Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics-Chapter 4537 - 3620: Edge of Tomorrow (29)

"Is this the construction site for Gotham University's subway station?" Victor sat in the car, gazing outside, but could only see a circle of walls and scattered machinery.

"We're quite far from the city center here, so the construction is not progressing quickly. Only the underground tunnel near the station is completed, and it hasn't even connected to the nearest factory station." Shiller said while looking at the map.

"Want to go down and take a look?"

Shiller nodded, put away the map, and pushed open the car door. The two walked towards the construction site. A brief rain shower had fallen in the morning, and the workers hadn't resumed yet, leaving the entire site empty, without even a security guard.

"The security situation in Gotham has really improved a lot; they actually dare not to leave anyone here to guard." Victor stared at the excavator beside him, "If it were before, in less than an hour, everything here would be gone."

"Thanks to James. Those experts who could dismantle and take away the excavator in batches within an hour are now all in jail."

Shiller was the first to walk in, with Victor following behind him. He took out his Freeze Gun, with two Ice Bombs tucked at his waist.

"How's your night vision?" Shiller asked.

"Not very good." Victor shook his head, "In slightly darker places, I can't see clearly."

"There shouldn't be any electricity inside, and neither of us brought a flashlight. You might as well stay outside; I'll go in and take a look myself."

Victor appeared hesitant; he knew his biggest weakness was his low combat power in physical form. If the Freeze Gun missed, and the enemy got too close, he would have no ability to resist.

The lighting below was dim, and there were no lighting devices, making it difficult to hit with the Freeze Gun. If he really were to get captured, he would only become a burden for Shiller.

So Victor handed the Freeze Gun to Shiller and said, "Press this button to shoot ice cones rapidly. If the opponent has a gun or bomb, you press this button, you can freeze an ice wall as shelter..."

Shiller nodded. But even if there were people inside, he was just going in for a look and wouldn't engage in direct conflict.

If the opponent is a hitman, then kill as needed; but if it's a terrorist intending to set off an explosion, it's better to let the police handle it, ideally catching them in the act.

Shiller followed the subway entrance that had been built and went down. Perhaps due to the more abundant underground water flow on this side, it was relatively damp below, with less floating dust. However, it couldn't simply be described as dim; it was completely devoid of light.

Shiller's eyes quickly adapted to the dark. He continued moving forward, aided by the extremely faint cold light emitted by the Freeze Gun. The passageway wasn't long, and he soon reached a construction site still under development.

To connect with the factory area further west, the subway tunnel passes under Gotham University. Shiller estimated that he was currently between the girls' dormitory and the A13 classroom building.

This area is essentially the central district of Gotham University. It's a necessary route to the cafeteria, with many students coming and going, and if entering the school via the main gate, it's also the route to the freshman registration area.

Standing at the end of the passage for a while, Shiller could already confirm that there was no one here. However, in a corner where building materials were stacked, he found some strange materials that looked like they could be assembled into a bomb.

Shiller took out his phone, turned on the flash, and took a few pictures. Just as he was about to leave, he heard some noise coming from the entrance.

Shiller immediately headed inside, hiding behind a load-bearing pillar. But as the sounds grew closer, he realized it wasn't just one person's footsteps, but several people, and there were both men and women.

"God, it's so dark here, quickly turn on the flashlight."

"My head still hurts. What the hell did that scarecrow-looking guy make me inhale?!"

"Keep your voice down, it'll be trouble if we're discovered."

"There's no one here..."

X Task Force? Shiller frowned slightly behind the pillar. Why would they come here? Are they the terrorists planning to detonate the bomb?

No. Shiller thought, these guys want to make a big commotion, there's no need for bombing. And Amanda works for politicians to elevate the status of the Federation Shield. If a terrorist attack happened, her organization would be finished.

Especially since the employees she hired all have unique traits. If any were caught connected to a terror incident, the investigation would definitely lead back to her. Amanda wouldn't be dumb enough to court such trouble.

Shiller suspected someone wanted to frame Amanda. Specifically, someone wanted Amanda to take the blame for this terror event to absolve themselves. This group had probably already been photographed when they appeared near Gotham University.

With their peculiar looks, if a bombing occurred where they were, no one would believe they weren't involved.

Shiller turned to look at the explosive materials. So far, they hadn't been assembled yet, so they probably wouldn't explode immediately. He first needed to find a way to get out of here.

The X Task Force, although missing Harley Quinn and the Joker, is not so easy to deal with. Just the El Diablo who can control flames is nearly invincible in such a confined space, and there's not a chance of winning a direct confrontation.

At this moment, members of the X Task Force started walking towards Shiller. Shiller moved around to the other side of a pillar, staying out of their sight.

After thinking for a moment, he took advantage of the darkness to reach the side of the wall and then dashed into the passageway at the fastest speed.

When he started running, naturally he was heard. But those X Task Force members only glanced over, and by the time they spotted Shiller, he had already run into the passageway.

"Chase him!" Deadshot's voice rang out.

However, Shiller didn't just run out in one breath; he reached the other side of the passageway, raised the Freeze Gun, and pressed the Ice Wall button. Instantly, a deploying device was shot out, and as it hit the ground, a mist rose and then solidified into a thick Ice Wall.

Rather than a wall, it was more like a gigantic block of ice, over two meters thick, completely sealing off the passage without a gap.

When Shiller went inside, he had already noticed that, because the tunnel was unfinished, it wasn't ventilated. If the passage was sealed off, it would become a confined space. Humans couldn't last long in there.

The X Task Force had at least five or six people this time, and the time they could last was even shorter. If they didn't want to suffocate in there, they'd have to find a way out themselves.

Shiller had a lot of faith in the quality of Victor's dense ice. Since Victor said it could withstand a bomb blast, it certainly would. But assuming it could withstand a bomb blast capable of blowing up a subway station, it surely could withstand the X Task Force's attack.

If the ice block was unpassable, then they would have only one way left to leave the cramped underground space, and that was to dig out through the ceiling above.

Although this might also destroy the subway station, at least school hadn't started yet; there was no one nearby, minimizing the impact. Moreover, without a major explosion, it wouldn't count as a terrorist attack and wouldn't grab too much attention.

More importantly, they were trapped in a place already within the range of Gotham University. If a hole appeared on the ground, it would certainly need to be repaired. By then, maintenance personnel could see directly into the underground, making it harder for the terrorists to do anything.

After leaving the underground, Shiller and Victor went to the principal's office. As soon as they arrived, they felt the tremor of the ground beneath.

Xi Wana was startled and was about to issue an earthquake alert when Shiller stopped him.

"It's not an earthquake. Someone wants to do something in the subway tunnel, but I've trapped them there. They should be trying to dig their way up right now."

After explaining the circumstances to Xi Wana, he said, "You can call the police now, just say someone is conducting unauthorized underground operations causing the ground to collapse, damaging the road and academic buildings, then sue them for compensation."

Xi Wana immediately went to report it. Shiller phoned Harvey: "Attorney Dante, there's a case here about public facility damage compensation, could you come over to Gotham University?"

After hanging up, Shiller and Victor drove to the Tomorrow Alliance base. Cobblepot and Harley had already received the photos Shiller took, and when they arrived, the others were having a heated discussion.

"How did that guy lure the X Task Force over there? He couldn't have just sent them a message saying he was going to do something there, and Amanda just dispatched the entire X Task Force, right?" Cobblepot asked.

"Amanda is not that considerate," Harley scoffed. "If she knew someone was going to blow up Gotham University's subway station, she wouldn't think of helping. Instead, she'd take advantage of the police being distracted and make the X Task Force create another disturbance."

"What do you think of Deadshot's leadership abilities?" Shiller asked after sitting down.

"Obviously not very good. He can only pose against the Joker for half a minute, which just means his leadership is slightly above my cat's,"

"Exactly," Shiller said. "While Amanda may not be the smartest among the intelligent, she can run such a large operation, far outscoring ordinary people. But Deadshot is nothing like that; they're just mercenaries, how clever could they be?"

"Hey!" Deathstroke, who was playing pool nearby, shouted.

"Didn't mean you," Harley said, "But could they be that dumb? They reacted to the bait so easily? There's nothing even there."

Shiller sighed, "That's where Amanda's stupidity lies. She watches Brainiac like a hawk and resolutely forbids these people from utilizing Brainiac's power. If they had just installed a super butler software, they wouldn't have fallen for such an idiotic trick."

"Alright then, clever Brainiac," Harley said, "The bomb found at the Gotham University subway station was also a semi-finished product, do you have any thoughts?"

"Cast a wide net to catch more fish," Brainiac succinctly said. "We can change the detonation locations based on our search results. This only indicates that they're not short on materials."

"Stop stating the obvious. You know what I'm asking. Just the raw materials we've captured in photos are already numerous, where did all these materials come from, you'd better give us an answer,"

"I'm investigating," Brainiac said. "I've currently narrowed it down to three affordable chemical factories, all of which have recently recorded bulk raw material transactions with proper procurement procedures. Now, I need to find out who diverted the materials originally intended for other pathways."

"This group is definitely professional," Shiller said. "This isn't their first time doing such a thing. They know that rather than the results, what's most important is doing it cleanly. When they planned this, Brainiac hadn't fully integrated the information system, making it not so easy to uncover."