Chapter 1 A Place with Water

Water, this is a place with water.

It was built along a river, in a remote location.

The rusty Ferris wheel, the creaking animal rocker, and the countless abandoned amusement facilities all indicate that this place has been deserted for many years.

Beside the weed-choked road, a wooden billboard stood alone in the wind, with an old poster plastered on it—the Bonos Brothers Circus will perform here.

Perhaps not many people remember this name now, but many years ago, this troupe was quite famous.

Gotham was one of their stops on tour, and the mayor at the time specially allocated funds to build a carnival in the suburbs to welcome them.

Times have changed, and now, the Bonos brothers have disappeared, and the carnival venue... has become a broken-down place where even homeless people wouldn't stay.

But tonight, a guest has come here.

Creak—creak—

The man in the long purple suit was sitting on a tattered animal rocker. He rocked the chair like a child, looking idle.

"I know you're there." At some point, Feng Bujue suddenly looked up at the sky and said to himself, "You're watching, listening, waiting..." He paused, "I've been sitting here for fifteen minutes and haven't done anything, but I still haven't been judged as 'passive play,' which can only be explained as... you interfered with the 'Destiny' judgment system."

After he finished speaking, there was about five seconds of silence.

Then, another voice spoke, "How did you know... it was me?"

This was a gentle male voice, but the tone sounded cold and numb.

"Process of elimination." Feng Bujue replied without thinking, "List out one by one those who have the ability to manipulate timelines and interfere with 'Destiny,' and then figure out who is more likely... The conclusion is that characters lower than you can't do it to this extent, and characters higher than you wouldn't make such an absurd situation, so... I thought about it, and it's only you."

With that, Feng Bujue turned his face to look at the man who suddenly appeared not far from his side.

That... was a blue humanoid creature, and its whole body was glowing like a blue fluorescent stick.

He was tall, at least a head taller than Feng Bujue. Apart from the abnormal skin color, he was basically a naked, hairless middle-aged man.

In the dC universe setting, there are many beings who can be called "gods," and he is one of them, and a very powerful one; people call him—"Doctor Manhattan (doctor_manhattan)."

"I guess... you want to talk to me about a deal." Two seconds later, Doctor Manhattan said.

"You, who can predict the future... still need to 'guess'?" Feng Bujue responded.

"Yes." Doctor Manhattan replied, "Because... you are not within my 'observable' range."

"Then... Bruce Wayne?" Feng Bujue asked, "Or... that guy who's 'probably Bruce Wayne'... can you see his future clearly?"

"You already know the answer, why ask a question you know the answer to." Doctor Manhattan replied.

"Heh..." Jue Ge smiled, lifted a leg, and turned sideways, flipping off the pink elephant (that is, the animal rocker he was sitting on), "Yeah... if you could see clearly, our conversation at this moment wouldn't exist."

"You seem a little dissatisfied, why?" Doctor Manhattan had telepathic abilities, and even though Feng Bujue was smiling on the surface, he could see his true emotions.

"Because the 'hint' you gave me was a bit too obvious, making me feel a little bored." Feng Bujue replied, "'You can keep your own thoughts, and I am also very happy to help you resolve the confusion in your heart. When you find the truth, you will naturally get a logical answer... Interdimensional Traveler.'" The next second, he repeated the last paragraph of the opening introduction word for word, then paused for half a second, and then said, "The 'Interdimensional Traveler' at the end of your sentence seems to be a term for me from the context, but in fact... it is the 'answer' itself... You told me the 'truth' from the beginning—the reason for all the anomalies in this world is... Interdimensional Travelers."

"Is it bad to tell you?" Doctor Manhattan asked again.

"Heh..." Feng Bujue said, "I don't want to answer this question. After all, you don't understand me, so I can't say you did something wrong."

"Hmm..." Doctor Manhattan groaned. In the process, he tried to analyze Jue Ge's psychology. "I really didn't expect... you to be such a dangerous person."

"You should be glad I'm not like that 'Wayne'... I won't stay here for long." Feng Bujue said.

"Yes, I'm very glad." Doctor Manhattan nodded slightly, "If it was you who came back then... this world would probably have been turned upside down."

"Okay, I don't have time to imagine the unfolding of another non-existent timeline with you, let's talk about the 'deal' part." Feng Bujue changed the subject.

Hearing this, Doctor Manhattan's expression did not change. He just paused slightly and then replied, "A long time ago... I also made a deal with 'him,' when he first came here..."

"That year, Bruce Wayne was nine years old. On the night of the first anniversary of his parents' death, the sad him swallowed half a bottle of sleeping pills and ended his life.

"The cause of everything happened at that time...

"One minute after Bruce's vital signs disappeared, a 'consciousness' from another world entered his body, bringing him 'back to life'; and that 'consciousness'... was the 'Batman' who fought with you twice today.

"When this special individual who 'cannot be predicted' was born on this timeline, I immediately came to him and negotiated with him.

"He claimed to be from a higher dimension than me. There, all the multiverses in my dimension, all the people, things, and events in them... are just imaginary products for people to pass the time.

"He listed in detail the complete picture of several different futures, and I did observe those universes that were completely consistent with his description.

"In addition, he knew me quite well and could tell many secrets about me that were never known to outsiders.

"As an 'observer,' facing such an existence, I naturally wouldn't choose to obliterate him... because he is 'unique' and 'of great reference value'... His appearance has already changed the 'direction of reality' of this universe. No matter what kind of future this universe heads towards, it is an excellent specimen for me.

"So, I made a deal with him...

"I gave him the abilities that Bruce Wayne should have—amazing IQ, physical strength, energy, etc. I also cleared away all the characters who might become a 'threat' in his opinion... such as the Kryptonians who are called 'Superman' in other multiverses, and other alien civilizations in this universe that may intersect with Earth.

"He promised that he would 'do better than the real Bruce Wayne.'"

Speaking of this, Doctor Manhattan paused for a moment and shook his head: "Actually, I never cared whether he would do 'better' or 'worse,' I just wanted to see... what he would 'do,' and... 'how' he would do it."

"So... up to now, you've seen enough?" Feng Bujue followed up.

"I've seen enough." Doctor Manhattan replied, "What I need now is change, but I can't predict what kind of impact directly interfering with him materially or non-materially by me... or 'one of me' (Doctor Manhattan can replicate himself into countless individuals, each with their own thinking and abilities like the main body) will have on my own quantum flow and all the multiverses in this dimension."

"So..." Jue Ge continued, "you want me to... 'kill Batman' for you?"

Doctor Manhattan nodded and then said, "These are my demands and needs, tell me yours."

"Heh... easy to say~" Feng Bujue hooked up one side of his mouth, and an evil smile appeared on his face, "My request is definitely simpler than that 'transmigrator' Mr.'s, and it can be easily achieved..."