Sandman

"How did you figure that out?" Batman's expression suddenly twisted.

"There are many reasons, like what I just said, you're just too weak. How could my father be killed by a mere bomb?" Damian curled his lip. "For example, I'm not from this world. I've already experienced the Knight's Horror Incident, and I Insomnia."

"So what if I know? In a dream, I won't die." Batman gave a sinister smile. "Little Damian, I can keep going like this forever."

"That's hard to say." Damian drew his sword. "Are you underestimating Robin's Divine Power?"

"Oh."

"But I don't have time to waste with you." Damian stomped the ground and cleaved Batman in two with a single blow.

"Why bother, Damian? You don't have to go on. We can go home now. Father and son, finally reunited." Batman quickly recovered and gave Damian a seemingly "kind" smile, his voice carrying a subtle, irresistible Magic.

"You are not my father." Damian remained unfazed, then plunged a knife into Batman's abdomen, piercing him through.

"Oh, but I can be." Batman's expression remained unchanged, ignoring the knife still embedded in his body, and he opened his arms to Damian, "Let's hug."

"What are you hugging me for?" Damian kicked Batman far away. "If I were you, I wouldn't be distracted and get entangled with me—"

If I remember correctly, after obtaining the Nightmare Stone, you can materialize your Nightmare in reality—guess what you'll encounter in the real world?

"What's the meaning?"

"What I mean is, I hope your body is still in Arkham Asylum, not Roland Cathedral," Damian said with a look of Compassion.

Roland Cathedral.

The people in the Church were sleeping soundly, with only a few awake.

"Long time no see, Morpheus." Cain brought Roland a cup of Coffee and greeted a tall, thin, dark-haired gothic man who had come to visit. "Nice new look."

"You too, Cain, congratulations." The dark-haired gothic man nodded. "By the way, my name is Sandman now."

"Lucifer told me."

"Welcome," Roland greeted Sandman.

Sandman, Morpheus Sandman, a member of the Endless, whose real name is Dream.

He is also the personification of the concept of dream. He was born when the first life in the Universe dreamed, and he will continue to exist as long as people dream.

When the world's first murder occurred, the dream took the first victim Abel, away from the death of his sister. When Abel was lonely, the dream asked Cain to tell him stories with him in the mysterious house next door.

"Don't mention Lucifer to me." Sandman curled his lip. "I used to quite like him—but he's getting more and more abstract these days."

"You've come here because of this world-shaking Dream Shrine, haven't you?" Roland said to the Sandman. "What exactly happened?"

"These are my magical artifacts—" The Sandman sighed. In 1916 England, he was hunting a Nightmare when he was trapped by a magic circle set up by the legendary Magicians Rhodey Burgess, and as a result, he lost three magical artifacts.

The Sand Pouch that could Hypnosis humans and travel through time fell into Constantine's hands.

The Helmet that allowed him to freely travel through the dream world was collected by Lucifer.

The Ruby, capable of turning dreams into reality, triggered this enormous crisis.

"----You were beaten up like this by a Magicians?" Cain couldn't understand it at all.

Even the best of us make mistakes.

"So you want us to bring the Nightmare Stone back?" Roland said. "No problem."

"Okay, thank you, Priest, you've been a great help." The Sandman nodded. "Then I'll wait for your good news at the Time Bar."

With that, the Sandman left.

"----So urgent?" Roland was taken aback.

"Perhaps he's in a hurry to get Lucifer's Helmet back," Cain said. "But that might be a bit difficult."

Why do you say that?

"After becoming the King of Hell, Lucifer developed a fondness for hairy things."

"Should we be more careful from now on?"

"----He wouldn't touch any of that stuff you've collected, even if it were right in front of him." Cain's lips twitched. These were all genuine Holy Relic; why would Lucifer take them? They were so disgusting.

"Let's go out for a walk and see where that stone is." Roland yawned, drank the Coffee Cain had made, and felt a little less sleepy.

"Okay." Cain put down the tray and followed Roland out.

The streets of Gotham City were almost deserted, with only a few people wandering aimlessly. Roland thoughtfully tied them to telephone poles in case of any accidents.

"It's so deserted," Roland said. "I wonder who else besides us isn't trapped in a dream."

"Me." Batman's voice suddenly rang out behind Roland.

"You're really scary—" Roland turned around and saw Batman's spirit floating behind him, "Soul Projection, huh?"

"Yes." Batman nodded. "The world is now shrouded in dreams. Luckily, I know this, or I'd be trapped inside too."

0

"Morpheus just told us that the key to this incident is one of his Nightmare Stone," Roland said, "But he didn't tell us how to find it."

"I doubt he knew either, otherwise he would have found it himself long ago."

"The Endless again?" Batman said, somewhat exasperated. "As the earliest beings in the Universe, can't they be a little more reliable?"

He now suspects there's some kind of logic to this Universe; why is it that the stronger the entity, the less reliable it is?

"Who knows?" Roland shrugged. "Let's talk about finding the Nightmare Stone. You're a detective, you should be pretty good at finding things, right?"

"----In your eyes, what exactly does a detective do?" Batman asked, puzzled.

"Finding the cat, finding the dog, catching the mistress?"

"Shut up." Batman rolled his eyes. "Come on, I'll take you to see someone who might be helpful in finding this."

"Wow, your network is as strong as ever. There aren't many people still awake right now."

Batman's spirit, carrying Roland and Cain, walked forward and found a still-conscious person in the cemetery— Deadman.

He was wearing red clothes, had no hair on his head, and his skin was very pale.

"Hello, I believe we haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet," the Deadman greeted Roland. "Before I died, my name was Boston Brand, but even so, I prefer to be called the Deadman."

Boston Brand grew up in an abusive family where his parents often argued and took their anger out on him. At the age of sixteen, he ran away from home and joined the Hill Brothers Circus with his amazing talent, eventually becoming a trapeze artist.

During a performance, he was assassinated by an assassin named Hook. After his death, the India goddess Kali resurrected him as Ghost and guided him to find the murderer.

Boston then sought Batman's help and successfully located Hook, but this was actually a conspiracy by Galley. In the end, he could only continue to exist as Ghost, maintaining the balance between good and evil, and becoming a superhero.

"Hello, Deadman." Roland nodded to the Deadman. "I've heard Batman and Nightwing mention you, but we've never had a chance to meet before."

"Ah, that's because I like being in the cemetery," the Deadman said. "It's the same this time. I'm in the cemetery, watching the living, but the winds of death blow—and I feel my kind—"

"Your kind?" Batman asked, puzzled. "What's that?"

"Hmm—it's a feeling," the Deadman said. "I can't explain it either—so I followed—and met Superman, our big blue scout, the last son of a doomed world. So many superpowers in the world can't compare to the power within him—"

The presence I sensed wasn't Superman, but rather someone tracking him.

So you followed them too?

"Yes." The Deadman nodded. "I followed him all the way to the Earth's Fortress and met Wonder Woman. She was like Superman —like she was possessed."

"Would a ghost dare to pester a King of the Gods?" Roland felt something was amiss. "Besides, I gave them some exorcism tools; were they useless?"

"That's right, they're not Ghost— " the Deadman sighed, "But forces from another realm are invading our territory. I had to warn Wonder Woman and Superman, but it was too late."

"Okay, so what's going on?" Batman frowned.

"The Dreaming and the World of the Dead are connected, closely related, you know, like brothers and sisters."

"We know," Roland nodded, "The Sandman is Death's brother."

"What I received here is a primal, evil spell that has connected these two realms," the Deadman said. "If you die in a dream, you will die in reality as well."

"We know that."

"Based on what I understand, the most likely candidate is Doctor Destiny," the Deadman said after a moment's thought. "His ability is also related to dreams."

"Who is that?" Roland asked curiously. "He doesn't seem very famous."

"Doctor Destiny's real name is John Dee, a Supervillains," Batman said. "He invented a set of equipment that exploited the Justice League's various abilities and weaknesses."

"The United States Justice League," Roland corrected.

"This guy has the ability to manipulate his enemies' dreams." Batman rolled his eyes. "It doesn't seem to be the power of technology, but rather a magical artifact. Using it too much affects his mind, driving him increasingly insane. He's now locked up in Arkham."

"Oh, do you have his information?" Roland suddenly sensed something was amiss; there seemed to be some secret involved.

"Yes," Batman said. "Turn on your phone and log into our Justice League website—"

"The United States Justice League."

"Shut up!"

"John Dee—targeting measures—well, quite a lot—relationships—Mother Ethel Cripps— Rhodey Burgess's lover! Connected!"

"Rhodey Burgess? Isn't that a Magicians?" Batman said. "What does that have to do with him?"

"He was the catalyst for this." Roland recounted how Rhodey Burgess had captured the Dream Demon. "Rhodey Burgess set up a Summoning Circle to resurrect his son who died in the war. He intended to summon Grim Reaper, but accidentally summoned the Nightmare instead—and then stripped it of all its magical artifacts—"

"This is just too much!" Batman sighed, rubbing his forehead. He was practically part of the magical world, having heard of the legendary Magicians Rhodey Burgess, but he hadn't realized he was this legendary. "Back then, people probably thought the Sandman was just an ordinary Demon —otherwise, Rhodey's reputation would be even greater than Merlin's."

"Speaking of Merlin, that guy is Half-Incubus. He shouldn't be trapped in a dream now, right?" Roland suddenly thought of something.

"I think your analysis makes sense." Batman nodded.

"At this moment, every additional person adds to our strength," the Deadman suggested.

"Alright, I'll summon Merlin right now." Roland drew a summoning circle on the ground.

"You didn't summon the wrong person too, did you?" Batman suddenly asked, having just heard Rhodey's abstract story and feeling that it was quite reasonable for Roland to be involved as well.

"What if I summoned the wrong one? Merlin's brother—isn't that Etrigan?" Roland shrugged, finished drawing the Magic Circle, and Merlin, sporting dark circles under his eyes, appeared from it.

"Why are you calling me?" Merlin looked at Roland with a resentful expression. "Do you think you're King Arthur?"

"If you need it, I can pull the Excalibur the Excalibur," Roland said, not believing he couldn't do it.

"Let's go, let's go—" Merlin sighed; he was truly at his wit's end.

Arkham Asylum

"Don't fall asleep!"

"You can't let him find it! If he finds the Nightmare Stone, everything will end!"

Screams echoed through Arkham Asylum.

"It's John Dee's voice," Batman said.

"That voice doesn't sound like the mastermind." Roland ran towards the direction of the sound and soon saw John Dee writhing on the hospital bed.

His chest suddenly split open, as if slashed by an invisible blade, blood gushing out, and he stopped breathing.

"He has no vital signs. He's dead," Batman said.

"Let me tell you something you don't know."

"John Dee was a clever man; he placed the Nightmare Stone in his enemy's dream long ago," John Dee's corpse suddenly began to speak. "Perhaps we can join forces to find it? After I kill a few Robin first, you can make me your new sidekick."

"I'm not surprised at all by this guy's twisted remarks," Roland remarked. "No wonder he's a villain in Gotham City."