Although Constantine's body was following Shiller forward, his soul seemed to have already flown away. But even so, Shiller had to take his body otherwise Professor X would certainly make his soul take off physically, and Magneto would then be able to destroy his body.
Getting involved with these two people is really not a good idea, but Constantine just happens to be such a loser that good ideas are scarce throughout his life. Everyone knows that provoking them would mean death, but coincidentally, Constantine isn't afraid of death at all. It's fair to say that Charles' good looks have put him in too many situations fraught with danger from the likes of Constantine, but fortunately, his powerful mutant ability lets him emerge unscathed.
Even though Shiller is not very concerned about the situation with Magneto and Charles, if they start fighting here, the information he wants will be unobtainable, and all the markets in Centaurus will completely darken Earth people, making the mission utterly unfinishable.
Shiller struggled for quite a while before he could drag Constantine away. They soon rented a small airship and began browsing items on the floating markets, while also gathering intelligence. It wasn't long before they found an information peddler.
"I need recent reports on incidents caused by cosmic sorcerer activities, specific times and locations, and final outcomes. How much do they cost?"
"You know we don't take universal coins here, right?" the information peddler said, "But since you're human, you probably don't have a lot of universal coins either. You can trade your special products instead."
"What do you want?"
"Magic energy is best, but you don't quite look like a mage. Vibranium and gold would work too," the information peddler was clearly knowledgeable.
Shiller actually knew well that gold is one of the universal currencies in the cosmos because the cosmic structure dictates that such elements are rare everywhere. Although gold prices vary, it's generally considered a precious metal.
Vibranium is even rarer, almost a specialty of Earth, and its properties are very remarkable, making it hard currency wherever you go. A few grams of vibranium can exchange for many supplies, let alone for information.
Of course, Shiller didn't have any vibranium. When he left Arkham Universe, he brought along some gold. He took out two bars of gold and said, "The more detailed the information, the higher the price. Verifying the goods before payment."
"No problem." The information peddler was straightforward. After all, among so many races, there aren't many who can offer something decent; humans are not easy to provoke, and it's great that they're willing to pay instead of taking by force.
The information peddler handed Shiller a terminal filled with incredibly detailed accident reports. The data presented was even very professional, clearly sourced from within the Three Great Empires. From this, Shiller could also deduce that something must be going wrong inside the Three Great Empires, leaking information like a sieve.
After adding another gold bar, the information peddler left with a big smile. Shiller tossed the data terminal to Constantine and said, "The targets are all here, try to gather as much energy as possible within a week, we're about to go into battle."
Constantine barely came back to his senses and soon got excited again. He said, "Oh yes, we can meet on the battlefield! I can perform a good round of magic, surely more dazzling than this Universe's mages. Haha."
Shiller sighed but didn't discourage him, just suddenly felt that Batman definitely made a miscalculation—he thought this Universe didn't have Constantine's type, but didn't expect that the young Charles Xavier was love at first sight for too many people.
However, this is actually a good thing; Constantine seems full of motivation. One could only say some cosmic sorcerers are in for a hard time.
Indeed, it was so. In the following week, Constantine used every trick in the book. Shiller initially thought he'd need at least a day or two to adjust, but surprisingly he started with a big bang.
First, he intercepted the communication frequencies of cosmic sorcerers, somewhat like phone numbers, anyone using this "phone number" could reach the sorcerer. After talking with two sorcerers, Constantine began impersonating an employee of the Holy Sanctuary, conducting telecom scams on the sorcerers.
Once, during the Ancient One's time as the Supreme Magician, the cosmos was quite chaotic, with virtually no order, so he mainly engaged in ambush and robbery, making the cosmic sorcerers develop a kind of disorder where they would yell "I'm done for" upon seeing a bald person with two legs.
Later, when Strange became the Supreme Magician, the Universe was no longer that chaotic, with the stability and order of prosperous times being the choice of most intelligent life. Therefore, he established the Holy Sanctuary, enriching himself through financial means, with layers of exploitation even among sorcerers. Big fish eat little fish, and little fish eat shrimp.
Up until now, the Universe has welcomed Constantine. Stable days greatly lower people's vigilance. The telecom scam version arrived as expected, with cosmic sorcerers having no idea what anti-fraud was, and the Holy Sanctuary's goodness and retribution—a cosmic Constantine is too many's karma, including Strange and Loki.
"What did you say?!" Strange raised his voice into the phone and said, "The transfer system malfunctioned and you need to pay 30 million in deposit? You paid?! By the Ancient One, are you out of your mind?!"
"Stephen! Stephen!" Loki's voice came from outside the door. Strange turned his head and saw Loki walking in with a large stack of reports, looking grave as he said, "Someone is impersonating us, we've received over 200 reports just this week!"
"I know," Strange said with a hint of helplessness, "I've issued warnings across the whole cosmos, but not everyone has the public channels open. The staff are contacting them one by one, but fortunately, our important clients haven't suffered too much loss."
"This can't go on, I've checked his communication address, but it's changing so fast it's basically confirmed to be a virtual address, or it could be some kind of doppelganger ability. Who would be so vile?"
"Could it be the Three Great Empires?" Strange said, "I heard there's a coup being prepared within the Skrull Empire; could they be trying to use this to gain power?"
"Not likely," Loki shook his head and said, "After all, the Skrulls are a mechanical civilization and they've been an infinite energy civilization for a long time, what would they need so much energy for? I suspect the Shi'ar Empire more; they're a magic race, and the Elder Council has been restless, such a nasty trick could be their idea."
"But do they have the capability? You couldn't even trace the communication address? Could it be the use of a teleportation portal?"
"Not sure, but it's more likely they've developed some new method. Anyway, let's notify those affected; for those seriously hurt, some compensation can be arranged. I have to find a way to catch this guy."
"You need to be careful, anyone who can pull this off must be very dangerous," Strange looked at Loki and said, "Otherwise, why don't you call a few helpers to go with you?"
"No, that would make too much of a scene and easily scare him off." Loki shook his head and said, "Don't you know me? Even though I only hold the position of Goddess of Glory and my attack power is significantly lacking, no one can kill me."
Strange sighed, "This time it's my fault, I was too focused on discussing tactics with them and overlooked the work of the Holy Sanctuary. If I'd reacted sooner, we wouldn't have lost so much."
"No worries, it's not too late now. You keep an eye on the Holy Sanctuary; I'll take a spin around the cosmos."
With that, Loki left. Although she presented herself as relaxed in front of Strange, her expression turned serious after leaving Earth because she really investigated and truly couldn't find out.
The communication frequency used by the other party was completely different from what they commonly used, with stronger concealment, and the energy receptance channels were modified, nearly silent, and kept diverting to different addresses. Loki hurriedly checked a few, but by the time she got there, the place was already empty, leaving nothing behind.
This time, she decided to change her approach, instead of chasing after them, she would lure them to find her. This was actually feasible, as long as she disguised herself as an easily deceived Demon God. Fortunately, the existence of the Goddess of Glory was similar to a Cosmic Sorcerer, as long as she made some noise in the cosmos, they'd surely come looking.
Action made easy, Loki randomly found a bustling star system and manifested several times, playing the role of a very generous Holy Mother, not only bestowing her followers with vast energy but also constantly expanding her sphere of influence, seemingly trying to create her realm. This image of a fool with too much money was most attractive to scammers.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Loki received communication. The caller claimed to be an employee of the Holy Sanctuary and wanted to recruit new members, requiring only a membership fee. Receiving the call, Loki sneered, "Got you at last!"
She arranged a meeting place with the other party. Of course, Loki didn't expect the main body to come, but as long as there was a doppelganger, she could lock onto them through energy fluctuations, making it much easier to capture them.
In the silent starry sky, only distant stars flickered with faint light. Although this was a rather dark star system, many living creatures resided here, some having developed interstellar civilization. Recently, they were collectively praising the generosity of a goddess. The hymn reached Constantine's ears, and he shook his head with slight disdain.
What Goddess of Glory, what descent of the Holy Mother, it's all just a Demon God's trick. They offer energy in exchange for faith and may eventually catch everyone in one net. Are only they allowed to deceive, and not others deceive them?
Constantine always thought this way. It's hard to say he didn't feel a sense of revenge when outsmarting devils. Only he knew that proving to Devils that he was smarter made Devils wary of humans, not daring to wantonly toy with weak creatures.
With such thoughts, Constantine flew towards a lonely little planet. This was the meeting place he and the Goddess of Glory agreed on. Just by meeting, he could obtain a hefty membership fee and possibly also agency fees, system operation fees, maintenance fees, etc. Constantine had drained many Demon Gods like this, and this time would be no different.
— This thought lasted only until the Goddess of Glory appeared.
A black-haired girl in a white dress stood on a vast grey land, her green eyes the only vitality on this desolate planet. There Constantine saw thousands of miles of emerald waves, boundless grasslands, and a tinge of azure capable of withstanding all the red of life.