Chapter 1162: Professor (End) (Birthday Addition)

Cold moonlight spilled into the room through the intact window.

Inside the room with red hardwood floors and green wall lamps, the desk, single sofa, and other furniture had disappeared, replaced by a long table covered with a dark green table runner.

The figures sitting on both sides of the table appeared somewhat strange.

The first person was wearing a police uniform, with a burly figure and a serious face.

The second person had a pair of large wings, blonde hair and blue eyes, handsome and beautiful.

The third person was in a suit, with a red poppy pinned to his chest.

The fourth person was wearing a purple long suit, full of smiles even without making an expression.

The fifth person was wearing a woolen trench coat and a beret, dressed like an English gentleman, but appeared uneasy.

The sixth person was thin and small, with a pale complexion, a cold expression, and an annoying hooked nose.

And the person standing in the main seat was wearing a dark green suit, tied with a red tie, holding an empty goblet in his hand.

Shiler's expression couldn't be called cold; his facial muscles were very relaxed, but no one could relax because of this. When he began to pace slowly in the room, the heels of his leather shoes stepped on the floor, and the echo made was deafening.

"I know you might be thinking, why am I so rude, inviting you to participate in my banquet without preparing any dishes?"

Shiler suddenly stopped his footsteps, turned his head to look at the table and the people on both sides of the table. He gently turned the goblet he was twisting in his hand and said in a low, airy voice:

"I know that in this world, there are many of my kind, but once they start to run rampant, I feel annoyed, just like you hate pigs raised on a large scale."

"For this reason, I have to take some measures to control their numbers, but that is a very boring process. I hope someone can come to do this for me... Batman would be a good candidate."

Shiler stopped in front of the long table, gently put down the goblet in his hand, and said: "Before personally contacting him, I only thought he would be a good knife, but now, I have changed my view. Therefore, those delicious dishes that should have appeared in front of you no longer need to appear."

Gordon, sitting on the left, turned his head to look at Shiler. He stared at Shiler's face and asked, "... What did you do to Bruce?"

Shiler looked at him, shook his head gently, and said, "Detective, I am not a killer. I never kill, nor am I a sadist. I have no interest in torturing anyone."

"I also never ask anyone to pay anything for me. All those who make a pilgrimage to me are my humble, pitiful, but very devout believers—a group of lost lambs."

Shiler gently opened his hands and said, "I have never set any traps, never told lies, and do not adopt deceptive means. I am just not afraid to analyze the real me to anyone."

Gordon felt his heart beating violently. The pressure Shiler brought made him almost unable to breathe. Shiler leaned slightly to the side, bent down, looked at Gordon's eyes, and said, "They voluntarily offered something to me, which has nothing to do with me."

Gordon slowly closed his eyes, his fingers gripping the armrest tightly. And another figure sitting on the right side of the long table suddenly turned his head to look at the door leading to the lounge in the corner of the office.

The ends of his huge, clean white wings trembled. Lucifer put one hand on the table, looked at Shiler, and said seriously, "Don't do this, Shiler. You know very well that this will make you further and further away from what you want."

Shiler suddenly turned his head, staring at Lucifer's eyes. He reached out, grabbed the goblet on the table, looked at Lucifer, and then turned to walk toward the wall where the door to the lounge was located.

There was an extra faucet there, just like the kind installed on a wine barrel—exquisite, slender, reflecting the metallic luster.

The glass goblet reached under the faucet. When one hand gently turned the valve and the red liquid fell into the cup, everyone at the table had different expressions.

Cobblepot, sitting at the very end, moved his nose gently. Jack, who had been squinting his eyes as if asleep, suddenly woke up and began to become somewhat excited.

Alberto was expressionless, Thomas Constantine was somewhat confused, and Lucifer frowned deeply, turning his head from time to time to look at the door of the lounge.

Shiler walked back holding half a cup of liquid. He came to Lucifer's side, bent down, and sent the cup to his mouth.

Lucifer raised his eyes to look at him. Shiler raised the corners of his mouth slightly, bent his waist lower, leaned into his ear, and said, "You and I both understand that he is special."

"Shiler." Lucifer called Shiler's name very seriously, looked at him with a serious face, and said, "If you do this, then you will never have the freedom you want."

"Yeah, anyone who has an intersection with him has the possibility of becoming a stepping stone for his growth. They won't die, they will only live in pain forever, and then stand out when he needs them, continuing to burn themselves to add a few points to his greatness."

"No one can escape this fate, including you, and including your father. All your powerful great strength is not worth mentioning in front of his destiny. Your powerful abilities to turn the world around and create or destroy the universe may be written as a few sparse sentences at any time and disappear forever."

Shiler turned his head, stared at Lucifer's eyes from the front, and said, "You feel deep fear because of this, but now, you have a chance to prove your arrogance..."

Shiler pushed the goblet forward a little more until it touched Lucifer's lips. And Lucifer kept leaning his body backward, avoiding the wine glass approaching him, until he leaned his head against the back of the chair.

Lucifer tilted his head, looked up at Shiler, and said, "You are really like someone I know... a snake."

Shiler straightened his body slowly, lowered his eyelids, glanced at Lucifer, and then walked back to the main seat holding the wine glass. After putting down the wine glass, he said, "Everyone doesn't need to worry. This is not the privilege of my friend Lucifer Morningstar. Each of you will share a glass of wine—"

"—1000 milliliters is enough."

In the dim room, piled with all kinds of furniture, chairs were turned upside down and buckled on the table. The shadows of the chair legs stretched by the moonlight were like sharp claws. When they shrouded a person, it made him seem as if he were about to be dragged into hell.

Beside the wall near the door, there was a single sofa. The figure sitting on it hung his head, and strands of hair in front of his forehead blocked his pale complexion. Nothing was restraining him, but his hands were as if they were tied, placed flat on the armrests of the single sofa.

On one of the arms, a terrifyingly thick needle tube was connected. Bright red blood burst out, climbing upward along the curved pipe, passing through the cement and steel bars of the wall, and flowing into an equally exquisite glass cup through the exquisite faucet.

Lucifer withdrew his gaze, looked at Shiler again, and said, "This is all your plan... You want to take revenge on us."

"But no matter what kind of pressure you use to force Batman to harm himself, this account will be counted on you... Shiler, stop. Do you really want to let your student cut open his own chest and let him bleed to death?"

Gordon stood up abruptly. He looked at the door of the lounge with a shocked gaze. Although he didn't have the ability to see through, he had already seen that pile of winding pipes like snakes, seen a pair of leather shoes, pale arms, and equally pale lips.

Shiler tapped the table with the bottom of the goblet, making a "clang" sound. Everyone heard the warning in it.

"This is just the beginning, friends. The lamb hasn't started his performance yet."

Lucifer closed his eyes. When Shiler turned to walk toward the door of the lounge, he suddenly said, "Let's make a bet. If I win, you let him go, and you also let yourself go."

Shiler, holding the cup, turned around, looked at Lucifer, and a scorching atmosphere spread in the room. Everyone was like a sinner listening to judgment. After being silent for more than ten seconds, Shiler finally said, "... What do you want to bet?"

The sound of the door being pushed open with a "creak" was extremely clear in the dark room, like the prelude to pronouncing a sentence.

The person who walked in didn't turn on the lights, but in Bruce's hearing, the footsteps were as heavy as thunder. Bruce, with a pale face, raised his head and saw Shiler's face in the darkness.

"How does it taste?" Bruce's hoarse voice sounded.

Shiler stood in the darkness, quietly looking at him, and only after being silent for a while did he say, "... Quite good. Thanks for the treat."

"... My pleasure."

When Shiler stood still in the darkness, it was as if his whole body had disappeared into the endless darkness. The only thing that attracted attention was his calm face. No one could have imagined that divinity and evil would appear so harmoniously on the same face.

"You performed very well, so I will keep my promise and not do anything to the others." Shiler said, but Bruce had no reaction. Shiler continued: "But I hope to have a little more, otherwise, I will still put them on the table... Are you willing?"

"How much do you want?" Bruce lowered his head and asked.

"Another 1000 milliliters." Shiler replied.

Bruce's breathing frequency had always been very slow, which was a typical manifestation of a lowered heart rate. When he heard this number, he also had no reaction.

When Shiler cast his gaze toward him, he couldn't see any expression on his face either, until his hoarse voice sounded again:

"Do it."

Shiler's lips twitched. He walked closer to Bruce, supported his hands on the armrests of the chair Bruce was sitting on, leaned down, looked down at Bruce, and said:

"If I heard correctly, you are letting me drain your blood so that I won't do anything to those serial killers?"

Shiler straightened his body slightly, then reached out, pinched Bruce's neck, forced him to raise his head, and then looked into his eyes and said, "... You want to die for that group of criminals?"

The blood-drawing machine didn't stop. The blood Bruce had lost now exceeded 1000 milliliters, so his pupils had already begun to dilate somewhat, but he still said with some difficulty:

"I just don't want you to kill anyone."

Bruce's somewhat unfocused pupils stared at Shiler's eyes. He discovered that Shiler's gaze was getting brighter and brighter. The terrifying desire inside it not only didn't weaken but became stronger and stronger, like someone who had been hungry for who knows how long and suddenly saw a piece of meat that was both fat and lean and cooked just right.

The next second, the lights in the room turned on. Shiler maintained his original posture, let go, threw Bruce's face to the side, and then straightened up.

Lucifer, who had spread his wings, appeared at the door. Shiler, as if somewhat annoyed, turned around and waved his hand.

Lucifer snapped his fingers, and all the blood flowed back into Bruce's body. Gordon walked quickly to Batman's side, pulled out the needle tube on his arm, and then said, "I suggest you believe in religion. If it weren't for Lucifer today, you would be in big trouble."

Bruce's head was still a bit dizzy, so he couldn't see Shiler and Lucifer who had walked to the window. He fixed his gaze on Gordon's face and asked, "What exactly is going on?"

Gordon looked back at Shiler, but seemed afraid to let his gaze stay on him for too long, and quickly turned his eyes back, looked at Bruce, and said, "The good news is that he isn't as cruel as you imagined, but the bad news is that he is a hundred times harder to deal with than you imagined..."

"Shiler and Lucifer made a bet." Gordon explained further. Bruce raised his eyes to look at him. Gordon sighed gently and said:

"Betting on who you are sacrificing yourself for."

Bruce supported himself on the armrest of the chair. That feeling of weakness was still fresh in his memory. He rested one hand on the chair, lowered his head, and spoke slowly:

"I am a human, not a monster without perception or emotion. I know who has paid for me and how they have changed me."

"In my life, there have been too many dilemmas. No matter what I choose, there will always be someone who has to sacrifice."

"And the scene I dream of but cannot attain is exactly like today: on one side of the scale is me. The only thing I possess is the power to choose to sacrifice myself without having to bear the guilt."

"But if he lets me choose who is on the side that rises because of my fall..."

Bruce dragged out a long tone, which made his tail sound like a sigh.

He looked at Shiler standing by the window, still peaceful and calm, as if incompatible with anything in this world. Bruce continued:

"Of course, it will be this... Professor, who has never given up on saving me and making me feel that I have something to rely on at any time." ===== CHAPTER 1163 =====