Chapter 4892

When the goal is no longer to find the truth, but to find a weakness, Tim's way of thinking can immediately switch to the mentally deranged side. Everything has a weakness, and superpowered beings are no exception.

What is Brand's weakness?

Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is his enemies who are hunting him. But that is precisely the option that must be ruled out first.

The reason is also very simple. In this whole affair, Tim can control too little. If he uses this point as an entry, his threat would be not taking Brand to see Professor Xilei. But he cannot control the enemies hunting Brand, nor can he control Professor Xilei, nor can he control Brainiac.

If Brainiac decides to let Brand see Xilei, then Tim doesn't need to go deliver him. Tim also cannot stop Brainiac from sending other police to complete the task. He simply cannot go against the entire Gotham Police Department.

And whether or not to protect Brand is also not something Tim can decide. Xilei surely already has an idea in his mind, and Tim trying to persuade him now would be too late.

As for that mysterious enemy, it's even more so—Tim doesn't understand him at all, let alone control when he strikes to pressure Brand.

In summary, being hunted seems like the biggest weakness, but in reality it's completely unusable. Blindly using it is walking into a trap. He must find another path.

What could it be? Tim thinks carefully. Brand is not threatened by scientific means. Scientific test results do not apply. Photos are too blurry, with no frontal shot. The other party may have already lost memory. His dying once has no evidence, and cannot be used as evidence that "he is not an ordinary person, so humanity has no obligation to help him."

Although it looks ordinary on the surface, guns are definitely useless against him. Even if he could get a big gun, combat is absolutely not an option. This guy fundamentally has no bloodline.

The so-called rules of the trade he mentioned sound somewhat interesting, but they are not something Tim can consider now. He is still too weak, and can only rely on his own wisdom. Without prior preparation, he cannot be a robber.

As Tim was thinking, his peripheral vision suddenly caught a fleeting shadow outside the window—he reached out again and grabbed that butterfly.

"Brainiac!" Tim suddenly stood up and shouted, "He's creating hallucinations to attack me! Protect me!"

Inside the Gotham Police Department, alarms blared instantly, countless sharp cries rang out. The security robots stored in the armory were activated, and all cameras locked onto Brand.

The security robots had already rushed in. They were all combat models, kept inside the department for emergencies. At this moment, each person held laser guns for interstellar combat, blocking Tim behind them.

"Wait, I..."

"Brainiac, monitor my brainwave readings!" Tim shouted loudly, "This is his evidence of assaulting an officer!"

He stood behind the robot's shield, coldly staring at Brand. The moment their eyes met, Tim revealed a provocative smile. Thereafter, he no longer avoided the hallucinations in his peripheral vision, but looked straight ahead.

"Warning! Warning! Brainwave readings abnormal! Brainwave readings abnormal!" Brainiac's tone even carried a hint of panic, "Take a deep breath, Tim! I saw nothing, so those must be hallucinations. Calm down!"

Brand's face turned very ugly.

"Brainiac, I have been subjected to a mental attack. I need to seek help from Professor Xilei." Tim bared his fangs, "My head hurts, my mind is also somewhat unclear, I need his help..."

Brainiac immediately went to make the call. Because Tim's brainwave readings were indeed very abnormal. His face had also turned pale, clearly showing he had been attacked, and moreover, an attack that Brainiac could not handle at all. He had not yet evolved to the point of seeing hallucinations.

"Tim Drake!" Brand said through gritted teeth, "... Let's talk."

Tim smiled like he had fallen and killed Holmes.

"Why hasn't Tim come back yet?" Victor paced back and forth in the living room. After being startled awake, besides Xilei, the others had no sleepiness left, wanting to wait in the living room for a result.

And Xilei merely got up for a moment, then went back to sleep. The others also had no intention of disturbing him. At this time, Bruce Banner, who had gone upstairs early to sleep, woke up.

"Good morning," he said, "You're also up this early?"

Ethan said helplessly, "Where is this morning?"

Banner yawned and said, "If it's not morning, why are you guys gathered here doing this? Is there breakfast?"

"There's no breakfast, but there is a murder case shrouded in mist." Ethan was still flipping through those photos. Cobot walked over to Victor's side and asked in a low voice, "What kind of person is Brand exactly?"

"He is not a person," Victor said, "He looks like a person, but actually isn't."

"A monster wearing human skin?"

"Not in that philosophical sense," Victor emphasized, "He is a monster wearing human skin in the physical sense. Do you understand?"

"Then what kind of monster is he exactly?"

"Can't say," Victor said, looking left and right, "It's precisely because of this that I haven't told you the truth. Although I don't know much, but a common sense is that in the field of mysticism, cognition is power."

Cobot showed an expression of sudden realization. "If we knew, we might be affected, is that it?"

Victor nodded and said, "Exactly, you just need to know he isn't a person."

"Then how did he get killed?" Cobot asked again.

"This situation might be more complicated," Victor said, "Perhaps it's just a trick, him acting to mislead us. Or perhaps it's that this body had a problem, and he had to change to another."

"Wait. Then is Edward also worsened because he cognized something?" Cobot's face turned cold.

"It's very likely like that," Victor said, "I indeed knew early on that Brand wasn't simple, but he and Xilei are friends, and Xilei also recognizes his professional level, so I thought he wouldn't harm patients, which is why I didn't expose him."

Cobot deeply furrowed his brows. He believed Xilei's judgment, but if Brand would harm patients, Xilei would never allow Edward to be treated by him, nor would he let Cobot go see him for treatment. And the fact is, Xilei did not stop it.

Another important fact is that Edward had been fine before. His symptoms were actually serious, but he had always kept them under control well. Cobot had witnessed this firsthand. To say Brand didn't give him proper treatment is impossible. But even a slight difference would make it impossible to control this well.

"Could it be an accident?" Cobot said, "Brand himself couldn't control it, causing Edward to have an episode..."

"Then we can only ask Edward," Victor said, "Let's wait a bit longer, he should wake up soon."

Edward indeed hadn't slept long. Before dawn, he woke up. After waking, his face was no longer that pale, and he appeared to have regained mental clarity.

"Edward, are you okay?" Cobot asked with great concern.

"Ah, Oswald." Edward mumbled, "I thought of a new riddle that day, do you want to come solve it?"

Cobot sighed and said, "Let's solve the riddle later. I have some questions I want to ask you."

"Go ahead." Edward walked to the chair by the dining table and sat down, propping his head with his hand, his body still swaying back and forth, which is his habit.

"Doctor Brand..." Cobot's words hadn't finished when Edward's expression changed somewhat.

"You also noticed, right?" Edward asked, "You also noticed Doctor Brand is different. He has been replaced, he is no longer the former one."

This standard statement of a paranoid delusion patient made Cobot a bit caught off guard, for a moment unable to judge whether Edward was having an episode or speaking seriously.

Victor, however, noticed some clues, and said, "How is he different from before?"

"He treats patients poorly now." Edward lowered his eyelids and said, "Completely not up to his former standard, the difference is too great."

Both were a bit surprised. They had thought Edward would say the former Doctor Brand had patience, while the current one doesn't, or that the former used to solve riddles while the current one doesn't, or something like that. But they didn't expect Edward to say it was about medical skill.

"He is very unprofessional," Edward said, "It seems he has forgotten all the knowledge from textbooks, even angering the head nurse."

The two exchanged a glance. Victor whispered, "This is probably not a hallucination."

"So you killed him?" Cobot asked.

"What? He died?" Edward also asked.

This confused the two of them again. Wasn't it Edward who did the killing?

Victor immediately thought of something and asked again: "Do you still remember how you left the hospital and came here?"

"I wanted to come find you. Someone brought me here."

"Who?"

"I don't know. Maybe it was that robot."

"Brainiac," Coppert shouted.

"He suddenly appeared at the entrance of the evacuation shelter in the North District. I was afraid his mental illness would flare up and hurt someone, so I brought him here. But he appeared out of nowhere there. On the way from the hospital to that place, no surveillance captured his image." Brainiac replied.

"His memory has been tampered with." Victor immediately concluded, "Someone took him from the hospital beforehand, altered his memory, made him forget some things, and then sent him to the North District evacuation point."

"Professor Xilei said that altering the memory of a mentally ill person is not something an ordinary person can do." Coppert paused for a moment, then continued, "But if it was his former attending physician, and also a monster, perhaps it could be done."

The two fell silent for a moment. Victor lightly tapped the table, looked at Coppert, and said: "Do you know what this means?"

"If Edward really killed someone, there is now no evidence left. The body has disappeared, the killer has no memory, the photos didn't capture his face…… wait, what about the DNA test results?"

"What accurate DNA does a monster have?" Victor shook his head, "As long as he wants, he can freely alter his own genes. Brainiac cannot obtain an accurate comparison result."

"This means……"

The two looked at each other and said in unison:

"There is no murder tonight."