The black-haired student returned after taking a shower and changing clothes. Shiller looked at him; he still had that aggrieved look, standing in the corner of the wall struggling to speak.
"Did she spray something at you?"
The student nodded and said, "Yes, she invited me here to practice dancing, but once she saw me, she sprayed something from a can at me. Professor, you know, I... I..."
He seemed a little embarrassed to speak, and Shiller softly explained to Victor, "Severe cognitive distortion..."
"What do you mean?" Victor asked.
"Fear gas makes people afraid."
"I know that."
"Some people run away when afraid, while others go mad."
"I really didn't mean it," the student stepped forward to explain, "she sprayed something at me, then I lost memory, and when I woke up, she was... she was..."
"You really should follow Brainiac's advice and take some medicine." After Shiller said this, he didn't blame him much further and went to check the body. Then he directly took out his phone to contact Brainiac.
"Check this girl," Shiller said, "I suspect she's in the same situation as Pelota. There may not be many survivors from the Chemistry department. You'd better notify Jonathan quickly, otherwise, he will go mad when he sees this."
"Shiller!!!!!!!"
A loud shout full of anger echoed at the entrance of the activity classroom. Everyone turned to look, and Jonathan Crane was standing there furiously.
"Why did my student die in the Psychology department?!"
Victor felt a bit of a headache. The behind-the-scenes manipulator's move wasn't very clever, but it was effective. Shiller and he both cared about the students, and if any students were harmed, they would definitely be angry. And Jonathan Crane cared about face and academic achievements, so if a student died, he would also be upset.
Letting students from the three departments slaughter each other would easily trigger rivalry among the three professors. These three professors were all top figures in their fields, even in madman-filled Gotham, they could support half the world. If they really fought, not even Brainiac could manage.
"I killed her." Shiller declared decisively, "She was no longer alive but a corpse."
Jonathan seemed surprised by his answer for a moment, then showed a doubtful expression. But he wasn't doubting Shiller; instead, his gaze turned to the corpse on the ground.
Victor secretly gave Shiller a thumbs-up. As expected, the Psychology professor calmed Jonathan down with just a few words.
Shiller wasn't entirely taking the blame for the student. If he told the truth, there would be too much to discuss, such as the relationship between these two students, what they were doing here, who acted first, etc. Because Jonathan needed an explanation, he needed to know why his student died here.
But if Shiller said he killed her, then the explanation Jonathan needed wouldn't be so complicated. As long as Shiller said the person deserved to die, then it must be true. Because in others' eyes, Shiller is a mind reader.
If the person didn't truly deserve to die, Shiller surely wouldn't harm a student. And his judgment of whether someone deserves to die is precise enough. His opinion serves as a convincing reason in itself, and even Jonathan would choose to believe him.
Essentially, Jonathan isn't trusting Shiller, but his professional standard and ethics.
In fact, all three leaders at Gotham University are well aware of each other's professional standards. Even though Jonathan generally dislikes Shiller and Victor, he has to admit they are unmatched in their fields. Shiller grasped this point and quickly calmed Jonathan down.
"It's truly strange," Jonathan said, "Why hasn't the one I killed revived yet?"
"So you've been waiting for that all along. But I advise you not to wait," Shiller said, "The behind-the-scenes manipulator isn't foolish. If every corpse revives, sooner or later Brainiac will catch him. He will definitely revive some and abandon others."
"And the key lies in the standard. Who to abandon and who to revive may be random, or it might be manipulated by the behind-the-scenes operator. But regardless, if none that you've targeted are resurrected, it means one thing—the fear gas may also affect the corpse."
Jonathan paused for a moment, but he quickly understood the logic and realized what he should do.
If reviving some and not others is completely random, then all he needs is to collect enough corpses, and he's bound to encounter one that does revive. But if every one he encounters doesn't revive, then it's not random.
If not random but controlled by the behind-the-scenes operator, and every corpse he encounters doesn't revive, it proves the operator is afraid of him. Either fearing he'll genuinely research something, or fearing he'll use fear gas to knock down the resurrected, making it a wasted effort.
Thinking of this, Jonathan's eyes immediately lit up, and he no longer cared about students, turning swiftly out the door. Muttering as he walked, he was evidently excited to the extreme.
Victor was once again in awe. First, using professional standards to let the opponent stop pursuing a deeper truth; then throwing out a new point of interest, completely distracting the opponent's attention. The crisis was effortlessly defused.
This perhaps is also because Jonathan doesn't actually have much ethics. His anger towards the student's death is mainly due to his toy being broken by someone else. But if there's a more interesting topic, the toy is just a toy and can be discarded.
Without Jonathan causing trouble, the cleanup went surprisingly fast. The classroom was quickly tidied up, and Victor froze the fragmented pieces to prevent further anomalies.
"Where should we take this stuff?" Victor pushed a small cart and asked, "Would burning it be better?"
Shiller shook his head and said, "Freeze it first. Maybe it can be used for research later."
"What are you thinking about?" Victor noticed Shiller seemed a bit distracted.
"The behind-the-scenes manipulator might not just be avoiding Jonathan. He's also avoiding me."
"What? But he started the detective hunt..."
"It's not just one person," Shiller said. "The one desperately targeting me is Hugo. I'm talking about the one who can resurrect others."
"Are you talking about the presence behind Hugo?"
Shiller nodded and said, "So far, I haven't seen any living corpses."
Victor thought for a moment and realized it seemed true. When they went to Jenna's dormitory, Pelota had already been taken away. At the police station, Shiller hadn't seen her either, and then she was dead. Whether in the cryogenic lab's restroom stall or the psychology activity classroom, the corpses were already present when Shiller arrived.
"The strangest was in the restroom stall," Shiller said. "You just sealed the door with dense ice. The umbrella I took wasn't the one with special effects. Nobody hurt her, but she stopped moving immediately after emitting poison gas. This proves the behind-the-scenes manipulator must have directly cut off control over her. What are they afraid of?"
Victor shook his head and said, "It can't be that they're afraid of your mind reading technique, can it?"
Shiller also felt confused. He hadn't seen a recollection in his memories where he could analyze a corpse's emotions. But he couldn't be sure if he hadn't analyzed them or if he couldn't analyze them. In other words, he didn't know if he could perform spiritual analysis on a corpse.
But it seemed this behind-the-scenes manipulator thought he could, so these resurrected corpses avoided him. This suggested there might be something wrong with the psychic_battlefield of these corpses. Maybe his psychoanalysis method could really see a difference.
"Shiller," Brainiac suddenly spoke, "Please head to the Gotham Police Department, James Gordon is waiting for you there."
Shiller frowned. "What's your scheme this time?"
Brainiac didn't answer. Shiller could only sigh and said to Victor, "Watch over Gotham University, I'll take a trip to the police station."
Victor said, somewhat surprised, "To the police station? What's going on?"
"It might be about the activity classroom," Shiller guessed. "After all, someone died and there's no evidence to prove it was a corpse. Brainiac would definitely want to question relevant informed parties."
"Alright, you go ahead. I'll be here."
Shiller drove to the Gotham Police Department. The station was still brightly lit, every officer busy with their tasks. He barely avoided colliding with someone running to deliver documents as he entered. The person gave him a surprised look before turning away.
Ignoring this, Shiller went upstairs into Gordon's office. Gordon had just set down a coffee cup and said, "You finally arrived."
Seeing no case-related personnel, Shiller frowned again. Unexpectedly, Gordon placed a file on the desk. Shiller's pupils suddenly constricted upon seeing it.
"Criminal investigation consultant entry application form? Are you serious?"
"Brainiac is serious," Gordon said. "Sign it first, we'll discuss further."
The application form didn't have any complicated content; most of it was already filled out. Shiller looked it over and said, "Brainiac, let me just say this. I won't help you read into the Super Body's mind. That's unethical, you understand?"
"Why do you think I'd do such a thing?" Brainiac seemed somewhat displeased. "I can pursue her on my own merit. I don't need you."
"Then what's this about?" Shiller said with a wave of the application form. "Isn't it said that people with mental illnesses are prohibited from obtaining law enforcers' official identity?"
"Do you think I want this?" There was a hint of grudge in Brainiac's voice. "Just sign it. You'll soon find out what's going on."
Shiller squinted, re-evaluating the application form. There really didn't seem to be any catches. He didn't think Brainiac needed to play such tricks, so he signed his name.
After taking a photo and uploading it, approval came instantly. The printer started working on its own. Gordon pulled out a credential cover from the drawer, assembled it, and handed it to Shiller.
Shiller inspected it inside and out and found no issues. Official seals, anti-counterfeiting codes, and Brainiac chips—all complete. With this credential, he could enter any law enforcement department and provide compelling courtroom testimony as a consultant.
In simple terms, his judgment in psychoanalysis could become a crucial basis for conviction. His official identity competition with Hugo had already won big.
Yet Shiller was a bit puzzled as to how he'd won. He hadn't participated in any ranking but joined Victor at sea, essentially stepping away from the stage temporarily, and yet a windfall seemed to have fallen into his lap?
The problem is, Hugo hadn't done anything massive to concede victory. This was just too odd.
"Someone helped you," Gordon said. "He's in the lounge. Go talk to him."
Shiller pushed open the lounge door and saw a figure inside that bore a striking resemblance to him.
Half an hour later, Victor marveled at Shiller's credentials in disbelief and said, "What benefit did you give Brainiac for him to break principles and truly give you an official identity?"
"Ha," Shiller chuckled coldly. "You've forgotten."
"What?"
"'I have a brother in the government,' said Holmes."
Victor froze, then tentatively asked, "...McKoff? No, wait, our ruler is an Electronic Life. What position could he hold in the government?"
Shiller rubbed the credential, looked at Victor, and said, "Judging by time, it's equivalent to the entire Brainiac Government now."