A few minutes ago, at the moment of Greed pulling the lever, Batman shot forward like an arrow leaving the bow, with lightning speed, directly knocking Deathstroke to the ground.
Deathstroke hadn't expected Batman to suddenly spring into action despite the negotiation's success. He instinctively wanted to grab his weapon to resist, but Superman had already struck his head with a crowbar.
"Bang!"
Deathstroke was hit so hard that he became dizzy, not reacting immediately, and then heard Batman on top of him saying in his ear, "Work with me, I'll get you out of here."
Deathstroke was stunned, unable to react to what he was saying, but Greed understood.
The act of pulling the lighting source was considered an attack by Batman. Or rather, Batman thought the organizers were using the sudden darkness to provoke the mercenary into attacking, so Batman struck first and took him down.
But in fact, Greed simply wanted to prevent further tampering and damaged the lighting source as well, so he decided to pull the lever altogether.
And what he said was also to convince the mercenary. After all, in his understanding, the mercenary had to work hard due to the company constraints. If there was a chance to leave, he might choose to seize it.
"Agree with him." Greed was also at a loss. If others were only physically exhausting themselves with destruction, Batman would exhaust all possibilities in the plot, going through every spot that could be persuaded, just to see if something new would unfold.
"Let go of me first." Deathstroke acted the role convincingly, saying, "I wasn't trying to attack you; I still have to show you the way and open the door."
Batman assumed he agreed, and they returned to the atrium checkpoint with Deathstroke. After opening the door, he originally should leave, but since Deathstroke agreed to cooperate with Batman, he followed them inside.
Superman made another move to capture. This time it wasn't unexpected for Deathstroke; he cooperatively played along, and then let Greed open the door to the room where Arrogant and Bruce were.
The mechanism in their room was purely physically triggered and didn't need power, so even with a blackout, they couldn't pass directly. After opening the door from outside, they stepped out and were shocked by the situation outside.
"What's happening?" Bruce asked, "Who is this guy?"
"An employee here." Batman replied calmly, "Everyone go to the exit first, but don't rush to leave; I suspect there are more traps."
No one would doubt Batman's vigilance in such matters. They didn't really believe the organizers would let them go easily either, so everyone carefully checked the keys and keyholes, afraid the organizers might give them a farewell present.
The people upstairs left, leaving only those on the first floor. Superman grabbed Deathstroke and asked, "Where is the door on the first floor?"
"You have to go up," Deathstroke said, "I only know the exit is above."
He pointed to the top of the chain. Estimating the original form of the level, Bruce and Shiller understood it was the exit designed by the company. The chains stopped moving, and there's no power, but the blades remained, how do they climb up?
"I'll go check it out," Bruce said. The ceiling wasn't far from him; earlier, the blades were moving, so he couldn't climb up. Now that it's stopped, he hooked the chain at the edge of the winch with a crowbar, slowly climbed up, pull himself up, and stood on the side of the winch, checked the blades, and said, "This can be taken down; wait a moment."
Bruce started taking down the blades; fortunately, no need to remove them one by one; just removing the fixtures in the middle allows dismantling the whole set. But the challenge was how to secure it on the rope to dismantle the blades; Bruce was obviously not very skilled.
"This job should be done by Selina," Bruce said, "Dick could also do it; he could hang on this rope for hours, truly worthy of... a traditional circus family..."
Despite saying so, it was only slower in dismantling, but ultimately accomplished. Bruce climbed to the top, grabbed the upper winch, climbed up, and said, "No problem, come on up quick!"
"Step on my shoulders to get up," Batman said, "Superman, wait for me; you can pull me up this way."
Shiller of course recognized Deathstroke; he knew this was probably a new character added by Greed. He waved to Deathstroke, letting him climb first. Deathstroke was straightforward; if forced to choose between Batman and Shiller, he would definitely choose Batman because at least Batman talked sense, Shiller was purely a land Orca.
Deathstroke's movements were much more fluid; he was obviously someone skilled in rope climbing, quickly getting up in just a few moves. Then it was Shiller's turn; Shiller's skill set was now common, and the agent was skilled at rope climbing too, so Shiller also quickly climbed up.
Batman and Superman were the last. Actually, Batman couldn't climb anymore; it was Superman who dragged him up forcefully, took them about twenty minutes to climb up.
Above is a circular room, with a door on each side. The light coming from the door on the left is clearly not electric, but daylight, so this might be the exit.
Batman walked to the door on the right, only to find a piece of paper stuck to it—"If you stay, we will pardon a newcomer."
Batman sighed; it turned out the organizers were waiting for them here. Yet another moral dilemma, though not mandatory, it was still tempting.
This game requires six groups of twelve people to play. It's unlikely for everyone to clear it; at least three or four people will fall victim, and possibly only three or four might clear it, with many sacrifices each time it's played.
However, if old players choose to stay and continue participating in the company's game, they won't bring in new people, potentially sparing more from harm.
The ones who have made it this far through such difficult challenges either have a certain sacrificial spirit or are fearless madmen. Regardless of the type, they may not rush to leave the moment they see the exit, with a significant chance of choosing to stay.
This aligns with the company's intention. Those who clear the game are skilled, and joining the game greatly increases variables, possibly turning them into star players and raising the odds, saving the company from having to capture people. It's win-win from any angle.
"It seems this choice relates to the ending." Superman said after looking, "Which will lead to a good ending, staying or leaving?"
"Neither," Batman replied. "After leaving, one will forever be shrouded in shadows, suffering from PTSD due to horrific experiences and worrying about being recaptured by the company; while choosing to stay means facing endless brutal challenges until dying miserably."
"What should we do then?" Superman asked.
"Wait," Batman said, "I don't know if the agent who helped us before managed to escape. As long as he finds the corpses we piled in the central energy room, there is enough evidence. If he leaves with this evidence, support might arrive soon."
Superman quickly understood. If it were the players like them who died, it might not attract much attention, but it's different with the organizers dead. These organizers are prominent wealthy figures, and almost all of them were killed by us.
After these people go missing, the pressure on the Federal Bureau of Investigation would explode, and therefore, if that agent truly took the evidence out, the Federal Government and FBI would definitely come down hard on the company. If they can't eradicate the company, they'd have to take the blame.
Moreover, the government and police will need these victims, because only by having them step forward can all these events be attributed to the company. A press conference and support will come simultaneously, and they need to be prepared.
Greed wiped his face in the monitoring room, turned, and said to the agent, "What are you still hanging around here for? Go be the Savior!"
Ten minutes later, the thunderous roar of helicopter rotors came from afar. With a bang, the door was kicked open, an overwhelming number of police swarmed in, and the flashlights were even brighter than the sun in the desert.
Everyone was draped with rescue blankets, walking outside surrounded by police and journalists. Until they arrived at the ambulance, the sharp sirens blaring amidst the flashing red and blue lights, through the ambulance window, the police cutting through the heat wave like fish in water. Among them, they saw a vaguely smiling face.
"DT Company CEO Richard Bodman was arrested at his home today, claiming ignorance about the horrifying 'battle royale reality show' held by the company in New Mexico, but police found files documenting the personal information of victims at his residence. Stay tuned for our detailed report…"
The host played a real arrest footage, the police body camera shaking as they searched Bodman's home, successfully arresting him still in pajamas in his bedroom. Watching this video clip, Batman keenly noticed that Bodman's left hand had only four fingers.
He dragged the progress bar back to review all the detailed footage, finally seeing at 2 minutes 15 seconds, in Bodman's study, a painting hung that somewhat resembled a plant pattern, but when zoomed in, it revealed not plants, but a tree composed of human fingers.
"Is he a cultist…" Batman muttered to himself.
At this time, Greed was already slumped in the chair. This good ending was something he had just forcibly squeezed out in ten minutes; originally, there were only bad and worse endings.
Just like Batman predicted, choosing to leave, the ending animation would be the protagonist becoming alcoholic, then entering a psychiatric hospital, triggering the "Soul Forever Stays" ending; choosing to stay, means waking up in a new chamber, triggering the "Endless Ordeals" ending.
The only ending in the entire game that could be called a good one is actually a hidden ending, the real ending. The condition to achieve it is to first understand the idea of "The Hand as One God," either by discovering it yourself or being informed, you must know this exists. At this point, choosing to leave might trigger the "I See You All" ending.
After the protagonist leaves, they choose to investigate "The Hand as One God," and then using what they found to threaten Bodman, forcing him to disclose the list of investors and survivors. Eventually, the protagonist gathers the survivors they can find, continuously fights against the company, and assassinates investors, nearly wiping out the entire organization.
The only ones capable of understanding this final true ending are Shiller and Anatoli, because it is a reenactment of Shiller's past life experience.
"Just consider it a 'commemoration'." When Arrogant asked Greed why he wrote this ending, Greed replied, emphasizing the word 'commemoration', and it seemed that Arrogant understood something.