Chapter 6232: Chicago Memories (Part 3)

Then Bruce thought of another headache-inducing problem. That was, Arkham Batman might also come. This might really turn into a super detective seriously capturing the serial killer.

Bruce didn’t know much about that past, but he could roughly imagine it, because he was probably the one who had the most morbid interactions with Shiller. Even if he was just speculating, he could guess what might happen if the morbid persona took over the body.

Moreover, Bruce knew that Shiller might have enemies, and the grudge between the two sides wasn’t just a simple personal vendetta. If that were the case, things might become more complicated.

Bruce didn’t hesitate for even a second. He directly opened the communications panel and started furiously messaging Brainiac. It seemed Brainiac originally didn’t plan to reply, but when Bruce’s messages started bordering on threats, he reluctantly responded with a punctuation mark, indicating that he was there but could only offer all kinds of help except assistance.

“I want to send a message to the Professor.” Bruce wasn’t too excessive; he said, “I just have some questions to ask, just need this one function, okay?”

“What’s okay?” Brainiac retorted mercilessly, “This is a simulation world. Have you ever seen any human who can cross the cosmos and communicate with others in real time?”

“Just this once,” Bruce said, “I’ll ask everything at once, treat it as understanding the backstory of this game. If I don’t know anything and get killed at the first face-to-face meeting, what’s the point of playing?”

Brainiac was still unwilling. Bruce thought for a moment and then said, “Then at least consider the other Batman, I mean the one who might be chasing after me. At least I can tell him some of what I know to prevent the two of them from fighting it out at the university, can I?”

“I have other plans for him,” Brainiac said, “but considering you came all this way to test it, I’ll give you one chance to send a message, but only for half an hour, so you’d better hurry.”

Bruce hurriedly sent a message to Arrogant. As soon as he sent the message, the other side immediately replied: “In a meeting, will reply in half an hour.”

Bruce almost closed his eyes to enjoy life, but he counted the days and realized that today should be the graduate group meeting. Arrogant’s graduate group meetings usually don’t last half an hour because the first person who goes up to speak gets dismissed halfway through, usually in ten minutes. He decided to wait.

Sure enough, just 12 minutes later, a reply from Arrogant came through.

“What’s up?”

“Big trouble, Professor!” Bruce furiously typed, “Topline, it’s hard to explain, but I’ve traversed into your past, you might be about to enroll.”

Arrogant replied with a question mark.

But quickly, he replied again, “You can start choosing your favorite coffin now, water burial is also an option.”

Bruce was a bit frantic, “I’m serious, not joking! It’s all Brainiac’s fault for making this stupid game. I don’t know anything, and he just threw me in. I’m already at the dorm now…”

“Why are you in the dorm?” Arrogant replied again, “Shouldn’t you be living in that tallest apartment?”

“I have no money,” Bruce admitted bluntly, “There’s no Wayne Enterprises here, I’m probably just a civilian kid, and I only have a bit over 900 US dollars left.”

“Then no worries, just focus on your studies. What major are you in?”

“Is this really the time to discuss that?!!!” Bruce added several exclamation marks to indicate the seriousness of the situation.

For him, being killed in the game wasn’t unacceptable, but Shiller, was it purely killing? Even in the best scenario, he’d at least be thrown off a skylight, and if they put any art into it, he’d become an exhibit. If he were exhibited after death, it might be fine, but who knows when he’d draw his last breath. He couldn’t suffer through that.

“I’m serious,” Arrogant said, “Thank Brainiac, if you were still the president of Wayne Enterprises, then jumping into Lake Michigan would be the best choice right now. But if you’re just an ordinary civilian, then I probably wouldn’t bother with you.”

“What do you mean?” Bruce also sensed something was off. He asked, “Your enemies are wealthy people?”

“Most of them,” Arrogant replied, “Some of the operatives are just employees, but most didn’t survive to this point. Only the influential figures behind the scenes are still alive. They’re the targets.”

“But even if it involves Wayne Enterprises, it’s not like I did it.”

“A casual affair.”

Bruce slammed his head on the table. He had thought that maybe Shiller did something in his past life, otherwise, he wouldn’t have developed an agent-like personality. But he didn’t expect it was more than just doing something. It seemed he’d poked a hole in the sky. The heir of Wayne Enterprises was just a “casual affair”? It was hard to imagine who he had made enemies with.

“Having no background is a good thing.” Arrogant seemed to comfort him, but more like adding fuel to the fire, “If you don’t provoke him, you won’t get killed. Also, avoid the church, the lakeside, the bell tower, the museum, the café, and the kitchen of the Chinese restaurant…”

Listening to Arrogant listing places, Bruce just couldn’t find where the force quit button was; otherwise, he would have been frantically pressing it.

Bruce didn’t think he had no strength to clash with Shiller of this time, but he felt there was no point. Success brought no reward, while failure brought punishment. To stop someone from slaughtering innocents, the precondition is that they must be innocent. Not to mention, if he stops Shiller, fewer people might die, but what happens if it endangers America?

Unfortunately, the rules of this game were not as lenient as in Battleworld, perhaps aiming for realism. There’s no option to quit, meaning you can’t force quit when you fail, only fight to the end.

Bruce had no choice but to lie on the table thinking of strategies. He figured the best method was to avoid encountering Shiller. He had seen the young Shiller, no need to see him again. Better to keep a distance.

Had Brainiac told him the theme of this game earlier, he would have run far away, but perhaps that’s why Brainiac didn’t tell him. But fortunately, it’s still not too late to run now.

“If you fail the task, you’ll be electrocuted.” Brainiac suddenly appeared, said this, and disappeared again.

Bruce sighed deeply. That meant he couldn’t leave the University of Chicago now, as the task required him to be there. Not meeting Shiller on campus would be difficult, but not without space for maneuver.

Bruce began to deduce from the start. First, he needed to judge what kind of person Shiller was at this time. Bruce was quite familiar with the morbid type, which could be described as devoid of taboos, mostly unbound by laws and morals, essentially without weakness.

But he also knew that coursework at American universities was quite demanding. Although the University of Chicago was famed for free course selection and flexible scheduling without fixed semesters, achieving good grades still required early mornings and late nights, with libraries being crowded at all times. Allocating significant time to extracurricular activities might make graduation difficult.

Moreover, killing people, especially celebrities, was indeed challenging, requiring substantial preparation work. The early-stage investigation and determination of action paths alone consumed vast amounts of time, not to mention execution and evidence destruction.

These two projects collide. Unless a day had 48 hours, it wouldn’t be feasible to juggle both. Considering the morbid personality, Bruce thought Shiller probably didn’t study seriously.

Therefore, logically, he should study well, sticking to the dormitory and classroom would likely avoid encountering him. But then another issue arose, which was his lack of money, needing a part-time job to cover living expenses.

And as Arrogant mentioned about cafés and Chinese restaurant kitchens, those were prime spots for part-time work. Even if he didn’t work inside, he’d definitely be nearby, making it impossible to avoid and increasing the chance of an encounter.

No wonder Brainiac didn’t provide money, forcing Bruce to go out and about. This evil AI was becoming more and more malevolent.

However, Bruce was sharp-minded. Was there a way to live without needing much money? Indeed, there was. Of course, it wasn’t about petty theft, especially since there’d be a super detective chasing later on. Petty theft could easily get him caught. Bruce thought of the Brotherhood.

The Brotherhood offered free dorms; once you joined, you could live there. They also hosted free activities, like parties, parties, and parties. America is essentially a party nation, holding parties everywhere, where you can eat and drink for free.

Additionally, Bruce had confidence in his learning ability. His major was economics, which needed little studying to achieve excellent work, and ghostwriting for others could earn some money, reducing the need to frequently leave campus.

He believed that Shiller would still have to put on a facade in school. After all, using his student identity was his cover, providing alibis for absence and avoiding a quick break in his facade. Staying in school was relatively safe for Bruce.

Therefore, he needed to find a way to pass the Brotherhood’s assessment. The internet of this era wasn’t very convenient, so Bruce had to go to the school gate to fetch a bunch of recruitment flyers.

When he returned, Stark happened to come back too, tossing him a sandwich, eyeing the flyers in Bruce’s hand, then asked, “Really? You plan to join the Brotherhood?”

“What’s wrong?” Bruce asked.

Stark seemed a bit hesitant and said, “Well, it’s nothing much, anyway, you probably won’t suffer a loss, it’s good to broaden your horizon.”

Bruce looked at the flyers; each was exquisitely made, matching the era’s aesthetics, with bright and cheerful student images. Additionally, they listed the Brotherhood’s annual honors and dorm conditions.

Bruce mainly focused on the latter but couldn’t help being drawn by the former. When he saw one with a black and gold theme, he slightly widened his eyes. A Brotherhood named DKE had produced five presidents? That impressive?

He then turned it over to scrutinize the dorm conditions and, sure enough, this Brotherhood had the best dorms. Apparently, a house bigger than the dorm on his way here was their dormitory, completely free, and reportedly offered free coffee and library seating.

Bruce looked over this flyer multiple times, thoroughly enticed by the dorm conditions, putting it aside individually, then selected a few others that seemed decent, to try them all tomorrow but mainly targeting DKE.

Stark saw his actions, and upon glimpsing the name printed on the black and gold flyer, his expression changed slightly, his lips moved as if to say something, but he ultimately held back. Anyway, Chicago isn’t as congested as New York, and the police wouldn’t take longer here.