It might sound like something a madman would propose, but Amanda's logic had always been coherent, perfectly aligning with her life experiences—and the personality she'd formed as a result was a question even Bruce would not answer incorrectly.
Shiller took another look at the bone and saw nothing unusual, and at that moment, Gray Mist told him there should be a device in the brain used for simulating brainwaves, a simulation so flawless it was indistinguishable from the real thing.
Shiller had to open up Clay's brain. Among human organs, he held no particular interest in the brain and didn't regard it as any mysterious temple, so during the process of dismembering and disposing of the corpse, this precious organ was not preserved any better than the viscera, both were disposed of together.
Clay's brain was no different from an ordinary person's, even the texture of the brain matter was exactly the same. The only difference was a small device mounted onto the frontal lobe of the brain.
Shiller picked up the device and examined it. It was still an unknown metal block, and Gray Mist was certain that it was this object that was continuously emitting signals indistinguishable from human brainwaves.
Shiller didn't rush to investigate the structure of the device and instead, collected it along with the chunk of the spine bone and began his real work.
"What are you dawdling for? Come help," Shiller said to Martin.
Martin hesitated, but eventually came over, took the handsaw from Shiller's hand and said, "If I had known our main job was this, I wouldn't have..."
"Think before you speak."
"I need a raise."
Martin didn't wait for Shiller's rebuke or placation. Instead, he heard Shiller ask, "The scope of business in the second-hand market is quite broad, right?"
Martin was a smart man, and he immediately understood the implication in Shiller's words and said, "Indeed, it's broader than what most people imagine. What kind of business do you want to engage in?"
"Do you know any organ traders?"
Martin swallowed and looked down at the body on the ground.
Clay had only been knocked out before, but now he definitely was a dead man—for his brain was currently in Shiller's hand.
"But they don't accept dead people," Martin said. "I don't understand their complex medical jargon, but in short, organs from a dead man are useless."
"You should know that I understand these matters much better than you, you just need to tell me if you can find them."
"I can, but they probably won't tonight..."
"Tell them I've got a big deal here."
"How big?"
"As big as it needs to be."
After dealing with Clay's body, Shiller, along with Martin and the ropes and fishing lines that Martin had brought, went back to the lakeside.
From this angle, Shiller could see the fence of his backyard, where he noticed a figure stealthily painting a smiley face on it. Unsurprisingly, it was the persistent Joker.
Martin gave Shiller a look, having already drawn out a crystal ball refilled with Magic Energy. Shiller gestured for him to hold his horses and finish what they were doing first.
By the time Shiller had thrown away all the stuff, the Joker's figure had disappeared. Shiller walked over to inspect the smiley face, discovering a number written on it.
Shiller knew it signified which streetlight the Joker would be waiting for him under, but he was too busy tonight to bother with the Joker. He wasn't Batman, who could drop all pressing projects to play with the Joker.
The next morning, Gordon's seven calls indicated that the Joker, who hadn't encountered anyone last night, was probably furious.
Shiller sat up on the edge of his bed to clear his head a bit, picked up the phone, and returned Gordon's call. Gordon bellowed on the other end, "That maniac killed two people last night!! And you just stood there!!!"
"Are you sure they were people?" Shiller asked, unruffled.
"Uh... but... they weren't with the police... go ask when I can get the coroner's report, forget it, I'll check it myself."
Gordon hung up, and Shiller lay back down in bed to catch a bit more sleep before getting up to make breakfast, as Gordon called again.
"Lucky for us, both of these guys were Clones. But I don't understand, is Amanda planning on having Clones take over Gotham? Why is it that the grinning madman just randomly kills two people on the street and they turn out to be Clones?"
"Because he wasn't randomly killing just anyone on a regular street." Shiller looked out the window and said, "Considering Amanda's hatred towards serial killers, if she truly created so many perfectly disguised Clones, who do you think she would have them surround?"
"You guys, of course." Gordon got a kick out of it and said, "Maybe she's already replaced your whole community with Clones by now, I have other things to deal with, gotta go."
After hanging up the phone, Shiller shook his head. It seemed Gordon was quite pleased with his and Amanda's dog-eat-dog situation, to the extent that he could even tolerate the Joker roaming around residential areas.
Or perhaps Gordon had never really experienced the Joker's might. When the young Batman appeared, the Joker was no match for him in strength, and as Batman's powers evolved, he was no longer Batman and the Joker no longer resembled himself, so this universe's Gordon had never witnessed the Joker's brutality.
He regarded the Joker as a serial killer not unlike Shiller, rather than a terrorist who loved to cause explosions or play games with Batman.
In the order of Gotham, maintained by Gordon, there was a place for serial killers. They were part of Gotham's ecosystem. In terms of destructive power, seagulls flying above were much stronger, and in terms of the number of cases, street racers, robbers, and bank bandits committed far more significant crimes.
Aside from the spiritually contaminating nature of their cases, they didn't do much harm to public safety. In other cities, such spiritually disturbing cases would cause panic amongst citizens, but not in Gotham. Gothamites weren't too afraid of such matters, at most they'd be disgusted.
With this deterrent effect gone, serial killers hardly counted as important criminals. So even though Gordon knew people like Shiller, Jonathan, Valentine, and the Joker were not good people, he wouldn't expend much effort to go after them.
As cruel as it was, with limited energy, Gordon had to investigate cases more likely to pose a threat to ordinary people, those with wider implications. Such cases were endless in Gotham, consuming most of his time and energy.
If it had been like before, the discovery of two bodies thrown in front of the police station would demand an investigation for the sake of the department's stature.
But now, Gordon's key subordinates all knew about the existence of Clones. After learning these two bodies were Clones, there was no drive to pursue the case, and it was lightly dismissed.
The Joker was livid.