mtl008 Chapter 4533 The Darkest Night (61)
Chapter 4533 The Darkest Night (61)
Chapter 4533 The Darkest Night (Sixty-One)
Schiller gradually formed a plan in his mind. Of course, it wasn't about cracking down on the students. Almost every year, someone would portray him in the Christmas performance, and without exception, they would receive the negative review that the performance was "not convincing." Schiller was already used to it.
What truly deserves attention is the celebrity effect that comes with the book's publication. The internet isn't as information-explosive in this day and age, and Schiller never appears online. Furthermore, Brainiac, fearing it would provoke him, went further and deleted all information about him online, so Schiller doesn't need to worry about becoming a global celebrity.
But just the people who have met and know him in real life, the topics they generate related to the novel and its film adaptations, are already enough to give anyone a headache. Even James Gordon called him to book tickets because Barbara is a fan of Constantine's books and has been looking forward to the film adaptation of "The Shadow of Farajnes" for a long time.
Schiller had asked them why they didn't ask the novel's author for tickets, and the answer left him speechless. Schiller was a theater enthusiast, especially fond of Gotham Grand Theatre plays and musicals, and he always managed to get insider tickets, which he was happy to share with his friends. Victor and Gordon both received complimentary tickets from him.
Gordon wasn't quite sure what kind of film or television adaptation Constantine's book was going to be made into; he figured it was similar to watching a musical. So when Barbara brought it up, his first thought was to ask Schiller for tickets.
Besides, this will also attract a lot of unnecessary attention. For example, Jonathan has been making sarcastic and cynical remarks for days. Although Schiller is too lazy to pay attention to him, it is clear that many madmen like Jonathan, especially those who crave attention and enjoy being admired, also want the same treatment.
Their method of pursuing this status was not to threaten novelists, but to find ways to get close to Schiller.
Schiller probably understood their thought process. In their view, if a particularly charismatic character in a novel was created out of thin air by the author, there was nothing to say; the author was undoubtedly brilliant. But if there was a prototype, then the novelist was merely imitating it, and the prototype must have been more impressive.
While they admire Schiller's talent, they have no intention of imitating or learning from him; these madmen are only interested in the thrill of battle. Like Hugo Strange, they simply want to prove themselves superior to Schiller, more deserving of being written into novels, and to receive widespread attention and adulation.
Although not much of Schiller's personal information has been exposed, it is still possible for someone with the will to investigate. If Schiller's notoriety was previously limited to Gotham or East Coast eccentric groups, it has now garnered widespread attention from psychopaths worldwide.
Undoubtedly, this was not the outcome Schiller desired. However, it's now difficult to reduce the attention. The best approach is to find a new focus to attract their attention.
Gray Lantern's plan to rewrite history is progressing smoothly. Now, the sun's extinction is not due to the Black Death Emperor using the power of death to evolve the sun into a black dwarf, thus causing eternal night, but rather the return of the Great Old One, the Cursed Shakkun. Since the Cursed Shakkun himself will descend on the Day of Etching, the sun's state is locked into a total solar eclipse in a mystical sense.
Such a change has many advantages. For example, because it is in a mystical sense, this phenomenon seems to only affect conscious intelligent life. In other words, it's like adding a filter to human consciousness, neither affecting Earth's temperature nor plant growth, thus eliminating the need to put a shell around the Earth.
Furthermore, because Brainiac is unaffected by mysticism, from his perspective, the sun is fine. He is the only one in the world who can see the sun normally. Currently, from his perspective, eternal night doesn't exist at all, and everything on Earth is as normal.
Furthermore, a very small number of people, completely unrelated to mysticism, such as Amanda Waller, are able to see the sun normally. However, due to her subsequent investigations, she learned about the Great Old Ones, so her aloofness didn't last long, and she soon too fell into eternal night.
The brilliance of this plan lies in the fact that the location where the Cursed One appeared was right below the cliff where Hugo fell. In other words, Hugo essentially fell directly into the mouth of the Great Old Ones. If he survives, there's really nothing more to say; Gotham is yours, fine.
In fact, Schiller, who had some knowledge of the Great Old Ones, knew very well that the arrangement of this plot was not forced; it was simply that the choice of the Great Old Ones was quite clever.
The Cursed Shekun comes from the novel *The Bell of Terror*. The plot of this novel is nothing particularly novel; it tells the story of the protagonist digging up a bell, summoning the Cursed Shekun, and experiencing a series of mysterious adventures. It's a relatively niche Cthulhu novel and not very popular. Most people consider its plot rather childish and its atmosphere of terror insufficient.
However, the lineage of Zek'khun is quite complete. He is a descendant of Uposaras, known as the "Source of the Great Old Ones," and also the father of Seigya, the Eye of Destruction.
Regarding his character's background, aside from his association with death and darkness and his appearance during total solar eclipses, the original author describes him as "a dark and silent being dwelling underground on the western coast of the Atlantic Ocean." In other words, he lives on the Atlantic coast, and Gotham City happens to be on the Atlantic coast—what a coincidence!
Of course, this isn't surprising. Gotham itself is a gathering place of dark elements. No matter which system's source of darkness comes to the DC universe, it will inevitably converge on Gotham. The Cthulhu mythos is no exception. The Cursed Cthulhu lives on the shore, so it's right below the cliff. Looking further afield, at the mouth of Gotham, there must be at least ten or eight giant octopuses squatting there.
Because of the plausible premise, rewriting history was easy and the results were better than expected. Schiller guessed that the Black Death Emperor was probably scratching his head right now.
The Black Death Emperor may appear to be a mystical villain, but he's actually not mysterious at all. The Lamp Brigade isn't inherently a mystical force; the Emotional Spectrum is an energy that can be observed, studied, and utilized. It was first discovered by the original Lampman, who also figured out how to use it. After being stolen by the Blue Man, it formed the Lamp Brigade, and then fell into Batman's hands, becoming an almost universally usable energy source—no longer a mysterious or rare entity.
The Black Death arrived at an inopportune time. Or rather, it wasn't that he was late, but rather that Batman had set off too early. His research into the power of the Seven Lamps made the Black Lantern forces seem less terrifying. The Black Death's process of resurrecting corpses, which seemed plausible a few years ago, is no longer impressive. Faced with a truly mystical being rooted in mystery and nihilism, he's probably bewildered.
Schiller arrived at Arkham Asylum to see Brand. He hoped to obtain firsthand information about the depths of the stars from Brand, even faster than going to find the Black Pharaoh.
“As you wish. That guy has his eye on the stars.” Brand said without looking up as he wrote the medical record. “He’s trying to use the power of death to interfere with the stars’ orbit.”
Can he succeed?
Brand shook his head and said, "If this method could succeed, the good doctor wouldn't have shot us in the face in the first place. The stars are not real celestial bodies and cannot be interfered with by external forces. To enter among the stars and glimpse the real secrets requires certain skills."
"So Anatoly didn't get in by force back then either."
“No.” Brand looked up at Schiller and said, “You should know best that Anatoly is the kind of person who seems to be straightforward and uses violence, but in reality, all his seemingly violent actions have a deeper, more rational logic, rather than just resorting to violence to combat violence as they appear. Otherwise, many of the things he does would not have been successful.”
Schiller nodded. Anatoly was indeed like that. Whether it was his rampage through the universe borrowing money, gathering power to bomb Gotham, or healing himself, everything seemed straightforward. But in reality, he had always done everything with thorough preparation. His contact with the Outer Gods would undoubtedly be the same. The Black Death Emperor's attempt to launch a brute-force attack would likely be unsuccessful.
Schiller felt relieved. Now it was up to him to see if the Black Death Emperor would make the choice he had predicted.
Schiller returned to Gotham University, only to run into Victor, who was just coming out of the cryogenics lab. He asked, "What's wrong? Where are you going?"
“Billy got into trouble.” Victor sighed. “I’ve been busy writing a book lately, and I haven’t been keeping an eye on Nora. Billy got into a fight… oh, not in Shazam form. Otherwise, I’d be at the police station right now.”
Schiller breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I knew Billy wouldn't be so reckless. Who did he fight with?"
"A classmate from school. I think it's from the next class. Rong En's daughter is involved too, and I'm afraid Aisha is too. Aren't you going to go and check on them?"
“Of course I’ll go. But first I have to call Alfred; I’m worried he might give the other children some Soviet-style education…”
The two got into the car together. Only then did Victor have a chance to call Nora and ask her about the details. After asking her for a while, he hung up the phone and sighed.
"What exactly happened? They wouldn't start fighting for no reason, would they?"
"Of course it wasn't without reason. It seems to be just a quarrel between children. Thank goodness no one got killed."
The car quickly arrived at the East District. The two got out and entered the buildings. But by the time they arrived, the matter had already been resolved. Both sides apologized to each other, and the parents offered each other apologies and comfort. The other side's parents had already left.
"What exactly happened?" Victor was incredulous. In Gotham, disputes rarely resolve so easily. It's never truly over until someone's dead.
"It's nothing. That little boy had a toothache and a rather irritable temper. During the tag game, he tackled Jenny, and Elsa, seeing this, pushed him. He turned around and fought back, but Billy stood in front of Elsa. The two fell to the ground and started fighting. The other kids joined in. Then it became chaotic. It's hard to say who hit whom; it was a mixed bag."
Victor opened his mouth, surprised that things had turned out this way. Gotham's situation was improving. The conflict had genuinely remained just that—a conflict—without any hidden dark secrets. He felt a little uneasy.
Schiller's focus, however, was rather peculiar: "Toothache? Why would I have a toothache?"