"Squeak~~~ Bang!"
Bruce slid across the ground, leaving a long streak behind him. It wasn't just the black oil on the floor; even the hard marble ground was plowed up, and he crashed into the wall on the other end, leaving a big hole.
The whole hall became devastated due to the battle between the two of them. This place was originally a giant warehouse, and those somewhat weathered wooden boxes were smashed to pieces by the two, with old-fashioned cans rolling everywhere, and quite a few bursting open, splattering tomato bean soup all over them.
After changing his combat style, Bruce was not just passively taking hits. He had the Inverted Man summon a massive number of tentacles, turning this place into a literal tentacle Hell.
The thick, purple-black tentacles were filled with the style of the Old Gods, and even though they grabbed parts of the Hell Bat Armor, they couldn't hold on for long before being torn apart.
But with Bruce's relentless investment, Laughing Bat's movements became less smooth. In flight, he was either caught by tentacles on the ground on his hind legs or blocked by tentacles on the ceiling, interfering with his vision.
His flight was now jerky, like a high-ping warrior in an FPS online game.
Bruce's target was Laughing Bat's right leg armor, as all versions of Batman are right-handed.
Right-handed people are accustomed to using their right fists, which requires strength from the right side of the body. As long as they are still human, they cannot change their body's structure. When they enter a room, they open the door with their right hand, step left first, and similarly, when turning, they habitually turn to the left side.
Not to mention the leg of the Hell Bat Armor even has thrusters; if he can damage part of the energy transmission pipeline, knocking him to the ground, Bruce would gain an advantage.
The only issue now is that the Hell Bat Armor has the transformation ability similar to Lantern Ring creations. Bruce has already slashed several swords behind its knee, and tried seven hundred kinds of martial arts, but Laughing Bat always manages to repair the hit position immediately.
Though he's exerting all his strength, only leaving an inconspicuous scar, Laughing Bat doesn't give any chance; he won't let warriors like Deathstroke break the armor by hitting the same spot multiple times.
Thus, the two currently present a peculiar equilibrium.
Bruce can't break his opponent's full metal turtle shell, the past effects of trading blows are average, and Laughing Bat is entangled by various magic and Lantern Ring creations with physical attributes, obscuring his path.
Both are contemplating tactics, with nothing left in the darkroom except the screeching friction sounds of metal and heavy breathing.
Bruce's injuries were repeatedly strangled and repaired, but he knew his time was limited; Laughing Bat was delaying him, perhaps with some plan.
Maybe there is another helper he has.
Now it's up to Oliver to see if he can realize this; if he can quickly understand the situation, and take action while Bruce holds the Hell Bat, then the two will win this round.
If he truly hides obediently in the corridor he came from, the longer things drag on, the more unfavorable it will be for Bruce.
Though Oliver's IQ should be fine, as long as he notices the prolonged commotion here, he should also guess that Laughing Bat has another plan.
So Bruce is only focused on the fight now; if he can't deal with this armor here, he'll encounter it sooner or later in the future, and wanting to kill Laughing Bat would only be a joke.
He needs to figure out a way and quickly, as although most of his bloodthirsty emotions are being transferred to the Red Lantern Ring for charging, he will eventually lose control at this rate.
......................
"It should be safe here."
Batman coldly closed the heavy door behind him, and the energy barriers and various interference measures began to operate.
"Why does a container by the Gotham seashore have such things inside?" Barry breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Batman say it's safe and couldn't help but comment on the metal house they are in now.
Just as Batman expected, the Justice League remains the Justice League, and everyone sensed something wrong.
Whether it's based on warrior instincts or through logical reasoning, at least they've realized this isn't some Utopia; it's some timeline that shouldn't exist.
Then, they gathered around Batman.
No matter who created this world, Batman is still in Gotham.
Immediately, he led everyone to find some backups he had left behind, some hidden facilities that only he knew about.
The goal was to prevent Robin or someone in the Bat Clan from being controlled by enemies; he prepared quite a lot that could be used now.
If these arrangements were gone, it would further confirm his earlier assumptions that everything was fake.
And if the opponent, the white Superman, wants to continue the deception, then these arrangements must be intact and identical to when Batman left them before.
No matter if the opponent is truly Superman, Batman knows the target is him, and he will prove that the strongest human detective won't be easily fooled.
And before him, everything proved Batman's speculation. All the hidden safehouses he left were gone, and he gradually lowered security to find one in the Bat Clan's known safehouses.
So, it seems the opponent is not omniscient and omnipotent; manufacturing this false world also requires intelligence, which makes Batman feel a bit relieved.
However, the security here is only temporary. If the opponent learns that everyone has realized the truth, they will come quickly.
Their time is limited.
"Listen to me."
Batman did not answer Barry's question, converting a container into a safe house and placing it in an inconspicuous corner of the Gotham docks was just standard procedure. Even Penguin Man, who smuggles arms nearby every time, did not know Batman was there spying on him.
It appears as a dilapidated container on the outside, but inside, it utilizes all the technology Batman could find, boasting Hall of Justice-level defenses.
"Barry, activate the Bullet Time Domain; Ron's psychic conference room can't be used, the opponent has a psychic."
Ron's green face looked even worse. Although it was uncertain whether the old Ron was his future self, for Mars People, age only strengthens their psychic abilities.
Batman was right in his judgment; psychic abilities could not be used. Instead, everyone should be hidden with a mind shield device.
Upon entering here, Batman simultaneously activated all of his hidden safe houses in Gotham, hoping to mislead the opponent's focus, preventing them from finding this place first.
Fortunately, with the help of Divine Speed, the transfer was covert, and once everyone entered the Bullet Time Domain, the time for meetings was more ample.
The only one slightly exhausted was Barry, who had to constantly run around everyone during the meeting while making contact with each person in turn, maintaining them within the Divine Speed force.
But this was the solution they had.
Seeing Lightning encompass everyone, the cold metal walls around turned into an illusion, Batman nodded.
"I think everyone has realized the problem, but now is not the time to exchange insights. Our primary goal is to find a way to leave here and, if possible, simultaneously search for clues about the real Superman."
Diana watched as Bruce pulled out a handful of mind shield devices from his belt, coin-sized patches shaped like bats.
He distributed them to everyone, instructing them to stick them to the back of their necks, as if he had long prepared a means to restrain Ron.
Ron waved his hand, indicating he did not need it. Although he could no longer use psychic abilities to connect with others, he still had the capacity for self-preservation: "Speak the plan, Batman; we are all listening to you."
Batman crossed his arms, his black figure still looked as before: "We know very little about the Sixth Dimension, and the things the Troublemaker told us are likely not trustworthy; whether this is a high-dimensional plane remains doubtful. Then, conventional means for Multiverse travel can all be considered, adapting based on circumstances."
Barry's voice accompanied his running, coming from different directions as if he was in each person's ear: "That would be the sonic boom passage and the cosmic treadmill."
"And the Lantern Group's lantern furnace teleportation, but that requires hundreds of Lantern Rings to open the passage, and also help from the Guardians." John stood like a football player, just standing there emanated a sense of athleticism like Steel Bone.
Diana also voiced her opinion: "Magic could work; if we can contact the Inverted Man here, we can completely rely on Multiverse concept-level strength to teleport back to our original Monistic Universe."
"Perhaps Sena Gang's Celestial Vault Wings could too; it's a phase transfer device that covers planetary scale, can change the phase of an entire planet, and might alter the dimension we reside in if modified."
Ron looked at each person; they seemed to have their solutions, but he appeared to be lagging behind.
So he could only smile helplessly, shrugging to the people looking at him waiting for his solution: "Seems like we already have enough methods, Bruce, which one should we choose?"
"Teleporting across parallel worlds through the sonic boom passage requires reflection through the Celestial Blood Echo Layer, and Steel Bone is not here now, nor do we have the Mother Box; using sound transmission requires going to the Court of Justice, which is too risky."
Bruce first discussed the method most familiar to the Justice League but dismissed it without hesitation.
Not because it was impossible, but because it might require a huge cost, which is not worthwhile now.
Voicing all the options is to ensure everyone speaks; if they will speak, let them say more.
Though Batman usually does not need to do this, he can directly arrange plans and strategies, but circumstances have changed; he needs to confirm if anyone among them is a fake product...
If anyone shows even a slight flaw, Batman will act immediately.
"Then the Divine Speed Plane might not be safe either; from what I saw earlier, that peculiar Wally told me they completely mastered Divine Speed, even using it to create parallel worlds. Though I don't believe it, I can't let everyone take risks."
Barry continued running, negating his plan with the world treadmill.
Because if anything goes wrong in the Divine Speed Plane, at the very least, one could end up somewhere unknown in time and space; worse, they could be devoured by the Black Death God or simply be transformed by Divine Speed into electric light.
That truly would be no remains left, erased from the timeline and history, not remembered by anyone but other speedsters who were absorbed into the existence.