Regardless, after suffering two severe setbacks, the Court of Owls and the Dark Owl ritualists were completely wiped out. If there was something to be blamed for their defeat, it would be their own greed and arrogance.
Originally, they could have completely sealed the owl statue in Gotham, which stored energy. In other words, they could have made the energy inside the statue unresponsive to the nursery rhyme summoning and completely abolished the method of influencing children with nursery rhymes.
But perhaps, they had the mindset of "we've come this far" and "we've built this much" So, after putting in such great effort into setting up so many rules, during move-out, they decided to leave it as it was. If there was a chance to take advantage of a mistake and continue to influence Gotham, that would be the best case scenario. If it didn't work, they wouldn't lose anything either.
The Dark Owl ritualists did not anticipate that people in Gotham would band together to steal electricity. The people who banded together had plans, technology, magic, and manpower. In just a short span of a month, all the energy they had accumulated over the years had been stolen.
Their failure in Metropolis was similar. After discovering that the energy in Gotham was gone, they would be in immense panic, viewing the energy in Metropolis as their life-saving straw, their only asset. Consequently, they fell into a state of chaos and confusion.
Without the resolve to cut their losses, they would be made to dance to Shiller's tune, just like a fish being reeled from left to right and then from right to left. Shiller took full advantage of this; if their energy was in Gotham while they were in Metropolis, he would deplete their energy in Gotham then lure them there, and overturn their base in Metropolis. If the situation was reversed, he would do the same.
This ensured that they would always be in a state of shock and confusion upon their return, making it difficult for them to organize a counterattack in a short amount of time.
Dealing with these magic users turned out to be simpler than tackling the Court of Owls. They always had an arrogant belief in magic as a tool that no one else could decipher. They thought that putting something inside a magic shield made it one hundred percent secure.
One could only say, if the devils in hell all shared this psychology, then Constantine could wake himself up laughing in his dreams.
Regardless, these owl monsters were completely finished.
Shiller originally wanted to confine them to continue siphoning off energy from Barbados in the long run. However, Constantine told him that the incoming energy could not be directly used. It had to be purified using a human body or soul, and it had no substitutes. The efficiency was likely extremely low. The energy that Shiller had stolen was the result of their decades of accumulation.
Knowing this truth, Shiller realized that the energy obtained from confining them might not even cover the cost of keeping them confined. So he abandoned the plan, and let Constantine kill them all with his magic wand.
After dealing with these issues, everyone returned to Gotham. Lex was among them. His three-month sick leave had not even reached its halfway point before he was fully healed by Hal's healing spell. He went to Gotham University's lab to study the dark energy with Bruce.
Lex wanted to stay in Metropolis for his research, but Clark firmly forbade it. He believed that the further this dangerous energy was from the common people, the better. He even proposed sending the huge dark owl statue into the sun to destroy it. If it weren't for the fact that Shiller couldn't hit him with an umbrella in reality, he would definitely be nursing a big lump on his head right now.
Both of the drained dark owl statues were sent to Gotham University's newly built experimental building. Presently, only the building's shell had been constructed, but it was sufficient for storage. Bruce and Lex conducted their research on this energy and the statue in this building.
However, it's difficult for two brilliant minds to avoid conflict when working together. The experimental approaches of Bruce and Lex were not just varied, but radically different. Even when they agreed on certain points, they often engaged in intense debates.
When young Batman and young Luther met, if young Superman was present, he would definitely be the one bearing the brunt of their disagreements. If Superman wasn't present, they would be unable to convince each other verbally, resulting in them trying to physically convince each other. In other words, geniuses tend to settle disputes with their fists, and not their words.
Simultaneously, Shiller was finally getting around to something that he'd procrastinated on for a long time, but was extremely important. He was going on vacation.
Last time, when he was about to go on vacation, Green Lantern Hal crashed on the lamp post in the center of Gotham's roundabout. The resulting traffic accident completely totalled his vintage car.
He had no choice but to buy a new car and spent some time processing the paperwork. Now, his new car had arrived, his luggage was all packed, and the day after returning to Gotham, he drove in the direction of Brude Haven.
This was his first long vacation since he arrived in this world. With its pleasant scenery and warmer weather compared to Gotham, Brude Haven was a perfect vacation spot.
His brand new Ford car sped down the highway heading out of Gotham, heading towards the endless plains under the glow of the setting sun. The twilight wind sent waves through the air, with the air's ripples resembling the light particles shimmering under the sea. The car whizzed down the highway lined with tall trees, like a fish darting amongst seaweed.
The highway's radio was always playing some Jazz-flavored music. With one hand on the wheel and the other hanging out of the window, Shiller let the East Coast wind blow through his hair. As he sped down the open highway, he was fantasizing about his upcoming holiday.
Suddenly, a sharp ringing sound interrupted his thoughts. While continuing to drive, Shiller glanced towards the passenger seat.
In his bag was a communicator Batman had given him, it looked something between a walkie talkie and a mobile phone, but it didn't have as many functionalities as a mobile phone. It was now ringing like a phone.
Shiller switched hands on the steering wheel and reached out to press the communicator. However, instead of Bruce's voice, it was Victor's voice that came through. After answering the call, Shiller said:
"Hello? ... Yes, I've left Gotham, what did you say? Oh, is that so? What's it to me?" The sound of Shiller's voice was very cold as he said, " …... Lex and Bruce got into a fight in the lab, both of them ended up in the hospital. Wait, how did Bruce end up in the hospital? Could he have actually been beaten by Lex?"
"What? Clark came too, was he called by Lex? Did he follow Bat Cat? And then he bumped into their fight, and then there's Hal, what's he coming along for?"
Victor sighed and explained, "Bruce and Lex had a big fight over issues with the experiment. Lex started it and when Bruce retaliated, he accidentally injured him."
"Bat Cat wanted to return to Gotham to talk things over with Bruce. Clark was in charge of bringing Bat Cat to him but arrived when they were in the middle of a fight. Clark thought Bruce was bullying Lex, so he tried to stop him. As a result, he accidentally knocked over the experimental table and injured Bruce."
"Hal also wanted to find Bruce, but he ran into Clark, who was trying to take Bruce to the hospital. He thought it was Clark that was bullying Bruce, and now, he and Clark have taken their fight all the way to Europa."
Shiller opened his mouth and said, "Are you sure no one started the fight?"
"I wouldn't know that, by the time I arrived at the scene, only Pikachu was left in the lab."
"Then you should know who started the fight." Shiller snorted coldly, and then he heard Victor saying, "It's because I know who started the fight that I called his master. Otherwise, once they all have recovered, your pet might just ... "
"Let Bruce pick a good pot and don't put broccoli in it." After Shiller finished speaking, he hung up the phone. He was not in the mood to pay any attention to the troubles in Gotham City at that moment.
Through his lengthy efforts, incidents in this chaotic city that could involve him have degenerated from epic tales to trivial matters.
Especially after Lex came, day-to-day occurrences essentially revolved around Lex, Cobblepot, and Bruce. Two of them would get into fights, one would accidentally walk into it and then all three would end up fighting. At the end, everyone except Bruce would have to be admitted to a hospital.
Shiller had no intention of resolving such student brawls. These three people together couldn't form a set of parents, so no need to appease any. But comparing to mediating conflicts among them, Shiller would rather sabotage the Court of Owls.
During the phone call, his vehicle moved some distance from Gotham. The surrounding scenery was gradually becoming more and more deserted and the wind was growing stronger. The sun gradually sank below the horizon and night fell.
Shiller reached out to turn up the sound on the car radio. It covered the sound of the whistling wind. But amidst the music, he sharply made out an unusual sound. It was similar to the sound of metal friction and also a bit similar to the call of a bird.
"Zee-". The screeching sound of tires rubbing against the surface arose when the brakes were applied. By the time the sharp blade pierced the driver's compartment, the person inside was already gone.
On the right rear side of the car, Shiller's figure appeared again, he opened an umbrella. The bizarre pattern spun around, stunning the attacker for a moment. The instant Shiller closed the umbrella, he saw the appearance of the attacker who shattered his car window glass.
The assassin was dressed in a black tight suit, the only spot of bright color was the tuft of yellow feathers above his eyes. Shiller was very familiar with the costume; in the Living Hell war, he had seen these assassins who worked for the Court of Owls, called "Talons".
Cold knife light attacked once again. Talon, clutching his short knife, charged towards Shiller. At the same time, the short dagger fitted on his chest was also flung out by him to block Shiller's escape route. However, Shiller's figure once again disappeared and reappeared in front of the car.
He observed for a moment; this Talon was different from the previous one he had seen. This one was more well-equipped, was more muscular, and his gaze was colder. Clearly, they were instructed by different people, perhaps the mysterious owls hiding behind the Dark Owl's Liturgy had set their sights on Shiller.
This killer was much more professional than the previous Talon. Where Shiller currently stood, there were no towns or houses before him and none behind him, just wasteland all around – a good place for murder and looting.
With this thought, Shiller blinked behind the Talon. He extended the umbrella knife, its light flashed, and The Talon tumbled on the spot to escape.
Again, Shiller appeared behind the Talon. But when Talon turned around, he stretched out his short knife to block the tip of Shiller's umbrella knife and retreated a few steps, then threw several daggers towards Shiller, but Shiller was able to dodge them all thanks to the cars serving as a cover.
At this moment, the Talon finally realized that it was unrealistic to kill this enemy who could go invisible at any time especially when there were obstructions around. Therefore, when he threw the dagger again, his target was no longer Shiller, but the car's fuel tank.
The spark "zila zila" sounded and Shiller quickly retreated. He heard a "boom" and the vehicle in front of him exploded into a ball of fire.
After the debris settled, the flames slowly extinguished, leaving only the charred remains of Shiller's luggage and the new car he had bought just a few days ago and only driven once.