After being brought down from the car, Wanda thought she would be taken into the crematorium, but instead, they led her around inside the crematorium and then back to the backyard, exiting through a small door to start climbing the mountain.
The group walked treacherously up the mountain for a long time. By the time they reached the midway slope, it was already dark. After skirting around dense thickets, there appeared to be an abandoned air-raid shelter.
God knows how they found this place, Wanda thought. Could this be an air-raid shelter from World War II?
During World War II, since it was uncertain whether the war would reach American soil, the US Government still built protective measures. Not only did they encourage the public to construct basements, but they also built mountain air-raid shelters. However, as time passed, after the war, these protective measures were abandoned due to lack of maintenance, and many documents were lost; no one even knew such a place existed.
Wanda felt this air-raid shelter was exactly one of those places.
The door of the air-raid shelter opened, and surprisingly, there was no dust, nor was it dark. Clearly, people had been frequently active here. Wanda was pushed inside, faintly hearing some noises.
Footsteps echoed in the spacious area, accompanied by the faint sounds from an unknown source, causing a chilling sensation.
Although her head was covered with a bag, Wanda was still able to see using the power of Scarlet. She discovered that this wasn't just a simple air-raid shelter, but a facility modified for activities, with passages and rooms, though the signs of modification weren't that new - they looked to be about a decade old.
Moreover, there was even an elevator here. Wanda suspected the sound she heard was from a diesel generator, but she hadn't seen the generator nor could she be sure.
After getting on the elevator, it went down about three floors. Using the power of Scarlet, Wanda determined this was the bottom level, likely no longer within the mountain but underground instead, an obviously later extension, and it was much colder here due to a rich underground water system.
Continuing further inside, there was actually a prison. There were about five or six cells along the corridor sides, each one not very big. Wanda was pushed into one of them and locked up.
The other side didn't even talk much to her, simply took a few photos and left. Wanda immediately tore off the bag over her head and looked around.
She was truly stunned by the audacity of these people who dared to construct a prison here. They clearly had never faced The Avengers' wrath, or Captain America's shield would have taught them better.
Suddenly, Wanda heard a sound from the opposite cell. Following the dim light source, she looked into the opposite prison, and in that moment, she was stunned.
"Professor Shearer?! How are you here??"
In the opposite prison, against the bed on the wall, sat a familiar figure, notably dressed in a black suit, it was Shearer.
Shearer was also a bit surprised to see her. He said, "Why is it you? Oh, right, you were at Gordon's house."
The moment Wanda saw Shearer, the huge burden in her heart lifted, and her ominous premonitions disappeared, for nothing could be more ominous than seeing Shearer here.
"So you knew in advance they were going to kidnap Mrs. Gordon?"
Shearer shook his head and said, "Only that it was a possibility, but my being here wasn't primarily for that, I didn't expect they'd mistake someone for her."
"I also find it strange that they haven't even seen Mrs. Gordon."
"It's not impossible. Barbara is a foreigner, and they didn't publicize their dating or marriage much. James has always protected his wife very well, but I think it's more about them not caring. Kidnapping anyone would prompt Gordon to rescue them, even a stranger."
"That's true," Wanda said. "I thought they were up to no good, so I followed them here. I didn't expect them to be so daring, to actually build a prison."
"This wouldn't count as daring in Gotham."
"You really are a bunch of outlaws," Wanda remarked, then slightly puzzled, she continued, "How did you end up here, though?"
"Similar to you, but they aren't threatening somebody else, just threatening me."
"Threatening you to do what?"
"Declare someone as insane."
"Well, that's right up your alley."
Shearer shook his head and said, "The problem is they want me to declare him insane without meeting him. A bunch of illiterates."
"Why wouldn't they let you meet him?" Wanda immediately sensed something was wrong, then she realized and said, "Oh, because you have mind-reading skills, right? They're afraid that the secrets in this person's mind might threaten them, so they want you to commit him to a psychiatric facility without meeting him."
Wanda shook her head and said, "Didn't they consider that, just like Professor Charles, you might not need to meet someone to read their mind?"
"That's not the point, this person is also held here."
Wanda immediately laughed and said, "You'll have to meet him, won't you?"
"Because he indeed has a secret in his mind."
"Why do they want to turn him into a mentally ill person?"
"They claim it's to exonerate him, but obviously it's not that simple. I lean more towards the fact that by making him a madman, the secrets in his mind will never see the light of day again."
Wanda slightly squinted her eyes and said, "Perhaps I can find this person, and take you to meet him."
Shiller shook his head again and said, "It's not that simple. Before they knew I could read minds, they wanted me to meet him, which means they thought that simply by meeting him, I would declare him insane. This proves that the man is mentally deranged."
"Such a person, even if he went to court, would not be able to serve as a witness. Without me, there would have been another psychiatrist to diagnose him as mentally ill, and his testimony would be invalid."
"So, what do we do?"
"It would be best if we could find him, but if not, there is definitely evidence here."
"The evidence of their wrongdoing?"
"Yes, but I didn't expect you to come."
Wanda furrowed her brows at this remark and said, "Do you think I would be a nuisance? I won't be, I am a mother of two children after all; I wouldn't mess things up!"
"No." Shiller flatly refused, then said, "Either stay here or I will try to contact Jarvis now to come pick you up."
"No! Staying at home with the kids every day is killing me!" Wanda tried another tactic, pleading like a child, "Professor, you can't do this to me! How can you leave me alone in such a dangerous place? A doctor would never do that!"
"Dangerous?" Shiller scoffed, "Right now, you are the most dangerous thing on Earth."
"But it's so dark and cold here..."
Shiller didn't even listen to her, quickly prying the door open and disappearing into the darkness at the end of the corridor; Wanda gritted her teeth and stood up as well.
Thinking this lousy prison could stop me? Wanda thought, you wait and see, I'll find the evidence before you do!
With a flash of red light, Wanda appeared outside the prison bars, then silently continued deeper into the facility; she had noticed there seemed to be rooms there when she arrived.
Hidden so deep, there must be something shady here. If I find it, I'll use magic to move everything, they'll have no choice but to acknowledge it.
Wanda's figure slowly moved deeper, gradually vanishing into the thick, unyielding darkness.
In a ward at Gotham Central Hospital, Gordon, with his arms crossed, stood in front of the bed and said, "I must say, we truly didn't know you were still alive; that was our mistake, for which we are very sorry, but we really can't offer you more compensation than that."
"No, I don't mean to blame you." Lying in bed, Mr. Nigma pushed up his glasses and said, "On the contrary, I admire your dedication. I called you here just to provide a clue."
"It appears you've seen the assailant who hurt you?" Gordon didn't beat around the bush, after all, he was not just a mayoral candidate, but the solid chief of the Gotham Police Department—a higher official than him.
A pained expression crossed Nigma's face as he said, "It's my nephew, my brother's son. He was committed to the psychiatric hospital a few years ago and never recovered. I don't know why he got out, but he almost killed me."
"Your nephew? What's his name?"
"Edward Nigma. He is my brother's only child. His parents both died in an accident, leaving him alone. He was very sweet as a child, but I don't know when his mental state started to deteriorate. His parents mentioned it to me, but I never imagined..."
Gordon slightly squinted his eyes and said, "We will investigate this matter, but you better prepare yourself; if he is indeed mentally ill, and has been in a psychiatric institution for a long time, it might be difficult for us to send him to prison..."
"I'm not asking you to do that." Nigma said with a pained face, "The poor kid, only staying in the hospital can keep his mental state stable. He can't handle any more stress."
"Okay, another question, do you know what this is all about?" Gordon took out the cooling device and asked.
Nigma looked confusedly at the device in Gordon's palm and shook his head, "I've never seen this thing before. Was it found near me?"
Gordon immediately realized something was wrong and said, "Although we may not be able to charge your nephew, I still hope you understand that we need to write a report. Could you please specify how he hurt you?"
Again, a pained look crossed Nigma's face as he leaned weakly on the hospital bed's pillow, placing a hand on his abdomen, "He suddenly appeared in my office and stabbed me in the stomach, the wound you must have already seen, and then I knew nothing more..."
Gordon kept his expression neutral to avoid showing any mocking or contemptuous looks—this Mr. Nigma had been completely manipulated, yet he was utterly unaware of it.
When Mr. Nigma was brought to the police station, he had no external injuries at all. The injury he claimed his nephew inflicted upon him was actually marked by the coroner; he must have come up with this lie after waking up and hearing the medical staff talk about his wounds.
Wait, was it really a lie? Gordon had another thought; perhaps he truly believed it was his nephew who had stabbed him?
"Why would he come to your office?" Gordon asked.
"I don't know." Nigma shook his head.
Gordon left two officers to continue interrogating him for details, while he himself stepped out of the room and made a call to Arkham Asylum.
"Hello, Doctor Brand? Has a Mr. Nigma visited recently?... Did he make any calls then?"
"Alright... He asked to speak with Edward? Do you know what they talked about? I completely understand confidentiality, but do you know how long they talked? And what was Edward's reaction afterward?"
"You're saying that after their chat, Edward went to find Cobblepot? Alright, I've got it, thanks."
After hanging up the phone, Gordon roughly understood what had happened.