"Compared to the panic and helplessness brought about by being framed, I feel more anger. How dare they kill someone like this?!
Some people will never understand. The meaning and aesthetic of ice lie in stillness. The infinite forms of water molecules are unpredictable, but only ice can bring the whole world to a standstill, creating a space for calm reflection. Therefore, things that are frozen in ice always carry a kind of silent beauty. Even the most ordinary objects, when frozen in dense ice, look like Byron-esque heroic sculptures.
The woman chosen as the victim was so ordinary. In daily life, her stillness did not possess any aesthetic. There was nothing notable about the stagnant part of her personality. Therefore, when frozen in ice, what was magnified was not beauty but ugliness.
Undoubtedly, the killer made a major error in operating the quick-freeze device, resulting in ice layers that retained water marks. These irregular, morbid traces made me feel nauseated, like countless maggots gnawing at the body, completely destroying the static aesthetic and making it look just like a frozen corpse, no different from those other decayed and disgusting bodies.
In short, the piece created by the killer was a complete failure. It had no substance, and even its appearance was unsuccessfully imitated. More importantly, they dared to present such an ugly scene in front of me. Perhaps Shiller was right; I've been too gentle, so much so that everyone wants to step over me..."
After Shiller broadcasted Victor's inner voice again, the room was eerily quiet. Gordon, who had just walked in, silently left again. The concentration of psychopathic serial killers in the room was so high that breathing in there for just another second made Gordon feel like his conscience would stop beating.
Jenna swallowed lightly. Obviously, she had realized that this seemingly good-tempered Professor Fries wasn't so simple. He had hidden it so well that those mad traits were deeply buried inside, even the empathizer didn't read anything. Until this moment, until the appearance of this corpse.
No matter if the killer intended to provoke Victor in this way, he was gravely mistaken. Jenna gently licked her lips. Victor's anger had a unique taste, with a kind of extreme coldness. When this feeling spread to her mind, Jenna couldn't help but shiver.
"Where's the equipment?" Shiller asked.
Tim had evidently done some reasoning beforehand, he said, "I've seen that kind of old equipment in the cold storage at Drake's house before. It's very large, and can't be carried around. So they either tied the person to the equipment's location and then transported them back after freezing; or they brought the equipment over and conducted the freezing directly here."
"I don't think it's possible to freeze them and then bring them back. Because if you bring in a piece of equipment, people might think it's some new equipment arranged by Brainiac and won't pay much attention. But if you bring in a live human ice sculpture, it will definitely be discovered."
"The docks are old areas, with high foot traffic. Even after cooling down, operations have not completely ceased. In this situation, for the killer to avoid all sight and bring a human ice sculpture in is almost impossible. He wouldn't take such a big risk. I am more inclined to think he transported the equipment."
"But transporting equipment has its problems. Regular people might not know what it is and just think it's arranged by Brainiac, but Brainiac wouldn't be fooled. Someone pushing such a large piece of equipment inside would definitely be recorded. But I just asked Brainiac, and he hasn't captured any images of the killer moving the equipment."
"This is very unusual; the docks are areas with the highest density of cameras. Any slight movement could not escape Brainiac's eyes. How the killer got the equipment in is the key for us to find him."
"What do you think happened?" Jenna asked.
Tim looked down at the floor, "Sewer."
"You came relatively late, so you might not know. When Gotham was frozen before, the sewers were the unluckiest. They were filled with ice that was almost impossible to break. Because of this, many natural cold storage areas were set up inside. As technology developed, the early established cold storage areas were gradually abandoned. After Brainiac came to power, most of the underground cold storage areas were shut down due to dangerous working conditions. The entire Gotham underground was sealed, and there isn't much surveillance by Brainiac there."
"Are you saying he brought the equipment up through the underground?"
"Exactly," Tim said, "This also helps us identify the killer. You have to know, Gotham's underground sewer system is very complex; it's a triple-system nested together..."
"Wait, triple-system?"
"Exactly. Gotham has a massive underground maze, a complete sewer system, and the mob-established underground cold storage logistics system. It's said that unfamiliar people who enter can't get out. Otherwise, why would Brainiac forbid people from going down?"
Jenna nodded, believing Tim made sense, so she said, "Then the person who acted must be very knowledgeable. Either they work in this field or they've done research."
Tim, however, shook his head and said, "It can only be employees from the mob era's cold storage logistics system. Because these three systems were established at different times. The underground maze is the earliest underground system, followed by the sewer system built on the maze's basis, and the mob's underground logistics system is built on the sewer system. In that case, only those familiar with the last version can navigate through it clearly. If you only know about the underground maze or sewers, you might get lost due to the mob's re-routing."
"I see," Jenna said, "There's no time to lose, let's go down and find out."
Tim quickly stopped Jenna and then said, "That's not possible. The situation down there is very complex and dangerous. Even if our group went down, we might not fare well."
"Brainiac," Victor said coldly, "release water into the sewer system. I'll freeze the underground system."
Jenna gasped lightly. Tim, however, shook his head at her, signaling her to remain silent. Because, no matter how you look at it, this is the best solution.
The cases on the surface are already too many; they don't have time to go underground and play hide and seek with others. Those who have worked underground before know the sewer system too well. Just finding a random nook to hide in would take months of manpower to investigate.
Moreover, it's obvious this case wasn't directly executed by Hugo Strange. If he died too early, his understanding of the sewer system may not have been deep, and he wouldn't have personally taken such a risk. He probably manipulated some unlucky soul. If he can manipulate one, he can manipulate many. Searching like this would never end.
Apart from murder, there are many things that can be done using the sewer system. For instance, quietly killing and accumulating living corpses. This is what Brainiac fears most. So far, he hasn't fully investigated Gotham's sewer system. If the behind-the-scenes manipulator uses this to build high walls and stockpile resources, Brainiac will have another headache.
Therefore, Brainiac almost agreed to Victor's suggestion without thinking, saying, "I will control the seawater purification system for reverse flooding; it will take about two hours to fill the entire sewer."
"Director Gordon," Victor called out, "help me find some manpower to set up low-temperature generators..."
But Gordon showed a troubled expression. Shiller patted Victor's arm and said, "Don't make it hard for him. Dozens of serial murder cases await his investigation. Better find someone else."
Victor sighed and said, "It's a pity Barry isn't here. Otherwise, he'd finish it soon."
After speaking, he turned to Jenna and asked, "How is Barry? Has he contacted you?"
Jenna shook her head and also showed a worried expression: "Although he asked me to investigate the Pelota incident, there's been no progress. We don't know how to counteract the resurrected..."
"Any good news from the Super Body side? Brainiac?"
"Hold on," Brainiac replied. Soon he compiled a document and sent it to everyone. The document briefly stated: The only thing that can counter resurrected people is the Power of Life.
In other words, only those who grasp the Power of Life can distinguish between the resurrected and truly living. Just like Super Body, who can precisely identify resurrected individuals among tens of thousands in the shelter. Not because of any differences in appearance or speech, purely because the Power of Life reacts to the Power of Death.
But the problem is that the Power of Life is extremely rare. None of the students at the Magic Academy have contracted any mysterious beings with the Power of Life. Even veteran mages like Zatanna and Constantine haven't really encountered this power.
Furthermore, not everyone can use the Power of Life. Super Body can use it, but she can't give it to others. And it's impossible for her to identify individuals one by one in time.
This conclusion obviously isn't good news for them, as the situation becomes increasingly difficult. Even Shiller, who knows some insider information, doesn't have a good solution.
He knows that the Spirit of Existence is lying in the depths of the Earth. Waking him should grant the White Lantern Ring, but the problem lies in how to wake him.
In the universe of Ben, they didn't use any normal procedure. Instead, they resorted to brute force, driving three nails to forcibly collect Death Force from the ocean, compressing it before injecting it into the Earth's core. The Spirit of Existence is sensitive to Death Force and was awakened instantly.
But Shiller's universe cannot imitate it. First, there are no three nails. Most universes don't have them. It seems to be a unique creation of the Movie Universe. The key is that the Black Death Emperor has learned from experience. Knowing humans would use this method to awaken the Spirit of Existence, he no longer releases a large amount of Death Force.
The key to awakening the Spirit of Existence lies in the Death Force. Without a sufficient amount of Death Force, it's impossible to wake him. So even if Shiller's universe developed weapons capable of targeting the Earth's core, without Death Force as ammunition, it's futile.
The Black Death Emperor is very cautious in Shiller's universe; neither resorting to emotional blackmail nor violent output, he plays the classic living corpse siege approach. A classic because it's simple yet effective.
In modern criminal investigation, the hardest to solve isn't premeditated serial killings but spontaneous murders. Where the perpetrator and victim have no grievances, nor have any conflicts occurred. It's just the perpetrator suddenly wanting to kill, and the victim happened to encounter him. When they meet, they kill; after killing, they leave. This is extremely difficult to trace.
The current approach of the Black Death Emperor is exactly this. Randomly selecting victims globally. Initially resurrect a very small number of deceased in each region. Even using those like Pelota, who died without Brainiac even noticing, turning them into living corpses.
Then use these living corpses to quietly kill, while also avoiding Brainiac as much as possible. Even completely randomly; some act, some don't. Some dead revive, some don't. Revived corpses then randomly engage in spontaneous murders. Brainiac has no way to investigate.