Since Shiller's current role is that of a Mystic, the subsequent questioning was led by him. Fortunately, he had done his homework in advance and had a general idea of how various mystical beings harass the human race, allowing him to inquire fluently without exposing himself in front of the two brothers.
For devils like Mephisto, if their true form hasn't arrived, they basically appear in people's dreams, incessantly muttering to humans. Sometimes, they even block people's minds, preventing them from speaking about their experiences. Whenever dreams are mentioned, they get terrible headaches and can't speak at all.
If the main body or part of its strength arrives, it can basically perform "scorching hell," where everything within a space inexplicably catches fire. People will hear screams from hell, see various terrifying scenes before their eyes, experience hallucinations, and inexplicably lose control of their emotions. The impact range is large, affecting an entire block or even a whole city.
Devils mostly use these methods: they drive people to a mental breakdown with some illusion, then negotiate conditions with them in their dreams. Their appearance is often accompanied by a rise in temperature, agitated livestock, insects fleeing, and other natural phenomena.
Other Cosmic Sorcerers each have their own corresponding special effects: some can make temperatures plummet rapidly, turning a room into an ice cellar within seconds; some appear with high-frequency flickering lights, so bright that it's almost impossible to open your eyes; some affect plants, others affect animals, and some can even affect inanimate objects like buildings. Anyway, there are all sorts of manifestations, each distinct.
Shiller carefully conducted a round of questioning, but the answers left the two brothers puzzled.
According to witnesses, when they witnessed the supernatural phenomena, they didn't feel the temperature rise, didn't hear any devil murmurs, and certainly didn't have those terrifying dreams. Instead, there were just noises, followed by seeing some strange black shadows.
This basically doesn't fit any characteristic of mystic beings. Shiller has ruled out the possibility that Mephisto is intentionally causing trouble, but Danny and Johnny still feel that this might be a way for Mephisto to obscure traces of his visit.
After all, the scent of Mephisto they sensed couldn't be fake, and the judgment of the Spirit of Revenge must be accurate. So the only explanation is that Mephisto has become more cunning, deliberately using such ambiguous phenomena to confuse their vision.
When they finished questioning all the witnesses, it was almost dark. They went to the floor where the incident happened last night: the two brothers went to the empty room where the noise came from, while Shiller was next door.
Shiller was organizing his notes in the next room. Even though he knew perfectly well who was causing the trouble, he had to let the Danny brothers expose him. After all, if he restored his original form now, the situation could easily develop into an awkward "real and fake Monkey King" scenario. Faced with such problems, Shiller never self-proved; he simply attacked the opponent.
In the original comics, Johnny caused quite a bit of trouble for Mephisto and even later replaced Mephisto to become the king of hell. The two brothers are naturally adept at countering Mephisto, never believing that a Mephisto who doesn't dare to use full force could withstand their attacks for long.
Shiller was scribbling in a notebook when there was a sudden knock on the door. He looked up to see his own face.
Observing oneself from a third-person perspective is actually quite interesting, especially when Mephisto's portrayal of an ordinary person is almost perfect. This gave Shiller a lot of inspiration, and he thought that after defeating Mephisto, he should be able to make significant progress in pretending to be an ordinary person.
In order to learn acting from the devils, Shiller had to pretend not to notice. He stood up, opened the door for Mephisto, invited him in, and said, "It's about to get dark, it's better if you don't stay here. After all, you're just an ordinary person, and it'd be troublesome if devils targeted you."
Mephisto smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm just here to check if you need anything. I'll leave before it gets completely dark. Also, is it really unnecessary to call the police?"
Shiller observed the extremely genuine anxiety and worry on Mephisto's face, mixed with a bit of fear, exhaustion, and impatience — truly worthy of a devil chief, the acting is seamless; it's a pity he's not a regular person.
"Sit down, Doctor. I think I can explain the current situation to you, after all, you are the owner of this asylum, and you have the right to know what is happening here. Don't worry, we will resolve these issues."
"Alright, but will I really not catch some curse, like in the movies?"
Shiller smiled and said, "Movies aren't entirely accurate, no curse can spread out of thin air. With us here, you're safe now."
"Okay, can you tell me what's really going on? Who the hell is haunting my asylum?"
"We suspect it's Mephisto."
"Mephisto? The guy from 'Faust'?"
"Yes. I didn't expect you to have studied drama," Shiller smiled and said, "but he's not only a character in drama, he is a real devil. My companions felt his lingering power here, but we haven't caught hold of his actions. We're planning to observe tonight, and if something happens, we'll protect you."
At this, Shiller suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He continued, "Actually, I think there aren't enough cameras in your asylum, there are too many blind spots. If you could install a few more cameras, you might capture that guy's image."
"Really? Would this better guarantee my safety?"
"Yes, of course. Maybe you can look for someone in this field tomorrow, and I can also recommend a few security companies. This way, not only can some things be caught, but rumors can also be stopped."
Mephisto thoughtfully nodded and said, "I don't know any reliable security companies, it would be great if you could introduce one."
It seems he's planning to act all the way through. Shiller thought. But this suits me just fine. To deal with this damned devil, you can't just use brute force; you have to be clever.
"I do know an expert in this field. I'll invite him here tomorrow, and you can talk to him." Shiller stood up and said, "I assure you it'll be fine. It's getting late, you should head back."
After seeing Mephisto out the door, Shiller glanced around the room to ensure there were no surveillance cameras, then pulled out his phone to call Stark.
"Hello? Tony? Has your Stark Group ever designed any reliable pinhole cameras? I'm not up to anything, just doing some artistic creation... Come on, I comforted you for 12 minutes that day. Even if it wasn't technically me, it still counts as me. And I didn't say it was free... Bring your mecha over, I need it urgently."
After hanging up, Shiller began writing and sketching again in his notebook. But this time, it was clearly not about those mundane mysticism elements—he was scribbling furiously, evidently absorbed in his artistic creation, oblivious to everything around him.
Soon, as night fully fell, a gold-red figure appeared outside the window. Shiller, back in his original form, opened the window. Stark looked at him with some wariness.
"It's me," Shiller said, "the imposter is upstairs."
"How are you going to prove..."
"I'm starting to charge; from now on, every word you say counts as psychological counseling. You figure it out."
Stark quickly shut his mouth and even used his pinched fingers to make a zipper gesture along his lips.
Shiller accepted several mini cameras from Stark's hand, which were no longer mini cameras but more like nano cameras. Each was about the size of an adult's fingertip and very thin, like nicotine patches.
Shiller took one and stuck it to his collar. Because they were all white, they were quite unobtrusive. He put on the smart glasses Stark handed him—not very high-tech in appearance, just regular glasses—and discovered he could see camera parameters.
"Get a security supervisor," Shiller said, "Have him bring a set of security monitoring equipment here by tomorrow morning. Then the impersonator will greet him."
Stark made a money gesture.
"Deduct it from your consulting fees," Shiller said, "Don't say you don't have consulting fees, or you certainly will in the future."
Stark's eyes widened first, his expression seeming to say "Not even faking it," then he rolled his eyes resignedly but said nothing, flying out through the window.
Shiller grabbed the remaining pinhole cameras and headed to the room where the two brothers were staying. They were having dinner, and Shiller sat down to eat with them, taking the chance as they brushed past him to subtly stick pinhole cameras onto their collar.
Then he put some cameras in the corners of the room and at the entrance. He was certain Mephisto would play some tricks tonight to scare off these two troublesome guys, and the location was likely this room.
"He's a very cunning devil," Danny said, sipping his beer. "So the situation is probably as you said, Johnny. He's sneaking around here, doing something secretly, not wanting us to find out, working hard to conceal his tracks. The more he does this, the less I'll let him succeed."
Johnny was visibly worried too, but he remained calmer: "It's not that simple. I smell a trap. Doctor Schiller, the owner of the sanatorium, is friends with all the superheroes, and if something happens to him, S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Avengers won't let it slide easily. If he wants to frame anyone, that's trouble."
"You can't feel his presence at all?" Danny asked.
"I can sense residual strength from him here, but it's very faint, feels like something from months ago. I don't sense anyone possessed here. Do you detect any movement from the Spirit of Revenge in your body?"
"He's become unusually quiet," Danny replied, "but I can feel he's accumulating strength, which means the challenge ahead won't be simple for us. We'll..."
"Bang!!"
A loud noise interrupted them. The brothers immediately put aside their things and dashed out, only to see the neighboring room's door closing.
"Bang!!"
Another loud noise, the window at the end of the hallway swung open, and a draft of cold air rushed in, tousling their hair. The night wind seemed to turn solid at the window, as if something terrifying was approaching.