After about half a day of internship, Mephisto neither understood what Shiller's work at the sanatorium involved nor learned how to handle these tasks himself. He only figured out the makeup of the patients in the sanatorium, roughly divided into three categories: madmen, teenagers, mad teenagers.
The former are generally psychiatric patients from wealthy families, of all age groups, but mostly relatively young. Their illnesses vary widely, and most cannot care for themselves. However, even if they have an episode, it usually doesn't cause much harm.
The second type are children from wealthy families who are basically not ill, or have mild psychological issues and are purely there for recuperation. They are full of energy, highly active, and can chase Shiller, played by Mephisto, all day just to make him tell stories.
The third category includes young psychiatric patients admitted as a community service, tasked to local communities. Every private psychiatric institution must take in some juvenile offenders from the community who have mental issues. This group is the most dangerous; not only do they have mental problems, but they are also highly active, and somehow they even acquire firearms, becoming a walking source of danger.
In just half a day, Mephisto began to understand why Shiller had such a complex mental state.
Mephisto arrived a bit late. Had he come six months earlier, before the sanatorium was renovated, there wouldn't be so many troublesome issues. But now, Arkham Sanatorium resembles a legitimate psychiatric hospital. As the dean, Shiller deals with a huge number of emergencies daily. Mephisto arrived when Shiller was at his busiest.
However, Mephisto had to stay at the sanatorium because he realized that not only he, but the media and fans, knew that this sanatorium belonged to Shiller. They were constantly camping around, and almost every time Shiller was photographed, it went viral. To boost Shiller's popularity, staying at the sanatorium and occasionally wandering around it was the best choice.
In contrast, going to S.H.I.E.L.D. or The Avengers, such important bases wouldn't allow unrelated people to enter. The media doesn't dare to linger, let alone fans. It's deserted over there, and no matter how much Mephisto wanders around, he can't make any appearances. So despite the complicated situation at the sanatorium, he can only stay there.
Unable to handle these crazy teenagers using ordinary methods, Mephisto could only resort to some unconventional methods. Even if he can't use excessive strength within the Magical Defense Network, a little trickery is enough to scare these teenagers.
At night when they go out for nocturnal wanderings, Mephisto conjures up some ghosts with magic to scare them back into their rooms. When someone shoots randomly, Mephisto deliberately jams the bullets or makes the person they're most afraid of appear in their dreams to warn them to behave.
Initially, this tactic was quite effective, but it only lasted a day before they started causing trouble again. And this time, they were not acting as scattered soldiers; they organized themselves and started ghost hunting.
The patients who had witnessed abnormal phenomena were adamant that the sanatorium was haunted, so they united, determined to find these damned ghosts. Previously, without much motivation, they were already acting crazy daily; now that they've found a target, they're more excited than ever. Some didn't sleep for several days, armed with a gun, camping at the stairwell, and almost hitting Mephisto a few times.
And it wasn't just the patients who saw the abnormal phenomena; some nurses and staff also witnessed paranormal events. The whole sanatorium started to panic, and many employees approached Mephisto, asking him to find a solution to the haunting problem in the sanatorium.
Mephisto also realized: it's just like raising cats; if you don't tire them during the day, they'll tire you at night. If you don't give them something to do, they'll still cause trouble however they can.
To let these crazy teenagers vent their energy, Mephisto went all in and decided to make the haunting real, then brought in a few exorcists to have them gather evidence with the excited teenagers and organize some devil banishing rituals for their participation. This way, their energy could be well spent, and the sanatorium's fame could be boosted, potentially attracting more onlookers, greatly enhancing Shiller's popularity.
One could say Mephisto has taught himself the art of internet hype without a teacher. He casually registered a small account online and posted for help, claiming his sanatorium faced a paranormal event urgently requiring an exorcism master. He didn't have Shiller's media account, but this sanatorium was already well-known among fans, so once the address was published, fans naturally discovered it was Shiller in trouble. They would voluntarily help spread that post.
The effect was even better than he imagined. Shortly afterward, the post was being shared everywhere. Fans were also helping to repost: some suspected that fame brings trouble and that black fans were stirring up trouble at the sanatorium deliberately; some said it was possibly the mentally ill patients causing issues; others swore that the place the sanatorium was built was bad since many people died there before.
Netizens love watching these things, especially with a schadenfreude mentality: "Shiller, you used to avoid interviews and never showed your face, and now you're in trouble, right? Isn't it time to come to us for help?"
Some who considered themselves professionals started analyzing some of the so-called ghost photos Mephisto posted. Some claimed the pictures were photoshopped, while others insisted that the images were entirely real, saying the sanatorium was experiencing paranormal phenomena.
Anyway, the issue was being stirred back and forth for a few days. Coincidentally, Shiller was in Italy at the time; while this matter was gaining traction in the English-speaking area, it wasn't as famous in smaller language regions, so Shiller was unaware.
By the time he returned, Mephisto had already gathered a group of exorcists. However, most of those without real skills were scared off by the paranormal phenomena Mephisto conjured up.
After all, Mephisto is also the king of hell. Devils often use sweet words to entice, but sometimes they need to use intimidation to threaten their followers. They understand well what humans fear, and the supernatural phenomena they create are extremely terrifying. Those so-called masters often can't last a few hours before fleeing in fear.
However, those without real skills are the ones who run away; those who stay and dare to come are basically the ones with true abilities. Just like the brothers Danny and Johnny, one possesses the true Spirit of Revenge, while the other is simply the top worker under Mephisto.
It can be said that as long as this matter isn't stirred up by Mephisto, any demon that comes will be taken down by the two of them.
But unfortunately, this time it was the boss of the Hell Dimension who arrived. Under Mephisto's meticulous disguise, even his underling Johnny didn't notice anything unusual, at most feeling that the power remaining in some places of the sanatorium seemed familiar, but he didn't recognize that the "Doctor Shiller" in front of him was Mephisto in disguise.
However, the good news is that Mephisto also did not recognize Naog Sokhup—the mystic friend of Danny's—as an impostor, after all, the title "Honorary Researcher of All Souls College" is something he remains cautious about. He didn't dare to directly look at the opponent's soul, so he naturally didn't recognize him.
Shiller walked up and shook hands with the version of himself played by Mephisto. He observed Mephisto's disguise up close and found that while the appearance had no flaws, the aura was indeed quite different.
It can be said that if it were not for Danny and Johnny, who hadn't interacted much with him, but for members of The Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D., Mephisto would have surely been exposed.
Some might suspect this is just one of Shiller's other personalities pretending, but they would quickly dismiss this possibility because the Shiller portrayed by Mephisto really does seem like a normal person.
No matter which personality of Shiller it is, although he looks no different from ordinary people on the surface, and usually behaves quite amicably, after spending a long time with him, one would feel a sort of awkwardness, as if Shiller is merely imitating humans. Regardless of the personality that comes out, it would vaguely give people a feeling of this sort. The inhuman feel on Shiller is hard to hide.
Whereas this portrayal by Mephisto, whether in appearance or aura, is entirely that of an ordinary person, utterly flawless. No one could tell that beneath this human skin is actually a devil.
Shiller really didn't want to admit that even the devil playing him is more human-like than he is. So he looked at the version of himself played by Mephisto with growing disapproval, thinking: You're good at acting, huh?
Shiller stood under the shade of the tree, listening to Danny questioning Mephisto about the situation in the sanatorium. Mephisto, acting like it's real, said:
"...The last supernatural occurrence took place last night. It happened in an empty room on the second floor with a very loud 'bang' sound, heard by everyone in the building. When a nurse went to investigate, she said she saw a black shadow float out of the window."
"Wait," Danny interrupted him, "a black shadow? Any more specific features? What did the surveillance cameras capture?"
"The surveillance cameras captured nothing," Mephisto shook his head and said, "I wasn't on the scene at the time, and found nothing when checking the cameras afterward. But the nurse is a long-term employee here and assuredly told me that she definitely saw something."
"Did she describe any other senses? Like whether she felt hot or cold? Did she feel dizzy or anxious?"
"I'm not too sure about that, you'll have to ask her yourselves later. Oh, Allie and Nelson, who live on that floor, also heard the noise, you can ask them too."
"Alright," Danny nodded, "since the supernatural phenomena occur at night, we'll stay over here for one night. You said the sound last night came from an empty room, so we'll go there. If anything unusual happens, we can identify and deal with it immediately."
Mephisto nodded and led them into the sanatorium. Shiller, looking at the decor of the sanatorium, which was as good as new, let out a sigh of relief.
Luckily, Mephisto can at least be considered a person who appreciates order, not having just blown up his home. Otherwise, if he didn't leave him with at least ten Ghost Riders, there would be no settling accounts!