Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Chapter 5916: Chapter 4937: Batman Is Not Here (24)

Deathstroke and the agent rushed over hurriedly. They were enjoying themselves, having a great time with the slaughter on their side. Full gear made a difference; all enemies were like weaklings, simply no match for them.

In terms of investigation, they weren’t entirely unsuccessful either. The agent had completed a few investigation tasks perfectly, and their exploration of the main storyline was the highest among all areas. They had even defeated two area bosses.

Being called over in a rush, both felt a bit disappointed. But there was no choice because Batman of the Prime Universe was offering so much. Robin was in trouble, and they couldn’t refuse to help, so they’d just send Batman a bill ten times higher once they returned.

The two entered the estate and found no one there, so Shiller led Deathstroke underground. He knew there was an Ark Reactor down there, and guessed that the Robins were probably studying and crafting equipment.

They leapt down, carrying a bloody and cold aura. Harley crossed her arms and said, "Is this your handiwork, agent!? You didn’t finish off the boss, and we all got screwed over because of it!"

"Hah, how could it be me?" Shiller snorted, "I’ll say it again, I’m not just some field agent who only yells ’open the door.’ I’m skilled in investigation and infiltration."

"Who else could be so violent?" Harley was clearly skeptical, "You forgot when we were teamed up in Battleworld, I said no jumping in plotlines, but you just wouldn’t listen..."

"Now’s not the time to dredge up old scores," Tim interrupted them, then said, "The current issue is how to resolve the outer god that keeps resurrecting and polluting other monsters. Do you two have any solutions?"

"What’s your plan?" Shiller asked calmly, not intending to solely rely on brute force to solve the issue despite their team’s high strength.

"We plan to create a weapon capable of remote strikes, using a remote-control method to constantly defeat it. Ideally, we’ll seize the opportunity to investigate and find a method to completely banish it."

Shiller pulled out the slab engraved with the old seal. He said, "I’m not sure if this thing will work, but I think it’s the old seal used for banishing this monster."

Tim took it, thought for a moment, and said, "Since you have this, why haven’t you completely banished it?"

"I said it wasn’t me," Shiller replied. "I gave the Bishop a gun, meant to counteract that monster, so he used a simpler method. Didn’t expect it to resurrect."

Truth be told, they were tricked by Nya. Shiller thought. Nya surely knew the details of this monster, but didn’t tell, letting Shiller find information himself. The book was merely a fragment, not adequately detailed, so the Bishop couldn’t discern that the thing was the Drowned’s true form; it looked more like a follower. Naturally, he would think dispersing it meant killing it.

Brainiac also bears some responsibility, as the task indicated completion, which naturally suggested it was over. Who knew it could resurrect?

"Here’s a problem," Deathstroke spoke, "Where do you get all the explosives, and how do you accurately lock onto the monster for precise strikes?"

"There’s certainly a way," Tim snapped his fingers, "We’ll go offline to seek external aid."

Not only they had this idea. Jack peeked out from the truck window, glanced left and saw Tim eagerly watching him, then moved to the right window and saw Gordon waiting outside.

Jack got down from the truck reluctantly, "What are you two up to?"

"Uncle Jack," Tim said, "I have some questions for you."

"Don’t even try," Jack clearly wasn’t buying it, "I tell you, I won’t help you blow up Brainiac’s arsenal..."

"You even want to blow up Brainiac’s arsenal?!" Before Brainiac could get mad, Gordon was already furious, "Are you a terrorist, Tim Drake?! Watch out, I’ll tell your mom!"

Tim cleared his throat, "Let’s not bring that up. Jack, I know you have a large amount of explosives stored away, where did you put them?"

"Oh, I understand now, you two were sent by Brainiac to probe my secrets, right?" Jack crossed his arms and snorted, "I don’t have any, not even a pound."

"Seriously not," Tim shook his head, "Brainiac organized a virtual game and we want to get some explosives there, not trying to raid your real stash, just tell us the location."

"Has Brainiac agreed?" Jack questioned, "My stash is part of Brainiac’s strategic reserve, if you raid his warehouse, would he be happy?"

"It’s just a game," Tim said, "If we knew the location of his other strategic reserves, we’d have raided them all long ago. We don’t know, so we’re asking you because only those absorbed into the strategic reserve know the locations, aside from Brainiac."

"You better not be planning to raid in reality," Jack said.

"No way," Tim reassured, "In reality, what would I do with so many explosives? Besides, even if I got the materials, I don’t have the expertise to blow up an arsenal, otherwise I wouldn’t be seeking you, rest assured."

Jack had no choice but to write him an address. After all, Brainiac stayed silent, seemed to acquiesce. After Tim left, Gordon didn’t leave. Jack looked at him and said, "What’s your scam, James? There’s enough for you two in one warehouse, you’re not trying for another, are you?"

"Why would I need explosives?" Gordon shook his head, "Even if we got explosives, it’s not as simple as tossing them on a monster. We certainly lack the detonation expertise. I’m asking, where is Jonathan’s fear gas reserve warehouse?"

Jack slightly widened his eyes: "What do you want fear gas for? Did you run into some tough guy? Do you need me to ask for you?"

He grinned with a Joker-like smile. But Gordon waved his hand and said, "I already told you, it’s for a game. There’s a place where the monster is hard to deal with. We need some tricks."

"You’ll have to ask Jonathan about this," Jack said, "Since last time Shiller harshly critiqued his fear gas, he got so mad he relocated all the warehouses just to guard against Shiller."

"I know," Gordon emphasized, "If that wasn’t the case, why would I come to you? I’d just ask Shiller directly, wouldn’t I? He knows where Jonathan’s fear gas is hidden better than Jonathan himself."

"Psychology and chemistry go hand-in-hand," Jack rubbed his nose and said, "Jonathan is so petty; just a couple of words about him, and he decided to move all the warehouses?"

"Why does it sound like you also..."

"Ahem," Jack hugged his arms and leaned against the truck, rolling his eyes, "It’s actually simple. Jonathan is a psychologist too. The psychology stuff doesn’t work on him, and neither does mind reading technique?"

"It wouldn’t be good," Gordon hesitated, "Brainiac wouldn’t agree, misusing superpowers can get you caught."

"Then why do you think Brainiac doesn’t voice a reminder?" Jack sneered, "This guy stays quiet only when it’s advantageous to him. Evil artificial intelligence."

Brainiac beeped twice, expressing protest, but indeed said nothing. Gordon thought for a moment and said, "Does Brainiac not even know where Jonathan’s newly relocated warehouse is? How is that possible?"

"You wouldn’t know, but his newly researched fear gas is effective on Brainiac."

"What?!!!!" Gordon was utterly shocked, "How is that possible? How can chemical gas be effective on electronic life? Brainiac wouldn’t have hallucinations..."

"Oh, it’s not through hallucinations," Jack said, "It’s poisoning the water and then using the underground water system to corrode the machine room..."

Gordon froze: "So the underground water system was polluted not because of that monster, but Jonathan’s doing?!"

"James, you’re a Gothamite too. For so many years, which monster originating from Gotham could beat the natural forces here?" Jack asked while looking at him.

Gordon suddenly realized. Gotham’s ground and water are indeed extraordinary, nurturing many exceptional creatures. But no matter how exceptional these creatures are, they can’t elbow against the nature that nurtured them.

To put it simply, the Joker bleeding into the water, with the Joker virus entering Gotham’s water bodies, would be utterly defeated. Not to mention natural water bodies, even the natural water plant wouldn’t work either. If this move was effective, who would need laughing gas bombs? The Joker lying in the water tower, and the place could be renamed Joker City the next day.

Gotham’s people, creatures, and monsters are indeed very extraordinary. But what created it all, Gotham itself, is stronger than any extraordinary thing and won’t be easily shaken.

The monster in the lake was due to problems in Gotham’s water body, piecing together scattered corpse parts into a moving monster. To want it to pollute the water in return is extremely difficult. And the attacks from this monster don’t have any corrosive nature. The so-called corroded machine room is absurd.

Put simply, Jonathan poisoned Brainiac, and Brainiac had too deep a stereotype about Shiller, leading to the initial wrong direction in the investigation.

You should know, although Jonathan is adept with fear gas, in chemistry, the most lethal are the corrosive materials. For creatures with emotions, you can use illusion-causing fear gas, but for electronic life without hallucinations, naturally, using corrosive liquids to directly damage the opponent’s machinery is the most effective.

Jonathan, despite being alive, keeps messing around. After barely appreciating Brainiac’s care for a couple of days, he couldn’t suppress that reckless heart and started developing counter-measures.

It’s unrealistic to completely hide from Brainiac, but there are simply too many pretexts for researching corrosive materials. For instance, using it as a chemical weapon against aliens, or dealing with living corpses brought by Black Death Emperor, or simply using it as a new garbage disposal method. Jonathan has a lot of ways to cleverly make excuses, slipping in his own motives.

No wonder, hearing about stealing his inventory, Brainiac remained silent. Brainiac has already discovered that although Shiller is quite abnormal, he doesn’t deliberately target him. The lethality still depends on the supervillain Scarecrow. If it weren’t for his timely discovery, the machine rooms on the entire East Coast might not have been preserved.

"Where could he have hidden it?" Gordon pondered.

"Guessing won’t work," Jack shook his head, "He’s a master psychologist too. If he really doesn’t want people to find it, then no one could guess. If you ask me, why not just use mind reading?"

Gordon hesitated a bit too. But ultimately, he shook his head and said: "No. Even if he’s sentenced to death tomorrow, today he has human rights. Mind reading is still too inhumane. Besides, the mind reader participating in the game with us is from another world, if something really goes wrong, we can’t enforce the law across universes. It’s too irresponsible."

Jack patted Gordon’s shoulder, said nothing, then got in the truck. Gordon didn’t ponder much; his thinking was simple. Jonathan hid the fear gas mainly to guard against Shiller, so he would definitely hide it somewhere Shiller wouldn’t think to look.

"Brainiac," Gordon called, "Where are Shiller’s former students’ theses stored?"

"Gotham University Archive." Brainiac paused, "I’ll send a car right away."