Chapter 2858: Demon Forbidden Zone (18)

Shiller walked over and flipped through the books, finding that most of the books on the bookshelf were about world history and economics, which was very much in line with Thomas's character.

Shiller didn't know much about Thomas in this universe, but he had come across another Thomas, the elder from the Flash Universe.

Simply put, Thomas Wayne was a product of the Wayne Family's elite education system. He had received an elite education but had not accepted it completely, for he was quite rebellious in his youth and never really liked studying, let alone a career in economics.

The Wayne Family had always intended him to be the successor of the corporate empire, but he preferred not to study finance and economic management and instead chose to study medicine. After completing medical school, he even went to the battlefield. It was only after he had his fill of wanderlust and grown older that he came back to marry and take over the family assets.

Shiller didn't find any medical-related books on the shelf, which suggested that Thomas in this universe might not have gone through medical training and instead completed the full set of elite educational courses before taking over Wayne Enterprises directly.

On the desk, Shiller found some annotated reports that seemed to concern the renovation of Gotham's underground water system. Because the water system had been long neglected and drainage was poor, several major families took the lead on a project intending to completely refurbish the sewers.

Thomas's opinion stated that it was okay to fix it, but the costs must be shared by all the major families to reap the benefits together. He certainly would not play the fool, footing all the bills and still be cursed for it.

Then there were some snippets of corporate affairs, various financial statements, most of which he had only glanced over with hardly any annotations left.

With nothing on the desk, Shiller started rummaging through the drawers. He remembered that Thomas had the habit of keeping a diary because he needed to keep inventory and record the recovery status of the wounded on the battlefield. This habit persisted even after his return, but it wasn't clear if Thomas in this universe maintained it.

In the bottom drawer, Shiller found a locked drawer, and upon prying it open, he indeed discovered a diary, but it only had a few pages written in it. It appeared that the diary hadn't been used for long, and the handwriting was somewhat sloppy, not quite matching Thomas's educational level.

"I had that dream again, I feel this is all God's punishment, He has abandoned me, or why else would He allow that monster to keep entering my dreams?"

"I swear, I didn't know it was real, I had no idea that the monster really had the power to do all this, if I had known, I definitely would not have agreed, I think I might not even have made a promise, I was nearly dead at that time, my thoughts mean nothing, just as no court would accept the testimony of a person who is mentally ill..."

"He says I promised him, yes, it's true, but I was about to die at that time, I just wanted to survive, I don't understand what is happening, it wasn't intentional, God, please save me."

"He came again today, he seems very disappointed with me, but I can't possibly do as he says, I cannot pledge fealty to the Evil God, that would cast my family into an abyss from which we could never return, even if he comes again today, I will still refuse him."

"He didn't come today, where did he go?"

"Almost 5 months have passed, he hasn't come anymore, I believe, it was just an illusion of my post-traumatic stress disorder, it must be so."

"Turns out he didn't stop coming..."

The last sentence made Shiller's heart skip a beat.

Thomas seemed very anxious, even panicked, as he wrote these words. They were disjointed, and the handwriting was sloppy, as though he was venting something.

From these words, Shiller could deduce that Thomas seemed to have made a deal with the Evil God, a deal that had allowed him to survive, but after living through it, he did not keep his promise. The Evil God came to him every night, but Thomas kept refusing.

In the middle, the Evil God disappeared for a while but then came back. However, the phrase "he didn't stop coming" written by Thomas was somewhat baffling to Shiller.

But if combined with Martha's situation, Shiller could guess something; these tricks of the Evil Gods were all too similar, like loan sharks enforcing debts. If you steadfastly refuse to pay, they harass your family members.

Perhaps the Evil God had returned, only not to Thomas but to Martha instead.

Of course, there was also a possibility, and Shiller was more inclined to believe this one based on his previous conjectures: Thomas might no longer be Thomas. The Evil God took away his soul and replaced him, only he himself was unaware of it.

And by the time he realized it, it was already too late.

This speculation was confirmed when Shiller reached the last page of the diary, where a few sentences were written very sloppily.

"Martha, if you see me, do not believe it is me, the resurrection is always a deception, the real me is already dead, do not believe... do not believe... do not believe..."

It seemed that the Thomas who wrote these words had realized that the so-called salvation and resurrection by the Evil God was nothing but a hoax, that the thing brought back to life wasn't really him, but rather a monster with his consciousness and memories.

Thus, the symptoms of Martha's mental illness had a possible explanation, much like those of Old Godfather Falcone, where the dearest person at one's side had been replaced, but there was no evidence to be found.

You just felt that he was becoming more and more uncanny, identical to the person you remember yet vastly different, which made you wonder whether it was you or the world that had gone mad.

There was no answer to all the questions about this person's identity, everyone thought you were overthinking, and their attitude was as good as always, leaving you no grounds for complaint. Yet in the silent solitude of your room, they stood by your bed, staring fixatedly at you.

With this, the timeline of events became clear.

Thomas Wayne might have had an accident, and in a semi-lucid state, he was lured by the Evil God, agreeing to its conditions to survive. But, in reality, it was all a scam, the survivor was not him at all, but a source of corruption that retained his memories, or at least a part of Nyarlathotep.

Thomas was gradually replaced until he completely turned into a monster. Martha realized this, but could not find any proof, until Martha Wayne got pregnant.

Martha might have sensed something wrong with the child, but in those times, it was difficult for her to escape Thomas's surveillance to seek an abortion. Perhaps she too harbored a sliver of hope, unwilling to kill her own child, and could only confirm and pray repeatedly.

Unfortunately, it wasn't her illusion; the presence of the Evil God was real. As Martha's sanity was on the brink of collapse, she saw Thomas's true form.

She couldn't accept any of it, so she went completely mad.

But still, the power of a mother is almost limitless. Martha very likely confronted that monster, and might even have communicated with it to strike a deal, buying herself a period of respite.

Using this time, Martha made arrangements. Utilizing the power she got from the Evil God, she contaminated the hotel and the estate, yet she also sealed this corruption temporarily.

Afterwards, Little Bruce was born, and by that time, Thomas and Martha had been entirely corrupted by the power of the Evil God. They were no longer his parents. Little Bruce had the Evil God's bloodline and was raised by it, which is why he became so eerie.

Shiller guessed that perhaps the Evil God did not anticipate being defeated by the powerful will of the DC Universe's cosmos. Batman's parents were destined to die, so these two puppets might have died when they were supposed to as well.

Upon the parents' death, the pollution in Little Bruce's body did not erupt on time, and Nyarlathotep's plans were almost entirely thwarted. But it was unlikely to just accept this, so it later haunted Little Bruce again.

Shiller also roughly conjectured what Martha's contingency plan was, his gaze falling on the files for the Gotham sewer renovation project.

Jerome and Peter found the door to the third sub-level, which wasn't really a puzzle; the door was hidden in the maintenance room of the second sub-level underground parking bathroom.

It was only after Peter, who didn't see any sewer maintenance facilities on an entire floor, suggested checking the bathroom, that they thought of looking there.

Peter's uncle was an electrician, and he was very familiar with these matters, knowing that a hotel of that size would need a separate room to maintain everything, like a main power distribution room, and the sewer was no different.

Typically, such a room would be located at the bottom, for easier access to check the sewer's condition. Indeed, the two found a passage that led downward in the bathroom's maintenance room.

However, the appearance of the third sub-level was beyond their expectations. To be accurate, there was no third sub-level, just a sewer system, which once descended into had the very typical look of the Gotham underground.

Peter felt enveloped by a chill, damp air, and the water beneath his feet didn't seem like water but more like some kind of mucus, stretching strings as he lifted his feet.

He rubbed his arms, feeling the cold, and Jerome, after looking around, said, "I think we should head this way, the wind is coming from here."

Peter glanced in that direction, saw nothing unusual, and to prevent getting lost, left a trail of Spider Silk on the walls as a marker. The two headed in the direction from which the wind blew.

Along the way, Peter noticed that the water in the sewers was constantly flowing towards the hotel. He recalled Doctor Sophocles's speculation that this water could be the source for the toilets.

So the toilet water was always trying to break through the hotel's defenses? But where did the sewer water get the power to become abnormal?

They continued forward, took a turn, and in front of them were densely packed waterways, looking like a maze with many twists and turns, but upon walking, they found most paths to be dead ends, with only one viable route, like a simplified version of a labyrinth.

The two of them kept walking until a strand of light appeared ahead, thinking they were about to reach the surface.

But after getting used to the light, what they found in front of them was not an exit but a tall, dark, ancient city.

Atop the gate of the ancient city was a lifelike Owl sculpture. Its shiny eyes vividly fixed on the long-lost visitors.