"Are you okay, Professor?"
Edward, dressed in a suit and sporting a derby hat, looked slim but particularly spirited.
After he walked in, there was a figure standing behind him, Cobblepot, who handed something to Shiller and then said, "Edward was discharged from the hospital today; I helped him rent a house, but when we heard you were hospitalized, he wanted to visit you first."
"Come in," Shiller said as he took the item from Cobblepot.
"How are you feeling?" Shiller asked Edward, who had taken a seat across from him.
"Quite well, Professor. Dr. Brand says I have fully recovered, but I still need to continue my medication for a while to consolidate my health."
"That's excellent news. Where is your new house?"
"In the South District, on Edemalin Street. Once I officially move in, I'll send out invitations to a housewarming party for everyone."
"Then I'll be waiting for your invitation," Shiller said with a smile.
"Speaking of which, Professor, how are you? Why were you suddenly hospitalized?"
"It's a bit complicated and not entirely personal."
"If there's anything we can help with, please be sure to contact us," Cobblepot chimed in.
"I will. How's your mother?"
"Her mental state has improved recently. I guess the snowdrops are working, but the actual medicine is still being extracted; right now, it just maintains the status quo."
"How about you? Any more bouts of feeling unwell lately?"
"Not anymore. I guess it might have been because of the heat and my constant worry for my mother that I felt sluggish. Now that she's better, I've been able to go to the office and handle work. I'm much better."
"I think you can look forward to good news about the new drug. Seeing Pamela's status, she should be quite confident this time, and she also needs this medicine to boost her reputation."
"That would be great."
At this moment, Edward, staring at the photo on the table, caught Shiller's attention, "Any opinions?"
Edward shook his head, and Shiller continued, "I hear you have some skill with puzzles."
Edward, with a shy smile and appearing quite bashful, nodded and said, "I am indeed interested in that area. I plan to go to college."
"Which university?"
"I'd rather not go too far, so maybe Gotham University."
"What do you want to study?"
"Literature, preferably classical literature."
"Then you'll be in the same department as Jason. I will write you a recommendation letter to take to Professor Hans, who has considerable achievements in both classical literature and cryptography."
"Really?" Edward said, still trembling slightly from excitement as he stared wide-eyed at Shiller.
Shiller nodded, "You're intelligent and focused. I think Professor Hans will definitely like you."
Edward looked very happy and even hummed a little tune. Shiller added, "Coincidentally, my PhD student encountered a tough cipher. Could you help him with it?"
Edward immediately walked over to Bruce, who, without looking up, complained, "Hey, Professor, this is my forte too; I can handle it myself."
"You've been working on it for more than ten minutes. Do you plan to stay here until next year?"
"I'm almost there!" Bruce said.
But soon, Killer Croc ruthlessly exposed him, munching on snacks and saying, "Come on, you've been flirting with your girlfriend online since you opened that page full of numbers. I'm almost nauseated by you."
Bruce promptly pushed Killer Croc away.
Soon, Edward sat at the table, glanced at the string of numbers, and said, "This is a Caesar cipher, just shifting all letters forward by 4 places, and then you get another string of letters."
"Of course I know," Bruce said, still nodding persistently.
Edward quickly wrote out the translated cipher, but the resulting string of letters also had no pattern. He looked closely and then said, "This is a URL."
Bruce typed the string of digits into the URL bar, hit the enter key, and sure enough, a webpage popped up, appearing to be the official website of a high school.
Bruce casually looked around and then clicked on the list of graduates from previous years. A long list of names appeared, and Bruce picked out letters in a four-by-four grid, forming another unordered string of letters.
But Bruce, being skilled in programming, immediately saw that this was a piece of code. He entered the code into Notepad, pressed the enter key, and more code appeared.
At this point, everyone else fell silent. Bruce hummed triumphantly and said, "This program generates four unique random numbers, but running it means falling into their trap, because there is no clue in the numbers."
Bruce modified the program a bit, making the random numbers into random letters. He gently pressed the enter key; four letters appeared on the screen: "A," "R," "E," "S."
These four letters formed a name in English — Ares.
Yes, it was none other than the renowned god of war, Ares.
Bruce furrowed his brows, his thoughts went to Wonder Woman. Could this murder case be related to the whole family of Olympus?
Bruce began to delve deeper into the connection, while Shiller appeared contemplative upon hearing these four letters and, after a long pause, shook his head and chuckled.
Soon after the visit of Edward and Cobblepot, Bruce did not sit back at the computer; instead, he sat down opposite Shiller and said, "I heard from Gordon that taking snowdrops can shield you from the effects of the Curse, but you chose not to, Professor."
"Yes, I brewed it in water and drank it."
"Don't tell me it's because the stuff was too unpalatable."
"Of course not, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to drink it even mixed with water," Shiller said. "This Curse creates a connection between Circe and me, specifically with the Witch's Hour etched on her. I believe she feels this connection as well, so she is bound to come back for me."
"You want to lure her out?"
"Exactly. If she completely abandons everything in Gotham, it would be difficult to catch her again. But if not, she would need a reason to return here, and she will definitely come to find me."
"Because she thinks she can control you with the Curse."
"Because she might think I want to remove the Curse, a natural assumption for anyone. Being turned into a snake isn't a pleasant experience, not then and not now. She believes I would urgently want to rid myself of the Curse and collaborate with her."
"And then you plan to trap her?"
"I need to understand Hecate's status through her. I believe part of Hecate has been revived, but how long it will take for her full revival and what she plans next is important."
"Are you sure Circe won't make a move against you?" Bruce asked, slightly worried. "I get the feeling this woman is very unstable."
"When have your feelings ever been accurate?" Shiller responded mercilessly. "If she were truly insane, she wouldn't have been able to escape from Scarlet Witch. Whether it's impatience or misandry, it's very likely all an act to make people think there's a better way to deal with her than using snowdrops."
"Because the snowdrop is too lethal a weakness for her?"
"Not exactly. After all, she's a witch who can fly and teleport, as well as manipulate minds. Just using flowers to prevent her ambush might be difficult."
"But planting more snowdrops can't be wrong. I will ask the mayor to distribute seeds to the citizens, ideally making it difficult for her to move," Bruce said. "Since she's definitely coming, should we set a trap for her?"
"She won't fall for it easily," Shiller shook his head and said. "Once she realizes that my location isn't secure, she won't show herself easily. She's not in good shape now, and fears a fatal blow."
Bruce thought for a moment and then said, "Why don't we up the stakes by involving Diana as well?"
"I met with Diana alone a few days ago. If she were to show up, it would have been then."
"But at that time, you were drinking tea made from snowdrops, which wasn't the right time for action," Bruce said. "To lower her guard, you need to stay as far away from snowdrops as possible."
"You mean..."
"What about Mercury?"
"You seem to have 'This is a trap' written all over your face," Shiller clearly disagreed, saying, "Both Wonder Woman and I traveling that far would make everyone suspicious."
"But she can only gamble on it because if you stay in Gotham, the snowdrops will keep increasing, and she won't have a chance anymore. At least, we can't allow snowdrops to spread on Mercury."
"You're betting that she doesn't know the situation at Mercury Base?"
"No one would guess," Bruce shook his head and said. "Human technology hasn't advanced that far; the whole Mercury Base is a product beyond our times. Until one sees it with their own eyes, everyone would assume it to be something primitive like a Mars rover."
"You make her think this is her last chance to act," Shiller pondered and then said, "The chance of her escaping is too high."
"Last time, the witches' duel let her escape, probably due to Scarlet Witch's lack of experience, but this won't happen again. Don't forget which place is closest to Mercury."
"Are you thinking of throwing her into the sun?"
"It's the best way to destroy the evidence completely. Superman could take her directly into the center of the sun, ensuring her soul and body are completely incinerated to ashes."
Now, Shiller truly began to consider the feasibility of this plan. Though still a gamble, he knew that in the magic realm, the sun possessed mysterious properties that could burn both the body and soul. To thoroughly eradicate this troublesome witch, throwing her into the sun was indeed a good option.
But taking her from Earth to the sun seemed a bit too far, even for Superman, who might not ensure control over her the whole way. Any mishap could allow her to escape again.
But it was different from Mercury. Mercury was just too close to the sun—a mere step for Clark, like walking from the bedroom to the bathroom, making the chance of success much greater.
Step back ten thousand steps, if Circe doesn't come, they wouldn't lose anything. Even if she chose to use this time to awaken Hecate on Earth, the Justice League could use this time to develop. A fully assembled Justice League wouldn't lose to anyone in terms of development.
After pondering for a long while, Shiller nodded and said, "All right, I can stay at Mercury Base for a while, but my time for action is limited."
"Don't worry. Oliver has not seen you for a long time, and he has been wanting to talk to you."
"By the way, I heard you are recruiting young members? Did you find the Magic Twins? Jenna is a very smart girl."
"Hal has sent us information about all the spacecraft that have crashed on Earth in recent years. We should find them soon. You're not planning to make her study psychology again, are you?"
"She has a lot of potential," Shiller said. "I will teach her some practical skills. That way, don't think about calling me every time something comes up. I strictly follow a 40-hour work week, and outside those hours, don't contact me even if the sky falls."