Dawn Knight

In a spacious yet somewhat dimly lit room, damp water droplets condensed on the stone walls. Hundreds of candles were fixed to the walls at varying heights, and huge ribbons hung down from the towering ceiling, casting interwoven shadows on the floor.

A huge Speaker was placed in the center of the room. At this moment, several masked people were sitting on both sides of the round table, watching the scene on a screen.

This is the meeting room of the Court of Owls.

The Court of Owls is a mysterious organization in DC Comics that has been active in Gotham City since its early days. In some comic book versions, it is described as an organization maintained by the founders of Gotham City or their descendants, and is the dark king of Gotham City.

Of course, there are many other comic book versions that have devised even more conspiracies for this organization. For example, the Court of Owls in Gotham City is actually subordinate to the world-class Owl Council, which is an organization under the command of Barbatos, the Dark God.

Regardless, this organization has been in Gotham for a long time and has been secretly controlling the city.

The members of the Court of Owls only gather together for matters of conspiracy in Gotham City, and this time is no exception.

Of course, that was their original purpose, but the situation has changed now, or rather, the nature of the whole story has completely changed after they saw a huge black monster jump out from the monitoring equipment on the Claw Belt.

Moreover, the speed and impact of this change far exceeded everyone's expectations.

During this period of change in Gotham City, the Court of Owls was not entirely oblivious. However, the problem is that any parliamentary organization needs to go through a series of discussions and member statements before making a decision. The Court of Owls was no exception. Given the recent changes in Gotham, they needed to investigate, gather evidence, analyze, and then vote.

That's right, this damn evil organization is also damn meticulous, and its case-solving efficiency is much better than that of the Gotham Police Department.

However, after a period of Silk, the Court of Owls finally uncovered the clues that Gotham was the Black Hand behind these changes.

The Court of Owls isn't actually worried about this change in Gotham, because the city isn't actually moving in a better direction. No one is trying to save the city from the root causes; on the contrary, it has brought huge benefits to the city, which is actually in line with the interests of the Court of Owls.

What they cannot accept is that someone is manipulating and influencing the city from a darker place, with even greater precision than they do. Once such a person appears, the Court of Owls must eliminate them.

So, Claws set its sights on its target, the seemingly unremarkable university professor, Schiller Rodriguez.

Everything was going smoothly at first, and the Court of Owls thought they would continue to nip one opponent after another in the bud, just like before. But things started to change with the appearance of that black monster.

It's not surprising that the Court of Owls would install surveillance equipment on Claws; they were originally a conspiracy organization monitoring the entire city. However, they never expected that the ensuing drama would shatter everyone's worldview and fundamentally change the purpose of the meeting.

Meanwhile, Schiller, who was still entangled with the Venom Bat, was also finding it somewhat tricky. The battle between the Symbiote was not like the one he had seen in the movies, where two giant monsters were punching each other.

As a type of factor organism, the battles between Symbiote mostly occur at the microscopic level, that is, they devour each other's Symbiote factors, which is like turning a one-on-one duel into a legion war.

Schiller wasn't incapable of fighting this kind of battle, but he was facing a crazed dark bat. The Venom Bat didn't care how many Symbiote factors it would lose; it just attacked frantically, trying to bite off more from the Gray Mist.

There's no point in talking about tactics with such a crazed enemy; defense will only lead to more losses. So Schiller had no choice but to launch a frenzied attack, and the two Symbiote began to devour each other without fear.

This battle was devoid of any fire or sound; everything was shrouded in a mysterious and silent atmosphere. Tangible objects began to gradually become intangible in this frenzied mutual devouring. The pulling of slime and mist made it look more like a battle between light and shadow. Beneath the silent surface, however, lay screams, chaos, and a frenzied battle that ordinary people could not see.

The Court of Owls is no ordinary people; they do possess certain Dark Force that ordinary people do not have.

Therefore, when faced with this silent yet noisy battle, the Court of Owls, who had never seen Symbiote, could only understand it within their own worldview as a manifestation of a higher level of mysticism.

This battle, which takes place on an invisible level, makes them more likely to associate it with the source of some Dark Force. Unlike ordinary people, the Court of Owls is able to realize that the world is not as simple and peaceful as it seems. They know that there are more great and dark forces watching everything in the universe.

The forms of Venom Bat and Gray Mist Schiller are too reminiscent of certain dimensionally transcendent Demon God.

The enormous black bat carries a terrifying Dark Force. Even through the screen, you can see the massive black tide surging from Batman's dark side. Just one glance at it makes you feel suffocated and terrified, as if you're being choked.

Schiller's enormous sun rising from the gray mist looked like a black hole that devoured everything. The strange and bizarre patterns in the mist added a solemnity full of religious ritual to the eeriness and absurdity, making it hard not to associate it with something.

The limitless possibilities unleashed by this unique Symbiote species make the changes in these two individuals seem anything but sudden.

In fact, the Court of Owls's judgment was not wrong. The Symbiote race itself originated from a Cosmic Demons, and the two currently fighting are the best among the Symbiote race.

If possible, please allow Schiller to formally introduce a particularly enthusiastic netizen to the Court of Owls—

The oldest being of the Seventh Cosmos, the cosmic Satan, the lord of the Abyss, the black-clad emperor, the master of the Black Blade, the decapitator of the Celestials, the stepfather of the Gorr the God Butcher, God of Thunder's close friend, Thanos's headache generator, and the ultimate nightmare of the three great cosmic empires— the Knull.

Okay, the story of Knull that I talked about before may sound a bit weak, but in reality, this Demon God who forged the Black Death Sword is still quite high-level among the demon gods in the Marvel Cosmic Demons, and his battle record is also quite impressive. Although his special descendant cannot be considered an independent Cosmic Demons, he is at least a direct relative.

It's important to understand that in this era, most of the villains with names and identities haven't even fully debuted yet, let alone those Demon God who transcend the level of Earth. But the battle between these two people seems to have suddenly skipped countless power levels, directly transforming the level of the battle from a street brawl into a cosmic event.

Can't this Court of Owls not be a little surprised?

Thus, the topic of the meeting changed from whether or not to interfere with Gotham to whether or not to evacuate Gotham.

After all, they were completely unaware of this change, and didn't even know why Batman, whom they had been closely monitoring, had suddenly become like this. They also didn't know what the outcome of this battle would be. Would Gotham be destroyed? Would the entire Earth be destroyed?

But at least they were certain of one thing: before they figured out why Batman and the professor had suddenly transformed from ordinary people on Earth into cosmic-level villains, it was best not to take any drastic actions.

Moreover, what worried them even more was that the changes in these two people were too sudden, without any warning. The Court of Owls had not discovered that the city had been invaded by any mysterious force.

If these Demon God were organized, they would have already infected many people in Gotham. So who knows how many more people like them there are in Gotham City?

If they unleash their claws and stab and explode one after another, Gotham City will be crammed with a bunch of Cosmic Demons. What will be the point of the owls then?

If every citizen of Gotham City had this fighting ability, the owl wouldn't even have the chance to run home and cry to Barbatos.

Schiller originally brought Venom to DC because he had seen in the comics a scene where Venom repaired the aging bones and nervous system of his host Eddie. He thought that perhaps Venom could treat Mr. Freeze's wife in the same way. However, before he could do so, Venom foolishly ended up in Batman's body.

Batman isn't someone you can just parasitize. You're some Marvel outsider, and you think you can come to Gotham and beg for food?

Just as he was thinking this, Schiller noticed that the attack from the other side seemed to have weakened. The gray mist once again bypassed a building. Schiller tucked himself in and stood on the edge of the roof of the highest building, looking down.

The black bat made of Slime suddenly began to fly erratically, as if it were fighting with itself, being pulled along by an invisible force.

In the black bat's mind, another battle was escalating.

Wave after wave of black tide swept across the land, Bruce's own consciousness was like a lone boat in a storm, teetering on the brink of collapse.

Even Bruce himself never imagined that his dark side would be so terrifying.

Teaming up with him against the enemy was the wretched consciousness of Venom. He still couldn't figure out how he had stirred up another hornet's nest.

Having barely withstood another wave of black tide, Bruce said to Venom, "Didn't you claim to be an alien?! Why is the will of you aliens so fragile?!"

Venom is practically furious! Is it because I'm weak-willed? Why do you humans love to create so many mental storms?

Survival at the limits of the Consciousness World, right?

Venom was truly wronged; when he first debuted, his first host was Deadpool.

Deadpool's brain is like it's been whipped up by a whisk that spins thousands of times; it can grow anywhere on his body except his brain.

Venom is like swimming butterfly in a cesspool. Deadpool's brain isn't particularly dangerous, but it's disgusting, extremely disgusting.

Venom was driven a bit crazy by him. After spending some time on a normal person, it couldn't resist the temptation and ran to Stark.

Stark's mind is no longer confused, but this damn rotten guy's brain is experiencing an average of three thousand thunderstorms a day, with tornadoes and sandstorms so fierce that even his own mother wouldn't recognize him, and he almost blew Venom's skull open.

When Venom was jolted out of Stark's body, he felt a sense of relief, as if he had escaped death.

Then, after being locked in the jar and starving for a long time, he finally found an opportunity to escape. Venom was quite happy because as soon as he entered Bruce's body, he discovered that Bruce seemed to be a smart rich kid, but his brain didn't seem to work as fast as Stark's. Instead, his mind was full of irrelevant data such as hospital beds and prison rooms.

Venom, full of longing for a happy life, thought he was happily inside an egg. Just as he was drooling over the yolk and preparing to swallow it whole, the egg suddenly hatched into a Tyrannosaurus Rex, and Venom's head was almost bitten off.

Venom knows from its genetic information that the universe is vast and that humans are not the only species. So why was it so unlucky? Why did it just happen to fall onto Earth?

How could humans be so outrageous? If one day he can compile a gene pool for Symbiote, he will definitely tell all his fellow symbiotes: stay away from humans, safety first, improper host selection will lead to tears for the Symbiote.

But despite feeling wronged and complaining, the battle still had to be fought. Venom said to Bruce, "I can stimulate your emotions. You need to have an extreme emotion right now to suppress this dark emotion."

Thanks to Stark, Venom's logic system comes from this genius cursed with knowledge. His thinking is now very clear, even clearer than Bruce's. After all, Bruce is blinded by his own involvement, while Venom is very clear that in order to defeat this dark emotion from the shadows, Bruce must evoke enough positive emotions.

"What are you waiting for? Let's get started," Bruce said.

The problem is that I can't find your positive emotions!

Venom roared, "Where did you hide them?! Find them now!!! They're our lifeline!!!"

Venom was knocked over by the black tide again, and he said in a state of near collapse, "What is there to hide here?! You stupid humans!!!"

Bruce opened his mouth, unsure how to answer Venom's question. It sounded absurd, but even an alien creature capable of reading minds couldn't detect his positive emotions.

"You have to hurry!" Venom's tone was very similar to Stark's at this moment, clearly the genius had a great influence on him.

"There seems to be some other power within your dark emotions. Once it fully erupts, your hometown, which is the city we are in now, will be completely destroyed! Nothing will be left!"

Bruce pursed his lips as he dodged the attack from the dark consciousness once again.

Destroy Gotham? It might sound crazy, but it makes perfect sense. This crazy city should have been destroyed long ago. What's there to miss here?

Alfred's face flashed through his mind. He remembered the old butler's expression as he sat by the bedside, and the cheerful tunes he hummed as he wiped the old telephone alone in the dark living room.

This was not unexpected for Bruce. If there was the One person he still cherished in this city, it would be his butler, Alfred. If there was the One place he still cherished, it would be Wayne Manor, where Alfred lived.

Soon. His memory began to blur, as if he had returned to Wayne Manor. He pushed open a door as he did every ordinary morning.

But to his surprise, behind that door lay Gotham's dark, rainy alley. Detective Gordon called him the "Tight-Tight Guy" for the first time. They teamed up to solve cases, investigate and track down criminals. Then, on the rooftop of the Gotham Police Department, the detective in the trench coat and the bat in the cape talked about justice and the future of the city.

As night deepened, Batman turned and left. When he returned to the manor, an old friend was already waiting for him in the flickering candlelight. Batman and Harvey sat on the sofa, talking about many things, as if they had endless topics to discuss. He spoke eloquently like a wise mentor and helpful friend. Bruce was already somewhat confused by the principles he was talking about, but the tacit understanding between them was still very clear.

Soon, he was wandering among the lights of Gotham's skyscrapers, embracing and kissing Catwoman, falling into a beautiful dream.

The tossed curtains, the knocked-over glasses, the spilled wine, every night both tender and wild, the kisses that warmed a bat's cold body, the passionate lover who fascinated him, telling him stories of jewels and castles that Batman would never have been interested in—in his memory, he listened intently. But to him, Catwoman's eyes shone brighter than the gems she described with every word she used.

The scratching sound of the pen on the paper filled the air, and Bruce felt as if he were back in an exam room, watching his classmates scratching their heads in the exam hall, perhaps feeling amazed, or perhaps feeling helpless.

Then, he painted murals with those people, watching the black paint flow down the wall, spontaneously forming mysterious patterns he had never seen before, like the door to a time machine.

He passed through the door, and time rushed forward, advancing bit by bit in his dreamlike memories to the present, and then began to rewind rapidly, with all the people and things returning to their original positions like a movie playing in reverse, until he returned to the place where a black sun rose, and he heard a familiar voice say to him, "Welcome to Gotham."

Venom watched as the consciousness space began to tremble, with intense light shining through some broken cracks. He cursed under his breath and quickly began to weave threads through Bruce's emotions, trying to guide these fragmented positive emotions back together.

A glimmer of light gradually rose, then coalesced into an even more dazzling sphere of light.

The Black Tide's counterattack became even more ferocious, like black ink that had soaked the entire world. A black ocean began to spread in the space of consciousness, with surging waves covering the sky.

Bruce, who had been extracted from the memory space, floated above the Black Tide. Through the layers of black waves, he saw a curled-up little boy lying in the deepest part of this black ocean. It was him, Bruce Wayne.

Soon, Schiller saw the giant bat made of slime crash to the ground, and the slime began to slowly retract, eventually shrinking back into Bruce's body.

Schiller jumped off the roof and stood in front of Bruce got up from the ground, or rather, was now controlled by Venom.

How did you manage to escape?

"You'll have to ask the woman who went to your house and stole that jar."

The woman who stole the jar? Schiller thought, there's only one female thief in all of Gotham with that kind of skill, could it be Catwoman?

"I shouldn't have listened to Stark's nonsense," Schiller said. "He told me that his Symbiote had to live in a mansion befitting the world's richest man, so he made a diamond jar with his weird instruments and assured me that it was both beautiful and practical."

"Then I should Thank you him."

In an instant, the black slime erupted again, but this time the Venom returned to its original form, which was a large mouth full of fangs and a bright red tongue.

"So how exactly did you end up in Batman's body?"

"Don't you think communicating in a human way is too slow? Don't waste my time," Venom said.

"Your tone reminds me of a really annoying guy."

Venom spun out a Slime tentacle, and the Gray Mist slowly dissipated into a cloud of fog. The moment the Symbiote factors made contact, they exchanged countless pieces of information.

In his mind, the Gray Mist said to Schiller, "... a woman with cat ears... like that car... a necessary process for human reproduction... not allowed to see... he wouldn't understand..."

"Okay, I understand..." Schiller covered his forehead. He already knew what had happened. He said, "No need to tell me the details. Bruce deserved it."

Then Venom grinned, revealing his enormous mouth, and said, "You can't catch me anymore! Hahahaha! I'm free!! I'm going to eat everyone's brains here!! I..."

"As I said before, you might have some trouble to deal with before you even think about eating..."

Venom was about to answer him when he felt his consciousness being suppressed again. He roared in frustration, "No! Damn humans! Rotten people!!"

But in the end, the mucus retreated back into his body. Bruce shook his head and said, "Did it work? What exactly happened?"

"You should ask that glutton inside you."

"That's not what I meant. He's already told me who he is and what he's going to do. I meant..." Bruce clutched his head in pain. "Why did I lose control? What were those terrible negative emotions? Why...where did that darkness come from?"

"It seems you've already discovered it," Schiller said. "The darkness lurking within you is terrifying. Although it has never been out of control before, once it does, you could destroy everything."

"What exactly is that?"

"That's Batman, don't you know that?"

"Batman? Then who am I? No... no... impossible!" Bruce covered his eyes and crouched down, kneeling on the ground in great pain. He said, "Impossible... I am Batman... I am Batman..."

"You think you've become someone else, but actually, that's just an appearance."

Schiller's thoughts began to drift, and he gradually recalled the Batman he knew from those comics. His voice became increasingly ethereal as he said, "Batman? You're different from him. Indeed, he doesn't just pursue darkness."

"He is the ultimate darkness, and also the ultimate light. He rules this hopeless city with the ultimate darkness, and then uses the light to prevent the destruction that this ultimate darkness may bring."

This sounded more like a sigh from Schiller. Bruce's voice was weary as he said, "I thought I didn't need any of that. I was the Avengers of the night. I didn't need any useless emotions that might shake my beliefs. I wasn't that ridiculous Bruce, that powerless Little Bruce who couldn't save or change anything..."

Schiller had never heard such a noticeable tremor in Bruce's voice before. Bruce's tone was so shaky that he could barely finish the last word, or perhaps, he simply didn't want to.

This was the first time he had spoken about what he had been avoiding—that night, those two gunshots, those two people lying in pools of blood, and that helpless little boy named Bruce Wayne.

He had thought that Little Bruce was buried forever on that night.

So when he realized that he still held the same pleasant memories of the world and the movie that night, just like that little boy, and harbored unwarranted fantasies, it was as if all the hatred and hatred-driven efforts of the past years had been nothing more than self-deceptive escapism.

Facing the orphaned boy brought Schiller a more intense emotional response than facing Batman. For the first time, he stopped offering advice as a detached bystander and instead spoke as if giving a genuine piece of advice, "... Even in Gotham, there is daytime."

Bruce's Adam's apple bobbed. He took a deep breath, as if suddenly infused with some life force. He stood up, trembling slightly. The cold wind of the Gotham night blew against his Bat-armor, causing a tremor that no one could hear.

He limped slowly to the edge of the rooftop.

Standing there, he saw a glimmer of light appear on the Gotham City skyline, a thin golden line that seemed to cleave through the dense darkness like the creation of the world.

Bruce had never seen the sunrise in Gotham.

He suddenly realized that even in such a dark and gloomy city, the light that pierced the darkness at the moment the sun rose was still as brilliant as he had never seen before.

The darker the darkness, the more awe-inspiring the light becomes.

Bruce closed his eyes and slowly closed the fingers of One Hand, as if grasping the light that pierced through the darkness.

Soon, Bruce took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and the sunlight filled his eyes, leaving a brilliant golden arc in his pupils.

No one knew that he had briefly seen the little boy lying beneath the black tide in his consciousness. It wasn't until he saw him that Bruce understood that he always regarded those joyful memories as the reward he had received for his painful life. Therefore, whenever he gained a little happiness, he always wanted to repay it with ten times the pain.

He was so eager to escape these happy memories, just as he instinctively avoided pain.

He wanted to become Batman, and what he had to accept was not only the pain and darkness, but also that he had always been that little boy, always looking forward to that movie, always yearning for the light.

Just like that dark night many years ago, without the expectation of light, there will never be the desire to merge into darkness.

"Who I am?"

He whispered, "Who am I?"

The dawn light wouldn't answer him, but he already knew the answer in his heart. He said, "I am Bruce Wayne..."

"I am Batman..."

His tone softened. "... I am Batman."

A silent yet weighty vow settled in his heart, like a heavy stone tablet, standing firm against the erosion of the black tide.

From this day forward, there will only be one Batman in this dark city: Bruce Wayne, and Batman.

From this day forward, he will bear the dark authority from the mad city of Gotham, and wield the blade of dawn's light.

He will stand above this Living Hell, where the cold wind cannot penetrate his armor and the flames cannot melt his heart.

He will disregard all rules and fear no guilt, taking dawn as his boundary and daybreak as his signal; though in darkness, his heart will always be turned toward the light.

Bruce thought he would be the dawn of Gotham.

He will be— Batman.