mtl008 Chapter 4586 The Day of Brightest Day (45)
Chapter 4586 The Day of Brightest Day (45)
Chapter 4586 The Day of Brightest Light (Forty-Five)
"Will they really go looking for it?" Deathstroke asked.
“Of course,” Schiller said. “But they’re not counting on the Justice League to save them. I’ve emphasized to them many times that the mural has mystical power. They probably want to master that power.”
"They want to become superpowered individuals?"
“Nobody would hesitate to try,” Schiller said. “They were at their wits’ end; they had no way to leave Cairo without doing this. They were doomed to be arrested. They had no choice but to fight to the death.”
“But can they find it?” Deathstroke asked.
Schiller shook his head and said, "Of course not, and I didn't expect them to find it anyway."
"So what are you trying to do?"
“Of course, we’ll use them to send messages,” Schiller said. “Not only will they fail to get their hands on the murals, but they’ll also likely be captured by the person behind them. He’ll get an important piece of information from them—that the murals have mysterious powers.”
Deathstroke narrowed his eyes, then said, "Looks like there's something wrong with this power. Are you trying to make him blow himself up?"
"Not necessarily. But he will definitely try to study the mural. And if he finds anything, Diana will react."
Sure enough, Diana called soon after, saying, "The power of the Seven Lamps is fluctuating. What are you doing?"
"It's nothing, ma'am. Can it give you directions?"
"Guide directions?"
“Yes. Some of the powers in the murals have been activated, and there may be some kind of connection between them. I need the power of the Seven Lamps to guide me.”
"Sorry, I don't know much about this, please wait a moment." Diana hung up the phone. Soon, Green Lantern's voice came from the other end: "Flash Express, please take this call."
As soon as he finished speaking, a golden figure appeared before them. The Flash from the main universe handed something to Schiller and said, "This is an instrument that Batman made before, used to monitor the power of the Seven Lamps. But none of us have ever used it, so you'll have to figure it out yourself."
"Thank you so much, sir."
The Flash smiled at them and then disappeared.
Schiller looked at the device in his hand. Batman was always so prescient, or perhaps he created this thing specifically to find the first Lantern. It just hadn't even been put to use before it was already stuck on the wall and couldn't be taken down.
This thing is easy to operate; there's only one button. Pressing it displays the nearby energy concentration and indicates the direction where the energy is more concentrated. This makes Schiller's operation much easier.
Armed with the machine, they began searching Cairo. The energy readings were consistently above zero, indicating an anomaly in the vicinity. Continuing their search and approach with the instrument, they eventually found themselves back at the Egyptian Museum.
“I knew that guy wasn’t trustworthy,” Deathstroke said. “After all this time, the mural is still in his hands.”
Schiller shook his head and said, "Hayvin is probably gone. He wouldn't have left if the murals were still in his possession."
Deathstroke then realized, "Could it be that it's blind under the lamp?"
Schiller nodded and said, "Do you think Haivin is a good curator?"
“It’s not good at all,” Deathstroke said. “He switched cultural relics and lined his own pockets.”
“The important thing is that he doesn’t care about artifacts that aren’t his own at all,” Schiller said. “I guess he probably has never even finished visiting the Egyptian Museum.”
"Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"
Schiller shook his head and said, "Especially those famous galleries that attract a lot of tourists, there's not much profit to be made there. There are too many photos of famous artifacts in existence, making it difficult to replace them. He might not even go there to take a look. So if you hide the murals there, he'll probably have a hard time finding them."
They got out of the car and went into the museum. Schiller glanced at the sign in the lobby and said, "Tutankhamun's room, let's go."
"Aren't you going to check the instruments?" Deathstroke asked.
Do you know what's depicted in that mural?
"Could it be Tutankhamun?"
"Congratulations, you guessed right."
"Wait a minute, you haven't even found the murals, how do you know?... Oh, wait, did you really create the murals?"
Deathstroke clearly still couldn't accept this premise, while Schiller just smiled and remained silent.
The Egyptian Museum is actually quite large; the second floor houses special exhibition halls, including the Tutankhamun exhibition they were looking for. Before they even entered, the machine emitted an alarm. Schiller pulled it out to check, and the reading was off the charts.
“You don’t need to look at that,” Deathstroke said, glancing into the exhibition hall. “It’s glowing all over there.”
Schiller looked in that direction as well, and sure enough, there was a faint light coming from behind a wall, but it didn't look like a lamp. There seemed to be some movement inside, and Deathstroke immediately drew his sword.
Schiller, however, seemed lost in thought. He stopped him and gestured for him to follow him. Then he slowly walked inside.
Bypassing the wall, Deathstroke finally saw the true face of the mural—a giant serpent roamed between the sky and the earth, a green gem set in its tail, a massive pyramid behind it, and a dazzling meteor shower in the sky. At that moment, the entire mural was glowing.
Then another figure slowly emerged from behind the mural. The moment he saw him, Deathstroke was dumbfounded.
"Joseph?!?"
Joseph stood bathed in the light emanating from the mural, his deep blue eyes filled with a somber gloom. He stared at the death knell without uttering a word.
"you……"
Deathstroke was speechless. How could it be Joseph?! What was he doing here?! Did he take the mural? But why would he do that?!
“Of course it’s for you, you idiot,” Joseph said, looking at him. “You completely ruined my graduation trip.”
Deathstroke opened his mouth, not even knowing what to say; he didn't know where to begin. Schiller, however, remained calm, as if he had already guessed.
“Stay away from him,” Joseph said. “Or I’ll destroy it.”
Schiller readily stepped back a few paces, and the tolling bell glanced back at him. Schiller said somewhat helplessly, "Clearly, your son has chosen a more forceful way to deliver his warning to me—stay away from you, or he'll ruin my mission."
"Good heavens, Joseph!" Deathstroke turned back to his son. "What are you doing?!"
“Come with me,” Joseph said, then he looked at Schiller and said, “If we leave together, the mural is yours. Otherwise, I won’t let you have it.”
“Don’t be so impulsive, boy,” Schiller said, looking at him. “I never intended to hurt your father. We are business partners.”
Joseph frowned, looking somewhat puzzled, and said, "How come you..."
"what happened?"
“You don’t seem so dangerous anymore. But that might just be a facade, and I won’t change my mind. If you can’t get us both out of here, don’t even think about getting this.”
"Excuse my bluntness, but how do you plan to destroy it?"
“I don’t need to destroy it, I just need to make sure you can’t have it. You know my capabilities. You can’t get it back to the US intact when everyone is against you.”
As the two were talking, Deathstroke's brain finally started working. He remembered what Schiller had once told him.
“Your children will not choose you; they will side with the rules and use the weapons of the rules to stab you—that would have been the case if you hadn’t come here and hadn’t met me.”
Deathstroke looked at Joseph again, and it dawned on him. He finally understood what Schiller had done—he had brought Joseph to his side, unconditionally and without reservation.
Deathstroke almost wanted to facepalm. Is this right?
His reason told him he was right. The children wouldn't side with him because they didn't want to go into the jungle or let the death knell destroy their safe house.
But that doesn't mean they can just stand by and watch their father get swallowed by a Godzilla in the jungle.
The children of Deathstroke weren't entirely devoid of affection for him. Or rather, they possessed basic humanity. They wouldn't necessarily ignore a stranger in danger. Even if they occasionally resorted to underhanded tactics, they were by no means cold-hearted.
Otherwise, Joseph could have easily controlled the passengers and caused some disturbance on the plane while he was vying for a landing spot. That would have been a simpler and less strenuous method. But he didn't do that, which proves that he still had basic conscience.
The same applies now. If Deathstroke were to return home as Deathstroke and let all the neighbors know that his father was a killer, or even commit some crimes to disrupt their peaceful lives, Joseph would not hesitate to take action against him.
However, Deathstroke is now with something truly terrifying, seemingly about to be devoured, or perhaps already has been. Joseph's current concern is figuring out how to rip Godzilla's throat open and make him vomit up his father.
Admittedly, this tactic worked very well. Joseph couldn't wait to stand with Deathstroke. Deathstroke, too, had to admit, he enjoyed it. His son was trying to protect him, even though he looked very much like the mastermind behind it all—and believe it or not, he really was.
Deathstroke was forced to wonder how Joseph had managed it. It was no easy feat. However, considering his ability to easily read people's minds and exert mind control, it wasn't surprising.
He first controlled Lady Shiva, leaving Haivin without support. Then he used mind control to open the safe house and steal the murals. Next, he had Hessinaga, who was being held captive in the museum's basement, kidnapped him. Finally, he used Hessinaga to transport the murals to the Tutankhamun gallery in the museum.
It's fair to say that if Joseph hadn't shown insufficient respect for the mysterious power and studied the mural, leading to the leakage of its power, and if the Justice League hadn't provided a wave of technical support, they might not have been able to find it so easily.
Deathstroke, however, had a strange focus. He looked at Joseph and asked, "You went to the red-light district? Joseph, you better not have gone to solicit prostitutes. I'm warning you, it's illegal and very unhealthy..."
Schiller and Joseph, who were arguing, both stopped. The huge museum was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Schiller sighed and said, "Shouldn't you ask him how he got in touch with Madam Shiva?"
"Wasn't it just that he and his friends, interested in the red-light district, were planning an adventure and stumbled upon it?" Deathstroke offered his guess. "Of course, I can understand. Teenage boys are always interested in this kind of thing, finding a thrill in breaking the rules. I was like that when I was young..."
“Slade Wilson!” Joseph roared, “You frequented brothels when you were young! I’m going to tell my mother!!!”
"I didn't!!" the death knell cried out. "The number of people who want to sleep with me could fill the entire Mississippi River, why would I go..."
"So you really did throw them into the Mississippi River?" Schiller was only interested in this.
The three of them argued amongst themselves, yet always managed to connect with each other. Finally, Schiller couldn't stand their family drama any longer.
"Alright!" he shouted. "Take him away, I don't need him anymore! Give me the mural!"
“Hey, you can’t just abandon me like this!” Deathstroke shouted, then turned to Joseph and said, “Your dad isn’t a crystal ball in a shop window that breaks at the slightest touch. You can’t interfere with my friendships; that’s just going against the natural order…”
"You think he can be your friend because you can't see his true colors, but I can!" Joseph roared. "I'm doing this for your own good!"
"I should be saying that to you. I am your father!"
You are nothing like it!
"Me too!"
Seeing that the two were about to argue about it again, Schiller couldn't take it anymore. He pulled out his revolver and fired a shot. Joseph, who had never experienced anything like this before, was immediately stunned. Schiller seized the opportunity to try and pin him down.
When Deathstroke saw Schiller attack his son, even though he knew Schiller only wanted to subdue him, he instinctively rushed over and tried to push Schiller away. Schiller grabbed his arm, trying to throw him to the ground, but Deathstroke wouldn't give up, and the two wrestled.
During the fight, Deathstroke crashed headfirst into the mural behind him. The mural was knocked down with a loud bang, raising a cloud of dust on the ground, but the light grew stronger and stronger.
Suddenly, the sky outside the window brightened considerably. Schiller and the Bell both turned to look in that direction, and saw a bright shooting star streak across the sky, heading southwest.