Compared to Schiller, Jonathan looked much more like a good person; he was thin, with long limbs, messy curly hair, and wore a pair of large black-rimmed glasses. There were always dark circles under his eyes, making him look very weak, like a complete homebody.
His personality at school was also very much like a good-natured person. All Gotham University students knew that Jonathan’s classes were not strict, and exams were easy to pass. Even when some students skipped class or were late, he would only adjust his glasses and tell them to sit down, never criticizing them.
He looked like a complete bookworm, while in contrast, Schiller, this new Psychology Professor, looked like a senior member of Arkham Asylum.
Schiller’s appearance was somewhat mixed-race, with black hair and gray eyes. The original owner also seemed to be a straight man, as all his clothes were either black or gray.
And most of them were coats, scarves, and formal wear for work. Schiller hadn't gone out to buy clothes either, so he still maintained the original owner's style of dress. As Gotham had been raining these past few days, Schiller almost always carried a black umbrella.
How should one describe this image? It was as if he wouldn't be doing the audience justice if he wasn't the final villain in a TV series.
And Schiller had only been there for a few days when his students discovered that he was, in fact, a very strict Professor. His teaching level was indeed very high, but he showed no mercy to students who were late or left early. Moreover, he would give pop quizzes every few classes, and he directly stated in class that at least 30% of the people in this course would fail, making everyone nervous.
Although the students at Gotham University came from good families, not all of them were rebellious. No university student would like such a Professor. At first, there were several troublemakers in Schiller’s class, but soon, someone, who was a gossip, spread Schiller’s resume. After that, the students in Schiller’s class immediately became as quiet as docile sheep.
After all, by any measure, it's impossible for a normal person to have repeatedly participated in so many serial murder cases. Soon, Schiller became a legendary figure at Gotham University, like a campus myth.
Some people said their Professor was actually the murderer in these serial murder cases, while others claimed he carried some kind of unfortunate curse, and wherever he went, terrible cases would occur. There were also imaginative people who fabricated a tragic background for Schiller, proposing that his involvement in so many murder investigations was actually for revenge.
Various versions of the story always had one that met the students' expectations. Among students, such bizarre and somewhat terrifying stories always spread very quickly. Within a few days, most students knew about Schiller’s past.
When Schiller went out to buy breakfast, the counter he stood at was always empty. Students all watched him from afar, and in class, his assignments were collected with unparalleled neatness—something no other Professor had ever achieved.
Since that confrontation night, Schiller often felt Bruce following him, even during the day on campus. Fortunately, he had Spider-Sense, so Bruce’s numerous attempts to install cameras in his dormitory, Psychology counseling room, and classroom podium all failed.
But this gave Schiller inspiration.
It seemed this young Batman still hadn’t come to terms with things, but he noticed that Bruce seemed to have reached some agreement with Gordon. Schiller went to the Mossen Street District a few more times at night and found that the two of them really seemed to be working together.
Finally, one day, as bedtime approached, the Gotham sky was already as black as ink.
Schiller had no intention of going out tonight; he wanted to get a good night's sleep. University teaching wasn't as easy as he thought. The Psychology clinic occasionally had students who genuinely needed Psychology counseling, whether it was to relieve anxiety, alleviate depression, or truly needed psychological advice. These tasks were all very tiring, so he planned to get a good night's sleep.
However, things didn't go as planned. Jonathan, who usually only moved around in the latter half of the night, suddenly left the campus in the first half of the night. Schiller knew he was probably going to catch a new batch of test subjects again.
Indeed, Gordon and Bruce had been active in the Mossen Street District recently. Jonathan knew very well that he couldn't beat the Police, and once caught, he would definitely be locked up.
His physical fitness was even worse than Schiller’s, and he might even spray Fear Toxin crookedly. After Batman cleared out the Water Ditch Gang and several other small gangs in the Mossen Street District, he had gradually gained some fame. People knew there was an eccentric vigilante fighting those gangs, and Jonathan hadn’t dared to show his face for several nights.
But his Fear Toxin was about to make a breakthrough, and no mad scientist could accept an experiment failing at such a critical juncture. His test subjects had already run out, and he had to capture new ones.
Although he lacked physical strength, capturing test subjects was still very simple for him. He only needed to find a house with an open window, insert a tube, spray a large amount of anesthetic into it, then pry open their door and drag the person out.
Schiller watched him leave the campus, and he himself had no choice but to put on his coat, grab his umbrella, and follow behind him. Although he didn't have a saintly complex and didn't intend to be a Super Hero savior, he would still intervene in tragedies that occurred in front of him.
More importantly, if Jonathan continued to cause trouble like this, there wouldn't be many people left in the Mossen Street District, and Batman's debut journey would be cut short before it even began. Anyway, Scarecrow would eventually be caught by Batman, so why not today?
Moreover, Schiller used a small trick. He planned to teach Batman a lesson and make him quickly snap out of that arrogant mindset.
The current Batman still had room for error, because Joker was still just a circus performer. Schiller couldn't imagine how badly Batman would be played by Joker if he appeared before the young Batman now.
Although Batman was still young and had many shortcomings, it had to be admitted that the skills he learned during his travels abroad were not for nothing.
And Jonathan was not a meticulous criminal at the moment. He hadn't undergone special training, nor did he have any anti-detection awareness. Many of his clues had been discovered by Batman and Gordon.
The two of them teamed up and made their way to the Underground Room of the small church. There, they discovered Jonathan’s laboratory. It wasn't a very sophisticated laboratory; in fact, it looked very much like a shady workshop.
It was dim, cramped, and had a foul odor. Batman looked at the drainage pipe in the Underground Room and said, “I think I might know where those people went.”
Gordon walked over with his pistol. He said, “Although I really don’t want to ask, I have to write the truth in my operation report.”
“Aqua regia. It can not only melt metal but also the most difficult parts of the human body.”
“Alright, I get it. You don’t need to say anymore. I don’t want to hear the details,” Gordon said.
They investigated this small laboratory for a while. Suddenly, Gordon found some traces under an old wooden crate—some broken fallen leaves.
“North American Red Pine,” Batman said, “I saw its cotyledons.”
“Damn it, where are there any pine trees in all of Gotham? Otherwise, the weather here wouldn’t be like this,” Gordon said.
“I think there’s one place that has this plant…” Batman said.
“Gotham University. It’s the best- озеленённый place in all of Gotham City. On the widest pedestrian walkway there, both sides are lined with this plant.”
Gordon squatted down, carefully examining the traces, and said:
“The murderer’s boots must have stepped on these fallen leaves. There’s still mud clinging to them. Clearly, the heavy rain these past few days caused him a lot of trouble. After he arrived here, the dirt inadvertently fell off, and he didn’t bother to clean it up.”
Gordon looked up and said, “The murderer is a Gotham University student?”
“Perhaps also a teacher,” Batman said.
“Is it the person you threatened that day?” Gordon asked.
“I wasn’t threatening him,” Batman said.
“But you cut his neck with a Batarang and made him bleed a lot. A wound that long will surely leave a scar,” Gordon said.
“Are you sympathizing with a criminal?” Batman asked.
“He is not a criminal, at least not until after a trial.”
“Trial…” Batman snorted coldly.
Gordon sensed Batman’s distrust of the judicial system. He didn’t righteously refute him. He had been a Police officer in Gotham for more than just a day or two; the judicial system here was indeed untrustworthy, or rather, the entire system of order here was untrustworthy.
“But in my opinion, you wielding a dangerous weapon to arbitrarily harm an unarmed ordinary person, that is a threat,” Gordon said.
“Unarmed…” Batman said.
He suddenly found himself unable to refute Gordon, because according to his knowledge, Schiller indeed didn't seem to have received any professional combat training. Batman was confident he could knock him down with one punch.
But he had been troubled by this person for many days without any solution. He suddenly remembered something he had heard during his travels—words are more powerful than fists.
But that was as far as it went, Batman thought.
The murderer is someone from Gotham University; there's almost no other answer. Isn't the evidence conclusive enough? Perhaps it's time to send that crazy Professor to prison.
He looked at the stained drainage pipe at his feet, where the souls of over forty people had disappeared, and among them, there must have been someone's parents.
On that night long ago, his parents' lives vanished in an alley, yet no one paid the price they should have.
But now it was different. With him there, these criminals would all eventually go to where they belonged, and not a single one would escape.