At the moment he saw his face, Constantine's pupils shrank instantly. The other person seemed not to notice him, holding a hat in one hand, casually walking down the steps, asking the white-bearded old man in front of him, "Are you the Collector?"
"Y-Yes." Although he saw that the person who came was just an ordinary human, theoretically, an ordinary human shouldn't be able to appear here, so his tone was far from confident.
"Then you must be Constantine?" The man turned to look at Constantine.
Constantine didn't move, neither nodding nor answering.
Then he saw the man take out a document from his pocket and hand it to the Collector, saying, "Mr. Thanos, Executive Director of the Interstellar Security Committee, sends his regards. Regarding this appalling heist of the collection, Mr. Thanos wants to know more details from you, is it convenient for you to come with me?"
"Thanos? You mean that Titan? He..." The Collector hesitated to speak.
"Didn't expect you to be a racist. But he means no harm, he just wants to know more details about the case from you. The Security Committee has no mandatory measures, if it's not convenient now, you can go whenever is convenient for you."
After saying this, the man handed another business card to the Collector. The Collector touched the emblem of the interstellar council on it and said, "Alright, I really should go talk things over. I didn't offend them, why should they rob my treasures?"
After saying this, he left through a whirlpool teleportation portal. Only two people were left in the room.
"Batman asked me to tell you, don't go after Doctor Strange anymore, he's probably gone mad. Hurry back now, they're waiting for you to host the meeting."
Constantine squinted at him, staring particularly at his face. He felt puzzled inside, but more than that, he was vigilant. Someone with the same face as Hell's Master, could he be a good person?
Constantine nodded and made a turning gesture. But in the next second, a bloody glow appeared under his feet, and three long nails shot towards the other man.
But the man only took a step back, quietly dodging, while sighing inwardly. None of the tasks Batman gives are simple, this guy is obviously also mad.
The person was indeed an agent. After Batman learned that Doctor Strange had gone crazy in the cosmos, he asked the agent to investigate the matter.
However, Shiller always likes to have a justified reason for his actions. Investigating is okay, but just rushing into an investigation, isn't it as reckless as Doctor Strange?
So he first went to the Interstellar Security Committee. When he worked at the Time Management Bureau, Shiller had checked the records of this organization. Later, when Batman was drawing in Thanos, he also revealed information about this organization. Overall, it's essentially equivalent to the Cosmic Federation Bureau of Investigation.
Shiller met the infamous Thanos in the office of the Executive Director. But surprisingly, Thanos seemed refined and courteous, not like a giant demon bent on cosmic destruction. After hearing Shiller's purpose, his attitude was very gentle, not only granting Shiller the authority and credentials to investigate as an agent but also equipped him with a field agent's gear.
Although knowing that Thanos was doing this simply to curry favor with Batman, Shiller still felt that this Thanos was closer to the image of a Universal Overlord in his mind than the one in the Prime Universe.
He also checked Thanos' files at the Time Management Bureau. This guy was labeled as ominous at birth and seems to have wiped out all of his own kind, anyway, his reputation wasn't good. But even so, he managed to reach a high position in the interstellar society, a testament to his formidable strength. Such people are much harder to deal with than those who merely wield knives and swords.
Just like the Marvel Superheroes now, even though they know Batman brought back Thanos' Dark Quadrant and that Thanos is making some moves, his ambition is obvious, they still don't have a good solution. After all, he hasn't acted directly and is a high-ranking official in the Intergalactic Alliance, in command of departments with real power, they can't easily break off ties when they can't grasp the core.
Thanos equipped Shiller with a special committee small spaceship, a Skrull Empire standard laser pistol, a high-energy laser hand cannon, a set of multifunctional portable goggles, standard cosmic survival equipment, a multifunctional shield generation device, and even a considerable amount of Universal Coin.
Shiller piloted the small spaceship with the Security Committee's markings without obstruction, reaching Cygnus, and then using the personal shield to breach the high-temperature blockade, arriving at the Collector's museum.
Though the superheroes are having back-and-forth battles and the two great empires are at the doorstep, the cosmos is vast, and most areas remain peaceful. In an undisturbed order, a police uniform still holds much respect. Every teleportation station and checkpoint Shiller encountered treated him with courtesy. This on the flip side also proves that Thanos as the Director of the Cosmic Federation Bureau of Investigation has indeed done a good job.
As for persuading Constantine to return, it wasn't Batman's given task, but purely Shiller's reluctance to let him cause chaos. Although this guy looks a bit different from the usual Constantine, in the end, they're all Constantine, how much better could he be?
"I suggest you think clearly, Mr. Constantine. Assaulting a police officer is not a good habit." Shiller shook his head, looking at Constantine.
"I have nothing to say to devils."
Just as Constantine finished speaking, he pulled out the flaming Holy Spear from a box. As he aimed the gun at Shiller, Shiller sneered, and in the next instant swiftly drew his gun, rolling to dodge the first shot while a laser beam shot towards Constantine's chest.
Constantine used his shield to withstand the first blow and also rolled to a collapsed bookshelf. Another shot hit the ground in front of Shiller, igniting the papers that had fallen there. As flames rose, Shiller sliced through Constantine's cover with another laser, forcing him into the corner with consecutive shots.
Constantine placed his hand on the ground, and blood red surged instantly. Taking a deep breath, countless monsters leaped out from the blood pool.
Lurking behind cover, Shiller squinted. He put away his pistol and took out a hand cannon, blasting a monster into pieces with one shot, and then another shot severing the chain of the overhead chandelier. With a crash, the huge chandelier fell, landing right next to Constantine.
Constantine dove away, narrowly avoiding it, then hurled two more long nails. Shiller dodged again, adjusting the hand cannon to charge mode, the glow at its muzzle growing brighter and brighter.
With his back to the cover, Constantine took a deep breath. Mephisto had taken his last potion, and without the power of demon's blood and flesh, he could no longer summon more blood and flesh monsters.
The pain in his chest started to throb again, but he still forced a stern face and said, "Not coming out because you don't want to play self-directed drama?"
With a loud boom, the hand cannon fired. The imagined intense pain did not arrive, and a figure stood in front of Constantine.
All the bookshelves and clutter were blasted away, but the figure remained standing. The precisely tailored suit wasn't dirty, and even the horns on his head still shone with a bright glow.
Shiller turned his head, stunned by the other person's appearance.
He came out from behind the cover, holding the hand cannon.
"You..."
For a moment, Shiller didn't know what to say. He opened his mouth and closed it again, then opened it once more but hesitated for a moment and said nothing.
"So it was you playing tricks." After a long pause, he finally said, "I was just saying, why did Doctor Strange suddenly lose his mind, and why did Batman suddenly call me, telling me to watch out for Constantine. Do you think this is amusing?"
"Mephisto" took two steps forward and nodded with a smile at Shiller: "Of course it is. Why not?"
Shiller raised his hand cannon and aimed it at his chest, the charging light glowing. The other person didn't move; he snapped his fingers, and the light instantly vanished.
"You know these things are useless against me," he said.
Shiller also took a step forward with the hand cannon, and the distance between them was very close, almost face-to-face.
"Yes, I know. 'The devil calls you a devil,' huh?"
When "Mephisto" nodded and smiled, Shiller directly swung the hand cannon forward.
"Bang!"
Constantine peeked out from behind the cabinet, dumbfounded. What's going on? Am I hitting myself?!
"Mephisto" turned into a cloud of pitch-black ashes, swirling up into the open space of the room, until it disappeared into the equally dark ceiling, leaving only a drifting voice.
"Your only destination is Hell. Come... come..."
Constantine crawled out from behind the cover and suddenly saw what seemed like a shiny fragment on the ground. He rushed forward to pick it up, finding it to be half of a broken horn.
Constantine immediately put the item in a box, looked up, and noticed Shiller looking at him with a strange expression.
"Don't look at me like that." Constantine adjusted his tie, slightly raising his head, "I haven't even asked you what's going on yet. Why do you look exactly like him?"
"We are the same person, of course we look alike," Shiller said with an eye roll. He headed for the door, and Constantine followed behind.
"What do you mean 'we are the same person'? Is he your master? Or a past life? Contractor?"
"He is my creator," Shiller pushed open the door and walked out, turned down the corridor, and arrived at the elevator.
Constantine nodded and said, "Got it, it's still the Traveler's old routine, right? Are you going to find Doctor Strange? Coincidentally, I need to go too, mind giving me a lift?"
The two entered the elevator together, and Shiller glanced sideways at Constantine. This guy is different from the usual Constantine; he isn't as averse to magic, and more importantly, he can use a gun, and his skills are quite good.
"Suit yourself," Shiller said.
Constantine pursed his lips and smiled, seeing Shiller stop by a police spaceship painted very seriously on the surface.
"Cosmic Police? Interesting."
Shiller entered the cockpit, took off his coat, set the equipment aside, and said, "If this is your first time on a spaceship, just sit down and buckle your seatbelt, put on your headphones, and you'll be at your destination soon."
Constantine also took off his trench coat, tossed it aside, sat in a chair, buckled his seatbelt, turned around, and asked, "Do you know where he is?"
"I didn't know at first, but after seeing that guy, I can roughly guess it," Shiller said, adjusting the navigation system. The instrument system displayed the destination name—"Sakaar."