Chapter 745: Dark Shadows (Part 1)

The blood on his forehead dripped into his eyes, causing Batman's vision to become hazy. Amidst the scarlet, he saw a hand reaching out in front of him and picking up the aperture.

Then, a pair of leather shoes came into view, and the person in front of him slowly squatted down, holding the aperture in his hand, and knocked it hard against the ground. The aperture was embedded in the road pavement, and half of it disappeared.

Batman rolled to the side with all his strength, got up from the ground, and remained in a half-kneeling position, panting. When he opened his eyes again, what he saw was Schiller's face. He saw that the professor opposite him pushed up his glasses. ,explain:

"Drinking, driving under the influence, staying out late at night, racing, blowing up the streets, disturbing people in the middle of the night... Batman, if you are really free recently, shouldn't you consider handing in the homework you haven't handed in before?"

Batman coughed twice. He found that there were blood streaks in his saliva, but he did not feel any pain in his lungs. He suspected that it might be bleeding from the mouth during the previous impact. He took a deep breath and stood up. Some waddled towards the Batmobile.

Schiller did not stop him, but watched as he turned the overturned Batmobile back over with great effort, and then sat back in the cab.

Batman squinted his eyes and tried to step on the accelerator. The next second, a circle of light was embedded in the windshield, less than ten centimeters from Batman's nose.

In an instant, Batman was more than half sober.

"Professor..." Batman's voice was very low. When he spoke, his lips didn't even move. The word seemed to be squeezed out directly from his lungs, with a resonance that made the rain tremble.

"Where do you want to drive to?" Schiller asked standing in front of the Batmobile. After the violent car accident just now, the lights of the Batmobile were no longer on, so Batman couldn't see his expression clearly.

"I want to go back to Wayne Manor," Batman replied.

"Are you going to go back just like this? Do you know how old Alfred is this year? Do you know how he would feel when he saw your blood?" Schiller retracted the aperture, and then took it to illuminate the surroundings.

This is the highway out of Gotham City, but it does not leave the limits of Gotham City. However, it is no longer as prosperous as the city, and therefore the sound of rain becomes more obvious.

Ten minutes later, under the eaves of a nearby alley street, Batman sat on the steps, holding an aperture lighting in his hand, and Schiller stood behind him, wrapping a bandage on his head.

"Did you...did you see her? See that..." When Batman said this, he stopped, as if he was unwilling to say the word, but Schiller said directly: "Yes, I saw the body."

"That was a poor child. She suffered a lot of abuse and excessive malnutrition, which greatly increased her chance of dying. To be honest, she is lucky to be alive today."

"No." Batman shook his head and said, "I didn't take her seriously. I thought she had no ability to resist, so I didn't check her bedroom window at all. I didn't expect she would jump from there. She was already very strong. She is so weak that even the height of the second floor is too high for her. "

"I didn't think much of Aisha either. Aisha scared her and made her breathing blocked. When her heart stopped beating, I had no way to save it."

Schiller paused for a moment, then asked, "Do you blame all this on your lack of a better plan?"

"Isn't it?"

Schiller sighed and was about to speak when Batman said: "Yes, I should learn more about child psychology before picking them up. I shouldn't change their environment so frequently. I should use them first." Some medical methods can supplement their nutrition and improve their physical fitness..."

"I shouldn't have brought her back to the manor alone. At least she should have had someone of the same kind. I should have spent the first night with her instead of leaving her there alone to pry the windows all night..."

Batman's voice began to become a little deeper, and he said: "I thought that she might run away, but I didn't expect that she would jump from the window. I didn't think that she would dare to do this. I should know, the stimulated patient , will not be restricted by fear..."

"I should have told Dick and Elsa before picking her up and asking them not to scare her. After she ran out and came back, I should have taken measures to preserve her body temperature as soon as possible instead of standing there talking to anyone. theory……"

Batman seemed to have been holding it in for a long time. Taking advantage of the drunkenness that surged up again, he spoke quickly: "The same is true for Dick. He doesn't want to go home because I didn't consider that he might not like the current environment. , he may not want to transfer schools again and again, he may prefer to stay with the children in the choir class..."

"There should have been a better way to solve this." Batman wiped the blood from his eyes with his hand and said, "If I had thought carefully, I could have avoided these things." "

"Why don't you allow yourself to make mistakes?" Schiller asked.

"Because she died, that was a child, a child's life, and no one's life should be used as a price to pay for another person's mistakes." Batman opened his mouth and said, "If Batman does If you make a mistake, someone will die because of it, so what’s the difference between that and someone dying because of a criminal?”

"Do you hope that everything in this world is according to your plan? Do you hope that you will never make a mistake?" Schiller asked.

"Of course."

"What do you think drove you to make such a decision?" Schiller asked again.

Alcohol is constantly corroding Batman's brain, and people who don't drink often are always more likely to get drunk.

Even without Schiller's hypnosis, Batman naturally entered a hypnotic state. Various hallucinations began to appear in front of his eyes. The bizarre sights made him feel cold all over.

"Bats... yes bats." Batman replied: "One night, a group of bats flew past the window, and I heard them saying to me, you can be one of us and save this city... …”

"It's fear that drives you to do this."

Schiller said that psychiatrists are very good at interpreting some strange images in patients' mouths, such as two unrelated things, a story that sounds like a fairy tale, and even those disgusting and uncomfortable fantasies, they all represent Some of the patient’s emotions.

Schiller asked: "You are afraid of things beyond your plan. So, are you afraid of the bad consequences that may occur outside the plan, or are you afraid of the negative consequences that these bad consequences may have on your perfect identity? Destruction and fear?”

Batman didn't seem to understand such a long series of very complicated words. He remained silent, trying hard to get rid of the drunkenness that had surged up again, but he drank too much and his efforts were ineffective.

"Batman? Batman?" Schiller was calling him, but Batman had no response. He had entered a state of consciousness, commonly known as drinking to pieces.

Schiller's long series of questions became the final lullaby. In a dark alley street, in the pouring rain all night, Batman fell asleep like this, which shows that he was really drunk. .

The next morning, the rain stopped, and every spring morning in Gotham was the same chilly spring. Bruce sat up from the bed, and the moment he stood up, he felt a severe headache.

He got out of bed and came to the window. After opening the window, the cold wind blew through his temples, making him feel a lot more awake.

Before pushing the door open, Bruce paused. He felt an unreasonable fear. He was afraid that after he opened the door, he did not see Alfred.

But after a few seconds he pushed the door open and heard the crackle of a vigorous fire in the fireplace.

This made him sigh in relief. When he came to the stairs, he saw Alfred cleaning the dust on the phone with a duster.

He put on deerskin gloves that Bruce hadn't seen for a long time, which made his movements seem less flexible, but Bruce still held his hand on the armrest tighter. In the cold air, an emotion began to brew. .

"Oh, sir, are you awake? Good morning, breakfast is ready, you can go and have your meal." Alfred said to Bruce with a smile, as if nothing happened last night.

But Bruce's memory was telling him that a lot of things happened yesterday, and he had to know the results now, so he asked: "Where's Aisha? Is she back?"

"Yes, the lady is back. Master, she didn't run far away. I brought her back, but when I came back, I didn't see you, so I sent her to sleep." Alfred still said He replied with a smile.

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a series of tiny footsteps coming from behind.

Elsa, who was wearing pajamas, ran down the stairs with a bang, rushed directly to the dining table, pulled out the chair, jumped on the chair, sat down, picked up the knife and fork, licked her lips, and looked back at Alfred .

Alfred smiled and guided Bruce to the dining table. Bruce wanted to say something to Elsa, but at this time, Elsa had already begun to eat hard. Alfred stood behind him and said with a smile.

"Miss Aisha had a strenuous exercise last night and started crying when she came back. But because it was too late at that time, eating is not good for her health, so she may be a little hungry now."

Seeing this, Bruce didn't say anything else. He also started to eat breakfast, but during the meal, he felt that something was missing. He put down his fork and asked, "Alfred, where is today's newspaper?"

Alfred, who was holding the duster, moved his fingers slightly and said: "I'm sorry, sir, I got up a little late today and the newspaper hasn't been ironed yet, but today the newspaper is still promoting the Angelica Troupe and what they brought." Here comes the new play 'Macbeth'…"

"By the way, sir." Alfred suddenly raised his voice a little and said, "This is the first regular theater performance in Gotham in ten years. All the dignitaries in the city will be present. You should really go and see it. Do you want me to book tickets for you, Master Dick and Miss Aisha?”

Bruce looked down at his plate and said, "No, I'm not going. You can book a ticket for Selina, Dick and Elsa each and let them go together."

Alfred nodded and said nothing more. After breakfast was finished and Alfred took Elsa to the backyard to exercise, Bruce frowned.

The newspaper is not ironed yet? Bruce would not believe this. In the decades Alfred had worked for the Wayne family, he had never started eating breakfast without ironing the newspaper.

At this point, Alfred himself was even more insistent than the members of the Wayne family. No one could shake this old man's obsession with keeping the members of the Wayne family informed of the latest news.

Bruce came to the back of the hall, and through the window, he saw Alfred playing with Elsa. Bruce left along the corridor of the restaurant, walked around the hall, and came to the ironing room on the side.

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Alfred usually irons things here, including clothes, gloves and newspapers. The newspapers delivered by the newsboy must be put here as soon as they are taken out of the mailbox.

However, Bruce searched here for a long time and found no trace of the newspaper, so he returned to the hall, walked out of the door, pushed open the door of the manor, opened the mailbox, and looked inside.

There was nothing in the mailbox. Bruce frowned, closed the mailbox door again, and then began to look around the street.

At this moment, the neighbor of Wayne Manor happened to go out.

Not far from Wayne Manor, there lived a mother and daughter. The mother was the legacy of a wealthy businessman on the East Coast. But because of her stronger business ability, the family was even more prosperous than when her husband was alive, so he She was honored as Mrs. Goethe, and her daughter was Miss Goethe.

Both of them were dressed in the same way, wearing the most fashionable woolen coat for ladies nowadays, paired with a pair of bright-colored boots, a scarf and a hat of the same color as the boots, and holding a handbag in their hands.

Bruce retreated into the manor's yard and stood behind the bushes, listening to their chat.

Mrs. Goethe spoke first: "If you hadn't insisted on going, I wouldn't have sat and eaten with those stinking dock workers. Wasn't the experience last night bad enough?"

"Don't say that, Mom, look at how stupid they are. Some girls the same age as me can only look at my boots. Also, have you not seen those who call themselves ladies in the East End? The way women look at you?"

"Hmph, don't play these little tricks with me. You just want to see little Werther. I've known it for a long time. That bastard is not a very good character, but his family is quite respectable. If I meet Werther today, Sir, you'd better be more reserved for me..."

"I see, Mom, what kind of topic do you think is suitable to start? Should I talk to them about the recent drama first?" Miss Goethe's voice was a little uneasy.

"Silly girl." Mrs. Goethe scolded: "The play hasn't started yet, what are you going to talk about? Didn't you read this morning's newspaper? Of course you should talk to Mr. White, who is from out of town, about our local specialties. Then The famous Batman."

"Hey, what does he mean? He's just a hypocritical rich man. Didn't the newspapers say that? In the name of rescuing begging children, he brought them to his base for enjoyment. It's really disgusting. , I heard that a child died, he was really..."

Mrs. Goethe quickly covered her mouth and said: "Stop saying such things. That is not a topic that a young lady like you should talk about. Isn't it enough to let those dirty men talk?"

The mother and daughter whispered and walked quickly through the courtyard of Wayne Manor. Through the gap in the shrub wall, Bruce saw Mrs. Goethe covering her mouth with a handkerchief, looking up and down at Wayne Manor, and said to his daughter :

"You want me to say that Little Wayne is the best candidate, playboy? That is the least worth caring about in choosing a spouse. If you can marry Little Wayne, I will go to church every week to thank God!"

The footsteps of high heels gradually faded away, and Bruce's expression became cold. He walked along the yard wall to the back of Wayne Manor, avoiding Alfred's sight, and climbed out of the wall with great skill.

There are also two manors behind Wayne Manor, but because the South District is a newly built wealthy area, the buildings are not as dense as the West District. Bruce walked through a street and turned a corner before finding the mailbox of another family.

Bruce knew that the man of the house was allergic to ink, so although they ordered newspapers, they never read them. Bruce once heard the newsboy here complain that when a new newspaper was delivered, the previous day's newspaper was still in the mailbox. .

Bruce looked around and found that no one was around. He reached out and pried open the family's mailbox and took out a newspaper inside.

After closing the mailbox, Bruce walked around two more corners, found a deserted corner, opened the newspaper, and began to read it carefully.

In fact, you don’t need to read it very carefully, because the headline on the front page reads:

"Batman? Fuck you Gotham heroes!"

Bruce frowned and then looked at the subtitle, which read: "Batman preys on young children and is a cruel child killer who puts on the cloak of a hero!"

The text contains a lot of content, but it mainly introduces in a sequential timeline how Batman rescued begging children in the name of rescue, and how he took them away and persecuted them to death.

Among them, there are four photos in chronological order. The first one is of his figure flashing past in a dark alley. Bruce remembered that there was an iron sheet placed on the gap between this alley and another alley. Three children, including the little girl, used to live there.

The second picture shows Batman standing on a tall building, but due to the angle and background, he looks less like a hero and more like a killer looking for an opportunity to commit suicide.

The third and fourth pictures are both taken at close range, and the shape of Batman's mask can be clearly seen.

Batman has been in Gotham for so long, and it's not that there are no newspapers paying attention to him. There have been reporters who risked their lives to take pictures of him at night in Gotham, but generally speaking, they would be caught on the spot by Batman and the tools used as traitors would be confiscated.

Few newspapers would publish news about him. After all, no one would want to deal with a weirdo in tights who roams Gotham in the middle of the night. Gangs are reasonable after all, but if it's a mental patient, then it's really hard to explain.

But this time, this news occupied an entire page of the Gotham Morning Post.

This article is sharp in writing, sophisticated in narration, and extremely provocative. More importantly, it accurately captures the psychology of the people of Gotham -

Compared to creating gods, these lunatics are more