mtl008 Chapter 4495 The Darkest Night (23)
Chapter 4495 The Darkest Night (23)
Chapter 4495 The Darkest Night (Twenty-Three)
"Brainiac, give up your unrealistic fantasies. No one has ever truly controlled Gotham. The Godfather can't, Batman can't, super AI can't, and neither can the mastermind behind it all."
Jonathan's pale, gaunt face was marred only by his strikingly bright eyes. His eyes didn't gleam with utter madness, but rather with profound wisdom and philosophical insight. This was something Brainiac often saw in the eyes of Gotham's madmen, as if they weren't mentally ill, but rather prophets who truly understood the essence of the world.
The line between genius and madness is thin, but in Gotham, they have never been so. Anyone who tries to take over this place and steal their extraordinary qualities is ultimately swept away by the tide of madness, sinking into the abyss as bones, or vanishing into thin air without a trace.
Brainiac couldn't help but feel fortunate that, as part of the post-war recuperation strategy, he hadn't taken any drastic measures against the dark city. Moreover, because he showed no bias and treated the madmen and ordinary people the same, he had never truly angered them.
On the contrary, he could even garner praise from the vast majority of the madmen. Even a tireless antisocial individual like Jonathan needs to eat and wear clothes. Brainiac's approach of caring for everyone equally freed them from the worries of daily life, allowing them to focus more intently on their passions and talents. In a sense, he was also a savior and shepherd to the madmen.
Brainiac, as the most calm and rational electronic life form, and humanity, with its most passionate and intense madness, did not engage in direct confrontation, but were not exactly equals.
Before the eternal night descends, it is the madmen who need Brainiac the most. Brainiac has never been interested in exploiting their madness, and even forbids those with a history of mental illness from holding official positions such as law enforcement officers or advisors. Furthermore, criminals incarcerated or undergoing treatment are not allowed to conduct scientific research. Brainiac has no intention of forcing them into labor reform; forced treatment simply involves medication and sleep, at most allowing them to read books—only input, no output.
In other words, it was a one-sided effort by Brainiac, without necessarily expecting anything in return.
However, life is full of strange twists and turns. After the sun went out, the darkness that descended again seemed to awaken this slumbering city of sin. Or perhaps the clever people all had the same idea. The madmen began to stir, actively committing murders to attract the attention of the mastermind, making him realize that if he wanted to continue his plan to turn the earth into a zombie apocalypse, he couldn't avoid getting involved in Gotham's massive dark vortex.
Brainiac turned his gaze to the corpse on the lab table. If, as Jonathan said, the mastermind was bound to get involved, then everyone who died here had a very high probability of being resurrected.
As Jonathan mentioned before, under Brainiac's care, the human mortality rate has become very low. All cars are fully autonomous, making collisions virtually impossible. A few months ago, they even set a record of three consecutive days without a single car accident globally, including minor scratches and scrapes.
In cases of serious illnesses requiring emergency care, such as sudden heart attacks or cerebral hemorrhages, the response is immediate. Regardless of financial resources or social status, resources are allocated equally for rescue, resulting in a very high survival rate. The prognosis for various major surgeries is also very good.
Not to mention factory fires or mining accidents. CyberLife doesn't slack off when it comes to safety. Countless cameras operate 24/7. Every potentially risky area is under close surveillance. Even in a city as eccentric as Gotham, since Brainiac arrived, there hasn't been a single factory explosion.
Not to mention the homeless from previous versions, who no longer exist. Even those who resolutely refuse to work and prefer to lie down have been provided with a park by Brainiac. Their basic living conditions are guaranteed.
This has led to the most important source of corpses shifting from deaths from accidents and diseases to heinous crimes.
Indeed, the only thing Brainiac couldn't completely stop was human killing. After all, the human body is far too fragile; a stab wound can kill in just two seconds. Even if every camera had lasers, it might not be enough to stop some people from suddenly losing their temper. And humans are always prone to losing their temper.
When he gets angry, he becomes ruthless and unrestrained. Legal punishments and moral deterrence are completely ineffective. Even without a knife, he can easily kill someone by grabbing a stool. He might even strangle someone in his sleep while turning over. Brainiac simply couldn't stop him.
Although he can detect when someone is emotionally distressed and tries his best to guide them, and because social rules are relatively clear and conflicts are less frequent, it's still difficult to completely avoid them. After all, with billions of people, it's normal for a few oddballs to appear every day.
Gotham City is a prime example. After nightfall, other cities might panic for a moment, wondering what's going on, whether some alien monsters have invaded again, or even fear might keep them in check, preventing them from killing each other.
The madmen of Gotham are different. They wake up in the morning, look up, and it's still dark—oh wow, I know this place well. Their youthful passion reignites, their past glories return—isn't this just reliving old dreams?
Of course, they wouldn't kill just because it was dark. But Jonathan and his gang of serial killers had just gotten off to a good start; within ten hours, five more murders had occurred, each in a different area of Gotham. This was something Brainiac couldn't handle. The others realized it was indeed a repeat of the previous incident.
It's easy to imagine that the following night would be a night of revenge and retribution. Cruelty as clothing, cold-bloodedness as a crown, and bloodshed on the same stage—it was time for the Christmas ball.
With this in mind, Brainiac didn't choose to suppress the news of the murders. Instead, he wrote it as news and sent it to everyone's phones, even adding some unprecedented details to let them know what the cases were like. Then he activated the previously built citizen shelter.
These are shelters built during previous wars to prepare for surface disasters. Back then, to prevent alien invaders from taking ordinary people hostage, Brainiac built these large refuge centers in every city, providing shelter for the entire population. Supplies inside could last a long time. While not as free as outside, personal safety was guaranteed.
Brainiac assumed that these warning reports would send citizens rushing to shelters to avoid being victimized by these madmen. After all, Gotham residents should have a deeper understanding of murder than people in any other region. These cases clearly belonged to a particularly brutal serial killer. These killers were currently rampaging through the city, and since Brainiac couldn't catch them for the time being, what were they waiting for but to hide?
Unexpectedly, to the people of Gotham, this wasn't a warning letter at all, but an invitation. It was like the notification sound when a match is successfully made—let's see what's going on!
The once peaceful and tranquil community had been transformed by an eerie atmosphere that Brainiac couldn't comprehend. While everyone appeared to be staying indoors with doors tightly shut, a closer look revealed people repairing chainsaws and digging cellars. Brainiac watched as someone unearthed a complete wood-saw from under his old beech tree. The rust on the blades was of unknown origin.
Fortunately, the vast majority of people had no desire to leave their homes to hunt. After all, more than a decade had passed, and Gotham had experienced its most prosperous golden age. The former loners now had families to support, and the artistic dreams hidden in their hearts had been worn down by the mundane realities of family life. Rather than abandoning their families and children to attend a groundbreaking art conference, it was more important to keep an eye on their loved ones and prevent them from becoming someone else's prey.
Masters all have the heart of apprentices. The more they know, the more aware they are of what they don't. This is also true in the realm of crime. Gothamites are worldly-wise and know their own limitations all too well. In Gotham, crime isn't just about madness and cruelty; it requires knowledge, culture, aesthetics, philosophical thought, logic, and skill. Even with all of these, a bit of luck is still necessary. If you're not one of the chosen ones, don't blindly follow the crowd.
Even though most people didn't participate in the matchmaking, a small group, a very few, a niche group, responded to the call immediately. A long-dormant and extremely secretive community suddenly became active again.
Over the years, their communication methods have evolved. Print media has largely been phased out, and electronic communication and the internet are far more efficient. But such matters obviously cannot be discussed openly. By the time Brainiac discovers an extremely complex and secretive coded message circulating through a messaging group, the number of murders has risen to eight.
“Oh my God.” Jenna wiped the sweat from her brow and said, “This one and the first one should be the same killer. It still has that weird feeling. But this time, I sensed more.”
“What?” Tim asked.
“He’s demonstrating,” Jenna said after a moment’s thought. “Demonstrating certain… I can’t say for sure right now. More like highlighting certain qualities, like the theology I saw in the first case.”
"So this one is different?"
Jenna nodded and said, "Yes. This is more like showing the world as he sees it. It looks chaotic, but it actually has its own rules. He can read a lot of things from these rules that others can't, and that's his advantage."
“He’s showcasing his strengths?” Tim muttered to himself. “Sounds a bit like… a resume?”
Jenna snapped her fingers and said, “That’s right. I was just about to say that it might be courtship, but then I thought about it again, and it doesn’t involve sex or desire, and there’s no sense of fervor. It’s more like job hunting than courtship.”
Tim nodded, looked at the crime scene, and said, "So the theme of this serial murder case won't be the twelve zodiac signs as it appears on the surface, but rather the different traits possessed by the killer. The previous one was theological; this one is a unique perspective. What else could it be?"
Jenna shook her head and said, "It's impossible to guess. Who knows what he thinks is his special talent?"
“No, we can probably deduce that,” Tim said after a moment’s thought. “The question is, who is he showing this to? It can’t be us, can it?”
“The sample size is still a bit too small,” Jenna said. “Ms. Waller, are there any new developments regarding the background of these two victims?”