Capítulo 3740: Chapter 2859: The Forbidden Area of Alien Demons (19)
Indeed, Jerome's eyes shone brightly, but Peter was somewhat confused. He knew that the madman before him was hiding something, but the sudden appearance of such a vast ancient city still shocked him.
Jerome entered the ancient city without any hesitation, while Peter felt timid and apprehensive. Seeing this, Jerome no longer hid the truth and talked as he walked further inside.
"Although the Evil God is terrifying, the Gothamites are not completely helpless. As early as 20 years ago, someone had predicted today's events and left clues in Gotham Cathedral."
"About 20 years ago, the Four Families joined forces to renovate Gotham's Sewer System, and they discovered a secret site and countless hidden cultists inside the sewers."
"Could it be that they caused the city's mutation?" Peter asked.
"On the contrary, they delayed the city's mutation. The mutation was supposed to erupt 20 years ago. The Four Families made every effort to kill all the cultists and throw them into a special pool, and during the renovation of the sewers, they spread their special powers through the water system."
Peter immediately thought of the toilet water. No wonder the toilet water that splashed on him when he pressed the button earlier didn't turn him into a monster. This thing was not part of the same system as the current hotel's pollution.
"Does this power not pollute?" Peter asked.
"Actually, it does," Jerome sighed, "but the Gothamites aren't scared anymore because we've discovered that since the construction of this city, this pollution has been continuously eroding our bodies. A little more won't make a difference."
Peter was somewhat speechless, unsure if this could be considered fighting poison with poison.
Jerome continued.
"20 years ago, dedicated individuals worked together to accomplish this great feat, but unfortunately, it only delayed the advance of the Evil God, not completely solving the problem. Thus, they left information in Gotham Cathedral, hoping that future generations could finish the task."
"I don't understand," Peter shook his head, "How can we complete something that the entire city couldn't manage before?"
"Back then, the efforts of the Four Families were not enough, not because they lacked the ability, but because they lacked some things which needed 20 years to find."
"What were they missing?"
At this point, Jerome shook his head and remained silent as the two walked deeper into the ancient city. Jerome seemed to have a map in his mind, leading Peter through twists and turns without getting lost, and the paths became more spacious as they advanced.
Soon a light appeared ahead, and Peter thought they were about to leave, but after turning down a corridor, what appeared before him was a massive temple surrounded by owl statues, with a pool in the very center.
The pool wasn't filled with water, but a liquid emitting an alluring luminescent glow. In this damp, decaying underground, Peter detected a captivatingly sweet scent.
As if possessed, he walked over to the pool.
Like someone who had been thirsty for a long time, Peter could hardly resist the sweet aroma. He instinctively reached out to touch the mesmerizing liquid.
Jerome said behind him, "Drink it, and you'll no longer be thirsty."
Back in Wayne Manor, having left the study, Shiller sneaked down to the first floor. Not exactly sneaking, for Alfred turned his head to look for the doorknob wrapped in Martha's hair after discovering Shiller had disappeared.
But after grabbing the doorknob, he didn't stay there but headed to the fourth floor instead. Shiller guessed it was probably because the master bedroom was on the fourth floor, but he couldn't worry about that now; he had to get Gordon's head back.
Fairly speaking, Gordon was a good cop, chiefly because Shiller had also promised to help him find his comrade's body in the manor. Having bragged about it, he could not back out now. With the body still missing, he could only think of a way to retrieve Gordon first.
Indeed, Shiller found the headless body next to the dining table in the first-floor hall and followed the trail of blood to the stairs. Under the stair's twist, he found Gordon's head, which could still blink, evidently still alive.
Shiller felt it strange. There were previously some tentacles lodged in Gordon's neck, so switching bodies was not that weird, but after he picked up the head, he found nothing, with no signs of contamination, making it bizarre that Gordon's head could live on its own.
Shiller thought of examining it, but had no time to do so because two figures rushed through the front door—it was Jerome and Cobblepot.
"Something's happened," Jerome's face was pale. Shiller noticed his shirt was stained with blood; clearly, a desperate escape had reopened his wound.
Cobblepot's leg was also bleeding, making him limp even more severely, and his flesh seemed to hang loosely.
Shiller frowned slightly, but Jerome said, "Now, Jerome is in the past timeline, not 20 days ago, but 20 years ago."
Shiller's eyes widened in shock. Jerome shook his head, "He just managed to send me a message, telling me there's a passage beneath Wayne Manor. We can follow this passage to travel back to 20 years ago and meet up with them."
"I don't see the point of meeting now," Shiller shook his head, "I have to go to the fourth floor first, to see what Martha left in the bedroom."
Jerome and Cobblepot exchanged glances. Seeing that they didn't want to leave, Shiller didn't press them but said, "You can stay here, but I must go to the fourth floor; I need to understand what is actually going on."
"You'll have your answer," Jerome said to Shiller, "We'll lure that big head away, and if you survive and come back, use the underground passage behind the garden's large tree to find us in the basement."
Shiller nodded without saying much more. He made his way to the second floor, took out the doorknob, and hid himself in the study. Soon, the big head was lured to the first floor.
There were some noises outside, but Shiller did not rashly go out until all sounds had quieted down. Then, he cautiously cracked the door open.
But just as he peeked outside, Shiller froze because Alfred's face, covered in tentacles, was directly in front of him.
Those guys were indeed unreliable!
Shiller was about to chalk it all up to a trap, but he realized Alfred had not made a move to attack him with the tentacles. Shiller tiptoed out, only to discover that a gaping hole, oozing blood, had been hollowed out beneath the big head. Clearly, something had vanished.
Could it be that the monster residing in the big head had chased after them, but why had the tentacles been left behind?
Without pondering any further, Shiller was intent on uncovering answers on the fourth floor. He knew that in Martha's room, he might learn the truth.
Thus, he quickly sprinted up to the fourth floor. Indeed, Martha's bedroom was not among the keys he held, but rather at the very end of the hallway.
Shiller opened the door, and surprisingly, the room was not very dusty, as if someone had been keeping it clean. Shiller walked to the bedside and found a diary in the nightstand, which contained but a single entry.
"If you're reading this note, it means my plan is nearing success."
Seeing this sentence, Shiller frowned. Martha had indeed anticipated this. What exactly had she devised 20 years ago?
The next line gave Shiller quite a shock.
"I am preparing for the arrival of the Dark God."
"I know the deal Thomas made with the Evil God is inevitable. I don't blame him; everyone instinctively desires to survive between life and death. Rather, all of this is the scheming of the Evil God, who pushes us to sin and yet wants us to blame ourselves. But we refuse to do so."
"The only regret I have is that Thomas found out too late. If he had consulted with me earlier, perhaps there could have been a better solution, but for now, all we can do is gamble."
"Thomas agreed to a deal with the Evil God but did not fulfill it. He refused to disperse the pollution into Gotham, but for some reasons, the Evil God did not claim his life. We are not the slightest bit pleased by this; we just feel that the Evil God will seek retribution elsewhere."
"When I was pregnant, I understood everything, he wanted our child, anything but that."
"Fortunately, when there seemed to be no way out, Thomas told me that the plan to rebuild the sewer system encountered an obstacle; they discovered something incredible underneath. I visited it, and it was quite astonishing."
"The water from the pool in the ancient city improved my mental state. I believed it held secrets. I dared not drink it, but I figured out another way to interact with it."
"I secretly went to the hotel, mixed the mysterious pool water into the rooftop swimming pool, and then jumped in. Between suffocation and illusion, I glimpsed a terrifying secret from the blood of those cultists."
"Our city has been polluted all along, those cultists mixed some mysterious metal into the construction materials of Gotham, turning everyone vicious and mad. That is the true reason for the decay of Gotham's morals."
"This should have been bad news, but it felt like a lifeline for us because we knew these cultists weren't in league with the Evil God. They weren't as difficult to handle, a good bullet could kill them."
"But the powers they possessed were not to be underestimated. From their memories, I learned all of this was directed by a mighty Dark Being. We didn't care about his plans; we only cared that Gotham should have one ruler only."
"The Evil God forced us to corrupt the Four Families, the Dark Being also wanted to pollute the whole city, let them fight it out. If they could both suffer greatly, perhaps we could find a way to survive in the cracks."
"Even though my child might be tainted by both, at least I've given him a chance at choice, the most I could do."
"The Four Families agreed with my view. Clearly, the Evil God intended to repeat his tricks with them. In just a week, many of their younger members met with accidents, also entangled by that creature."
"What shocked me was that Falcone couldn't escape their clutches either. This old fox had ruled Gotham's underworld for half a lifetime, even young Thomas had suffered under him. We only realized then just how much more formidable the Evil God was than we had imagined."
"From the cultist's memories, I had learned how to usher the arrival of the Dark God, a demand too high, and we were running out of time. So, we thought of a method to buy time, hoping for another 20 years, enough for our successors to save the city."
"After some discussions, I confronted the Evil God, and negotiated a deal: Thomas and I would surrender our bodies for the Evil God to raise my son, but before Little Bruce truly converted, he could not harm any other person in Gotham."
"When I said this, that tall, dark figure kept staring at me. I couldn't see his eyes, but I could see the unpredictable expressions hidden beneath his hypocritical mask."
"It made me feel despair, and yet it also gave me strength, because he seemed to have guessed all along what I would say. We were entirely under his control, and he probably just enjoyed watching these weak ants struggle under his manipulation."
"I thought I would be panicked, but until the deal was done, I only felt calm. I'm unsure about the future, but I know my child will not disappoint me."
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