Because Gotham and nearby cities could no longer send out shadow soldiers, Tohru had to dispatch more shadow soldiers to other cities.
This resulted in more people falling into a deep sleep, giving Tony Stark more cases to study. However, despite his research, Tony Stark didn't achieve significant results. He only discovered that these people had lost their shadows.
Tony Stark was puzzled. His interactions with Robert had increased his acceptance and understanding of extraordinary abilities, even to the point of accepting the existence of spirits and souls. However, the idea that losing a shadow could cause someone to fall into a coma was still beyond his comprehension.
To Tony Stark, a shadow was merely an optical phenomenon with no inherent connection to the person it was cast by. A shadow wasn't a part of a person, after all.
Nonetheless, Tony Stark knew that specialized skills were needed for these extraordinary events. It was more appropriate for Robert to handle them, especially now that the number of people falling into comas was increasing and gaining public attention. If not resolved soon, the situation could become increasingly dangerous.
"Shadows disappearing? People falling into comas?" Robert was stunned when he received Tony Stark's message. The concept of shadow abilities reminded him of the Shadow Scissors from Doraemon and Shikamaru's shadow manipulation techniques from Naruto. However, he didn't think these things would appear in the real world.
Robert quickly arrived at Tony Stark's private hospital, where dozens of comatose patients were already being treated. This indicated that Tohru's actions were indeed starting to impact human society.
If all the comatose patients worldwide were gathered in one place, it would cause a massive uproar. But Tohru had been careful to act in a dispersed manner, affecting only a few dozen people in each city, which avoided significant attention.
However, as time passed, the number of comatose individuals would only increase since the earlier ones wouldn't wake up on their own.
"Hmm..." Robert's eyes flickered as he observed the comatose patients. He had never encountered such a unique state before.
"What do you think? Any findings?" Tony Stark couldn't help but ask, seeing Robert's reaction.
"It's indeed a peculiar state. They look like they're sleeping, but they're not dreaming. It's more like they're trapped in darkness, cut off from their bodies," Robert said slowly, observing the comatose patients.
Different states of unconsciousness, including sleep, dreams, comas, and death, had distinct characteristics. These patients were in another state altogether. When their shadows were swallowed, their consciousness was trapped in darkness, severed from the outside world. It was similar to a deep vegetative state.
This meant these comatose patients could only survive on external nutrition. Without enough nutrients, they would eventually die and never wake up.
"Can you wake them up?" Tony Stark asked hopefully. He had given up on using scientific methods to awaken these people and hoped Robert could do it. Otherwise, the situation would become too dangerous.
The comatose individuals in New York were relatively fortunate to be taken to Tony Stark's private hospital. Others weren't so lucky; some were left in the open or sent to regular hospitals, where they risked dying without waking up.
"I can wake these people up, but you mentioned this is happening worldwide. Saving every single person would take too long, and without stopping the mastermind, this problem will keep recurring," Robert said, his eyes flickering. He could wake the people here, but he couldn't save everyone globally. The root cause, Tohru and his shadow soldiers, needed to be addressed first.
"I'll see if I can find any clues from waking them up," Robert said, letting a mysterious force flow through him.
With a hum, the souls of the comatose patients appeared above their bodies, covered by a layer of dark energy. This dark energy was what caused their unconsciousness. Once it was removed, they would wake up.
However, Robert aimed to find the mastermind behind this dark energy. As he pressured the dark energy, it converged, seemingly attempting to resist him.
Unfortunately for the dark energy, Robert's power far exceeded it. As the energies converged, Robert identified their origin.
"The dark power of the mask! This is more certain than the dark power on Heimdall. This dark power definitely comes from the mask!" Robert's eyes gleamed. He had faced many shadow army generals and was familiar with their power.
Though there were slight differences in the shadow army's power, the essence remained the same. Robert traced the dark power back to Tohru, trying to locate his identity and whereabouts.
Like Batman, Tohru severed the connection when he sensed danger, allowing the comatose patients to wake up faster.
However, waking up didn't mean the patients were fully recovered. Their shadows were permanently lost, and their bodies were extremely weak. Unless their shadows were restored, they would remain in this state, similar to the weakened Asgardians.
"Did it work?" Tony Stark asked, seeing the patients wake up with a hopeful expression.
"No, it failed." Robert shook his head. Although he wasn't completely unsuccessful, he felt a sense of familiarity with the mastermind behind the mask. While he couldn't match this feeling to anyone in his memory, he intended to find the culprit.
"Clark, you need to help find this mastermind..." Robert contacted Clark, aiming to locate Tohru quickly. The longer Tohru hid, the greater the threat to humanity. This was without considering that shadow soldiers could grow stronger by devouring shadows.
Meanwhile, Tohru, hidden in the darkness, felt a chill. He sensed Robert's power but didn't recognize it. Nevertheless, Tohru was filled with dread.
"I need to be careful. It seems many people have noticed me. If those two find me, it'll be trouble!" Tohru took a deep breath and decided to fully enter the dark space.
Tohru merged with the darkness, hiding in a dark space where he could still control his shadow soldiers outside. As long as they acted carefully, he didn't need to worry about being discovered.
Wearing the mask, Tohru no longer needed food, sleep, or water. As long as he had dark power, he could survive indefinitely.
However, shortly after Tohru hid in the dark space, Clark scanned the area but couldn't penetrate the dark space's power.
Clark missed Tohru but found other secrets and many undiscovered comatose patients.
Unlike Robert, Clark couldn't bear to let these people die. Though he couldn't wake them, he turned to Robert for help.
Reluctantly, Robert acted again. Awakening the patients was better than letting them die, and he hoped to gather more dark energy to locate Tohru.
Each time, the connection was severed, and the patients woke up. Robert couldn't locate Tohru, only sensing familiar dark energy.
"Dark space?" Robert recognized the dark power. He didn't expect the shadow army to be this troublesome. The masked person was exceedingly cautious.
"Who could it be? I've sensed Batman's energy before and after he got the mask. Maybe I can deduce who it is from those I know who might have such energy with the mask... Tohru? He's still alive?"
Robert was surprised. Tohru had long fallen out of his radar. The last he'd heard of Tohru was during the Hydra incident with Peter Parker and Barry Allen.
"Barry said Tohru disappeared, not knowing if he died. It seems he got the mask's power and hid?" Robert's eyes flickered as he recalled the event, then vanished.
If Robert hadn't been blacklisted from dimensional tracing magic, he could have used it to find Tohru. Now, he had to resort to searching for remnants of Tohru's energy.
With Barry Allen and J.A.R.V.I.S.'s help, Robert found the mountain where Tohru disappeared and discovered traces of his dark power.
Floating mid-air, Robert closed his eyes and meditated, releasing his energy to search for Tohru and the dark space.
Tohru continued dispatching shadow soldiers, aiming to nurture a powerful one to counter Clark and Robert. He had shadow soldiers devour numerous shadows to rapidly increase their power.
Robert and Tohru were now racing against time!
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