Chapter 4486: Blackest Night (21)

Brainiac was choked into silence. In fact, he couldn't figure it out now either. Schiller went out so aggressively, but he didn't take the stage, but instead exited. But the situation didn't improve at all with his exit, but rather got worse. Currently, it seems there are at least four or five serial murder case threads that need to be tracked. The killers are all masters of concealment. In the situation where Brainiac's control over Cat Getan is at least 90%, they can still complete murders by using that 10% gap. Whoever comes would have to say it's a gathering of heroes.

"I suggest you control Jonathan Crane first," Tim said, "His killing method has no new ideas. As long as you can detect the fear toxin components in the air, you can successfully accuse him. Without him making trouble on the side, we can concentrate on catching this copycat."

"I will control him," Brainiac said, "But he probably won't go to jail, because he really has mental illness. At most, he'll be admitted for treatment."

"That's enough," Jenna opened her mouth, "Just let him not add trouble recently. Otherwise, our workload will be too heavy."

Brainiac didn't speak anymore, obviously setting out to capture Jonathan. Just as Tim and Jenna said, catching him wasn't actually troublesome. Jonathan wouldn't resist at all, because he knew Brainiac wouldn't do anything to him.

When Brainiac found Jonathan, he was still busy in his laboratory. As soon as the camera turned to the direction of the experimental bench, Brainiac was stunned. How could that corpse be here?

Lying on the experimental bench was precisely the corpse poisoned by Jonathan. And it should have been lying on the forensic autopsy table.

"How did you steal the corpse?" Brainiac asked.

"I wasn't hiding from you, go watch the surveillance yourself if you want," Jonathan said without raising his head; he was busy at the experimental bench next to him, pouring things into various beakers.

Then he paused and stretched out a hand, saying: "Alright, I know you're very busy. Familiar days are back again. Unless you can find a guy who is completely immune to fear toxin, what can't I steal?"

Although Jonathan rarely explained a few sentences, Brainiac still checked it himself. Jonathan indeed wasn't hiding from him. The method of knocking down the police wasn't covered up either. It was just a fear toxin bomb thrown over, and everyone lay down. He slowly pulled the corpse back.

"What are you going to do?" Brainiac asked.

This showed the advantage of non-human rulers. Generally speaking, anyone facing an outlaw like Jonathan Crane would be somewhat furious. Because this guy is again and again, neither admitting his mistakes nor repenting. It's clear that as long as he is alive, the police and the courts won't have a peaceful day. His existence is to destroy social stability and harmony. Rulers with humanity and emotion can't stand this kind of person. But Brainiac could.

He wasn't able to endure it. He just handled things according to rules and regulations without emotion. If he commits a crime once, he catches him once; if he commits it again, he catches him again. He judges as he should. He won't vent his anger on others because of personal emotions.

This time was the same. Although he was collecting evidence of Jonathan Crane's crimes, preparing to take mandatory treatment measures against him, he would still care if Jonathan's behavior showed obvious abnormalities. And he wouldn't ignore him because he hated him.

Jonathan's behavior of fiddling with the corpse was obviously abnormal. According to Schiller's theory, the artistry of the murders Jonathan Crane committed was mostly embodied in the poison. He was a master of chemistry. The chemicals he carefully formulated could easily affect people's limbs and brains. He had always been proud of this and always put more effort into this aspect. And the influence of chemicals was mostly embodied in the process of death. If it became a corpse, there was nothing to fiddle with.

Just like this corpse. The victim's skin presented a very rich cyan-blue color. Under normal circumstances, there wouldn't be so much pigment in a person's body. Even using dyes wouldn't necessarily dye it so evenly. Let alone the white spots on the body surface; those dotted objects were large and small, arranged regularly, extremely aesthetic. This was clearly Jonathan's design.

Such a corpse didn't need to be arranged in any strange shape, and it could already express the theme he wanted to express, even if it were Brainiac, he could see that it should be related to the starry sky and the universe.

Since the design had been completed, Jonathan didn't need to move the corpse again. Could it be that some parts of the corpse had problems, forcing him to rework?

Brainiac felt it was unlikely. In terms of chemistry, Jonathan could be called reaching the pinnacle. Although he had been troubled by mental problems for the past dozen years, he was a frequent visitor to prisons and psychiatric hospitals, and didn't have a comfortable research environment like Victor. His academic level must have also developed to a level unimaginable to ordinary people. It shouldn't be that he could still make mistakes in doing such a case. So Brainiac chose to ask him directly.

"Good question," Jonathan answered, "Although none of you notified me, I still learned from a police officer that that Pelota who killed my student was a person who died and resurrected."

"Pelota was torn to pieces, and there were no conditions for detailed testing, so it can't be said that it must be like this. So I didn't officially notify anyone." Brainiac said.

"Precisely because of this, I have to do you a favor." Jonathan said, "Don't think I have no humanity; in Cat Getan, you have to pay attention to reciprocity. You are the best housekeeper I've ever met. Life in the nature reserve is the most peaceful life I've ever lived, I can focus on research without being bothered by those idiots. The students you picked for me are also not bad, their brains occasionally turn. So of course I have to help you as much as I can."

"The method is to commit another murder crime?"

"Don't you already have this guy's data?" Jonathan said, "One of the rebels who engaged in the child kidnapping case last time, just because the evidence was insufficient, had to be released. It's no pity that he died. On the contrary, his death will be the best proof."

"What?"

"Don't you want to know how people resurrect?"

"Do you know?"

"In fact, I don't know either, so I have to conduct research." Jonathan said, "Don't you think he won't be resurrected?"

"If Pelota was really resurrected, then there is only one isolated piece of evidence."

"Move your electronic brain." Jonathan picked up the test tube and shook it, "He cut off the most important natural resource for human survival—solar energy, the purpose is to create large-scale death events. And the purpose of his creating large-scale death events is to have enough corpses for resurrection. Resurrected corpses confront living people, creating more corpses. In the end, the Earth will be swallowed by living corpses."

"But we stopped all this," Brainiac said, "The plan to insulate the Earth with dense ice is proceeding steadily, and the hope of success is very high."

"Yes, precisely because you stopped this huge disaster, the corpses have become precious." Jonathan stopped what he was doing, looked at the camera and said, "Under your protection, deaths caused by accidents and mutual slaughter have been reduced to the lowest. Even if it's natural death, it has been greatly delayed due to timely rescue and improved medical levels. That is to say, the current global death rate is the lowest node in human history."

"He wants to create a living corpse Earth, relying on this little bit of natural death corpses is obviously not enough. But the way of creating a large number of corpses through natural disasters doesn't work. What do you think he will do?"

"The key to the living corpse disaster lies in the ability to infect." Brainiac analyzed, "The infection speed of zombies is exponential growth. One infects two, two infect four, four can infect sixteen. If this continues, it won't take long to form a zombie legion that is invincible. However, I don't think human thermal weapons can't deal with living corpses..."

"Yes, you can even beat back Darkseid, naturally you don't need to worry about weapons. But what if people don't fight you head-on?" Jonathan changed his gloves, turned around and continued to fiddle with the test tube, "Did you find Pelota dead?"

"No." Brainiac admitted, "It looks no different from a human."

"Precisely because you didn't find it, it led to Fanny's death. And if Fanny was also resurrected in a place you didn't find, it would lead to other people's deaths, perhaps even including me. And if I became a living corpse being manipulated, guess what would happen?"

Brainiac never felt he had anything like cold sweat before. But now he had to admit, he was becoming more and more like a human. If he had a head, he should have a head full of cold sweat now.

The fear toxin possessed by Jonathan Crane was something Brainiac also had no way to crack or counter. Because this involved brain science, mental illness pathology, and psychology. More than half of this was Brainiac's blind spot of knowledge. And this thing could be mass-produced and deployed on a large scale.

And because its existence forms are diverse, it can become liquid or gas, simply impossible to guard against. Throwing it into any water system can make a large group of people go crazy. And Jonathan can also control the symptoms of these people going crazy, making their performance not all look like mental problems, but diverse.

If Jonathan Crane is controlled, and starts poisoning without a sound, he can create a huge living corpse legion overnight. This is still only targeting ordinary people. If he specifically targets scientists or important figures from all walks of life, the speed of living corpse infiltration on Earth will be more than just ordinary. Superheroes might not be able to escape his path.

Thinking of this, Brainiac was both surprised and suspicious. Several cameras aimed at Jonathan, analyzing his behavioral patterns, seemingly trying to judge whether he had been controlled.

"Alright, stop staring at me." Jonathan said, "What I'm doing now is telling you that I'm on your side, Mr. Housekeeper."

"Let's continue the deduction just now." Jonathan stared at the liquid in the test tube and said, "Large-scale natural disasters have been terminated, and the global death rate is too low. In the case where living corpse infiltration still has hope of success, he won't give up easily. Instead, he will choose to settle for the next best thing, finding a place that is relatively dangerous and has a relatively high death rate to deploy living corpses."

"You mean Cat Getan?"

"It can only be Cat Getan." Jonathan put down the test tube, rested his hands on the table, and looked at the camera, "Your arrival has indeed greatly improved Cat Getan's situation. But this place has been sick for a long time. Compared to other cities, your control here is significantly insufficient."

Brainiac didn't refute, because he knew what Jonathan said was right. This place Cat Getan definitely has some sayings. There are many things that Brainiac doesn't understand and can't control.

"He will definitely choose Cat Getan as a breakthrough." Jonathan said firmly, "And as long as frequent murders happen here after the night descends, it just confirms his thinking path. He will think he is right, so he won't consider other places. Do you understand?"

Brainiac seemed to really understand a little. To put it simply, it's that this place Cat Getan doesn't just have sayings for him. It's the same for anyone. He can't control this place, and the mastermind can't either.

Cat Getan is like a big mud pit. Whoever falls in has to get covered in blood. Madmen use murder and crime to drag the mastermind into the field they are familiar with, and then use their rich criminal experience to defeat him. ===== CHAPTER 4488 =====

"You look like you're quite surprised that I would appear here."

"Of course, why are your actions so fast this time?"

"What actions?"

"Setting up the crime scene," Victor said. "It's precisely because I know you hold multiple positions and still have to find time to play Moriarty that I didn't follow you. A book detailing the process of serial murders cannot be published; I thought you knew that."

"Why would you think I would go and be Moriarty?" Shiler said with some disdain. "The plot where the detective is the murderer is too cliché."

"You really didn't go?" Victor was somewhat skeptical. He shouted, "Mrs. Brainiac! Are you sure he never left your sight on the way from the office to here?"

"I am not Mrs. Brainiac, but I am sure." Brainiac's tone also revealed a hint of doubt. "Shiler, why didn't you go?"

"Because the detective cannot be the murderer," Shiler looked at Victor and smiled. "Otherwise, don't even think about getting rich off of detective stories."

Victor walked over, gave Shiler a hug, and then said, "I knew you would support me. Come on, let's get on the ship together and go save the Earth."

The backs of Victor and Shiler disappeared onto the ship. Brainiac watched them leave via the dock's surveillance cameras and, for the first time, experienced what it felt like to "breathe a sigh of relief." The very next second, the police center received a message: "A murder has occurred on Mo Sen Street. The victim is a 49-year-old man named Jieli Ta who lived in that neighborhood."

Brainiac almost crashed.

Not long after, there were two more murders. And then immediately a third. This made Brainiac realize that Shiler might not be Cat Getan's biggest trouble, and the Dark Ages might indeed be far more terrifying than everyone imagined.

"Did you two see anything?" Brainiac asked, looking at Jenna and Tim standing at the second crime scene.

"Jonathan Crane," Jenna said. "Next one."

"…How did you know?" On the way to the next scene, Brainiac still couldn't help but ask.

"The scent of fear is too thick," Jenna said, wrinkling her nose. "What's lingering around the victim is clearly not natural fear; it must be a chemically added component. Industrial-grade fear smells like a pungent, inorganic sensation, just like cooling oil."

"I didn't smell anything," Tim said. "If it really is Jonathan Crane, then he should have precisely controlled the time for the fear toxin to dissipate. He has that level of skill. What Miss Jenna is describing is on a psychological level, which means there is no physical evidence."

Then came the third case. This time, without needing Jenna, Tim took one look and said directly: "A long-standing grudge murder, disguised as a serial killing. The murderer is the next-door neighbor."

The fourth case arrived not long after, but this didn't even qualify as murder. Jack sat to the side with his arms crossed, looking like a victim, and said, "I don't know why he suddenly rushed out when I was making a turn; the truck's blind spot is too big."

Tim looked at the scene carefully and then said, "It was indeed an intentional staged accident. What is this guy trying to do? Keep a close eye on him, Jack."

"If Brainiac can give me enough compensation for lost wages," Jack sniffled.

As for the fifth case—actually, the time was approaching night again, but because the sky had never brightened, it made people feel like it was still the first night—Jenna and Tim both became interested when they saw this crime scene.

"Copycat," Jenna said. "Without a doubt. And very similar. To be able to achieve such a degree of resemblance in both form and spirit is truly amazing."

"Even more like it than the first one," Tim said. "Seriously, I almost thought it was him."

Jenna circled the corpse, clicking her tongue in wonder: "Now I'm certain, the two of them are indeed peers. The presentation of the human mental world and the very unique academic atmosphere have been restored exactly the same."

"…Then how are you sure it wasn't done by Professor Rodriguez?"

The two said in unison: "Didn't you say he left?"

?? Jack even looks cute now.