Chapter 1780: Summer in Fool

Almost no one ever came to the basement of Rodriguez Manor, not even Merkel. Only Schiller—or rather, only one of Schiller's personalities—would come here.

Master Andrew's corpse was discarded casually on the cold floor. As soon as Pamela walked in, she smelled a strange odor.

But this was actually expected. Today's maximum temperature was close to forty degrees. Even in the cellar, which was always cool, the temperature was around twenty-seven or twenty-eight degrees. The decay rate of a human corpse was faster than that of most animals.

"Looks like the ingredients aren't fresh." Pamela furrowed her brows and said: "Are you sure it's still edible?"

Schiller glanced at the corpse on the ground and said coldly: "No, Miss. That's not our ingredient. It became inedible the moment it died. At best, it can only serve as bait."

Pamela looked at Schiller, feeling a bit confused. She didn't know what Schiller was referring to, but she certainly had no interest in getting close to the corpse that was constantly changing toward advanced decay.

Suddenly, a sound came from outside the corridor door of the cellar room. Pamela turned her head abruptly and saw a cloaked figure in the shadows of the corridor.

"You killed Andrew?" A sharp, hoarse voice sounded, carrying the mysterious nuance peculiar to mages, but the look in Pamela's eyes when she looked at her carried a hint of sympathy.

The figure walked out of the darkness. The hood was taken off by a pair of pale hands, and the goat horns between the black hair were very obvious. That was a woman with succubus blood, and Pamela swore she saw the most dissatisfied expression she had ever seen on Schiller's face.

"You're a hybrid? Not completely human?" Schiller turned around to look at the half-succubus who appeared at the door, his gaze lingering for a moment on the tail swinging back and forth behind her. This half-succubus walking over didn't notice at all. She said: "Although Andrew was stupid, that outsider named Strange is even less qualified to decide the future of the magical world."

"Not letting demons contact humans at will, what a joke!" The half-succubus sneered and said: "Does this mean from now on we have to be with those weak ordinary people, running around and busy for a little bit of food every day? Without the power of demons, what's the difference between mages and ordinary people?"

Just then, another gaunt figure walked out from behind the half-succubus. More withered fingers took off the hood, revealing an old face covered in gullies.

Schiller calmly called out his name: "Undead Archmage Kaz, so you're still alive."

"It's not that easy for that bunch of old rats with wings to kill me." Kaz laughed twice like a ghost and said: "Death, decay, filth—I am the expert at playing with these things. They just live longer, that's all."

"Saria, stop talking nonsense with him. Take Andrew's corpse, and I can curse the person who killed him with it. Supreme Sorcerer? Soon we will meet him in the Abyss of Darkness!"

The next second, the cellar was pitch black, and Pamela didn't see how Schiller disappeared at all.

Half an hour later, Strange, clutching his still-throbbing head, walked down the stairs of the manor. He saw Schiller setting the dining table and said: "They aren't easy to deal with. Trouble will be endless."

"Can you tell me what you've investigated lately?" Schiller inserted a bunch of small daisies into a transparent vase with light green patterns, placed it in the center of the table runner at the front of the dining table, and then began to fold napkins with complex techniques.

"The erosion of demons is much deeper than we imagined. Some people have almost completely lost their sense of self, but they think they have it. They think their choices are all out of their own will, but the facts are exactly the opposite."

"This situation appears more often in mages with demonic bloodlines. The thicker the bloodline, the more severely they are eroded. Andrew being able to become an Archmage has everything to do with the bloodline on him."

Strange walked to the opposite side of Schiller, picked up a napkin, and folded it with the same technique as Schiller. Suddenly, he furrowed his brows slightly, sniffed, and wasn't sure if he smelled a trace of imperceptible blood in the air.

He took it as a hallucination and said: "We all got one thing wrong. Although the young people tempted by power are irritable and impulsive, doing whatever it takes for power, the Archmages with demonic blood are the real threat."

"By the time I realized this, it was too late. They gathered together blatantly, saying that none of us could represent the will of humanity, that we should vote or show of hands, otherwise the magical defense network must not be completed."

"They said they have the freedom to pursue power, the freedom to know the truth and communicate with the outside world. They said the magical defense network is our cage, and negotiating with demons on equal terms should be done in a more gentle way."

Schiller looked up at Strange. The expression on Strange's face was almost as if he were about to laugh. He knew clearly that these remarks couldn't affect Strange at all. This extreme human supremacist wouldn't listen to this nonsense at all.

"My only mistake was not expecting that even if I forcibly completed the magical defense network, some demons and angels could still communicate with them through the bloodlines they left in the bodies of human descendants. Andrew and several other surviving Archmages were all bewitched. Perhaps there are more people, and those maggots expelled by the magical world are also eyeing us from the dark."

"So you intend to kill Andrew?"

"This is just the beginning." Strange lowered his eyes, looking at the corpse at his feet, and said: "When I went to kill Andrew, he clearly had already received the news. And very few people knew my plan. They are all untrustworthy."

"Besides, they will target you sooner or later." Strange looked at Schiller's unfocused gray eyes without fear and said: "They know you aren't simple, so they might not necessarily take action against you, but you aren't a loner in this world."

Schiller knew he was talking to the Schiller he knew, or at least to the Professor Schiller who brought him into this world. Schiller didn't directly express that he didn't need to worry, he just said: "Many times, brutal slaughter cannot solve all problems."

"Is it a good thing to leave them alive?" Strange said somewhat irritably: "If you don't kill all the traitors, there will only be more and more traitors."

Schiller shook his head and said: "The point is the method."

"Death brings the most powerful deterrence."

"People with connections to demons are always fearless because physical death is not the end for them." Schiller reached out and adjusted the angle of the flowers with his fingers, saying: "Without dramatic creative inspiration, don't waste your energy on slaughter."

Strange really couldn't understand it anymore. He found that this Schiller was different from any one he knew, although they had met once in the Tower of Thought, that obviously couldn't let Strange understand him more.

"Regardless, if Schiller's friend is harmed, it is the consequence of your inaction as the one using this body now." Strange emphasized: "They will definitely take action. They also want to make us fear through slaughter."

"They have already taken action." Schiller walked toward the dining room door. Merkel walked quickly along the corridor and handed a piece of paper to Schiller.

Suddenly, Strange turned to look at the floor-to-ceiling window of the dining room. There was a subtle movement in the garden. Between the swaying tree shadows, several figures were approaching here.

Strange became vigilant instantly, but Schiller walked to the garden door and opened it for the visitors.

Leading them was Deathstroke, followed by Constantine and Zatanna.

"We should have made it, right?" Deathstroke sighed long, wiped the mud off his shoes on the doormat, and chatted with Schiller like every guest who had traveled from afar.

Zatanna's expression was as confused as Strange's. She also walked into the dining room, but looked at Schiller and said: "What the hell is going on? Why did this strange guy manufacture a highway explosion, then kidnap us, but then send us here?"

"Thanks." Schiller handed the paper he had just received to Deathstroke and said: "I am certain that besides me, no one else alive has seen this list. Your family will be very safe."

"Burn it." Deathstroke waved his hand and said: "I will always be a life of toil. How many times is this that I've worked for you?"

Schiller handed the paper in his hand to Zatanna and made a gesture to light it. Although Zatanna hadn't figured out the whole situation, she still lit the paper and burned it.

Schiller's gaze fell on Constantine. Constantine just exchanged a look with him and then fell silent.

Schiller said: "I know you have many doubts. There is still some time before the banquet starts, so we can talk slowly."

"John's bookstore is renting Harley's house. I think you should remember that after it was destroyed and you renovated it, Harley went to check the house."

Constantine nodded.

"She wasn't checking the renovation standards." Schiller said while holding a red wine bottle and examining the text on the bottle: "You should know by now that she has special abilities, right?"

"She obtained a kind of magical dark energy. I have never seen such substantial darkness, so I cannot judge." Zatanna furrowed her brows.

"She wanted to find some magic-related books in the bookstore to read, but she knew you were there and you wouldn't let her touch those dangerous knowledge, so she didn't want you to know, just planning to secretly swipe a few." Schiller looked at Zatanna and said.

Zatanna's brows furrowed deeper and deeper. He heard Schiller say again: "But she discovered strange magical marks on the second floor of your bookshelf."

"John cannot use magic now, and you aren't good at identifying hidden marks. But Harley has an extraordinary detective talent. She immediately realized you were being watched."

Zatanna furrowed her brows. She was trying hard to recall if she had seen any suspicious people lately, but she wasn't a detective like Batman after all. Recently, she had been busy getting hot and heavy with Constantine and hadn't really paid attention to the unusual things in life.

"Someone wants to kidnap you to threaten me, thereby affecting the completion of the Earth's magical defense network."

"And I asked this excellent mercenary to manufacture an explosion before they took action against you. The magical world will think you were found by an old enemy and died without a corpse. A simple fake-death trick to get rid of attention."

Schiller turned to look at the corridor behind the dining room door. Merkel had already walked over with a tray, and very exquisite meals were placed on the table.

Zatanna looked at a meat steak on the table, moved her nose, and said: "Are you really going to host a banquet?... It smells so good. What kind of meat is this?"

"Moose meat." Schiller lowered his eyes to observe the patterns on the steak and said: "Extraordinarily strong when alive."

Then he looked up and met Strange's gaze, saying: "Beasts may be subdued by satiety, but they fear hunger even more. Humans use this to lure them, and thus there are livestock." ===== CHAPTER 1781 =====

Zatanna looked at a steak on the table, twitched her nose, and said, "Are you really going to host a banquet?... It smells so good, what kind of meat is this?"

"Moose meat." Shiler lowered his eyelids to observe the patterns on the steak and said, "It was extraordinarily strong when it was alive."

Then he raised his eyes to meet Strange's gaze and said, "Although beasts are defeated by satiety, they fear hunger even more; humans use this to lure them, and thus, we have livestock."