"Other than mine, every universe could become a Dungeon. In that case, your universe could too?" Batman asked.
"Yes. We were prepared before coming here. Not to brag, but our universe is currently in much better shape than most. The various major and minor forces within it have basically all been dealt with, so it makes little difference whether outside enemies come or not."
Batman immediately realized Schiller meant the universe belonging to another aspect of himself, but that was not what concerned him. "I mean the universe where Pride is."
"Oh, him. You needn't worry about that." Schiller shook his head. "This is part of Bruce's plan. He was the one who suggested mixing the contestants' universes into this."
Batman immediately understood. "The universe Pride is in—is its economic or political situation currently bad?"
He felt that if Bruce had chosen to do this, that had to be the reason. Only when the situation was poor would they need an external enemy to unite the people.
"An Economic Crisis," Schiller said. "The United States is in a Great Depression not seen in a century. Yet the Soviet Union isn't dead, and Europe isn't quite dead either. The balance is tipping."
Batman knew better than anyone what the United States was like, but even from an objective standpoint rather than that of an American, whether the United States, the Soviet Union, or Europe became the sole superpower, the result would be the same.
By that era, the Soviet Union and the United States had become much the same. So regardless of which one became the sole pole, the future of the world situation was visibly tragic. The best outcome remained a tripolar balance; if possible, the more poles, the better.
But now the United States had suffered a severe blow.