Chapter 514: Chapter 514
Bruce Wayne lowered his head in deep thought as he read his teammates' words on the screen.
He had indeed thought of solutions – but none that he could bring himself to say aloud. None led to good outcomes.
If he implemented them, they would violate his principles.
But if he didn't… the situation would spiral out of control.
If the nightmare spread further and more people became victims…
He didn't even dare imagine what that would become.
Bruce's silence made Clark and the others increasingly anxious.
Clark: Hey, Bruce, have you thought of anything or not?!
Bruce Wayne: I… I…
Loki: Heh, judging from your stuttering, you have thought of something but don't dare say it out loud, right?
Bruce Wayne: …
Loki: Haha! I knew it!
Diana: What?! Bruce, don't tell me… you're thinking of sacrificing them?!
Akainu: That's probably the only solution. If there's no way to cure this so-called nightmare, then killing them all is the only way to stop it.
Naruto: Wait a second! What are you saying?! They're human lives! How can you just sacrifice them so easily?!
Akainu: Hmph. Naïve brat. Then tell me, what would you do? If nightmare victims keep moving around, the infection will spread endlessly.
Akainu: Imagine millions being tormented by nightmares, unable to sleep. What do you think would happen? Let alone the entire world.
Orochimaru: Hehehe, I do wonder… if they were turned into zombies or Javo, would they still suffer from nightmares?
Daigo: But… can't we just isolate them?
Loki: Huh? If you can't cure them, what's the point of isolating them? That's just letting them rot away, slowly dying in misery.
Loki: And who would take care of them in isolation? The caregivers would also get infected, expanding the victim count. Isolation is just torture – a slower death.
Thanos: Indeed. If there's no cure, and isolation is troublesome, killing them all quickly is better. End it once and for all.
Nobita: God… how can you all be so cruel? Taking lives like it's nothing.
Shizuka: Exactly. This is too much.
Loki: Cruel? Then tell me – if you were in charge, what would you do instead? Do you have a better idea?
At Loki's question, everyone fell silent, unable to respond.
In the Leo Universe…
"Captain, do we have any way to help them?"
Feng Yuan quickly asked Dan Moroboshi.
"If these nightmares can't infect Ultra Warriors, I could bring them to the Land of Light for treatment. But…"
Dan paused, letting out a heavy sigh.
If Ultra Warriors could be infected too, then there was no way he would ever bring patients back – what if the Land of Light was overrun with nightmares?
Seeing him fall silent mid-sentence, Feng Yuan understood what that meant, lowering his head unwillingly.
In the Doraemon Universe…
"Dorami! You must have an idea, right?!"
Nobita looked to Dorami desperately.
"Um… well… the only thing I can think of is using the Time Machine to go back to when they were about to use the respirators."
Dorami quickly pondered and offered a solution.
Hearing that, everyone let out a sigh of relief.
In the DC Universe…
Bruce, Clark, and Barry were all anxious, but they still remembered some respirators hadn't been collected yet. They couldn't stop now.
Having learned from earlier failures, they moved even faster.
But even after retrieving all the Nightmare Respirators, some had already been used, resulting in dozens infected.
If no further action was taken, those dozens would become hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands!
"Bruce! Are you really going to kill them?!" Clark flew in front of Bruce Wayne, demanding an answer.
Barry also arrived anxiously.
"I won't do that," Bruce immediately retorted. "I've thought of a few options."
"First, I can take them into the Mirror World. If they die there, at least it won't be by our hands."
Bruce explained his idea.
Hearing this so-called solution, Clark's face twisted with disapproval.
"Bruce! That still makes us murderers!"
"There's a second option!" Bruce shouted back.
"I can use my Yellow Lantern Ring to build a barrier and isolate them, letting them live out their lives there. At least we can provide them with food and necessities regularly."
This method seemed better than the first, but in truth, it wasn't much different.
Clark shook his head sadly, looking at Bruce with pained eyes.
"Do you know what that would become, Bruce? They'd go insane first. The public would demand answers. It would cause huge uproar. In the end, it's just letting them die slowly in place."
"I know! You think I don't know that?!"
Bruce nearly lost control, roaring at Clark.
"Do you know how painful it was to come up with these plans?! Don't forget – I'm the one forced to find a way out of this!"
His voice wasn't just directed at Clark, but also an outpouring of his own bitterness and helplessness.
Clark, seeing Bruce's tear-filled, enraged face, realized he'd overstepped. He lowered his head in guilt.
"Sorry, Bruce. I forgot… you're the one under the most pressure here."
Bruce didn't reply. He turned away, pacing back and forth, thinking desperately.
Barry stood there, wanting to speak but finding no words, only feeling a deep anxiety.
"There's a third option. I can use a virus my pharmaceutical company is researching. Infect the nightmare victims with it."
"Then contact the government, enforce lockdown around them, and have Wayne Enterprises care for their families."
Bruce spoke this third option with a heavy tone.
Compared to the first two, this was undoubtedly the best.
It minimized public backlash and sounded the most rational.
"But… wouldn't that mean sending in doctors and nurses to care for them… to their deaths?"
Barry voiced the flaw in this plan – it would still create more victims.
Bruce and Clark remained silent, lowering their heads. Their silence was the answer.
"If you two have no objections, I'll proceed with this plan. Just make sure none of them leave their locations."
(End of Chapter)
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