Chapter 2867: A Mantis Trying to Stop a Chariot (Part 2)

No wonder he saw a silhouette in another hotel window when he first arrived; that must have been his current self.

But then, the silhouette disappeared and never reappeared. What would happen if he kept standing here?

Shiller heard a noise coming from the bathroom.

He turned his head and stared at the bathroom for a while before finally walking over, pushing the bathroom door open. The toilet was intact, seemingly repaired, with the noise coming from the bathtub drain.

Gurgling...

Shiller remembered the bathtub drain was not very clear when he first entered the room, and now the noise was more intense, as if something below was ventilating.

Gurgling gurgling gurgling...

Shiller felt his headache intensifying, his vision constantly darkening. He desperately covered his ears and ran toward the bathroom door. The sound chased him for a while until he returned to the living room where it finally quieted down.

There seemed to be no Hallucination Monster in the room, and the toilet was fine, as if it were just an ordinary hotel.

It wasn't so, Shiller leaned on the door gasping for breath, feeling increasingly weak; deep down, an instinct reminded him that his time was running short.

"Where the hell am I???"

When Shiller stood up, he collapsed on the coffee table, knocking over things that clattered to the floor; a water bottle fell, spilling water that soaked the carpet.

Numerous bubbles rose from the water.

Shiller seemed to suddenly realize something. He began to focus hard, countless images flashing through his mind; he gathered his last bit of strength and rushed to the window.

Opening the window, he saw a staircase of white bones spreading upwards.

Shiller pulled out a knife from his pocket and struck the lowest support with force.

Crash!

The bones shattered on impact, and the entire staircase collapsed. In the moment Shiller looked up, he saw two figures suddenly standing on the opposite rooftop; afterwards, he completely lost consciousness.

When he woke up again, Shiller suddenly spat out two mouthfuls of water, lying on the ground violently coughing. Through his blurred vision, he saw the faces of Jerome and Cobblepot.

Lying not far from him was a soaking wet Gordon.

Shiller struggled to turn over, using the dim moonlight, he could see a trail of water stains in front of him leading to a large swimming pool.

Then the moonlight shone on the surface of the pool, ripples moving gently with the breeze, reflecting a silvery white net that continuously floated and undulated...

Gordon, coughing vigorously, spat out all the water he had swallowed. He said in a hoarse voice, "I told you, this thing is very dangerous..."

Shiller lay on the roof, silently watching the moon.

Is Wayne Manor truly Wayne Manor? Is metal truly metal? Is Nyarla truly Nyarla?

If all is fake, Shiller looked at the wound on his right shoulder, then how did this come about?

Suddenly, he reached into his coat pocket, where there was a knife. He pulled it out, but found it wasn't the regular knife that was in Jerome's hand; it was the Vibranium knife he used earlier to pry out screws.

It was still stained with his blood.

So, like room 1905, does the pool also contain a monster that creates illusions?

No, it's probably not that simple.

Shiller's gaze suddenly turned toward Gordon; he got up from the ground and walked over to Gordon. Before Jerome and Cobblepot could react, Shiller drove the knife directly into Gordon's head.

Shiller harshly pried open Gordon's skull, pulled out a silver-gray metal from his head, and slammed it onto the ground, cursing.

When he turned his gaze glaringly at Jerome and Cobblepot, the two simultaneously shuddered.

As a price for nearly drowning, the pool revealed a grim ending.

"Hand over your metal," Shiller gritted his teeth, clutching his shoulder wound and breathing heavily, but stared fixedly at Jerome and Cobblepot, "Your riddled plan won't succeed, I won't give Nyarla another chance to mock me."

The Black manager's smile was a silent mockery, predicting the worst outcome—everything is normal, but they could never escape the clutches of the Evil God.

Gordon, with his head split open, was not yet dead, but his words shook Jerome and Cobblepot. The Captain sighed helplessly and said, "Give it to him, we ultimately didn't succeed. The city went back to its 'peaceful' ways, but the Evil God haunts each of us."

Jerome and Cobblepot hesitated, but Shiller clearly was not going to wait; Cobblepot had not yet reacted, but Shiller already rushed in front of him, stabbing him in the shin where, instead of blood, a wine-red, metallically reflective liquid flowed out.

"Ah!!!!"

Cobblepot screamed, the pool water on Shiller dripped onto his body and into his eyes, and Cobblepot stiffened as if he saw something unimaginable.

He suddenly turned around and pushed Shiller away. Shiller noticed his strength had significantly increased, seemingly activating his self-protection instinct, but it was not due to the stab.

A few seconds later, Cobblepot collapsed, his pupils dilated, tremblingly he said, "Fish... Fish is... the Red Queen..."

Shiller immediately remembered that the Red Queen was also an avatar of Nyarla—seems like Cobblepot finally encountered her.

He turned to ask Gordon, "Which Outer God has approached you?"

"A baron," Gordon replied.

"Baron Samadi," Shiller added, "the God of Death from Voodoo, one of Nyarlathotep's avatars."

Shiller got up from the ground, ignoring the trembling Cobblepot, grabbed Jerome, and dunked his head into the swimming pool.

Gurgling gurgling gurgling...

The gurgling sounds from the bathtub were actually the sounds of a person exhaling. When one can't help but exhale like this, they are about to drown, followed by choking on water, and then death by drowning.

Only when Jerome's breath ran out did Shiller pull him up, and Jerome's face turned pale.

"Who did you see?"

"A man all in black, from his skin to his lips, all black, with just a hint of light in his eyes."

"The Man in the Dark, who brings dark decrees to witches and cultists, another avatar of Nyarlathotep."

Jerome spat out some water and sat by the swimming pool. He looked at Cobblepot and said, "Give him the metal; this plan is meaningless for Nyarlathotep. It can't combat the Outer God."

Cobblepot opened his mouth, but eventually, he cut open the muscles in his leg, letting all the wine-red metal flow out.

Suddenly, Peter sent a message.

"Ph.D., the hotel is starting to transform, but now... my goodness, what is that???"

Shiller immediately realized that the hotel where Peter was indeed existed in the future.

If their end is that the plan succeeded but they never truly contacted Nyarlathotep, then the outcome would be a return to calm, but this calm is only superficial; all of them will be sought out by the avatars of the Outer Gods.

He encountered the Black Pharaoh, Gordon the Baron Samadi, Cobblepot the Red Queen, and Jerome the Man in the Dark.

This meant that although they had indeed restored calm to Gotham according to the plan, they had also fallen under Nyarlathotep's eternal curse; these avatars would haunt them until the end of time and space.

And the situation in Peter's hotel was exactly like the future seen in the swimming pool—seemingly calm but weird at every turn, capturing no useful clues, forever living under the shadow of terror.

Now, by collecting the metal ahead of time, Shiller meant they abandoned the plan to travel to the ancient city, the future was changed, but it was hard to tell from Peter's experience what exactly the future had turned into.

Should he enter the swimming pool again?

Just as Shiller put his hand into the swimming pool, he realized something was off; the water no longer had normal buoyancy, and if he went down again, he would sink straight to the bottom and might only be able to stay there for about ten seconds.

Moreover, once he entered the water, he would be completely trapped in an illusion and had to be pulled up by someone else; he couldn't escape on his own.

Should he take a bet and see what this outcome is like?

Just as Shiller was thinking this, Peter sent him a bunch of photos—surprisingly, images of the monster that appeared in the future hotel.

As soon as this monster appeared, Shiller knew it was another bad ending, as the creature's surface flickered with a metallic sheen, exactly like that of Amber Gold, indicating that the pool filled with Amber Gold under the ancient city had gone out of control, possibly contaminating all of Gotham.

If Shiller was not mistaken, this outcome could be that, in their desperation to combat Nyarlathotep, they allowed Amber Gold to spread throughout Gotham via the sewers. Gothamites indeed have antibodies, but even the strongest antibodies could not withstand such a dose, turning everyone into monsters similar to the Talons of the Court of Owls.

This might be another deceit by Nyarlathotep, making them believe they had a chance against him, but in reality, everything was just like the first outcome—a cunning trap.

Nyarlathotep's pleasure lies in watching people suffer in despair; thus, he would never kill directly but use such methods to deceive, offering hope, then crushing it.

Shiller had to admit that the moment the Black manager smiled at him, he felt an indescribable terror and despair.

There were no monsters, everything seemed so peaceful and tranquil, the man looked just like an ordinary person, and his smile was also friendly, just right, but it still brought a deep sense of despair.

He looked at the swimming pool again, knowing now that the water belonging to the Reckless Faction was actually Amber Gold, he realized this hallucinatory substance wasn't concocted by the Four Families at all.

This meant that this swimming pool, capable of showing outcomes, also belonged to Nyarlathotep.

In the thirty-six stratagems, capturing the heart is the best strategy; it seemed Nyarlathotep was sure no matter what they did, they would never find a good outcome.

Shiller suddenly thought that this might be exactly his purpose.

Martha also disappeared in the swimming pool; perhaps she had also discovered that this pool could show different futures. She tried again and again but never found a future where she could be saved.

Drowning is extremely painful for the human race, arguably one of the most painful ways to die.

But for that slim, perhaps deceitful, hope, humans are willing to throw themselves into hellish conditions over and over.

As they exhaust their finite lives in infinite suffering, crafting a noose to strangle themselves, hoping for a glimpse of light with their last breath, but realizing they will forever rot in darkness, that burst of pain and despair is the utmost satisfaction and enjoyment for Nyarlathotep.

This is truly more thrilling than that pile of crap, thought Shiller. Very well, this is the reward for my diligent shit-playing.

Shiller took out a half-burnt red candle, lit it, and silently recited the name of Manipulation.

After a moment of stiffness, Shiller slowly stood up, looking at the shimmering water, a gentle smile appearing on his face.