for a certain goal and being able to mobilize all emotions and thoughts to achieve that determination." Schiller's voice echoed in the empty theater. Although he was discussing sowhat mundane concepts, the intonation of his speech allowed people to continue listening.
"This concept also encompasses other aspects, such as self-control, ntal stability, coherence of thinking, and concentration, among others..."
"All of the above are not lacking in Batman. He possesses an extrely fast speed in making decisions, a strong focus on the goal, a smooth thought process to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the goal, and the perseverance to see the goal through to the end. However, even if he can accomplish all of these, it still falls within the realm of ordinary individuals. The true power of willpower goes beyond that."
"It is very difficult for a person to believe in an entirely unachievable goal and persistently strive towards it. For instance, hardly anyone would believe they have four eyes, or that their head is square, as these are obvious facts. Even if they have entertained thoughts about what it would be like to have such conditions in their minds, you can try to imagine it..."
Soon enough, Victor had two additional eyes on his forehead and asked, "Is that how it is?"
"Yes, it's thanks to your rich imagination. However, let tell you that you don't actually have four eyes."
With a "bang," the two extra eyes on Victor's forehead disappeared again. He paused for a mont, and Schiller explained, "This is the struggle within dreams. You imagine having four eyes, but I tell you that you don't. At a certain mont, your imagination was shattered, and as a result, the corresponding form in the dream vanished."
"Because you inherently know that in the real world, you only have two eyes. The majority of people are the sa. They may have dread of having four eyes, but when they awaken, they can only laugh it off, thinking they had an absurd dream."
"But if you genuinely believe that you have four eyes, then what I said earlier, that you don't have four eyes, becos ineffective, and you will still maintain the state of having four eyes."
"On the other hand, you can do the sa to . For example, you can claim that my head is not an Earth instrunt..."
Victor took a deep breath, focused his attention, and said to Schiller, "Your head is not an Earth instrunt. No human head can be an Earth instrunt. You are aware of this..."
However, Schiller remained unchanged. The Earth instrunt on his head continued to rotate slowly. Victor crossed his arms and asked him, "So, do you truly believe that your head is an Earth instrunt?"
"That's right. In simpler terms, I have hypnotized myself, making myself believe in things that are fundantally impossible. This allows you to possess more powerful abilities in the realm of dreams."
"In other words, this is a confrontation between the upright and the reversed. I firmly believe that being cut with a knife will not cause harm, while you firmly believe that using a knife to cut soone will result in injury. When our two perspectives clash, what you believe becos a reality in the actual world because, in reality, stabbing soone with a knife does cause harm and makes the other person bleed. However, what I firmly believe is almost impossible to occur..."
"For soone in the upright position, it is easy to believe in sothing that aligns with their common sense and mories. Conversely, for soone in the reversed position, it is challenging to believe in sothing that contradicts common sense and mories. So, if you were to conjure a
knife and attempt to cut , attacking would be easy, while defending would be difficult."
"Similar to the situation Batman is currently facing."
As his words faded, the play on the stage had just begun.
Batman, who had once used the Gray Lantern Ring, was well aware of the rules of the dream world. The rule was that "what you firmly believe in can co true" and "what you believe, you can achieve." However, now he was dealing with Schiller's will, and he found himself in the awkward situation that Schiller had just ntioned.
He closed his eyes and muttered softly, "...In my hand, I have a batarang. It is a non-reflective carbon-black, with sharp blades..."
At the sa ti, Schiller's voice rang out, "...No, you were hurriedly driven out of your ho by a ferocious killer, and you didn't have ti to grab your weapons. In fact, you just woke up from your bed. You should be in pajamas, not in a bat suit..."
As Schiller spoke, the batarang that Batman was forming in his hand disappeared. His custom-fitted suit and cape gradually transford into silk pajamas. Bruce closed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "I am wearing the bat suit because I am Batman..."
The bat armor on his body slowly reverted, and at the intersection of the silk pajamas and the bat suit, an invisible force was engaged in a struggle. However, perhaps Bruce's last words had an effect, and the bat suit slowly covered his body. Nonetheless, the black cloak vanished.
He turned his head and glanced behind him, his expression sowhat grim.
According to common sense, Batman's willpower was unbeatable, especially after he uttered the words "because I am Batman." No matter how powerful the attack, it would avoid him.
However, there were several reasons why the current Batman couldn't achieve that. Firstly, he was young, which might not feel tangible. Let's make a comparison. Marvel's Spider-Man, Peter Parker, is 17 years old this year and recently obtained his driver's license. On the other hand, Batman, Bruce Wayne, is 19 years old and just started his sophomore year. Bruce is only two years older than Peter.
When comparing the styles of these two individuals, one would realize that although Batman appeared to be centuries older than Spider-Man, it couldn't hide the fact that Bruce was still in his adolescence. As people age, their ntal developnt tends to mature. The Bat Cub, who had just erged a year ago, was far from reaching the level of the later steel-hearted Batman.
Another significant reason was that Schiller had previously warned him not to waste energy unnecessarily. That was because Schiller knew that the ergency thought device Bruce had designed to awaken himself from dreams consud a great deal of energy. Insufficient energy would lead to a lack of focus. This was a limitation of the human body. Even Schiller himself couldn't avoid it. After using the speedster abilities repeatedly, he also experienced a lack of ntal focus.
Batman had just activated the ergency wake-up device repeatedly. It was as if he had reached the limit of continuous flashing and still had to keep going. The current Batman found himself enveloped in a negative state of intense and persistent headaches. Manifesting the batarang despite these conditions was already quite remarkable.
Taking a deep breath, Batman felt that his spirit had been pushed to its limits. And now, as soon as he took a step outside Wayne Manor, four deadly weapons emitting blinding lights would assault him. They would block almost every possible escape route.
He firmly believed that he wouldn't get hurt. At best, he could have a minor impact on one or two of the weapons. But with so many brutal killers attacking simultaneously, Batman, in his weakened state, was simply unable to resist.
Furthermore, the reset function after failure forced him into repeated encounters. He couldn't retreat to Wayne Manor to devise a comprehensive plan. It was widely known that encounters were one of Batman's greatest weaknesses.
After attempting about a dozen tis, Batman only made so progress. He discovered that among the four murderers, if he had to pinpoint a weak link, it would be the one with the chainsaw.
Despite the intense headache, he barely controlled his body. First, he rolled to the right, narrowly avoiding the swung machete, then quickly moved from right to left, evading the sharp iron claws on the wall.
anwhile, the chainsaw-wielding killer on the left was still starting his chainsaw. Operating the chainsaw required exerting force from the waist and leaning backward, causing a slight shift in his balance. Batman took advantage of this and lowered his own center of gravity. With a leg sweep, he sent the chainsaw-wielding killer crashing to the ground.
Batman wasn't quite sure why this particular killer used a chainsaw. In his view, a chainsaw wasn't an ideal weapon. It took too long to start, and at tis, it obstructed his line of sight.
Batman noticed distinctions among these killers. The one with the chainsaw appeared to lack sufficient combat skills. When faced with Batman's lightning-fast lower-body attacks, he didn't know how to dodge. The red monster with iron claws was the skinniest of the group but possessed the ability to teleport.
The white-faced man and the hockey-masked man were both tall and large in stature. They wielded their weapons with incredible speed and had defensive capabilities in combat. However, there were differences between them. The white-faced killer had a background music that induced a feeling of tension and anxiety in Batman, whereas the hockey-masked strongman possessed imnse strength and was immune to pain and injury.
After a few more strained attempts, Batman's field of vision started to darken, and his conscious space gradually collapsed. Eventually, he fell into unconsciousness.
Upon awakening, Bruce felt his head throbbing as if it was about to split open. Nonetheless, he resisted the discomfort and activated the precautionary asures, confirming that he had indeed returned to reality.
For so reason, he began to feel sowhat relieved. The human brain's self-preservation chanism caused people to forcefully slip into a coma when they overexert themselves. If he were to open his eyes now and see those monsters standing at the door, he wasn't certain whether his willpower alone would sustain him to mount a counterattack.
Bruce took a deep breath. Just as he was about to lie down on the bed and regain so energy, he heard an urgent phone ring. He mustered the strength to sit up from the bed, making his way unsteadily down the staircase to answer the call.
Gordon's slightly anxious voice resounded from the other end, saying, "The leader of the Lawrence family is dead, and the Twelve Families have started to riot. Batman, Gotham needs you."
Bruce replied, "I'll be right there."
His incredibly hoarse and weary voice startled Gordon, who asked, "Are you alright? Why does it sound a bit..."
"I'm fine," Bruce assured him. Just as he was about to hang up, he heard Gordon exclaim, "Oh my God! Why is that lunatic on television again?"
"Batman, hurry over here. That maniac with clown makeup has taken over the television station once more! God knows what he's planning to do!"
Shortly after, over the phone, Batman heard the sound of the clown's voice coming from Gordon's television: "Batman! I have prepared a big surprise for you!! Hahahahaha!!!"
At that mont, an alarm in his room upstairs went off, forcing him to climb to the second floor and retrieve the gauntlet from his Batman suit. Amidst the cacophony, Jason's voice, sowhat immature, ca from within:
"Batman, are you there? We're trapped. Can you co here?"
"Trapped? What's going on?" Batman inquired.
Then Sliphead's voice followed, saying, "Soone is pursuing us. We've taken refuge, and although it's relatively safe for now, there's nothing here. Can you co as soon as possible?"
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