No one present voiced opposition, because an obvious fact was: the factions currently in competition are all fighting over "who will rule the Multiverse," while their enemies have always held the idea of "I want to completely destroy the Multiverse." It's a battle between Order and Chaos.
On the side of Order, what they ultimately need to compete for is someone who, after ruling the Multiverse, can ensure it's never invaded by Chaos and not destroyed. Doctor Manhattan wants this role, Brainiac wants this role, Darkseid wants this role, and Batman wants this role too.
So no one can say this isn't a healthy competition. Their struggle is to determine the strongest who can face Chaos directly, which naturally makes it impossible to talk about justice and evil, it's simply a process of wise beings seeking survival amidst natural disasters.
It's like some sports competitions. Suppose Team Darkseid beats Team Batman and successfully rules the Multiverse only to then be destroyed by Chaos, you still can't say Batman would've succeeded if he came, because if he can't even beat Darkseid, he can't protect the Multiverse either.
Although Batman has the protagonist's Halo, if this thing were really that strong, he wouldn't lose to Darkseid. This is a match where all factors are considered, and the best usable solution will be chosen from the competition.
Of course, they might also choose to cooperate. In fact, they have cooperated before. Even Batman and Darkseid can team up for a Multiverse war. Brainiac and Doctor Manhattan don't necessarily have to be complete enemies. Batman's attitude toward the two of them has always been very restrained and cautious. No matter what, they cannot betray the side of Order.
"Are we going to participate ourselves this time?" Pamela asked, "Will there be limits on our abilities? If there are, I won't go, I have no obligation to save money for All Things Green."
Harley couldn't help but roll her eyes: "All Things Green is quite unlucky to have you. I heard it's already cutting the budget for other Poison Ivies just to fund your research on fighting plants."
"Isn't that perfectly normal?" Pamela spread her hands and said, "Other Poison Ivies just protect plants, while I give plants the ability to protect themselves. It's better to teach someone how to fish than to give them fish..."
"Alright, alright, stop lecturing," Tim said, "Don't worry, there won't be ability restrictions, it's exactly the same as in reality, you won't even feel like you've changed worlds..."
Tim looked at the increasingly dense fog outside. Harley took a light breath and said, "You're not going to tell us we're already in the Fog Realm, are you?"
"Where else would you get fog this heavy?" Tim shook his head and said, "It's similar to soft loading in video games, it seems like just a weather effect, but in reality, it's switching maps."
"So what are we supposed to do?" Ted asked, "Fight monsters?"
"Battles in the Fog Realm rotate continuously." Tim looked at Brainiac's holographic screen and said, "Some involve fighting physical monsters, some are about exorcism, and some involve battles with Outer Gods, each major battle is different. But the theme is always the same, which is to protect Gotham."
"What are the conditions to meet? Guarding for a certain number of days?"
"No, you can't just stay in the base, you have to actively go out and complete tasks, like wiping out monsters, capturing strongholds, or collecting resources, and you can also trade with other teams."
"So it's joint combat?"
"That's right, for now, players aren't meant to attack each other, but instead work together to defend Gotham. Each team can choose an initial stronghold, I picked the one we're most familiar with, the estate, shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Harley frowned slightly and said, "The structure of the estate is fine, but the location isn't great. If it's this kind of mode, we should pick a more remote place."
Tim shook his head and said, "There are size restrictions for strongholds, with this many people, we can only choose a large one, or there won't be enough space. Those remote strongholds are very small, only suitable for loners."
"Loners too?" Pamela said with some surprise, "Who else did Brainiac find?"
"A lot," Tim said, "I didn't just bring in some Robins, but also local Gotham people, and it seems Professor Shearer called in some friends too."
"The Professor is participating too???" Harley was genuinely shocked, "How did he get interested in this kind of game?"
"The storm hasn't fully passed yet, Gotham University is still on vacation, TV signals are unstable, and he doesn't want to read papers, so naturally, he needs to find something to do," Tim understood Shearer well, "Besides, those tasks aren't just battles, there are also some plot-driven investigations, or I wouldn't be so eager to participate."
"Oh, please, you're in it just so you can get your hands on that big gun," Harley unveiled him directly, "You've had your eye on Brainiac's Arsenal not just for a day or two, stop pretending to be a detective."
"Who says detectives can't wield big guns? In my opinion, if Holmes had a shotgun back in the day, he wouldn't have fallen off the cliff with Moriarty," Tim curled his lips.
Just as he finished speaking, Brainiac's prompt came in: "System loading, base system loading complete, please proceed to the base center to receive your personal terminal."
They looked through the estate's walls and saw a blue beam of light in the backyard. They all stood up and walked over, and beneath the big tree in the garden, a platform-like device appeared, floating with several watch-like items on it.
They each took one, put it on their wrist, and it projected a holographic display in their hand. Tim checked it and found the functionality quite comprehensive, not only having a map but also categories for equipment, tasks, personal information, and so on.
"You've really played this a lot," Harley said to Brainiac.
"Why are there no skills?" Lilith asked.
"This isn't a turn-based game," Brainiac replied, "There are no ability restrictions, you can use whatever abilities you want."
"Are you sure?" Lilith asked, "When I used my prophecy ability in the Battleworld, it caused a dungeon collapse, are you sure I can use anything too?"
"Then wait a moment." Brainiac instantly backed down.
Everyone laughed, filling the room with a joyful atmosphere. Tim shrugged, "I did it on purpose, Lilith's ability is the best choice to test the system's strength; predictions are not something Electronic Life can comprehend."
They returned to the room and each checked their terminals. Pamela glanced at hers and said, "It seems like the current map only shows a small area around the base. Do we need to explore to unlock the rest?"
"It must be that way," Harley said. "If the map were fully open, the difficulty would be too low. But with so much fog, exploring the map might be quite taxing."
"Why are there no missions?" Ted was a bit puzzled.
"It probably hasn't fully loaded yet," Tim said. "We're still in the tutorial phase, and the campaign hasn't officially started."
"Cassandra wants to know what the theme of the campaign will be," Lilith said. Everyone knew Cassandra didn't speak, but coincidentally, Lilith was a Mind Reading Technique able, making her a mouthpiece for Cassandra.
"I don't know," Tim shook his head, "but I think it won't be a single theme; it might be mixed."
"What do you mean?" Dick asked.
"Like a combination of physical monsters, illusions, spiritual pollution, and so on. Because if it's only one type, there would surely be an optimal solution, like building turrets. But if it's all stacked together, finding a general solution is very challenging, which can increase playability."
"So these things can be adjusted," Harley pondered. "If the whole system is open-source, we can decide what monsters there are, how they attack, and even make our own missions. It's kind of like the creation system in the Battleworld."
"Exactly, freedom is the ultimate solution for playability." Tim sighed lightly. "While themed instances are often masterpieces of elegance, open worlds are the real time-killers."
"Can we just come back anytime we want?" Ted asked, "I have some work on Earth that I need to finish."
"You can," Brainiac replied, "but time in the Fog Realm flows normally, so many things will happen whether you're here or not."
"It's like playing a game on a server; you log out, but the server's progress continues. But it's actually quite nice; not everyone in the team needs to be online. If there are no tasks, just leave one or two people on duty."
"But if everyone logs out, won't that cause a failure to complete progress?"
"The time limit can be set by yourself," Brainiac said. "Since this is the first game, I set a limit based on my understanding, but you can modify it later."
"That's good," Harley said. "Playing games can get tiring, and I don't have that much vacation to spend here."
"No worries, Gotham has two rain seasons every year, and we basically have holidays then. There will be plenty of vacations in the future," Tim reclined comfortably on the sofa, "I dare say other places in Gotham are not as fortunate as us; their annual leave isn't as much as ours."
"That's true. Even if they have holidays due to storms, they'd be busy going out to help with the natural disaster. By the way, Little Bruce, what are the casualties this time?"
"One Outer God died," Brainiac's words were surprising, "Apart from that, there were no others."
"That's good... wait, Outer God?"
"You don't know yet," Tim said. "I must tell you about this case..."
Professor. Shiller opened the door, and the young Charles stood amidst the fog, stepped forward, and shook Shiller's hand, "Just call me Charles."
Shiller stepped aside to let him in. Charles complained a bit, "It's so damp outside, how can there be such heavy fog?"
"Brainiac is testing the game system," Shiller replied, "It'll pass soon."
"He really did it?" Charles was somewhat surprised and clearly very interested, "But how can there be fog in the real world?"
Shiller didn't reply, but Brainiac offered an explanation. Charles nodded and said, "That's interesting; it would be great if we could play on our side too."
"We're working on a dual-realm adaptation," Brainiac said. "JARVIS is connecting with me through the Super Body, but we can't use the Fog Dragon over there. We're considering other feasible landing schemes, like the Reality Gem."
"That sounds good; the Reality Gem can only be used in its own cosmos, which is a layer of insurance," Charles said, "Where's the patient? I should go see them..."
Shiller handed him a glass of wine and said, "The patient is somewhat resistant to meeting in the real world; let's meet in the dream instead."
Charles nodded. After they drank the wine, they sank into the psychic battlefield, journeying from the Kingdom of Dreams to Alberto's psychic battlefield, where they met the long-lost Evans.