"The ACTH project was a secret exploration of human limits conducted by the U.S. military. I was a subject of the experintal program, and the only successful test subject who survived."
Shiller's eyes slid to Slaughter's body, without any scars, which was almost impossible for a seasoned killer, unless he had a regenerating ability far superior to that of a normal human.
"I'm not aware of the specific data of the experint. No one told at the ti, and I didn't care later. However, the project team existed for only a short period of ti before it disappeared. The reason was that the Congress wanted to catch the military's misdeeds, and unethical human experints was a good point to start."
"The project team was disbanded too quickly. Those who wished to profit from it or climb up the ladder were not reconciled. After the dissolution of the project team, they scattered in all directions. One of the scientists decided to capitulate to Congress. His na was Francis Campbell."
"Since Campbell knew all about the specific data of the project, he could provide this information to Congress as evidence that the military conducted illegal human experints. This included detailed information about , the only successful experintal subject and survivor. I couldn't let him do so because I had a family."
"Once Congress found out that I had beco a super weapon, they would not give up controlling . And the best way to control was to control my family. I learned this from William Walsh."
"So, he basically saved you."
"It's not that simple. Walsh was just an opportunist. He and Campbell had a falling out when the project team still existed. However, he sided more with the military and did not want Campbell to succeed."
"Did he tell you to kill Campbell?"
"It wasn't a command, but he knew that I was sure to do so to protect myself, and I did it as he wished."
Slaughter sighed, Shiller could hear his resentnt. As expected, Slaughter says, "This should've been the end of it, but that fool William Walsh secretly kept a list of test subjects and let his wife know. They divorced, and the child was granted custody to the wife."
"Later, his wife remarried, and she married a businessman nad Dennis Jetter. His son grew up under the care of his stepfather. After the death of Old William, his only close relative, young William Denechette collected his natural father's estate and found that list inside."
"He betrayed you." Shiller appended an ending to the story, he said, "He knocked on the door of the Federal Bureau of Investigation with this information, and connected with Amanda."
"He has always wanted to find ." The tone of Slaughter's speech had sunk to the bottom. He said, "He believed that the surviving superweapon must still be alive and that he is the only person who knows the dangerous weapon's control thod—he knows the identity of my family so he had to die."
When Slaughter got here, he paused for a mont, suddenly looked up at Shiller because he rembered the question Shiller had begun the topic with--"You have a family, don't you?"
"Did William give you that list?"
"I found it myself." Shiller did not avoid the killing gaze of Slaughter and said, "Why do you think that a murder case could occur in front of and I wouldn't investigate to the root of the problem?"
"Mr. Wilson, your biggest mistake was to tamper with William's body, making his death thod full of artistic expression. This greatly aroused my interest."
"For so reasons, I will take the initiative to contact people who could create such works of art and invite them to join the art group I founded. I think the person who killed William is qualified, so I went to investigate who did it."
"To investigate the murderer, I had to find out about William. Although I had no interest in him and didn't even know his family history, I just asked Amanda for his residence and discovered the list there. He didn't even bother to hide it."
"What a fool!" Slaughter gritted his teeth to say.
"I am quite curious why you didn't go to his residence to destroy the list after you had killed him. Didn't you think he had already destroyed it?"
"I thought William had hidden it."
"Then you really overestimated this fool."
Slaughter was obviously choked. He felt that he was scolded by Shiller, but he had the evidence, and he couldn't refute it.
"A common problem of smart people." Shiller put his hand on the handle of the umbrella, smiled, and said, "You think he is likely to split the list into several parts, hide them in hidden bases all over the world, and set countless complex passwords for the safe that only he himself knows."
"You know clearly that no matter how complicated the puzzle is, once the only person who knows all the clues dies, no one can link so much information together to find the final answer. This is a convenient and quick thod, which is specially tailored for those who are suspicious and have late-stage paranoia."
"But William's stupidity obviously exceeded your imagination. He simply put the list on the bookshelf in his apartnt, sandwiched in a book with the first letter of his na. I just understand his stupidity more than you do."
Slaughter leaned back on the recliner like a deflated balloon, and said, "How did you know about his relationship with then?"
"I knew he was killed by you."
"How did you know?"
"I just knew it." Shiller sat down on the recliner next to him and said, "If you want to find the flaws in your own thods through my answers, you might be disappointed."
"I didn't find out the murderer by the thods of a detective. My thods are more abstract."
"Well, since we're idle now, you might as well talk."
"I saw a contradiction in William's body. The murderer's thod was too professional, neat and clean, without any clues, as professional as if by the world's best assassin."
"But assassins don't pour this much emotion into a corpse. I saw anger in the manner of the corpse's death. That particular behavior of his has imprisoned your heart and soul, so you've turned the tables and imprisoned his body in a box."
Deathstroke's finger slightly moved; he seed to hesitate, but it seed like he thought that since things had got this far, there was no point in hiding. So he said, "The Federal Bureau of Investigation is a nuisance for ."
"Or to put it this way, any official law enforcent agency of any major country in the world is trouble for an assassin. The FBI is even more troubleso because they know my real information. For the sake of my family, I must get away from them to prevent them from recognizing ."
"It's not impossible. Initially, Campbell submitted part of the experintal information to Congress to gain their trust. Once the Federal Bureau of Investigation gets the initial experintal information from Congress, and they match it with so of the characteristics I've shown, they'll know who I am."
"So you were isolated," Shiller summarized. "William's actions forced you to distance yourself from this country, and in retaliation, you isolated him in a box."
"That's what he deserved." The anger still hasn't faded in Deathstroke's tone; he's mad at William's folly as well as at his own carelessness.
"You may think it's just a public humiliation and revenge, but your experience of displaying the corpse to the world is not extensive. You didn't carefully filter the information you left on the body. To , it's like you wrote your na on the body."
"Before this, I never thought there'd be soone like you in the world, reading a corpse's face? Huh." Deathstroke scoffed, but he still said, "I'm just an assassin who does things for money. If I didn't have a personal grudge against that idiot, and want to warn the Federal Bureau of Investigation, I wouldn't have touched his body. I'm not a psychopath."
"But I must say, you certainly have the talent."
Feeling the sudden enthusiasm in Shiller's words, Deathstroke imdiately interrupted him: "I get paid per job, kill and go. I don't need to know how to handle a corpse correctly. Just ask what you want to ask."
"When did the Assassin Union approach you?"
"Two months after I killed Gorbachev."
After pondering, Shiller said: "I fear Ra's al Ghul is not as confident as he portrays himself to be, he is afraid of you."
"He has no reason to fear . No one has paid to kill him, so he's absolutely safe."
"But he doesn't know if soone will pay. Just now, soone paid you to kill a key figure. He believes the person behind you wants to establish a new world order, just like him, and thinks that the person behind you has been watching him for a long ti."
"Don't you?"
"No, I thought he would be more interested in my students." Shiller shook his head, still speaking in a casual tone. Deathstroke was unsure what Shiller ant, so he tentatively asked: "So, you're here to offer another job?"
"Do you think I would hire you to kill him?"
"Why do people like you always like to use rhetorical questions?"
"Because psychologists usually charge by the hour, this is a good rule. I suggest you also use it, so you can charge just for the conversation."
Deathstroke felt mocked by Shiller again, but with the prospect of a potential job in front of him, he didn't have the ti to argue. He said, "The old devil is tough to deal with, so the price will be high."
"But I don't intend to pay."
"Then I'm afraid you'll receive wave after wave of probing from him, and from then on, you'll never have peace." Deathstroke laid in his chair, crossed his hands on his abdon, and made a smug gesture. He said, "Although personally, I'm more than happy to see you on the run, but I also think he can't do it. Anyway, he's going to cause you a lot of trouble."
"My point is, I'm not planning to hire a paid assassin. When there's a free one available, why not use them?"
Deathstroke squinted and said, "If there really is such a considerate person, you must introduce ."
"Not soone from your field."
"Then who?"
"Soone from the Assassin's Union."
In the dining room of Rodriguez Manor, Lex and Clark watched as Bruce, who was holding a mobile phone, ca back. Lex frowned and asked, "What were you doing? Why were you gone for so long?"
"I received a call from Professor Shiller."
"Was there an ergency?" Clark asked with concern.
"Nothing much." Bruce sighed lightly and said, "Just that I have to take another makeup exam."
Lex let out a cold laugh from his throat, while Clark asked with so curiosity: "Another test? What's the test about?"
"Dealing with a troubleso woman."
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