Chapter 2798

Cobblepot's emotions were mainly hatred, but implied a kind of fear. This was clearly a pain carved into his soul that couldn't be easily erased. Even a similar sentence would instinctively trigger his self-protection mechanism. It seems this Colin was even worse than he thought, Schiller thought.

"He really is related to your leg injury," Jeremiah rolled his eyes and said, "How classy. When I play with toys, I don't pull their legs off."

"Yeah, you'd at most draw a big smiley face on it," Schiller said, implying something.

Jeremiah immediately started changing the subject. He tapped the broken plate with a fork and said, "Now what we need to discuss is this poor little lame penguin. Your leg was injured by Colin."

"It... it was an accident."

"Then it seems it was him," Jeremiah said decisively. "To actually disguise it as an accident, even more low-class."

Schiller was quite in agreement with this statement. He said, "Disguising this matter as an accident meant he wasn't sure that Cobblepot would forgive him after intentionally doing such a thing and being discovered. This also meant his manipulation skills were very poor. Combined with his affluent living environment, it was likely because he had no survival pressure."

"If it were me, I would tell the other party I did it on purpose," Jeremiah raised a big smile, seemingly thinking of something. The expression on his face could simply be called warm.

"I would tell him this is the mark I left for him. From now on, every time he feels pain, he will think of me. This is the most unique gift in the world..."

When he said this, Jeremiah's expression became ferocious, almost roaring through gritted teeth, "If he doesn't appreciate it, I will kill him... No, I will torture him well. I will make him live his life in pain! I will never let him go!"

Watching Jeremiah also having an episode, Schiller had to clear his throat and try to soothe both of their emotions.

"Let's get back to the point. Colin manipulated you, harmed you. He is the root of your doubt about others' recognition, and also the root of your inability to ever be loyal and trust someone."

"The understanding he gave you at the beginning was greater than anyone else's, making you intoxicated and unable to extricate yourself. The pain he brought you was also greater than anyone else's, making you remember it to this day, shivering at the mention of it."

"From then on, whenever you meet anyone who expresses recognition to you, you will think about whether he wants to harm you. If the mercy and generosity of those upper-class people toward you later only wore down your organs, it was ultimately because Colin had already given it a stab long ago."

Schiller looked at Jeremiah again and said, "What do you think your toy would do to make you furious? Ignore your gift?"

Jeremiah just wanted to nod, but when he thought that the other party was a professional psychologist, he felt this answer was a bit tacky. He even thought about it seriously and then said, "What truly makes me angry is that he doesn't need my love at all."

"Don't look for recognition that shouldn't come from him in anyone," Schiller looked up into his eyes and said. "Accept the friendship of friends, the family affection of relatives, the love of lovers, the respect of opponents, the approval of those in high positions, and the praise of those you respect, instead of looking for all of these in one person at the same time."

Cobblepot's gaze still carried some ignorance, but Jeremiah's gaze turned gloomy again. He even asked back full of anger, "Why not? I gave him so much, he should give me the same things. Everything I want..."

Although he was refuting, he seemed to be expecting Schiller to give him an answer. Who knew Schiller just waved his hand perfunctorily and said, "You two are exceptions. You can completely look for family affection, love, friendship, respect, approval, and praise in him at the same time. No one can step between you two. That's it."

Jeremiah was a bit dazed, but soon he seemed to be pleased and became happy again. His eyeballs rolled around, more spirited than ever.

"It's too late to say anything now," Cobblepot said. "That guy is already dead. I'm afraid his bones have turned to ash."

"No, you still have a chance to see him." Schiller's fingers tapped the table lightly, and Cobblepot immediately turned to look at him.

"19th floor," Jeremiah said before Schiller. "In room 1905, there is a monster that can create hallucinations almost identical to real people. That person is completely real and can even talk to you."

He seemed to have remembered something and became excited again, "I'm sure the hallucination it creates is very, very..."

Before he could describe any details, Schiller interrupted him and said, "I've also experienced it, and I can assure you that the hallucination is indeed real enough. As long as your memory has no problems, it can reproduce someone in your memory."

But Cobblepot suddenly stopped talking. This time, even Jeremiah could feel his panic. He really couldn't take it anymore, squinted his eyes, and mocked, "Even if you know the truth of everything, you still don't dare to face him? Are you crazy?!"

"Jeremiah, you'd better be compassionate," Schiller said. "In a place like Cat Getan, a normal person who will have mental trauma is a rare species. You can't even see one if you spend money to go to the zoo, so you must maintain enough patience for him."

"I've really been taught, professor," Jeremiah was still being sarcastic.

"Cobblepot, you must be imagining a scene in your mind right now, accurately speaking, recalling a past, those beautiful pasts. You think if you see him again, he will feel guilty toward you, then apologize, and return to your side. Shall we make a bet?"

Cobblepot took a deep breath and asked, "What do you want to bet?"

"Bet on what he will actually do."

"He will... he might say this is all a misunderstanding," Cobblepot said through gritted teeth. "Of course I know he is quibbling, so I will definitely kill him."

"No, he won't say that. Even if you want to kill him and put a gun to his head, he will only do his best to mock you. Even if you torture him, giving him a taste of his own medicine, he will absolutely not explain or apologize."

"Impossible..." Cobblepot said. "I know Colin. We've known each other for several years. He is a bad person, but who in Cat Getan isn't bad? He hurt me, I will kill him, but no one is afraid of death. He will beg me for mercy."

"That's right, that's it. If I cut his throat, he will kneel on the ground and beg me to forgive him." Cobblepot also became excited. When he smiled, his aquiline nose became more obvious, and the muscles of his entire face were trembling.

"Then let's see who is right," Schiller said. "The bet I want to make is also very simple. If I win, provide us with help to figure out what's going on with this hotel."

"Then what if I win?"

"You can win back Colin," Schiller said. "If he really feels guilty toward you, then it counts as him not being beyond saving. I will send the Colin from my universe to you."

Cobblepot didn't realize at all that even if he won, to get the winnings, he would have to help Schiller leave the hotel. He was just a bit jubilant and a bit nervous, and he said.

"Then, then what about the Cobblepot in your universe?"

"He doesn't need Colin."

The few of them began to prepare.

Cobblepot put away the cold air of the back kitchen, finally giving Jeremiah, who had tried several times, a chance to set foot here. He couldn't get in before because it was too cold here. As long as he was still an ordinary person, he would be affected by the temperature. If he stayed here for two minutes, he would suffer from hypothermia, so all actions to explore the back kitchen ended in failure.

Schiller and Jeremiah walked in. There was actually nothing special here. Walking to the deepest part, the latter half of the back kitchen was frozen into ice. Through the not-so-transparent ice, a figure could be vaguely seen.

"Don't go any further," Cobblepot said. "I have contamination on me, which might affect you. Don't touch the ice; the water is problematic."

It seems Cobblepot is indeed a reckless person. Like that toilet, he can control water.

Schiller looked carefully. It seemed that the leg Cobblepot injured had mutated a bit, but it was fine. Injury upon injury wasn't a fatal matter. If a few tentacles grew out, it would just happen to cure the lame leg problem.

"How long do you need to leave here?" Schiller asked.

"Soon," Cobblepot took a deep breath and said. "Give me another 20 minutes, and I will solve this restaurant soon."

"Can we still stay in the restaurant?"

"Yes, but you'd better stay away from the back kitchen, and the temperature in the restaurant will drop. You can conjure that kind of flame again. I can't affect the surroundings of the flame. See you in 20 minutes."

Cobblepot and Jeremiah both have an advantage: although they are crazy, they are reliable when doing serious business.

Jeremiah and Schiller walked back into the restaurant. This time they chose a table at the very end of the restaurant. Jeremiah still looked at Schiller with that curious gaze, as if wanting to see through him.

"Have you been to college? What was your major? How were your grades?" Schiller started with a triple-death question.

Jeremiah revealed a roguish smile and said, "You really are a good professor."

"Better than you imagine."

"How good?"

"I failed Bruce Wei En for four years in a row."

Jeremiah's eyes widened instantly, and in the end, he could only express that you are indeed stronger. After all, in his view, Bruce Wei En was a wealthy man, the richest person in all of Cat Getan. Daring to cause him such trouble, the other party was not to be underestimated.

Then Jeremiah immediately stated, "I graduated from MIT with a major in mechanical engineering and physics, worked at a research institute in Michigan for a while, returned to Cat Getan University to be a teaching assistant for a few months, and then entered the laboratory of Wei En Enterprises."

Schiller sighed heavily.

Jeremiah began to ask curiously about the details of Bruce's failing grades. Schiller glanced at him angrily, but still casually wrote a paragraph of Bruce's thesis for Jeremiah to see.

Jeremiah held the paper, looking left and right, up and down, flipping it over and over, looking at it as if deciphering a code. In the end, he only left one sentence, "He really didn't fail this course unjustly."

"How are your brother's grades?" Schiller asked again.

Jeremiah sighed heavily.

"How should I put it?" He slapped his thigh and said, "Full marks for murder and arson."

Schiller laughed, and Jeremiah laughed along with him. In the end, Jeremiah was almost holding his stomach in laughter, and then he said, "You are much better than those professors I knew in college."

20 minutes passed quickly. A figure appeared at the entrance of the back kitchen, and a limping Cobblepot walked over.

However, what surprised both of them was that his leg had neither pants nor skin. The skin seemed to have been completely dissolved, the muscle tissue texture was clearly visible, and countless small buds extended from the gaps in the muscles, still constantly swaying.

"Sorry, but they don't seem to accept pants," Cobblepot said, pretending to be humorous. "They tear clothes faster than a john."

This thing was clearly very painful, so even though they made Cobblepot no longer lame, Cobblepot still limped when walking.

Schiller looked at the white candle that had burned more than halfway and sighed. A black umbrella suddenly appeared in his hand.

He turned the umbrella over, held the center of the umbrella, handed the handle of the umbrella to Cobblepot, and then said.

"Time is running out. Take the umbrella and go."