Shane Freak
patreon
Chapter 599: Who Can Do Destruction In Schiller Manor? (Part 1)
🕑 Added 2023-09-25 13:38:15 +0000 UTCIn DC World With Marvel Chat Group : Table of Content/Chapter List
XXX-----XXX-----XXX-----XXX
"Alright, no more jokes. Tell me, why did you bring him here? Even if you didn't bring him to me, he should have had better options, like Selena or Alfred who would appreciate him," Schiller, lying in a sickbed, looked into Bruce's eyes and asked.
Bruce signaled to Schiller, and Schiller waved Merkel over. Merkel walked over, drew the curtains of the hospital room, then stepped out and closed the door, ensuring no one else would pass by.
"In 'Thousand Cats' Dream,' the Owl Cat from the dream and the real-world Owl Cat, could there be any connection?" Bruce posed an important question.
Hearing this question, Schiller furrowed his brow. Owl Cat had seemingly vanished from his life a long time ago, either torn apart by those fools on the stage or trapped in the sewers with a crappy end.
At that moment, Bat Cat emitted a somewhat sharp cry. Schiller understood what he meant. He was asking, "Is there an Owl Cat in the real world too?"
Bruce briefly explained the Court of Owls to him. Bat Cat shook his head and said, "If, as you say, they are just a group of wealthy elites secretly controlling this city, it's different from the Owl Cat in my city..."
"As you saw earlier, the Owl Cat in Gotham City holds a frightening dark energy. Honestly, without your help, even with my stage, I might not have been able to completely eliminate that kind of power."
"If we can't wipe them out all at once, they'll be back soon." This Bat Cat displayed a much more mature personality than Bruce. He wasn't afraid to acknowledge his own limitations or the practical difficulties of a situation.
But his tone remained steady, without worry or pessimism. After all, for Batman, no matter how bad things got, they couldn't be worse than pretending to be the Joker hiding in the sewer.
"Magic Owl Cat, and... Dark Owl Priest," Bruce seemed to suddenly remember something as he said, "Do you remember when I was tracking a person named Lorena, the Ghost Mother?"
Schiller briefly recollected, and he understood what Bruce was referring to. At the time, a series of murders had occurred that seemed like a chain of copycat killings, each one worse than the last.
Behind this clear line of events was a hidden thread: the Dark Owl Cat cult had made a deal with someone named Lorena, the Ghost Mother. She used candy to sacrifice the souls of those children, and the Dark Owl Cat cult was involved in this dark ritual.
Batman, in his investigation, had found traces of these Dark Rituals in Wayne Family history. Moreover, based on their speculations at the time, Schiller's Umbrella might have been created by the Dark Owl Cat cult. After all, if they were just wealthy businessmen, they wouldn't have the mystical means to create an Umbrella specifically designed to handle Gotham's rainwater.
As he gradually recalled these details, Schiller looked at Bruce and asked, "Are you suspecting that the Dark Owl Cat cult from the real world has invaded the dream?"
"Correct. Everything is quite strange. If it were just an innocent conflict between the cat and bird races, the inexplicable dark energy wouldn't make sense."
"The cat race, which dominates the entire world, has no mystical attributes, while the Owl Cat, dwelling in obscurity, wields such formidable power. It doesn't add up."
Schiller also pondered and said, "Looking at it this way, the entire city is problematic. Even if cats dream of Gotham, it shouldn't correspond one-to-one with each of you."
"Even the freezing of Victor's wife has been replicated. If it was truly a cat's dream, could they really understand the concept of freezing one's wife? It's bizarre."
As he delved deeper into his thoughts, Schiller noticed more discrepancies.
It seemed that Cat City Gotham was like a surreal city from a children's animation. Under that art style, many people could only marvel at the magic and cuteness of the Cat's dream. However, things became peculiar once they stepped out of that dream.
'Thousand Cats' Dream' was clearly a cat's dream, which meant that everything inside should be seen through the perspective of a cat's worldview. Understanding how cats think is difficult for humans, and vice versa.
In the human understanding of a city and its citizens, it would likely be vastly different from what cats perceive. A house cat might consider their kitchen cabinet a city, while a stray cat might view a puddle as a river. If it truly were a cat's dream, how could there be a city so closely aligned with the human worldview?
Not to mention, in a cat's worldview, there would be no concept of unwavering love like Freeze's. It's simply impossible. Reproduction in feline species is entirely driven by their biological instincts, with no room for love, let alone heart-wrenching tales of separation.
Even if it were Catwoman Selena's dream, it might be more fantastical than that of a human, further emphasizing the disconnect between the two species. For Gotham's cats to dream of an entire city in the human worldview seemed like a significant loophole.
This situation appeared more like the creation of someone with a human worldview, living in human society. They had imposed a cat-themed narrative in a gentle and adorable manner, expressing their thoughts. However, if animals truly dreamt, they wouldn't dream up this kind of plot; it was all a human society-based fantasy.
"I've been thinking..." Schiller casually picked up Bat Cat and scratched the cat's neck before saying, "Was it a mere coincidence that 'Thousand Cats' Dream' suddenly pulled me into its dream realm?"
"Dream god Morpheus has no reason to lie. If he intentionally attacked me, he would surely mock me loudly. But judging by his reaction, it seems that 'Thousand Cats' Dream' making such a move caught him by surprise. That raises some questions."
"Dream gods have strong control over dreams, especially 'Thousand Cats' Dream.' He might treat it as a playful cat's prank, but we can't afford to see it that way."
"There's no doubt that 'Thousand Cats' Dream' is powerful. If something has invaded it, they must want to utilize this immense power to achieve something..."
"Do you remember the legend?" Schiller asked himself and then answered, "Earth was originally ruled by the Catrule. The dreams of thousands covered reality, and the cats have always sought to rewrite reality through 'Thousand Cats' Dream.'"
"If someone gains control of 'Thousand Cats' Dream,' they might use its dream content to overwrite reality once more."
Bruce wore a solemn expression. He said, "So, they first created a Cat City Gotham within the dream, then extensively modified this city, created puppets, and set up their people. Once they control the 'Thousand Cats' Dream,' they can use it to overlay the real Gotham City into their hands..."
At this point, Bruce couldn't sit still any longer. He said, "Professor, I'm entrusting this cat to you because I hope we can split our efforts. I'll investigate the traces of the Dark Owl Cat Cult in the real world, while Bat Cat can find their spider web tracks in the dream."
"After all, if Bat Cat dreams again, he should return to 'Thousand Cats' Dream' since he's now a cat. That way, he can travel between the real-world Gotham and the Dream Realm's Gotham."
"But I don't quite understand the Dream Realm, so I'm leaving it to you. In case something unexpected happens in the dream, you can go and retrieve him."
Schiller pondered for a moment. He couldn't control whether those despicable Owl Cats wanted to destroy the world or not. The key issue was that they had once sold him an umbrella destined to break.
Moreover, the umbrella he had now might break at any moment. If he could obtain their umbrella-making technology, he could repair it himself when needed.
Schiller rubbed his chin, looked at Bat Cat in his arms, and said, "Well, I've never had a pet, but I can give it a try."
"It's just raising a cat, how hard can it be?"
When Schiller uttered these words, he didn't see Bruce, who had already left, wearing a complex expression on his face, clearly thinking of a certain gem enthusiast.
An hour later, Schiller stood beneath the chandelier in the grand hall of his Manor, gazing up at the black cat on the chandelier and said, "Get down from there!"
The black cat paid no heed and swung back and forth on the chandelier, as if on a swing. When the chandelier swung to its highest point, the cat leaped out with a "whoosh," extended its sharp claws, and latched onto the oil painting hanging on the opposite wall, emitting a sharp and ear-piercing "screech."
Schiller covered his ears. After Bat Cat had scratched open the rotten painting, he crawled into the narrow space behind the frame and found a key.
Holding the key in his mouth, he returned to the chandelier. This time, he swung left and right. After swinging to the desired position, he jumped onto the railing on the second floor, then onto the door frame. He used the key to unlock the door and stood at the doorway, calling out, "Thirty-five rooms... but this one has the best strategic location, I'll take it."
"Merkel! Throw him out!" Schiller pointed to the door.
Merkel, who had just walked in with luggage, looked at the chandelier with crystals strewn all over the floor, the tattered painting, and the door with deep claw marks. He swallowed and said, "No, Owl Cat, you can't choose that room. It's Mr. Wayne's designated guest room, and he says it has the best strategic location..."
Bat Cat let out another loud cry and began to scratch the door panel. The moment its sharp claws touched the paint surface, it made a grating noise, followed by the ear-piercing sound of scratching wood shavings.
With a swift motion, Schiller disappeared. Bat Cat made a swift backward leap, evading Schiller's attempt to grab him by the arm. In the next moment, Bat Cat had hopped onto the window sill, along the windowsill to the balcony, and directly from one room's balcony to another.
Schiller blinked again, this time capturing Bat Cat. However, he held the cat in an incorrect position, and the flexible feline twisted its body to escape his grasp.
Then, Bat Cat surveyed the room and said, "Since the other me has already chosen the other room, the strategic location of this room is also good. I also like the decoration style here. I'll take this one."
He turned his head and saw Schiller staring at him coldly, saying, "...This is my room."
[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, without ads and support the work.]
XXX-----XXX-----XXX-----XXX
Next Chapter>>Chapter 600: Who Can Do Destruction In Schiller Manor? (Part 2)
