Chapter 4007

Constantine walked to the opposite side of Strange with a cigarette in his mouth, hands on his hips, staring at him without a word. After a long while, he nodded vaguely and said, "I knew you didn't look like Constantine."

"You don't look like one either, do you? You followed Batman's summons to participate in this war, wasn't it to find some turning point? Perhaps I can help you."

Constantine didn't deny it; he just tilted his head slightly and said, "To be precise, I sensed the arrival of Satan. As long as I can avoid him, it's the same wherever he goes. Running into you is an unexpected joy, Sorcerer Supreme."

Then he suddenly laughed, lowered his head, shook it, and said, "'Sorcerer Supreme'? Sounds really... interesting."

"It won't be more interesting than your lungs." Strange picked up the X-ray again and pointed at it, saying, "Have you ever regretted making your body like this?... Forget it, what stupid question am I asking? If you regretted it, you wouldn't keep smoking."

"Are you going to be an anti-smoking ambassador too?" Constantine asked, looking at him.

He sat back down on the bed, took a deep drag of his cigarette, and said, "What can I do? I've been able to see those strange things since I was a child. When I spoke out, people treated me like a mental patient. But those things lingered in my mind, constantly coming into my dreams, entangling me every second, making it impossible for me to focus on doing anything. Nicotine and alcohol give me temporary numbness, but that's all there is."

"So that's the route the demons take in your world." Strange sighed and said.

"Aren't they the same for you?" Constantine asked, raising an eyebrow.

"How should I put it? The devils on our side take the soft approach; they usually don't choose to scare you, but instead very enthusiastically and politely ask what you need, digging out every shred of greed in your heart as a condition for the deal, coaxing you into willingly signing an unequal contract with them."

Constantine was a bit stiff, and after a long while, he exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "If you keep talking like that, I'm going to fall in love with Satan."

"How is he toward you?"

"Particularly partial to me." Constantine laughed at himself and said, "When the day I die comes, he will come to collect my soul in person."

Strange asked in his mind again, "If I remember correctly, Satan is another name for Lucifer? Do they have a history?"

"Not the same Lucifer." Shiler's voice sounded again, "Although heaven and hell in the neighboring world are common to the multiverse, it is limited to a portion of the universes. The universe this Constantine is in is an extra-canonical universe; hell is not common to other universes, and there are independent heavens and hells. God and Satan are not the ones from other universes either.

In the DC world, comic universes share the same heaven and hell, while adapted universes like the film universes are not included. Adapted universes like the Bat-fleck, Bat-bale, or Arkham Batman are all independent systems. Although Lucifer can manage these universes because the copyright origin is in the comics, their heavens and hells are not common with the comic universe.

Another typical representative is the American TV series 'Lucifer'; the Lucifer in this universe is not the comic Lucifer, nor even his avatar, but an independent character. The heaven and hell inside are also the same.

The film universe Constantine is in has its own operating rules; simply put: there is a bet between God and Satan, and neither can directly intervene in human affairs. So if they want to compete, they can only look at human choices—doing good means going to heaven, doing evil means going to hell. Humans use their own lives to vote, letting the two decide the winner.

It sounds fair, but in reality, it's not like that at all. Whether it's heaven or hell, they have always been doing little tricks. Demons influence humans at key nodes of choice, making them fall into the abyss; angels are also constantly persuading humans so they can go to heaven.

Someone like Constantine is quite unlucky; he is born with very high sensitivity, able to see those demons and angels who come to Earth to play tricks. These things have had a huge impact on his mental state and have also made him a premier exorcist.

Similarly, his innate high sensitivity makes his soul very delicious in the eyes of demons. Satan has long since made threats that Constantine's soul can only be his. God clearly holds a different view, and the two of them have been competing all along.

"After I was diagnosed with lung cancer, I knew death wasn't far off, but I didn't want to hand my soul over to Satan, so I responded to Batman's call and came here. Although Satan can't follow me here, my life has already entered a countdown; it's just a difference of where I die."

Strange was silent for a moment and said, "You should struggle a bit more; cancer isn't completely incurable."

"Yes, but that only applies to early-stage cancer. Someone like me is already beyond help." Constantine said, looking at the ceiling.

Strange didn't know how to refute it either. Lung cancer is one of the most desperate cancers, especially the small-cell lung cancer Constantine had; the symptoms are very fierce, spreading extremely fast, and by the time there are symptoms, it has basically spread throughout the body, and there is simply no cure.

With the lungs in this condition, logically speaking, the patient should be very weak, but Constantine is not an ordinary person after all. He is an exorcist who can occasionally catch a demon or two for a snack, but this is at most a powerful analgesic plus a stimulant, treating the symptoms but not the root cause. As soon as the medicine is cut off, Constantine will soon die in pain.

"You seem to have eaten his last medicine." Strange said in his mind, "Now it's a case of having to treat it whether you want to or not."

"It doesn't matter, at worst I'll let the Gray Fog come." Shiler's voice remained calm, "I only decided on conservative treatment out of respect for his personal faith; otherwise, what's a cancer cell?"

Strange felt the same; in front of the Gray Fog, no cancer could turn the world upside down. It's just that Constantine's mental state is truly worrying. If you cure him quietly and then tell him he can't go to heaven, what if he has a mental breakdown?

So Strange decided to probe, saying, "I said I can help you. I know you might not like magical means, but the technology in our universe is very advanced; there is a country in Africa that has mastered the technology to fully treat cancer. Even if surgery is needed, you can trust my skills."

Constantine turned his head to look over, as expected.

"I didn't expect that even at this point, you still wouldn't be willing to use magic to treat it." Strange understood his choice and said, "Why are you so resistant to magic? Do you have very firm religious beliefs?"

"Religion? It's not just religion." Constantine shook his head and said, "I know many ordinary people only see the Bible as a story, but I know they are real. Whether it's angels or demons, they have always existed. You can't label those who can see them as crazy just because most people can't."

"Fine, I know; to you, these are all real and reliable. Then why aren't you willing to cooperate with them to cure yourself?"

"Cooperate with whom?"

"Anyone, can't demons do it?"

"I want to go to heaven." Constantine said.

"I'm asking why you want to go to heaven." Strange said, somewhat confused, "What's so good about heaven?"

"When your other choice is Satan, anyone would want to go to heaven, right?" Constantine asked in return.

Strange hesitated; this kind of multiple-choice question was meaningless to him. To him, it was similar to: are you choosing the Vishanti, or are you choosing Mephisto? But in reality, there's no difference between the two. Don't look at it as if the Vishanti aren't that evil and Mephisto is full of bad intentions; when you need them, it's really hard to say who is more reliable.

"You got one thing wrong," Constantine said, "You think I have a choice, but in reality, I don't. From the moment I was born, Satan has had his eyes on me, and every second I live is to get rid of him.

"It's ridiculous to say," Constantine laughed at himself and said, "Actually, no matter what I do, I can't go to heaven. People who commit suicide cannot go to heaven."

"Catholic doctrine?" Strange paused and said, "Then can't you just not commit suicide?"

"Smoking is a form of chronic suicide, and lung cancer caused by smoking is also a type of suicide."

Strange slapped his forehead and said, "The person who made this rule must be medically blind. According to existing scientific research, smoking does increase the chance of lung cancer, but it's not necessarily the main cause. If you put it that way, breathing is also a form of chronic suicide, because everyone who breathes eventually dies."

Constantine sat there silently; although it couldn't be seen from the outside, a heavy air of twilight emanated from him.

Strange suddenly understood that all of this was actually Satan's trap. Constantine had been able to see those demons since he was a child; he must have been frightened, felt very troubled by it, and suffered greatly. To calm himself down, he would seek the help of addictive substances—whether it was cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs—all of which could allow him to briefly escape the nightmare.

But once these things were used, the gates of heaven would be closed to him forever, and his soul could only fall into Satan's hands. No matter how you look at it, it seems like Satan's conspiracy, right?

The so-called "do evil and go to hell, do good and go to heaven" is a complete lie to humans. Because humans are too fragile in front of this group of existences; they don't even need to do anything, just appearing in front of you frequently is enough to scare you out of your wits, or even turn you into a madman. In this situation, who still has the energy to do one good deed a day?

Perhaps Constantine saw through this point; he is obsessed with going to heaven, not because heaven is how good it is, but simply because he doesn't want Satan to succeed, which can be considered the most powerful revenge he can make.

Strange sighed deeply and said again, "Since it's already like this, you might as well choose to take a gamble; cooperating with me might have a turning point, how about it?"

"Tell me what you want to do first?" Constantine lit another cigarette and suddenly coughed violently. He covered his mouth with his hand, and fresh blood flowed out from between his fingers.

Strange immediately pressed Constantine's shoulder, used magical energy to repair a portion of the damaged bronchial tubes, and helped Constantine clear the phlegm from his respiratory tract.

Constantine took a deep breath and then began to breathe rapidly and deeply, like a drowning person suddenly reaching the shore. After a long while, he looked up at Strange and said, "Thanks, this might be the first breath of air I've had this year. I blocked Batman's surveillance; he might come looking soon. If you have anything to say, say it quickly."