The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 4525 The Darkest Night (53)

Chapter 4525 The Darkest Night (53)

"Why did you suddenly ask this? Is Amanda Waller putting pressure on you again?" Barry asked, standing in front of the coffee machine.

Jenna pressed the button, hesitated for a moment, but still said, "It's nothing, I was just thinking that I would be happy if I could help."

“This case is indeed a bit strange,” Barry said, frowning. “All the residents of that old apartment building were experiencing mass hysteria; they all claimed to have seen something, but Brainiac didn’t film anything.”

Jenna shuddered and said, "Could they have seen a ghost?"

Barry shook his head and said, "If only it were that simple. They all said they saw something, but during the subsequent questioning, no one could say exactly what it was. But they kept mentioning one sentence."

"what?"

"Don't look out the window."

"Outside the window? What's outside the window?"

“That’s the problem. There’s nothing outside the window,” Barry shrugged. “The streets outside are normal. There are no monsters or criminals. But they’re convinced there’s something outside the window, to the point that law enforcement can’t even get them out of the apartment building.”

"They didn't take it with them either?"

"No. They resisted too fiercely; some even acted like psychopaths in the throes of a psychotic episode, breaking through muscle limits and injuring law enforcement officers. Sedatives and anesthetics were ineffective. Otherwise, it wouldn't have become such a major case."

"Oh my god, what happened?" Jenna said with some concern. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Barry shook his head and said, "The situation is too bizarre. It's dangerous to let empaths get close to these lunatics."

"So you believe they really saw something."

Barry nodded again: "There are too many things in this world that science can't explain. Haven't we seen enough in Gotham?"

“But this kind of thing is weird even in Gotham, isn’t it?” Jenna said, frowning. “I mean, in Gotham now.”

"If this were in Gotham, it would be much easier to handle. There are plenty of lunatics here to deal with lunatics. But it won't work in Brudhaven. It's just a quiet, peaceful town, and they have absolutely no experience dealing with this kind of thing."

"Barry, Barry, are you there?!" a voice called from outside the door. Barry went over and found it was Dick.

"Oh my god, you're back?" Barry went over and hugged him, then asked, "How's everything on Krypton?"

"It's nothing serious. I heard that something happened in Brudhaven, so I rushed back."

“Your parents are still in Brudhaven, I almost forgot,” Barry said. “Where do they live? Are they near the apartment building where the incident happened?”

“Broodhaven isn’t big, and everywhere is pretty close to that building. It’s only about a five-minute drive from my house.”

Barry sighed softly and said, "You came here to investigate this matter?"

“Yes, I’d like to hear your opinion,” Dick said after a moment’s thought. “Raven wanted to use magic to investigate, but I was worried there might be problems, so I stopped her.”

“It’s a good thing you didn’t go; that place is very eerie.” Barry took a sip of coffee, thought for a moment, and said, “I suspect their minds have been corrupted by something, but we’re still investigating what exactly happened.”

"Someone must be up to something, right?"

“That’s right,” Barry said. “It’s no coincidence that the disaster only happened in that building. Someone must have attracted something they shouldn’t have.”

Dick seemed to have a headache. He rubbed his forehead and said, "What do we do now? Should we call the professor...?"

"There's no need for that yet, after all, no one has died..."

Bang, bang, bang! There was a knock on the door of the break room. The blonde woman who pushed the door open said with a sigh, "Someone died at the dock. Get ready to go out on a field mission."

Barry put down his coffee cup, draped his coat over his shoulders, nodded to the other two, and left. Dick watched him go and asked, "Do you know what happened?"

“Things are getting weirder and weirder.” Jenna paused for a moment, then caught up with Barry and said, “I have to go check it out.”

When the police car arrived at the pier, it was already cordoned off. Bright yellow police tape kept out a large crowd of onlookers, and police officers moved around the crime scene. Barry walked to the door, showed his identification, and the officers pulled back the police tape, but stopped Jenna behind him.

“I am…” Jenna paused for a moment before saying, “a student in the Department of Psychology at Gotham University, and a student of Professor Rodriguez.”

The officer hesitated for a moment, then let her in.

"Wait for me!" Jenna said, a little annoyed.

“You shouldn’t have come in,” Barry said, turning to look at her. “I told you, it’s dangerous for empaths to enter crime scenes like this…”

Jenna took two steps back warily, then said, "You're not going to send me back."

Barry shook his head helplessly and walked into the crime scene. He was shocked as soon as he entered. A woman lay supine on the ground, her arms slightly outstretched, each hand clutching an eyeball—her own eyeball. Brain matter was oozing from her eye sockets. Or rather, not brain matter, but her entire brain.

"How could this be..."

The officer next to him handed him a document, which Barry flipped through before saying, "He removed his own eyeballs? How do you explain his brain then?"

Barry went over to check and found that her brain was not just messed up, but had undergone a fundamental change in nature—it was no longer shattered into pieces, but had truly become liquid.

It wasn't even a liquid made up of cells, but rather resembled some kind of liquid metal, with an oily sheen on its surface, making it look disgusting and bizarre.

Barry stood up, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jenna's face gradually turning pale. He instantly transformed into a bolt of lightning, carrying Jenna away from the crime scene. On the pier, two figures appeared in a golden light. Jenna, leaning against a nearby telephone pole, vomited.

"I told you this could be very..."

"No...no..."

Barry leaned closer: "What?"

“No…no…outside the window…” Jenna opened her eyes wide and wiped the sweat from her eyelashes. “…She looked out the window.”

Barry froze on the spot. Then he opened his phone and saw the victim's detailed information sent by Brainiac. The name field read—"Mrs. Jeretta".

“Another one in Forest Park!” Amanda slammed a file on the table. The Federal Shield employees didn't dare breathe. “It’s the FBI again! We can’t even get a decent case. It’s all because of your incompetence!”

“Jenna! Jenna…” Amanda called out.

“Jenna went out,” an employee said. “She’s not here.”

"Damn it, not here at such a crucial moment!" Amanda was even more annoyed. She took a deep breath, just about to curse, when her phone rang.

"What? You mean you... Okay, I'll send someone over right away. No, I'll go there myself. What's the bookstore's address?"

After hanging up the phone, Amanda put on her coat and said, "Stay here and let me know as soon as there's any new information."

A car bearing the Federal Shield emblem slowly pulled up in front of a bookstore. Amanda looked up at the man at the entrance; he was strong, slightly颓废 and gloomy, yet possessed a unique kind of beauty.

He recognized the face—John Constantine, the once-arrogant genius magician, now a renowned author of suspense and mystery novels. It seems "The Shadow of Farajnes" is getting a film adaptation.

Amanda stepped forward, shook his hand, and said, "Do you have any leads regarding the Bruderhaven mass hysteria and the deaths of joggers in Metropolitan Forest Park?"

“It’s not exactly a clue,” Constantine said, turning and walking into the bookstore. “You know I enjoy writing mystical and fantasy novels, so I often research these topics. I can give you a hint.”

“What?” Amanda frowned. She instinctively disliked these supernatural things, but she had to admit that it was impossible for a case that left Brainiac completely baffled to be unrelated to the occult.

“Gotham University Library,” Constantine said, “has a long history, a vast collection of books, and, more importantly, many manuscripts with occult annotations. I think those things might be helpful.”

"Why are you helping me?" Amanda chose to question first. Although she knew this might ruin the atmosphere, Constantine was simply not a trustworthy person.

“Helping you is helping myself,” Constantine turned to look at him and said, “My constitution attracts those mysterious beings. Once they set their sights on Earth, they will inevitably find me first. Then I’ll be in big trouble.”

Amanda reluctantly accepted this explanation. She said, "Then why don't you go find the journal yourself?"

"That's the problem. 'Knowledge' has power. Once you know something, you're likely to get noticed. I don't want to get myself into trouble, so it's better to find someone else to do it."

Amanda frowned deeply: "So you came to find me?"

“You have absolutely no talent for mysticism and are destined to be completely detached from these supernatural phenomena. You are the best choice,” Constantine said.

Amanda was speechless for a moment, unsure whether he was praising or criticizing her. But since she wasn't interested in it anyway, she took it as a compliment. She said, "What can I find there?"

“There are many. However, this one is quite special, and it may not be one of those ordinary entities. I suggest you look on the second floor of the library.”

"Second floor? What's there?"

“If I had known, I wouldn’t have needed to come to you,” Constantine shook his head and said. “The second floor has always been a restricted area; ordinary people can’t get up there at all. Probably only the librarian has a way to get in.”

Amanda was somewhat dismissive, and was about to explain some modern espionage techniques when Constantine said, "Don't even think about using a helicopter or breaking down a door; that place is protected by magic."

Amanda pursed her lips, but still made a mental note of it. As soon as she left the bookstore, she turned on her phone and asked Brainiac to find out who the librarian at Gotham University was.

Brainiac revealed that Gotham University Library currently has no librarian. However, the previous librarian was named Jason Todd.