Chapter 948: Three Detectives (Part II)

After confirming there was no exit in the observation room, Batman turned his head to look at Zatanna and said, "How many more times can you use that kind of teleportation? I mean, in a limit state..."

"Five times, at most five times." Zatanna sighed and said, "Haven't you noticed that my soul power is almost exhausted? Traveling through memory space is much more troublesome than in reality. Just positioning alone consumes half again as much power. I can only teleport five more times at most, after which I will completely lose the ability to act..."

Batman nodded and said, "Now, use one teleportation to take us to the first floor to find an exit in the living area."

Zatanna appeared somewhat exhausted, but she didn't say anything. With a wave of her hand, a ring of fire appeared. After the three of them entered, they appeared in the first-floor corridor.

Batman started by checking facilities like the convenience store, but after searching for a few minutes, he didn't find anything that looked like an exit. Finally, they arrived at the large cafeteria located on the first floor.

As soon as they pushed open the door, they saw a bright ball of light appear in the center of the cafeteria. Constantine breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Finally found it. Let's go quickly; there's really no way to stay here."

"But why the cafeteria?" Batman wore a classic look of suspicion and said, "The follow-up clinic, observation room, library, study room—aren't these places more likely to have events that would make Shiler feel resistant?"

"Wouldn't it be more uncomfortable to be repeatedly exposed by a psychiatrist or fixed to a chair in a straitjacket than to eat?"

"Who knows? You said it yourself, he's a mental patient; don't try to understand their world." Constantine shrugged, then walked toward the ball of light, with Zatanna following behind him.

Before Batman left, he saw a figure wearing a straitjacket appear outside the cafeteria door. In the flickering light of the safety indicator, it looked eerie and terrifying.

When Shiler, wearing a straitjacket, faced Batman, wearing the Bat-suit, it was hard to say who looked crazier.

Batman turned and walked toward the ball of light. A flash of bright white light passed, and the next second, he arrived in a pure white space.

Constantine sat on the ground with a thud. Zatanna introduced to Batman, "This is the buffer zone. We can rest here for a while and then start considering building a virtual memory..."

"I don't need to rest. What kind of virtual memory space do you intend to build?" Batman asked.

Zatanna thought for a moment and then said, "First, we need to find a relatively safe and stable memory space. It can't be one with such strong aggression, otherwise, it will easily show flaws."

"Then, I'll use the weakness item to trick him into handing over the umbrella. For example... forget it, I'm not very tired either. Let's start directly."

Constantine sat where he was and sighed, saying, "But I... fine, Zatanna, you must treat me to a drink after we get out. I haven't bled this much in a long time..."

After speaking, he stood up from the ground, swaying slightly. Zatanna waved her hand, and many balls of light appeared in front of her, then she said, "These are some memory fragments. I don't know why, but his memory fragments are more shattered than others. A normal person's memory segment can last at least 2-3 days."

"But the longest memory fragment I can find in his soul is only an hour. So, I don't have time for slow foreshadowing. Creating some sudden events might be better. Watch me."

Zatanna stepped forward and picked one from among the many balls of light. After the ball of light expanded, it turned into a screen. Batman saw Shiler teaching a class on the screen.

Seeing that pile of familiar theories on the blackboard and the thesis assignments just handed in on the podium, Batman subconsciously took half a step back, wanting to stay further away from the blackboard.

Zatanna didn't notice his strange behavior. She just stroked her chin and said, "Straitjacket... straitjacket... got it, let's do it this way!"

Then, light shone from one of her hands. She lightly tapped her forehead with the index finger of that hand and said, "Shiler Rodriguez, you were born into a family with a history of hereditary mental illness. You often feel fear about your own mental illness attacks..."

"Wait a minute." Batman interrupted her and said, "Savant syndrome shouldn't be a hereditary mental illness..."

Zatanna curled her lips in helplessness and said, "That's not important. We are liars; our goal is to fabricate things that don't exist..."

"I am replacing Shiler's memory in this memory space. You must make him feel fear so that he will give up his umbrella."

After speaking, Zatanna looked at Batman with some dissatisfaction and said, "Don't interrupt me. This consumes a lot of power."

Batman opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to say something else, but looking at Zatanna's determined expression, he thought about it and closed his mouth.

At this moment, he saw the door to the right of the classroom on the screen being kicked open with a "bang." A group of doctors rushed in. One of them walked up to Shiler and said, "Sorry, Professor Shiler, you previously had a mental illness attack and hurt people, injuring three innocent students. You have been reported by the students' parents. You must come back to the hospital with us for treatment."

Shiler in this memory space seemed to have indeed had his memory replaced by Zatanna. He first showed a look of shock, then sized up the doctor, and finally said, "Fine, I am willing to cooperate with the treatment."

After speaking, he put on his coat, picked up his umbrella, and was about to leave with the doctors. But at this moment, the lead doctor said, "No, to prevent you from having another illness attack and hurting people, you cannot hold any sharp objects. Please hand the umbrella to us; we will keep it properly."

"But it's raining outside." Shiler glanced at the sky outside the window.

Zatanna outside the screen snorted coldly and waved her hand, but nothing changed on the screen. She frowned and waved her hand again, but there was still no change.

"What's going on? Why can't I turn the weather sunny? Stop! Stop raining!... Hurry up and clear up! Show the blue sky! That way he won't have a reason to carry an umbrella..."

"What's going on? Has my ability malfunctioned?" Zatanna was like a gamer whose remote controller suddenly failed, trying various methods, then said, "That's not right, I can still control the scenery in the memory, but why can't I make the rain stop?"

"Where did you set the location?" Batman asked.

"I didn't set the location. This place where he's teaching... oh, it's Cat Getan University."

"I advise you not to try anymore. You can't do it." Batman looked at Zatanna and said, "If you had the ability to make Cat Getan sunny, we could return to reality now and tell this professor about this. He would be very happy to exchange the Curse of Ultimate Evil in the umbrella with you."

Zatanna didn't understand what he was hinting at, but she didn't dwell on this issue for too long. She said, "Forget it, let's change the script."

Then, the lead doctor on the screen said, "Professor, regardless, we cannot let you hold dangerous items. Please hand it to me."

After speaking, he stood up and took a step forward, while Shiler took a step back, but he had no intention of handing over the umbrella. But at this moment, the lead doctor took out a straitjacket and said, "If you don't cooperate, we must take mandatory measures..."

"Good, that's it. If he sees this weakness item and feels fear, then he will definitely choose to cooperate..." Zatanna muttered to herself.

The doctors on the screen holding the straitjacket moved closer and closer to Shiler. But at this moment, Shiler stopped retreating. He looked at the lead doctor and said, "You said I injured three students due to a mental illness attack and was reported. Then, may I ask, what mental illness do I have?"

"Uh..." The doctor paused. Zatanna thought for a moment and said, "... Schizophrenia? Yes, that's right! It's schizophrenia!"

"What type of schizophrenia?" Shiler asked again.

"Type? Does schizophrenia have types?" Zatanna's features wrinkled, and she asked, "What types of schizophrenia are there?"

Batman subconsciously spoke up, "Paranoid, catatonic, disorganized, simple, residual, undifferentiated..."

Zatanna looked at him and said, "Then... among these types, which one has violent behavior toward others?"

"It's complicated." Batman said only one word, then said, "It varies from person to person."

"Symptoms are usually divided into perceptual disturbances, i. e., visual hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, olfactory hallucinations, etc., as well as thought disorders. The most common is persecutory delusion, as well as emotional, volitional, behavioral disorders, and cognitive dysfunction..."

"According to the severity of symptoms, it is divided into mild and severe, and the prognosis varies according to the type..."

"Stop." Zatanna said, "Can you give me a conclusion directly?"

"Paranoid schizophrenia is the most common. Aggressive behavior caused by visual hallucinations can also hurt people. Let's go with that." Zatanna seemed to feel that Batman's answer lacked confidence, but she didn't have a better answer, so she repeated it.

Shiler nodded as if he accepted it. For some reason, Zatanna breathed a sigh of relief, but then he asked:

"What kind of diagnosis did you use to reach this conclusion?"

Zatanna immediately turned to look at Batman. Batman frowned and said, "According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR, WHO's International Classification of Diseases ICD-10..."

"What?" Zatanna didn't even understand this string of words at all, so she could only repeat the pronunciation somewhat stumblingly. Then Shiler asked again:

"Then, after sending me to the hospital, how do you plan to treat me?"

"Early, full dosage, full course of treatment..." Batman recited somewhat mechanically, "The principle of single-drug use and individualized medication should be followed. Risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine, and other second-generation drugs are selected as first-line drugs..."

Zatanna was already completely unable to repeat this part of the content. To her, this was another kind of tongue-twisting magic spell. She sighed and said, "Why is this professor's occupational disease so severe? Can't he just think about things simply? If you're sick, go to the hospital for treatment..."

"Have you considered that he is a top psychologist himself? Although he is not proficient in pathology, he hasn't learned nothing. How could he honestly go to a mental hospital with you?" Batman said.

"Why don't you just force him?" Batman asked again. Zatanna sighed somewhat decadently, "I said it, we are liars, not robbers. Excessive stimulation may lead to the collapse of the mental space, and it will be discovered by the person himself. Once he is alert, it will be very difficult to fabricate memories again."

"Forget it, it's okay, we have two other items." Zatanna looked at the butcher knife and the building blocks again. She said, "Continue."

Zatanna first picked up the butcher knife and said thoughtfully, "How can a knife trigger fear? Normal people should be afraid of being stabbed by a knife, but this type of fear is not suitable for making him throw away the umbrella. On the contrary, he might stimulate the curse in the umbrella because of the defensive action of holding the umbrella..."

"Wait! I know!" Zatanna suddenly had a flash of inspiration and snapped her fingers, saying, "How about this? Shiler holds this knife and commits a murder, and just before he has time to hide the murder weapon, the police arrive..."

"He must deal with the murder weapon quickly to avoid being arrested by the police. To hide such a long knife, one hand is definitely not enough. In the panic, he definitely won't have time to worry about the umbrella!"

Zatanna felt excited about this brilliant idea and intended to put it into practice immediately.

What Zatanna didn't notice was that at this time, the expression of Batman behind her had become somewhat complicated. ===== CHAPTER 949 =====