Finally, Gordon decided to follow the trio and leave, because Shiller had offered him a deal he couldn't refuse, which was to find his body and restore his companions' bodies to their rightful owners, allowing their souls to rest.
For this reason, Gordon was willing to help them and revealed more information. They were among the first to enter the hotel to investigate the anomalies and naturally could find relevant clues before many of the anomalies fully emerged.
According to Gordon's own description, it wasn't just during the full outbreak of anomalies. Before that, they had already discovered that the anomalies bursting forth from the city were related to water. When they discovered that the same kind of anomaly was occurring in the hotel, they immediately thought that there might be a problem at the place in the hotel where there was the most water.
Gordon and his team headed to the swimming pool.
The hotel had two swimming pools: one was an indoor swimming pool, and the other was an outdoor infinity pool on the rooftop. The indoor swimming pool had been closed for a while, and even the water had been drained, leaving only the rooftop outdoor pool.
Gordon and his team went to the rooftop of the building, but there they encountered weird events that they could never have imagined earlier in their lives. In the end, Gordon's head, controlling the body of his companion, managed to escape.
"That place is extremely terrifying," Gordon said. "You'll encounter unimaginable monsters that will kill you and control you, eventually turning you into something like me. It's a complete no-go zone."
"I wouldn't recommend exploring it first," Jerome said. "I've also never been to the rooftop, but I suspect the danger level might increase with each floor. If we can get back to the lobby on the first floor, maybe we can figure out a way to leave this place."
"Did you come here just to leave?" Shiller retorted.
As he discussed with the others, he messaged Peter. For the time being, Peter's location was relatively safe and even quiet, potentially dangerous places could be explored by him first, just investigating without breaking any rules, so there was no immediate danger.
Unfortunately, Peter told Shiller that the door leading to the rooftop wouldn't open at all, sealed with a "Closed for Business" sign. Peter tried some methods, but the door was like it had been welded shut, impossible to break open.
He called the front desk to say he wanted to use the swimming pool, and the front desk told him he could use the indoor swimming pool. This made Shiller think back to when Gordon and his team had arrived; the indoor swimming pool was out of order, and the outdoor pool was open, but now the situation was reversed for Peter. Could it be because there was a restraining relationship between them?
That is to say, on this timeline, the infinity pool might have the advantage, but on Peter's timeline, it could possibly be that the indoor swimming pool held the advantage.
Shiller sent Peter to the indoor swimming pool, but he didn't allow him to get into the water, only to smell it.
Peter was confused by this order but complied nonetheless. He took the elevator to the swimming pool on the 7th floor, where many people were swimming. Peter sniffed around but couldn't smell anything unusual and had to send a message back to Shiller.
"Really?" Shiller asked. "Didn't you smell any chlorine?"
Only then did Peter realize, "Of course, there's a chlorine smell, but isn't that normal for a swimming pool?"
It's entirely normal for swimming pool water to smell of chlorine, but for the toilet water Shiller had bottled to have the same smell seemed odd.
Of course, it could purely be the scent of toilet cleaner, but Shiller suspected that things weren't that simple. The nature of the water might be what differentiated the two swimming pools, and more likely, the two factions.
Don't forget, at Peter's point in time, almost all anomalies had vanished, proving that one faction had won. Shiller speculated that it was probably the Conspiracy Faction because if it had been the Reckless Faction, the hotel wouldn't appear so serene.
But bathroom 1905's toilet was still broken. When Peter went to check it, he got splashed all over, and Shiller speculated that the toilet might belong to the Reckless Faction, proving that they hadn't been completely wiped out and that some of their power might still linger.
Could it be the indoor swimming pool?
Then why, almost dominating the entire hotel, couldn't the Conspiracy Faction affect the swimming pool?
No, they might actually have influenced it, or else there wouldn't be so many people swimming there. Yet the water hadn't been completely replaced, proving that this kind of water seems indestructible.
Shiller had previously discovered that this water had a restraining effect on the hallucination monsters in the rooms, making him think even more.
Gotham's pollution also manifested in the form of water.
The rain in Gotham, which had accumulated over the years, contained some dark matter. This is the setting for most universes of Gotham, though not explicitly mentioned in the TV series, making it seem like the chaos in Gotham was solely due to the Mob.
However, since Little Bruce was determined to use the power of the Evil God to eradicate the Dark Powers within Gotham, it proved that this was not without basis. The Gotham in the TV series might also have been afflicted by pollution.
Most of the pollution in Gotham was introduced by the Court of Owls, and behind the Owls was Barbados. Coincidentally, Little Bruce had encountered Barbados, meaning that the power in this hotel might not only include the Outer Gods but also the local forces of DC, of no small significance.
Comparing Nya and Barbados in terms of strength was like pitting Guan Gong against Qin Qiong; Nya, that street thug, had been squatting overhead for so long but hadn't made a move against him, had he?
Most of the Outer Gods indeed were blind and foolish, but Nya was not; that guy's initiative was fully activated. Shiller felt that if he could have dealt with Barbados, he certainly would have by now.
The saying goes, a powerful dragon cannot suppress the local snake, and although both Marvel and DC incorporate elements of the Cthulhu mythos, they primarily focus on American comics, naturally not allowing one to easily harm a major character who drives the plot; otherwise, how could the story continue?
Therefore, the inclusion of DC's local forces had to be considered; the water, seemingly normal at the surface, might not be a relic of bygone days.
It appears a trip to the swimming pool was unavoidable, Shiller thought, even if just to confirm whether the hotel harbored local DC forces.
The best scenario would involve heading to the indoor pool. Gordon had mentioned that the indoor pool was closed, which might not be true, but if one were to go there, it would mean reaching the 7th floor. Although the elevator was mostly fixed, the journey there wouldn't take long, but if it really was closed, the trip would be in vain, adding much risk.
The outdoor pool Gordon mentioned was also potentially a trap, though he emphasized the dangers without revealing any specifics, potentially setting Shiller up. Moreover, according to Jerome, the elevators above had not been sorted out, meaning they would have to make their own way, complicating things further.
Shiller knew that if he continued playing by the rules, there would certainly not be enough time. It wasn't so much about him, but about Peter, whose situation, in Shiller's view, had reached a critical point of eruption.
His ultimate purpose here was to rescue Little Bruce, but if that were the only goal, there was no need for him to come personally. The hotel was dangerous, but if he sent the Scarlet Witch's team, both experienced and mighty in their mutant abilities, and considering the Scarlet Witch was not just an angry human woman but also an angry mother, Nya might well be blown away.
Shiller just wanted to find out what Nya was up to, how he had targeted Little Bruce, and what he intended to use Batman for. This was why he had come in person, not trusting the task to a bunch of rash individuals.
Nya could escape if defeated; he could flee the DC World, and no one could catch him. But his objectives and secrets would also be buried forever. It wasn't that Shiller was slandering him; this character was up to no good in any cosmos he appeared in, and if one day he recalled the Marvel Universe, there's an adage: a thief has a thousand days, but a guard not forever.
Nevertheless, Nya was far better than the Mad Laugh, a pile of excrement; most of what he did was similar to Shiller, driven by a kind of dark, romantic epic beauty.
Shiller had previously had to tough it out with crap, and now it was indeed time to spar with a master, to give himself a break.
So far, Shiller had been a diligent investigator within the rules, but given that Nya was already several steps ahead, catching up would require some special measures.
Shiller planned to head to the rooftop.
Admittedly, it was a risky decision and nearly impossible to execute since the elevators weren't functional, but Shiller was not planning to sort them out; he had a bold idea.
Shiller returned to room 1905, standing by the window and looking out. There was actually nothing outside the window; the city resembled a false backdrop. However, once Shiller took his eyes off and only glanced out of the corner of his eye, another hotel would tardily appear.
Shiller believed that this hotel was the one where Peter resided. Besides the hotel's structure being a mirror image of the one he was in, he noticed that each day that passed, the hotel came closer by about a meter.
If the anomaly had erupted over twenty days ago, dividing the hotel in two, the initial distance between the two buildings would have been over forty meters. Now, with only around fifteen meters remaining, it meant there were only a few days left until he reached Peter's timeline.
In theory, if they just waited out these few days, the two hotels would merge, allowing Shiller and Peter to meet. However, this meeting would solve nothing, merely accumulating all the problems until they eventually exploded.
Now, with Cobblepot's involvement and a restaurant as their stronghold, they could abandon full compliance with the hotel's rules and unleash their creativity, doing what they truly wanted to.