Brainiac was speechless for a long time, seemingly completely unprepared for Shiller's serious reply to his question. It wasn't a particularly good question to answer, nor was it necessary. But Shiller answered anyway.
Brainiac pondered for a while, thinking he couldn't just chalk this up to Shiller suddenly being talkative. Perhaps it was because he had previously expressed his attitude toward the human race, hence earning such an answer.
Brainiac had of course investigated Shiller's past, but it was rather long ago. Back then, the internet of the human race wasn't as developed, and there wasn't much data left behind. Some traces of his legendary exploits could be seen, but most were still shrouded in mystery.
The Professor was like a jigsaw puzzle, with the big pieces that could be fitted always appearing at the edges, while the central, most crucial clues remained scattered. Today, Brainiac finally had some leads.
Actually, Brainiac had always been curious about why Shiller could even tolerate Jonathan Crane—a guy who was a genuine madman, insanely deranged beyond cure. Like Shiller, he was a psychologist, but he had once attempted to poison Gotham University. These acts should undoubtedly touch Shiller's bottom line.
Yet in reality, Shiller wasn't too malicious toward him. Although he would teach him a lesson when Jonathan went too far, Brainiac could tell that Shiller never actually intended to kill him.
In contrast, the deaths of Hugo and the Mad Hatter seemed somewhat suspicious. Though they could have been accidental, the fact that it was two people with spirit manipulation abilities who died inevitably raised questions. Brainiac had also pondered the differences between Jonathan and these two.
This includes Jack. Don't be fooled by Jack's current well-behaved appearance. Brainiac had heard of the reputation of Jokers from other universes. To avoid provoking him, Brainiac even closely monitored their BBQ card games, ready to bust anyone who dared to cheat. Though it was odd to be praised as a "great lord" by the Joker, Brainiac remained perseverant.
Without a doubt, the Joker is also a madman who adeptly manipulates minds. He frequently interacted with Shiller, but Shiller never thought of killing him. Instead of targeting him, he would sometimes even appease him.
In comparison, the deaths of those two seemed exceedingly suspicious. Before, Brainiac harbored doubts but didn't dwell on them due to the complexity. Today, however, that question was answered.
The difference lies in whether the wrongdoer is willing to face the consequences. This explanation might seem superficial. What struck Brainiac most deeply was Jonathan Crane's journey to imprisonment.
Jonathan tirelessly caused trouble, often failing, yet he rarely hid his traces. When the police came, he wouldn't flee, nor would he often confront law enforcers directly. Unless the police caught him when he happened to be occupied, he wouldn't kill the police, only incapacitate them using fear gas.
And his criminal methods remained unchanged for decades, relying solely on fear gas. Even after creating many different versions of the fear gas, it still bore very distinct personal traits.
He took great pride in his methods, and instead of concealing them, he wished for the whole world to know. If he used fear gas and no one noticed, that would frustrate him.
The Joker is similar. If he wants to commit a crime, he ensures the entire world knows it was the Joker who did it. If Batman doesn't recognize the Joker as the perpetrator, he would be utterly furious.
The same applies to Mr. Freeze. Even if Mr. Freeze from other universes didn't reform and continued doing work as a super villain, he seldom uses methods other than freezing to commit crimes. He freezes people into ice blocks without intending to hide.
Generally, these individuals feel proud, even conceited, about their personal traits. They exaggerate their self-presentation for the world to witness their prowess, accepting the risk of getting beaten or arrested without hesitation.
It can even be said that facing consequences is part of their performance. Whether it's getting punched by Batman or getting arrested or appearing in court, they see this as reasonable, even interesting, helping them gain broader recognition.
You could call them evil, but not cowardly. They boast their psychopathic allure with confidence, attracting followers obsessed with their derangement.
Hugo and Teige differ. Their criminal methods strongly lean towards "evasion." They never display themselves publicly, their cases devoid of personality. On the contrary, to avoid their crimes being discovered as their work, they would use scapegoats or incite others to act and enjoy the benefits.
This can be considered two different crime styles, neither inherently better nor worse. After all, they're both crimes; overt and covert acts of evil don't differ in rank. However, they possess another trait—an affinity for conducting experiments on people.
Hugo goes without saying, spending years researching mental patients within Arkham Asylum. And as shown in comics, he not only directly experiments on patients but also creates patients, once attempting to drive Batman insane.
The Mad Hatter is even worse. He loves using his brainwave controller to transform girls into the so-called "Alice." Hugo, at least, employs psychological manipulation techniques, amplifying desires to control others, whereas the Mad Hatter engages in sheer violent brainwashing without any complexity.
Their methods of crime can't be called wrong; they indeed facilitate evading capture. Hugo has never been caught, but he just so happens to step right onto Shiller's bottom line.
His entire youth was spent hunting down evil upper-class people who operate from behind the scenes, killing one after another until these fragile mages were easily finished off.
Brainiac gained substantial insight from Shiller's few words, piecing together his life experiences shrouded in mist. This deepened his understanding of Shiller and made him realize that Hugo Strange's fate was sealed.
Shiller has rich experience dealing with such people. Brainiac isn't sure how Hugo was initially baited out, but he has no doubt Hugo will fall prey to the same trap again, perhaps not very clever, yet precise and effective.
Brainiac multitasked, handling other shelter matters while observing Shiller. He wanted to know how Shiller, now with an official identity, would deal with Hugo Strange.
Victor glanced at the documents, shook his head, and sighed: "If Hugo knew how easily you obtained the law enforcer's identity, he'd probably be furious."
"Of course, he'll know," Shiller smiled, "He'll find out soon enough."
"What are you going to do?" Victor caught some implications, becoming somewhat excited, "Is it from the detective's and killer's perspectives to the police's perspective now? The investigation collection will surely be a big hit."
Shiller didn't confirm or deny, he just put on his jacket again and asked: "Were all your students in the lab before?"
"No way. There are dozens of students in the entire cryophysics major," Victor said, "But classes are suspended now, they're probably spinning around in the activity room."
"Let's go, let's head over. By the way, give Gordon a call and make sure he comes in person."
"Wasn't he busy before? He didn't even have time to accompany me to set up the freezing device. I can't wait to freeze the sewers now."
"What's he busy with?"
"Of course, it's a murder case."
"Then have him come over, I always have answers here."
About twenty minutes later, Gordon leaned against the door frame, panting, and said, "If you dare to tell me that the answer is either you or your students, I'm going to hang myself in the psychology department."
Shiller shook his head, standing at the door of the physics department's activity room, and then said, "There are a few murderers in here, follow me."
He pushed the door open. The classroom was noisy, with about a dozen student pairs dancing. They were all absorbed, and only a few people by the door noticed someone coming in; the others were busy dancing.
"How's your gun skills practice going?" Shiller looked at Victor and asked in a low voice.
"Feeling pretty good, why?"
"Good. Later I'll point out a few people to you, make sure you freeze them before they react. Freeze them solid, don't let them get away."
Victor was a bit puzzled, but he was confident in his technique; he wouldn't freeze people to death like that copycat. People frozen in dense ice wouldn't be harmed. He had previously frozen himself and the students in his group out of anger, and it was Nora who unfroze them, and nothing happened.
Shiller focused intently on the crowd for about two or three seconds, then nudged Victor with his elbow, pointing at a few people in the crowd. Victor raised his gun and fired.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
He fired five shots, successfully freezing five people. The other students screamed and ran away, the closest one raising his hands and shouting, "Don't do this, Professor! We'll go back and do our homework right away!"
"Oh my god, Professor, the ball is soon, can't we practice dancing for a bit?" someone complained.
"Professor, you came just in time. If you hadn't frozen him, my toes would have been broken by him stepping on them."
"I'm getting tired, what if we go to the library?"
Clearly, Victor had somewhat lacked authority among the students. But that also had its advantages; nobody thought Victor was attacking them, they just felt he was unhappy with them not doing their homework or dancing for too long.
But then the police rushed in, scaring them, pushing each other into the corner of the room. Cryogenics, while producing many talents, produced only genuine talents. Unlike the psychology department, their minds were still relatively fragile.
"What's going on? Why are the police here?"
"Yeah, Professor, what crime did they commit?"
Victor also looked at Shiller and asked, "What crime did they commit?"
"They are the murderers of the serial killings," Shiller said. "Director Gordon, please take them back to the station for a thorough interrogation."
"What? Serial killings?! How is that possible?!"
"How could Beavis be a serial killer? He doesn't even dare to hit a mouse!"
"Yeah. Matt just injured his leg recently, how could he go out and kill people?"
"John is not possible either, I've been with him all the time recently, when would he have time to commit serial murders?"
The students were abuzz with discussion. Victor wanted to argue, but he had no good reason. It was just too outrageous that the cryogenics department could be hiding serial killers, and all five of them, even he couldn't convince himself.
Shiller lightly coughed twice, drawing everyone's attention to him. Seeing those gray eyes hidden behind the lenses, everyone instantly quieted down.
"Uh, Professor Rodriguez." Someone still had the courage to stand out and say, "Could there be some misunderstanding here? How could so many people be serial killers?"
Victor was a bit in awe of his courage. You know, even Brainiac chose not to understand but to respect, which shows how much pressure there is in facing this psychology professor.