American comics: Starting with Luke the Maker

"Like what?" Bruce asked quietly.

"Like what? Your sense of morality and justice will be stronger? Unfettered, taking complete dominance? I don't quite agree with this way of doing things where one emotion takes permanent precedence; it leaves you too vulnerable. It's like a person's sense of pain. It certainly brings you unpleasant experiences, but at crucial moments, it can save your life. The dark side is the same," Stephen thought for a moment, then replied. This answer and analogy were, of course, not entirely accurate, but enough for Bruce to realize the meaning and extrapolate and understand.

"I mostly use it to excise the 'excrescences' of psychic energy, making people less extreme."

"So, is it now separated from me?" Bruce looked at the young Wayne, who was hunched over on the ground, enduring great pain, his face twisted. He felt lighthearted, but at the same time, he felt a kind of indescribable confusion.

"He was infected by the Abyss, and he actively provoked it. If you still want to live, to live healthily, then this is the only way. Cut it off before it infects you in return." Stephen explained to Bruce as he watched the spiritual world gradually being separated along the rift.

With a thunderous roar, a fissure appeared on the ground between Bruce and the young Wayne. At first, it was just a fine crack, but it quickly widened, snaking towards both sides. That initial crack, like splitting mountains and dividing the sea, expanded towards both sides, forming a bottomless abyss.

The manor, which held many of Bruce's youthful memories and emotions, and the young Wayne, gradually moved away with the fissure. The young Wayne seemed to realize that he was about to perish. A stream of black slurry spurted out from his back like a fountain, turning into spider silk-like black lines in mid-air, raining down towards Bruce's direction.

Stephen and Bruce quietly watched this scene. The speed at which the fissure expanded was too fast. Even though the young Wayne's black spider silk was long and urgent, it still could not connect to the ground on Bruce's side, as if facing an insurmountable chasm. In the end, he could only be gradually swallowed by the thick fog amidst mad, beast-like roars.

With the disappearance of the young Wayne, Bruce felt as if some danger that made his scalp tingle had been lifted from his heart.

The spiritual world stabilized again. As the young Wayne was swallowed by the Abyss, the members of the Dark Knights that he had manifested also collapsed and crumbled like weathered statues.

Just when Bruce thought everything was over, another tremor became active. He felt as if something else was being separated from him. A strong disc of light scattered some of the thick fog, revealing a person who was golden all over, his light so intense that his face could not be seen clearly. He appeared briefly in the dispelled fog, and then, along with those rays of light and the once again split ground, retreated into the fog.

"What was that again?" Bruce vaguely felt that he had lost something very important this time. He took a deep breath and looked at Stephen, who was smiling awkwardly.

"You understand, I sometimes have to think about the patient's recovery. Since your dark side has been cut off, then the opposite, your bright side, naturally also needs to be removed. Otherwise, it's just a transition from one extreme to another. The balance in between is difficult to grasp." Stephen spread his hands and said helplessly.

"Are you sure that's really what you think?" Bruce felt that he was exceptionally calm now, so calm that he was almost like an emotionless, cold robot. But strangely, he could clearly feel that he still possessed emotional power, that he was still a human being with joys, sorrows, and angers, but now those emotions were much fainter in his heart.

For example, he would still feel anger and rage now, but this fire would not escalate to the point where he lost control. Similarly, other emotions were similar. He could feel them, but he could not be deeply affected by them.

"You have to trust the professionals!" Stephen said firmly.

"Hopefully. Now, is everything settled? I mean, my current state," Bruce had no intention of arguing with Stephen about this issue. In any case, Stephen had indeed helped him a lot this time. Without Stephen, it was hard to say whether he would have been replaced by his dark side, and then become an Abyss Knight who combined the power of the Abyss and destroyed the universe.

Of course, it was also possible that he would have been discovered by Luke and the others before he could completely destroy this world, and then controlled and sealed up. That was also possible.

"Your current state?" Stephen looked at Bruce's calm face. "What do you mean by that?"

"My emotions seem to have faded a lot. Many people and feelings that I value, including what I uphold, now have a kind of indifferent etherealness in my heart. Is this feeling right? Will I always maintain this emotionally detached state?" Bruce asked. He had to ask this question clearly. He could detect something was wrong now because the cutting time was still short, and he could still be aware of this sense of separation. If his state did not recover over time, then it would be terrible.

It was difficult for Bruce to predict what kind of person he would become if he was emotionally detached and indifferent to everything! And the results of speculations based on this situation were mostly not what Bruce was willing to accept. After all, those predicted futures only postponed the current trouble to the future.

"You want to ask if this state is normal? Whether it will be maintained all the time or for a limited time?" Stephen immediately understood Bruce's inner worries, and he comforted him, "Don't worry, I didn't completely cut off your emotions. Your condition hasn't deteriorated to that point. Although the Abyss infected your dark side, we handled it very quickly. It's like the incurable disease of cancer in the past. It happened, and we can't completely eradicate it. But as long as it's not in the later stages, there are ways to cure it or even control it. You are far from the middle and late stages.

"As time goes by, you'll have more contact with familiar people, and your emotional system will slowly recover. Of course, there will definitely be some differences compared to the old you. There's no way around that! But you can regard this process as a reshaping of your personality, a rebirth of emotions!"

Bruce nodded, indicating that he understood.

"Then, we should leave here. There are still some final procedures to go through." Stephen also breathed a sigh of relief. Although there were many accidents this time, the result was always good. (End of this chapter)