Although Shiller's consciousness is still in the forefront of his awareness, he can also feel the boiling of the mental world at this moment—what does it mean for the tower to just jump in place?
Shiller took a deep breath, trying hard to make himself look a bit sorrowful. Fortunately, Anatoli is more familiar with Shiller's pathological state and doesn't really understand the agent. He's lost in his own thoughts and doesn't have the time to observe Shiller's emotions, while Shiller can observe his at ease.
Unfortunately, the agent is not proficient in psychoanalysis, so his perception of emotional fluctuations isn't that sharp. However, he can still discern that Anatoli isn't sad. He's just a bit dazed, as if lost in memories. Shiller can't be sure whether the most important protagonist of his memories is the Soviet Union or Lucifer.
After a while, he snapped back to reality and asked, "Where did you get it from?"
"Constantine from the Prime Universe gave it to me."
"Did Lucifer put it into his brain?"
"Not exactly," Shiller said, "Lucifer lost a bet and gave this thing to Constantine. Constantine wanted to use it to make a magic artifact, but found its power too weak, so he kept it in the drawer until recently when he took it out."
"Did you go out of your way to ask for it?"
"Of course not, I had no idea he had it. It was during a multiverse war, he set Batman up. Batman wanted to treat him and locked him in a mental hospital; he tried to escape but always failed, so he thought of using some sneaky tricks."
"By the way," Shiller paused before continuing, "that pendant was given to me by Constantine as well. Apparently, when Lucifer was having drinks with him and broke a glass, he made a pendant out of a piece of it. I'm returning it to you now, consider it going back to its rightful owner."
Anatoli gently lowered his eyelids. The biggest difference between Slavic eyes and other Caucasian ethnicities is the more rounded curve of their upper eyelids, yet their brow ridge is straighter and lower, creating a strong sense of conflict—it's a reflection of the heart to some extent.
When he lowered his gaze, the youthful and innocent arcs vanished, and the straight, deep brow ridge stood out, carrying a touch of classical melancholy, reminiscent of the bronze horseman by the Neva River in St. Petersburg at sunset, its angles more pronounced as the sky darkens.
"Back to its rightful owner, huh?" he said, "I'm glad I only got back two percent."
When Shiller returned to Kazsow No. 125, Constantine was reading a book that looked like some sort of notebook. Upon seeing Shiller enter, Constantine looked up and said, "Did you give it to him?"
Shiller nodded and said, "He's organizing the Justice League to figure something out. I think he still has a long way to go."
"It's indeed not an easy task," Constantine said seriously, "Batman is an ordinary person, which means, in some aspects, he's very fragile. The hardest part of the rescue plan lies not in efficiency but in safety. But there's no safe way to do this. I'm more curious about who put Batman in such an unsafe position."
Shiller was clearly pleased with his focused manner. Thank goodness, Constantine wasn't one for small talk; he didn't even want to chat about the trivialities of Heaven and Hell. Shiller knew he must have many stories, but he usually kept silent about them, never bringing them up unless necessary, making him a perfect teammate.
"You know, Batman has a few enemies," Shiller said.
"Oh, what a rarity. Before the savior saves the world, he has to fight the whole world," Constantine said, "If he only had a few enemies, what would be the necessity to save this world?"
"Well, it counts as their own fault," Shiller quickly unveiled the mystery, "Some did indeed recklessly adopt some extreme measures to deal with the multiverse's major enemies. However, without Batman stepping up, it wouldn't have affected them."
Constantine obviously pondered deeply and said, "Since Batman took the initiative to step up, do you think they would be without a plan?"
Shiller paused in thought and said, "With their nature, it's certainly unlikely. Yet, I haven't seen any evidence."
"This proves that their plan might not exist within the real universe," Constantine said, "I think we should all have faith in Batman's judgment, don't you think?"
Shiller nodded. He thought what Constantine said made sense. Clearly, the Prime Universe Batman would not lead so many people into such a dangerous universe unprepared. After all, he knows Bruce's nature. Even if he didn't expect Bruce to be so impulsive, he must have considered what to do if they encountered unsolvable problems.
Prime Universe Batman has already encountered magic, so he's not entirely defenseless against the mysterious powers in the universe. Thus, when facing overwhelming disasters in the real universe, he might consider seeking refuge in a non-real universe.
There are many realms not belonging to the real universe, such as Heaven, Hell, Ghost Record Prison, Magic World Maya, and Mount Olympus. The most troublesome aspect of these places is that too many powerful beings exist there.
If the Batmen had to leave the real universe for refuge, their situation might already be dire. Facing those powerful beings would be like sending sheep into a tiger's den, serving no purpose.
Where could it be? Shiller pondered. Batman's already familiar, maybe had prepared for it; not too many powerful beings; he himself had some resistance; ideally, someone to offer aid.
An answer emerged—the "Kingdom of Dreams."
Constantine looked up at him, gently tapping the armrest with his fingers. "I once saw the Sleep Demon."
"When?"
"A long time ago, probably when I was seven," Constantine said. "He said something in my dream, but I forgot it all when I woke up. It wasn't exactly a pleasant experience, more like... eerie?"
"Have you ever entered the Kingdom of Dreams?"
Constantine shook his head and said, "The messages angels and demons try to convey have completely occupied my dreams. To get through those and enter the true Kingdom of Dreams is nearly impossible. At least, I can't do it."
"But Batman can," Shiller said. "Nothing can be faster than their speed of thought. I can escape using this method, and they probably can too."
Shiller hadn't forgotten how arrogance managed to escape. In fact, he hadn't truly escaped at all; his body was still trapped on the Origin Wall. However, his consciousness could return to the tower and then leave. Although the speed of crashing into the Origin Wall was fast, it still couldn't surpass the speed of thought.
If Batman had set things up in the Kingdom of Dreams long ago, then at the moment of the crisis, he could very well sink directly into the subconscious and connect to the Kingdom of Dreams, allowing his consciousness to depart.
It's uncertain if all Batmen can do this, but Prime Universe Batman and Arkham Batman definitely can. Stronger Batmen should be able to as well. And this time, Prime Universe Batman brought skilled hands, and if they had discussed it beforehand, it wouldn't be surprising if they all escaped.
The strange part is, if they really entered the Kingdom of Dreams, then they should have returned by now. Even without a body, they could at least contact Ron through the mental realm, at least letting the Justice League know they are safe, and then work together to retrieve their bodies.
But right now, no Justice League from any world has received any news from them, not even from the Battleworld. This indicates that, even if they successfully escaped from the Origin Wall, they surely encountered other troubles or became lost in contact.
Shiller felt a headache coming on. Although one can't fault Batman for being too proactive, sometimes their overly complete plans bring unexpected situations, leaving everyone unprepared.
"The two of us might have to visit the Kingdom of Dreams," Shiller said.
"To find Batman? Are you sure they haven't run into trouble?"
"Not to find Batman, but to find the Joker," Shiller sighed. "Although I think he might have run into trouble as well."
According to Shiller's speculation, the contact person in the Kingdom of Dreams for Batman might be none other than Joker Jack. Indeed, compared to the nameless bat, Jack is much more reliable. You can't say he isn't a kind of pale knight in his own right; even if his vehicle is a truck, he would still go thousands of miles to the battlefield for Batman.
The fact is, after Gotham was saved, Jack's work became much more leisurely. After all, he no longer needed to buy bombs or tools for crime, and Brainiac didn't collect property taxes. Just earning enough to feed himself sufficed, giving him plenty of free time, most of which he likely spent in the Kingdom of Dreams. After all, it's an infinite open world with countless things to explore.
In a sense, Jack's level of self-exploration is higher than all Jokers. For this reason, he doesn't need to seek excitement from exploring Batman's mental realm. Prime Universe Batman could easily see this. Having him as the contact in the dream world sounds absurd, but is entirely feasible.
And it is precisely because of his high degree of exploration in the dream world, all he would need to do is drive a truck to pick up Batman. There's no difficulty in that. If not successful, it means he most likely ran into trouble himself.
Although it seems that Shiller and Jack together should possess all the powers of a dream god, in reality, they don't at all. Their forms of life simply do not support them becoming a dream god. The Sleep Demon is an inherently mysterious being; only such entities can truly and fully control a mysterious domain. Beings from the material world cannot do this, which means Jack might also be trapped in the Kingdom of Dreams.
"How do we get there?" Constantine asked.
"Come with me to a place first," Shiller said. "No matter what you see, don't be surprised, and don't ask why they're happy. Just keep walking."
Shiller took Constantine to the tower. Undoubtedly, another heated discussion was unfolding, probably on the theme of "Who should we support if Lucifer and Anatoli start fighting." But the agent completely ignored it all, leading Constantine into the abyss.
This perfect teammate did not disappoint him. Though a bit surprised, Constantine remained silent, neither inquiring nor commenting, simply accepting it all quietly.
However, the process of entering the Kingdom of Dreams was not smooth. As they descended deeper, they found the passage was closed. Unable to stay at the bottom for too long or risk losing themselves, they had to surface again.
The other Shillers, engrossed in watching the excitement, didn't notice the issue with the passage. Shiller could only sigh, and together with Constantine, return to the real world, preparing to find another way, which was through Constantine's mental realm.
Beneath everyone's mental realm, there is a passage; it's just that not everyone can dive that deep into their subconscious. Constantine had never explored his subconscious before but quickly grasped the method. Unfortunately, the passage there was also closed.
"Something is very wrong," Shiller said. "It seems the entire Kingdom of Dreams has encountered a problem."