"Pal, create a new project for me. Name it Anti-Brainiac Protocol."
"No problem, sir."
Shen You stood in his underground lab. On the floating holographic screen in front of him, he tapped a few times, and a freshly created project folder entered the queue.
He took a moment to glance over the other pending tasks he'd set up and suddenly realized—he'd dug quite a few holes for himself without even noticing.
As the saying goes: dig a pit and leave it unfilled, and like spring winds, more will grow. The to-do list just kept growing—equipment upgrades, learning Kryptonian tech, daily training and power development, research into magic countermeasures...
Thinking about it, life was feeling quite fulfilling.
"The search for the girl named Rachel Roth that you asked about has produced some preliminary results," Pal reminded him. "You may want to take a look."
"Of course. Let me see."
Shen You waved aside the new project window and pulled up Pal's report.
Threats from the Trigon realm fell under the jurisdiction of the magical world—territory the old wizard managed. Shen You had checked with him; the old man confidently claimed that no matter how powerful a demon, if it was still on the other side of the dimensional veil, he could make sure it never crossed over—so long as the portal remained sealed.
"Rachel Roth, Rachel Roth—how are there so many of them?"
Looking at the densely packed list of profiles, Shen You was a bit surprised. But on second thought, it made sense. It's a pretty common name. After all, names don't have ID collisions. Having duplicates was normal.
Going through them one by one would be a pain. If only there was a way to narrow it down…
Actually, there was.
"Add a keyword filter," Shen You said. "Single-parent household. Mother's name likely Angela Roth."
Thanks to the racial trait of having reincarnated into the Ultra species, Shen You's brain worked like a supercomputer with a built-in memory search. Just by recalling a keyword, he could instantly associate it with even a single glimpse of comic lore he'd seen before.
Raven's mother—the woman seduced by Trigon into nearly bringing about the end of the world—was named Angela. Adding that filter should narrow it down fast.
Sure enough, the results quickly honed in on a single individual, located in Gotham.
Gotham Heights High School. Sixteen-year-old girl. Rachel Roth. Class…
Huh? That class number looks familiar.
Shen You blinked.
Kara's classmate?
"Rachel, can I call you Raven?"
Kara walked beside the girl, glancing over.
She was quite pretty—pale skin, delicate features… maybe a little too pale, almost bloodless. Her thick lashes shaded dark, mysterious eyes, and her short blue-black hair, tall slim figure, and gothic aura gave her a strikingly enigmatic look.
"Mhm." The girl nodded.
"I heard the building we're going to is called… Owl House or something?" Kara asked.
"It's the Court of Owls," said a tall boy walking ahead of them with a grin.
His name was Chris, the school bully. His reign of terror included (but wasn't limited to) stealing balloons from toddlers and letting the air out of old men's wheelchairs. A textbook delinquent.
And as usual, he was flanked by his two lackey sidekicks.
"Kara, you're a transfer student, right? Nobody in Gotham hasn't heard this rhyme."
Chris leaned in with a creepy tone, softly reciting:
"Beware the Court of Owls,
They watch you through the night.
They lurk behind the city walls,
And hide where no light bites.
In your home, they're always there,
Beneath your bed they lie.
Don't dare to speak their cursed name—
Or else your head, they'll pry."
"I heard that's all fake," said Lackey #1 behind him.
"Who knows? My grandpa swore it was real. My dad says it's for scaring kids. But hey, people used to think Batman was fake too," Chris said. "This building we're going to's been abandoned for ten years now. Multiple people went missing there back in the day. Some say it was the Court's doing. But the cases were never solved…"
"Heh, don't worry, nothing to be scared of. After all, I'm here to protect the lovely ladies."
He turned around—only to find Kara wasn't paying attention to him at all. She was still trying to strike up conversation with the quiet, aloof Raven.
"So, what do you want to do in the future?" Kara asked.
"I don't know." Raven shook her head.
"I used to want to be a scientist, like my dad," Kara said.
Chris jumped in quickly: "Same here, me too! I always wanted to be a scientist, what a coincidence, hahaha—"
"But now I don't want to anymore. Studying and researching all day is so boring. I like flying. Maybe I'll be a flight attendant instead."
Chris forced a laugh: "Wow, what a coincidence! I've also always wanted to be a… flight attendant."
The two lackeys exchanged weird looks.
"Boss… that sounds kinda creepy."
Chris glared at them like a lunatic. The two quickly shrank back and shut up.
Soon, the group arrived outside the abandoned building.
It was a dilapidated, crumbling structure. The outer walls had mostly fallen away, exposing its desolate interior. Only shards of glass clung to the window frames, allowing little to no light through. The central staircase was rotted and unstable. Dust caked the ceilings, and the wallpaper had long since faded and peeled. The whole place oozed a gloomy, oppressive atmosphere.
Occasionally, chilly gusts of wind swept through, dragging with them eerie creaks and groans from unknown sources.
The two lackeys were already gulping nervously.
Lackey #2 whispered to Chris, "Uh… boss? Are we really doing this? Maybe we should just go home and sleep…"
"Shut up." Chris shot him a glare and muttered, "Didn't I tell you? Places like this are perfect. A little scare and she'll fall right into my arms."
Lackey #1 mumbled, "Yeah, but what's that got to do with us…"
"Hm?" Chris narrowed his eyes.
"I-I mean, what if there really is something scary in there?" Lackey #1 shivered. "In horror movies, people like us always die first…"
Chris stared at him like he was an idiot.
The lackey shrank back, silent again, and followed him in.
None of them noticed…
In a shadowed corner of the decrepit building, a sinister figure leaned against a window, overlooking the stereotypical cannon-fodder group of horror movie teenagers, letting out a raspy, twisted laugh.
"Haha… I was just wondering where to find the next batch of offerings… and they walked right in."
A cold, cruel smile spread across his face.
"Just wait, Lord Belial. The fresh blood and sacrifices… are on their way."