"Mr. Nigma, thank you very much for the information you've provided us, but one of my colleagues would like to meet you."
Gordon rose from his chair, walked over, and opened the door to the office. A female agent dressed in a Federal Bureau of Investigation uniform came in, flashed her badge at Mr. Nigma, and said, "Mr. Nigma, we've found that during your time as a consultant for the City Planning Management Bureau you've had illegal financial dealings with Williams Real Estate Company. We now suspect you of accepting bribes and dereliction of duty, and ask for your cooperation with our investigation, thank you."
Nigma's eyes widened in shock, and he turned to look at Gordon, who gave him a mocking smile.
Gordon was no longer the naive young man he once was; he knew that to deal with these cunning criminals, he had to be even more cunning than they were.
Indeed, there was not enough evidence at present to prove Nigma's involvement in the child abuse case. With Williams and Bob now missing, and the evidence they held about Nigma unavailable for disclosure, and with the only potential accuser, Edward, not fully recovered, his testimony wouldn't be accepted.
But that didn't mean Gordon couldn't take other measures to get Nigma under control. Some things seem trifling until they're weighed; the City Planning Management Bureau was a good place to skim off profits. Even if Nigma was just an obscure advisor at the time, meticulous investigation would reveal that no one was without flaws.
They might not be able to obtain a search warrant or arrest warrant against Nigma from the angle of the child abuse case, but Gordon could allow the Federal Bureau of Investigation to get involved in the investigation of the child abuse case on condition that they investigate Nigma's acceptance of bribes and dereliction of duty, and detain him under this pretext.
Once the person was held, what evidence couldn't be found?
Ignoring Nigma's shouting and clamoring in the background, Gordon immediately found Brock and asked him to get in touch with some kids from the streets near Nigma's residence to take a stroll around Nigma's home and see if they could find any clues.
This was a tactic they often used. While the police couldn't perform illegal searches, street thugs weren't necessarily bound by the same rules. At worst, they were scouting for theft, and if caught, were just delivered to the police station. Most of them were minors and wouldn't even be sentenced to community service, receiving merely a verbal warning before being released.
They hadn't given up on the investigation of Williams and Bob either. As long as the two weren't brought to justice, there remained doubts about the child abuse case.
However, the primary task was still to compile a list of missing children and soothe the relatives who had rushed over upon hearing the news, gathering more clues about the missing children from them, which could later corroborate with the investigation results, forming strong evidence in court.
The young members of the New Warriors Team and the Guardians of the Galaxy took part in this task, helping to maintain order and dealing with the relatives, asking about the children's conditions as delicately as possible.
Both teams were actually adept at this sort of work. The New Warriors Team were originally leaders of the young heroes in the Bronx, street heroes who also took on community tasks like mediating spousal disputes, finding runaway children, searching for lost cats, dogs, and hamsters, conducting undercover inspections of kitchens following reports, and cracking down on petty thieves, gaining rich experience in interacting with the public.
The Guardians of the Galaxy from the Schiller Universe were, in fact, intelligence operatives; while they seemed like mercenaries, they actually represented Earth, gathering information from across the cosmos. Gathering intelligence naturally required blending in with the general populace, dealing with all sorts of people, and most were adept at handling various situations.
Concerned about retaliation from the criminal syndicate, Wanda and Jarvis returned to Gordon Manor to guard his family. Wanda was not at all worried that the wicked wouldn't get their comeuppance; she was well aware of how potent the power of Scarlet was.
Strictly speaking, the Chaotic Power in the cosmos and the power of Scarlet she possessed were not exactly the same; the power of Scarlet had an additional aspect over the Chaotic Power, and that was altering reality.
It wasn't influence or distortion but a direct modification, almost the most powerful direct influence on the cosmos that one could control, second only to Universe administrators.
So, when Wanda uttered that sentence utilizing the power of Scarlet, the fate of all participants was already sealed.
What she didn't know was that this case was far from a simple child abuse affair, and the participants were not just ordinary people. This kind of power, which they had never seen before, completely panicked them.
Deep in an air-raid shelter in the mountains—the same level as the prison and that bone museum—Shiller found a passage at the very back.
This passage was very well hidden; the entrance was covered with loose stones. If Shiller hadn't searched the place over and over, he might not have discovered it. But eventually, he found the passage in a very hidden corner.
The passage initially was quite narrow, but after squeezing through, it was just big enough for an adult man to bend over and pass through.
Shiller didn't know where the passage led to, but he had a hunch about what might be connected to it. Rarely hesitant, he was uncertain whether to walk directly to the end of the passage.
He had two concerns: first, he was without Gray mist or an umbrella, and his self-preservation capabilities were weak. Even though he had Battleworld, dying meant only returning to the rebirth point, and the worst outcome was the loss of this body, which he still wanted to avoid if possible.
Second, by simply going over, he might alert the enemy. Without knowing what the other party wanted to do, simply going over might not yield any information and might even cause them to hide even deeper due to heightened vigilance.
Yes, Shiller had already confirmed that behind the three unfortunate souls—Williams' enigma, Nigma, and Bob—there was a deeper, behind-the-scenes manipulator, and Edward might have realized this ten years earlier.
Following this train of thought and considering the riddle left by Edward, Shiller could roughly guess what kind of person this behind-the-scenes manipulator was.
Edward was smart enough. The fact that he found a way to force Mr. Nigma to destroy the elementary and junior high departments as a minor was proof enough that these three fools were no match for him.
So why did it come to pass that in the end, it was Edward who ended up severely injured in a psychiatric hospital, the Nigma couple murdered, while the other three roamed free?
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This proves that some things cannot be changed by wisdom.
Edward's enigma described this thing from his own perspective, and to him, this power was almost divine.
It raises mountains, dries rivers, destroys civilizations, renews vegetation, clarifies and confuses the human race, is nonexistent, yet omnipresent.
He believed that despite his incomprehension, there were forces completely beyond the power of ordinary people affecting the course of events, so much so that even if he were many times smarter than Mr. Nigma, he still could not avert tragedy.
He interpreted this mysterious existence as God.
But Shiller knew it was probably not God but magic, and to ordinary people like Edward and Nigma, the power of magic indeed closely resembled divine power.
Another piece of evidence leading to this conclusion was that the madness of Edward, Pari, and Miss Richie—the three witnesses—was utterly illogical and didn't follow human psychological patterns, proving that supernatural forces must have affected them.
Realizing this, Shiller changed his course and came to this air-raid shelter, understanding that all other structures had been either destroyed or constructed by those three fools, except for this shelter—they had only modified the interior. This place possibly held some secrets.
To be exact, the group's choice to target the area near Bolokin Community, their harming of the children at local schools, and the construction of the crematorium were likely due to the presence of this air-raid shelter.
They might think it was their own idea, but if influenced by supernatural forces, it could be that someone made them make these decisions without their knowledge, making them believe it was their own will.
Once magic is involved, investigation becomes difficult. Shiller was clear that DC's magic side might not be stronger than Marvel's, but it was certainly darker and more dangerous.
All the mages here are mad, highly aggressive, cunning, and wicked, hard to deal with, and without giving themselves away, Shiller couldn't immediately identify who they were. The unknown brought greater danger.
Walking through the passage alone wasn't a good idea, but if he turned back for help now, the person behind the scenes might go into hiding again now that the three frontmen had been captured, making it harder to find them later.
Shiller hesitated for a moment, steadied himself against the wall with one hand, and took out his phone with the other, scrolling down his contacts and locking his gaze on Brand's name.
Having too many lice means you stop worrying about itching; he was already in debt, so what's a little more? He didn't believe anyone's magic could surpass Nya's, which should at least ensure his safety.
Shiller composed a message to Brand, roughly meaning that if he didn't call back within two hours, Brand should come find him in the air-raid shelter.
Shiller continued down the passage.
The deeper he went, the damper it felt. The underground water system here was very rich, with the soil on the walls feeling moist to the touch, but the passage, defying the laws of structural engineering, stretched onward without collapsing or leaking.
This only strengthened Shiller's suspicion that supernatural forces had a hand in the construction.
After walking for about 20 minutes and just finishing the descent, the path ahead was still pitch-black, with only the faint light from his phone making the ground barely visible.
Shiller roughly judged his bearings and realized he seemed to be heading southeast. Could it be that this underground passage led to the lake beneath his own doorstep?
Shiller walked for another 20 minutes, the passage didn't widen but grew narrower instead. There was no sound of wind or airflow, yet there wasn't a lack of oxygen. Soon, Shiller heard faint sounds.
He turned off his phone screen and groped his way forward a bit, eventually reaching the end of the passage, where there was a wooden door.
Shiller didn't get too close but still could hear voices coming from behind the door.
The first to speak was a slightly sharp male voice.
"You can't put all the blame on me! I swear that I have no overt connection with them, they don't even know I exist, and the police will never be able to trace it back!"
"...That's exactly what I'm asking you! You claim to have powerful magic power, so why is there a curse that even you can't break?! It's your fault we are tainted with the curse because you exposed your magic power!"
Then a female voice was heard, but she had a heavy accent and was a bit slurred, making it hard for Shiller to hear clearly. He moved forward slightly to listen better.
Suddenly, the scene before him twisted.
When his vision cleared, Shiller found himself floating in mid-air, while below, a woman with eyes glowing with scarlet light and a short man were looking up at him.
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