Chapter 1431: Research on Manipulation (Part 14)

Their wine glasses were filled again, and Constantine was a bit curious about what Schiller's next topic would be.

Actually, there was nothing to talk about regarding Constantine himself. Constantine was already an adult with a formed worldview and self-consistent logic. Although he was rotten, he wasn't crazy.

Given the degree of pain Constantine had suffered, psychological treatment was useless. Even if he wanted to find a psychologist to pour out his pain, he definitely wouldn't find Schiller, because for a long time recently, his pain had come from Schiller.

But unexpectedly, Schiller took out another cup from under the coffee table. He had just poured the wine when he heard a "bang" from the balcony, as if something had smashed onto the ground, followed by "clatter" and "creak."

The window was pushed open, and Zatanna rushed in quickly, picked up the cup Schiller had just put down, and poured the wine into her mouth.

The magician wiped her mouth with her wrist. Constantine looked up at her, full of surprise.

Because Zatanna wasn't wearing her magic performance outfit, but a woolen long coat, a pink silk shirt with mother-of-pearl buttons on the top, a hip-hugging long skirt on the bottom, and even a pair of pointed high heels.

"Good heavens, you're dressed like you just came back from a float parade on the streets of Spain!" Constantine exclaimed exaggeratedly.

Zatanna was choked by the wine and kept coughing, but didn't forget to stretch out a hand and pat Constantine on the back of the head, warning him to shut up if he couldn't speak properly.

Constantine looked at Zatanna's face with great surprise. He had to admit that the young lady magician was very beautiful. Her face carried a Latin flair, and her hair and eyebrows were a thick, dense black, which made her features appear even more three-dimensional and deep. Practicing magic gave her gaze an extra sense of focus, and her noble and special status in the occult world also gave her a unique, elegant temperament. Even when she was coughing from being choked, she didn't appear savage or unreasonable.

What surprised Constantine was that Zatanna was actually wearing light makeup today. Although many people thought Zatanna wore makeup every day, that was actually just because her eyelashes were too thick, so it looked like she had drawn eyeliner. Constantine, who had had intimate contact with Zatanna, knew that the magician was very pragmatic and was too lazy to wear makeup most of the time.

Constantine had to lean his body to the other side, lean on the sofa armrest away from Zatanna, raise his voice, and say, "It seems like the sun came out in Cat Getan today. Where did you come from?"

"The sun came out in Cat Getan a long time ago," Zatanna said angrily. She froze for a moment, dropped her arms, revealed a frustrated expression, and then sat on the single sofa between Schiller and Constantine, clutching the bag in her hand.

"I went to a banquet, and it was terrible," Zatanna said, pursing her lips. "I mean, I was too out of place."

The magician covered her forehead with her slender fingers, leaned weakly against the back of the sofa, and said, "I forgot that the banquets I've attended were all held in the magic world. No one there would offend me, and I could talk about whatever I wanted."

"But I didn't expect that there were so many rules for banquets for ordinary celebrities. Those mystical topics shouldn't have been brought up at all. I made everyone awkward and embarrassed my friends. It was just terrible."

Schiller opened his eyes slightly, as if thinking of something. He tapped the rim of the cup with his fingertips and asked, "Although my conversation with Mr. Constantine hasn't ended yet, I think he doesn't mind listening to your troubles with me, Miss Zatanna."

"Oh, Professor, I mean... Doctor?" Zatanna hesitated, wanting to confirm the title.

"What is wrong with you, Zee?" Constantine straightened up, stared at Zatanna, and said, "Regardless of whether he is a professor or a doctor, when has Schiller ever cared about this? And when did you start worrying about other people's titles? Do you still want to call me Lord Constantine?"

Zatanna covered her mouth in surprise and said, "You are a lord?"

"I am a British person, so it's hard to avoid working for the royal family. Besides, my ancestors were close ministers to Queen Victoria. Is it strange to have a title? The streets of St. Elizabeth are full of lords."

Zatanna spread her hands, revealing a desperate expression, and said, "Of course you wouldn't care, because you are my friends. But what if I called a stranger by the wrong title in a formal occasion?"

Then she looked at Schiller with a look of seeking help and asked, "Doctor, how exactly should I distinguish between your scholars' titles? Why is it that when I call a professor a professor, he seems as surprised as if he saw me grow a third eye?"

Schiller pondered for a moment and said, "If it was the habitual address of my friends that misled you, then I am very sorry. Generally speaking, you can call any scholar a doctor, but indeed not every doctor wants to be called a professor. That might evoke some bad memories in his academic career."

Zatanna stared at him with wide eyes. Schiller sighed and said, "The reason I am here is because the shredder at Cat Getan University is broken and cannot handle the wood-based reconstructed fiber non-recyclable garbage that the students I teach handed to me."

"The vast majority of scholars are proud of their academic achievements, and most genius-type scholars with major academic achievements don't know how to get along with a group of students whose IQ is far inferior to theirs. This process is often not very pleasant. If you call him that, it is very easy to cause his stress response."

"But it's fine to call you that." Constantine said.

Schiller nodded. When Zatanna came in, he had already extinguished the cigar. At this time, he was preparing to put it back in the box. He placed the box containing the cigar on the desktop and then said.

"I am an alternative. Compared to my academic achievements, I value the identity of a teacher more. Teaching students is an indispensable experience in my career. Whether it is pleasant or terrible, I will not be ashamed to mention it, but not everyone is like this."

Zatanna let out a long sigh, letting her body curl up in the soft sofa. She turned sideways, holding her bag, and said, "It's terrible. I said long ago that Professor Crane shouldn't have invited me to attend their circle's party. I ruined everything!"

Hearing this name, Schiller raised an eyebrow, while Constantine hadn't reacted yet and asked, "Who is Professor Crane?"

"A colleague of mine." Schiller answered before Zatanna, "An equally outstanding psychologist and chemist. I have worked with him at Columbia University and Cat Getan University. His professional level is worthy of praise."

When Jonathan was caught by Batman, Cat Getan was still in chaos, so he didn't go through public accusations, questioning, and trials. His crimes didn't harm his social reputation, so he was still a famous psychologist. Except for living in Arkham Asylum, there was no difference from ordinary people.

But living in Arkham Asylum wasn't a shortcoming. The gathering of psychologists could basically be said to be a patient exchange meeting. There were only two endings for studying psychology: either go crazy or die.

Zatanna glanced at Schiller, and the expression on her face appeared even more frustrated. Clearly, this simple girl believed Schiller's praise for Jonathan, and then felt even more guilty about ruining Professor Crane's party.

Constantine's gaze lingered on Schiller's face for a while, and then he looked at Zatanna and asked, "How did you and Professor Crane get to know each other?"

Zatanna poured herself a glass of wine, took a sip, steadied herself, and said, "Although my reverse magic doesn't require paying any price, nor does it require preparing a bunch of materials like ordinary mages."

"Thank you for saying I am an ordinary mage."

Zatanna rolled her eyes at Constantine and continued, "But I still need to perform magic. In other cities, I can buy ready-made materials."

"But you can also buy them in Cat Getan. I can buy them. Did you go to the wrong shop?" Constantine interrupted Zatanna again.

Zatanna gritted her teeth and glared at him, saying, "Yes, ordinary materials are fine, but the medicinal powder used for fire magic is not. The rain and air in Cat Getan are very strange. Most of the ignition powder cannot be lit here. Occasionally it can be lit, but the shape and effect are not what I want, so I can only try to configure it myself."

"But I can't possibly do such a dangerous thing in my own home. But I don't have any acquaintances in Cat Getan. Don't look at me. It's good enough that you can manage yourself, Constantine."

Zatanna curled her lips and said, "I went to Cat Getan University to find Bruce and happened to meet Professor Schiller."

After speaking, she cast her gaze toward Schiller. Schiller continued her words and said, "I told her that Bruce hasn't been in Cat Getan recently, but if she just needs a place to do experiments, then the chemistry laboratory at Cat Getan University is also fine."

"Then, I met Professor Crane there. He was curious about the formula for the medicinal powder I configured. Although I felt that ordinary people might not be able to help, I still showed him the formula."

"Unexpectedly, ordinary people's chemical knowledge is the true answer to this problem. He helped me adjust the formula, deleted many unnecessary magic materials, and only used a few simple elements to produce medicinal powder very suitable for Cat Getan's weather."

"This is simply too magical, so I asked him if he could help me configure a little more. He said that the materials in the Cat Getan University laboratory were insufficient, so we went to the patient activity center of Arkham Asylum."

Constantine almost sprayed out a mouthful of wine. He stared at Zatanna with wide eyes and said, "You know he is hospitalized in Arkham Asylum, yet you still followed him there?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Zatanna shrugged indifferently and said, "Are there few mental patients in Cat Getan? You and Bruce should both live here, or rather, those who come here for hospitalization are the ones with self-knowledge. Those who know they are sick but don't treat it are the dangerous ones."

Zatanna stared at Constantine's face with a pointed look. Constantine silently turned his head back and didn't look at her. Zatanna sighed gently and continued.

"Professor Crane is a very good teacher. He taught me a lot of ordinary people's chemical knowledge, which was a great inspiration to me. Later, he asked me what I wanted this kind of medicinal powder for, and I said I wanted to perform magic."

"I told him about my experience as a street magician. This was very novel to him. He said he was a scholar who read his way up and had almost never experienced such rebellious things, so I invited him to watch my magic."

"Of course, inviting him to watch a street performance was a bit impolite, so I booked a show at the Cat Getan Theater, and he arrived on time and praised it highly, making me feel a bit embarrassed."

"A few days later, I received his invitation. To repay him, I presented him with a wonderful performance. He hoped to invite me to a party held regularly by one of his old friends. Of course, not as a female companion, just as an ordinary friend."

Zatanna pursed her lips and lowered her head.

"Then, I ruined everything." ===== CHAPTER 1432 =====