Capítulo 2748: Chapter 1942 U: Beyond Major Event (31)_1

Looking at the chaotic scene on the screen, Bruce couldn't help but cover his forehead, recollecting his first encounter with arrogance when he took the elevator to the basement level in Schiller's Tower of Thought.

Staring at the newly added button in the elevator, Bruce asked doubtfully, "If the morbid is the original Schiller, then why is it only now that the elevator leads to the abyss?"

Arrogance let out a sigh, "Do you remember the hole on the first floor of the tower? It was designed to allow the personalities in the tower to descend, yet prevent the morbid from ascending."

"But they still came up."

"Because this universe is dangerous enough." Arrogance began, "More precisely, this city is much more dangerous than where I used to stay, which is why the morbid can come out occasionally to catch a breath."

Bruce's eyebrows furrowed slightly. He caught Schiller's underlying message, so he inquired, "What's the issue with the morbid? Why can't they come out where it's safe?"

"Because it's not stable enough." Arrogance looked away, reminiscently saying, "You should be able to imagine that the original state of Schiller is the most potent. But this power is uncontrollable, and that's why we strive to become normal."

"So what triggers the morbid?"

"Everything that occurs in Gotham." Arrogance shook his head slightly and commented: "You could think of this city as if it were born for morbidity. It has everything to satisfy it, so you'll encounter it frequently."

"But if Gotham triggers morbid, why does he keep coming back and forth so casually?"

"Because there are also things here that allow him vent." Arrogance turned to look at Bruce, "You've already witnessed it in Metropolis."

It was then Bruce's turn to look away, he said, "Yeah, but I've seen even more through the surveillance cameras."

"Actually, this isn't a loss of control." Arrogance fiddled with his umbrella handle, and continued: "This is a proactive acceptance of stimulation and the venting of desire, everything is within controllable limits."

"So, what would cause complete loss of control?"

"Being stimulated, but with no way to vent," came the heavier sigh from Arrogance, who added: "This has happened back when I was younger and being treated."

Bruce turned his head to gaze at Arrogance, who elaborated after a brief recall, "The first time this happened, everyone was caught off guard. When I started exhibiting unusual symptoms, the person closest to me wanted to take care of me, but I ended up hurting her."

"Professor…"

Arrogance shook his head, "That's a distant memory now. And, the most absurd part was when I saw her, I had already regained consciousness, but I just couldn't hold back my strength."

"That was when I first realized just how frail ordinary people were, and how much I didn't fit in this world."

"What triggered you?" Bruce asked.

Arrogance fell startlingly silent.

Bruce didn't retreat from his probing gaze.

Regrettably few problems existed that the professor couldn't answer on this planet, most of them were about himself. Each mystery that unravelled from him revealed cruel truths, making the curiosity in Batman's heart exceptionally accompanied by a fear he shouldn't possess.

"It involves a boy," Arrogance finally spoke after a moment's thought, "Who he was, exactly, I can't remember. Most of what I know about him comes from what I've heard from medical personnel."

"He also had some unusual abilities, not as visible as mine. After a series of investigations and treatments, he was discharged."

Bruce had a bad feeling, he wanted to interrupt, but Schiller already continued.

"When he left, he was in a good state, like a regular child. Then one day, I heard he killed his parents and was brought back."

"One night, he rushed into my room and jumped out of the window from the seventh floor. Before he jumped, he was screaming 'don't go back, don't ever go back to them!'"

Schiller paused briefly before resuming, "I saw wounds on him, not bruises from being subdued or arrested, but old injuries, more like the remnants of abuse."

"Did he die?"

"Of course, he's not Superman, and neither am I; there were no supernatural superheroes as you can imagine in this place. Falling from seven stories, he certainly died."

"Later, I heard from one of the nurses that his parents seemed to have used violence to force him to use his powers for things he didn't want to do. One day, he could no longer stand it and killed them all. He himself also collapsed."

Arrogance and Bruce exited the elevator together. Arrogance lifted his face towards the dark expanse of consciousness and said: "I can't say one incident shaped me, but this was indeed a turning point."

"Before this, everyone in the hospital told me that as long as I focused on my studies, put effort into recovery, I could leave this place and go to the beautiful world outside. They painted many beautiful images of the outside world, of the good things happening out there."

"Did you believe them?" Bruce asked.

"At that time, my consciousness was very muddled, unable to discern truth from falsehood. However, perhaps if this incident hadn't occurred, the morbidity might have believed those words, eventually leading it down the path of normality."

"But after that, there was no hope for morbidity. This is also one of the main reasons why my condition did not improve for a long time."

"At that time, I fundamentally realized that every person in this world has their world. Their worlds collide and merge to become the same world, and then they can love and understand each other."

"However, when my world collides with other people's worlds, there are only two outcomes: I will devour them or shatter them."

"The world out there, made up by the masses, is like well-arranged bottles, and I am the bowling ball. When I rush at them on the predetermined healing trajectory, there will be no second result other than smashing them to pieces."

"Is this a morbid thought?"

"Yes, I've already seen the outcome of a bowling ball hitting bottles once, there's no need for a second time."

"So, morbidity created normality, and the desire of normality is to be an average person." Bruce also sighed and said, "He knew that he couldn't mold himself into the shape of a bottle, so he could only try to reduce his size a little, blend into the pile of bottles, hoping not to be recognized."

"But not very successful." Schiller shook his head helplessly, "At least in my original world, I tried hard to conceal eighty percent of my abnormalities, but the remaining twenty percent occasionally played tricks. When I knew I was about to lose control, I chose to go to a more dangerous environment."

"There, I found some vents, but that wasn't a long-term solution. The morbidity was still hidden in my instinct, but it couldn't stay there forever."

"And then you came to Gotham."

"Yes, I often want to believe in God," Schiller revealed a smile and said, "Here, everything about me has reached a delicate balance. It's not that I belong to Gotham, but Gotham belongs to me."

"Not that I belong to Gotham, but Gotham belongs to me..."

Bruce, sitting on the side, instinctively recited this sentence in his memory, then he felt a gaze as hot as laser shooting towards him.

Lord Superman stared straight at Bruce.

"What did you just say?"

"No, nothing, I just..."

"Repeat what you just said." Lord Superman's eyes flickered with a faint red light, which gave his gaze the physical heat.

Bruce seemed somewhat helpless, he had to say, "'Not that I belong to Gotham, but Gotham belongs to me'."

"You should have thought like this earlier." Lord Superman seemed to be talking to Bruce, but it seemed not.

"But these aren't my words, don't put them on my account, in case I'm accused of academic plagiarism someday." Bruce quickly shook his head and fired off like a machine gun, "These words are quoted from a private conversation between Professor Schiller Rodriguez and I or could be from an article in a publication that he released and I never read, but I am just quoting and reprinting this, all the viewpoints expressed in this sentence only represent Dr. Rodriguez, I do not bear any copyright responsibilities."

Lord Superman was slightly taken aback.

"Are you still in college?" He asked.

"No, I'm almost done with my master's degree, I'm starting to apply for my first PhD research qualification."

"You're up to PhD?" Lord Superman recalled something long past, then asked: "What about your bat suit? Aren't you Batman?"

Bruce wasn't wearing the bat suit, he was dressed like a typical college student in a hoodie and jeans, and there was an image of a ballet-dancing apple printed on the hoodie.

"I brought it, but I didn't wear it." Bruce yawned, speaking as if he were somewhat sleepy, "Well, my first bulking cycle finished nicely, so the bat suit doesn't fit me as well any more, activewear is a bit more comfortable."

There were too many points in this statement that Lord Superman didn't understand, which his superbrain wouldn't be able to figure out through thinking and calculating.

Firstly, it was astonishing that Batman wasn't wearing the bat suit.

Whether it was before we became the Lord, or after, Clark had countless times at 2 am wondered-- is Batman actually a bat in human form?

If not, why was it that no matter when he went to find Batman, he was always wearing that damned bat suit, even including when he was in the bathroom?

Secondly, the idea that Batman needs to bulk up is nonsense.

How could someone, who could fend off 20 waves of aliens from 8:00-10:00 at night, prevent more than 200 meteors from hitting Earth from 10:00-12:00, catch roughly 20,000 criminals in the world from 12:00-2:00, and from 2:00-6:00 play a game with all the criminals in Gotham, still need to bulk up?

Sometimes Superman really didn't know who the real superhero was.

Lastly and most absurdly, could the bat suit be tight?

And the thing that Lord Superman understood least of all-- did Bruce Wayne prefer activewear to a suit?!

The moment Lord Superman confirmed that the young Batman in front of him was not lying, he thought: this Batman must be mad.

Then, he watched helplessly as Bruce turned to ask Constantine for a cigarette, skilfully opens the pack, took out one, and held it in his hand.

Either he has gone mad or I've gone mad.

Lord Superman thought, it was ridiculous that Batman would smoke, it was even more ridiculous that Batman would smoke a cigarette of unknown origin, it was most ridiculous if Batman smoked a cigarette provided by Constantine of unknown origin!

Superman's super sense of smell made him know that there was definitely something extra added to it, or else Joker Arthur wouldn't have had that dry mouth reaction at the time. That was the instinctive reaction of someone with a history of drug use when they picked up on the scent of drugs.

The next second he understood that Batman has definitely gone mad.

Bruce turns to ask Joker, of all people, for a light.

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