"I ask, you answer." Victor said bluntly, "Otherwise I'll delete all the content about Psychoanalysis Method and only publish what I wrote myself."
"I'm surprised you still want to stay." Shiller responded without courtesy, "Do you really think you can force a Mind Reader to answer questions?"
"Have you sensed my anxious emotions?"
Shiller seemed a bit hesitant, as if uncertain, so Victor continued, "Let me rephrase. If you don't answer, I'll embellish all the parts you wrote about Psychoanalysis Method, and in the narration, I'll lavish great praise on Psychoanalysis Method. Then, when the book is published, I'll explicitly thank you for providing me with inspiration. That way, you can forever bid farewell to your ordinary identity."
Shiller forcefully closed his eyes, "I'm starting to wonder if I've befriended the wrong person."
"You entered Hugo's Psychic_Battlefield, didn't you?"
"Then you overestimated Hugo. He wouldn't dare let me in. He merely used a kind of Illusion machine like Mad Hatter did before."
"What kind of Illusion did he let you experience?"
"Very boring. Essentially, he just swapped our situations. He became the renowned Professor of Gotham, and I was the criminal, prisoner, and wanderer..."
"Bang" sounded as the trigger of the Freeze Gun was pulled again. The nearby table was frozen. As the ice melted, Victor said expressionlessly, "This time he better die straightforwardly, or he'll never think of dying again."
"I am not exactly a morally upright person. So it doesn't hurt me at all. I lived the same life in different Illusions and tidied up Hugo along the way."
"Along the way?"
"I don't remember if I've told you about this. In my youth, I was caught with some dirt on me and became a Law Enforcer who did dirty work. As a rule, there's no upward mobility in this field; either you die on a mission or are silenced. But I usually don't play by the rules."
"You turned the tables?"
"No. I reached a point where they couldn't kill me without a plane crash. The plane fell into the Pacific Ocean. Every time it was like this."
"Doesn't sound much better."
Shiller wanted to shake his head, but the ice didn't allow him to do so, so he just said, "You haven't entered the Law Enforcers' System, so you're not familiar with it. In this System, successfully retiring isn't the best ending; pushing them to the point where they have to activate the highest kill protocols is the true reward. Undoubtedly, the cost of orchestrating a plane crash is tremendously high. When they resort to such means, it certainly means they've been pushed to the brink."
"In this context, killing Hugo was indeed just incidental. I didn't even take him as a bargaining chip, just went about tidying him up when preparing for a certain task."
Victor sighed, completely disinclined to comment on his view of the Law Enforcers' System. He continued to ask, "How does Hugo see it?"
"His attitude has always puzzled me." Shiller answered truthfully, "I don't know why he thinks his predicament can trap me. In fact, his predicament hasn't completely trapped him either. Even when locked in Arkham Asylum, he often engaged in schemes; otherwise, he wouldn't have offended so many Serial Killers. The main reason he cannot extricate himself is that he's consumed by resolving his perverted habits, rather than having me always targeting him."
"Of course, it's because he's adept at shirking responsibility." Victor said, "Even when scheming, if anything goes wrong, he'll suspect you, thinking that you're always watching him, giving him trouble at every turn, engaged in a vivid fight with his Illusions."
"Maybe." Shiller said, "That would explain why he's so angry."
"Is he very angry?"
"Yes. After all the Illusions ended, he seemed both incredulous and furious. Apparently, he realized that I never deliberately targeted him. Those so-called confrontations were merely Illusions conjured up by him alone in the insane asylum."
"Because he discovered what it would be like if you actually targeted him. Do you think he would be afraid of that?"
"He must be scared; otherwise, he wouldn't have thrown such a trump card so quickly."
"That's precisely what I want to ask. What's the trump card that led you to say it has 'a bit of level'?"
"I naturally know that you wouldn't reveal it. I also believe your technology can already shield from Brainiac. If this matter solely concerns me, I have no reason to hide it from you. It's just..."
"It involves others as well?"
"Hugo doesn't appear to be someone with good morals who wouldn't drag others down with him, right?"
"Tell me." Victor said.
"That little girl is a corpse. I mean, she's a living corpse, but after being revived she almost died again."
"Hugo's doing?"
"The second Death was."
"So the problem is with the first death. Who killed her?"
"Bruce Wayne."
Victor paused his actions: "How could he..."
"Not murder." Shiller paused for a moment before continuing, "At that time a group of children were rescued, all in very bad shape. Even after being rescued, most didn't survive into the new era. Except for a few with exceptional talents, all died. The problem was that Bruce brought that little girl back to Wayne Manor. She died at Bruce's house."
"God." Victor couldn't help but wipe his face then said, "Didn't he see it? Or did he think he could save her?"
"Both. But things were obviously not as simple as he thought." Shiller sighed and said, "Because her body had not fully developed, children have much lower resistance than adults in all aspects. Their level of unhealthiness had already reached the point where even adults could be life-threatening. Doctors are not God."
"But Batman thinks he is." Victor also sighed and said.
"At least at that time he did. Even now, he believes it was some of his actions that killed that child. But in reality, at this point, the impact of psychology and emotion is rather limited. What determines whether they can survive is actually genes. Some people are inherently more resilient, and it can manifest even in childhood. But some cannot."
"Even though I know this in my heart, if it were me, I'd feel guilty too. However, this doesn't qualify as murder, not even Brainiac can blame Bruce for it. What are you worried about?"
"If he threw down a corpse, even if I recognized it, I wouldn't take another look. In fact, I thought she was dead when she fell. But that's Hugo's brilliance—this little girl didn't die from the fall. She still has one breath left."
"But you also said she's a living corpse. She's already dead, just revived by some unknown force."
"That's right, but at least she can breathe, move, and still talk."
Victor suddenly realized something, raising his voice sharply, "You're not expecting this little girl to stand in front of Bruce and tell him he's innocent, are you?... How can you be so naive?!"
"I certainly don't expect her to do it voluntarily. But who she stands in front of and what she says can't be controlled by her—she's not a real child, you understand."
"You're simply crazy!" Victor stood up, walked to the ice blocks, looked into Shiller's eyes, and said, "Don't you know the first thing she will do when she wakes up is frame you? She can say you wanted to kill her."
"She has no evidence."
"She doesn't need evidence!" Victor raised his voice, "She's the victim. Whoever she says the murderer is, is the murderer, and she's still a child. Brainiac has always been very strict in child protection."
"But he said he would listen to me."
Victor forcefully swept back the hair on his forehead with his hand, then raised his head, letting out a long breath, "What unrealistic expectations do you have for that evil artificial intelligence?"
"Victor, you still don't understand. Who Brainiac chooses between me and her depends on which one of us is more valuable."
"Do you believe you're more valuable? But still, you have no evidence. Even those so-called 'living corpses' you removed from Gotham University have not shown any anomalies or transformation. They're all crying injustice. If this situation continues to develop, without evidence that proves they are living corpses, your conclusion being rejected is just a matter of time."
"I couldn't tell you're such a pessimist, Victor."
Victor just felt his head was about to explode from pain, he said, "I also didn't know you were such an optimist, Shiller. That little girl will undoubtedly use this point to attack you. She will try every method to persuade Brainiac. And her logic is more consistent than yours in that psychoanalysis cannot be proven, and naturally contradicts an electronic life like Brainiac."
"Now is not the time for you to show off psychoanalysis in a novel, is it?"
"You still have the mood to joke." Victor was a bit frantic.
"That's because the value I mentioned is not in this." Shiller smiled and said, "I said, 'I have a brother working for the government,' he's an unknown little clerk—but can almost be equivalent to the entire Brainiac government."
"I can roughly guess what she told you." The figure leaning against the window looked at the screen next to him. Brainiac's green avatar was flashing, "There's no evidence to prove my accusation is correct. Arresting people without solid evidence only causes panic. It's time to reconsider the strategy."
"Logically speaking, this makes sense." Brainiac said, "I did give him official status and infinite self-defense rights. But such high-profile massive arrests, without convincing evidence, will affect social stability. I will keep my promise and not pursue his responsibility. But whether to let him continue like this is certainly worth considering."
"This is where your problem lies, Little Bruce. Your brain is made of circuit boards, your thinking is determined by 0 and 1. So you're more inclined to speak logic."
"I think speaking logic is beneficial for maintaining social stability. No one likes a world where noises dictate allocations. So if you mean, if I don't handle Shiller according to your will, you'll do something unlawful, I won't agree to such an unreasonable request, and will only add you to the numerous enemies' list to be dealt with. You're right, I only have this way of thinking."
"No, no, no, you misunderstood. I'm not going to do anything unlawful, and I'm definitely not trying to force you to change your decision through threats. I also fully understand that this is your way of doing things and that you won't make exceptions for anyone. I don't even want to break our previously agreed cooperation conditions, I can still serve you."
"Your attitude gives me a bad feeling."
"Then you're overthinking it." He smiled and said, "I've always kept my promises and treated others kindly. This is what I should do."