Shiller turned to Constantine and said, "I'm afraid we won't be able to enter the Kingdom of Dreams through conventional means. The only plan now is to find the Sleep Demon to figure out what's happening in the Kingdom of Dreams."
"But where can we find the Sleep Demon?" Constantine asked.
"The key is you," Shiller said. "I don't think the Sleep Demon would find you for no reason when you were a child. He must have told you something."
Constantine thought carefully and said, "If he wanted to tell me something, why did I forget everything when I woke up?"
"Dreams occur in the subconscious mind. And those dreams you think you've forgotten are just hidden in your subconscious. Maybe we have to go there to find out."
Constantine seemed a bit hesitant. Shiller directly asked him, "Don't you want to remember?"
"I'm just... worried if I find out, will it come at a cost?" Constantine said, "Some things can be considered nonexistent if unknown. But once known, responsibility follows."
"Do you feel incapable of taking responsibility?"
"I don't want to make trouble for myself," Constantine said.
"If the memories back then truly affected you in any way, I can help you erase them anew. I can do it."
"Yes, you have such a tower, your control over your own mind is exceptional, I don't doubt that." Constantine hesitated just a bit more, then nodded and said, "Alright, let's begin."
The agent wasn't good at hypnosis, nor were there other qualities with time. However, Constantine has talent in this aspect, Shiller only needed to guide him slightly, and he could sort out his subconscious on his own.
As the saying goes, if the patient doesn't cooperate, hypnosis is almost impossible to succeed. Conversely, if the patient consciously cooperates and has some talent, they can even hypnotize themselves. Obviously, Constantine is one of the best in this regard.
He lay on the lounge chair in the middle of the living room, roaming in his subconscious. After confirming he wouldn't get lost, Shiller went to prepare some food, simple sandwiches. When he brought the food to the table, Constantine suddenly awoke, breathing deeply.
He stared at the ceiling for a while, then said, "He considered me one of the candidates to succeed the dream god."
Shiller took a bite of the sandwich, thought for a moment, and said, "It seems he has indeed started looking for successors very early. It's not surprising you are one of them."
Constantine sighed softly, "I'm not sure if becoming the master of the Kingdom of Dreams would be better than mingling with angels and demons. But it's too late to say anything now."
"Did he say how you need to contact him?"
"I... I'm not too sure," Constantine said, "He didn't directly tell me, just pulled me into a dream. That dream had many... cats?"
Shiller paused, then understood, "Thousand Cats Dream."
Then he started to recall: which universe is Bat Cat in?
Normally, it should be on the Kent family's farm in the universe where Shiller is. However, Bat Cat belongs to Batman, who can also enter Battleworld and has formed the Little Animal Alliance with Rocket Raccoon, and doesn't necessarily stay on Earth.
Shiller thought for a while and still sent a message to Star Lord.
"Where's Rocket?"
"What's wrong with him?"
"I need to talk to him."
Soon Star Lord's call came, "If you need to talk to Rocket, call him directly, why find me?"
"Aren't you always together?" Shiller said, "Besides, he doesn't like checking messages and is always in the lab, unable to hear the phone..."
"Do you really think he can't hear? The phone rings directly in your head in Battleworld." Star Lord's tone had some disdain, "He just doesn't want to answer."
"Can you reach him?" Shiller asked.
"I'm currently in Crux, running errands for the Ravagers." Star Lord said, "Rocket might have gone back to Centaurus. I'll call Gamora to find him."
Shiller waited for a while. Soon Star Lord called again, and he said, "Damn, that long-haired monster is having fun in the High Lord's casino! Are you sure you want to call him now?"
Shiller sighed and said, "I have something very important. Could you ask him to find a quiet place to answer the phone?"
Evidently, this didn't work well. When Shiller contacted Rocket Raccoon, the noise in his mic sounded like he was at the center of a nuclear explosion.
"Hello!! What is it!!!"
"Rocket, are you still at the poker table?"
"What poker table!" Rocket shouted, "It must be Peter spreading those damn rumors again! I'm a damn casino security, catching cheaters! I just caught two!"
"Alright, can you get in touch with Bat Cat?"
"Who?!"
"Bat Cat, the cat that claims to be Batman. Didn't you guys form that Little Animal Alliance?!"
"Then why don't you ask Pikachu?!" Rocket yelled, "He's playing out two hundred episodes of Tom and Jerry with that cat every day, you should find him!"
"The problem is, he's a mouse," Shiller said, "How am I supposed to convince a mouse to help me find a cat?"
"He's an electric mouse! That damn bastard! Alright, I guess that black furball is in the base licking his fur. I'll get him on the line for you!"
After several twists and turns, Shiller finally reached Bat Cat. He indeed hadn't been following the Prime Universe Batman, nor had he stayed on Earth, and when the incident occurred, he seemed to be in a copy, and now he was also researching what had happened.
Not long after, the black cat jumped in through the window. Shiller sized him up and said, "Sure enough, after leaving the Kent farm, you've slimmed down quite a bit. If you stayed there any longer, you'd compete for the title of the fattest Batman in the Multiverse."
Bat Cat licked his paw and said, "You know, Mrs. Kent's enthusiasm is hard to refuse. Now tell me what's going on, it seems like the Multiverse is in chaos, and my connection to Cat City has been cut off."
Shiller immediately caught the key information: "Your connection to Cat City Gotham has been cut off?"
Bat Cat nodded and said, "Whenever I fall asleep, I can vaguely sense Cat City Gotham. But recently, there's been nothing. I suspect something might have happened in the Kingdom of Dreams."
"That's true, we can't get in either. Do you have any shortcuts?"
"Yes, we can go through the Thousand Cats Dream. But, entering just like this could be very dangerous." Bat Cat squinted, "Are you planning to just rush in recklessly?"
"Of course not, we need to bring some help," Shiller proposed. In fact, he initially planned to enter just with Constantine. But, if there's an issue with the Kingdom of Dreams, the two of them going in could be a death sentence, and he wouldn't take that risk.
"Who do you plan to bring?" Bat Cat asked.
"Of course, mind power users," Shiller said. "They have enough firepower in the Kingdom of Dreams to fend off danger. I want to find a Charles Xavier."
"I thought the same, but you have to be prepared. The Kingdom of Dreams is a unique dimension in our world; Charles' brainwave might not adapt here, and he might not be able to unleash his powerful abilities. We need to find a local too."
A lot of candidates flashed through Shiller's mind. For example, Superman who could break through with force, Ron who specialized in this, or Batman from other universes. But the problem with these people is that they are Anatoli's men, and his reputation and credibility across the Multiverse might not match that freshly unearthed Anatoli.
You see, Anatoli is the First Lantern that the Prime Universe Batman and all other Batmen have been searching for. With Batman putting so much effort into him, it's clear to the Justice League members just how strong Prizrak really is. If he's willing to unite the Multiverse Justice League, they'd definitely be more inclined to go with him.
As for himself, Batman's measure against him is "if you encounter a Shiller causing trouble, go find another one." You can't quite say it's not a recommendation, but it's almost too good, making the Justice League possibly unwilling to follow him.
Even though saving Batman's mental body directly sounds pretty appealing, after all, he has no evidence to prove Batman entered the Kingdom of Dreams. Yet, the Justice League probably has already seen that string of sugared hawthorn hanging on the Origin Wall. So, from any angle, competing with Anatoli for manpower seems unwise.
If mobilizing Justice League members isn't possible, they have to settle for second best. Robins could be a good choice, but Shiller really doesn't dare take them along. Not to mention the lack of mental superpowers, if something happens to any of them, Batman who might already be in bad shape could go crazy when triggered.
Moreover, law and order need to be maintained on the East Coast in the real world, so having the Robins stay behind to guard the place would work better.
"Joseph," Shiller said, "Deathstroke's son. His mind power is quite strong. If Charles's strength lies in breadth, then his lies in depth."
Shiller knew, if Charles was the master of crowd control, then Joseph's strength lay in single-target attacks. When they first met, he turned away to avoid the sharp edge, proving there's a certain danger in making eye contact with him. It's been verified by someone with pathological authentication, it should be correct.
"I'll go find Charles," Bat Cat said. "You go find Mr. Wilson. We'll start as soon as we have everything we need."
Shiller even felt a little touched. Bat Cat wasn't among the cast of family series, so he had no intention to mediate the Robins Cats' conflicts. There are still a good number of normal people in this world.
The Charles from the universe of Greed soon arrived. On the way, Bat Cat had already explained the situation to him. Charles walked up to Shiller, shook his hand, and said, "Long time no see, Agent. I'm sorry this happened. I couldn't bring the Cerebro; will that have a big impact?"
"Something might have happened in the Kingdom of Dreams, but it shouldn't be severe enough to require your biggest Cerebro," Shiller honestly said. "If it were that bad, we'd better not go."
"I brought a smaller one." Charles took out his helmet—this thing looked like the classic design from the comics, making him look like an alien when worn—and handed it to Shiller.
Shiller was somewhat baffled, and Charles explained, "This is a universal version. I heard there's another mind power user available; it could work better for a local."
Shiller couldn't help but give him a thumbs up. Truly worthy of Professor X, he even considered this. If Charles doesn't perform well, Joseph with the helmet can assume the role of the main attacker.
Sure enough, Joseph soon arrived. When he saw Charles, he visibly froze, displaying an unprecedented look of fear, breathing rapidly and with dilated pupils. Shiller quickly rushed up to support him.