Chapter 2050: A Knight

This action activated all of Jason's self-defense mechanisms. After shivering on the spot, he almost jumped out like a meerkat.

But soon, he looked at Schiller with suspicion, because he didn't read any sympathy in Schiller's body language or eyes.

He often felt this emotion from people like Schiller, including the Wayne family's private doctor, Batman's technical consultant, and occasionally Alfred.

Too strange, Jason thought. Schiller didn't come to hurt him, nor did he come to treat him out of sympathy. So what was he here for?

So he stopped in the stairwell. Schiller took a small square plastic bag out of his pocket, inside which were two small round pills.

"Sedatives. You'll need them."

"Don't joke. Batman wouldn't let me take drugs."

"It's not any kind on the market. It's harmless to the body," Schiller explained. "There's almost no euphoria, so it won't be addictive."

"Are you mistaken?!" Jason was almost roaring. "You even convinced Batman just to get me alone on a deserted island isolated from the world, and then the first measure you take is to act like the worst drug dealer, seducing me into using drugs to numb my brain?!"

"It seems I must inform you of the necessity of doing this." Schiller sighed and took a syringe out of his pocket.

Jason keenly spotted the Scarecrow mark on the syringe. He widened his eyes and looked at the syringe, saying, "Fear toxin?"

"Its concentrate, and I've applied it to my handkerchief."

Jason instinctively took a step back.

"Not for you." Schiller shook his head and said, "I said, I have the necessity to do this, and the reason isn't you. You should know, I have many opportunities to give you a shot directly."

"Am I surprised that you haven't?"

"Not funny, Jason." Schiller shook his head with slight helplessness and said, "If I wanted to torture you with fear toxin, I'm afraid I wouldn't need Batman's consent. There are always opportunities, aren't there?"

Jason couldn't refute this, because now probably the whole world knew he had been kidnapped by the Joker and imprisoned for a year.

He leaned his body against the railing cautiously, grabbed the railing behind him with his other arm, and used his front hand to reach for the pill bag sideways.

"God, if Batman saw this scene, he'd definitely throw me into rehab." Jason still took the pills.

"Out of rigor, let me ask one more question: do you have a history of using similar drugs?"

"I don't do drugs!!!" Jason roared again.

Schiller laughed. Clearly, this was another tease, but it was harmless. Still, he emphasized: "This is actually a mixture. It has certain sedative components, but not many. It's mainly to cooperate with other components."

"And the effect?"

"It can temporarily immunize you against fear toxin, and it won't have any impact on your thinking or sanity." Schiller soothed the gray mist in his heart and then said, "Resistance enzymes secreted by a strange creature that drinks fear toxin like wine, some sedatives, and a trace amount of anesthetic, usually for neutralization."

Jason appeared hesitant. He asked, "Can I trust you?"

"The excellent talent you use to perceive collective emotions can also be used on me. What is it telling you?"

"That's exactly why I feel strange." Jason appeared lost. He took a deep breath and said, "It tells me you are a sheep, dressed more gorgeously than ordinary people, usually walking in front of the flock, strong, knowledgeable, gentle, and an excellent savior."

"Am I not?"

"Usually, such a person couldn't convince Batman. How would you walk on all fours to him, talk to him with 'baa' sounds, and still make him believe what you say?"

Schiller finally revealed his first sincere smile of the day and looked at Jason with eyes full of laughter, saying, "I just can do it. Do you want to learn?"

Jason's Adam's apple rolled hard.

He stood on the second step of the stairs, watching Schiller's back—wool, wool, wool, sheepskin, mutton, lamb ribs—simply flawless. How did he do it?

Not until Schiller's back disappeared from his field of vision did Jason turn and walk upstairs, still clutching the two small pills.

Walking back into the attic, Jason realized it was exceptionally cramped. Half of the room was covered under the roof that sloped down, which was very unsuitable for his tall body.

So he lay down on the bed, with the skylight that was also tilted right in front of him, which made him feel a bit better.

He took the two small pills in front of him and observed them through the bag. There was no dosage written, but "2" wouldn't be a coincidence. Either two pills at once, or twice a day.

Jason couldn't accept being affected by fear toxin, so he decided to take the risk. He also knew that even if this were some kind of drug, the dosage of two pills wouldn't be enough to be addictive, and Schiller shouldn't have any need to poison him to death.

So Jason opened the bag directly, swallowed two pills at once, and lay on the bed, recalling this long night.

He didn't know when he fell asleep, but when he woke up, the twilight coastline was sparkling, gentle and quiet, so comfortable it didn't seem like Gotham.

Jason turned over on the bed, opened his arms, lay blankly for a while, and then sat up.

To his surprise, his head didn't hurt anymore, the hazy hallucinations had disappeared, and the memories that flashed by from time to time had become very blurry, almost like a normal person.

When he sat up, he was thinking about whether he had dreamed. The conclusion was no, or perhaps he had and had forgotten.

Jason picked up the pill bag that had been thrown on the floor and put it back in his pocket. When he returned to the Batcave, he would take the most advanced equipment to analyze what was in this thing. Hopefully, it wasn't a placebo.

Just as he walked to the stairs, Jason smelled a strong fragrance. It didn't contain butter, so it wasn't that greasy, but it was enough to whet his appetite.

When he went downstairs, he found Schiller already sitting at the dining table. He was sketching something on paper with a pen again, and a sandwich was placed beside him. This aroma was likely brought by scrambled eggs with olive oil.

Jason swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Perhaps it was a side effect caused by that strange parasitic creature; he didn't feel hungry, but human appetite was uncontrollable.

"You're awake? It seems I controlled the dosage of the medicine quite well. There's another sandwich in the thermal box beside you, and there are scrambled eggs in the pot with the green lid."

Schiller moved his chair forward so that his arms could write better. He said, "There's too much work to do, so I want to eat simply. If you feel it's not enough, there are ingredients in the fridge, you can make it yourself."

"I'm not hungry." Although Jason said this, he still went to get the sandwich. It looked like a semi-finished product customized by some high-end restaurant, using high-quality ham, and the tomato slices were also very fresh.

Once the pot lid was opened, the steaming scrambled eggs gave off a strong fragrance. Jason really couldn't imagine what high-quality chicken could lay such fragrant eggs.

He quickly scooped out the eggs, put them in the sandwich, placed the sandwich in the microwave, and while turning the microwave button, asked, "I saw the basement door was locked."

"Yes, I put some sundries there. That might trip you up, so don't go in recently."

"Is this the kind of warning you mentioned, where I'll definitely pay a price if I violate it?"

When Jason turned to look at Schiller, Schiller also turned to look at him. Schiller shook his head and said, "First of all, this is not a warning, just advice. Secondly, I never said that you would definitely pay a price if you violated certain advice. My phrasing was..."

"You just beautified your meaning. You are all very good at this." Jason took the sandwich and sat opposite Schiller, saying, "Do you think every conversation between Batman and me is full of fire? In fact, it's the exact opposite. Many times he is earnest, sometimes even arguably gentle. This is the real reason why I'm not liked in the Bat-family; it looks like I've let him down."

"For so many years, you haven't changed at all." After Jason took the first bite of the sandwich, he stared into Schiller's eyes and said, "A fence woven with soft and expensive silk is still a fence. We've even compromised to the point of moving within the fence, so don't ask for too much."

"Has anyone told you this?" Schiller lowered his head to rewrite and said, "The biggest reason you don't fit in with them is that you have a kind of amazing revolutionary spirit."

"I don't think I need any revolutionary spirit." Jason took another big bite of the sandwich and said, "I've already made my choice. I didn't go to be the leader of the sheep, didn't go to lead the charge to break the fence. I chose to run out myself. If I get snatched by a wolf, I deserve it."

Schiller shook his head helplessly again, seemingly not wanting to comment on Jason's words, while Jason provocatively said, "You know I'll go to the basement to take a look, right? Tonight."

"You can't get in."

"Do you think I can't kick the door open?"

To Jason's surprise, Schiller actually thought about it very seriously for several minutes before saying.

"Alright, the basement door probably can't stop you. Perhaps I should change my approach."

"If I say I want to know the real content of your work..."

"I can't tell you now." Schiller refused him flatly and said, "Later. It's nothing bad."

Jason frowned deeply. He felt Schiller was lying to him, yet he couldn't find any traces of a lie.

But he still felt it was unlikely. There were too many strange things about Schiller; it was almost impossible for Batman to choose such a person to cooperate with, let alone entrust him with any important work.

And, it was on a remote, deserted island, almost unmonitored and impossible to rescue, and, he was bringing himself along.

Jason felt his mind was a bit clearer, but he still couldn't analyze where the problem lay. But he knew that if Schiller didn't tell him, he could only change to another condition.

"What can I do here?" Jason asked.

Schiller pondered for a moment and said, "As you can see, the decoration here is simple... very simple by my standards. There are no books or newspapers for you to read, nor are there any discs or game consoles to pass the time."

"I can leave..."

"You know you can't, and neither can I." At some point, Schiller had already walked to Jason's side and placed a cup of coffee in front of him, saying, "Clearly, all of this depends on Batman."

"If Batman thinks so too, he's very wrong." Jason picked up the cup and said deeply, "You are letting him think so, but actually you have your own purpose."

"He thinks the sheep's thinking is too easy for him to understand, so he missed some important parts. That will be fatal."

"It's not that serious, Jason." Schiller sat back down and said, "You worry too much. Even the claws you installed the day after tomorrow can easily break through my defense, right?"

"You make everyone think so—powerful, knowledgeable, gentle, and what I didn't say but is particularly important: harmless."

"But you are not really harmless." Jason stared at Schiller and said, "You have exquisite control, able to precisely show a certain side of yourself to someone."

"I guess there must have been some unlucky guy who thought you had put on a sheepskin. He racked his brains to peel off this layer of skin, only to find there were no devil's claws underneath."

"Then you became a recognized victim. You are so humble, easygoing, yet suffered such suspicion. Combined with your social status, you can easily expel someone from the center of the circle, branding him with an unbearable mark."

"But I know that's only half of you. Even if this half is real, reasonable, and rigorous, with no flaws from bone to skin, it doesn't mean you don't have the other half."

"Thus, this created an impeccable you." Jason put his hands on the table, stood the knife and fork up, and said, "If they try to expose you, they will only humiliate themselves. If they try to break it by force, you get a big meal."

"Amazing," Schiller sighed from the bottom of his heart.