"Oh, my God." Nora hugged Jenna, who had bumped into her, and raised her voice, "Miss! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Jenna shook her head, the golden pattern between her feline-like eyes appeared very bright under the dim hallway light. She bypassed Nora and ran into the laboratory, leaving Nora unable to stop her in time.
"Don't go in, Miss. There might be a bit..."
Jenna pushed open the door, and a gust of cold air hit her face, almost causing even this alien who could survive at tens of degrees below zero to freeze. Nora's last word had just fallen: "...cold."
But it clearly wasn't just a matter of cold anymore because Jenna saw Professor Shearer and Victor's students encased in ice sculptures. Jenna was shocked, but Shiller winked at her.
Inside the dense ice, it wasn't cold; the temperature simply didn't change. Shiller could even still speak, and it was because he could talk that he was frozen inside. Jenna almost immediately noticed this.
So she immediately swallowed her long speech, smiled politely at Victor, and said, "Good evening, Professor Fries. I brought you coffee."
Victor looked up, finally showing a bit of relief. Jenna placed the coffee on the table next to her, then turned to glance at Shiller. Victor seemed to notice what she wanted to do, so he waved his hand and said, "Take him out."
Jenna shook her head and said, "Sorry, my brother isn't here. I don't have superpowers, I can't move him."
"But there's no secret message. I just figured out the connection between these cases." Jenna stepped back a few steps, reached the door, took a few breaths of warm air, and then said, "The problem appears in the South District."
"What do you mean?" Victor looked up and asked her.
"Chick died in the South District."
"That's because he lived in the South District."
"Pelota also died and came back to life in the South District."
"That's because she had to pass through the South District to go home."
"But you can't deny that both cases happened in the same area."
"But the sample size is only two cases."
"The sample size in other areas is zero, so two is already a lot." Jenna emphasized, "This can't possibly be a coincidence, trust me."
Victor nodded and said, "Okay, if as you say, the key to these cases lies in the South District, then what useful information can we glean from it?"
"Why the South District? Of course, there are more shared villas here, which is well-suited for muddling through. But don't you find it strange? The murder cases happened in the South District, but it's Gotham University that is most affected. This probably isn't a coincidence."
Victor thought for a moment and said, "I also think so; the people who died are all students from Gotham University, which seems a bit too targeted. But I can't figure out who he's targeting. Could it be me?"
"On the surface, it indeed seems to be you," Jenna said, "especially with Chick's death, it's easy for people to think that you drove him to his death, damaging your reputation. He did succeed in that, at least you're now under great pressure and anxiety..."
"Alright, you can skip the mind reading part." Victor glanced at Shearer in the ice, then said, "I don't need another broadcast of my mental state, or do you also want to go into the ice to calm down?"
"No, no, no." Jenna quickly stepped back two steps and then said, "I absolutely don't mean that. I just want to say, what good does it do to affect your mindset?"
"I might freeze Gotham? No, wait, isn't this because the Sun is extinguished, and my dense ice is almost the only way to preserve Earth's heat?"
Jenna nodded and said, "That's probably it. The behind-the-scenes manipulator chose to target you likely to interfere with your actions. However, in the section on emotions and pressure, Professor Rodriguez once said that pressure is transmitted layer by layer, much like certain domestic violence behaviors occurring, originating from family members experiencing excessive pressure in society, which they choose to release at home. Not saying this behavior is right, but it's very likely to happen."
Victor nodded; this is indeed very common. Some people lower their heads and bow like grandchildren in society but become a big shot at home. Actually, because their social rank is too low, the social pressure transfers layer by layer to them, and then they pass on the pressure they received to the family members who lack the power to resist.
"You mean my pressure would pass on to others, to whom? Nora? That seems unlikely, right?"
"That's indeed impossible. Mrs. Friss can be ruled out first."
"...It's not Shiller, is it?"
"Of course, it's not directly him," Jenna shook her head like a rattle drum, "If that were the case, you'd have to go check out Arkham Psychiatric Hospital."
"I think I understand a little." Victor said, "Pressure is transmitted layer by layer downward. I might end up passing this pressure onto the students."
"Especially Milo." Jenna pointed out, "80% of Chick's death is attributable to him. It's not just you; other students will do the same, treating Milo as the murderer. Even if Brainiac doesn't have evidence of him inducing the murder and can't convict him, his days ahead will be difficult."
"So..."
"The behind-the-scenes manipulator will try the same old trick, thinking of ways to make Milo commit suicide as well. Ideally, he should die in your office or in front of you, further shaking your emotions, increasing the pressure, until it passes onto the students."
"But what difference does it make? Even if I give my students pressure, I can't possibly kill them directly, can I?"
"The key lies with Professor Rodriguez." Jenna said, "Although he also gives considerable pressure to his students, that is a special case for special treatment. Those who study psychoanalysis methods are often not good people, so naturally, they need to be a bit stricter. But it doesn't mean he's not a good professor; he has always valued his students."
"Oh, I get it." Victor suddenly realized, "If I vent the pressure onto the students, Shiller will definitely find it unacceptable, and he'll try to stop me. No matter what, the two of us will become opposing forces."
Jenna nodded and said, "Actually, these are rather foolish methods. The simplest way is to make Milo's death inextricably linked to you, like causing a lab accident that freezes him to death. This would be blamed on your carelessness. In that way, you and Professor Shearer might develop an irreparable rift because you caused the death of a student, possibly even more than one."
Victor vigorously wiped his face twice before saying, "I won't do that. I might indeed feel enormous pressure, but I won't pass it downward. I'm not that kind of person."
After a pause, Victor continued, "If I'm really under unbearable pressure, I'll freeze the Atlantic or turn the Moon into an ice ball. In any case, I won't take it out on those around me."
"That's the problem." Jenna said, "He thinks you'll do this because he doesn't understand you. He thinks you're just a normal person and doesn't see the hidden manic factors in your mind and spirit..."
With a "bang," Jenna was also frozen. Nora walked in and said, "Alright, Victor. Why do you always think I can't accept that you're a madman? Would a normal person choose to freeze his dying wife?"
"It doesn't matter what I'm supposed to be." Victor said, "I'm just showing through my actions who I'm not."
"But that just makes you look even more like that kind of person." Shiller, frozen inside the ice, spoke, "Using such a crazy method to stop others from saying you're a madman is somewhat laughable."
With a "crack," the ice broke. Victor waved his hand and said, "Just think of it as helping me practice my gun skills, Rodriguez."
"Alright, let's get to the main point." Nora said, "So, Miss Jenna, you think the murderer is trying to sow discord?"
"Yes. Targeting Victor is only part of the plan. The real target is likely Professor Rodriguez."
"Why?" Victor asked, "In the plan for extinguishing the Sun, Shiller doesn't seem to play any crucial role, right?"
"I'm afraid I can't easily conclude that the professor doesn't play an important role in a plan." Jenna shook her head and said, "But I do indeed think it's not purely utilitarian, rather a bit of a personal vendetta."
"Saying it like this, I can understand." Victor said, "There are too many people who have personal vendettas against him."
"But not many would use this method." Jenna said, "This clearly aims to emotionally strike the professor, not like those who study physics and chemistry, but more like... a peer?"
Victor observed Shiller's expression. He seemed unperturbed, which made Victor a bit angry. He looked at Shiller and said, "You guessed it a long time ago, didn't you?"
"Are you upset I didn't tell you?"
Victor initially thought he would explain, but Shiller shifted the conversation: "Who told you that you don't have mind reading technique? If you did, wouldn't you have known long ago?"
Victor, angered, was about to raise his freeze gun again, while Shiller countered by chanting an aria: "I feel somewhat ashamed because my way of venting pressure is playing detective role-playing games with Schiller Rodriguez. This wasted a lot of time and energy, so much so that I didn't realize at first that the murderer was targeting Shiller. Although this didn't lead to any serious consequences, I'm still quite fearful. I can't confirm whether the manic factors hidden deep in my soul, which I keep denying, would truly push things beyond redemption, anxiety turning into panic. Just when I most need my abilities to save the Earth, I begin to loathe it. God is indeed a great playwright."
Shiller was frozen once again.
However, the person inside the dense ice could still speak. He continued, "I know you still have hesitations about the plan to freeze Gotham. Otherwise, it would have been frozen already. So, I wonder, if I refuse to play the detective role-playing game from the beginning until you are provoked to madness and freeze the entire Earth, would it be more efficient? Of course, this is also a not-so-awkward reason to end this game. The one I found for you is not bad, right?"
Victor directly shattered the ice encasing the students, waved at them, and said, "Let's go, group gathering at the Gotham Central Roundabout."
He led a group of people out with a commotion. Jenna looked at Shiller, who was still in the ice, and said, "Professor, in a situation where someone has the ability to freeze the entire Earth directly, is it somewhat inappropriate to provoke him continuously?"
"It's my nature, Miss Jenna." Shiller said, "In a situation where one has the ability to turn a transport vehicle into something like a tomato tuna can, it's equally inappropriate to recklessly provoke you, but I don't care because you can't break the dense ice, just like I know, he freezes me to protect me from your talons..."
With a "crack," the ice on Shiller shattered. Victor, who had already left, poked his head back in and said fiercely, "Now it's your turn to be my assistant, hurry up and come!"