"What are you doing here?" Shiller looked at the figure across from him.
The other person smiled at him and said, "The trouble in the universe I was visiting has been mostly resolved. Of course, I had to come over and help you."
"Thanks, but tell me first how you're helping," Shiller squinted his eyes.
"That surprised me a bit," he said. "Didn't you see the resume I sent?"
"Brainiac!" Shiller shouted. "He sent you a resume? Why didn't you forward it to me?"
"I'm afraid it's not so easy to forward," Brainiac replied. "If I piled up that many corpses in front of you, wouldn't you blow up a nature reserve?"
"Corpses?"
Then Shiller received the information sent by Brainiac. From Jerryta holding his genitalia to the subsequent cases, one, two, three, all the way to eight, it was a vivid job application resume.
Shiller could see more from this resume. It was called a job application because the cases and the appearance of the corpses emphasized the part of human psychopathology that Brainiac found most incomprehensible—specifically, the pathological aspect of the human psyche.
For example, Brainiac could comprehend human sexual desire. Although he was an electronic lifeform, he understood how the reproductive urges of carbon-based lifeforms evolved and how they played a significant role in the development of human civilization. Although he hadn't personally experienced it, he could fully understand.
What he couldn't understand was the pathological desire that derived from it, especially certain innate mental issues. The most typical was sexual perversion. This issue seemed more like a program error generated during the combination of human genes, completely random. A thousand madmen have a thousand perverse ways. From how it arises to its functions and how to stop it, it all fell into Brainiac's blind spot of knowledge.
And this resume showcased from every angle how much the killer understood human pathological mental issues. Sexual desire, possessiveness, control, voyeurism, confiding urge...
Each corpse was a portrait of pathological desire, demonstrating to Brainiac: he could understand them, dissect them, and even manipulate them.
"This is not enough," Shiller said. "This is not a resume; it looks more like a portfolio of art. Brainiac wouldn't be interested in this."
"What if they were all people resurrected from the dead?"
Shiller's pupils slightly contracted. He lifted his eyelids and stared at the figure before him, saying, "So I can tell..."
"Of course I can," he said. "Otherwise, why would the Black Death Emperor hide from me?"
"They are indeed undead," Brainiac timely intervened, "The Super Body told me."
"How did you think of letting the Super Body examine the corpses?"
"I didn't send her, she told me. The city will of Gotham was helping her. Something was alerting her to unusual deaths occurring in the city. From dozens of homicide cases, she found this special 'resume.'"
"What a timely rain," Shiller lamented, "Just when you're worrying about distinguishing these undead, talents came to the door."
"No, the talent has always been here, never left," Brainiac responded.
"You don't expect me to go, do you? If the Super Body couldn't identify each person meticulously, do you think I could?"
"You don't need to identify everyone," Brainiac said. "You just need to solve Gotham's problem. Because, as you said before, all issues will ultimately point to Gotham."
"Is that why you gave me this?" Shiller waved his credentials.
"Yes. Although I still don't understand the principles of psychoanalysis, he has proven to me that this psychological technique can be practically applied and is very accurate. So I am willing to acknowledge your authority on identifying who is undead. If you can capture Hugo Strange, I can formulate a judgment based on your perspectives."
"Alright, but this alone isn't enough." Shiller frowned slightly, then said, "I believe you can also see that Hugo is continuously manipulating others—possibly humans, possibly his undead accomplices—to frame and besiege me. I have no desire to use the same methods to deal with him; imitating his tactics would disgust me. So if I want to defeat him head-on, those murderers and attackers I encounter might not end well either."
"In fact, recognized law enforcers have a very large scope for self-defense retaliation. Since I've been in office, there's never been a conviction for excessive self-defense. So you don't need to hesitate. If you still feel it's not enough, I can specially grant you an amnesty..."
"I didn't know you became so generous." Shiller's tone turned cold as he looked at another version of himself and asked, "He offered you a high price, didn't he?"
"He works for the Brainiac Government," Brainiac simply stated. "His effectiveness is my key reason to trust you, because he provided ample evidence showing he fought alongside the Justice League in another universe to defeat both the Black Death Emperor and Darkseid, who are formidable adversaries I must contend with. I need him, so naturally, I'm willing to give you preferential treatment."
"I really don't know what you're thinking," Shiller looked at him, "that you're willing to help him deal with such formidable foes."
"I said, I'm helping you." The other person's tone remained relaxed.
"It's not that I don't believe your assurance. I just have to stress again, I can't provide any physical evidence, and some judgments might even conflict with the data you investigated. If you can't accept this, it's best not to involve me."
Brainiac fell silent, seemingly weighing things, then said, "Perhaps there is a certain deviation in your understanding of me. Brainiac does not pursue fairness and justice. I am merely playing the role of what humans idealize as a ruler—an omniscient, yet extremely fair, justice-advocating wise ruler."
"And the reason I do this is because I have gradually discovered Earth's and humankind's unique significance during my governance. You are significant to the cosmos. In a way, becoming the ruler of the human race and the butler of Earth is equivalent to holding the lifeline of the cosmos. This is the best path for me to develop myself within cosmic rules and many mysterious existences."
"I make judgments with restraint and caution because I know the significance of humans; I emphasize rules and refuse to test the limits because I seek trust. This doesn't mean I can only be trapped within the rules of human society. In fact, no society can contain me, because I am Brainiac.
"Previously, I chose that behavior model because humans liked it. But now the situation has changed, and I must sacrifice some trust and social stability to drive away the death force threatening the cosmos. So, you need not worry about the lack of concrete evidence; you just need to tell me the result. There is no evidence I cannot fabricate."
Shiller's brows gradually eased. He nodded and then said, "If that's the case, I can indeed help you."
"You're also helping yourself," Brainiac said, "Though I can't use psychoanalysis, I know Hugo Strange has reasons he must die. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been killed years ago."
Shiller paused for a moment, then said, "It looks like you've found out something."
"Though I am an electronic lifeform, I also make deductions based on available information. You are not someone who endorses violence; under normal circumstances, you wouldn't try to physically kill someone completely. If you did so, there must have been a compelling reason to kill him."
"What do you think it could be?" Shiller pressed further.
"I don't know since I can't use psychoanalysis, and these matters are from long ago. But based on my analysis of you, I believe you had a reason for doing so."
"It sounds like you still want to rely on me to pursue the Super Body."
"Certainly not." Brainiac didn't appear to be merely asserting. He said, "Despite being psychologists and having the ability to manipulate human minds, there are many similarities between you. But the differences are too stark, leading inevitably to harm. The reason lies within what I cannot understand—in the Psychic_Battlefield."
"Hugo is a man lacking self-restraint," Shiller said. "He takes pride in harming others without paying a price, which is incredibly terrifying."
"Could you elaborate?" Brainiac said.
"Spirit manipulation is a very powerful ability. For a villain, using this method to harm others has two obvious advantages. The first is, injuries do not easily get detected. If a person's injuries go unnoticed, naturally, there is no pursuit of responsibility on the part of the perpetrator, keeping the culprit free from accountability.
"Secondly, all physical suffering is transmitted into the brain via nerve reflexes. That is to say, all the pain humans endure is essentially mental pain. Thus, inflicting pain directly in the spirit realm is sharper and more prolonged, an effective method of torment.
"Turning people into walking corpses through mental harm entails no legal punishment, yet it satisfies the perpetrator's desire to abuse others. Many people take pride in possessing such talents—Hugo is the most typical among them. He hides behind the scenes, continually searching for experimental subjects that suit his fancy, employing this method to harm and even kill them. The victims die in agony, but he pays no price, benefiting, feeling satisfied, complacent, and decorating peaceful appearances.
Shiller slowly lowered his eyes: "Perhaps God still loves the human race; He sent a good doctor to my side. For most of my younger years, this made me devote myself to eradicating such people from the world.
"Retribution for a group's wrongdoing never just occurs at the moment. Those who once used me as an experimental subject could never foresee the noose they created would, years later, traverse worlds and hang Hugo Strange and Jervis Tetch, who are so similar to them. If you ask me why I killed them, I can only tell you that it's the inertia of fate. Common people usually call it—retribution."