Chapter 803: How Schiller Initially Split (Part 3) (Patreon)

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Victor posed the final question, locking his gaze onto Schiller's eyes. "Now that you're officially employed, why did you let that already tainted persona take your place and carry out these actions against Batman?"

Schiller raised his arms, hugging himself as he replied, "Victor, you should know I'm not the most patient person. I've already extended my patience far beyond the limit with this student named Bruce Wayne."

"In the past two months, I've been chasing after him every day for his papers, assignments, pushing him to attend classes, monitoring his studies. And what did he give me in return? The moment I glanced at other students, he skipped class for a whole month!"

Schiller grabbed a notebook and threw it onto the hospital bed, saying, "The most important thing is that despite needing many more credits to graduate, he missed the opportunity for the highest-scoring internship! He even assured me earlier that he would absolutely not delay his graduation!"

After listening, Victor sighed and lowered his head, saying, "Alright, I can understand your frustration, but things have gone too far, and Bruce is severely injured..."

Schiller shook his head and remained silent. Victor knew that there were certain things Schiller couldn't say.

The unexplained part concerning Schiller was related to Laughing Bat.

In the previously introduced principle of his personality split, Schiller hadn't mentioned an essential point: all these personality traits were split from his core personality, and they shared memories.

Memories were stored in a room within the high tower, and any personality could access them. While administrators could restrict a personality from certain memories, JokerSchiller was a half of arrogance. He and the current arrogant Schiller were originally the same personality trait.

Now, the current Schiller could access memories, and so could JokerSchiller. After seeing Schiller's memories, what struck JokerSchiller as most absurd was not the fact that everything was a comic story, but Laughing Bat.

In this world, there was absolutely no Joker who could tolerate this guy.

JokerSchiller, being a combination of Joker and Schiller, didn't like Laughing Bat, and Schiller didn't either. Their mutual dislike wasn't a simple addition of one plus one.

Moreover, JokerSchiller was also a part of arrogance, equally stubborn and obstinate.

Since seeing this character, JokerSchiller no longer caused chaos within Schiller's mind tower. Not because he suddenly wanted to become a good citizen, but because he knew that in the presence of Laughing Bat, Schiller, and even Batman, weren't his enemies but his allies.

As long as they could make Laughing Bat go away, JokerSchiller could cooperate with anyone.

That's why, on several occasions before, JokerSchiller had been so obedient, letting other Schillers control him to have fun or create chaos.

And this incident was Schiller's reward for JokerSchiller. Or perhaps, it couldn't even be called a reward. Their core interest was aligned: to drive Laughing Bat out of DC.

What Schiller didn't tell Victor was that JokerSchiller and JokerJack had long planned their first step. It wasn't about dealing with the already existing laughter in other spaces but preventing the birth of laughter in this world.

Laughter might still appear here, as Schiller and JokerJack had previously discovered a laughter egg deep within Bruce's consciousness. This indicated that the seeds of laughter were still buried in this space. They couldn't search the entire world for these seeds, so they had to resort to a different method: preventing laughter from happening.

The so-called Laughing Bat was just Batman laughing, but in the background story, Batman laughed due to the Joker virus infection. Since they couldn't prevent the birth of laughter, why not make Batman laugh even louder?

Throughout this whole plan, JokerSchiller held the leading position among the three Jokers because JokerJack knew he had many judgments beyond reality, capable of breaking out of inevitable dire situations.

For instance, this time, JokerSchiller didn't intend to cure laughter; he planned to give Batman a push.

There were many types of laughter in the world, but Joker, with Schiller's influence, understood that the laughter induced by the laughter virus was the most meaningless, thoughtless, and unphilosophical.

Did Batman truly laugh?

Correct, he did.

But did he genuinely want to laugh?

No, he simply changed his expression due to mistakenly taking a drug, much like a stroke patient.

Laughing Bat wasn't a heartfelt desire to laugh.

So, JokerSchiller aimed to make Batman genuinely laugh, to laugh from the heart, in a profoundly twisted way.

A counterfeit could never defeat the real deal.

A Batman who genuinely wanted to laugh was incomparable to a fool who kept a smiling mask fixed on his face.

For this reason, JokerSchiller and JokerJack devised a series of plans. JokerSchiller knew that one day, Bruce would realize that the path of Batman was futile, and with a little guidance, he would shift his focus to the slums.

In the slums, the $100 that JokerJack had given Batman wasn't the key to breaking his shackles; it was the hand that would drag him into the Abyss.

Because only with money could he rent a place and stay in the slums to experience a deeper darkness.

Arrogant Schiller knew everything, and he didn't want to do this, but he had to acknowledge that this was the most effective method to deal with laughter, causing immense harm and humiliation.

One could imagine that one day, Laughing Bat would eagerly open a new space, just like unwrapping a new gift.

But inside the box wouldn't be those mentally ill, perpetually suspicious, and highly controlled patients, but a Batman who smiled and said, "Surprise."

It was absolutely bat-terrifying.

Schiller paused for a moment, then exclaimed, "Bruce's score is so far from graduating that it's like traveling from here to the Soviet Union, yet he still dares to miss another internship!"

Victor quickly responded, "But fortunately, the curative medicine you provided is taking effect. Maybe he can catch up in the second round..."

Schiller sighed, saying, "It's very likely he won't catch up, and the gap between his scores and the graduation requirement is just too wide."

Victor understood his implication and raised an eyebrow, "It seems you're starting to focus on his scores rather than his academic performance."

When Schiller left, he left with one final statement, "For someone with a frequently unstable mental state, we can't ask for more."

Afterward, both of them departed, leaving Bruce alone in his hospital bed. His wounds were visibly healing at a rapid pace, but due to the multitude of injuries, it would still take some time for complete recovery.

Once Schiller and Victor had left, Bruce, lying in the hospital bed, gradually increased his breathing rate. He blinked his eyes, but from his eye contact, it was evident that he hadn't just awakened.

After Schiller left the hospital room, he returned directly to Gotham University. He had intended to pick up Jason, but he was intercepted by Captain Cold along the way. Captain Cold said to him, "Just a moment ago, we received news from Central City. They say the Pied Piper has been missing for over two months. According to them, the Pied Piper was also hired by Savage and came to Gotham. With no news for so long, he might be in danger. Professor, we'd like to ask for your help..."

"Who's the Pied Piper?" Schiller asked with some confusion, trying to recall, but all he could remember was that he was one of Central City's villains.

He thought, "Savage must have some peculiar ideas, going to Central City, recruiting their villains, and then sending them to Gotham. From a high IQ perspective, it's reverse thinking and quite creative. From a low IQ perspective, it's just plain foolish."

Schiller then asked, "What are Pied Piper's abilities?"

"He can control others through his music, but in truth, he's not a bad person because..."

Captain Cold explained a bit about the Pied Piper and added, "His musical talent is really good, and he's not that old. I heard that Gotham University's main campus has a music department. If he starts preparing now, he might be able to enroll in Gotham University this September..."

Schiller nodded, thinking Captain Cold had a point. The villains from Central City weren't inherently bad. If they were brought to Gotham, they'd practically be moral paragons, each with their own talents. They were an excellent source of recruits, reducing the risk of dropout. In any case, it seemed like a profitable deal.

After finishing a class, Schiller called Copperpot, asking him to find someone in Gotham. As the kingpin of the children, Copperpot was the best choice.

Copperpot was still in Arkham Sanatorium and had resolved to avoid Batman, who had gone insane. He even planned to stay there until the end of the year. When he received Schiller's call, he frowned but issued the order to find someone.

With the physical appearance clues provided by Captain Cold, Copperpot's group scoured the streets and alleys of Gotham, but there was no trace of the Pied Piper. Given his distinctive attire, he shouldn't have been hard to find.

During their search, one of the children obtained information from Gang members about the last place the Pied Piper was seen – a street where a music store was located.

Through several layers of contacts, Copperpot learned that a strange person in a green hood and black tight-fitting clothing had appeared at the entrance of a music store. He was shot at by the Gang and then disappeared without a trace.

When this information reached Schiller, he knew that the Pied Piper couldn't have escaped on his own. After all, the people from Central City weren't accustomed to gunfights, and they would be incapacitated as soon as they were hit by bullets.

As to who had saved him, Schiller had a guess. Since Savage had sent the Pied Piper here, he must have sought Savage's help if he was in mortal danger.

Schiller's guess was correct. The Pied Piper had indeed been rescued by Savage, not on the street, but in the Batcave. After Batman had brought the Pied Piper back to the Batcave and locked him up, Savage found the Batcave and took the Pied Piper away from there.

This time, Savage's goal was not to steal Batman's plans. Although he knew of Batman's existence in Gotham, he didn't consider him a significant threat. After all, Batman's reputation had suffered a major blow recently, causing Savage to lose interest in cooperating with him or seeing him as his top enemy.

Savage simply wanted to rescue the Pied Piper. With fewer members in the Rogue's Gallery, the pool of talented individuals at his disposal had shrunk significantly. Losing one more would push him further toward becoming a one-man army.

The Batcave was not easy to infiltrate, but Savage had a miraculous item from another collaborator that allowed him to move freely without any hindrance.

Since meeting Constantine, Batman had set up traps in the Batcave specifically for magic, but the item that Savage possessed was something Batman had never seen before, and he hadn't taken precautions against its magical properties.

Currently, Batman's Batcave was located in the mountains on the outskirts of Gotham, and it was not entirely finished. There was still a substantial portion of the mountain that had not been renovated. After all, he had not been Batman for very long, and with Bruce's two-month absence from Gotham, the Batcave had remained empty. During this vacuum period, Savage used the magical item to successfully infiltrate the Batcave and rescue the Pied Piper, who was on the brink of starvation.

Savage's initial goal wasn't to investigate Batman's plans, but upon entering the base, he discovered that its owner was no ordinary individual.

Without the password, he couldn't activate any monitoring systems, but looking at the numerous screens, he understood that someone was sitting in this chair, watching everything through the surveillance cameras while people moved through the bustling streets of this dark city.

This made Savage realize the importance of this place. After all, he had sent several people into Gotham to gather information, but they had all vanished. These unreliable hired agents made Savage question whether the information he had collected was useful.

So, Savage began searching Batcave but found that all electronic devices required passwords, not just simple numeric ones but combinations of various codes that were impossible to guess.

Unable to activate these devices, Savage turned his attention to the paper documents. However, Batman would never leave important documents outside, and the document cabinets were integrated with the mountain using a special material, making them immovable.

Savage tried for a long time but found that there was no physical way to break these objects. He pinned his hopes on the miraculous item he held.

Entering a pitch-black archive room, Savage, with a face full of primitive wildness and disheveled hair, was gradually illuminated by the light of a lantern he held. He extended his hand, and within the lantern's radius of light, he passed his hand through the cabinet's wall and retrieved a document.

On it, he saw the title, "Gotham City Dangerous Criminals and Potential Threats Response Plan 3.1.2."

In the lantern's light, Savage squinted his eyes and opened the document. He didn't notice the small inscription at the bottom of the cover, which indicated the date of the plan's creation – "December 9, 1987."

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 804: Outdated Strategies Bring Deep Trouble (Part 1)