บท 1517: 1023
Batman saw everything, yet not everything. He couldn't hear the voice of Shiller's original body, he could only see the images.
Batman didn't have time to track Shiller through surveillance because he was taken away by an unidentified person. The person may be a professional agent who knows how to evade surveillance. To follow them through surveillance would require someone in front of the screens reporting their location in real-time, which could cause delays. Batman has a better way.
He can directly use Mad Liquor to enter Shiller's dream. The other Shillers in the Tower of Thought can tell Batman Shiller's physical location, which is much quicker than chasing after the agent's tail.
He arrived just in time to see Shiller start broadcasting the Shadow Magic contained in the medal. However, the audio and video are separate, only Shiller could hear the sound and see the image at the same time. Batman could only see the image.
But this didn't stop Batman from hypothesizing what was really happening.
The first scene showed the date on the calendar on the wall. It was Christmas in 1991. However, the next scene was set decades earlier in Berlin, and Shiller had transformed into a child.
At this point, Batman thought the process was told in reverse. The scene he saw of Shiller's suicide was a prophecy, and then Shiller's life story began to unfold.
But as he continued watching, he realized something was wrong. According to the developments in Shiller's childhood, he should have been an agent rather than a soldier. The difference was significant.
Moreover, Batman had seen many badges on Soldier Shiller's uniform. Many were real military medals which Batman recognized. These medals are not awarded to anyone outside the military system.
Now, through these images, Batman understood two different lives of Shiller. If he counts the one he saw in DC Schiller's Memory Space, he has three.
The first life was that Shiller was a Soviet soldier who committed suicide in December 1991.
The second life was that Shiller was a KGB agent, trained since childhood, and also a magician. He eventually became the head of the Eleventh Bureau of the KGB.
The third life was that as an orphan, Shiller had witnessed a large-scale carnage, became a test subject of a mysterious organization, managed to escape, and finally joined The Ninth Management Bureau.
If there were only two lives, Batman could easily make up a complete story.
For instance, if he combines the second and third lives, Shiller had witnessed a great carnage in an East German orphanage, became a test subject, escaped, then recovered from his illness in an eastern country's management bureau, and returned to the KGB.
If he merges the first and second lives, it can be said that the KGB integrated into the military system to carry out certain missions. The mission failed, and Shiller had no choice but to commit suicide.
However, when adding the first, second, and third lives together, one of them always seems redundant and irrational.
Batman suspected that only one of these lives is true, but instinctively, he felt that they all could be true.
So, what about that extra life?
What concerned Batman the most was that Soldier Shiller killed himself in December of 1991, but it was only December 2, 1991, and his professor was still here, unharmed. And from the looks of it, it didn't seem like he could suddenly join the military system.
At that time, Batman couldn't hear the broadcast of the Soviet Union's disintegration. He believed it might be a prophecy, but couldn't figure out under what circumstances Shiller would choose suicide.
Of course, Shiller had previously committed suicide in a telephone booth, trying to drag both Batman and Constantine into Hell. However, the atmosphere in the room when Soldier Shiller committed suicide made Batman feel a strong sense of tragic heroism. He didn't think it could have been a plan. The desperation of the hero's end deeply shocked him.
Just then, Batman thought about the order in which these films were played.
Batman wondered if he should simplify things. The fact was, Shiller committed suicide first, then returned to his childhood.
With that thought, Batman suddenly realized, because he had always felt that Shiller had a judgment on everyone around him that went beyond the facts, as if he had foreseen certain things. Could it be because he was actually reborn?
Could it be that Shiller had encountered everyone he knew in this life, including Batman, in his previous life, and that's why Shiller had so many judgements that went beyond the facts?
In the moment when the dream shattered and Shiller's consciousness returned, Batman saw the hotel's decoration from Shiller's point of view, and judged it to be Sokolov's Grand Hotel, so he hurried over.
Immediately after, he saw the first scene from Shiller's memory. Shiller was standing by the window, holding a gun, looking serious and lost in thought.
When Batman looked at the calendar on the wall, today was December 2, 1991.
"Calm down, Professor." Batman walked up behind him. Shiller, holding the gun, turned to him and asked, "Did you see everything?"
Batman remained silent without denial. He remembered that at the first scene, Shiller's expression and temperament were a bit different from the professor standing in front of him now, leading Batman to think of another person - his butler, Alfred.
At that moment, Batman had a thought, recalling the expressions of sadness and struggle that Alfred had shown behind his back. All because of one thing - the Soviet Union.
What had recently happened in the Soviet Union?
Batman didn't know; his understanding of the Soviet Union was mostly from the news. He hadn't heard about any major recent events there, so why had something happened to Shiller at this time?
While Batman was contemplating, Shiller sighed, drew the curtains, and stopped looking at the flourishing broccoli outside the window.
Shiller thought, it was impossible to stay in Gotham, this place full of broccoli. Perfectly, he could now follow the members of the Eleventh Bureau back to Moscow, figure out the current situation in the Soviet Union, and also take a break from this annoying broccoli.
So, Shiller spoke and said: "I know you have a lot of questions, but I don't have time to answer them now. I'm going to Moscow and probably won't return for a few months. We'll discuss your graduation message and recommendation letters when I get back."
Batman's expressions shifted, and he took a step to stand in the unavoidable path of Shiller leaving the room, asking: "What are you going to do in Moscow?"
"Why do you think I'm going there?"
What Shiller meant was, don't you know who I am? The KGB sooner or later had to report back, but Batman interpreted it differently after witnessing the recent scene.
"Are you a reincarnator?" Batman changed the subject.
Shiller, lost in thoughts of broccoli, absent-mindedly nodded. The original Shiller was indeed a reincarnator.
After Batman received an affirmative answer, he felt an expectation that confirmed his suspicion. Back then, when Shiller told Batman that he was afflicted by the Bat Curse, Batman was contemplating one issue.
Had Shiller expended so much energy determined to cure him just because he was afflicted by Batman's curse?
Batman didn't think that Shiller had no way to break this curse. Looking back at his own state four years ago, Batman strongly felt that breaking the curse and changing him, perhaps the former would've been easier.
But since Shiller had chosen a more difficult and lengthy path, there must've been a reason. And if Shiller was a reincarnator, how was Batman in Shiller's previous life? What was the end result?
Batman knew that these two questions wouldn't yield any positive answers, because had the outcome been good, Shiller wouldn't have gone to such lengths to treat him in this life.
Thinking over this reason, Batman's gaze fell upon the pistol in Shiller's hand.
Batman watched Shiller then extended his own hand. Shiller was mildly taken aback by Batman's action.
Looking at Shiller's expression, Batman calmly said: "...I won't let the Soviet Union disintegrate."
Shiller suddenly looked up, staring straight at Batman, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Subsequently, Shiller drew in a deep breath, lowered his gaze, paused, looked away, but still handed the Makarov pistol resting in his hand to Batman.
Before Batman left, he glanced at the calendar on the wall and stood at the doorway, telling Shiller: "Merry Christmas in advance, Professor."
Standing by the window, Shiller, with both hands in the pockets of his suit pants, watched Batman's departing figure and shook his head.
At that moment, Shiller thought of another question. So he called Petrov in and asked him: "How did you locate me?"
Faced with this question, Petrov faltered for a moment, then replied: "A special comrade contacted us and told us that you were taken away by a team of agents speaking Russian. But aside from us, no one in Gotham had movement orders, so we naturally figured out that they might be CIA undercover operatives."
"Sokolov's Grand Hotel has always been a KGB station. In order to gain the trust of other agents, Andro would certainly bring you here, so we just came knocking directly."
"Who was it that contacted you?" Shiller inquired.
Petrov walked straight up to Shiller, picked up the telephone and said to the other end: "Hello, comrade, thank you for your information, we have successfully received the Director."
The lines on Petrov's hands gradually disappeared and the skin on his hand stretched out to become younger.
The young and fair hand put down the phone and looked towards the direction of the sunlight on the window. The face appearing behind the phone was Lex Luther.
"No need to thank... comrade."
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