amaotonovel Chapter 4529 The Darkest Night (57)
Chapter 4529 The Darkest Night (57)
Chapter 4529 The Darkest Night (Fifty-Seven)
"Did they put this in?" Zatanna asked, looking at the stack of papers.
Constantine nodded and said, "They set a trap here. Probably to trigger it at this moment."
"Then we've wasted our time looking for this?"
“No,” Constantine denied, then said, “If there is no forbidden knowledge involved, the trap will not work. This should be what we are looking for.”
"Then they're not worried about us getting the clue... Oh. For people in your line of work, a clue can actually be a death sentence."
“Exactly. They are not only not afraid of our investigation, but they also hope that we can face their God squarely. This is the method.” Constantine waved the paper in his hand.
Do you want to see it?
“I’d be crazy to read this,” Constantine said, straightening up and taking a deep breath. “There must be a lot of filth in it. I need to find someone to translate it.”
"Who can translate this?" Zatanna asked, somewhat shocked.
Constantine didn't continue speaking, but returned to his quarters and went to the basement. There was a ritual setup there.
Constantine placed some items on top and adjusted the ritual arrangements. He then placed the manuscript on top and read softly: "The lurking chaos, the thousand-faced god, the soul and messenger of the Outer God..."
As he chanted, a clicking sound filled the room. The candlelight dimmed. A circular stain spread from the center of the room, then gradually split in two.
"According to your omniscient knowledge, respond to my thirst for wisdom—tell me, in a way I can understand, what is written on the paper. I only need three English words made up of letters, and a mask you gave me..."
Slowly, slowly, the paper began to burn. A mysterious fragrance filled the air. The wind howled, as if traveling through a vast cavern. Constantine closed his eyes. From the blasphemous tone of the flute, he heard the words he longed for—"death, darkness, unbearable to look at."
With a whoosh, silence returned to the room. Something had fallen to the center of the ceremony. Constantine walked over and saw the colorful, feathered, Native American-style mask.
“The Indians…” he said, “Go find the Indians.”
“This mask…” the grocer said, arms crossed, “I’m serious, I don’t know where you got this thing, it’s really bad luck.”
“So what is this?” Constantine asked.
“This thing is actually…” Before he could finish speaking, the wind chimes by the door suddenly rang. Constantine turned his head and saw a familiar face.
“Dr. Soship,” Constantine said, “you’ve found your way here. Any new leads?”
The man in the long trench coat shook his head. He glanced at the mask on the counter and said, "Looks like you've made quite a bit of progress. Tell me about it."
The two looked at the grocer. He sighed and said, "Since you want to know, I can tell you. But I must warn you not to delve too deeply, or you will eventually be swallowed up by it."
"what is it?"
“Death.” The shopkeeper turned and took another mask from the wall, which was covered with several huge Native American-style masks. This one looked somewhat similar to the one Constantine had brought, but it was different.
"Unlike many other peoples in the world, the Native Americans of the Americas were terrified of the ocean. They considered the ocean synonymous with death. They didn't look at it, didn't listen to it, and didn't even record it. The only traces left behind are these things."
The shopkeeper pointed to the two masks and said, "These are masks worn by priests in rituals to appease the god of death. See? These blue feathers represent ocean waves. These represent protruding rock walls. These ornaments represent the beach."
A brown hand caressed the surface of the mask. Then Constantine quickly noticed the difference between the two masks. The one the boss had taken off only contained what he had described. But the one he had, surrounded by blue feathers, had a cluster of jet-black feathers in the very center.
“And this?” Constantine pointed to the black feathers.
The boss looked up at him and said, "It."
"it?"
"The Indians feared the sea. Not because they were cowards, but because they had truly seen the terrifying things that lurked beneath its surface. Everything that went there was dragged into eternal darkness."
Then the shopkeeper pointed to the mask Constantine had brought, the red color below the eyes, and said, "Anyone who looks at it will have their eyes burned, in so much pain they'll want to gouge them out."
Constantine immediately thought of Mrs. Gerrita. The shopkeeper continued, "The person who made this mask must have faced it directly. In the process of making it, he was also constantly moving towards death. That's why I say it's unlucky."
"That matches up again," Constantine thought. "According to Brainiac, Mrs. Gerrita didn't die immediately; she even wrote a letter."
"Why did he make this mask?" Dr. Sohip asked.
"So that people will wear it," the shopkeeper answered bluntly. "Like now, if the person who found it wasn't one of you experts, and just thought it was a craft item, they might put it on their face. Once they put it on, they'd definitely see things they shouldn't see."
Constantine retrieved the mask, and the shopkeeper looked at him and said, "You'd better have some reverence. Even if you're not American, the ghosts of the Indians still haunt you."
“I didn’t intend to take it with me,” Constantine explained, “it would be more dangerous for you to leave it. This is not as simple as it seems.”
"Could it be those cowardly bastards who don't even dare to show their faces causing trouble again?"
“It’s them,” Constantine snorted. “I roughly know what they’re up to. But we’re missing the most crucial link.”
"what?"
"How can we summon it? Right now, looking out the window or putting on the mask seems like suicide, not a real way to summon it. The Hidden Ones must want to bring it to Earth. What will they do?"
The shopkeeper thought for a moment, then said, "The Native Americans kept their distance from it and didn't record any method of summoning it. But you can ask the Latinos. I know that some Latino groups living on the East Coast also have similar legends to ours."
Constantine nodded and said, "Thank you."
Just as Constantine returned to his residence, preparing to contact his Latino friend, Amanda arrived as scheduled and handed over the few words she had deciphered to Constantine.
"A total solar eclipse?" Constantine frowned.
"That's right. But the strange thing is that the total solar eclipse didn't happen in 1873, but rather in 1868, five years earlier. And coincidentally, a total solar eclipse also occurred five years before this year. What do you think is going on?"
Constantine slowly stood up and said, "Of course, it's because what happened in 1873 wasn't a total solar eclipse, but rather it occurred."
"what?"
“Brainiac,” Constantine raised his voice, “go and investigate the sightings of the 1873 total solar eclipse immediately. Not just total solar eclipses, but any event where the sky suddenly went dark or the sun went out, investigate it thoroughly.”
Brainiac beeped twice. Amanda frowned and said, "That era is too long ago; there probably isn't much video footage of it."
“Enough written materials will suffice.” Constantine emerged from behind his desk, put on his coat, and said, “I need to go to Brudhaven’s apartment. You’ll come with me.”
"Let me warn you first, the people inside are extremely uncooperative. We've tried everything, but we haven't been able to get them out..."
Constantine didn't answer, but silently got into the car. Amanda didn't repeat herself either. They soon arrived at the apartment building where Brudhaven had the accident. They met Barry and Schiller at the door.
“Professor,” Constantine called out, “I knew you’d be here.”
"You came to see me?"
“Not entirely,” Constantine said. “But there’s no point in me coming here if you’re not here. I came here specifically to hear your conclusions, about the people inside.”
Schiller nodded. Amanda looked at him and said, "So what did you figure out, Professor?"
“Don’t rush, I haven’t gone in yet,” Schiller said. “Barry, go and bring someone out. Remember, just let him out for a second. Then quickly bring him back into the Speed Force. Don’t let him stay outside for too long.”
Barry nodded. A flash of golden light disappeared. A figure appeared outside. In that instant, he let out a scream that was not human at all. Just as he reached out to grab his eyes, Barry brought him back into the Speed Force and took him back to the apartment.
“Just as I expected,” Schiller said. “They all looked out the window.”
"What?!" Amanda practically screamed, "Then they all...!"
"Don't rush, Barry. Did you bring your freeze gun?"
“I brought it with me, Professor.”
“Okay, freeze them first. Make sure they don’t scratch their eyes. Brainiac. Have Jack draw a vial of blood and send it to Professor Klein’s lab to extract the clown virus. Then dilute it with the fear venom and inject it into them; they should be fine.”
Amanda swallowed hard. Her expression clearly showed she wanted to say, "Is this even a human idea?" But after thinking about it carefully, she realized it might actually work. So she remained silent.
“I found it,” Brainiac said. “In 1873, there were records of total solar eclipses being witnessed in 26 locations around the world. Most of them were concentrated on the east coast of the United States. According to the diary of a fisherman’s descendant, in early December 1873, the sky was dark for about 40 minutes. But only he and his daughter noticed this unusual phenomenon. Everyone else seemed not to have seen it.”
"Are they looking out the window?" Schiller asked.
“No. They didn’t see it,” Brainiac said. “So they survived and died of old age. There are more than 130 similar reports.”
"It seems that the Hidden Ones periodically summon Outer Gods to Earth. Only a select few with abundant inspiration can see them. Once they look out the window and face the Outer Gods directly, they are corrupted and gouge out their own eyes."
“But now, none of those Outer Gods have come,” Amanda questioned. “How come these people have already…”
“Who said it didn’t come?” Constantine turned to look out the door. That direction led to the Atlantic Ocean, but not to its confluence.
“I’m looking for similar reports from previous dynasties. This will help us pinpoint exactly where they were looking,” Brainiac said.
As more and more reports emerged, the point where all the lines Brainiac drew intersected on the map fell precisely somewhere on the coast of Gotham.
When everyone drove there, all they saw was a towering cliff standing amidst sharp, dark reefs, shrouded in dark clouds.