Chapter 1209: Lamb's Cry (Complete) (Patreon)

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When Bruce saw Schiller in the interrogation room, he was still wearing a straitjacket and a mask, and didn't seem to have been exonerated as Amanda had said.

From the expression in Schiller's eyes, Bruce understood that he had been waiting for him, and this whole farce was about to come to an end.

As Bruce sat down opposite Schiller, every detail of the entire incident began to play out in his mind.

If Bruce had to summarize the whole thing, it would be that he had discovered that everyone involved was self-righteous, trying to justify themselves, and imperfect.

Bruce felt that Schiller was a loner who needed treatment, and the treatment was to bind him to ordinary people, never to be free from societal constraints, regardless of whether Pride wanted freedom or not.

As Bruce's father, Thomas, had predetermined a scenario in his mind, he was the most important person in Bruce's life, and Bruce would never be able to live without him. Therefore, Bruce must have taken the wrong path.

Thomas failed to conceal his thoughts, which were captured by Schiller, who gave him more affirmation, fueling his self-righteousness and making him more convinced of his own judgments.

As a father figure, Thomas felt he was doing what was best for Bruce, so he used violent means to force him to submit, believing his judgments and advice were correct, and the other party had to listen and obey, or else they would suffer even more.

As for Schiller, who was Bruce's teacher, the abnormal Schiller thought he was doing it for Pride's own good, so he didn't ask for his opinion and forcibly bound him to Batman.

Pride thought he was doing it for Bruce's own good, to help him pass the exam and face potential dangers, so he established his authority over four years, suppressing Bruce with his fatherly identity.

In simple terms, everyone was trying to impose their will on others, firmly believing their will was right and for the other person's good, which was the essence of paternalism.

It was hard to say whether paternalism was a form of love disguised as power or power disguised as love.

Perhaps the father's advice was correct, or perhaps the son's resistance was correct, but this couldn't hide the fact that everyone was hurting each other in the name of love.

At this point, it was time to say that old phrase again: love is not control, but liberation.

More importantly, one couldn't just give the other person what they wanted, and certainly couldn't force them to accept it.

As Bruce sat opposite Schiller, he had already thought this through, but he still had a question, so he looked at Schiller and asked, "… aren't you angry?"

Bruce had discovered that Thomas's use of violence was actually a form of revenge against his previous resistance, and he felt extremely angry.

Because this violent method was no longer motivated by love, but was a result of paternalism's distortion, simply an innocent release of personal desires.

Bruce knew he had done the same thing before, and it should have ended when he let Schiller drink the blood, because the motivation behind that action was still to bind Schiller to ordinary society and give him treatment.

But afterwards, Bruce used his abnormal perspective to make Pride Schiller unable to remove the controller, and made him return to prison, which was actually a form of revenge for the four years of mutual torment.

So, wasn't Schiller angry?

If he was angry, why didn't he directly leave the prison and return to Gotham?

Bruce knew that no matter what Schiller did, whether he directly came back to beat him up or used a complex plan to make him suffer, he wouldn't have a good way to resist, and would definitely feel very painful.

But Schiller didn't do that.

Bruce was eager to hear the answer, so he stood up, walked behind Schiller, and removed his mask and the restraints on his chair.

The next second, Bruce was thrown to the ground with a loud "thud," and Schiller stood over him, looking down at him.

"You won't still be angry about this, will you, Bruce?"

Bruce, who had been thrown to the ground, felt his vision blur, and his body was already in bad shape. The heavy fall made him feel like his lungs were about to burst.

"I know you're angry, but why..."

"Because I'm your teacher," Schiller said, slowly producing a black umbrella from his hand.

Bruce didn't see anger in Schiller's eyes, but rather a sense of helplessness.

"I know you want to save me, I know your motivation is love, so I must preserve some dignity in our relationship..." Schiller said in a low tone.

Bruce slowly opened his eyes, staring straight at Schiller, who picked up the umbrella and gently stroked the surface before looking down at Bruce.

"This world's best education is by example, and I must do it first before I can teach you how to resist paternalism and exercise paternalism."

Bruce didn't even have time to feel moved before a strong sense of danger enveloped him. Schiller placed the umbrella in front of him, and a sharp knife suddenly appeared on the tip.

"Thank you for your kindness, I'm touched, but I won't accept it. If you want to force me to accept, it's just to satisfy your personal desires, and if so, you'll have to take responsibility for the consequences."

As soon as the words fell, Schiller grasped the umbrella handle and stabbed Bruce in the abdomen, causing blood to splatter everywhere.

Bruce curled up in pain, the umbrella knife not having reached a vital spot, but making him even more painful. In a daze, Schiller's posture as he pulled out the knife was still very elegant and dignified, forming a stark contrast with his hysteria.

Looking at Schiller's smiling face, Bruce knew what he was going to say, and this was a reverse competition, where whoever understood the reason to yield for love first would win.

Schiller had yielded earlier, giving him more, and understanding love better. Joker had won again.

And at that moment, Bruce realized he was indeed a hopeless narcissist, wanting to win even in matters of yielding, liberating, and giving love to others.

At this point, it didn't matter who loved who more; the key was to win.

So, Bruce, who was lying on the ground, covering his wound, looked at Schiller with a scattered gaze and said, "It seems... we've all understood... love is not about taking, but giving, giving the other person what they want most..."

"And I know... what you want most... is freedom."

After saying that, Bruce grabbed the umbrella that was still close to his body.

Before Schiller could react, Bruce grabbed the umbrella, pulled Schiller's arm holding the umbrella, and brought the knife close to his own neck.

Then, without hesitation, he slit his own neck artery.

"Ah!"

The last scene Bruce saw was Professor Schiller's shocked expression, which could be described as flabbergasted.

About a few hours later, in the room at Wayne Manor, Bruce, who was bandaged around his neck, chest, and abdomen, lay on the bed with a expressionless face, while Schiller sat in a chair beside him, his eyes dull and unfocused.

On the other side of the bed, Gordon, Victor, Alberto, Copperpot, Thomas, Lucifer Morningstar, Alfred, Amanda, and Angela stood in a row.

Their gazes didn't fall on Bruce and Schiller, but on the tall figure at the foot of the bed, Clark Kent.

"Friends, can someone explain to me what's going on?" Clark spread his hands, his eyes scanning each person's face.

When faced with the young man's genuinely puzzled and incredulous gaze, everyone was speechless.

"Is it possible to understand that Bruce and Schiller's experience was two mentally ill people being forced into a complex relationship, hurting each other for four years without any control, and you all just watched?"

Clark opened his arms wider, his tone rising, his voice becoming sharp like a lamb's cry at birth:

"Didn't anyone try to stop them? Didn't anyone realize they were mentally ill? They needed someone to take care of them, someone to help them live This is common sense, even for a rural doctor in our small town... you're all from the big city!!"

Clark walked to Schiller and Bruce's side, pointing at them with both fingers and saying:

"Just because this city has become so rotten, you should have realized something was wrong when they were getting along swimmingly Does it take a genius to make such a simple judgment?!"

The people opposite looked embarrassed, and Victor cleared his throat and said, "But they themselves feel they don't need help, and we can't..."

"Every mental patient thinks they're not crazy!" Clark looked at Victor incredulously. "If we listened to them, we wouldn't need mental hospitals!"

"I think things aren't that serious..." Lucifer Morningstar chimed in.

Clark stared at his expression, as if writing "look at their current state and say that again" on his face.

Lucifer Morningstar was speechless, and Gordon coughed twice and said, "Indeed, they have gone a bit overboard this time..."

"A bit overboard?! God A student sends their teacher to prison, uses torture on them, a teacher deceives a student's father to cause trouble, breaks three of their ribs, and finally stabs them, and then the student grabs the teacher's knife and slashes their own neck. You call that 'a bit overboard'?"

Clark took a deep breath, covering his chest and taking two steps back, looking at everyone present and saying, "You all should be in a mental hospital, I'm serious!"

Thomas frowned, and Bruce's last few words had already made him realize that Schiller might be deceiving him. Just as he was about to express his dissatisfaction with Schiller, Clark stretched out his hand and stopped everyone from speaking.

"No matter what you think, I believe I must take responsibility for my friend's abnormal life. This might be because I didn't care enough about him, didn't provide the help he needed, or didn't provide it in time."

"And now that this has happened, I must do my best to improve his situation and make up for my debt to him."

Clark put his hands on his hips, glancing at Bruce and then at Schiller, saying, "Bruce is my good friend, and Schiller is a respected teacher I've always admired."

"I'm very sorry, they're both mentally ill, but according to my limited medical knowledge, the most important thing now is to separate them and give them a quiet, warm, and comfortable therapeutic environment."

"This city is always cloudy and humid, and the rain here is strange, which is completely opposite to the environment needed for mental patients. We friends have been letting them live here for four years without proper care and attention, and I think that's the root of their illness developing to this point."

"So, we should send them to a sunny, warm, and comfortable environment, and only end our care when their mental state is truly stable enough to take care of themselves. Does anyone object?"

Clark's voice was shaking with anger as he spoke, and it was clear he had reached his limit. This state of Clark's was so intimidating that the group of clever devils opposite him couldn't say a word.

"Alright, that's decided then I think my old home in Kansas is a good environment, so I'll take one of them with me. Now, you two decide who goes with me!"

Bruce, lying in bed, said in a weak voice, "I have a plan, we can..."

"No plans!" Clark immediately interrupted.

Schiller also spoke in a weak voice, "We can make a bet on..."

"No betting!" Clark interrupted again.

"Your chaotic, mentally unstable, and hallucination-filled brains are not suitable for making any plans or betting with anyone. Now, immediately, let's play rock-paper-scissors!"

In the end, Bruce chose to follow Clark, not because he lost the game, but because he couldn't lift his arm, while Schiller could.

It's still the same phrase, even if Batman died, was buried, and the grass on his grave grew out, he would still shout from the depths of the earth, "Anyone can beat him, except the Joker!"

In a sense, this might also be the will of the universe, leaving people helpless.

Lucifer Morningstar planned to take Schiller to the West Coast, as his bar business had been bad, and he had been thinking of changing cities for a while.

After the people dispersed, Lucifer Morningstar stood at the window at the end of the Wayne Manor corridor, watching Clark approach, and said, "They're really lucky to have a friend like you."

"No, being able to help friends is my luck, which lets them know I love them, makes others feel my love, and brings me genuine joy."

Lucifer Morningstar lowered his head, as if thinking of something, and after a while, said, "I once had a friend like that, but my pride ruined everything."

"You can apologize to him," Clark said directly.

"He's no longer alive."

"Then go find him."

"He's dead."

"Then apologize to his grave."

Lucifer Morningstar stared at Clark, unsure how to evaluate him. The young man in front of him was innocent and straightforward, even a bit childish, but perhaps it was this childishness that made his words have a mesmerizing power.

Later that night, in the Rodriguez Manor's hall, Merkel asked worriedly, "Do I really not need to go with them? Professor Schiller's self-care ability is a bit..."

Lucifer Morningstar shook his head, looking at the already packed luggage, and said, "This is his last night in the Manor, I'll go see if he's sleeping well."

After entering the room, Schiller was already fast asleep. The days in prison weren't easy to get through, and the scene of Bruce's blood splattering reminded him of some memories he thought he had long forgotten.

The pure white and massive angel wings unfolded and lowered, helping Schiller block out the disturbing light from the window and letting his eyebrows relax. Those nightmares were gone, and Schiller finally fell asleep.

The gentle rain and thunder sounded simultaneously, and the faint "sorry" mixed in sounded like a sad sigh, also like a mournful cry.

Oh!

Some people accused Bruce of being abnormal

Some people accused Schiller of being abnormal

Foolish people

It's just that there's a possibility

Neither of them is normal

The people around them aren't normal either

The only normal person in the whole scene

The Kryptonian

(Not even human)

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 1210: The Farm of Justice (1)