Chapter 1022: The World Widens in an Instant (Part III)

Batman saw everything, but not everything, because he couldn't hear the original Schiller's voice, only seeing the images.

Because Schiller had been taken away by unidentified persons, Batman didn't have time to find his tracks through surveillance. After all, the other side was likely professional intelligence officers who knew how to avoid surveillance. Moreover, to chase the other side through surveillance, someone had to sit in front of the surveillance to report the location in real-time, and the whole process would produce delays. Batman had a better way.

He could directly use crazy wine to enter Schiller's dream. The other Schillers in the mental tower could directly tell Batman the location of Schiller's body, which was much faster than chasing behind the intelligence officers' butts.

He arrived at a very good time, just catching up with Schiller starting to play the video magic carried on the medal. However, because the audio track and the video were separate, only Schiller could hear the voice while seeing the images; Batman could only see the images.

But this didn't prevent Batman from deducing what exactly was going on.

The calendar on the wall in the first scene already had the time written on it; it was Christmas in 1991. However, the next scene appeared in Berlin decades ago, and Schiller had become a child again.

Up to this point, Batman still thought the whole process was a flashback. The scene he saw earlier of Schiller committing suicide was a prophecy, and then it started to go back to talk about Schiller's life.

But later, the more he watched, the more wrong it felt. According to young Schiller's development, he shouldn't have been a soldier, but an intelligence officer. The difference between the two was huge.

Moreover, Batman had seen many medals on the soldier Schiller's military uniform earlier. Many of these medals were real military merit medals. Batman recognized them; these medals would not be awarded to people outside the military system.

So now, through the images, Batman understood Schiller's two sets of life stories. If he added the ones he had seen earlier in the DC Schiller's memory space, there were already three sets.

The first set was that Schiller was a Soviet soldier who committed suicide in December 1991.

The second set was that Schiller was an intelligence officer cultivated by the KGB from childhood, and also a magician, and finally served as the Director of the KGB's Eleventh Bureau.

The third set was that Schiller had witnessed a massacre in an orphanage, became a test subject for a mysterious organization, successfully escaped, and finally entered the Ninth Management Office.

If there were only two sets of life stories, Batman could easily compile a complete story.

For example, if the second and third sets were fused together, it would be that Schiller had witnessed a massacre in an orphanage in East Germany, became a test subject, escaped, was cured of his illness in a management office in an eastern country, and returned to the KGB.

If the first and second sets were combined, it could be said that the KGB entered the military system to carry out certain tasks, the mission failed, and Schiller had no choice but to commit suicide.

However, no matter which two sets of these three life stories were combined, there was always one set that was redundant and unreasonable.

Batman suspected that only one set of life stories was true, but he also instinctively felt that they might all be true.

So how did the extra set come about?

Among them, what Batman cared about most was that the soldier Schiller committed suicide in December 1991, and now it was December 2, 1991. His professor was still staying here safely, and it didn't look like he was capable of instantly entering the military system.

At the time, Batman couldn't hear the sound of the Soviet Union's dissolution coming from the radio. He felt this might be a prophecy, but he couldn't figure out under what circumstances Schiller would choose to commit suicide.

Of course, Schiller had committed suicide once before in a phone booth to drag Batman and Constantine into hell together. However, the atmosphere in the room when the soldier Schiller committed suicide made Batman feel a strong sense of tragic heroism. He felt that this couldn't be a plan; that despair of a hero at the end of his road made him feel deeply shocked.

Just then, Batman thought about the order in which these films were played.

Batman wondered if he should simplify things. The fact was that Schiller committed suicide first and then returned to his childhood.

Thinking of this, Batman suddenly realized. Because he had always felt that Schiller had a judgment about everyone around him that came from outside the facts, as if he had long expected certain things. Could this be because he was actually a reborn person?

Could it be that Schiller had met everyone he knew in this life, including him, Batman, in his previous life? That was why Schiller had so many judgments based on things outside the facts.

At the moment the dream shattered and Schiller's consciousness returned, Batman saw the hotel's decor from Schiller's field of vision. He judged that this should be the Sokovia Hotel, so he hurried over here.

Immediately after, he saw the scene that was exactly the same as the first scene in Schiller's memory. Schiller stood by the window with a pistol in his hand, looking heavy, not knowing what he was thinking.

Batman looked at the calendar on the wall. Today was December 2, 1991.

"Calm down, Professor." Batman walked behind him. Schiller, holding the pistol, turned to look at him and asked, "You saw everything?"

Batman remained silent and did not deny it. In his mind, he recalled Schiller's expression and temperament in the first scene. That was somewhat different from the professor standing in front of him, making Batman think of another person—his butler, Alfred.

At this moment, Batman's heart moved. He thought that the sad and tangled expressions Alfred had occasionally shown behind his back were actually because of one thing—the Soviet Union.

What had happened in the Soviet Union recently?

Batman didn't know. Most of his understanding of the Soviet Union came from the news. He hadn't heard of any big news in the Soviet Union recently. So why exactly did Schiller have an incident during this period?

Just as Batman was thinking, Schiller sighed, pulled the curtains, and stopped looking at the lush broccoli outside the window.

Schiller thought that this damn place full of broccoli in Cat Getan couldn't be stayed in. It just so happened that he could follow the Eleventh Bureau people back to Moscow now to figure out the situation in the Soviet Union, and by the way, take a vacation to stay away from this annoying broccoli.

So, Schiller spoke to Batman: "I know you have many questions, but I don't have time to answer them now. I'm going to Moscow. Perhaps I won't be back for a few months. We'll talk about your graduation message and recommendation letter when I return."

Batman's expression changed. He took a step to the side, blocking the path Schiller had to take to leave the room, and asked, "What are you going to Moscow for?"

"What do you think I'm going there for?"

Schiller meant, don't you know who I am yet? The KGB would eventually have to return to report for duty. But in Batman's understanding, having just seen that scene, it meant something else.

"Are you a reborn person?" Batman changed the subject.

Schiller, who was thinking about broccoli, nodded absentmindedly. The original Schiller was indeed a reborn person.

After Batman received an affirmative answer, he had a feeling that it was as expected. At the time, Schiller told Batman that he had been cursed by a bat, and Batman had been thinking about a question.

Schiller had spent so much energy to cure him; was it really just because he had been cursed by Batman?

Batman didn't think so. Schiller had absolutely no way to break this curse, and Batman, looking back at himself four years ago, deeply felt that breaking the curse and changing him might be simpler than the former.

But since Schiller chose a more difficult and longer path, there must be a reason. And if Schiller was a reborn person, then what was he like when he met him in his previous life? And what was the ending?

Batman knew that there would definitely be no good answers to these two questions, because if it were a good ending, Schiller wouldn't have spent so much effort to treat him in this life.

Thinking of this reason, Batman's gaze fell on the pistol in Schiller's hand.

Batman looked at Schiller and then reached out his hand. Schiller looked at his action, somewhat puzzled.

Seeing Schiller's eyes, Batman said in a calm tone, "... I won't let the Soviet Union dissolve."

Schiller raised his eyes instantly, staring straight at Batman, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Afterward, Schiller took a deep breath, lowered his eyelids, paused for a moment, turned his head to the side, but still placed the Makarov pistol in Batman's hand.

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Before Batman left, he glanced at the calendar on the wall and stood at the door, saying to Schiller, "Merry Christmas in advance, Professor."

Schiller, standing by the window, put his hands in his suit pockets, watched Batman's departing back, and shook his head.

And at this moment, Schiller thought of another question, so he called Petrov in and asked him, "How did you determine my location?"

Facing this question, Petrov was stunned for a moment, then said, "A special comrade contacted us and told us that you had been taken away by a team of intelligence officers speaking Russian. But besides us, no one in Cat Getan had an action order, so we naturally guessed that they might be CIA moles."

"The Sokovia Hotel is originally a KGB station. To gain the trust of other intelligence officers, Andro must have brought you here, so we came directly to the door."

"Who contacted you?" Schiller asked.

Petrov walked directly to Schiller's side, picked up the phone, and said to the other side, "Hello, Comrade. Thank you for the information. We have successfully picked up the Director."

The lines on Petrov's fingers gradually disappeared, and the skin on his hands stretched, becoming younger.

The young and fair hand put down the phone. Looking along the direction of the sunlight in front of the window, the face revealed behind the phone was Lex Luthor.

"You're welcome... Comrade." ===== CHAPTER 1023 =====