Cobblepot was somewhat surprised by Shiller's current form but not too surprised, feeling it was unexpected yet reasonable. He said, "I think each of us represents a kind of animal, which is our other form in the natural world. If I had to say what kind of animal you would be, Professor, I would definitely think it's a snake."
Pamela nodded vigorously at his side.
Shiller sighed and said, "I feel like you all have a deep misunderstanding of me, and I don't think it's necessary to represent it in such a direct way. It really feels uncomfortable not having limbs."
"But you handle your tail very well," Pamela gave him a thumbs up.
Then they finally began to study something serious. Pamela expressed that she could study alchemy on her own, then try to extract the effective substance from snowdrops, attempting to use magical means to heal Alzheimer's disease.
But she couldn't guarantee the success rate, she could only say there was a slight hope and it was worth a try.
And the extraction from snowdrops might also be used against Witch Circe, thus breaking the curse on Shiller.
Although Pamela also had the ability to quicken the growth of snowdrops, she thought that to ensure the potency of the medicine, it would be best to use the wild type, and it was even better to go to the plant's oldest place of origin and find the native species that had evolved over time, which had a special significance in mysticism.
Zatanna volunteered. However, the plant didn't have branches in America; its native land was in Europe, but there were some populations in Asia as well. Zatanna decided to collect them in Europe.
Collecting and extracting the components of this drug would take some time, and during this period, Shiller needed to figure out to what extent Edgar and Circe were controlling those three people to commit crimes.
Now the problem was that Shiller needed a mode of transportation; otherwise, moving step by step in his current serpentine body, he would not find out anything until the next year.
Zatanna and Pamela were busy with the snowdrops, Cobblepot had to stay to take care of his mother, and Brand could only laugh and was good for nothing else, so Shiller ended up calling Helen.
This was not because he was partial to Helen, but because he was worried that if he called Aisha over, she might bite him first, and his delicate body couldn't withstand Aisha's sharp teeth. Helen was bound to be more civilized.
But when she saw Shiller's current form, she couldn't help but be shocked.
"Don't tell me you're afraid of snakes."
"It's not that I'm afraid of snakes... but how did you turn into this? Professor, are you trying to poison your students with snake venom?"
"Why does everyone suspect me of wanting to poison my students?"
"The highly emotionally intelligent answer is that they deserve it."
"And the low emotionally intelligent answer?"
"You just look like that kind of professor."
Helen let Shiller coil around her arm, adjusted her body temperature, and walked out of the insane asylum with Shiller.
"The cooling device I modified last time should have worked quite well, right?" Helen asked.
"Yes, the effects were very good. Nigma had completely lost all vital signs when he was carried into the police station, and the forensic scientists didn't detect any flaws."
"Yes, I learned a trick from Loki, since he is a Frost Giant after all—he's a real expert in that regard. But it was my first time working on such a device, so I wasn't completely sure. As long as it's functional, that's good."
"This is definitely an outstanding scientific achievement, Helen. You know how stringent my requirements in this field are, but I still think you can include it in your future CV."
"Why? I don't think it's that big of a deal."
"You don't understand. The Gotham Police Department brings together the finest forensic scientists from all over America, even the world because the case files here are so rich and unique. A forensic scientist that gets the chance to join the Gotham Police Department is at the pinnacle of the forensic pyramid."
After a pause, Shiller continued, "That means to say, a device that they couldn't find flaws in is enough for you to boast about. Your father would be proud of you too."
Helen laughed and said, "That's really great. Pepper has been worried for who knows how long, feeling that the name Tony Stark carries too much pressure, making my CV seem lackluster no matter how I write it."
Then Shiller began discussing the child abuse case with Helen. She believed magic had only played an auxiliary role in this case. It was mainly because those three idiots harbored evil intentions. If they weren't pedophiles and sadists, the other two evildoers wouldn't have targeted them.
Shiller agreed with her opinion but still said, "They didn't use magic much, but it must have been crucial when they did. I speculate that the witnesses with psychological issues must have been interfered with by Edgar."
"Mind-readers are such a nuisance," said Helen, frowning. "If I must admit a weakness, it'd probably be psychic ability. I have very weak offensive and defensive abilities in that area, and if I'm not careful, I wouldn't even know if someone had read my mind."
"Why is that? Can't you evolve indefinitely?"
"Yes, but there must be pressure, which means I must have faced such enemies to evolve the corresponding abilities."
"Didn't you seek out Charles for that?"
"That's the crux of the issue." Helen sighed helplessly and said, "Professor Charles is not willing to attack me; he says that's too inhumane. I don't know why, even though he has seen my true form, he still thinks of me as a little girl."
"That's just like Charles," said Shiller. "Don't complain about his overly high moral standards, but extremes are just as problematic, and the consequences of his losing control are quite terrifying."
"So where are we heading now?" Helen asked. "You said you've had control over Williams and Bob for over ten hours already, should we try to lure the snake out of its hole?"
"I'm just a bit concerned that they might abandon these few pawns to look for new ones... Perhaps my appearance will make them more cautious and cause them to make a different choice. Anyway, let's go check on Williams first, they might try to save him."
Shiller shared his plan with Helen, which was actually quite simple: after discovering that Williams and his two companions were just small fry in the foreground, naturally, you would want to use these small fry to fish for the bigger fish.
Although it is now known that the ones stirring trouble in the background are most likely magicians and superpower users, these two are very cautious and sly. Once they sense something amiss, they can immediately flee thousands of miles and never resurface.
But they are ticking time bombs after all. As long as they have their sights on something in Gotham, they will undoubtedly return, harass again and again, committing abhorrent acts akin to child abuse cases. More importantly, like flies, they linger around Shiller, giving him no peace.
So one must wait patiently, and then strike accurately, leaving no chance for them to escape or fight back.
Shiller felt that although he was now under a curse, his appearance this time was not a loss.
If he hadn't appeared, then Circe and Edgar would likely have chosen to abandon these three pawns later because, as Edgar had said, these three people don't actually know of their existence. Edgar had altered their thinking, making them believe they committed the crimes themselves.
If so, there was no need for them to go to the trouble of a cover-up or to rescue hostages. Abandoning these three would allow them to find another three, for Gotham was nothing if not plentiful in villains.
But Shiller's sudden appearance could very well disrupt their subsequent plans, causing them to focus all their attention on the mysterious attacker and preventing them from decisively cutting losses, an instant's delay in a duel between experts could be fatal.
Shiller planned to exploit their search for him to force them to reveal their lapses, and given they used magic, they couldn't blame him for not playing fair either.
Shiller was perfecting his plan in his mind, but about half an hour later, he appeared in a hospital.
Upon opening his eyes, Shiller saw a massive crocodile head. Killer Croc was leaning over the bed, looking at Helen and pointing at Shiller, saying, "You're telling me this is Professor Shiller? Don't tell me he's got some ancestral bloodline too..."
"He's not a throwback, just under a magic curse, but this curse is so powerful it's actually turned his life form into a cold-blooded animal," Helen said with a shrug.
Yes, that was why Shiller ended up in the hospital.
After all, what good snake could be a detective in weather over 40 degrees like Killer Croc?
Although you may have seen crocodiles or snakes lazily basking in the sun in nature documentaries and think cold-blooded animals are more afraid of the cold because they hibernate when the temperature gets too low, most cold-blooded animals are also quite heat intolerant, with most unable to withstand temperatures over 45 degrees Celsius. The ground temperature in Gotham was now nearing 50 degrees.
Normal people wouldn't venture out in such temperatures, but wouldn't you know it, Shiller's choice of locomotion was a bit unusual; she wasn't a normal person, she was Doomsday.
Helen, though she felt the heat and complained about it, was unaffected in her ability to move freely, no matter how high the temperature. She thought Shiller's situation was urgent, so she didn't care about the heat, carrying Shiller in a rush the entire way.
Normal humans would have perished doing such strenuous exercise in this weather, so they would have had to rely on tools, either by driving a car or using public transport.
But Helen's physical condition was so superior she didn't need any tools, running forcefully to her destination.
She was fine, but Shiller, now a snake, couldn't handle being under the high-temperature sun for so long. By the time Helen arrived, Shiller the snake had already passed out from the heat.
And so, he ended up with the bed next to Killer Croc's.
This wasn't a coincidence, but rather Gotham's hospitals had a special department for treating such unusual patients, with many subdivisions. Shiller the snake and Killer Croc both fell into the reptile category, and both suffered from heatstroke, naturally ending up in the same ward.
Not long after waking up, Shiller heard the sound of a nurse's footsteps and immediately became anxious. Sure enough, the nurse walked in, tapped the railing by the bed and said, "Knowing you have ancestral bloodlines and still going out in this heat? Do you want our hospital to be overrun with staff?"
"You hibernated in the winter, and your families thought you were dead; sending in patients was one thing, but hogging beds in the summer too? If this keeps up, we'll have to turn into a veterinary hospital!"
"And what about the new unfortunate? Let me check the IV... Good heavens! Is your throwback going a bit too... Schiller Rodriguez?! Professor Schiller?!"
Shiller had never hated being so famous before.