The two entered the observation elevator through the rooftop door of the building, with Dick standing behind Shiller. Dick stroked his chest, feeling somewhat nauseated. His face was a mixture of disgust, disdain, and disbelief.
"Have you never dealt with Constantine?" Shiller asked him.
Dick shook his head and said, "I've had a few encounters with the Justice League Dark, but the person I dealt with wasn't Constantine. Constantine has also been to the Batcave, but at that time, Batman had sent me out on a mission."
"Who usually communicates with him?"
"Damian... oh, wait, was this Batman's intention all along?"
"Yes, because Constantine isn't interested in children; he prefers sturdy adults, and to be precise, not just humans—sharks and lizards aren't off the table either."
Dick felt his worldview being shattered. He said, "So, to prevent him from disgusting us, Batman would send us all away before his arrival, leaving only Damian to deal with him?"
"He's not just capable of disgusting you guys," Shiller shook his head and said, "Anyone who gets involved with that guy won't end up in a good place. You'd better stay away from him in the future as well."
Dick nodded blankly, obviously needing some time to accept this terrifying fact—there were many who coveted the Batman Family, but this perspective was new to Dick.
As expected, Constantine's last words irritated the Arkham Knight, who now had his gun pressed against Constantine's forehead.
But soon, the Arkham Knight heard a familiar voice.
"Jason."
The blue light points representing eyes on his mask lit up momentarily but then flickered as if malfunctioning, and went out.
His gun hand stayed still as he turned his head back, seeing a figure emerge from around the corner.
"Put the gun down first, Jason. I have some questions for him."
"You..." The Arkham Knight was at a loss for words for a moment.
Then he looked at the moonlight beside him almost as if he had seen a ghost, then at the person behind him, once more at the moonlight, and a loading icon appeared above his head.
He knew that on the magical Battleworld platform, it was all too normal for counterparts from different cosmos to meet, and he might even join other versions of himself in instances in the future.
But what was overloading his CPU was the inability to imagine what would happen if two Shillers appeared in the same universe at the same time. Didn't Battleworld have any protection protocols for cosmos?
While he was distracted, Constantine took the chance to run off—despite the seven or eight holes in his body, he was a man who could live without lungs, so these minor injuries were nothing to him.
Moreover, he quickly picked up on the fact that the man in the suit who had appeared later seemed to be able to suppress this violent robot, so with great insight, he swiftly darted behind Shiller.
"Dick." Shiller said.
Actually, without needing to be told, as Constantine came through, Dick reached out his hand and wrapped the man in a trench coat in a purple Magic Light, tossing him aside like disposing of hazardous waste.
Shiller turned around and eyed Constantine, who had fallen to the ground. He seemed somewhat disappointed, not seeing any particular significance in him.
Constantine was also scrutinizing him.
Constantine was a strange man, with no specific orientation, able to flirt with any creature on Earth without any psychological burden, with his brainstem directly connected to his lower body, transmitting without delay.
He indulged in sensuality, focusing on sensory pleasure, and freely venting his physical desires, but in truth, he wasn't after these things.
On one hand, he seemed to enjoy physical desires, and on the other, he constantly demonstrated his yearning for spiritual pleasure, wishing to be understood.
But reality was cruel, and most people could only see his debauched appearance, their understanding of him limited to the negative impacts of his verbal flirtations.
So for those who couldn't understand him, he showed even less restraint in revealing this side of himself, almost with a sense of self-abandonment—as if to say, "You don't get me anyway, so what's wrong with taking advantage of you?"
For youngsters like Dick or Jason—not in terms of age, but in terms of emotional experience, particularly morbid emotional experience—he had never taken enough advantage, knowing he couldn't get more from them.
Therefore, sticking to the mentality of not letting any advantage slip by, he would start indulging his beastly nature as soon as he came into contact with them, immersing himself without any psychological burden in fantasies about their beauty.
But once he found someone with more rich experience in morbid emotional experiences than himself, someone who might understand him, he would become a true youngster, so nervous he didn't know where to put his hands.
Because he held hope that perhaps this time someone would fully understand him, and any bad behavior from him could push that person away. But if he wasn't bad, how could he be termed morbid?
This was the self-struggle Constantine often faced: those who couldn't understand him allowed him to act as he pleased; when encountering those who might, he couldn't behave naturally. His excitement always came with pain, and pain always generated excitement.
When Shiller looked at him, Constantine froze, realizing Shiller might be that kind of person, and knew throwing tantrums would be futile.
So he swiftly got up from the ground, casting Healing Magic on himself. The magic forced the bullets lodged in his body out, causing Constantine to grimace in pain.
"What do you want to ask?" Constantine looked at Shiller and said.
Shiller was weighing his options internally; now was not the time for watching tiny people dance in a crystal ball — he had serious business to handle.
But this serious business about vampires very likely involved the need for Constantine, and if Shiller had guessed correctly, the source of this vampire invasion might be rooted in the Magic realm again, and Constantine's connections within the Magic realm could be extremely useful.
Constantine was also the type who wouldn't spread his wings without seeing the rabbit. Without tasting the sweetness himself, he would not obediently do the work, and even worse, if he felt you were an easy mark, he would definitely set you up during the task.
His readiness to set up anyone did not discriminate between gender or age, not even swayed by his own emotions – his friends who died for him were the best proof of that.
In this regard, dealing with Constantine was more dangerous than dealing with anyone else. He was not the type to make one immediately feel threatened, so most people would not equate the level of threat he posed with Batman.
But Shiller believed they should be equated. Friends of Constantine never ended well. Not as a result of a magic curse, but simply because Constantine had developed a habit of this sort of manipulation, and anyone influenced and played by him was surely on the path to ruin.
So, the first rule of dealing with Constantine was to take the initiative immediately. You must be in a position to order him around like a dog even if you needed something from him. Otherwise, you should keep your distance.
Shiller decided to give Constantine a taste of the sweetness to make it easier to command him later on.
Regarding vampires, Shiller first explained his purpose for being there. But he followed up quickly by saying, "However, it seems you've already decided whom you will give this information to. Dick, do you have Batman's communicator with you?"
Dick was somewhat puzzled, but he still took out a cell phone. Shiller looked at Constantine and said, "Whether you pass the information to me or to Batman, it's all the same. We must work together to stand a chance against the monsters of the night."
The Arkham Knight standing behind him finally caught on and rolled his eyes at the comment.
The most amazing thing about Shiller was that, even though everyone now knew what was underneath his human skin, and he himself knew that others knew his true face, he could still wear that skin perfectly, without showing any flaws.
The Arkham Knight admitted to himself that he couldn't do the same; otherwise, he wouldn't need to point a gun at Batman.
After all, in his relationship with Batman, he was a complete victim. If he were willing to wear a human facade, his say would be infinite — even Barbara and Tim would support him.
"How do you know I was going to find Batman?" Constantine appeared somewhat guarded, his gaze resting on Shiller's hands.
"Those are hands very well taken care of, no calluses from guns, and no friction marks from holding a pen all year round. This means you are neither a warrior nor a scholar."
Constantine then asked, "Where did you get my phone number?"
"I got it by chance." Shiller's answer was as good as not answering; he skirted the issue with cliched phrases, like teasing a piece of cheese on a mousetrap.
"If you really have any useful information, you'd better communicate with Batman as soon as possible. He's the only one capable of reversing the situation. Both the Batman Family and the Justice League are in a bad state. If there's a new lead, we can break free from our current predicament sooner."
Dick thought that, had these words been said at a Justice League meeting, Superman himself would have to applaud him.
"No, I don't trust Batman entirely either," Constantine refused to concede and said, "Batman's biggest weakness is that he's a mere human. Once he gets caught in a trap and bitten, he has no way to resist the transformation, just like this poor lad here."
Constantine's eyes fell on Dick while Shiller said, "Am I to understand that you're telling us vampires have absolute control over the transformation?"
"You can take it that way. In fact, it's worse than that, so I'm not surprised that both the Batman Family and the Justice League are in unfavorable situations."
"It seems you're confident that your cards combined with Batman's could reach 21 exactly." Shiller showed an interested expression. "Can you tell us why you're so confident?"
"I'm a Magician, and I've encountered vampires much earlier than you have. One of my friends was transformed into a vampire; he was a powerful Mage, and I acquired some information from him. I believe this is something Batman doesn't have and could provide significant help to him."
"Then give it to him," Dick said. "What are you wasting time here for? If Earth really gets taken over by vampires, won't you be doomed as well?"
"You do not have the right to lecture me here, vampire boy. Even with that hot body of yours, it's not enough," Constantine snorted coldly, lighting a cigarette and saying, "Like I said, without being sure of Batman's condition, I won't rashly play that card. If the vampires get their 21, then we would really be in trouble."
"Then why did you come here?" Arkham Knight asked with a frown.
"Couldn't it just be to hang out with you guys?" Constantine was spouting nonsense again. He took a drag on his cigarette, raised his eyebrows at the Arkham Knight, and said, "One for you, one for this little guy. It's well worth my travel expense."
The Arkham Knight wanted to blow his top, but Shiller stepped between him and Constantine. He hesitated for less than a second, then stopped his charging steps.
Constantine noticed immediately and seemingly nonchalantly glanced at Shiller. He had suspected these two knew each other, but this man was actually capable of calming that hot-headed kid down…
"Alright, let's talk something serious," Constantine said with a drag on his cigarette. "I can hand over the vampire information to you, but you have to prove your stance."
"I know of a criminal organization that's been entirely transformed. If those vampires get out, it will cause a very serious disaster. If you can handle them, I'll reveal what I know."
"Who?"
"The Doomsday Army."