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Chapter 68: Black Sun and the Bat-Signal (1)

During the winter break, both the faculty and graduate student apartments at Gotham University remained open, and most laboratories continued their work. Schiller, who only had accommodation in the Gotham University faculty apartments and no other place to go, stayed behind when the break was announced, continuing to sequester himself in his school office to work on his research papers.

Schiller's grades for the psychology department at Gotham University were not ideal, which meant his evaluation score wouldn't be very high. To boost his credentials during this period, he needed to publish more articles.

Most of the students at Gotham University were idle and lacked direction. Since Gotham was not a very large city, most students were in a state of readiness, always on call.

Bruce took advantage of the early break to organize the Psychology Club. He seemed quite enthusiastic about it, and it was not surprising. He needed a cover, as his exam scores were only mediocre. However, he was eager to learn from Schiller, so organizing the club was a good choice.

One day, Bruce was carrying materials for the club's preparations, intending to give them to Schiller. He stood outside Schiller's office, not even knocking, as he overheard a conversation on the telephone.

"...Have you considered a frontal lobotomy? Inhumane? Is letting them run rampant in the hospital humane? What about Mrs. Adela? She still refuses to wear the restraints?... How about I introduce you to a few female enforcers from Mary Street's gang? They can serve as nurses and get things under control in no time..."

"Mr. Norman is also refusing treatment? Won't take his medication? I've reviewed his medical records; he has a feud with the local gang. I'll make a call to their leader to pay him a visit, and he'll be more cooperative..."

"Forget about those drunkards. Whether they are ill or not, alcohol will be their best friend. Someone trying to sell them alcohol? Vodka delivered with medication? I remember your underling, Douglas, used to work for Gotham's largest liquor distributor. Have him write a letter to his former boss, saying The Godfather advises against selling alcohol to the mental hospital; do they want the patients to go crazier?"

"That patient from the alley on Deer Street is tangled up in a family inheritance dispute. You don't need to get involved in that mess. Let them deal with it themselves. We take in the insane here, not the poor souls with ill intentions..."

"Tomorrow, I'll bring my students over. You hold on for one more day. What?... Your worries are a bit excessive. One of the students I'm bringing is The Godfather's son, and the other..."

At that moment, the door suddenly swung open, and Schiller turned to see Bruce standing at the doorway. He said, "The other is the world's richest person."

After hearing the contents of the telephone conversation, Bruce was seriously considering not going in.

Professor Schiller sounded like a mad scientist.

Putting the telephone down and seeing Bruce still standing there, Schiller said, "Come in. I've got a good internship opportunity for you, considering how well you've managed the club."

Bruce cleared his throat and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Your approach to treatment is quite different from what I imagined."

"What did you imagine? Lecturing patients with lengthy explanations of psychology knowledge from textbooks?"

"...Isn't that how it should be, at least?"

At least it shouldn't involve making phone calls to gangs to intimidate people, Bruce thought. Is this psychological treatment or physical treatment?

Schiller shook his head and said, "Criminal psychology is a form of applied psychology. The focus of applied psychology is on application, not just psychology."

"If this were Metropolis, I might try talking to them. But this is Gotham, and over half the patients in Arkham Asylum were forcibly admitted due to gang conflicts."

"What about the other half?"

"Alcoholics who've fried their brains, drug addicts so high they can't think straight, and people who came here to escape from threats of murder."

"Not a single genuinely mentally ill patient?"

Schiller put his hands on his hips and tapped the desk with his pen. "In a large-scale mental hospital, why should we build a smaller one just for the mentally ill?"

Bruce wanted to reply, but he realized Schiller had a point. Gotham was a place where almost everyone had some form of mental illness. There were hardly any truly normal people.

"And what can I do? Cure them of their mental illnesses? Make them positive and optimistic, turn them into kind, normal individuals? They'd be headed straight for the crematorium after release, anyway; they wouldn't last three days..."

Bruce asked, "How's Jonathan doing?"

"Go see him for yourself tomorrow," Schiller replied.

Bruce sat across from him and said, "I've been thinking about your suggestion lately. I believe I do need a strong base. It should be a comprehensive facility, housing a prison, warehouse, monitoring center, and laboratory."

"I also plan to establish a comprehensive surveillance system covering the entire city of Gotham. Inspired by Renee, I think I can design a distinctive symbol for myself, so people know who I am and who they should turn to for help."

"Have you decided on that symbol?"

"The Bat. It has to be the Bat."

"I know it's the Bat. What I'm asking is, are you really prepared to go all the way with this city?"

Schiller tapped the desktop with his pen. "You still have an option to retreat for now. Batman is just an eccentric vigilante. But once you take full control of this city, offering everyone the chance to call on you to fight criminals, you'll have no way back."

"When people know there's a mysterious and powerful hero they can call upon, it will become a part of their lives. They'll take it for granted, and you'll get involved in some unimaginable troubles. Even if you want to walk away, you won't be able to."

Bruce said, "I believe I'm prepared, but what makes me doubt myself now is whether I have the capability."

Schiller straightened up and began gathering the documents on his desk. As he tidied up, he said, "You not only have the capability, but you'll surpass it."

"Why do you seem so confident in me?"

"Because you are Batman."

With that, Schiller stood up and left the room.

On the second day, Schiller and Bruce set off from Gotham University and drove to Arkham Asylum.

Originally, Evans was supposed to join them at school first, but there were some issues in Falcone's industry that required his son's attention. He had to delay his internship by two days, leaving only Schiller and Bruce for this trip.

Interning with Batman at Arkham Asylum might sound peculiar, but during this period, Arkham Mental Hospital was not yet the infamous haven for lunatics that it later became. As Schiller had mentioned earlier, most of the individuals in Arkham at that time were not genuine psychiatric patients.

As a result, the head doctor, Brand, had been driven nearly insane. He was an old classmate of Schiller's, arriving at Arkham just two months ahead of him. In Brand's words, his tenure at Arkham Asylum was the greatest challenge of his life.

Schiller reminisced about what Brand had told him the previous day regarding the current state of the mental hospital as he drove. They hadn't even left the university grounds when they got stuck on the road.

A less than 200-meter straight road took them nearly half an hour to traverse. Schiller had thought that New York had its share of traffic congestion, but he never imagined that Gotham, especially during rush hours, could surpass it.

In Gotham, the basic traffic rule was "survival of the fittest," where most people treated their cars as valuable possessions but their lives as expendable. The only role of the red Green Lantern here was to amuse those stuck in traffic, and road signs were only useful when someone suffering from road rage decided to kick them.

Schiller had never driven on Gotham's streets during peak hours before, as both his work and life were confined to Gotham University.

When their car finally reached the Roundabout, Schiller didn't move. Another wave of cars passed, but Schiller remained stationary. After the cars on the Roundabout completed a full rotation, Schiller still hadn't moved.

"Um... Professor, when do you plan to... I mean, when do you plan to go?" Bruce asked.

"I'm signaling, can't you see?" Schiller replied.

"But..." Bruce was momentarily speechless. He said, "Are you not familiar with Gotham's traffic rules?"

"Of course not. I just finished reading the Metropolis driver's manual yesterday."

"But that's for Metropolis, Gotham doesn't have such a thing."

"Have you ever considered..." Schiller floored the gas pedal and aggressively turned the steering wheel, "that maybe it's because they don't have it that it's such a mess here!!!!!!!"

Bruce rubbed his ear and shifted to the side.

In the end, they abandoned the car and took a helicopter from Wayne's nearby tallest building to reach the mental hospital.

Upon their arrival at the mental hospital, Brand came out to greet them. He was a slightly overweight doctor who seemed to have a good temperament, but now he appeared worn out. He warmly embraced Schiller upon seeing him, then shook hands with Bruce. He said, "You're here quite early. I thought you'd arrive in the afternoon."

"We left in the morning."

"That's why I thought you'd be stuck until the afternoon. I didn't expect you so soon." He walked with Schiller, saying, "Your suggestions have been a great help. I feel like I'm not here to treat patients but to preside over a court case."

"How are the patients doing?" Schiller asked.

"Patients? Oh, the patients..." Brand said. "Patients who can down two bottles of whiskey and smoke an entire pack of cigarettes after taking their meds are doing great. Just the other night, they had a card game in the basement storage room, betting on when I would resign."

Schiller patted his shoulder and said, "Don't mind it. Gotham is like that."

Brand gave a bitter smile and said, "But if I had any other choice, I wouldn't be here."

"Isn't it the same for me?"

Brand shook his head and said, "You and I are not quite the same. I'm hiding from enemies, though you are too, but if you weren't..."

At this point, he glanced at Bruce and fell silent. Bruce's curiosity immediately piqued. It seemed that this Doctor Brand had some understanding of Professor Schiller's past.

"Well, let's get to work," Schiller said.

Brand pushed open the door to his office and said, "I hope you don't mind using my office. The facilities in this hospital are quite outdated, but this is the best we have."

"The main issue now is that since the new police station chief took office, many criminals he has sentenced require psychiatric evaluations, and many are planning to reserve beds here."

"With so many people coming in, and the composition being so complicated, the doctors and nurses here are overwhelmed."

Brand wore a troubled expression as he continued, "You know, these people bring a lot of trouble with them. Just this week, the hospital's windows were smashed 18 times, at least a dozen different factions of hitmen have come in, four people have died, including an unlucky security guard. Not to mention the ones smuggling marijuana and high-proof liquor..."

"It doesn't look promising, but without any connections, I can spend the entire winter break here, and things will eventually improve," Schiller said.

Bruce couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine.

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