Chapter 768: The Matchstick Seller Schiller (Part 1) (Patreon)

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Half an hour later, Schiller, carrying the drenched Mirror Master, arrived at the office of Gotham University. At this moment, Victor was packing up, getting ready to finish work.

Seeing Schiller suddenly bringing in a stranger, he curiously approached and asked, "What's going on? Who is he? Why did you bring him to the school?"

Schiller gave Mirror Master a strong pat, making him stumble a bit, then looked at him and asked, "By the way, I haven't asked for your name. What's your name?"

"I'm Sam, Sam Scudder," Mirror Master replied, neck hunched.

Now, with nowhere else to go, cursed and feeling the drain of life, Mirror Master had no choice but to follow Schiller to Gotham University.

Exploiting Mirror Master's weakness, Schiller used psychological tactics to induce panic, covered all reflective objects in a surprise move, leaving only one vulnerability—his reflective umbrella knife.

However, the umbrella knife and the Umbrella handle were integral, housing Curse Spirit, the elder brother of Constantine, who had been strangled in his mother's womb and turned into a vengeful spirit.

Curse Spirit couldn't attack on its own; it needed to possess someone or something, with a certain amount of contact during possession. Schiller had to lure Mirror Master into voluntarily possessing the Umbrella.

In his panic, Mirror Master, without much thought, chose the only escape route, stepping into the trap and getting entangled with Curse Spirit.

Schiller had previously experimented with Curse Spirit on Marvel's Black Panther, and the results pleased him. Even a Panther God was helpless against this unknown curse.

After all, if this Curse Spirit was indeed Constantine's twin brother, he should possess exceptional magical talent, just like Constantine. After transforming his life form, he would likely have even more formidable powers.

Mirror Master had run into bad luck. Schiller dragged him to Gotham University, listened to his self-introduction, nodded, and then said to Victor, "I've run out of enrollment forms here. Do you have any more? Give me another one."

"We have some, but what do you want it for? You're not thinking of enrolling him, are you?" Victor scrutinized Mirror Master, saying, "He doesn't look like a local in Gotham."

"Our school accepts students from across states," Schiller replied.

"Yeah... but he doesn't really look like a student."

"It's a matter of attire," Schiller answered again. He dragged Mirror Master into the lounge next to the office, threw him inside, and tossed a set of clothes to him. With the curse on him, Mirror Master dared not escape.

Mirror Master changed into the clothes with a dejected look. The sweatshirt and sweatpants made him look ten years younger. Schiller dragged him back into the office, pointed at him, and said to Victor, "See, doesn't he look like a student now?"

"But... does he really need to learn technology?" Victor observed Mirror Master, noticing his clean-shaven face without calluses on well-maintained hands, and said, "He doesn't seem to need to learn technology to support himself."

Mirror Master vigorously nodded, almost breaking his neck. Schiller, noticing Victor's skepticism, grinned and said, "It's not about whether he needs to learn technology; it's about whether I think he needs to learn technology."

Mirror Master looked at him and said, "But... but I've already graduated from college. I'm an excellent graduate, I..."

Seeing Schiller's increasingly unfriendly gaze, Mirror Master's voice faded, and he said, "Okay, I can pursue another Bachelor of Science."

Victor brought an enrollment form and watched as Schiller filled it out. He asked, "Which major do you plan to assign him to? Automotive repair?"

"No, I plan to establish a separate major for him to fully utilize his expertise," Schiller said without looking up while filling out the form. "Let's call it the Mirror and Teleportation major. It'll be initially under the technical college, and if there are research results, we can merge it into the main institute."

"Mirror and Teleportation?" Victor frowned, reading the complex major name again. He looked at Mirror Master and asked, "Can you teleport?"

Mirror Master absentmindedly nodded, turned his head slightly, looked at the ceramic cup beside Victor. The white surface of the cup was very smooth and reflective. With a swift motion, Mirror Master entered it, waved at Victor from inside the cup.

Victor widened his eyes, picked up the cup, examined it up and down, feeling thoroughly confused. After a while, Mirror Master emerged from the cup, and Victor immediately said, "Come over and tell me how you did that. What kind of technology is this?"

"Before making the mirror, I added a special chemical to the solution being used to make the mirror. After giving the mirror special abilities, I conducted other research, including this gun..."

Given the chance to show off his technology, Mirror Master naturally seized it. After speaking for a while, he looked up at Victor and asked, "Are you also a professor at this university? What field do you teach?"

"I'm a low-temperature physics specialist. Currently, I mainly teach physics, but my research covers a wide range, including chemistry, mechanical engineering, and some natural sciences," Victor replied.

"Low-temperature physics?" Mirror Master, playing with his handgun, said, "I know someone who seems to have mastered some kind of low-temperature technology, but I don't quite understand it."

"Oh?" Victor raised his eyebrows with interest. He said, "Nowadays, there aren't many people researching low-temperature physics. If he's relatively well-known in the industry, I should have heard of him. By the way, which city are you from?"

"Central City. The weather there is much better than here," Mirror Master complained. Now he understood; he lost to Schiller, falling into a trap specifically designed for him, but it was also his bad luck, encountering a typhoon.

"Central City?" Victor rubbed his chin and said, "I haven't heard of any famous cryogenic laboratories there."

While the two were chatting, Schiller, holding the enrollment form, approached Mirror Master, shook it, and handed it to him, saying, "Now, take this form to the administrative office to register. Then, stay in the school and study honestly. You can't leave before graduation, or else..."

Schiller raised the Umbrella again, and Mirror Master took two steps back, swallowing nervously. "Don't worry, I have two Bachelor of Science degrees, both with full scholarships. I'm an outstanding graduate with ample internship experience, proficient in various chemical formulations, and..."

"Alright, if your academic performance is good, we'll also grant you a full scholarship. After all, we can't even find a suitable scholarship candidate right now," Schiller said, self-deprecatingly.

After Mirror Master left, Victor leaned against Schiller's desk, smiling. "Remember the topic we discussed back then? We're both travelers in the snowy night, lighting a campfire in the vast snowfield..."

"Of course, I remember. Everyone who comes here adds firewood, so the campfire never goes out," Schiller replied, still reading a paper.

"What you're doing now seems more like guarding the campfire and forcibly selling matchsticks," Victor said with a laugh. "Others aren't cold, yet you insist on selling matchsticks."

Schiller's hands paused for a moment, then he said, "How do you know he's not cold?"

Victor was taken aback. "He's not from Gotham, and he graduated from college with a stable job."

"If he graduated from college and has a stable job, why would he break into Wayne Tower to steal?" Schiller countered.

Victor had no response, and Schiller continued, "And why do you assume he doesn't need matchsticks? Are you the psychologist, or am I the psychologist?"

"And what does 'forcibly selling' mean? I'm voluntarily undertaking part of the duty to reform criminals for society. I should send a bill to the City Hall in Central City and let them pay Sam's tuition."

Victor shook his head, and Anna, sitting at her desk without looking up, said, "I really don't understand why you insist on arguing with a psychologist. It's his profession, after all."

"Yeah, just like counting that in this office, there are only three of us who can talk, and after subtracting you, there are only two left. It's also in your professional field," Schiller retorted.

Victor remained silent. He put on his coat, grabbed his keys, and said, "Are you staying in the dorm tonight? If you are, I'll leave the keys for you."

Schiller didn't lift his head. "Yes, I won't go home tonight. I have to keep an eye on the students in the technical college tomorrow morning."

Watching Schiller's focused expression, Victor shook his head and left.

Meanwhile, out of Schiller's sight, Mirror Master found a public telephone booth nearby and made a call. "Here's the situation..."

He briefly explained his current predicament. The voice on the other end was very low, but there was no blame. Instead, it said, "I'll send someone to investigate Gotham University and assist you. Once you've dealt with the curse problem, return to a safe location immediately."

Looking around cautiously, Mirror Master lowered his voice. "That professor is not easy to deal with. Are you sure the person you're sending can..."

"Don't worry. He's an old acquaintance of yours. He'll be there tonight, and as long as you don't cause too much commotion, no one can stop you two."

After hanging up the phone, Mirror Master breathed a sigh of relief. His previous attitude was just a strategy to buy time. He didn't believe he would be trapped in a university, and he had no interest in studying at a vocational school.

As night fell and the storm subsided, Victor sat in his dorm reading books, mainly materials related to neuroscience. He was working towards obtaining a Ph.D. in neuroscience.

His wife's health had improved significantly, with only one issue remaining – a neurodegenerative disease.

The difficulty with this disease was that once thawed, it would continue to deteriorate. So, even though his wife's condition had returned to normal, or even healthier than normal, Victor couldn't bring himself to thaw her.

Unless there was a 100% success rate, he wasn't willing to take the risk. Although Schiller brought many materials, dealing with Victor's wife's neurodegenerative disease required expert consultation.

No matter how skilled a doctor was, without seeing the patient, accurate diagnosis was impossible. Even a medical prodigy like Strange needed to see the patient, conduct thorough examinations before performing surgery.

In the absence of a meeting between the two parties, a conservative treatment approach was taken, albeit slower, but with high safety.

Under the efforts of both worlds, cryonics had reached its peak. The frozen individuals' bodily functions showed no problems, and with gradual management of neurodegenerative diseases and genetic issues, complete recovery was possible.

While pondering these issues, Victor glanced out the window during his reading breaks and noticed a suspicious figure beneath the teacher's dormitory building.

Squinting, he looked out through the window and then put on his coat, took the freeze gun from the table, and walked towards the door.

In the corridor, he glanced at Schiller's room. Schiller hadn't even taken off his coat; he was sound asleep on the bed, a hint of weariness between his brows.

Victor knew that despite the busy schedules of the students, their teachers were even busier.

Besides keeping an eye on the technical college, Schiller had to attend undergraduate classes, review graduate theses, and help Bruce deal with a pile of troubles so that he could study in peace.

Victor thought, "Schiller, the matchstick seller? This really isn't a fairy tale worth celebrating, as it's filled with too much real helplessness."

This story was more suitable to become a new dark nursery rhyme for the city. If you're unwilling to approach the campfire in the snowy night or have no strength to pick up a torch on a cold evening to find a new way out, perhaps you'll see a professor with matchsticks at the end of a dark alley. Before you go home, he'll light a cigar, and before the cigarette smoke disperses, he'll hand you a matchstick.

As for the cigar, you'll have to find it yourself.

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 769: The Match Seller Schiller (Part 1)