Reborn in Hell, Because I Am Batman!

Boundless pain exploded from a point on his spine like billions of red-hot steel needles, instantly piercing every nerve ending.

His consciousness was forcibly torn from the chaotic darkness amid that hellish agony.

"Pain... It hurts... My back..."

Lu Xian's thoughts still lingered on the final moment when, after seventy-two consecutive hours of overtime, he had collapsed over his desk and fallen into darkness. He had thought he would die from overwork, but the pain now was so real it made his soul tremble, ruthlessly declaring one fact—he was still alive, in a manner more agonizing than death.

He struggled to open his eyes. What came into view was not the familiar office ceiling, but the vaulted roof of a vast, cold, damp cave. Countless bats hung upside down from the rock walls like curtains of black death. The pungent scent of disinfectant and the cold touch of metal came from beneath him. He lay on a highly futuristic medical bed, connected to various monitoring devices that flickered with faint light.

Not far away, a massive Tyrannosaurus rex model stood with its jaws opened in a silent roar. An ancient coin taller than a man leaned at an angle nearby, alongside a glass case displaying a shattered suit of armor. Golden lettering on it read, "A Good Soldier."

"This is... the Batcave?!"

Lu Xian's mind exploded with a buzz. Immediately afterward, a vast, heavy flood of memories that did not belong to him surged into his mind like a burst dam. Gotham City's dark childhood, gunfire in an alley, the warmth of his parents' blood, the obsessive vow to become Batman, the endless entanglement with the Joker, and... finally, the image of a hulking man in a breathing mask lifting him high in the air in the most humiliating way possible before brutally breaking his spine!

Pain and memories intertwined, nearly tearing apart the soul of this ordinary office worker.

"Bruce... His vital signs are dropping! Alfred, quickly! The cardiac stimulant!" a young, anxious voice called from beside him.

Lu Xian laboriously shifted his eyes and saw a boy in a red, yellow, and green uniform, his face still childish, fumbling frantically with the medical equipment. He was pale, with cold sweat covering his forehead. That was the third Robin, Tim Drake.

On the other side of the medical bed, an elderly butler in a crisp suit, his hair graying, stood with his back to him. His shoulders trembled ever so slightly. That silent grief was more infectious than any cry, as though the cave's entire chill emanated from the aura of despair surrounding him. That was Alfred Pennyworth.

"I... became Bruce Wayne? The strongest mortal, and the most tragic hero? And this is... the version whose back was just broken by Bane?"

What kind of joke was this?! Lu Xian roared inwardly. In his previous life, he had merely been a project manager struggling through the blessings of the 996 work schedule. His greatest dream had been financial freedom and then doing nothing. He had never wanted to inherit a script with hell-level difficulty! Gotham had been occupied by Bane, and he had become crippled. How was he supposed to play this?

Just as his consciousness was about to be completely swallowed by the despair and pain lingering in this body, a cold, emotionless mechanical voice suddenly exploded in his mind like the first light at the dawn of creation!

[Detected host soul strength and current body compatibility exceeding 95%! Survival instinct and desire for control have met the required values!]

[Multiverse Batman System... officially activated!]

[Distributing novice gift pack... matching the optimal template based on the current world's crisis level and the host's soul traits...]

[Match successful! Congratulations, host, you have obtained: Template—Peak Arkham Knight!]

"Boom!"

As if the universe had exploded, golden streams of data poured from the void like waterfalls, instantly washing over every inch of Lu Xian's soul and body! He felt as though he had been immersed in the warmest spring, and the agony that could have broken even a hero rapidly faded.

[Inheriting template abilities...]

[Ability acquired: Ultimate Combat Arts (integrating the essence of 127 martial arts, including judo, karate, Muay Thai, sambo, and Krav Maga; the ultimate combat system created for the most efficient subjugation and killing)!]

[Ability acquired: Tactical Mastermind (brain information processing speed increased to supercomputer level; capable of instantly analyzing battlefield data and formulating optimal tactics)!]

[Ability acquired: Fear Aura (passive ability. Your very existence is the embodiment of fear. Those weak-willed who face you will suffer a mental breakdown)!]

[Inheriting equipment...]

[Equipment acquired: Knight Batsuit, Version V8.03 (bound to the body; equipped with a full life-support system, electromagnetic muscle-fiber enhancement, built-in multifunction detective mode, and holographic tactical interface)!]

[Equipment acquired: Complete upgraded Bat-tool set (materials upgraded to Promethium alloy; all functions comprehensively enhanced)!]

[Inheriting vehicles...]

[Vehicle acquired: Complete Batmobile (parked in the Batcave's secret passage and standing by at all times. Equipped with drone swarm support and remote-control functions)!]

[Novice benefit distributed: Perfect reconstruction of bodily condition!]

An indescribable warm torrent, like the very source of life, flowed precisely toward his broken spine!

"Crack... crack-crack-crack!"

Before Tim's horrified eyes, the life line on the monitor, which had nearly flattened, suddenly shot upward wildly! Even more terrifying, he heard crisp sounds from Bruce's back—sounds of bones grinding, reconnecting, and healing that made his scalp tingle!

Bruce's formerly limp body suddenly tensed. The muscles in his back writhed violently in visible waves, as though an invisible pair of hands were forcibly reassembling, correcting, and reinforcing his broken vertebrae!

"Dear God..." Tim stammered. The sight before him had completely surpassed the understanding of his genius mind.

Just as he thought he was hallucinating, the man who should have spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair suddenly leaped off the medical bed and landed steadily on the cold floor!

Bang!

The heavy impact echoed through the empty Batcave like a hammer blow striking directly at Tim and Alfred's hearts.

Lu Xian—no, the new Bruce Wayne—felt an explosive power within him unlike anything he had ever known, as though he could crush steel in his hand. He slowly rolled his neck.

Crack!

His bones gave off a series of sharp pops like bursting beans.

He did not look at his renewed body, nor did he marvel at this supernatural miracle. He merely turned around slowly, his eyes unusually deep beneath the shadows as they settled upon the dumbfounded Tim.

That gaze was cold, calm, and as deep as the universe. The original owner's characteristic suppression and pain were gone, as was any relief at surviving disaster. There was only absolute confidence, as though he could see through everything and control everything.

"Bruce... you... your injury... How... how did you..." Tim's voice trembled from overwhelming shock. He could not form a complete sentence at all.

Bruce looked at the boy who cared for him. The memories inherited from the original owner stirred the slightest ripple in his heart. He knew that this child was one of "his own." So, a trace of barely perceptible gentleness quietly melted into his cold gaze.

In a hoarse voice filled with irrefutable strength, he calmly answered Tim's question, as if declaring it to himself as well:

"Because I am Batman."

Those words were like an oracle, filled with unquestionable dominance. They were not an explanation, but a statement of fact.

Tim was instantly speechless. He felt that he was no longer facing the partner who had been both mentor and father figure, but a king returned from hell.

Alfred, who had kept his back to them all this time, slowly turned around as well. Though this old man, who had witnessed the joys and sorrows of two generations of the Wayne family, held the same astonishment in his eyes, there was something more—a relief as though a thousand-pound burden had finally been lifted.

He looked at Master Bruce, whose presence had become utterly different, and a complicated glimmer flashed through his clouded old eyes. He did not know what had happened, but he knew that the Batman who never fell had once again risen from the abyss in a way he could not understand, yet had desperately longed for.