After Gordon and Batman left the basement of the small chapel, both of them seemed a bit silent.
After all, the place they had just been in had buried dozens of lives within a mere month.
Gotham is a dark City, but when this darkness is laid bare before people, only those with strong willpower can digest the impact brought by such profound darkness.
Countless emotions were surging within Batman and Gordon.
This was Batman's first case since his arrival, and with such seemingly boundless evil and lightless darkness laid before him, he suddenly realized that, just as Schiller had said, he might not have been fully prepared after all.
Great military might is merely a means to survive here, but to save this City, military might alone is far from enough.
As he was thinking this, Batman turned a corner and saw Schiller again, standing on the second floor, holding an umbrella.
Beneath the balcony was where the beggar used to stay.
Batman felt a sense of absurdity again; how dared this damned criminal, who had killed dozens of innocent lives, stand here?
Why were there some people in this World who could be indifferent to vibrant lives? Even cruel enough to kill them without hesitation.
The depression in Batman's heart transformed into anger.
Under Gordon's gaze, he leaped up from the street, directly onto the balcony more than two meters high.
"Your judgment is coming, you damned murderer," Batman said.
"Did you find the evidence you wanted?" Schiller asked.
"Of course, and this evidence is enough to judge you."
Schiller suddenly laughed, and he said in an extremely light tone, "How ridiculous, you're still thinking of judging me.
The Gotham City Police Department really should award you a Good Citizen Medal; you truly are a great Police."
"How wonderful would it have been if, when your parents died, there had been such a great Police who found the evidence left by the murderers and judged them? That's what you're thinking, right?"
"You don't trust the Police, you don't trust the courts, yet you still go looking for evidence, trying to judge me with the correctness of the judiciary.
Don't you think what you're doing is very contradictory?"
"You want to prove that I violated the law, Batman, but your actions also violated the law.
If I am to be judged, so will you.
You are using criminal behavior to prove that a criminal is a criminal, aren't you?"
Schiller raised his voice, saying emphatically, "You think you have the ability to take revenge on criminals by your own means.
But in the end, you're still an ordinary person tamed by this orderly society; you're still talking about evidence, constantly demanding judgment."
"If you can't cast aside these, if you can't cast aside these shackles imposed on you by orderly society, if you can't erase those concepts about law and judicial procedures from your mind, you will never be able to uphold the Justice you desire."
"Bruce…" Schiller said, looking into his eyes:
"The law is not Justice; you are."
"Gotham's law did not save your parents, just as it did not save these dozens of missing people.
If you still harbor any unnecessary illusions about it, you will never become the true Batman."
Schiller could clearly see Batman's arm trembling, his hand clutching the Batarang was already covered in bulging veins, and even his entire body was shaking; clearly, he had become extremely angry.
Schiller's words were truly devastating.
He exposed the biggest contradiction of the young Batman.
Gotham's law could not save his parents, yet Batman, who constantly spoke of revenge, was still bound by the system of order; in the end, he still adhered to judicial Justice.
"You want me to uphold my own Justice?" Batman asked.
Then he raised a gun and pointed it at Schiller's forehead.
Batman, of course, had a gun.
In Gotham City, without such hot weapons, you could hardly survive.
Let alone uphold Justice.
Schiller still seemed very calm.
He said, "You still haven't answered my previous question.
Did you find the evidence you wanted? What is it?"
"On the side of the crate in the small chapel's basement, there are stains you left behind, containing soil and leaves, which are North American red pine leaves found only at Gotham University."
Schiller said, "What does that represent?"
"It means you are the murderer," Batman said.
"Really? I, a person, appeared on the streets of Mossen Street District for no reason, dressed and acting suspiciously.
And you found leaves belonging to Gotham University at the crime scene, indicating that the murderer might be someone from Gotham University, so I am the murderer.
What a rigorous deduction," Schiller said.
Batman looked at his expression, devoid of remorse or guilt, and his understated tone; his anger had truly reached its peak.
Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Gordon, who had run over, shouted, "Stop! Put the gun down!"
Batman was interrupted for a moment.
Schiller threw a memory card onto the ground between them and said:
"Conclusive evidence? The murderer went to Gotham University, and I'm a university Professor, so it's truly conclusive."
"Yes, how much you wished that when your parents died, someone like you now could have simply shot the murderer, because the evidence was conclusive."
"Don't mention my parents…" Batman said, his voice trembling slightly, "You criminal."
"You thought of many similarities," Schiller said.
"But your anger made you overlook more, more differences."
"For example, I have never had any professional education background related to chemistry and biology.
For example, I have participated in countless serial murder investigations, so my anti-reconnaissance awareness would not be so poor that I wouldn't even clean up footprints.
More importantly…"
Schiller looked at the memory card and said, "My evidence is much more conclusive than yours."
Batman's anger had slightly subsided due to Gordon's interruption, and after his rationality returned, he felt that even in such damp and cold weather, sweat had soaked through the shirt on his back.
Batman cautiously picked up the USB drive.
He inserted the USB drive into the miniature computer on his arm, and a projection popped up.
At this moment, Gordon also ran around into the balcony.
He saw in the video a person in a plaid shirt stealthily standing on someone's outdoor air conditioning unit, extending a soft tube into the window.
The figures who were originally standing and sitting in the room fell one after another, and after that person jumped off the air conditioning unit, he walked into the hallway.
Soon after, he dragged two large boxes, put them on a trolley, and pushed them away, and the figures in the room had all disappeared.
This was Batman's inspiration for Schiller.
Jonathan truly lacked anti-reconnaissance awareness.
Schiller stood in the hallway of the building opposite him, taking pictures with a camera, and he didn't even notice.
But then again, no one in Gotham City would be out wandering in the middle of the night, especially in a place like this slum, where you could easily lose your life.
Gordon suddenly shouted, "No wonder!"
"I remember when registering the addresses of missing persons, it was indeed the residents on lower floors who were more victimized; almost all victims' houses had balconies…" Gordon said.
Then he looked at Batman and Schiller, and he said somewhat angrily to Batman, "I truly misjudged you.
Were you trying to shoot just now?
Do you know you almost killed someone just now?!"
Batman silently looked at the projection on his arm; anyone who wasn't blind could see that the murderer's physique in the video was miles apart from Schiller's.
Although Schiller didn't engage in combat or exercise, he was still very tall, only slightly shorter and thinner than Batman, but at least close to one meter ninety, while the person in the video was at most one meter seventy and weighed no more than sixty kilograms.
"Professor Jonathan is a kind old man, that's what you think, right?
Because he doesn't check homework, is very nice to you, and would never fail you.
But I'm different; I'm a very troublesome Professor, always finding fault in homework, having tests for no reason, and threatening all students with the possibility of failing."
"So, of course, I'm the murderer, and he isn't.
After all, how could such a timid, taciturn, thin, and small person possibly be a serial killer?"
"Don't say anything more," Batman said, his voice trembling.
He recalled the scene when he faced the beggar that day; out of the corner of his eye, he could still see the stain left by the beggar leaning against the wall, and that strong sense of guilt and shame enveloped him again.
And Gordon's words added fuel to the Fire; he said, "I don't care what kind of strange person you are, causing trouble in the City in a tight suit, but you almost killed a good person.
What kind of grudge do you two have?
If you have a personal vendetta, then go resolve it yourselves; don't interfere with Police work."
"Aren't Gotham City's Police busy enough?
Do you want to kill someone in front of me, hoping I'll immediately send you to jail?" Gordon said.
Several days of overtime had already made him irritable.
He said impatiently, "Tight-suited freak, quickly give me that USB drive; I need to take it back for filing… Sir, please come back with me; you seem to know who the murderer is, and we need clues…"
After a moment of silence, Batman silently extended his arm and handed the USB drive to Gordon.
He realized that his ambitious debut journey had been nothing but trouble; the criminal Schiller, whom he had assumed, was the one who had provided great help and the most crucial evidence.
Schiller stopped speaking, Batman also stood still, and outside on the street, the endless rain began to fall again.
Just as he was about to follow Gordon away, he heard Batman behind him say, "…I'm sorry, Professor."
Schiller's steps paused; he felt somewhat incredible.
What did Batman just say???
He just apologized???
Schiller turned back in disbelief.
Batman stood in the Shadow cast by the building, with a single beam of light illuminating his mask.
He tightly pursed his lips, and Schiller felt utterly absurd.
He was Batman.
Because he was Batman.
And Batman was always right.
Batman would never apologize to anyone.
Facing everyone's doubts, he would only say, "Because I am Batman."
In Batman's comics, Schiller had seen too much of Batman's dark side, such as preparing Kryptonite to guard against Superman, and preparing a set of countermeasures for every member of the Justice League.
He seemed to trust no one, not even himself.
It must be said that when the comic editors created this character, these dark aspects made him even more charming.
They also left a deeper impression on readers.
But this also created a prejudice in Schiller towards Batman.
He believed that Batman should be like that, like in the comics.
Batman never apologized because he didn't feel he was wrong, and he believed those precautionary measures against his companions were very necessary.
This created a prejudice in Schiller; Batman wasn't incapable of apologizing, but when he truly realized he was wrong, he would still feel regret and guilt.
Schiller did indeed want to teach the young Batman some principles, such as not harboring prejudice, not judging a book by its cover, not being blinded by anger, and maintaining independent thought.
But Schiller suddenly realized that he actually had no right to teach Batman not to harbor prejudice, because he himself had an indelible stereotype of this character.
He wanted Bruce to become the Batman from the comics in his mind, and the sooner this process happened, the better.
But now, it seemed this story was not about a wise and knowledgeable Professor and his young, reckless student, but a very classic "Pride and Prejudice."
Batman, with absolute arrogance in his deduction, believed Schiller must be the murderer.
When he harbored preconceived prejudice, coupled with some evidence that just happened to fit that prejudice, he almost shot Schiller.
But Schiller also harbored a prejudice against Batman, believing he should be the mature, cautious, and suspicious dark hero from the comics.
The two were not a case of the pot calling the kettle black, but rather equally flawed.
Now Batman seemed to have learned this lesson; he clearly realized that he was not omniscient and omnipotent.
His deductions could also be confined by prejudice, leading to great errors, and his impulsiveness, under this arrogance, appeared even more fatal.
He saw the scar on Schiller's neck, left by his Batarang earlier.
At that time, he had assumed Schiller was a criminal and threatened him in the way one would a criminal.
Although he didn't shoot today, as Gordon said, that wound was deep and would likely leave a scar.
Batman felt guilty about this and also very scared afterward.
He thought that the law not being able to correctly judge every criminal was not a reason for him to arbitrarily judge others with his arrogance.
And in situations where he could not guarantee he was 100% correct, any impulsive act of violence could leave an innocent person, or even a good person, with an indelible scar.
He was just relieved that the innocent person's cost was not their life.
Batman stood in the Shadow, thinking that he must forever prevent such a possibility from happening, so he decided that from now on, no matter how heinous the criminal he faced, he would never kill.
If any innocent person were to die unjustly at his hands, then he would become a more detestable criminal than those who killed his parents.
Because the criminals who killed his parents might have only been after money or revenge; the destruction they caused was two lives.
But if Batman were to indiscriminately kill the innocent, then this City would have no hope left.
In the comics, the setting that Batman doesn't kill seemed to have existed from the beginning.
Schiller had never explored why this was; he found this setting quite annoying.
For example, facing that group of annoying criminals, those lunatics who repeatedly broke out of prison to cause trouble, why couldn't Batman just kill them?
He had thought this countless times when reading the comics.
But what he didn't expect was that in this World, the young Batman, precisely because of him, precisely because of Schiller, solidified his idea of not killing criminals.
Because he was Batman, he was the City's only hope.
If he were to be crushed by the guilt of killing innocent people, then this City would be completely beyond saving.
By chance, although Schiller still failed to help the young Batman establish his spiritual pillar, he successfully completed one of Batman's settings: not killing.
Schiller would not have imagined that in the days to come, he would regret his meddling countless times.
When Batman completely matured, Schiller had roared countless times in his heart, why couldn't Batman just lift a finger and strangle those damned criminals, so they wouldn't appear before him again and again, disrupting his peaceful life!!
And all of this stemmed from today's events, it was all his own doing.