[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-my-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel":3,"chapter-my-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel-my-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel-chapter-148":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","My Life as a Mental Mentor in Marvel",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2322716,4544,"Chapter 148: Gotham","my-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel-chapter-148",148,"\u003Cp>The faculty cafeteria at Gotham University has a very long history and was among the first buildings constructed on campus.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It still uses the traditional club restaurant ordering system. When Schiller entered, he turned and shook the rain off his umbrella outside; Victor stepped aside to let him pass and said, “Good thing you came along—who would’ve thought it would rain halfway there?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s Gotham for you. If you don’t carry an umbrella, be ready to get soaked like a drowned rat.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Marvelous Immortal Wood\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Schiller shook the black umbrella, folded it inward, tied it securely, and placed it on the rack by the door. As he entered, the warm air inside fogged his glasses, so he simply took them off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Victor glanced back at the umbrella and said, “Where did you get this umbrella? It looks well-made—I should buy one too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Do you know Greene Street? That’s the one in the East District, next to Hell’s Kitchen. At the end of an alley there’s an umbrella maker.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Good heavens, you’re so old-fashioned. What century is this? You’re still going to a handcrafted umbrella maker?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You just said the umbrella looks well-made.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they chatted, they found a round table by the window. After a while, a waiter came to take their order. Victor said, “I’m really not used to this—Gotham University’s cafeteria is so archaic. Back in California, all the cafeterias had window service.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“On the contrary, I hate window service. All those greasy bacon slices piled together, and the bread slices cut unevenly…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Schiller took the menu and, while scanning it, said, “You’ve been busy lately—anything new happening in the Science College?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t remind me,” Victor said, taking the menu Schiller handed him, pointing to items for the waiter, and sighing. “I’m swamped because of you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But I heard the cold chain project is nearly finished—you should be free by now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Victor gave a helpless look. “You didn’t hear? Those gang bosses are desperate for people.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They especially lack people with management skills. Almost every capable manager in Gotham is at Gotham University, so the gangs come to borrow them—and the president has to agree.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But how many faculty members does Gotham University even have? The number of positions the gangs need far exceeds what they can borrow, doesn’t it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s exactly the problem,” Victor tapped the table with his finger. “They can’t get enough people, but without managers, the whole system collapses. So they went back to talk to Chancellor Xie Dun again…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, their food arrived. Schiller cut into his steak and asked, “What do they want?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Just as you predicted—they want to open a school.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Victor picked up his glass, took a sip, and the cold liquor made him smack his lips. “Gotham has only three high schools, and enrollment rates are under ten percent. Most people who actually want to study don’t even consider applying to Gotham University, let alone staying in this city.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“They want to open their own private schools and teach what they need.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I remember Gotham has private schools, doesn’t it?” Schiller thought for a moment. “They’re in the south, right? Two private boarding schools…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You said they’re in the south—that’s the rich district. Those are places where wealthy families dump their kids. They teach useless things: instruments, painting, field hockey. You expect gang bosses to manage their businesses with that?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So they want to open a vocational high school?” Schiller poked at his scrambled eggs with his fork.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s not even a high school,” Victor swallowed his food, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and continued. “It’s just a vocational school—anyone can enroll, but the gangs will select their own students. The main goal is training managers.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Honestly, they’re outrageous,” Victor complained. “They hired me to fix their cold storage units, but when I asked every warehouse manager, not one could read the gauges—not even the most basic readings. How are they supposed to manage the warehouses?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“So the gang bosses plan to train their own people to fix this problem?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Exactly. And they can’t find teachers, so they’re back at Gotham University begging to borrow them.” Victor shrugged. “I just hope I’m not on the list—but I’m sure my name’s on it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Can’t you just refuse?” Schiller put down his knife and fork, took a sip of water, and added, “Chancellor Xie can’t drag you there by force.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Sure, you can say that—but in Gotham, if a dozen gang bosses invite you jointly, do you dare say no?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Looks like you understand the ecosystem here well,” Schiller smiled. “Welcome to Gotham. Welcome to the big stage.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“And they’re offering a great salary—several times my current pay.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t you need money? Didn’t you take on the Twelve Families’ contract to maintain and operate their cold chain industry? That pay should be more than enough.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No one ever turns down more money,” Victor said bluntly. “The operational work doesn’t take much time, and Gotham University’s daily teaching… you know, it’s practically nonexistent. If their offer is good enough, I wouldn’t mind taking on a part-time teaching job.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Besides, teaching them to read the gauges helps me too—if they can maintain the warehouses themselves, I won’t have to keep running back and forth.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Schiller nodded. Victor had a point—he suspected most professors who agreed to teach at the vocational school thought the same way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Professors had all taken on some gang work. The pay was tempting, but once they arrived on site, most were stunned. These gang members handled guns and weapons well, but when it came to technical problems, they were useless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not being able to read gauges was the least of it—they couldn’t even operate slightly complex switches. If a technical term had more than five letters, they had to look it up in a dictionary. Ask an entire team, and not one could recite the full operating procedure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fundamentally, because Gotham’s criminal industry had become so mature, most people were born into roles where they relied on brute force and never bothered learning technical skills. When the industry began upgrading, many suddenly realized guns were losing value while knowledge was growing more important.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But their mindset was fixed, and they’d missed the optimal learning window. Most didn’t understand these things and refused to learn complex technical skills.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet the rise of logistics industries caused drastic changes in personnel demands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Previously, for collecting protection money, a junior boss didn’t need to know anything more than his enforcers—just seniority, the ability to count money.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But now, a warehouse manager must know everything: at minimum, read the gauges, monitor temperature and product status constantly, while subordinates must track incoming and outgoing goods.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the past, these specialized tasks could be outsourced to professionals—but everyone knew Gotham’s reputation. No sane person would come here to risk their life. Even with high pay, the gangs couldn’t hire a handful of qualified accountants. They had to do it themselves.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lacking professional knowledge and unwilling to learn, yet desperately short of managerial talent, and unable to hire externally, the gang bosses had only one option: open training classes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since Gotham University professors had all taken some gang work, the bosses easily contacted them, offered high pay, and hired them as private school teachers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just as Victor suspected, many professors realized during their work that these gang members were useless at everything, only adding to their workload—so they decided to teach them the basics first, making future freelance jobs easier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, this had nothing to do with Schiller originally—he was a psychology professor. The gang bosses might need physics, chemistry, math teachers—even Chinese language teachers—but they certainly didn’t need a psychology professor. The people of Gotham had no other trait except being emotionally resilient.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the problem was the celebrity effect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Previously, Falcone had opened a small private lecture hall at his estate and invited Schiller to teach his family’s youth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Schiller’s lectures focused on basic industry models, but Gotham’s gangs always followed Falcone’s lead. If even the old patriarch had invited Schiller, and you started your own school without him, it was obvious you thought the old patriarch had no taste.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So one afternoon in Gotham, Schiller received a joint invitation from over a dozen major gang bosses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The invitation didn’t state its purpose directly—it merely invited Schiller to visit their new vocational school. But Schiller guessed that once he arrived, he wouldn’t be allowed to leave without at least accepting an honorary professorship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Schiller approved of the gangs’ initiative to build schools. After all, for Gotham University to enter the Ivy League, enhancing the city’s academic atmosphere was essential—not just by establishing more advanced research institutes, but by building a complete talent cultivation system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Wayne Group was already working on formal primary and secondary schools, but results wouldn’t appear anytime soon. Now, the gangs’ spontaneous push for vocational education was a decent alternative, and perfectly suited Gotham’s current state.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Gotham, where basic education was absent, the city ran entirely on experience. The gangs operated as family dynasties, passing knowledge hand-to-hand from generation to generation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This model might have worked before, but now it’s falling short. It’s foreseeable that as new industries emerge and existing ones upgrade, this vocational education will flourish in Gotham—until the results of basic education finally appear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a professor, fulfilling his role, Schiller had no objection to giving it a push. So he accepted the invitation and planned to visit this weekend to see just how well the Gotham gangs could turn this vocational school into reality.\u003C\u002Fp>",1593,"2026-06-20T16:39:12.484Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","d172bbb971d94bcf2d4092a25b91f1a0f5547cb0a55044c20c4496d0b8db2bff","my-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel-chapter-149","my-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel-chapter-147",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fmy-life-as-a-mental-mentor-in-marvel-cover.jpg"]