When Schiller retracted the umbrella, Batman and Gordon stood on either side of him, looking down at the fallen Constantine. Gordon hesitated for a mont, then turned to Schiller on his left and said, "Do you two have any grudges?"
"No, but..." Schiller paused for a mont and then continued, "Wherever you see this person, no matter what he is doing, you only need to do two things."
"The first thing is to cover his mouth, the second thing is to beat him up."
"Uh, why is that?"
"While releasing your frustration, it also ensures that you can't beco his friend."
Gordon wanted to ask further, but at that mont, Constantine, who was lying on the ground, suddenly began to disappear.
Gordon turned his head back, his eyes widened as he looked at the ground. Constantine gradually turned into black ash from his feet. Almost instantly, what was once a living person turned into a humanoid heap of ash on the ground.
Just as Gordon was about to speak, the pile of ash suddenly flew up and transford into a small tornado, which was then sucked into the black book in his hand. Gordon walked over and bent down, about to touch the book, when Schiller said, "Don't touch it."
"Gordon, when faced with anything related to the occult, don't touch it lightly because you never know how many black magic traps and curses are hidden within."
Schiller sighed softly and said, "Not surprising, because this guy is nothing but a complete fraud and a rotten person. Saving the world? That has nothing to do with him."
Just as Batman was about to say sothing, he noticed Schiller's movent freeze for a mont. Then, Schiller straightened up, his gaze sowhat vacant. After about two seconds, he suddenly revealed a smile.
Describing that smile, to put it simply, Batman silently took a step back, and Gordon took a step back as well.
Schiller tapped his palm with the umbrella and said, "...the happiest thing in this world is when a small trap you unintentionally set up is triggered by a prey that willingly walks into it..."
"What do you an?" Gordon scratched his head and asked. He noticed that ever since the magic circle appeared, there were more and more things he couldn't understand.
However, Schiller turned around and walked towards the door, saying as he walked, "Co with , let's go to my Manor, and I'll treat you to a drink."
"Wait, what about this thing?" Gordon pointed at the demon chained to the wall.
Schiller, who had already stepped out of the door, took two steps back and turned to look at the demon fixed on the wall. The demon, upon seeing his gaze, desperately tried to hide. Gordon took a step forward and said as he walked, "It seems this creature can't cause much trouble in Gotham. Let's go."
Several children followed behind the three adults as they walked out, and as Jason passed by the demon trapped on the wall, he spat at it.
Batman first drove a few children to his stronghold, and then returned to pick up Schiller and Gordon. The three of them went to Schiller's Manor. After entering the Manor, Batman squinted his eyes and said, "It seems soone has broken in here."
"Gordon Detective, just now, you saw a demon with your own eyes, and you saw a living person turned into ashes. Why do you think this intruder would enter through doors and windows?"
Gordon patted his forehead and said, "Sorry, I still haven't wrapped my head around it. After all, in Gotham, the most common burglary scenes result in doors and windows being completely shattered."
Schiller's destination was clear. He led the two of them directly to the second floor, then turned left and walked to the reception room at the end.
As soon as he opened the door, Gordon saw a familiar figure lying on the ground. After they walked in, Gordon said, "Isn't this the sa Constantine from before? Why is he here? And... what is that?"
Constantine, who was lying on his stomach, had also knocked over a bottle of wine. The room was now filled with a strong aroma of alcohol, sowhat captivating.
Gordon took a deep breath, and his vision began to blur with colorful halos. Gordon took a few uncontrollable steps back and rubbed his eyes.
But the hazy mist didn't dissipate; instead, it grew thicker. After a brief mont of darkness, Gordon opened his eyes again. The first thing he saw was the slowly rotating Earth globe on the table. Then he turned his head and saw Schiller holding an umbrella with one hand, pointing the umbrella's tip at the neck of a blond man.
Constantine, who had been lying on the ground, had sohow ended up standing in the center of the room. He was being targeted by the tip of Schiller's umbrella, taking two steps back and raising his hands.
"I think you must be very confused right now, wondering why touching that wine bottle led you to this dreamland..."
"So, why?" Constantine looked into Schiller's eyes, his expression unusually serious. This expression was usually only seen when he had gotten himself into trouble.
"Before we continue, shouldn't you tell what those tricks you've been playing are all about?"
Constantine lowered his gaze, his rarely serious expression giving him a lancholic and decadently handso appearance.
Constantine slightly lowered his head and then looked at Schiller from above his eyes, saying, "I had heard of the professor's reputation a long ti ago, but I never expected you to be even more formidable than I had imagined."
Both n were of similar height and build, dressed in long coats and ties. When viewed from above the room, their contrasting yet strangely similar auras clashed, divided by the umbrellas.
Schiller extended his hand, holding the umbrella, and the tip of the umbrella touched Constantine's Adam's apple directly. Constantine raised his head, his hands still raised, and said, "Don't do this. I admit it. This ti, I ssed up, so I will tell you everything..."
Schiller held this position for a mont, then opened the umbrella with a "bang," and the black umbrella shielded Constantine's face. When Schiller closed the umbrella, Constantine saw that Schiller's head had transford into a slowly rotating Earth globe.
Schiller snapped his fingers, and the scene in the room quickly faded. The wooden floor changed to tiles, and the walls were covered in a pale white color. With a "clang," an iron chair fell in the center of the room.
Constantine, wearing a straitjacket for ntal patients, sat in the chair with his legs, waist, and neck restrained. Overhead, a dazzling white light bulb illuminated the scene. ...
Constantine leaned his neck against the back of the chair, tilting his head back, and said, "Can I have a cigarette?"
Schiller sat behind a desk, holding a dical record in one hand and a pen in the other. With the pen, he snapped his fingers, and Constantine felt a cigarette appear in his mouth. He took a deep drag, and the cigarette smoke wafted between his lips and nose.
He struggled slightly, feeling the constraint of the straitjacket on his body. He sighed with a hint of enjoynt and said, "It seems we not only have a shared interest in music, but perhaps in other aspects as well..."
Gordon paused for a mont, wearing a slightly disgusted expression, but Schiller remained unfazed. He asked, "Tell , what's really going on?"
Constantine adjusted himself and let out a "puff" of air from his mouth, blowing away the cigarette ash. Then, he settled into a comfortable position, leaning back in his chair, and said, "Well, it all started with a romantic and profound reverie..."
"It was a winter in Liverpool. After watching the team's match, I bought a bottle of wine on the way ho. However, I ended up drinking it all before reaching ho. I collapsed on the roadside, intoxicated and drowsy, and that's when I had a dream..."
"It was an incredibly vivid dream. I hadn't had such a dream in a long ti. Most of the ti, my dreams are muddled and dark, filled with too much noise that turns my mind to mush."
"But that day, a person appeared in that lucid dream. He called himself the 'Dream Maker' and claid to be a follower of the 'Dream God.'"
"I've witnessed so many peculiar things that I wasn't surprised. He said he wanted to invite to the Dream Kingdom to awaken the slumbering Dream God..."
"He ntioned that I was sowhat famous in the field of mysticism, you know, the kind of empty praise. I asked him what reward he could offer, and he said the Dream God would reward when the ti cos."
"Although he sounded like a cultist or a con artist, I still agreed because I was truly eager to ask the Dream God why he had never granted a pleasant dream since my birth..."
"So, the two of us set off. We descended through my dreams, facing nurous difficulties and obstacles, witnessing various dream worlds. Eventually, we arrived at the deepest part of the dream, which he referred to as the Dream Kingdom."
"It was an exquisitely beautiful place, beyond any description that human imagination could muster. There, I encountered the Dream God."
"The Dream God had been in a deep slumber within the Dream Kingdom until the Dream Maker awakened him. When he woke up, he told that he could fulfill one of my wishes."
"But I hadn't co to make a wish. I asked him why he had never granted a pleasant dream, the kind that every ordinary person experiences..."
"Faced with this question, the Dream God fell silent. He asked to choose a different wish. I said I wanted to be intimate with him."
"Cough...," Gordon choked, holding onto the wall as he coughed violently. He never expected this fantastical and bizarre story to end this way. He looked at Constantine and asked, "Didn't the Dream God kill you?"
Constantine ignored him, instead gazing upwards, his eyes fixed on the overhead lightbulb. He remarked, "If he can't grant a sweet dream, then an erotic dream will suffice."
Batman remained silent as well, unable to evaluate this kind of person. Although Bruce appeared as a playboy, charming all the beauties in Gotham, it was evident that he still had certain standards for his partners. At the very least.
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