RNP Chapter 4609 The Day of Brightest Day (68)
Chapter 4609 The Day of Brightest Day (68)
Chapter 4609 The Day of Brightest Light (Sixty-Eight)
“We should bring Batman back. Of course, I have no problem with that. But the problem is, Batman left behind a lot of work that concerns the safety of the Earth, and we can't send all our manpower into the multiverse…”
Nightwing's voice echoed in Schiller's ears, but he hadn't actually heard a word he said. This long and tedious argument had been going on for half an hour, and neither side had convinced the other. Constantine, sitting at the table, seemed to have completely forgotten his confident demeanor, simply sitting there silently, offering no comment on what the Robins and the others were saying.
“I don’t see any signs of danger to Earth in these tasks,” Red Robin began. “Most of it is about the power of the Seven Lanterns, and a small part is about guarding against the Black Death Emperor. However, thanks to Earth’s magical defense network, our universe is minimally infiltrated by the Black Lanterns, almost nonexistent. The Justice League will handle the routine security work; I don’t think we need to waste too much time here…”
Jason the Red Hood was clearly on his side and said something emotionally. Schiller's brain automatically filtered out those words. Next came Oracle Barbara, whose speech was more rational, but she didn't take sides and did nothing to change the situation.
As this scene was about to play on repeat until dark, Schiller cleared his throat, looked at Constantine, and told him with his eyes that his patience had run out.
Constantine remained unmoved. However, after a few minutes, he glanced at his watch. As soon as he lowered his hand, Barbara's communication terminal rang.
As soon as she picked up the communication device, her eyes widened in shock, and she exclaimed, "What's going on?! There are zombies on the shores of Gotham??? How is this possible?!"
The Robins froze, crowding around, their faces turning grim. Nightwing said, "Quick, we're at the beach! We absolutely can't let them spread into the city!"
No one paid any attention to Constantine and Schiller. Red Hood glanced at them, but the suspected invasion of Earth by the Black Death's forces was clearly more important, and he hurriedly ran out.
"Did you do it?" Schiller asked.
“Just a little trick.” Constantine lowered his eyes, fiddled with the lighter in his hand, and slowly stood up and sat down in front of the computer next to him.
They were currently at the Oracle's base, or rather, the Robins' base. Constantine, fiddling with his computer, said, "If they have different opinions on everything, then we can assume that there might also be disagreements and debates about how to treat Constantine in this universe... Oh, I found it."
"Can you bypass her hacking restrictions?"
Constantine shook his head. "I'm not looking at the data on the computer." He turned his head, and Schiller saw something in his eyes that seemed to be surging like blood.
It seems he sat down at the computer simply because there happened to be a chair there, not because of the computer itself. He appeared to be looking at another point in time through some kind of evil magic.
“Batman put him in a mental hospital,” Constantine suddenly said. “Personally, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. But it’s not good news for us because there are a lot of crazy people in that mental hospital.”
“That’s great,” Schiller said, standing up. “They won’t be interested in us at all.”
The two arrived at Arkham Asylum. Batman wasn't in Gotham, and the insane seemed to be staying obediently in their rooms. Their arrival attracted a lot of attention, but when Schiller showed his identification, everyone scattered.
Clearly, neither the clown, the scarecrow, nor even Hugo had any interest in the police. In fact, they all avoided Schiller like the plague. When Schiller went to the underground observation ward, they all hid in the activity room on the top floor.
“Sometimes being normal has its advantages,” Constantine remarked. “Who would have thought that these lunatics are most afraid of the police?”
“They’re not afraid of the police, they’re afraid of an agent who has absolutely no artistic talent. They’ll definitely complain that Batman let me in and that I’m dragging down the art of the whole city.”
Constantine shook his head slightly, indicating that he didn't understand these lunatics at all. Then, they went to the basement, where the medical staff were quite kind. When they heard that they had come to visit Constantine, they led them to the innermost ward.
In the main universe, Constantine was sleeping in bed. Schiller wanted to go over and wake him, but Constantine stopped him, saying, "This is a fake. I smell hell; he should be in his sanctuary."
"You've dealt with them before?"
Constantine nodded and said, "Yes, I learned from Constantines in other universes that they have a sanctuary on the edge of hell. I have to say, that's insane."
Should we go find him?
“No need, I can call him back.” Constantine pulled a small bag from his pocket, containing some brownish soil. He scooped some out with his fingers and placed it on the dummy's body. A moment later, the dummy ignited and turned to ashes. But then, the blond Constantine from the main universe burst through the door with a bang.
"Damn bastards, how dare you... how could it be you?"
"Who else do you think it is? Jesus?"
Constantine from the main universe sighed, walked over, sat down on the edge of the bed, and said, "What do you want?"
“You have something related to Satan, don’t you?” Constantine asked. “We need anything related to Satan, or any clues.”
Constantine from the main universe paused, and said, "Why do you think I am? I'm not close to him at all."
"But you've dealt with him before, didn't you get anything in return?"
“Accepting gifts from Satan is a very dangerous thing.” Constantine from the main universe took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and was about to light it when a dark gun barrel was pressed against his forehead.
“I’m not making excuses, I really am…” Constantine from the main universe explained.
"Smoke." Schiller waved the muzzle of his gun.
Constantine from the main universe froze, then looked incredulous, his expression saying, "What are you two pretending for?"
Schiller remained motionless, so Constantine from the main universe had no choice but to put away his lighter. He said, "Are you here to rob us?"
Constantine gently shook his head and said, "If you have something, I can trade it with you..."
Schiller clearly didn't have that kind of patience. He looked at Constantine from the main universe and said, "How long has it been since you went to a concert?"
Constantine's expression turned grim as Schiller continued, "Batman knows that locking you up here won't stop you from traveling to the mystical realm. He's just confining your social identity, preventing you from operating within ordinary society, because if you show yourself, he might bring you back. That's not good for you."
Constantine raised an eyebrow; he hadn't expected Batman to deal with him this way. But it was undeniably effective. As far as he knew, Constantine didn't particularly enjoy using magic, preferring non-magical methods to solve problems, which was why he was known as Hellblazer.
Now, he's been classified as a mentally ill patient requiring care, and any public appearance could result in forced hospitalization. So while he can use magic to leave, he's confined to the world of mysticism. The doors to ordinary society are closed to him.
“And you can’t fight back against him,” Schiller added, “because he’s not retaliating against you, but genuinely believes your mental problems are too severe and require treatment and care. You can’t make that impression on him any further, or you’ll never have peace.”
Constantine from the main universe gave a slightly bitter smile: "He's not like angels or devils who can be easily fooled; he's practically the most paranoid psychopath in the world. He wants to reverse my childhood trauma, improve my anxiety, cure my psychological problems, and even reserved a position for me in the Ministry of Magic he founded—can you understand how afraid I am of Jesus right now?"
Constantine's lips twitched; he hadn't expected to stumble upon something so lucky. The main universe's Constantine was clearly suffering from a savior complex. The most terrifying thing was that if Batman had even the slightest selfish motive, the main universe's Constantine could have continued down this path of utter depravity without a second thought. But Batman didn't. Even though Constantine had betrayed him so badly, his first instinct was to care about his mental health and try to heal him.
Faced with a living Jesus, Constantine from the main universe could only remain obedient. There's no reasoning with someone like that. Before Batman, no one has the right to succumb to depravity, not even Constantine, the very embodiment of depravity.
Constantine from the main universe sighed: "Can you possibly improve the current situation?"
“Agreeing with Batman is the only way to improve things,” Constantine couldn’t help but say.
“Then I’ll give it to you,” Constantine of the main universe said generously. “Let’s switch places. You come here for treatment, and I’ll go to your place to help you solve your problems. Isn’t that perfect?”
"Did you know Batman was missing?" Schiller asked.
Constantine from the main universe narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "I've been busy with the Ministry of Magic lately and haven't been paying much attention here. What happened to him?"
“You can investigate the specifics yourself. In short, we need items related to Satan right now,” Constantine emphasized again. “If you’re willing to give them to me, perhaps I can help you persuade him.”
“Yes, he’ll listen to you,” Constantine of the main universe said sarcastically. “The benchmark among Constantines, a reformed good boy.”
“What’s the point of talking about reforming?” Constantine said. “I would never let myself be as pathetic as you, because too many people are hoping for that day.”
“Well,” Constantine of the main universe seemed too lazy to say more, “I did get something from Lucifer, but I’m not sure if it will come in handy.”
“Bring it here so we can see,” Schiller said bluntly, to prevent Constantine from suggesting taking them to Hell. “Bring it here, and we’ll see if it’s useful.”
Constantine from the main universe disappeared. A short while later, he returned carrying a huge box. Schiller, somewhat surprised, said, "This is considered a little something? You ransacked his palace?"
"Come on, Satan isn't that poor. This place doesn't just belong to him, I need to look for it." Constantine from the main universe also seemed a bit troubled. "This junk has been useless for eight hundred years. If you hadn't come looking for it, I probably would have thrown it away already."
He rummaged through the box, unearthing a jumble of random things that made Constantine grimac. Just by looking at many of them, one could roughly imagine how the creature had obtained them. For example, there were scales clearly covering the neck, feathers at the base of the wings, fragments of cloth, and even half a horn that looked like it had been broken off.