Chapter 1009: Is This Batman? (Part 1) (Patreon)

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As Schiller was carried into the emergency room, hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor behind Batman. Oliver and Clark rushed over, with Zatanna following closely behind them. Clark, with a look of concern, was the first to arrive and asked anxiously, "How is Professor? Is he okay?"

"We're not sure yet," Batman shook his head. Clark took a deep breath and gently nudged Batman's shoulder, asking, "Can you tell me what happened? How did Professor Schiller suddenly..."

Before Batman could respond, Clark interjected, "Listen, Bruce, I might have acted impulsively earlier. I understand this situation may be complicated, and you're not the culprit, but since you were there, you should have protected Professor Schiller as an ordinary person. It's our responsibility."

Clark relaxed his shoulders and lowered his head, adding, "Dragging a university professor into this mess shouldn't have happened. It puts him in great danger."

"It's complicated, but I don't have time to explain it all from scratch," Batman turned his head, glancing at Zatanna. Zatanna took off her hat and sighed, "Alright, it's all my fault. I'll apologize to Schiller and Constantine when they return. But my impatience isn't unfounded. Everything seems to be heading for the worst outcome, doesn't it?"

Zatanna looked extremely tired, perhaps the worst among them all. While Batman had endured various trials in Hell, he was in a soul state at that time, able to go without food, drink, or rest. But Zatanna couldn't do the same in the real world.

Setting up several portals had nearly drained all her power, as she traversed between the human realm, Spirit Realm, and Hell. At this point, she had little magic left to use.

"We'll discuss apologies later. Right now, we need to know what's happened to Schiller, and then we have to deal with the mess in Gotham," Batman turned his head to look out the window.

At this moment, a strange calm settled over Gotham. During Batman's absence, the citizens of Gotham, especially the former supervillains with special abilities, had not remained idle. They had become the city's saviors in Batman's absence.

The outbreak of a maddening virus initially caused panic, but after the initial chaos, many began to realize something was amiss. Jason was among the first to notice.

Reflecting on his previous encounter where he was injured while delivering food to gangs, Jason remembered being saved by Professor Schiller after he fell ill. Recalling this, Jason instinctively sensed something was wrong.

If one followed normal logic, the person who injured him should have transmitted the virus. But if one continued to deduce, then the person who injured Jason must have also been injured by someone else, leading to their madness.

However, during the incident, the house on Broken Basket Street collapsed, and the nearby gang members went to help. Gangs were not to be trifled with, and any brawl during their relief efforts would have caused a riot, something Jason would have heard about.

If someone had been injured before Jason went there to deliver food, causing madness and sparking a fight, Jason would have definitely heard about it. This meant that the person who injured Jason hadn't been injured by someone else before.

If so, he must have been the source of the virus. But then Jason recalled another detail.

After being injured, he experienced intense pain. Having been in street fights before, Jason knew the level of pain an injury should bring. However, the pain from his wound far exceeded his expectations.

Tire, upon finding him injured, hastily brought him inside a building under renovation. Once inside, Jason felt the pain from his wound diminish slightly, allowing him to sleep on the bed.

Another obvious clue was that Jason's wound was deep, and he had a prolonged fever, indicating Schiller's aid wasn't timely.

Yet, during this time, he didn't succumb to madness. His subsequent investigation revealed that the majority of people went insane within one or two hours of being injured.

So, what made him different from the others?

Thinking carefully, the main difference between indoors and outdoors was that indoors, one wouldn't get rained on. And the biggest difference between him and other patients was that he was recuperating in a room within a building under renovation.

What distinguished this building from others? Jason realized the key point — the water source.

All buildings under renovation had modern water purifiers. They hadn't used natural water sources directly for a long time. After Jason's fever, Tire had kept giving him water, which significantly improved his condition.

With this revelation, Jason launched an investigation. He discovered that all residents who had been infected within the first building phase would experience a prolonged fever period without any treatment, which might lead to madness. However, their symptoms were much milder than those elsewhere.

Realizing that both drinking water and rainwater could be problematic, Jason immediately wanted to find Batman. However, upon arriving at Wayne Manor, all he found was Zatanna, who had just awakened from unconsciousness.

Aisha and Dick were trapped inside the school, but all of Gotham's schools were well-prepared for such situations. At the first sign of chaos, they were locked down, minimizing losses, though the students were now confined.

So, Jason went to Gotham University and found his friend Sliphead. Since Sliphead wasn't well-versed in chemistry, he led Jason to Victor. At that time, Victor was still dealing with infected individuals inside Gotham University while holding a Freeze Gun.

After several sleepless days, Victor realized that simply freezing the infected wouldn't solve the root problem. He needed to find the source of the virus to end the chaos.

The clues provided by Jason and Sliphead sparked an idea in Victor's mind. On one hand, he retrieved a batch of frozen weapons from his cryogenic laboratory and handed them to Jason, trusting Schiller's endorsed children to deliver them to the most suitable recipients.

On the other hand, Victor, accompanied by his students, went to various locations in Gotham to collect water samples for analysis in the laboratory, investigating whether there was indeed a madness-inducing substance in the water source.

Jason and Sliphead, armed with Freeze Guns, didn't immediately publicize their findings. Instead, they sought out local figures like Tire and Red Truck and listened to their opinions.

Finally, Copperpot received the batch of weapons. Under Alberto's direction, the elite members of the Falcone Family, along with the elite from the Twelve Families, began patrolling Gotham with Freeze Guns.

Though finding a long-term solution was necessary, the immediate goal was to halt the chaos on the streets. These gang members were highly trained killers cultivated by the Twelve Families, so their marksmanship was unquestionable.

With the convenient and efficient Freeze Guns in hand, they divided the city into sectors for patrol. Upon spotting infected individuals, they would freeze them immediately.

Meanwhile, Gotham's truck driver transportation network, led by JokerJack, played its part. After a day of driving trucks, Jack returned home to find Gotham overrun with lunatics. Though disappointed that Batman wasn't around, Jack saw it as an opportunity to chat with him. But alas, Batman was absent, leaving Jack disheartened.

Frustrated by the lack of company, Jack, though uninfected, drank alone, downing two bottles of alcohol. In his drunken state, he stumbled home and was scratched by a madman, leaving two wounds on his leg.

Though Jack wasn't infected, he was irritated not by his injury but by Batman's absence when it happened.

Despite his annoyance, Jack didn't go mad because he didn't want to lose his rationality like the other lunatics. His punishment for them was to round up the infected and store them in the cold storage normally used for goods.

Once again, Batman owed Joker a favor.

By the time Batman returned to Gotham, most of the chaos in the city had been dealt with. Infected patients were frozen and stored in cold storage until a cure was found.

The remaining people were warned by the gangs to stay indoors, resulting in clean streets except for the blue cabbage.

Just as Batman was about to propose his plan, a series of hurried footsteps approached from the end of the corridor. Running towards him was Jason, wearing a raincoat and carrying an umbrella. Batman glanced at the familiar umbrella in Jason's hand before looking at him.

Jason stopped to catch his breath and asked, "How is Professor Schiller? I heard he's unconscious."

"Yes, doctors are trying to save him," Batman nodded. He had expected Jason to be very anxious, asking about the situation, but instead, Jason took a deep breath and said, "The initial analysis of rainwater and drinking water from the Gotham University cryogenic laboratory has been completed. Professor Victor called me and said the situation is complicated."

"I'm not knowledgeable about chemistry, and I used to just rely on hearsay. When I heard that Mr. Alfred said you were back, I came here. You should go there quickly and hear Professor Victor's conclusion."

Batman bent down, looking into Jason's eyes. It seemed like Jason knew what he was going to ask because he said, "I know Professor Schiller's condition isn't good, but now the most important thing is to deal with the trouble in Gotham."

"My anxiety or worry here won't help the doctors. But if we can deal with those crazy citizens and the blue cabbage, at least Professor Schiller will have a better recovery environment when he wakes up."

Batman's hand on Jason's shoulder stiffened for a moment. Jason looked into Batman's eyes and said, "We both know that if Professor Schiller, who has just recovered from a serious illness, looks out the window and sees blue cabbage, what consequences it might bring."

Batman immediately straightened up and said to Clark, "Come with me. We must deal with these troubles immediately."

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

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