Chapter 1144: Professor (24)

"It is like this. After graduation, I found a job. You know, I'm an intern reporter at the Daily Planet."

"This is a good job. People in town all envy me. After all, the Daily Planet is a famous newspaper, and the benefits are especially good. For fresh graduates, it's the best choice."

When saying this, Clark also revealed a look of pride. His various emotions were always written on his face, making people see his mood now at a glance.

But soon, Clark revealed a very awkward expression. He looked at Bruce and said: "But you also know, it's not easy to make some achievements in such a big newspaper."

"That day, my editor-in-chief asked me to write a report about the broccoli disaster that broke out in Cat Getan. But when the disaster broke out, I wasn't in the country at all, and I really didn't have any material to write about, so I could only write about what I saw and heard in Cat Getan before."

"But unexpectedly, this report suddenly became popular. At that time, I knew that so many people were interested in this city of Cat Getan."

Clark sighed and said: "However, it's also true. My parents are very interested in this magical city. They are very curious about how you all survived, and why the economy is still so good even though it's so chaotic here, and there are mysterious gang rap, street graffiti clubs, ghost fire youth groups, etc..."

"However, ordinary people are still more afraid than curious about this place. Almost no one dares to come and see it with their own eyes. Even if someone dares to come, they don't know how to come. I heard that booking a hotel here requires finding a gang. Most people don't have such courage."

Clark shook his head and then continued: "However, I have been here several times. I feel that Cat Getan is not as scary as they say. Even if the public security in most areas is not good, there are some safe places."

"For example, the commercial street in the city center, Cat Getan University and the manor district in the West District, the Lakeside Mountain Park and the Beast Park in the North District, the Living Hell and Graffiti Street in the East District, etc. The scenery and culture of these places are not bad."

"So, I wrote what I saw and heard into a guide and serialized it in the newspaper. At first, it was just a marginal page used to fill the layout blank, but unexpectedly, the report response was very good, so it was moved to the main page. As a result, now they actually said they wanted to issue a main issue for me."

When saying this, there was no happy emotion on Clark's face, but a trace of worry climbed up. He looked at Bruce with a very apologetic look and said:

"In the guide, I emphasized you, that is, Batman. I called you the great Cat Getan vigilante and focused on introducing your heroic deeds and your philosophy of fighting for the bottom-level people."

"At that time, in order to add to the authenticity of the report, I attached a photo of you standing on the top of the Wei En Building." Clark shrugged and said: "Do you still remember? It was the one I pestered you to take last time."

Bruce recalled slightly and remembered. At that time, Superman flew around him hundreds of times, just to make him pose in a handsome posture so he could take a photo. Batman was annoyed by him, but still cooperated with him to take a photo.

The general content of the photo was that on a rainy night in Cat Getan, Batman stood on the top of the Wei En Building, with the light halos of various neon lights in the background. His cape fluttered in the wind and rain, his figure was straight, and his eyes were firm.

Clark rubbed under his nose and said: "The content of this report wasn't read by many people, but the photo was snatched crazy."

"Your fans bought the newspaper back, cut out your photo to make collages, which led to the newspaper of that issue being reprinted twice, and quite a few people wrote letters to the Daily Planet's newspaper office, saying they wanted more photos."

"After that issue of the guide came out, quite a few people tried to come to Cat Getan to explore. One of them, who was bolder and luckier, followed the guide I gave him and traveled around Cat Getan. Not only did he not have any problems, but he also got a photo with the hottest rap singer on the East Coast, coming with excitement and returning with satisfaction. His classmates were crazy with envy."

"Then, the Cat Getan travel route became popular among college students. If anyone can travel around Cat Getan, it proves that you are the coolest and most fashionable trendy person, the most gang-like rap singer, the most street-style mixed-up kid..."

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A difficult expression appeared on Clark's face, and then he said: "Also, college students are all like this, trying their best to prove that they are rebellious enough, punk enough..."

"Immediately afterward, quite a few people came to Cat Getan in groups. Other attractions were fine. Some bolder ones even wanted photos with those gang rap members. There was only one problem, that is..."

Bruce suddenly had a bad premonition. Immediately afterward, Clark looked at him with expectant eyes and said: "Quite a few of your fans wrote to the newspaper to express dissatisfaction, saying that they came to Cat Getan and booked a hotel according to my guide, but didn't see your figure, which was very disappointing."

"Um... I know you're quite busy, but spending ten minutes every day standing on a rooftop shouldn't be too difficult, right?"

Looking at Clark's clear eyes, Bruce felt his head buzzing.

He took a deep breath, stared into Clark's eyes, and then said, "You wrote me into your travel guide without my consent, and now you're actually blaming me for not appearing at the locations your guide indicates?"

"I'm not blaming you!" Clark emphasized. Afterwards, he fished a letter out of his bag, handed it to Bruce, and said, "Look, this is a letter written by your mayor. Since he doesn't know who Batman is either, he specifically asked me to bring it to Batman."

Bruce unfolded the letter and took a look; it really was Mayor Luo Yin's handwriting. The general content was thanking Batman for his contributions to Cat Getan's tourism industry and imploring Batman to make even more contributions to Cat Getan's tourism industry.

Although the wording was quite polite, if translated into the tone of a Gothamite, it would be: "Stop obsessing over your vigilante career and hurry up and go stand guard at the tourist spots!"

If this were in the past, Bruce might have been filled with rage by now, but currently, he only felt a sense of being unable to laugh or cry, and even felt that the accidental development of the tourism industry was not an unworthy outlet for the identity of Batman.

"You don't know how popular you are!" Clark looked at Bruce very sincerely and emphasized: "Metropolis people just love this kind of dark hero, they even like you more than they like me!"

Bruce thought for a moment and felt that this was not impossible. In psychology, a compensation effect has been mentioned: the more comfortable people's lives are, the more they like to consume goods containing violent and stimulating elements.

Theoretically speaking, this might be the human instinct for survival in the wilderness, making them want to constantly and actively stimulate the violent factors within their bodies to prevent being eliminated by nature.

People living in Cat Getan don't really like the violent culture here; on the contrary, what is popular in the upper-class circles are dramas depicting beautiful romance or the extravagant lives of the nobility, as if they were still living in the Middle Ages.

But in the eyes of Metropolis people, Cat Getan's chaos, violence, and bizarre aesthetics carry a unique charm that happens to cater to the decadent punk trend of the youth. This land of sin has instead become a pilgrimage site for the punk generation.

Having figured this out, Bruce felt that if the tourism industry could be developed because of this, it would be a good thing. So, he looked at Clark and said, "I have indeed encountered a bit of trouble, and I might need your help, or rather, the help of the cat you are holding."

"As a price, I can go stand on the roof of Wei En Tower for a while every night, but I don't guarantee that everyone will be able to see me, and I will absolutely not strike a stupid pose like last time just to let them take pictures."

"You just need to go stand there for a while! They will definitely take very cool pictures of you!" Clark immediately became happy. He revealed a brilliant smile and then said, "Don't ever try to cater to them; that group of people just likes you being cool and arrogant!"

Bruce rolled his eyes and shook his head, while the Batman Cat, who had been listening on the side, looked at Bruce and said, "Tell me, what kind of trouble did you run into? I guess it has something to do with dreams, right?"

Bruce nodded and briefly introduced the situation he had encountered. The Batman Cat licked his own paw and then said, "A very common dream infection; you humans call it hypnosis."

"According to the situation you described, the murderer should have sneaked into your ward's dream and adopted a deceptive method to make him believe that he truly has a pair of pig ears. And this imagery of pig ears represents certain commands, controlling him to commit various extreme behaviors."

"And the act of him running away when he sees you should be a safety command implanted by the murderer. You can understand it as the firewall of this hypnotic system, used to prevent others from breaking the hypnosis."

"And it's very simple to break the hypnosis; you just need to make this child stop believing that he has a pair of pig ears."

"Can you do it?" Bruce asked.

A cold glint flashed in the Batman Cat's eyes. He said, "Don't forget, I am a part of the Dream of the Thousand Cats; dreams are my home turf... Where is he?"

Bruce sent the Batman Cat into the room where Dick was. He and Clark remained outside. Watching Bruce's somewhat worried expression, Clark kept comforting him, but as time passed, Bruce still became increasingly anxious.

After about half an hour, the Batman Cat clawed open the door, looked at Bruce, and said, "Good news, the hypnosis has been lifted."

Bruce stared at him. The Batman Cat jumped onto Clark's shoulder, sighed softly, and said, "The bad news is that your ward is relatively young and his personality is unstable. The murderer used some violent means when he acted, so it's inevitable that it caused him some mental trauma..."

"The problem isn't too serious, but he needs to recuperate. Also, for a period of time recently, he might have nightmares or panic attacks and needs someone to accompany him by his side."

"What exactly happened?" Bruce asked coldly.

The Batman Cat sighed deeply again and said, "Simply put, the murderer cut off Dick's ears in the dream and then sewed a pair of pig ears onto him. You should also know that in dreams, one can also feel pain."

Clark clearly saw the boundless rage rising in Bruce's eyes. He hurriedly pressed down on Bruce's shoulder and comforted him: "Calm down, Bruce, don't lose your head! We will definitely bring this damn murderer to justice!"

And Bruce, standing where he was, felt for the first time that the phrase "bring to justice" sounded a bit grating.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, but at this moment, Alfred walked over and said, "A call from Commissioner Gordon. His tone is very anxious; please go over and take the call immediately."

Bruce walked quickly to the phone and picked it up. Gordon's slightly anxious voice sounded from the other side: "Bruce! A murder case has occurred inside the Cat Getan Police Department; you need to come over quickly!"

And when Bruce and Clark arrived at the Cat Getan Police Department, Gordon greeted them. While leading them into the police station, he said:

"The one who died is our Deputy Commissioner Freeman, and the reason I had to ask you to come over is because his state of death is somewhat..." Gordon shook his head and didn't continue speaking.

When they arrived in front of an office door, he waved his hand, letting the police officer nearby leave first. And when the office door was pushed open, Bruce was stunned.

Behind the office desk sat a figure, or rather, a corpse. And what made Bruce unable to react for a moment was that this middle-aged man's ears had been cut off, and two pistols were inserted into his ear canals.

The more Bruce looked at this scene, the more familiar it seemed, but afterwards, his eyes became brighter and brighter, even carrying a hint of excitement that made Gordon and Clark behind him stand on end.

Gordon swallowed his saliva, subconsciously moved a step to the side, and asked cautiously: "Bruce... are, are you okay?"

Bruce stared intently at the corpse while taking a step back, and without looking back, he asked Gordon: "... Is there a phone?"

Gordon pointed to the public phone in the hallway. Bruce walked toward the public phone, looking back every few steps.

After picking up the receiver, Bruce dialed a number with extreme proficiency. After the other party answered, Bruce shouted:

"Hello? Professor! Someone is plagiarizing your academic achievements!"