mtl008 Chapter 4514 The Darkest Night (42)
Chapter 4514 The Darkest Night (42)
Chapter 4514 The Darkest Night (Forty-Two)
As a Gotham resident with his own philosophical thoughts and artistic sensibilities, Victor finally understood why Schiller had insisted on dragging him along to witness the spectacle. That lowly clerk, essentially a member of Brainiac's government, had handled the situation in a truly outrageous way. Even though Hugo was such a wicked person, Victor couldn't help but feel that Schiller had gone a bit too far.
Jeretta, who was supposed to be the first victim of the resume killer, is actually not dead. Faking his death seems difficult, but in reality, because Jeretta may already be a zombie, his physical abilities are different from ordinary people, so it's not entirely impossible to fake.
In short, the resume killer didn't kill him, but kept him around to annoy Hugo Strange.
The logic of this plan is roughly as follows: Gérita expressed her love for Hugo and became his ardent follower. But as a master of psychology, Hugo could certainly understand where Gérita's love came from.
Perhaps Schiller interfered, or perhaps that's simply how he was. In any case, Gerrita's love stemmed from lust, and his lust was perverse. He didn't like the living; he only liked the dead.
In other words, Gérita didn't like Hugo at all while he was alive. She only fell in love with him after he died. What Gérita liked wasn't Hugo's superior manipulation skills, his talent in psychology, or any other merit he possessed, but simply his death—precisely his death.
Who caused his death?
It was Schiller.
During Victor Hugo's lifetime, no one expressed love to him, and he had no fervent followers. In other words, the only quality in Hugo that attracted such fervent followers was actually bestowed upon him by Schiller.
If Victor put himself in Hugo's shoes, he would genuinely feel like vomiting. And Hugo certainly lived up to expectations; even surrounded by countless madmen who wanted to kill him, and possibly even snipers, he still broke through all obstacles, smashed a window with a single punch, and stuck his head out to vomit profusely.
"You're really good at being disgusting." Victor's features scrunched up, as if he had been punched.
“That’s not all,” Schiller said. “He’s been wanting to duel me because he felt our last duel wasn’t fair. He won’t admit he lost, and naturally he won’t admit the death that comes with that defeat. He hates that death.”
“I see. In the illusion you described, he won every time. He clearly doesn’t want to admit that defeat,” Victor said, shaking his head.
And this was only the beginning of this earth-shattering spectacle. Hugo was vomiting by the window when Jeretta suddenly pounced on him. Luckily, he made a loud noise, and Hugo managed to dodge with a clumsy somersault. Hugo cursed loudly, but Jeretta ignored him completely. He lunged at Hugo like a madman, and Hugo fled in panic.
The two chased each other, running around the room for what seemed like a dozen laps, interspersed with Delitta's declarations of love and Hugo's roars. Two Schillers watched the spectacle, one inside the room and the other outside. The one outside was one thing, but the one inside not only didn't help, but also tripped Hugo. Hugo fell flat on his face with a "thud."
Victor couldn't bear to watch anymore; he immediately put down his binoculars to avoid seeing anything that might give him a sty. Schiller, however, was still watching with great interest. Victor was really starting to get fed up.
“Schiller, if you keep watching, I will never go to your tower again in my life,” Victor said. “This scene will definitely pollute your memory bank, and you can forget about me ever setting foot in your mental realm again.”
“Don’t worry, nothing will happen,” Schiller said. “You think I did all this just to annoy him?”
"You did more than just disgust him!"
Schiller shook his head and said, "You underestimate me. I don't have such a perverse sense of humor, nor do I want to pollute my own eyes."
"...So what else do you want to do?"
Do you think Hugo will just sit idly by and wait for his doom?
“Of course not,” Victor said. “If he sits and waits to die, not only us, but Brainiac will get a sty!”
“Indeed, he has to find a way to deal with Jeretta.”
"Isn't he capable of mind manipulation? And what about that illusion device? Hurry up and use it!" Victor seemed more anxious than anyone else. Just thinking about what would happen next made him want to rush in and shoot the two of them.
“The illusion device has already been used,” Schiller said. “He doesn’t have many of these, otherwise he would have used them all on me.”
“Then mind control,” Victor said. “Isn’t that his specialty? Let him use it!”
“You’re an amateur,” Schiller said with a smile. “Psychoanalysis doesn’t have many conditions for use. Basically, I can use it as long as I see you or even hear about your deeds. It’s just a matter of accuracy. Even if I’m going through a crisis right now, it won’t stop me from using it. But mind manipulation is a different story.”
"First, a relatively safe environment is required because it involves entering another person's mental realm. If the external environment is not safe enough, performing this skill in a dangerous environment is very likely to damage one's own mental state as well."
"Moreover, at least for me, the most troublesome thing about mind manipulation is not that the target is on guard, because you can break down their defenses through conversation. If that doesn't work, you can use some medication. The most troublesome thing is that the target is too agitated. Simply put, the reason why mental patients need to be sedated when they have an episode is because at this time, psychologists cannot control them, no matter how skilled they are. It is precisely because at this time their mental state is completely chaotic and random, and entering their mental realm is no different from jumping into a meat grinder."
“I see,” Victor said, suddenly realizing, “Jerita is too excited right now, so Hugo can’t control him mentally.”
“That’s right. Jeretta is having an attack right now. The most important thing is to calm him down. We can use physical methods or chemical methods. Hugo probably didn’t prepare any chemical methods, so we can only use physical methods and knock him unconscious.”
“That’s not very realistic,” Victor said. “Hugo is considered quite strong among scientists, but that Jeretta is a manual laborer. Hugo probably can’t beat him, let alone knock him out.”
“That’s the key,” Schiller snapped his fingers lightly. “Ordinary forces can’t subdue the crazed Jeretta. So, in order to protect himself, Hugo has to use some extraordinary forces.”
"An unusual power?" Victor didn't react for a moment, but he quickly remembered, "The power of death?"
Schiller nodded and said, "This is the best time to verify whether he has broken free from the manipulation of the mastermind. If he really did tamper with things, he would never dare to use them, because if he were discovered, his hard-won second life would be taken away. All his previous arrangements would be in vain, and he would never see the day I lose to him."
"My God!" Victor couldn't help but pull out his binoculars and peer into the room. To be fair, Hugo's physical condition was indeed impressive; he hadn't been caught yet, but it was almost time. Victor paused for a moment before saying, "Judging by this, he really doesn't dare use it."
“Then he has another option.” Schiller smiled.
"what?"
"Call the police."
Flashing red and blue lights approached from afar, illuminating the previously deserted night sky of the northern district. Police cars stopped at the manor gate, and officers rushed inside, pinning Jerita and Hugo to the ground.
Victor breathed a sigh of relief. But when he looked through his binoculars again, the unremarkable clerk had vanished. The police took Gerita and Hugo away and shoved them into a police car.
Victor and Schiller followed behind the police convoy. On the way to the police station, Victor said, "Brainiac, is there any charge against Hugo?"
“It depends on whether the victim is willing to come forward,” Brainiac said. “If there are enough witnesses, the charges can stand. He will go to court, but if there is a lack of physical evidence, it will be difficult to sentence him to death.”
"So you're not going to tell us that there will be physical evidence later?" Victor hinted.
“There’s no need,” Schiller said. “Creating physical evidence of mind manipulation is difficult enough. Brainiac doesn’t have the knowledge, and any evidence he creates would be easily exposed by Hugo. Even if I were to create it, I would have to conduct a full examination of the victims from back then, which is just too much trouble.”
"So you're planning to..."
"Don't rush. I took him to the police station to see if there were any flaws in his hypnosis of the little girl. Brainiac, have you taken Novi there yet?"
"Yes. She was waiting next to the interrogation room, and could see Hugo across the room through a one-way window."
Upon entering the police station, Schiller and Victor went to the chief's office to review the surveillance footage. Just as Brainiac had said, the little girl, Novie, was in a private room next to the interrogation room, looking through a one-way mirror into the opposite room. When Hugo was brought in, Novie didn't react much; after a while, she looked at the nurse beside her, somewhat confused.
"How is it?" Victor asked.
"It's not that simple after all. Hugo dared to devise this plan because he was certain his hypnosis wouldn't give him away. But where exactly is the crucial flaw?" Schiller muttered to himself.
"What do you mean?" Victor asked instinctively, but he quickly added, "Never mind, you don't need to explain. Even if you did, I wouldn't understand, and it would only disturb your thinking."
“There is no perfect hypnosis in this world,” Schiller seemed to have entered that focused state again. “No one can ever modify another person’s memory perfectly. It’s like building a house; you have to leave a door, otherwise the workers themselves can’t get out. A hypnotist will shrink the door, turn it into a window, or even a hole, and will try to hide it so that the patient can’t find it.”
"Hugo knew his opponent wasn't the patient, but me. So he would definitely try his best to hide this hole very deep. But no matter how deep, it must exist. What could it be?"
"From what perspectives do you usually consider it?" Victor asked.
Schiller shook his head and said, "Actually, there's no pattern. It could start from the little girl's memories, or it could start from Hugo's. Just looking at it like this, there's absolutely no way to tell."
"Wait, you're not trying to access the little girl's memories, are you?"
“That’s the only way,” Schiller said, turning to Victor. “The lesion is so deep that we can’t get any results without an open biopsy.”
“Absolutely not,” Victor said. “I strongly object. I must emphasize to you that this little girl is very likely a zombie, and the power of death resides within her. Entering her spiritual realm is tantamount to walking into a trap!”