Chapter 588: Schiller Flips Again (Part 2)

At the apex of Schiller's Mind Palace, the towering Kong Su sat cross-legged at the edge of Gao Ta's summit, his repaired staff resting on his knees; the massive serpent head of Ye Meng rested nearby, and both stared fixedly at a room within the tower.

Their posture at this moment was barely a stool away from that of old men relaxing under a tree after dinner; had they had a bag of sunflower seeds, it would have been perfect.

But the state of Lex Luthor within the room they watched stood in stark contrast to their relaxed demeanor.

One might still recall that Batman's exam involved uncovering the mastermind behind one of Gotham University's murders, while Lex's opponent was Schiller.

Of course, not the DC Schiller himself—DC would never personally descend to beat up a teenage version of Lu Se; he sent Moonlight Schiller to do it.

But there was ample reason: unlike Batman, Lex wasn't facing a gang of loudmouth villains or a Joker who daily staged kidnappings to force Batman into impossible choices—he was facing Superman, the embodiment of justice.

If Lex was destined to one day face Superman directly, his first lesson wasn't how to be a good villain, but how to survive and minimize harm.

Superman was unlikely to kill Lex outright, but just as an adult elephant might say it meant no harm and only wanted to play, Lex needed to learn how to dance with the elephant without being crushed.

In raw power alone, Moonlight Schiller was no match for Superman; but if they'd truly summoned a real Superman, the cost of Lex's exam would have been far too high—the tuition paid for donating two lab buildings couldn't cover the damage from a nuclear explosion detonating inside Schiller's Mind Palace.

Moreover, simply being blown away would grant Lex no experience; being chased and slashed by Moonlight Schiller, however, would train him to find escape routes at maximum speed.

At this moment, Schiller, carrying an umbrella knife, paced at the mouth of an alley; to ensure a fair exam, the room imposed restrictions on both sides.

First, Moonlight Schiller could see only objects bathed in moonlight—he could not see or touch anything hidden in shadow.

Lex, meanwhile, could move only where moonlight fell; he was paralyzed in darkness.

This created a stalemate: Lex hid motionless in the shadows, Moonlight Schiller couldn't see him, couldn't guess his location, and even if he did, couldn't reach him—so he waited outside the alley.

The standoff had frozen, but DC Schiller, who arranged the exam, had anticipated this; now, sitting atop the tower, Kong Su judged the time right and tapped his staff lightly with a finger—immediately, the moon within the room began to drift slowly.

As the moon moved, so did the moonlight, and with it, the shadows; Lex, hiding at the alley's end, was suddenly illuminated—and in that instant, he lunged out. The umbrella knife flashed, a sharp "sssshh," and blood sprayed.

Lex's back bore a wound, but he had escaped the alley; when he reached the street, he realized his luck was terrible—the moon hung directly overhead, casting every building's shadow into a thin, narrow line.

There was no space there for him to stand, but he had no time to think—he sprinted straight toward the nearest building's staircase.

The buildings themselves were inaccessible, but the external staircases could be climbed; the shadow at the staircase's turn was enough to conceal Lex.

This dream-battle wasn't meant to train his combat skills, nor even his physical strength—only his mental fortitude could be improved.

Through countless runs, choices, and hiding, his mental strength would grow, his reflexes sharpen, and his willpower strengthen.

Facing Superman, boosting physical power was useless—no matter how strong he became, he could never surpass Superman; mental resilience and stability mattered far more—even developing gear through sharper thinking was better than trying to brute-force his way past Superman's fists.

This battle wasn't without an endpoint: Lex had to endure each scenario for half an hour, which wasn't overly difficult, because within this room, Moonlight Schiller possessed only the physicality of an ordinary teenager—slightly stronger than Lex, but not by much; his only real advantage was the umbrella knife in his hand.

But what troubled Lex most was Moonlight Schiller's pervasive sense of pressure.

Even though he knew that as long as he stayed in shadow, Schiller couldn't touch him, whenever Schiller approached the darkness, Lex's heart raced and his body broke into cold sweat.

It seemed an innate aura, like a hunter bred to stalk humans; in this endless chase and concealment, Lex began to observe this quality closely, learning how to use his own posture to impose pressure on his opponent.

Meanwhile, in the Dream Realm, Schiller turned to Constantine and said: "Return to the ship, find Captain Schiller, and have him sail you back. I'm taking Morpheus to tour my home—we'll meet again later… Oh, and don't forget to bring Clark."

After Constantine, Clark, Batman, Victor, and the others who had come to watch departed, Schiller extended a hand to Morpheus and said: "After you."

The two walked through the Dream Realm to the base of Schiller's Mind Tower, then climbed upward through the hole previously carved, reaching the ground floor of the Mind Tower—Morpheus's first time inside; before, he had only glimpsed it from afar.

"It's quieter than you imagined, isn't it? But that's because many of me are still aboard the ship; when they return, it'll be lively again," Schiller explained.

"But it doesn't matter—you're not here to meet my other personalities, are you? Ye Meng? Ye Meng? Where are you? Didn't you say today we'd have guests? You were so eager to be the tour guide just now…"

After Schiller called for a long while, the massive serpent finally slithered slowly down the inner wall of the tower, accompanied by Kong Su.

Kong Su remained trapped in Schiller's Mind Palace because Moonlight Schiller went on a killing spree, making him wanted across the Egyptian pantheon; Schiller then crashed his ship into the heavens, leaving Kong Su stranded and unable to return home.

When Kong Su saw Morpheus, they both sensed something between them—but instinctively avoided the topic, while the bold, inexperienced Ye Meng circled Morpheus several times, clicking his tongue: "Look, another victim. Did he take your body too?"

Morpheus looked up at Ye Meng's colossal serpent head, as if pondering something—when suddenly Ye Meng said: "I am the Great World Serpent Ye Meng! The first deity to arrive here! I'm your senior, and I must tell you the rules: I sleep at the very top of the tower, so you'd better not…"

Just as Ye Meng finished speaking, he noticed a black-and-gray Siamese cat appear in Morpheus's arms. Ye Meng froze—he recognized cats, but couldn't fathom why Morpheus had suddenly produced one.

But he soon understood: the moment the cat opened its eyes, it began to grow, and grow, until one paw slammed Ye Meng flat onto the ground.

Schiller looked up at the enormous Siamese cat and said: "This is the Dream of a Thousand Cats? I thought there'd be many cats."

"There are many—this is the embodiment of their collective consciousness. You may not know, but the world was once ruled by cats; then humanity collectively dreamed, and their collective consciousness altered reality—so humans became masters, and cats became pets."

"The Dream of a Thousand Cats is the collective consciousness of cats. But what you see here is the physical manifestation of that consciousness—called the Dream of a Thousand Cats. Or you can just call him Xiao Hei."

Schiller looked up at the giant cat pinning Ye Meng motionless, and thought the word "little" might not be accurate.

As Morpheus, Schiller, and Kong Su stood side by side, watching the cat-and-serpent spectacle, the room where Moonlight Schiller and Lex fought remained unchanged—Kong Su had left, and the moon's position had not moved. Lex hid in the staircase's shadow, unmoving; Moonlight Schiller waited below like a hunter at a trap.

When Lex realized the moon had stopped moving, he sighed in relief—he thought he could hold out until the next scene changed. But after a long half-hour passed, the scene didn't shift at all, as if the game had frozen.

Moonlight Schiller wasn't good at waiting—he lacked patience. Seeing Kong Su wasn't doing his job, he grew restless and tried to bypass the room's restrictions, directly contacting Kong Su.

But Kong Su was conversing with Morpheus; they had much in common—one was a moon deity, the other a dream deity—and lunar phases connected to sleep, and lunar cycles linked to different dream states.

Divine communication wasn't mere speech; as Kong Su fully immersed himself in the shifting moon phases and dream states, he failed to notice that his once-chosen most formidable Pope had now lost all patience.

Just as the cat-serpent battle neared its end and Ye Meng, predictably, tried to flee, a loud "boom" echoed from an upper room—debris exploded outward. In the instant the blade's power connected with Kong Su's, a massive slash of light shot downward.

As is well known, no matter the breed or state, all cats share one trait: they're easily startled.

The Dream of a Thousand Cats, wholly absorbed in playing with the serpent, noticed nothing above—until suddenly, a "whoosh," a chill on his head, and the blade's light grazed his right ear, shearing off a tuft of fur.

"Miaow!"

!

The cat's startled shriek rang out—immediately, the Dream of a Thousand Cats fluffed every hair, arched its back, raised its tail, and extended all claws.

With a "boom," the giant cat shattered into thousands of tiny cats, which instantly flooded Schiller's Mind Tower.

At that moment, a low horn sounded—the Boat of the Underworld, just returned, slowly docked beside the tower.

Standing on the bow, Marvel Schiller watched in horror as the tower was swallowed by a sea of cats.

He saw his house flicker twice—then vanish.