In Shiller's view, the current situation, where the children are singing below and he is catching owls above, is no different than primitive fishing and hunting. To modernize, they must first streamline the process, then further reduce costs, shorten production time, and enhance production efficiency.
Shiller chose not to stay on the rooftop. He used Flash to return to the underground room, then started discussing with others how to improve the collection efficiency of Dark Owl energy.
Hearing Shiller's initial thoughts, Constantine looked at him with admiration and astonishment. "You're saying, you want to extract this energy on a massive scale, akin to the human race extracting oil?"
"Exactly, this energy has so many advantages. Besides the fact that we can't control it, it's the perfect energy source."
"Wait a minute, this isn't magic, we can't...I mean...you need to show some reverence towards it, it's not some oil."
"If he had any reverence, the Green Lantern Corps Headquarters' supply of Green Lantern energy wouldn't still be in a state of shortage to this day," Hal contemptuously commented leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
"The energy from the Green Lantern and the dark energy from the Dark Owl are the same. They are merely a form of energy. Dismiss any thoughts of mystical nonsense; we are pragmatists," Shiller stated.
Watching Constantine's expression, Hal could fully resonate with his feelings. It was the same when Shiller had deceived the Green Lantern energy initially.
However, it's undeniable, witnessing the magical energy once revered as divine being pumped out like oil and stored in containers effectively eliminate the senseless awe.
The greatest fear of the human race comes from the unknown. But when something can be extracted and used by them, that fear disappears, transforming into a much more potent energy: greed.
And undoubtedly, Constantine is a greedy person.
If anyone claims Constantine is a law-abiding magician, the countless demons stripped of their belongings by him in Hell have something to share.
His moral bottom line is much lower than Hal's. Hence, after a brief condemnation, he immediately leaned forward with interest and asked, "What's your plan? I'll take ten percent...no, one percent of the extracted energy is fine, I'll fully support you."
Shiller glanced at him, stating, "I'll hold you to your word."
"Rest assured, when Constantine says something, he sticks to it."
Without saying anything else, Shiller closed his eyes from where he was standing, "Wait a moment, I'll bring in a professional."
After a pause, when he opened his eyes again, his expression remained unchanged, but there was a distinctive glimmer in his eyes. Looking skyward through spirit vision, where the owls were circling, it appeared like a tantalizing feast in his sight.
"Firstly, we need to address an issue," Shiller led Constantine and Hal out of that room to the surface of the cathedral. Standing at the junction leading to the living quarters and looking at the singing children, he continued, "Each song takes too long. It takes 3 minutes to finish a song. Sometimes the song is incomplete, needing to pause halfway, so it takes an average of 5 minutes to summon the owls. That speed isn't acceptable."
Hal pondered for a moment, "That's not quite right. Previously, when I saw Aisha singing at Wayne Manor, she didn't take this long. She sang just three or four lines, right?"
"What is the principle of this nursery rhyme in summoning special energy?" Shiller looked at Constantine and asked.
"It's hard to say. It could be some special words bound with mystical concepts or a special melody, or even the spell formed by the combination of the words and melody," Constantine replied.
Although his answer was vague, that's the nature of the mystical arts. There are many ways to reach a result, and anything outlandish could be possible.
"No worries, we can test it." Shiller walked forward and gave a nod to Father Daniel. The priest raised a hand, and the nun stopped. She turned to the children, "Let's take a break. Stay seated, soon, a restaurant owner will come to prepare lunch for you."
Hearing that they would get meals while studying, the children chattered excitedly, discussing which restaurant's owner would be coming and what delicious food they might receive.
Shiller, along with Hal and old Father Daniel, including the nun, gathered together for a discussion. Daniel was aware of the owl situation, hence, he supported Shiller's plan. Only by drawing out and eliminating the entire group could Gotham's children be protected fundamentally.
When they heard that Shiller wanted to experiment with the principles of the nursery rhyme, they collectively devised a plan. After a while, the nun rallied the children again and told them, "Now, let's divide into two groups, the lyrics group, and the melody group. The lyrics group will learn the lyrics, and the melody group will learn the melody first."
"The lyrics group will further break down into four groups, each person learns three lines. The melody group will do the same, each person learns two measures. Now, listen to my arrangements, from the center line where I am pointing, the left side will be the lyrics group, and the right side will be the melody group…"
The nun organized the children into different small groups and then individually taught them. Each child had a designated line or melody to learn. After half a day of teaching, the children started to recite their respective parts.
As expected, after conducting such an experiment, certain things became evident. In such a complex song, not every line or every melody is useful. The vast majority of them are just a sensory diversion used to conceal the truly useful lines and melodies.
Among the various small groups, several groups immediately summoned owls when they sang their line. On the other hand, no matter how many times the other groups sang their lines, there was no reaction.
Constantine stood at the front of the choir stage, stroking his chin: "I guess, human language is just a cover, it may be the pronunciation of the lyrics, combined with the rhythm of the tune, forming some syllables that happen to be spells. Many summoning spells that I know of work this way..."
"Can you refine out all of these syllables? We need the most concise part, the shorter, the better."
Constantine took out a notebook, he furrowed his brows, and watched the singing children, then quickly jotted down some notes.
After almost all the groups had a turn, Constantine laid down his notebook, and Shiller and Hal leaned in to see the notebook had a short series of syllables written on it- "Muliz".