บท 3916: Chapter 3033: Thick Shade of Green Trees, Long Summer Days (31)
On the drive to the police station, Gordon suddenly received a phone call. After a few words, his expression gradually became solemn. Then he turned the steering wheel, no longer heading for Gotham Police Department, but instead drove towards Gordon Manor.
"So, that's the way it is, we suddenly received a doll. She said she was going out to buy sushi and hasn't come back yet..."
Barbara leaned on the chair by the dining table, looking at Jarvis and said, "Are you sure she's all right? Even if she's strong, maybe she might..."
Jarvis shook his head and said, "Don't worry too much, Madam, Wanda will be fine."
Behind Jarvis stood Tim, who was already retrieving information related to the crematorium.
Ssoon, he discovered that the crematorium was indeed newly built, about four years ago. There were no issues with the land procedures or the construction process, but the existence of the crematorium itself was the problem.
There was no need for a crematorium in Bolokin Community.
The community had sufficient land to build a massive cemetery, more than enough for the population to die and be buried ten times over. Communities close to the suburbs like this one were generally conservative, and the majority were Protestants who would not adopt unconventional burial methods. The numbers opting for sea burial or cremation were very few and having a crematorium here was as out of place as a slice of bacon on a cream cake—no issue at a glance, but its existence was unreasonable.
Suddenly, Tim stumbled upon another clue. There was a photo from the ribbon-cutting ceremony when the crematorium opened. In the photo, he saw a familiar face—that of Bob, the manager of the Wardle Engineering Team.
Upon closer investigation, it turned out the crematorium was built by the Wardle Engineering Team.
Tim's findings were consistent with those of Aisha, so he felt that there must be something fishy going on. Just as he was about to discuss it with Jarvis, he suddenly froze as if sensing something.
Jarvis sharply turned to look out the window.
With a screech, Gordon slammed on the brakes, leaving scorch marks from the tires on the road surface. He incredulously pushed open the car door and got out, looking toward the horizon.
On the distant horizon, darkness almost swallowed everything, but behind the forlorn high-rises, a sky full of red light suddenly burst forth.
What was that...
With a flash of red light, a figure appeared in the hall of Gordon Manor. Jarvis had no time to say anything before he felt himself being embraced, as Wanda leaned on her husband's arm and bent over.
"Vomit—!!!!!!"
The other two rushed to help her, but Wanda continued heaving uncontrollably in place. She could not vomit anything more and kept spitting up stomach acid. Still unable to straighten up, she trembled and convulsed.
Jarvis embraced her, continuously stroking her back. After about a few minutes, Wanda finally stood straight, but she still struggled to control the power of Scarlet around her, with ripples waving through the space.
"What on earth happened?" Jarvis asked her, "What did you encounter?"
Because Wanda had already sent him a message, Jarvis knew what had happened, although he did not approve of Wanda's risky actions, he did not really think Wanda could be harmed.
To be precise, the current Scarlet Witch was no longer considered part of the human race, nor could she simply be categorized as a mutant, she was the avatar of the power of Scarlet, more like some sort of abstract entity. In the Battleworld, the Scarlet Witch served as an administrator in her team, and such a being could not be harmed by ordinary people.
But he had forgotten one thing, even if the form of life had been elevated, as long as it retained human wisdom and emotions, it was still susceptible to psychic damage.
When the Scarlet Witch raised her face, tear stains still marked her cheeks, and she clutched Jarvis's arm tightly, about to say something, when she glanced towards Barbara beside her.
So she pulled Jarvis and rushed out of the room.
Jarvis looked at her with concern, Wanda hugged him, and whispered in his ear, "Bones, I saw so many bones, all... all of them from children."
As Wanda told her story, Jarvis gradually learned about what had happened about half an hour before.
After leaving the jail, Wanda walked toward the depths of the air-raid shelter. The deeper she went, the colder and damper it became. Although Wanda was confident that nothing could harm her, years of common sense still made her feel a chill down her spine.
In the deepest part of the jail, Wanda found a room. This room was strange, sitting forlornly on the flat ground at the very bottom. It was clearly not part of the original air-raid shelter complex, but something built afterward. What was most peculiar was that the door used was like that of a bank vault's security door.
Wanda did not rush in. She gently touched the walls, allowing the power of Scarlet to seep into them, then to her surprise found the walls to be very thick, more than sufficient for a nuclear bunker.
The structure was a simple square house, unremarkable in appearance, deep within the air-raid shelter. Yet it had been constructed with such thick walls, Wanda truly couldn't fathom what it was meant to guard against. It couldn't possibly be that a monster was sealed inside, could it?
But even if it were a monster, Wanda was not afraid. She felt that since the thing was so tightly sealed, there must be secrets inside, so she teleported inside with a flash, using her magic.
To her surprise, the room was not dark but actually quite bright, contrasting starkly with the outside's cramped, cold, damp, and dark atmosphere. The room's decoration was very luxurious, the floor made of natural marble and covered with a wool carpet. The furniture was dark brown solid wood, and the lighting was provided by retro candlesticks, which looked very valuable.
This was a collection room.
Eight display cabinets were placed on each side of the hall opposite the main entrance, and as Wanda glimpsed the items inside them, her breath quickened.
She tiptoed forward, stopping quickly in front of the first display case. What was inside was not jewelry or artwork, but bones.
Bones of various sizes, arranged in different shapes and patterns. Even without much medical knowledge, Wanda could somewhat identify the parts of the skeleton they belonged to.
She saw a pelvic bone, and it was this bone that confirmed to her that all of these bones were from children under the age of ten.
As the power of Scarlet infused the display case, Wanda discovered that these were not models but real bones with the structure of actual human skeletons, and they were well preserved.
Wanda already had an ominous premonition in her heart, but she still gave herself hope, thinking perhaps it was a body donated voluntarily. After all, wasn't the death rate among Gotham's children very high?
Looking up, apart from the display cabinets, she saw row upon row of glass cases against the wall, all filled with similarly cleaned bones.
Holding back her nausea, Wanda continued to walk further inside because she noticed there was another door at the very end of the exhibition hall.
Of course, for fear of startling the enemy, she remained invisible throughout and was confident that she would not be detected by ordinary cameras.
Wanda tiptoed closer to that door and flashed into it in the same manner as before. The room was very dark, and as someone accustomed to using her eyes, she instinctively illuminated the room with the power of Scarlet.
The moment the room lit up, she froze in place.
There were countless bones here.
But unlike the bones in the display cabinets outside, which were washed clean and well-preserved, many bones here were covered with dirt and bore signs of decay, and those near the door were even fresh.
Wanda clamped her mouth shut tightly to keep from screaming out loud, but just then, an alarm suddenly sounded from some equipment overhead.
In a panic, Wanda didn't think any further and flashed out of the bomb shelter, leaning against a tree and beginning to vomit.
All those bones were so small, miniature like downsized model toys, each belonging to child after child. Wanda thought of her own children, wondering if any of the bones were theirs...
Wanda completely broke down emotionally; she lost control of herself and vomited everything from her stomach, her uncontrolled power of Scarlet illuminating the entire valley, turning it almost into a world of red.
But soon, she saw security guards from the crematorium at the base of the mountain rushing up with guns in hand. The little sanity that remained made Wanda realize she must have been discovered, and she returned to Gordon Manor as quickly as possible.
But that horrifying image still did not leave her mind. She clung to Jarvis, a panic attack making it difficult for her to breathe on her own; her face turned beet red as air and words were both trapped in her throat, neither rising nor falling.
"Stay calm, Wanda, imagine that you are a bird, spreading your wings, floating in the wind. You need to steady your body. Don't tilt left, don't fall right, just keep floating, floating..."
A few minutes later, the most intense phase of the panic attack passed, and Wanda slowly calmed down. It was then that Gordon arrived.
"Wanda, what happened to you?" Gordon looked at her with some concern, while Jarvis shook his head at him.
Barbara immediately stepped forward, Gordon embraced her, and after letting go, he touched her face and said, "Are you okay, dear?"
"I'm fine, it has always been safe here, but Wanda doesn't seem to be doing well. I don't know what happened to her, maybe we should call a doctor?"
"No, there's no need," came Wanda's somewhat weak voice from across the room as she and Jarvis walked back into the house.
Wanda gripped Jarvis's hand tightly, but seemed no longer so frail. She moved to the center of the room, took a deep breath, relaxed her shoulders, and turned to Gordon saying,
"You're a good cop. You'll catch the criminals, and you'll bring them to court to face trial, then send them to prison. You've done well enough."
Gordon didn't understand what she meant, but he had a bad feeling, so he said, "Yes, Wanda, I will do that. So if you've seen any evidence of crime, you have to tell me. I promise no one can escape the law's punishment with me around, not in the past, and certainly not in the future!"
"Can you imagine losing Little Jenny?" Wanda asked, looking into his eyes.
"What? What's wrong with Little Jenny?" Barbara looked anxiously at the baby cradle, but her lovely daughter was sound asleep inside. She breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Wanda might be overly nervous.
Gordon, however, seemed to guess what she was going to say.
"I can't accept that, Wanda. I can't accept anything happening to my daughter because I am a father, and at all times, I have to protect her, care for her..."
"Yes, but if someone took her away from you, would you be content with the criminal just surviving in jail?"
Gordon fell abruptly silent.
A policeman's duty is to uphold the rules of society, but Gordon was an honest man, and at that moment, he could not deceive himself. He knew that if it ever came to that, he would not feel the same way; he would swear to make the criminal pay a terrible and unimaginable price.
"I've been a mother, so like you, my answer is no. Prison is too kind for them," Wanda continued.
"Wanda, stay calm. No matter what you've seen, don't act impulsively, don't do anything extreme..."
"I understand you need to uphold social order and don't want me to break the rules in anger and hurt innocent people or pay the price myself," she replied.
Rage began to build in Wanda's eyes, until it burned fiercely.
"But it's humans who pay the price for breaking the rules, and I," with a pause, she declared, "am the Scarlet Witch."
In the instant that her words fell, everyone in the room felt the world almost completely enveloped by red.
Wanda floated into the air, her hair dancing without wind, and the deep red glow in her eyes flickered and vanished, leaving only her icy words reverberating.
"I said, all those involved in this will die a miserable and painful death."
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