In the room of the manor, Victor was leaning on the soft sofa, looking back at Shiller, who was sitting behind the table, fiddling with a globe. He asked Shiller, "What did you call us here for?"
Cobblepot was fiddling with a buckle on his own coat pocket, seemingly trying to adjust its length. Evans, sitting across from him, held a wine glass, swirling the liquid inside. The liquid shimmered golden, with a white froth. Jack was lying sideways on a single seat sofa, snoozing with half-closed eyes.
Shiller, leaning back in his chair, was constantly moving the globe in his hands. When he placed the globe on the table, the model of Earth on it was still rotating slightly. He looked at Victor and asked, "Haven't you noticed anything different?"
"What's different?" Victor looked up, surveying the entire room. This was the meeting room within Shiller Manor, full of plush sofas, two single sofas, several cushions, and a coffee table in the middle. One side of the room held Shiller's desk, behind which was a row of giant bookshelves loaded with all kinds of knick-knacks.
Victor had been here before; he didn't notice anything unusual. But when he continued to ask Shiller, his attention was drawn back to Shiller, and he noticed something. He asked, "What's wrong with your head?"
At this point, Shiller's head had become a revolving globe. No one else noticed anything. Only Jack, who was lying across from him, opened an eye slightly, hissing air through his teeth.
"Well...," Shiller, with a globe for a head, stood up from behind the desk. This should have been an extremely eerie scene, yet Victor didn't find anything abnormal, as if it were perfectly normal.
"Think back, Victor, how did you get in here?"
"I walked here from school, I..." Victor was startled, then said, "Am I dreaming?... Is this taking place in my dreams?"
"You've got it backwards. These are not your dreams. They're mine."
Victor looked astonished as Shiller sat down next to him, his globe-like head rotating towards him. Victor wasn't sure if Shiller actually moved his head or not, because the globe was always spinning.
Everyone else except Jack slowly sat up straight, then began to look around with astonishment, as if just awakening.
"Of course, the consciousness space of humans can never be connected, just as dreams are not shared. What one person imagines in their mind, another person can't see, touch, or observe up close..."
"However..." Shiller, with the globe head, turned towards Evans. He said, "The reason I can bring other people into my consciousness space... it begins with you, Evans..."
Evans looked at Shiller's globe-like head, not knowing what to say for a while. In reality, the scene would be absolutely shocking. But here, in this consciousness space, it didn't seem to be a problem, because there were many more bizarre things happening, like, at the moment they were sitting on the ceiling.
The sofa and coffee table they sat on were stuck on the ceiling, and the chandelier was just a short distance from Evans. At some unknown point, the entire space had flipped upside down, but they hadn't noticed anything strange.
For instance, Evans focused his gaze on his own nose and found a clown-like red nose on it. He didn't feel as if his view accommodated an extra object.
Jack pinched the red ball on his own nose, yielding two "squeaks," which made him laugh cheerily.
"You're saying we're all in your dream right now? Professor?" Evans scratched his head, saying in confusion, "But like you said, how could several people's dreams overlap?"
"Since you already know the truth about Alberto's creation from Alberto himself, haven't you wondered how the Court of Owls and the godfather managed to produce the persona of Alberto?"
"Er... Alberto didn't tell me about this. He doesn't seem to know his own origins and just appeared out of nowhere one day..."
"That's why I said, it starts with you..."
"Let's sort out our thoughts. In that last incident, we found out that the Court of Owls discovered a substance called 'Dionysium' under Gotham Cathedral. After failed efforts to study it, they brought in the godfather. The godfather made some progress and handed his findings to the Court of Owls. Then they created the persona of your brother. So, what key element should we focus on?"
Evans wasn't dumb. He was about to answer when Cobblepot said before him: "It's that 'Dionysium'."
"Exactly. When I previously communicated with Godfather and the godfather, the godfather told me that he had abilities in the cathedral that ordinary people didn't possess. These abilities were somewhat similar to mind-reading and could detect certain mental characteristics in others."
"And it was because of these abilities that he recognized my unique attributes. That's why he hired me as your tutor, Evans. Do you understand now?"
"So, does this 'Dionysium' grant the ability to read minds?"