Brainiac was at a loss for words. In fact, he couldn't figure it out himself. Shiller stormed out with such momentum, yet instead of stepping on stage, he was withdrawing. But the situation did not improve in the slightest with his withdrawal; in fact, it got worse. At present, it seemed there were at least four or five lines of serial murder cases to be tracked. Each killer was a master of hiding. Even with Brainiac's control over Gotham being at least 90%, they could still utilize that 10% gap to commit murder. Anyone would have to admit it was a gathering of talents.
"I suggest you get Jonathan Crane under control first," Tim said, "his methods of killing aren't anything new. As long as you can detect the fear gas in the air, you can successfully charge him. Without him causing trouble, we can concentrate on catching this copycat."
"I'll control him," Brainiac said, "but he may not end up in jail because he really does have a mental illness. At most, he'll be sent for treatment."
"That's enough," Jenna spoke up, "just to make sure he doesn't cause trouble for a while. Otherwise, our workload would be too much."
Brainiac stopped talking, evidently preparing to capture Jonathan. As Tim and Jenna said, catching him wasn't actually troublesome. Jonathan simply wouldn't resist because he knew Brainiac wouldn't do much to him.
When Brainiac found Jonathan, he was still busy in his laboratory. As soon as the camera turned toward the workbench, Brainiac was stunned. How could that corpse be here?
The body lying on the workbench was exactly the one that Jonathan had poisoned to death. And it should have been lying on the forensic autopsy table.
"How did you steal the body?" Brainiac asked.
"I didn't hide from you, you can watch the surveillance yourself." Jonathan said without looking up, busy at the adjacent workbench pouring things into various flasks.
Then he paused, stretched out one hand, and said: "Okay, I know you're busy. Familiar days have returned. Unless you can find someone completely immune to fear gas, what can't I steal?"
Although Jonathan rarely explained a few words, Brainiac still checked it out himself. Jonathan indeed didn't hide from him. The means to knock out the police weren't concealed either. It was just a fear gas bomb thrown over, and everyone lay down. He leisurely dragged the body back.
"What are you going to do?" Brainiac asked.
This showed the advantage of a non-human ruler. Generally speaking, anyone facing a lawless madman like Jonathan Crane would be infuriated. Because this guy repeatedly, consistently refuses to admit fault or repent. It's clear that as long as he's alive, from the police to the court, they can't have a moment's peace. His existence's purpose is just to disrupt social stability and harmony. Rulers with humanity and emotion can't stand such a person. But Brainiac can.
It's not that he can endure. He just unemotionally follows the rules and procedures. Commit a crime once, get caught once; reoffend, get caught again. He judges as he should, without taking personal emotions out on someone.
This time is no different. Despite gathering evidence of Jonathan Crane's crimes, preparing to take coercive medical measures against him, Brainiac is still concerned when Jonathan's behavior shows clear abnormalities. He wouldn't neglect him out of dislike.
Jonathan's behavior of messing with corpses was clearly abnormal. According to Shiller's theory, the artistry of Jonathan Crane's murders mostly reflects in poisons. He's a master of chemistry. His carefully prepared chemicals can easily affect people's bodies and minds. He always takes pride in this and constantly works hard on it. And the influence of chemicals mostly manifests in the process of death. Once a body, there's nothing much to play with in it.
Take this corpse, for example. The victim's skin exhibits a richly saturated bluish-green hue. Normally, there's not so much pigment in a human body. Even with dye, it might not be this even. Not to mention the white spots that appear under the skin, those spots vary in size, arranged with rules, and are aesthetically pleasing. This is obviously Jonathan's design.
No odd poses are needed for such a body to show the theme he wants to express; even Brainiac can see that it should relate to the stars and the cosmos.
Since the design is complete, Jonathan shouldn't need to move the body again. Could there be an issue with some parts of the body forcing him to redo it?
Brainiac found it unlikely. In chemistry, Jonathan was considered to have reached a pinnacle. Although troubled by mental issues for over a decade, a frequent guest of prisons and psychiatric hospitals, he didn't have the leisurely research environment of Victor. But his academic level must have developed to an unimaginable extent. Not likely to make an error in such a case. So Brainiac chose to ask him directly.
"Good question," Jonathan replied, "Even if none of you informed me, I learned from an officer about Pelota, who killed my student, being a person resurrected from the dead."
"Pelota was torn to pieces, making it impossible to perform detailed inspections, so it can't be said with certainty. That's why I didn't formally notify anyone." Brainiac said.
"Precisely so, I have to do you a favor," Jonathan said, "Don't think I'm heartless. In Gotham, everyone must adhere to reciprocity. You are the best butler I've ever met. The life in the nature reserve is the most peaceful I've had, where I can focus on research without being disturbed by those fools. The students you chose for me are quite decent; their brains occasionally work. So of course, I'll help you as much as I can."
"The method is to conduct a murder again?"
"Don't you already have this guy's file? One of the rebels who previously orchestrated a child kidnapping case, just released due to insufficient evidence. There's no regret in his death." Jonathan started busying himself around the workbench again, "On the contrary, his death will be the best evidence."
"What?"
"Don't you want to know how people can come back from the dead?"
"Do you know?"
"Actually, I don't know either, which is why I need to research," Jonathan said, "Do you think he won't be resurrected?"
"If Pelota was truly resurrected, then there is only a single piece of evidence."
"Use your electronic brain." Jonathan picked up the test tube and shook it, "He extinguished the Sun and caused such a big scene, just to use some trivial means?"
"You mean..."
"He cut off the most essential natural resource for human survival—solar energy, with the purpose of creating large-scale deaths. And creating mass death events is to have enough corpses for resurrection. The resurrected corpses opposing the living will create more corpses. Eventually, Earth will be engulfed by the living dead."
"But we prevented all that," Brainiac said, "The plan to isolate Earth with dense ice is progressing steadily, with a high chance of success."
"Yes, exactly because you prevented this huge disaster, the corpses became extremely precious." Jonathan stopped his actions, looked at the camera, and said, "Under your protection, deaths caused by accidents and mutual killing among humans have been minimized. Even natural deaths have been greatly delayed due to timely rescue and advanced medical levels. In other words, the current global mortality rate is at the lowest point in human history."
"He wants to create an Earth of living dead, obviously relying solely on the current tiny number of natural deaths is not enough. But the method of creating a large number of corpses through natural disasters won't work. What do you think he will do?"
"The key to a living dead catastrophe lies in the ability to infect," Brainiac analyzed, "The infection speed of zombies increases exponentially. One infects two, two infect four, and four can infect sixteen. Before long, this can form an invincible zombie army. However, I don't think humans' firearms cannot deal with the living dead..."
"Yes, you were able to repel Darkseid, so naturally, you're not worried about weapons. But what if they don't confront you directly?" Jonathan changed gloves, turned around, and continued fiddling with the test tube, "Did you notice Pelota died?"
"No." Brainiac admitted, "It looks no different from humans."
"Because you didn't notice, it led to Fanny's death. And if Fanny was also resurrected without you noticing, it would lead to other deaths, possibly including mine. And if I become a manipulated living dead, guess what will happen?"
Brainiac never thought he had something like cold sweat until now. He had to admit, he was becoming more and more human-like. If he had a head, it would already be covered with cold sweat.
The fear gas owned by Jonathan Crane is something Brainiac cannot decipher or counteract. Because it involves brain science, pathology of mental illness, and psychology. A large portion of these is a blind spot in Brainiac's knowledge. Yet this fear gas can be mass-produced and deployed on a large scale.
Moreover, due to its varied forms, it can turn into both liquid and gas, making it almost impossible to guard against. Just tossing it into a water system can drive a bunch of people crazy. And Jonathan can control the symptoms of these people's madness, making their behaviors not all appear as mental issues but rather diverse manifestations.
If Jonathan Crane was controlled, and he started poisoning silently, then overnight, a massive army of living dead could be created. This is just targeting ordinary people. If it specifically targets scientists or important figures in various fields, the speed at which the living dead infiltrate Earth would be unprecedentedly fast. Even superheroes may fall victim to it.
Thinking of this, Brainiac was both shocked and suspicious. Several cameras focused on Jonathan, analyzing his behavior patterns, seemingly trying to determine if he was controlled.
"Alright, stop staring at me," Jonathan said, "What I'm doing now is telling you that I'm on your side, Mr. Butler."
"Let's continue with the previous deduction," Jonathan stared at the liquid in the test tube and said, "Large-scale natural disasters have been stopped, and the global mortality rate is too low. While there's still hope for the infiltration of the living dead, he won't easily give up but will choose to take a step back, finding a relatively dangerous place where the mortality rate is higher to release the living dead."
"You mean Gotham?"
"It has to be Gotham," Jonathan put down the test tube, supporting himself on the table, looked at the camera, and said, "Your arrival did greatly improve the situation in Gotham. But this place has been ill for a long time. Compared to other cities, your control here is significantly insufficient."
Brainiac didn't refute, because he knew Jonathan was right. Gotham indeed has its peculiarities. There are many things Brainiac couldn't comprehend or control here.
"He will definitely choose Gotham as a breakthrough point," Jonathan stated firmly, "And as long as frequent murders occur here after night falls, it will confirm his line of thinking. He would feel he is right and thus won't consider other places. Do you understand?"
Brainiac seemed to really understand a bit. In simple terms, Gotham's peculiar nature is apparent not just to him. It's the same for anyone else. He can't control this place, and neither can the behind-the-scenes manipulator.
Gotham is like a big quagmire. Anyone who falls in it gets covered in filth. Madmen pull the behind-the-scenes players into their familiar territory through murder and crime, and then use their abundant criminal experience to defeat them.