John appeared somewhat exhausted as he walked out of the room. But Shiller knew that reading a little girl's mind wouldn't tire him out like this. He probably just remembered some unpleasant memories.
Back then, his wife and daughter died in his arms, and Betty's mother died right in front of him. The fear accumulated in Betty's Psychic_Battlefield felt so familiar. Searching for the truth among these emotions was an excruciating torment for him.
"Professor Rodriguez, I think we need to talk." John glanced at Shiller, then turned and walked to his own office.
Shiller followed him into his office. Shiller saw the appointments and medals hanging on the office wall.
He was the sheriff of the village where the Yudon family resided, belonging to the town police station, but with a certain degree of independent management authority. He usually enforced the law independently, but when a major case occurred, he still had to listen to the police chief.
John sat down behind his desk, while Shiller looked at the coffee machine. John took off his hat, ran his hand through his hair, and said, "If you want a coffee, go ahead, but I must warn you, there's nothing fancy here."
Shiller took two paper cups from the side, filled them with hot water from the coffee machine, placed one cup in front of John and the other in front of himself.
"I won't hide it from you any longer," Shiller began, "Mr. Rongzi, I am the director of KGB Eleventh Bureau. My reason for visiting is both professional and personal."
Although John was somewhat prepared, he was still visibly shocked by these words. He stared straight at Shiller and said, "You're KGB? You mean... the Soviet special agent organization?"
Shiller nodded and said, "That's right. But I didn't come here representing the Soviet Union, so you don't need to be so tense."
John licked his lips, swallowed, then said, "I've heard you guys dissect aliens..."
"Rumors, all rumors," Shiller chuckled, "In fact, I am here representing the Justice League. Have you heard of the Justice League?"
"I seem to have heard of it," John slightly frowned, touched his chin, and said, "Is it that superhero organization on the East Coast?"
Shiller nodded and said, "This should have nothing to do with you, but recently, a group of aliens invaded Metropolis, the city where the Justice League is headquartered. One of these aliens is a fellow of Superman, and the other one is yours."
John's expression became stiff. He was obviously aware of something, and he looked up at Shiller.
"According to our investigation, it should be a Martian named Malafax. In terms of kinship, he is your brother."
"How did you find that out?" John couldn't help but ask, "You shouldn't know that..."
"There is nothing the KGB shouldn't know," Shiller's one sentence blocked all the questions circling in John's mind.
Thanks to the somewhat fantastical reputation of the KGB, John stopped asking questions. He only said, "Alright. He's coming for me, for sure. He never intended to let me go. And just as well, I never intended to let him go either."
"After the Justice League learned of your existence, they have always wanted to invite you to join them. And Malafax wants to exploit this opportunity to impersonate you, join the Justice League, find out the secrets of Earth's Magical Defense Network, then dismantle this network from the inside to enable a large-scale Kryptonian invasion."
Shiller's words contained too much information for John to digest. Many things were new to him, and though he wanted to ask, he didn't know where to begin.
"We know quite a bit about you, Mr. Rongzi. Next, I will open up all the information you need to know in my mind, and you can read it directly. This will save a lot of time."
John slowly widened his eyes, looking at Shiller, he said, "You mean, you want me to read your mind? You..."
"There's no need to worry," Shiller calmly said, looking him in the eye, "I have dealt with another mind power user like you. Your abilities are on par. We communicated this way before."
"But aren't you worried I'll see something I shouldn't?"
From John's expression, Shiller could tell he was somewhat apprehensive. It seemed this Martian had been hurt by reality and decided not to use his powers, choosing instead to live as an ordinary Earthling.
"You won't see anything you shouldn't," Shiller said, "Even if you intentionally try to pry into my mind, you won't be able to."
John reassessed Shiller, seemingly trying to find out the source of his confidence. But no matter how he looked, he couldn't figure it out.
"Alright, if you insist." John seemed a bit dejected, possibly thinking that since he had already broken his principles once today, another time wouldn't matter.
Soon, countless pieces of information flooded John's mind. What amazed him was that this information was clearly organized, unlike the chaotic nature of an ordinary person's mind. The order and logic were clear, needing no adjustments from him.
Moreover, the information was purely useful, without any impurities. For human thought processes, this was almost impossible.
John reassessed Shiller once more, ultimately using "He's KGB" to explain all the irrationalities.
After silently reading all the information, John could say that it was an eye-opener. He didn't know the world had changed so much over the years, that a group of people secretly protecting Earth had built a comprehensive defense network, and they had successfully resisted the alien invasion this time.
Given his understanding of Malafax, John knew his mad brother was a significant headache. If not for the Magical Defense Network, Earth would have been in chaos by now due to a frontal assault combined with rear disruptions.
"I think you should introduce yourself a bit, Mr. Rongzi. This would be more formal and polite."
"Alright. But since you already know Malafax is my brother, there's probably nothing you don't know." John slightly lowered his head and said, "My name is Ron Rongzi. On Earth, I go by John Jones, and I am currently just a regular sheriff in Middleton."
"As for my past on Mars, I don't want to talk much about it. Martian civilization has been destroyed, posing no threat to Earth. Malafax's invasion of Earth is purely his own evil doing. Nonetheless, I still apologize."
"No need to talk about that," Shiller said, "In our investigation over the past few decades, you have always lived as a human without ever exposing your distinguishing traits."
"Yes. My homeland is destroyed, and now Earth is my home. I don't want to disturb you with my special abilities. Even if many are unaware, I still don't want to do it."
Shiller nodded and said, "I understand you. Humans are fragile and easily frightened. Once you expose your uniqueness, you might be hunted like a witch from the Middle Ages.
"Even if they can't hurt you, the looks of your former friends and colleagues seeing you as a monster are unbearable. The best way is to pretend to be an ordinary person."
"But truthfully, Ron, you're not content with this," Shiller pointed out, "If you just wanted to live an unremarkable human life, you wouldn't choose to be a police officer."
John, or rather Martian Manhunter Ron, tightly twisted his fingers together, and said, "I was a police officer on Mars."
"But being a police officer on Mars and being a police officer on Earth are certainly different. The police here won't recognize your experience on Mars," Shiller laughed, "You chose this path because you wanted to. Or rather, you felt a sense of responsibility."
"You know, Earth not only took me in but also helped me come out of the shadows of my past," Ron said, "Humans helped me escape pain. I wanted to give something back, but since my uniqueness might scare you, I could only do it as a human."
"But I haven't done well enough." Ron sighed, "Actually, I already noticed something off about the Yudon family brat. He pretended to be kind to his sister, but really... I failed to save Catherine."
"But you saved Betty and Aisha. You can also choose to join the Justice League and save more people. I believe your human friend would have told you not to dwell on the past and instead look ahead more."
Ron suddenly started laughing. When he looked up at Shiller, there seemed to be a glimmer in his eyes. He said, "You humans are really interesting. Fragile and powerless as you are, you always make difficult things seem easy."
"It's not about how we say it, but whether you believe it," Shiller still smiled, "The hardship that made you a wanderer also brought you the chance to escape the shadows of the past. This is the balance of good and bad. Humans always believe that after bad things, good things follow."
"You went through so many bad things, so when a good thing finally comes, you can't immediately realize the change it brings. But if you choose to accept it, one day you'll be glad for today's decision."
"Will I really?"
"Whether you join the Justice League or not is your decision, take your time to consider it and then let me know. But dealing with Malafax is your responsibility. It's a pressing concern. You will handle it, right?"
Ron took a deep breath and said, "I can subdue him, but I might need your help. You might not know, but Martians have a fatal weakness..."
"You fear fire," Shiller said.
Ron showed a helpless expression and said to Shiller, "Did your KGB set up a cosmic bureau? Why are you so knowledgeable about Martians?"
"It's a long story," Shiller displayed a standard smile, clearly not willing to explain further.
"Fine. But I must tell you, Malafax, that madman, isn't afraid of fire and may use it against me. Otherwise, I can easily take him down."
"What do you think he'll do?"
"He has a very deadly virus. I can't engage in a Psychic Ability link directly with him, or I might get infected. And if I use physical means, he might hide in the fire or even attack me with flames."
"If we first make him expose himself, then control him for a few seconds, can you subdue him?"
"By control, you mean..."
"Freeze him in place for about two seconds."
"That's entirely possible," Ron said, then frowned, "But how do you plan to make him expose himself?"
"Of course, we'll prepare a bait." Shiller briefly explained his suspicion of Malafax's kidnapping of Betty.
"You mean, he wants to use Betty to torment me?"
Shiller nodded and said, "For people like him, satisfying their evil desires takes priority over everything else. Betty being rescued might drive him very mad. If given a chance, he would definitely try to kidnap Betty again."
"You want to use Betty as bait? I don't agree!" Ron firmly said, "It's too dangerous!"
"Certainly not. Betty is just an ordinary child, and she needs to recuperate now. We can let Aisha go."
"But isn't Aisha also..."
At this point, Aisha was already in the room, running to Shiller's side and giving Ron a grin—revealing a mouth full of shark-like teeth.