Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Shiller turned to the next letter, and once again it was from Jeff, who constantly complained about how difficult life had been lately. His eldest son had gotten married, his second son was unemployed, his wife had fallen ill, and his daughter was about to start school. Out of necessity, they had to sell a few sheep, but they didn't have many livestock to begin with, so next year's breeding would be a problem.

The letter informed Shiller that Jeff was out of money and that his family was indeed in the breeding business, though "breeding business" wasn't exactly accurate. They were just a regular family that raised some animals for their own consumption and for sale, primarily focusing on goats, specifically the kind that were popular for eating.

Many people might think that the sheep they eat and the sheep they shear are the same, but in reality, wool sheep don't taste very good, especially those bred for shearing. On the other hand, some specially cultivated goats have quite a pleasant flavor and taste.

Shiller looked at the next letter and found it was again from Jeff, but this time his handwriting revealed how excited he was.

Predictably, the letter stated that the owner of the fleet had finally begun hiring again and had his eye on Jeff, planning to let him join the first voyage next year. The salary offered was quite good, more than enough to fund his daughter's education.

Shiller glanced at the postmark on this letter and realized it was dated just days before the incident occurred, the days just before his family's sheep went missing.

In the letter, Jeff praised the fleet owner effusively, flattering him as a great entrepreneur from Connecticut, and even prayed for his wife's quick recovery so that he might be elated enough to hand out bonuses to the sailors.

Shiller immediately caught the key point in all that blather, which was that this fleet owner was from Connecticut, and Yale University was also located there. It definitely wasn't a coincidence.

Shiller was unclear about the exact location of Madeline's hometown, but in her letters, she mentioned that even though her college wasn't that far from her old family house, she dared not go back. This indicated that Madeline's hometown might also be in Connecticut.

Regarding the medical insurance company Madeline mentioned in her letters, Shiller had never heard of it. This indicated that it was probably not one of those colossal, nationwide companies, but more likely a local, state-level insurer.

America's health insurance system is highly segregated; not everyone can afford plans from big companies, which have strict qualification checks and complex legislative restrictions. Local residents who already spend so much on insurance can be quite troubled, and even if they have money, they might not get the plan they want.

Some middle-class families, not very wealthy, typically choose to go local rather than hang at the fringes of large companies. They could create customized plans at local companies, obtain various discounts, but wouldn't get much attention or discounts from a national insurer, so they usually prefer the former.

In other words, it was highly likely that Madeline's family chose to buy insurance from a local Connecticut company.

Although the fleet owner didn't seem very wealthy now, Jeff suggested in his letter that the owner had once done big business. He may have invested in this mysterious Siltex Medical Insurance Company, or at least was a major shareholder.

Was Madeline back for revenge?

Shiller thought that Madeline might have a way to counteract the Wandering, so she brought it here, hoping to use the Wandering to kill the fleet owner. Then she might use a method she had developed to kill the Wandering, thus achieving her revenge.

But what puzzled Shiller was the saying "a lean camel is bigger than a horse." Connecticut was not a particularly wealthy state, but those who do big business here wouldn't be so impoverished as to revert to hiring a bunch of sailors to run ships in this small village, right?

This fleet owner was definitely suspicious, Shiller thought. Moreover, his wife's so-called mysterious illness was fishy. If it were a regular illness, they should go to a good hospital in a big city, or if it had something to do with the bizarre, they should seek out the Church. Why come to this little village? What was here to care about… Fish!

A lightbulb went on in Shiller's head—the underground river had fish!

Shiller had long felt these fish were unusual, endowed with some special effects. The underground river itself was not normal. Logically, even naturally rich waterways wouldn't have that many fish. Could it be artificial?

Shiller's nostrils twitched as he recalled the awful stench emitted by the fish found inside the two corpses, which were not like freshwater fish but more likely sea fish.

This meant that these fish might not have been naturally occurring in the underground river or might even have been deliberately introduced there.

Combined with the fleet owner's role, the answer was becoming clear—the man wasn't really a professional fleet operator. His buying ships and hiring crew to go out to sea was probably to harvest these special fish.

If Shiller wasn't wrong, these fish probably had effects against anomalies, like driving away curses or keeping anomalies temporarily at bay.

Assuming the strange events were viral, then these fish might be some kind of antidote. This owner catching so many fish and not selling them, but keeping them in the dark river, might be stockpiling a vaccine, waiting for the strange events to escalate before stepping forward as a savior, thus gaining both fame and fortune.

Shiller looked at the last letter, written by the owner of the diary. He had a premonition that this letter would reveal some crucial information.

Just then, the others who had been exploring other rooms returned. Seeing Shiller holding a stack of letters, they immediately started asking questions.

"What is that? Are those letters? What do they say?"

Shiller quickly raised his gun and said, "Don't come any closer, take one more step and I'll shoot."

"Don't do this," Bruce took a half step forward and said, "We're still a team, the information we get should be shared."

"Then first tell me, what special abilities do you have?"

"Um..."

While holding the gun at them, Shiller opened the letter, and the first sentence made his pupils constrict sharply.

"Andesi, it's time to stop. Siltex never intended to save the world. Their so-called vaccine development is just a lie. The lab is nothing but a shell, and the team's hired to catch fish that will be sold to the wealthy, for high prices after the weird spread. We can't abet this tyranny anymore."

"No matter what you think, I'll act in a few days. I'll expose this damned cheater's lies and wash his evil plans away, whether you help me or not, I'll do it."

The information revealed in these few sentences was astonishingly vast.

Firstly, the fleet owner's name was Silv, which meant he was not only the head of Siltex Insurance Company but also likely the founder and principal.

Secondly, as Shiller had anticipated, the fish caught by the hired team was supposedly for vaccine development, or so it seemed. Moreover, he had contacted locals like the notebook owner, Harold, and Lighthouse Guardian Andesi, to help cover up the secret of the fish.

Lastly, Silv had a lab, although it was highly probable it was just a facade, but it might contain some data about the fish. It seemed like the notebook owner, Harold, was planning to expose Silv.

Instantly, Shiller thought about the underground cavern they had entered; he had seen another path across the dark river but had considered the river unsafe to cross. Could that path lead to the lab?

Then he realized a terrifying fact—the Primary Universe Batman, who had been impersonating the notebook owner Harold, could have anticipated the current situation.

Because everything about Siltex Medical Insurance Company might have been fabricated by the Primary Universe Batman as his backstory.

Since he dared to concoct such a story, he must have anticipated Silv's response knowing that once Silv realized he was aiming to expose everything, Silv would definitely target him, whether before the game began or after it started. He was certain to face heavy blows.

Indeed, he had been severely injured, and because of his injuries, everyone except him had left him behind. Night Owl had intended to stay, but in the end, he followed the others out too. Shiller, considering his missing half arm, thought he posed less of a threat and consented.

This meant that only the Primary Universe Batman was left in that room, and no one knew what skills he possessed.

Although it was unlikely that a hunter possessed Medical Skills, given that he had participated in earlier battles and was an expert in wilderness survival, he should have been able to use some first aid skills to restore his blood volume; he hadn't done so just to make everyone think he was about to die, leaving him behind alone.

After realizing this, Shiller dropped the other letters, grabbed only the last one, stowed away his gun, and sprinted towards the door, rushing down several flights of stairs to the first floor.

Returning to the room where they had originally arrived, as expected, the figure previously lying on the floor had vanished.

Shiller cursed, but the others who followed him into the room cursed even more foully.

Shiller turned around, raised his gun, and aimed.

Bang!

The shotgun bullet flew out, aimed at Greed's forehead. The next second, a sinister voice rang out.

"Let the battle begin..."

The moment the fight started, time should have stopped, but Greed instinctively reacted.

"Whoosh!"

A Wind Blade split the bullet in half.

Stunned for two seconds, Greed finally realized he had exposed himself, and lifting his eyes, he stared hard at Shiller and said, "You maniac!"