Brand shook his head helplessly and said, "I don't deny the precision of your psychoanalysis method and the ability of mind manipulation. He might be avoiding you to save himself trouble. But if you approach him proactively, that's another story."
Shiller didn't respond, clearly in disagreement. Brand stared at him and asked, "Are you making some judgment that isn't based on facts again?"
Shiller paused for a moment, then said, "What if he can only resurrect the dead?"
"What do you mean?"
"All his followers can only be living corpses. In other words, the person must first die to be resurrected by the Power of Death, and then be controlled by him. He can't directly turn a living person into a follower."
"What kind of ghostly ability is this?" Jonathan said, "You mean he can't kill the living, only resurrect the dead, then let the resurrected dead kill the living, turn the living into the dead, and then resurrect the dead."
Shiller nodded and said, "That's right. Currently, there's no evidence that anyone has directly died from an attack by the Power of Death. All victims have been killed by the living corpses."
"No wonder you're so bold," Brand said. "You think the Power of Death can't kill you in the psychic battlefield. But what about Noel?"
Brand leaned forward again and said, "I must remind you. Someone who can rely on reviving the brain and then forcibly stimulating body activity through willpower must have a very tenacious will. Her memory has been altered, and she sees you as a mortal enemy. Once she meets you, she will definitely attack you. That is her home ground."
"If it weren't like this, I wouldn't have called you all here," Shiller still appeared very calm. "The problem I need to solve is how I can successfully recover the real memory amid the interference of the Power of Death and her pursuit."
"I still think my plan is better," Jonathan said, crossing his legs. "First let the Power of Death roll out of the spirit domain, then you can focus on dealing with that little girl."
"But if you don't control the dosage well, leading her spirit to become overly excited, Noel's attack power will also become very strong," Shiller said.
"I can't control the dosage?!!" Jonathan jumped up, roaring at Shiller, "You dare to question my professional standards?! Haven't you been using the fear gas less?!"
"So you knew," Victor said with a little surprise.
"I'm creating murder cases to iterate the fear gas formula, so does it matter who tests it?" Jonathan sat back in his chair, arms crossed, puffing with anger, "You should be more worried about this ice block head not controlling the temperature..."
"Jonathan Crane! Are you looking for a fight?!" Victor raised his gun again, "That's technology I developed for Nora. If I couldn't control it, would I dare to freeze Nora?!"
"Can you two be quiet for a moment?" Shiller said, "I also think this solution is good. But controlling the dosage and temperature is crucial, you two align your data."
"Then, Brand..." Shiller turned to look at Brand, "Give up on brain science. Let us enter the real professional domain."
"Alright, you say." Brand turned off the projection screen.
"Where do you think the key point is... don't tell me you don't know. A liar understands a person's psychological weaknesses better than anyone."
Brand stroked his chin and said, "If you want me to say it, I'll tell you, the key is in that experience at Wayne Manor. What do you think Noel perceives about all of this?"
Shiller slightly furrowed his brow. He wasn't the experiencer and didn't know the details of all this. The real situation was probably only known to Bruce. However, Bruce's psychoanalysis method is a pile of crap, he definitely doesn't know what Noel thought at the time.
"Then let's deduce from the results backward." Brand also understood Shiller's predicament, he said, "Bruce always feels guilty about it, does that prove Noel resents him? At least before she died, there were similar remarks or expressions."
Shiller pressed his lips tightly and said, "Bruce is quite good at feeling guilty, even till now. That's because his guilt standard is not based on what others express, but on what he did. Once he thinks he is wrong, even if others express indifference, he will feel guilty."
"Oh, introspective and very self-centered." Brand shook his head and said, "In that case, it's very troublesome. You can hardly get any useful information from him."
"I also don't intend to ask him," Shiller said, "his description would definitely carry a lot of subjective inclinations. I can already guess what he would say. Simply that the little girl was very pitiful, and he was utterly wrong. Perhaps Batman is calm and restrained most of the time, but that doesn't change the emotional base of his personality."
Brand sighed and said, "Alright, then let's attempt to find a seemingly feasible path among many dead ends. Is the Stockholm syndrome possible?"
"You know I can't break such a moral boundary." Shiller said.
Brand rubbed his forehead and said, "Or you could look for someone with a young personality trait? New Jersey State supports the Romeo and Juliet law."
"What, hasn't the Black Pharaoh seen my juvenile form in the High Tower? That wouldn't be Romeo and Juliet, it would only be Alien vs. Predator."
Brand wiped his face and said, "What about Collapse Therapy? Anyway, she isn't really a child, it's no big deal to go heavy-handed, right?"
"I have no experience in this area," Shiller said honestly, "I'm not someone who would actually mistreat children, I've never used Collapse Therapy on any child. How would I know where the reboot point is?"
"Oh, indeed." Brand said, "That is really hard to grasp. In such a case, a rational breakdown could indeed lead to brain death."
"Then there's only one way left." Brand straightened up and said, "Exhaustion method. Let's guess where the key point is."
"She wants to live," Shiller said, "Her survival instinct must be very strong. Otherwise, the situation you described, controlling a corpse that couldn't possibly wake through willpower, wouldn't happen."
"Of course. But the question is, what is the motivation for her to stay alive? Is death too painful? Or does she have some other goal?"
"I think it's the latter," Shiller said. "But it's hard for us to guess why exactly she wants to live. It could be something as simple as eating a certain thing or doing a small task we can't imagine. For her, that might be the biggest motivation to live."
"Does she have any good friends?"
"It's impossible to investigate now, but I doubt it. That's not an environment where people can watch out for each other. Everyone is numb, as if they are walking corpses."
"So, living for some small goal is unlikely. Their cognition is really too shallow. Not only have they not received education, they don't even know the most basic common sense. Their thinking is completely trapped in the place that abused them."
"It's not entirely like that. She was brought back to Wayne Manor, so she has seen some things outside."
"Is there anything inside Wayne Manor that can move her?"
Shiller shook his head and said, "From our perspective, it's really hard to imagine. We aren't children who have suffered such abuse after all..."
"Aren't you?" Brand said in surprise, "I've heard quite a few things from the Black Pharaoh..."
"Are you talking about my childhood?"
As soon as Shiller finished speaking, Jonathan and Victor, who were studying data on the side, perked up their ears. It wasn't hard to see from Jonathan's whirling eyes that he'd already imagined hundreds of thousands of words of tragic experiences.
"At that time, the one controlling the body was the current morbid."
"Which one?"
"None of them, at that time they were a whole. The High Tower appeared after that."
"Alright, you don't have to say anymore," Brand stopped him, "If you continue, I might empathize with the abused researcher."
"You might think it's because they mistreated me that I wanted revenge. But actually, whether they treated me well or not, I would still be the same. I'm a psychiatric patient, this is not something I can control."
"And then what happened?" Brand asked with some curiosity, "The actions afterward could be considered revenge, right?"
"You could say that," Shiller thought for a moment, "but it was more about finally being able to let go after being away from the doctor."
Brand seemed a bit speechless. Just as he opened his mouth, Shiller interrupted him and said: "Don't even think about complaining to the doctor, I know you contacted him. In fact, it was beneficial to my mental state, otherwise, I might not have been able to adapt to life in Gotham so quickly."
"Let's get back to business," Brand emphasized, "You can't empathize with Noel either?"
"You know Psychoanalysis Method and empathy are different, and I can't be considered an empathizer."
"Then go find one," Brand said.
Shiller frowned slightly again. He said: "I have a student, who is a talented empathic ability user. But I can't have her empathize with Noel because she could be exposed to the part fabricated by Hugo. This could cause her serious psychological harm."
"Vileness is the passport of the vile, nobility is the epitaph of the noble," Brand could only comment. Shiller may not have morals, but he does have the ethics of a teacher. This limits him from doing certain things, leaving him hamstrung.
"I'll ask Jenna," Shiller said, "It doesn't necessarily have to be Noel. Maybe someone else will do."
A few minutes later, Jenna appeared in the classroom. She stiffened suddenly when she saw the people in the room.
"Come in, miss. There are no corpses here."
Jenna hesitantly shuffled in: "I know you guys aren't living corpses, but there's still the question of whether a corpse might appear unexpectedly later."
"We're just conducting some normal academic discussions. Okay, miss, tell me, what did you see in Jason."
"Jason? Jason Todd?"
"Yes. Especially the part about his childhood."
Jenna furrowed her brows deeply. She appeared somewhat nervous. Shiller could only reassure her: "This isn't a thesis report, in fact, I need your help, ma'am. We have a plan like this..."
After Shiller briefly explained their plan to Jenna, her expression visibly changed. Words of protest almost escaped her lips, but seeing Shiller's determined gaze, she held back.
"Alright, let me think carefully," Jenna said, "This is much more important than a thesis report. I have to be as precise as possible."