Shiller rose from his chair, grasping his wrist with one hand and flexing it slightly. It was the most significant move he had made all day and it signified his intention to take some action.
However, Shiller simply nodded politely at everyone and said, "I'm feeling a bit tipsy, I'm going to go upstairs to rest first."
Alfred, playing along, came over and extended a hand, gesturing, "This way, Professor."
As Shiller followed Alfred up the stairs and their figures disappeared from sight, Constantine swallowed and said, "Do you think the Apocalypse Star will explode any second now?"
"I think it's likely," Gordon's Adam's apple bobbed as he said, "I know when Shiller personally steps in, usually it's in every situation involving Batman and the Joker's struggle. Which means something is about to be destroyed."
"I think they might team up against Darkseid, who's fused with the Divine Country," Zatanna said somberly. "A god is almost invincible in their own Divine Country, Darkseid is really strong now."
But Harvey squinted and said, "Would Shiller really join this fight? That doesn't seem like his style."
"Think about it, neither Shiller nor Bruce seem to be the combat types," Constantine raised doubt, "They've tortured each other for so long, but never actually fought."
Gordon pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "If even in such extreme circumstances they don't resort to violence, then using force will never be their choice in any situation."
"Then what are Bruce and Shiller doing on the Apocalypse Star one after another? The current situation can't be solved with negotiations, can it?" Zatanna insisted on her own opinion, saying, "No matter how you look at it, they definitely have to fight before negotiations are possible."
Everyone was debating what Shiller and Bruce were doing on the Apocalypse Star. Although the Martial Faction and the Non-Martial Faction could not agree, they all unanimously believed that the next scene would be epic.
However, against everyone's expectations, the image on the screen froze.
Not because there was an issue with the broadcast, but because suddenly everyone on the tense screen stopped moving.
With an audible intake of breath, Constantine stood up, his voice incredulous as he exclaimed, "The... Kingdom of Dreams!"
"What's going on?" Zatanna asked, looking at him with concern.
"The power of the Kingdom of Dreams has been stolen!!!"
Constantine's voice was frantic. Suddenly he froze in place, his eyes widened in shock, and he muttered dazedly at the air in front of him, "So... so that's how it is..."
He turned suddenly to look at Zatanna, and said, "Do you remember when I told you that Shiller pulled me into his Tower of Thought and...and forced me to consume a portion of his soul energy?"
Zatanna also froze. She recalled that there was such a thing. That day it had rained, she had finished her street magic performance early to look for Constantine, and he had had an expression of being toyed with.
Only after Zatanna had asked in detail did she find out the root cause was the Guilt Knife.
When Shiller had jumped into Hell to clear all of Constantine's debts, Constantine had unhesitantly ripped his own soul in two. Shiller knew better than anyone the pain of tearing one's soul, so he had directly force-fed Constantine a portion of his own energy, originally part of the System, to complete Constantine's soul. Only then could Constantine return to his own body.
Because that energy was manifested as Shiller's own body parts, the incident had left Constantine with an indelible psychological trauma. Even such a despicable person could not accept the idea of cannibalism, let alone eating his own friend.
Constantine closed his eyes and collapsed back onto the sofa, letting out a sigh. After a long silence, he uttered in a sigh-like tone, "Psychologist..."
"John, what on earth is going on?" Zatanna asked in a somewhat anxious tone. The others also looked at Constantine with worry.
Constantine sat still for a moment, then suddenly moved to grab his glass and down the remaining whiskey. He wiped his mouth with his sleeve and tightly gripped the empty glass, saying.
"I should have thought of it... I should have thought of it!"
Then he said in a trembling voice, "If Shiller can cut it apart, he can surely control its form. Why would he manifest it as his own body parts? Why would he let me taste his soul with the first bite?"
Everyone was taken aback. Except for Zatanna, none of them could understand what Constantine was talking about. But soon, Constantine began to explain.
"It was to make me feel guilty!"
In an instant, Constantine seemed to lose all strength and his demeanor turned dejected. He placed the glass back on the table, his fingers trembling as he muttered, "Guilt is a sharp knife... Shiller wields it masterfully."
"What does that even mean? Can you be clearer?" Zatanna was somewhat confused.
Constantine clamped his lips tightly until the corners of his mouth turned white. He clenched his fist and said, "There is something in that energy."
"You're saying that Shiller poisoned the soul energy he gave you?"
Constantine looked up at Barbara. His direct gaze made Barbara feel somewhat frightened. Batgirl retreated a bit as Constantine, his gaze somewhat vacant, spoke."
"It's not poison, but it contains Shiller."
"Huh???"
Constantine banged his fist against his knee forcefully and said: "Didn't I make it clear? I've consumed Shiller's soul energy, and this energy has restructured half of my soul! What does this mean?"
Zatanna suddenly seemed to realize something, her eyes wide as she looked at Constantine and said, "Authority... You have the authority of the dream god! Could it be..."
Constantine closed his eyes and nodded, "Before Morpheus left the Kingdom of Dreams, he gave me the authority of the dream god. Now that half of me is Shiller, it means he also possesses half the authority."
"Hiss..." Zatanna took a sharp breath, her incredulous expression aimed at Constantine, "Doesn't that make him..."
"Or you could say he now has all of the authority." Constantine looked up at Zatanna, "Because I can't use magic anymore, and because he saved me, regardless of why he gave me half his energy, I won't compete with him for this authority. He knows I won't."
"Please don't tell me he planned all of this from the beginning!" Zatanna practically screamed.
Constantine gave a wry smile and said, "Even earlier than that."
Zatanna was completely stunned, then her gaze followed Constantine's to Jack, already passed out on a single sofa.
"Remember what we saw written by him in Shiller's Necronomicon?" Constantine asked.
"You mean the 'Batman Joker Paradox'?" Barbara recalled with a frown.
"Exactly. It mentioned that the strength of Batman and Joker were always equal. So, don't you find it strange that our universe's Bruce has become the Archangel, but one of his corresponding Jokers, Jack, seems to have no reinforcement whatsoever?"
Everyone's gaze fell on Constantine as he lowered his eyes to say, "Jack knows how to freely enter and leave the Kingdom of Dreams. Morpheus told me that it was an experiment between him and Shiller - They made a hole at the closest layer of subconscious. Through that passage, anyone can reach the Kingdom of Dreams."
Zatanna suddenly had a bad feeling. She turned her eyes to Constantine and asked, "What did he do in the Kingdom of Dreams?"
"He built a Gotham."
When Darkseid woke up, he found himself in a dimly lit room - small, cramped, damp. Nothing pleasant entered his nose, and there was barely a trace of light.
Darkseid lifted his arm and froze. The unfamiliar muscular response made him realize this was not his body. This was not the powerful body of a New God that controlled the Apocalypse Star Force Field.
He was in the body of a human boy.
Assessing his form, Darkseid found that he'd transformed into a human child; too skinny and weak. He couldn't figure out the age, but he was so weak that he couldn't even stand.
This is absurd, Darkseid thought. Surely this was some illusion that the bothersome Batman had cast on him.
Yet he was unsettled. What sort of illusion could feel so real? What kind of power could invade a New God's mind to such depth that he couldn't break free from this illusion?
As Darkseid was pondering these matters, he heard heavy footsteps approaching the door. With a bang, the door opened, and the dust it stirred up outlined the shape of the light.
"S'pose you're quite lucky, aren't you, lad? You survived getting thrown off the third floor by that toothless bastard. You're in luck, kid. Lace Mother needs another pair of hands. Let's get a move on, then!"
Darkseid realised he could understand what this man was saying, but he didn't understand what he meant. He tried to use his legs to stand up, using almost all the strength of this frail body before realising he couldn't. It wasn't just his weakness. His hip joint...Darkseid didn't know what it was called, but it would have allowed him to control his lower limbs if it hadn't been broken.
The man at the door paused, made a contemptuous noise through his nose, spat on the floor beside him, and unsteadily ambled in to say, "I had forgotten you broke your leg. What a nuisance. After you earn big bucks for that old dame, don't forget your old man."
Upon finishing his sentence, the man nonchalantly lifted the body Darkseid was occupying onto his shoulder. Even without understanding human anatomy, Darkseid knew that a patient with these injuries shouldn't be moved, otherwise...
"Aaaaah!!!"
Darkseid let out his first-ever cry of agony. He was experiencing real pain for the first time.