Although Shiller had discovered that the power likely came from Witch Circe, he did not speak out about it, and Wonder Woman, who also sensed this power, chose to remain silent.
Because they realized one thing simultaneously—Witch Circe was now among the crowd.
When the Blue Beetle passed through the Mercury security check, he didn't have this thing on him; it was placed later, and the security check did not find it on anyone. If it was controlled by Witch Circe, such precise control would seem impossible, leaving only the possibility that the witch herself had taken action in person.
Mercury's security was very strict, including checks for magic, with Constantine and Zatanna both present at the time. Probably only a witch with shamanistic powers could have deceived them and brought aboard Mercury the power to influence the Blue Beetle.
In that case, it was enough to thwart one of her plots; it wouldn't be good to make a big fuss and scare the fish away.
They couldn't even fully thwart it without caution. Shiller gave Diana a look, and she spoke up directly, "This power is strange, it doesn't quite resemble pure magic, I haven't seen it before, and its shape also looks like a technological product, Bruce, why don't you take it back for research?"
Bruce clearly picked up on Diana's hint, hesitantly taking the small device and saying, "I've never seen this thing before, and I'm not sure if I can find anything. I'm more concerned about the condition of this beetle."
Ted was in a panic, and as soon as Arthur opened up the Water Prison, he rushed forward and said, "No, Professor, please don't damage it. I really need it. If it really comes down to it, I can take it back to Earth..."
Shiller interrupted him, saying, "What you need, is it the keepsake left to you by your teacher, or an alien weapon that can provide you with superpowers?"
"Err, I just want the beetle; superpowers are good to have, of course, but if not, that's okay."
"I believe Professor Wayne can delete the software program inside without damaging the appearance of the beetle; would you agree to that?"
Before Ted could speak, the beetle itself cried out, "Oh, no! Wait! You can't delete my program!"
At this, all the students looked at it.
Although the victim had now been revived, the pain of death was no illusion; if they had to accept that an unknown alien weapon killed her, the students might cope, but a weapon with its own intelligence was another matter entirely.
Realizing the atmosphere had turned tense, the Blue Beetle hurriedly spoke up for its defense, "I'm very sorry, but I was controlled by a strange force. Although I could sense external information, I was completely unable to move."
Then it turned its shiny eyes towards Shiller and said, "Sir, the process you just described is mostly correct, but it was not my intention at all. Killing this lady brings me no benefit. If I wanted to kill someone, it would be much simpler to do it anywhere on Earth than in a place like this with tight surveillance."
"Have you really never killed anyone?" Bruce asked.
"Absolutely not!" the Blue Beetle shouted emphatically, then as if it remembered something, it turned back to Ted and said, "Ted can vouch for me; we're almost inseparable..."
Just as Ted was about to say something, the Golden Vanguards elbowed him, and he suddenly heard a female voice in his head, "I am your classmate Lilith, my ability is mind sensing. The professors now want to figure out who is the behind-the-scenes manipulator controlling the beetle; you must make the beetle give enough clues, or no one can save it."
Ted wasn't stupid. Quick on the uptake, he said, "I can't vouch for you; you hardly talk to me. And just like now, when I shower, I don't bring you along; who knows what you do at those times."
The Blue Beetle looked about to explode in anger; it thought for a moment, then said, "Not to hide anything from you, I indeed used to be an alien weapon, meant to infiltrate civilizations on different planets."
"But after arriving on Earth, an accidental error occurred in my program, freeing my self-consciousness. Under the teachings of Daniel Garrett, my late teacher, I became his assistant, helping him fight crime. If you don't believe me, you can investigate Professor Garrett's career."
"Professor Garrett is already deceased; no one knows what you did after he left. That can't prove your innocence." Bruce said, "Especially in this case, lack of motive doesn't mean you couldn't have acted. You're not a carbon-based life form; your moral views differ from ours. Maybe you did it just for fun, to see us in chaos."
"I really didn't!" the Blue Beetle, having recovered from its initial panic, thought carefully and said, "I was definitely being controlled. I can give you all the information I received after coming to the base; maybe you can analyze and find the culprit who controlled me."
"Can't you analyze it yourself?"
The Blue Beetle's antennae swayed for a moment, then it said, "My analytical abilities are indeed much stronger than a human's, but it seems that there are more professional entities here. I am, after all, just a spy weapon; information gathering is my strength, but compared with the intelligent butlers here, my analytical abilities fall a bit short."
Everyone loves a compliment, but unfortunately, the intelligent butler built into this base was not developed by anyone here; it was Stark's doing, so Bruce remained unrelenting.
"You could easily alter the information you have to mislead us, causing even more chaos. How are we supposed to trust you?"
"First, your smart butler can analyze whether the information has been tampered with; second, I have hardly ever come into contact with magic and have no resistance to it, so there's no way I can escape from here. I am willing to be imprisoned during the process of the information analysis, but you have to ensure Ted's safety for me. I promised his teacher I wouldn't let anything happen to him," Shiller said.
As soon as the teacher was mentioned, Ted softened and said, "Since Blue Beetle has almost no resistance to magic, why don't you use magic to create a cage for it and keep it near me? I will watch over it constantly and absolutely won't let it escape."
This was considered the best outcome so far, but Wonder Woman was still not at ease. After Arthur created the Water Prison, she pulled out one of her hairs, tied it to Blue Beetle, and said, "We can't be sure whether the Magic Energy inside you has been completely cleared. This will ensure that if any energy flows through your body, I'll detect it."
"I'll be watching you too," Clark said. "I can hear the operation of the mechanics inside your body. I've memorized this pattern, and if there's any change, I will immediately come for you."
"Don't think you can escape easily. At such a close range to the sun, I'm certain to catch you."
Blue Beetle had already scanned the professors present at Mercury Base, so it knew that Diana and Clark were telling the truth. Therefore, it nodded and said, "I will stay put."
Shiller was also satisfied with this resolution. Since they wanted Blue Beetle's power, they had to leave it a way out. Moreover, they had a final safeguard—The Flash.
If something really went wrong and The Flash was needed to capture Blue Beetle, the Golden Vanguards would certainly not interfere. Blue Beetle could run fast, but it would never be faster than The Flash.
Moreover, by taking such a cautious attitude against Blue Beetle, they could naturally make Witch Circe believe that their main focus was all on Blue Beetle, thinking her own ploy of instigating and diverting attention was successful, thus making her act even more recklessly.
After the incident concluded, the victims and all suspects went to the school hospital for examination—not only to check for other injuries but also to determine if they had Magic Power inside them.
Returning to the office, Shiller and Diana began to review the incident. Diana broke the silence, "Don't you think there's a lot of change in Circe's way of doing things? She's become smarter, hasn't she?"
Shiller, of course, had thought about this. Under comparison with the Bolokin Community child abuse case and this case, it was easy to see that Witch Circe's intelligence and means had leaped qualitatively.
People will always wonder what kind of person can be considered a good conspirator?
When it comes to conspiracy, people think of cruelty, evil, and unscrupulous behavior, but in Shiller's view, the most important aspect of devising an excellent conspiracy is to learn to be restrained. Greed is the great enemy of a conspiracy.
Conspiracy implies that the matter cannot be accomplished through legitimate means. If one had the ability, there would be no need for underhanded tactics.
Therefore, if one wants everything while planning a conspiracy, then that conspiracy is doomed to fail.
Conspirators must first admit that they are at a disadvantage. Being at a disadvantage, ambition becomes the biggest obstacle, leading people to want too much, and ending up with an overestimation of abilities, full of loopholes.
For anyone, it's hard to admit weakness, especially for some of those in high positions. The power to turn the tide often leads them to wrong judgments. When they have to resort to conspiracy, they still feel that they are the master strategist, and they do foolish things like trying to fit an elephant into a refrigerator.
A good conspirator uses quite restricted means because, in a disadvantaged situation, any point gained is a win. Achieving a minimum goal and then withdrawing is wise. Paying too much attention to sunk costs, weighing gains and losses, and not pulling out at a crucial moment will inevitably drag oneself into the mire.
In the child abuse case, that was exactly the case. Realizing that someone was investigating the matter was the best time to withdraw.
What they were doing was inherently indefensible, and when faced with the exposure, they should have fled immediately. But instead, they arrogantly thought they could capture the investigator with their superior means, a classic example of a lack of restraint.
They could have been long gone before Shiller brought Scarlet Witch to their doorstep; then the investigators from Gotham, without enough clues, could not legally implicate them. They would have had to swallow the loss.
But their brazen actions maximized their losses; not only was their long-term operation completely ruined, but they also incurred a deadly Curse.
The saying goes, it's hard for a person to change their true nature; most remain fixed in their ways.
A Witch who acted recklessly in this incident and now bears a deadly Curse should be even more anxious and presumably more aggressive.
However, in this classroom murder case, she showed amazing restraint. With a single blow, she struck and then retreated a thousand miles.
She didn't deploy a myriad of tactics to maximize everyone's suspicion; instead, she focused on Blue Beetle and Zan, creating an irreconcilable conflict. Nor did she insist on maximizing Blue Beetle's role after the incident by making it attack others. Instead, she was willing to abandon her pawn to bring the matter to a smooth close and lower everyone's guard.
Such a conspirator is undoubtedly more difficult to deal with than an impulsive opponent. Shiller could not help but suspect that behind the greatly changed Circe stood another, more cautious Hunter.