Chapter 257: Hugo Roams Wonderland (Part 2)_1

First scared by Cobblepot, then frozen by Victor, yet Hugo still didn't want to give up. He thought that this might also be an unlikely coincidence; two geniuses with unique consciousness spaces gathered together and became master and apprentice. As slim as this possibility was, it was not impossible.

Besides these two people, the most recent one who had a treatment record was Evans Falcone.

When Hugo saw this surname, he hesitated for a moment, but he still decided to invite him over. Hugo thought that as long as he didn't take any radical measures and only took a look, he should not provoke that famous godfather.

Falcone's situation was similar to Cobblepot's. He wasn't aware that Shiller had left; he was more receptive to follow-up appointments. When he came to Hugo's consultation room, as in previous sessions, Hugo had him lie on the chair, then turned on the machine and attached the patch to his own head.

After entering Falcone's consciousness space, Hugo froze again because, in Falcone's consciousness space, there was a grand theater.

This wasn't really a problem, as it was just the same situation as with Cobblepot. However, the issue was, next to this theater, there was an old mansion that was half-constructed.

Having two buildings would be fine, but the one beside was still under construction. As Hugo entered, a figure stepped out of the halfway-built building, looked Hugo up and down, and said, "Who are you? How did you get in here?"

Suddenly, his expression changed, "Are you a killer?"

Hugo noticed the man's hand had twitched slightly. But he soon regained calm and said, "No, if he wanted to kill me, he would have come in person…"

At this point, Hugo also realized that this person, existing in Falcone's consciousness space, seemed different from Falcone himself. He asked, "…Dissociative identity disorder?"

"That's right, you're not a psychologist, are you?"

Hugo felt a dangerous quality from this man. He then calmly responded, "Right, I'm performing hypnotherapy on you. What's your name?"

The man looked at Hugo and said, "I'm Alberto. Hypnotherapy? I've never heard of that in Falcone's treatment plan..."

"I'm a new psychologist, and my treatment happens to be like this. You don't have to be nervous, I just want to confirm that your current mental state is normal..."

"Alright, then don't distract me from my work. My house is only half-built, you can go and visit that building over there."

Hugo carefully observed this half-constructed house. He discovered the details were astonishingly intricate, even the bricks that were not stacked and the cement mixed into a slurry were clearly visible.

"What are you building?"

"A house, what else?"

"Why are you building a house?"

Alberto looked at Hugo as though he were an idiot, and said, "If I don't build a house, where should I live?"

This question stumped Hugo. This logic would make perfect sense in the real world, but he didn't know how to explain to the man in front of him that people normally do not need to build houses in their consciousness space.

Impatiently, Alberto waved him off, "The person you want to check and treat is in the house next door. You go find him. Don't bother me."

Hugo could feel the ever-increasing dangerous vibe from Alberto. He did not dare to stay long, fearing that he might stir up more trouble, and so he left the construction site and headed for the theater across the street.

As soon as he stepped into the theater, he was stunned again. There were more than a dozen Falcons rehearsing a play onstage, and what was ironically shocking was that there were quite a few audience members.

What was even more shocking was that Shiller was in the audience.

Hugo hesitated for a moment, unsure whether or not to go in, because he could sense an overwhelming danger from the backs of these audience members.

He swallowed nervously, but he halted his steps and quietly back out.

He didn't even dare to press the button. He ended this journey into Falcone's consciousness space immediately. Falcone, who got up from the chair, yawned. He felt like he had a strange dream but couldn't remember what he dreamt about. So, he said, "Thank you, doctor. Is the treatment over?"

"It's over..." Hugo answered, his mind elsewhere.

After Falcone left, Hugo was still frozen in place because what had happened recently was indeed beyond his expectations.

His career in Gotham has faced a huge challenge from the start, as his worldview has been overturned. From either perspective, the probability of three such rare geniuses appearing consecutively should be zero.

Hugo couldn't understand where the problem was. All his previous theories were built on the basis that ordinary people's consciousness spaces are chaotic, disordered, and lacking. Thus, he believed that his ability to manifest in complete form within individuals' consciousness spaces made him already superior to regular humans. For this reason, he could manipulate them.

But his recent situation can be compared to happily moving into a new home and then getting ambushed three times.

Hugo, true to his profession as a psychologist, had excellent self-regulation. He quickly got out of his shadow and thought of a key point: Shiller Rodriguez - the person who appeared in the consciousness spaces of these three individuals.

Hugo now suspected that Shiller might have used a therapy method that Hugo was not aware of, transforming these three individuals' consciousness spaces into the current state. This was not out of the question.

Hugo had spent the last few nights furiously devouring all of Shiller's papers and research reports, and he had to admit, the theory of Shiller's Thought Palace couldn't possibly be made up out of thin air as it was just too intricate and realistic.

Because of his own arrogance, Hugo hadn't previously taken the time to meticulously read these papers, merely glancing through them. But after careful study, he discovered that Shiller may truly have mastered a lesser-known psychological technique, possibly using it to reshape his patients.

Hugo suddenly felt a sense of indignation. He, too, had conducted unauthorized experiments on humans, was discovered, hunted down, dismissed, forced to seek shelter in Gotham, whereas the acclaimed world-renowned psychology master Shiller got off scot-free. It was outrageously unfair.

Shiller was clearly doing exactly what he did: applying professional knowledge to modify patients. Yet because Shiller was subtle and not easily detectable, he did not pay any price but instead gained fame and accomplishment. This upset Hugo, who had recently been dismissed and exiled.

Because of this, Hugo had thought of a plan: to expose Shiller.

Then a more dangerous thought surfaced in Hugo's mind. If he could control Shiller, all his techniques, knowledge, reputation, and status would be at his disposal.

However, Hugo aware that they were both professionals; while Hugo had some understanding of Shiller's research approach, the reverse should also be likely. It didn't seem plausible to deceive Shiller like his patients, and even if successful, Hugo was uncertain whether he could hypnotize a fellow professional.

Thus, Hugo reckoned, he needed a detailed plan, and a partner.

Finally, his gaze landed on a medical record at the bottom, on which was written a name without a surname - "Jack".

All the weather forecasts in Gotham had not predicted that in such an early autumn, it would really snow in Gotham. Although it was very fine snow and not too cold, it was still a peculiar phenomenon.

Fine and crystalline snowflakes slowly fell from the sky, landing on the rooftop of the somewhat old Arkham Mental Hospital. After covering the tarnished tiles on the hospital roof, the building surprisingly looked brand new.

Because the hospital was quite old, its architectural structure didn't resemble a modern mental hospital. Instead, it preserved some peculiar features of last century's mental hospitals, such as a basement for dealing with troublesome disorders.

The harsh light flickered as a white halo blurred the vision in front. Shiller opened his eyes and saw two silhouettes in front of him.

"You're awake..."

Hugo was tinkering with a machine on the table opposite Shiller while Jack was listlessly picking his fingernails leaning against the nearby railing.

Hugo looked at Shiller, tied tightly to the chair opposite him. The professor was bound to an old interrogation chair, with hands held by iron rings and feet locked securely. He seemed completely immobile.

Shiller glanced at the two sharp circular saws fixed next to his neck and said, "So summoning me to the office to handover work was a ruse to kidnap me?"

Hugo smirked, pressed a button on the wall, and the small circular saws by Shiller's neck began to rotate quickly, inching towards him. But Shiller didn't react, simply looking at Hugo and asking, "What exactly are you trying to do?"

"Nothing much, just hoping you'll cooperate with my hypnosis experiment."

"Oh? This could get interesting..."

"I know, in a regular setting, you wouldn't talk to me, let alone cooperate with me. But with this chair..."

Hugo pressed the button again, and the circular saws resumed spinning, explaining, "...Regrettably, whether you want to or not, you'll have to cooperate."

Hugo picked up a book from the table next to him and held it up to Shiller, saying, "In one of your papers published here, you detailed the theory of the Thought Palace, describing it as a multi-tiered building within the human consciousness space, used to store different memories..."

"I don't know if you've truly achieved this. But soon, we can verify..."

"How do you plan on verifying?"

"You've probably asked quite a few people that question, right? Because you're sure no one can verify this claim; no one can enter your mind..."

Hugo revealed a somewhat cruel smile and said, "...But I can."

"Let's wait and see if you're the biggest fraud of the century, or..."

With that, he began affixing one electrode after another to his own head. The silent Jack stood by, but if Hugo had looked up before closing his eyes, he could've seen the mocking smile on Jack's face.

The moment the brainwaves merged, a long descent into darkness began. Hugo never expected the process of connecting consciousnesses to be this extended. He did not know for how long he kept falling, but there never seemed to be an end.

He felt like Alice falling into the rabbit hole, endless unusual images sweeping across his vision, followed by darkness - and even darker abyss.

Amidst the ceaseless falling, loneliness, and weightlessness, Hugo was on the verge of insanity. Just before he contemplated giving up, he finally landed.

When Hugo regained consciousness his gaze fell to his feet; beneath him was a black floor -

And above him, countless floors stretching into infinity.