Chapter 2907: When Night Falls (36)

This was not quite like telepathy; it was more like an emotional exchange between twins. It couldn't convey specific information, but Wei En could vaguely understand the confusion in Anna's emotions.

Wei En was not accustomed to this form of communication, but he repeated his answer in his mind as clearly as possible, hoping Anna would understand.

Anna seemed to truly understand.

"Time."

Anna repeated the word, her face suddenly turning pale. She seemed to have realized what the biggest loophole in their plan was.

This was the "silver coin."

The moment Anna looked up at Batman, she found Batman looking at her as well. The girl's expression turned resolute; she had to find the traitor to save her brother.

A loud *bang* pulled Anna out of her thoughts. Green Lantern had slumped onto the table, and everyone turned toward him.

Flash walked over and patted Green Lantern on the back, but Green Lantern didn't react. Panic spread among the group, and Flash looked at Batman and said, "He might need emergency aid..."

Batman remained motionless.

"I don't think we can waste any more time here," Flash said, his words gaining the agreement of most. "Most of the topics we've discussed haven't been useful for solving the vampire crisis. Since Green Lantern is the prime suspect, let's examine him and let us out. That's better than being trapped here."

"When did I say Green Lantern was the prime suspect?"

Batman's words left everyone silent. They truly couldn't understand why Batman wasn't targeting Green Lantern, whose behavior was the most abnormal. It was as if he were ignoring the elephant in the room.

Batman remained in his seat, hands resting flat on his legs, his posture very upright. Everyone waited for him to speak, but he remained silent.

"Do you really want to do this, Batman?" Superman finally spoke up. "Let's bring this to an end. Batman, take Hal for an examination."

"What if Hal isn't the traitor?" Batman asked.

"Then at least we've cleared one person of suspicion."

"But that would play right into the traitor's hands, because many tests regarding vampires cannot be performed in this room; the room's lockdown would have to be lifted."

"Then lift it. Can he really run away?"

"I said, deduction requires eliminating as many interference factors as possible. Once the room is opened, the conclusion could be contaminated."

"Stop with your deductions," Aquaman said. "We've been here for two days, and you haven't deduced anything. I think we should get to work. If all else fails, I'll bring in the Atlantean army. Do you really think those rats can turn the tide?"

"I have already found the silver coin."

Batman's words silenced everyone.

"You mean you know who the traitor is?" Wonder Woman asked immediately, concerned.

"Yes," Batman nodded.

"Who is it?" Superman asked, scanning the others, seemingly intending to blast the name with his heat vision the moment Batman uttered it.

"I cannot say," Batman replied. "The moment I speak the truth, I will die."

This left everyone not just silent, but frozen.

"Impossible," Superman said. "I will protect you. Absolutely no one can kill you while I am standing right beside you."

"There is someone."

The group was speechless. They racked their brains trying to think of anyone present who could kill Batman while protected by Superman, but they couldn't conceive of it. Superman was invincible.

Anna's lips moved, emitting a sound that drew everyone's attention, but she quickly showed a look of terror and shook her head violently.

"What's wrong, Anna?" Wonder Woman asked.

"I can't say," Anna looked at Wonder Woman with red-rimmed eyes. "I know who it is, but I can't say."

"What is going on here?!" Aquaman roared, standing up. "What kind of games are you playing?!"

"Could it be some kind of curse?" Wonder Woman, more knowledgeable about magic, asked. "You can't say the traitor's name? But I don't see any traces of a curse on you. What kind of curse could evade my eyes?"

The situation reached a stalemate.

Everyone could see that something was threatening Batman and Anna, but they couldn't reveal the truth. Yet, with both Superman and Wonder Woman present, they should be able to block any physical or magical attack. What were the two of them afraid of?

Martian Manhunter realized sharply that they must have missed something—something that had happened which they couldn't see or perceive, which was the true threat to Batman.

"If it's a curse, I can read their minds to say it for them," Martian Manhunter said. "I know Batman wouldn't allow me to read his mind, but what about you, Anna?"

Anna nodded, but her eyes clearly held no hope. Martian Manhunter closed his eyes, but when he opened them again, he seemed to freeze, and he clamped his mouth shut.

"What did you read?"

"I cannot say."

This answer left everyone else in despair. Superman said, "Could it be that the name itself is a curse? That anyone who knows the name will die?"

"Don't be ridiculous, this isn't a movie. There's no such curse," Wonder Woman said. "If you can't say the name, you can say a code name. If not a code name, you can describe them, or mention a detail of their life we all know. There are plenty of ways to circumvent it. How could such a curse exist?"

"Could it be that just thinking about this person triggers the curse?" Aquaman suggested.

"If this traitor had that kind of power, would we still be standing here?" Wonder Woman countered.

Aquaman had no response. Indeed, if merely thinking of the traitor's identity triggered a curse, the Justice League would have been wiped out long ago, as everyone had suspected everyone else.

Wonder Woman realized there must be something they didn't know, but now the people capable of deducing the truth were trapped, and the clues were severed.

At that moment, Green Lantern suddenly woke up.

As he propped himself up, his face was devoid of any color. Strangely, blood seemed to be flowing from beneath his arm, and the green light energy transformed the blood into the shape of letters.

*Whoosh*—Green Lantern vanished.

This turn of events stunned everyone again. They looked at Superman, who shook his head and said, "No, no one left. I can guarantee that."

"Did he activate a teleportation? Or some kind of Green Lantern phasing ability?" Flash asked.

Wonder Woman, however, froze, because she had seen the letters formed by Green Lantern's blood. Although the blood on the table had vanished along with him, she had clearly seen the letters: "T-I-M-E."

"Time." Wonder Woman didn't speak, but she repeated the word in her heart, suddenly realizing the truth.

Then, to Superman's shock, Wonder Woman's expression stiffened, and she shook her head at him.

Wonder Woman meant that she couldn't say it either.

"What is going on?!" Superman was practically terrified. Was this a haunting?

Just then, an unexpected person stood up: Wei En.

His eyes were dull for a split second, but after regaining his composure, he showed no fear.

"Flash," he said calmly, then added, "You all must have seen him in the Speed Force, right?"

Anna looked at her brother in despair. "No, he might..."

"He isn't affected by hunger because he can enter the Speed Force and suck Hal's blood while time is frozen. Hal cannot say his name, or he could kill him or anyone else in the blink of an eye within the Speed Force."

"He threatened you all the same way. If you reveal his name, he can kill Batman, a mere human, in the frozen instant of time."

"The moment you realize the traitor is Flash, you know he is capable of it, which is why you are afraid to speak."

Wei En looked at the grim-faced Flash and smiled. "Your plan was perfect. You faked an attack, gathered everyone together, and pushed for the lockdown plan because you knew the room's closure meant nothing to you; in the Speed Force, you possess infinite time."

"On the first night, you entered the Speed Force and dragged Hal in with you. You drank his blood but left him alive because you needed a suspect."

"On the second night, you did the same, and threatened Hal to draw attention to him. Hal's pale face and low body temperature were all due to excessive blood loss."

"But you didn't expect Batman to have guessed it was you long ago, because he is a true detective—he doesn't exclude victims from suspicion; he suspects them first."

"Using an injury to cover your behavioral abnormalities and create opportunities for yourself was, in Batman's eyes, a clumsy trick, as childish as a grade-school math problem."

"Once exposed, you had no choice but to repeat your trick, entering the Speed Force to appear before anyone who discovered the truth, threatening to kill their loved ones if they dared speak your name."

"But you made one fatal mistake..."

Wei En smiled at Flash.

"You aren't the only one who can play with time."

In the House of Mystery, Constantine, having changed his clothes, closed the door and looked at Wei En. "So, what exactly do you want me to do?"

"Do you have a way to travel through time?"

Constantine paused. "I don't."

"Then you must know someone who does."

Constantine sighed and sat at the table. "That person is far away yet close at hand. Doctor Fate has a way. The question is, what do you intend to do by traveling through time?"

"Naturally, I am preparing for the worst-case scenario."

Constantine was a smart man; he immediately grasped the truth. He probed, "You mean there is someone in the vampire camp who can travel through time?... Don't tell me it's Flash?!"

"Honestly, I don't know, but what if?"

Constantine's expression turned serious. Wei En said, "If it really is Flash, Batman couldn't have failed to notice. He must be trying to lure Flash back to the past."

"What kind of method?"

"If Flash had done everything perfectly from the moment he turned into a vampire, Batman would have been helpless. But do you really think Barry is capable of that?"

Constantine shook his head. "Flash is too young and lacks experience. Even if he became a vampire, magic wouldn't improve his intelligence. I fear he's made more than a few mistakes."

"Batman will surely point out the most critical one," Wei En sighed. "The vampires' infinite expansion is self-destruction. Once he makes Flash realize this, Flash will surely try to return to the past to warn the Vampire King to change course."

"He has another reason he must return," Wei En continued. "The other 'me' inside Wei En's body cannot be threatened by him. Once I reveal his true colors before everyone, leading the Justice League to unite, he will have no chance of winning."

"But he won't give up. He will want to return to the past and try again, thinking he can do better this time. That is the common flaw of fools."

"Flash isn't that stupid..."

"If he isn't stupid, how did he become a vampire?"

Constantine was speechless. The fastest man in the world getting bitten by a vampire was indeed beyond stupid.