Chapter 11

Compared to Shiler, Jonathan truly looks more like a good person; he has a thin build, long limbs, a mess of curly hair, and wears a pair of large black-rimmed glasses, with dark circles always under his eyes, making him look extremely frail, just like a stereotypical nerd.

His personality at school is also very much like a pushover; all the students at Cat Getan University know that Jonathan's class is not strictly managed and exams are easy to pass, and even when there are some absences or tardiness, he only lifts his glasses and lets those students sit down, never criticizing them.

He looks every bit like a bookworm, while by comparison, Shiler, this newly arrived psychology professor, looks like a high-ranking member of Arkham Asylum.

Shiler's appearance is somewhat mixed-race, with black hair and gray eyes, and the original owner also seemed to be a straight-laced man; all his clothes were either black or gray.

And most of them were overcoats, scarves, and formal wear for work; Shiler had never gone out to buy clothes either, so he had always maintained the original owner's style of dress, and since it has been raining in Cat Getan these past few days, Shiler almost constantly carries a black umbrella.

How should one describe this image? It is as if he would be letting the audience down if he weren't the final villain of a TV series.

And Shiler had only been here for a few days when his students discovered that this was actually a very strict professor; his level of lecturing was indeed very high, but he showed no mercy to those students who were late or left early, and he held pop quizzes every few classes, and he stated directly in class that at least thirty percent of the people in this course would fail, leaving everyone feeling nervous.

Although the students at Cat Getan University come from wealthy backgrounds, there are not a few rebels among them, and no college student would like such a professor; at first, there were several troublemakers in Shiler's class, but soon, some loose-lipped person spread Shiler's resume, and now the students in Shiler's class are immediately as quiet as docile sheep.

After all, no matter how you look at it, it is impossible for a normal person to have participated in so many serial murder cases multiple times; soon, Shiler became a campus legend at Cat Getan University.

Some say their professor is actually the perpetrator of these serial murders, others say he carries some kind of unfortunate curse, and wherever he goes, terrible cases occur, and those with rich imaginations have even fabricated a tragic background for Shiler, suggesting that his participation in the investigation of so many murders is actually for revenge.

Among the various versions of the story, there will always be one that meets the students' expectations, and among the students, such bizarre and slightly terrifying stories always spread very quickly; within a few days, the vast majority of students knew about Shiler's past.

When Shiler goes out to buy breakfast, the window he stands at is always empty, with students all watching him from afar, and in class, his assignments are collected with unparalleled punctuality; no professor has ever been able to achieve this.

Since the standoff that night, Shiler could often feel Bruce following him, even during the day on campus; fortunately, he has Spider-Sense, and Bruce's several attempts to install cameras in his dormitory, psychology consultation room, and on the classroom podium were all unsuccessful.

But this provided Shiler with inspiration.

It seems this young Batman still hasn't let go, but he discovered that Bruce seems to have reached some kind of agreement with Gordon; Shiler went to the Mo Sen district a few more times at night and found that the two of them seem to be truly working together.

Finally, one day, as it approached bedtime, the sky over Cat Getan was already as dark as ink.

Shiler had no intention of going out tonight; he wanted to get a good night's sleep. University teaching is not as easy as he thought, and students who truly need psychological counseling occasionally come to the clinic; whether it is to relieve anxiety, alleviate depression, or truly provide psychological advice, these tasks are also very exhausting, so he planned to sleep well.

But heaven did not grant his wish; Jonathan, who usually only operated in the second half of the night, suddenly left the campus in the first half, and Shiler knew he was likely looking to capture a new batch of test subjects again.

Indeed, recently Gordon and Bruce have been active in the Mo Sen district, and Jonathan is very clear that he cannot beat the police; once caught, he will definitely be locked up.

His physical fitness is even worse than Shiler's, and he might even spray his fear toxin in the wrong direction; after Batman cleared out the Gutter Gang and several other small gangs in the Mo Sen district, he gradually gained some fame, and people know there is a strange vigilante here fighting against those gangs, so Jonathan has not dared to show his face for several nights.

But his fear toxin is about to make a breakthrough, and no experimental fanatic can accept failure at such a critical juncture; his test subjects had long since been used up, and he had to go capture new ones.

Although his physical strength is poor, capturing test subjects is still very simple for him; he only needs to find a house with an open window, stick a tube inside, spray a large amount of anesthetic, and then pry open their door and drag the people out.

Shiler watched him leave campus, and he himself had to put on his coat again, take his umbrella, and follow behind him; although he has no saintly mentality and does not intend to be a superhero savior, he will still intervene in tragedies happening right in front of him.

More importantly, if Jonathan continues to act out like this, there won't be many people left in the Mo Sen district, and Batman's debut journey would be nipped in the bud; anyway, the Scarecrow will eventually be caught by Batman, so why wait for another day? Let it be today.

And Shiler used a small trick; he intended to teach Batman a lesson to make him wake up quickly from that arrogant mindset.

Batman still has room for error now because the Joker is just a circus performer; Shiler dare not imagine how miserably Batman would be toyed with if the Joker appeared before the young Batman now.

Although Batman is still young and has many shortcomings, it must be admitted that the skills he learned while traveling to various countries were not for nothing.

And Jonathan is not a meticulous criminal now; he has not undergone special training, nor does he have any anti-reconnaissance awareness, and many of his clues have been discovered by Batman and Gordon.

The two of them joined forces and made their way to the basement of the small church, where they discovered Jonathan's laboratory; it was not a very sophisticated laboratory, and one could even say it looked very much like a black-market workshop.

Dim, cramped, and with a foul, strange odor, Batman looked at the drainage pipe in the basement and said, "I think I'm afraid I know where those people went."

Gordon walked over with his pistol and said, "Although I really don't want to ask, I must write the truth in my combat report."

"Aqua regia. It can not only melt metal but also melt the most difficult parts of the human body."

"Alright, I know, you don't have to say it; I don't want to hear the details," Gordon said.

They investigated this small laboratory, and suddenly, Gordon discovered a trace under a discarded crate; it was some tattered fallen leaves.

"North American red pine," Batman said, "I saw its cotyledons."

"To hell with it, where are there any pine trees in all of Cat Getan? Otherwise, the weather here wouldn't be like this," Gordon said.

"I think there is one place that has this kind of plant..." Batman said.

"Cat Getan University; that is the place with the best greenery in all of Cat Getan City, and on the widest pedestrian walkways there, both sides are lined with this kind of plant."

Gordon squatted down, looked carefully at the traces, and said:

"It must be that the killer's boots stepped on these fallen leaves, and there is still mud hanging on them; clearly, the heavy rain these past few days has caused him quite a bit of trouble. After he came here, the stains fell off inadvertently, and he didn't bother to clean them up."

Gordon looked up and said, "The killer is a student at Cat Getan University?"

"Perhaps it could also be a teacher," Batman said.

"Is it the person you threatened that day?" Gordon asked.

"I was not threatening him," Batman said.

"But you used a batarang to slice open his neck and made him bleed a lot; such a long wound will likely leave a scar," Gordon said.

"Are you sympathizing with a criminal?" Batman asked.

"He is not a criminal, at least not until he has been tried."

"Trial..." Batman snorted coldly.

Gordon sensed Batman's distrust of the judicial system; he did not righteously refute him. He had been a policeman in Cat Getan for more than a day or two, and the judicial system here is indeed not trustworthy, or rather, the entire order system here is not trustworthy.

"But in my view, you holding a dangerous weapon and wantonly harming an unarmed ordinary person is a threat," Gordon said.

"Unarmed..." Batman said.

He suddenly realized he could not refute Gordon, because according to his knowledge, Shiler indeed had not received any professional combat training, and Batman was certain he could knock him down with one punch.

Yet he had been troubled by this person for many days, but had no way to deal with him; he suddenly remembered a sentence he had heard on his journey of study—words are more powerful than fists.

But that was as far as it went, Batman thought.

The killer is someone from Cat Getan University; there is almost no second answer to this. Isn't this evidence conclusive enough? Perhaps it is time to send that crazy professor to prison.

He looked at the stained drainage pipe at his feet, where the souls of more than forty people had vanished; among them, there must be someone's parents.

On that night long ago, his parents' lives vanished in an alley, yet no one paid the price they should have paid.

But now it is different; with him here, these criminals will eventually go to the places they belong, and not one of them will escape.