Chapter 2412: Spirit Assault (30)_1

Batwoman watched as Batman disassembled the converter beneath the energy core of the repurposed machine. He seemed more interested in that than the energy core itself, which had cost her a lot of money and time.

With furrowed brows, Batman stared at the jar containing meteorite fragments for quite a while, until Batwoman couldn't help but break the silence. "What's the matter? Is there a problem with it?"

"You should be asking where there isn't a problem," Batman turned to look at her and said, "Have you conducted any investigation on it? Like its origins, its specific nature, material analysis data?"

"Almost none," Batwoman shook her head, admitting, "I didn't have that much time."

"Maybe you just didn't have that much sense," Batman let out a deep sigh and said, "My intuition tells me this thing is extremely dangerous. Perhaps we need to conduct further research before we can incorporate it into our weapons. Otherwise, no one knows what kind of havoc the fired bullets could bring."

"If you want to analyze it, there are instruments over there," Batwoman pointed towards a massive machine by the wall and said, "But it will take time. I'm afraid it will take at least five days to get specific data."

"No, we have a better way, to find Constantine."

When they appeared before Constantine again, she was nearly driven mad. She gulped down the wine from her glass and roared at them, "Can't you state all your business at once?!! Is this fun for you?!!"

"Stop drinking," Batman took the wine glass from the table and said, "There will be plenty of time for that after we're done here."

Constantine, as if electrocuted, swiftly retracted her hand. She rolled her eyes and raised an eyebrow at Batman, evidently picking up an unusual undertone from his still deep voice.

It was somewhat like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey, but who could resist when the carrot was golden?

"Alright then, you better get everything out this time. Otherwise, you won't be able to find me in the Ghost Record Prison."

Batman sat opposite Constantine and handed her the jar with the meteorite fragments. Her expression immediately turned serious as she took it and said, "Where did you get this from?"

"It fell from the sky," Batwoman replied.

"No no no, this is not extraterrestrial," Constantine said, examining the jar. "The nature of the energy flow in this is clearly of the human magical system—in fact, of Ancient Magic."

"Are you sure? Whose magic was used?"

"It's hard to say, but there indeed were a bunch of these things in Ancient Times. However, the one in your possession is particularly special because it's very intricate, as if it were designed for a specific purpose."

"Aren't the others?"

Touching her chin, Constantine said, "Generally speaking, ancient wizards infused energy into metals and other materials to enhance their magical affinity, using them to create Divine Artifacts."

"But this one is different. Its energy flow is too complicated. It doesn't just increase the material's strength; it gives the material a new property."

"Amplifying energy?"

"You understand magic?" Constantine looked at Batwoman, somewhat surprised.

"I've just done some experiments."

Hissing, Constantine sucked in a breath of cold air, tossing the jar back into Batman's arms, and said, "You have no idea what it is and you dared to activate it? What if there were curses? What if it's radioactive?"

"Keep it away, keep it away," she pushed her chair back to dodge and said, "Even the boldest mage wouldn't dare to be as reckless as you. Ancient wizards performed feats of great power, and fiddling with their remnants is too dangerous. At best you could curse a small town, at worst you could erase a whole city from this world."

"Who do you think left this behind? And who disguised it as a meteorite to deliver it into Batman's hands?"

"Do you think it's a conspiracy?" Batman asked Batwoman.

"Most certainly. If you had found it in an ancient tomb, I might not be so suspicious, but since it fell from the sky, the other party may have intended for you to believe it's just a unique material not of Earth. That way, even if you had time to analyze it and the data turned out highly unusual, you wouldn't be suspicious."

Batwoman fell into deep thought.

"I'm afraid I can't give you a specific answer," Constantine sighed and said, "Like I told you, I am not great with theory, unable to unravel those secret histories."

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Constantine shrank back further and then wailed, "You're not going again, are you?! I'm going to be blacklisted by Oxford!!"

10 minutes later, the two Batfigures appeared in front of the door again. Batwoman sighed and said, "I won't go in; otherwise, we'll both look like idiots."

"There's no shame in seeking out more knowledge in fields we're unfamiliar with," Batman said. "We're just inquisitive."

Having said that, he walked in with the jar. Sophop was sitting behind the table fiddling with a globe.

"You again?" he showed surprise.

Batman placed the jar on the table, and the eyes of the man behind the table immediately changed.

"Where did you find it?"

"Egypt, someone disguised it as a meteorite."

Sophop set down the globe in his hand, picked up the jar, and after a moment's pause, said, "I told you before, I don't have the truth or the answers here; you'll have to find those yourselves."

"What about the clues then?"

"I'm sorry, but this time not even clues. I can't be sure what this really is. I know it's dangerous, but beyond that, I know nothing," he said.

"This is extremely important, Doctor. It's not just a threat to this universe, but perhaps to all cosmos," Batman advanced two steps and said, "We suspect someone is using this to frame Batman, make them lose control, and ultimately turn them into a channel."

As soon as the word "channel" was mentioned, Batman saw Sophop's gaze following, which immediately made Batman realize that he must know something.

"Tell me, PhD," Batman took another step forward, standing in front of Sophop, mere inches away, "tell me everything you know."

He was using his usual method of leveraging his physique and presence to increase pressure, but the other party clearly wasn't phased, only turning his head to look at the bottle he held.

"I'm sorry, I can't give you truth and answers."

Batman keenly noticed the change in wording, from cannot to would not.

"Why can't you?"

"Knowledge comes with a price," Sophop sat down and said, "the source of my knowledge would certainly be condemned by you as evil, but in fact, there are mysterious beings in this world with endless knowledge, and as long as you can accept the madness that comes with it, you can get truth and answers."

"Gods?"

"Similar but different, they lack reason, almost akin to natural law. I've spent my life studying them and have found a way to communicate with them, all my knowledge comes from them."

"How can I get truth and answers from them?"

"Never ponder that question, it's not a direction you should consider," Sophop answered firmly, "to receive the knowledge of madness, you need not only willpower but also a high level of inspiration, which will let you see this world in a completely new light, but I believe you wouldn't like it."

Suddenly, Batman saw through Sophop's eyes an endless, dizzying pattern of massive whirlpools, currents, particles, thick mist, starlight, and ocean streams intertwined, pupils like two colorful stars.

Batman realized that this was a world beyond the world.

"I must know all this," Batman still made his decision, he said, "I need to know truth and answers."

"Then bear the cost," Sophop looked at him and said, "when you stare into the abyss, the abyss sees you too."

"What will they do?"

"Perhaps nothing, but being observed by them alone is a disaster; they will be omnipresent, forever lingering, forever watching you among the stars."

Sophop quickly walked back behind the desk, put the bottle on the table, and stood up straight to look at Batman, "It will constantly demand a response from you, endlessly... and you will one day be unable to resist answering their call, venturing into the secrets deep within the stars, sinking into infinite madness."

"Sounds like a curse."

"Much worse than that."

"Is that what you are?"

Batman finally saw a hint of human emotion on the man's face, rather than just an aloof detachment.

"My affairs are never the point," Sophop said. "Come on, make your decision, if you actively call out to them, they might give you what you want, or they might not, but they will certainly see you."

Batman moved with resolute steps to the opposite side of the table and reached for the jar, saying, "I fear no one's gaze, for I am guiltless, always have been."

Sophop let out a long sigh, and drew four tarot cards, but the images on them were nothing like any Batman knew.

The one on the right depicted a black figure wearing a splendid robe and a double golden crown, and the one on the left featured a black silhouette seated on a giant stone base in front of a massive door.

But Batman's eyes were drawn to the card on top, the one that had nothing on it.

"What is this?"

"Nothingness."

"What does it mean?"

"They are a race," Sophop said, "every one of them almost has a form and legend, each representing an image, but some do not have any, they are often unimaginably mysterious and extremely dangerous."

"More accurate than the others?"

"More unstable than the others," Sophop said, looking into Batman's eyes, "you don't know what you will get, everything is uncertain."

Batman placed his hand on the blank card.

Almost instantly, he was shrouded in thick mist, and a barely detectable wisp of mist appeared in the jar in his hand.

Shiller suddenly opened his eyes.

The entire Luminous Alliance felt a storm in an instant, intangible and insubstantial, not physical, but for the first time so clearly and directly experiencing Shiller's presence akin to a natural force.

"What's going on?" Stark asked in a low voice,

Shiller looked up at him, and in Shiller's gaze, Stark saw an unprecedented depth.

"Are you sure?" Shiller asked inwardly.

"I am certain," Gray mist's steady voice resounded within, the metal in the meteor fragment in Batman's hands and the energy flow on the helmet displayed by Spider Man are identical... they were made by the same person.