Chapter 4449

"What you said makes a lot of sense," Schiller said, "Just based on your temper, or the way you do things, it's indeed impossible to be certain that you aren't Damian. After all, falling from a high building is a very terrifying thing; within those few short seconds, it could completely destroy a person's personality, making them change their temperament due to fear."

"You were stimulated by Nawei and wanted to ask your father for an explanation. Although it was indeed a bit irrational, considering your age, it's not unacceptable."

"Then what exactly is the reason?!"

"Because of love."

"What?"

"You don't love Batman." Schiller looked at Damian and said, "It's not just you. Batman won't love anyone who doesn't love him. In other words, he will only give love to those who love him."

Damian seemed to have been hit by a blow to the head, stunned there for a long time without speaking. Schiller picked up the water glass and took a sip, then said, "Those people Batman loves might have various shortcomings, and might even be greater than what you've shown. They might cause trouble, might make mistakes, will also complain, and will lose their temper. However, because they have always passionately loved Batman, Batman will also love them and tolerate these shortcomings of theirs."

"Conversely, if a person is perfect, has absolutely no weaknesses, never makes mistakes, and has done everything they can, but if they don't love Batman, Batman won't invest too much energy in them."

"Why?" Damian couldn't help but ask, "Why is it like this?"

"Because Batman knows very well that his love is not abundant." Schiller thought for a while and said, "He has too many things to consider, too many things he wants to do. He doesn't have that much time to invest emotions in others, and also because of personal experiences, it leads to not having that much emotion to invest. So he must carefully consider, and cannot squander it wantonly."

"Allocating his love based on ability or character is unreliable. Because everyone needs emotional comfort, and investing emotions requires a return, otherwise it cannot be sustained, and eventually it will only bring pain. In order not to add pain to himself, the best method is to measure his own investment by the other party's investment."

"If you don't love him, he won't love you either. Always keep calm and rational, never invest even half a point more. I think your situation is just like this. It's normal for you to have resentment, and it's understandable for you to lose your temper. However, this is based on the premise that you don't love him, so naturally, he won't understand or tolerate it at all."

Schiller sighed and continued, "It's not just Batman; it's the same for anyone. If you don't love a person at all, then any negative emotions you express in front of him, any mistakes you make, he has no obligation to give any reaction. Because you haven't invested emotions in him, he doesn't have to invest in you either. This is equivalent exchange, very reasonable."

"But... but..." Damian stammered for a long time, then said, "No, if you say it like that, the Joker loves Batman so much, then Batman should also love him?"

"How do you know Batman doesn't love him? If Batman didn't love him, could he be thinking about saving him every day?"

Damian was stunned again. Actually, Schiller didn't know what attitude the Batman of this universe had toward the Joker, but judging from other Batmen, it couldn't be said that Batman didn't love the Joker.

It's just that the love referred to here isn't romantic love. Any love is included, including family love, friendship, or great love.

Batman's feelings for the Joker must contain great love. He wants to save him. Even if it's because he wants to save everyone, and this includes the Joker, it can't be said that this isn't love.

However, precisely because the love Batman has invested in the Joker has always been great love, that is, the same salvation sentiment as everyone else, the Joker has always been very unwilling. What he wants is Batman's special love, given only to him, not even the kind given to Robin or Catwoman. It must be a special, unique love.

But clearly Batman can't give it. In fact, no one can give it. So the two of them will always be a pair of miserable lovers, entangled until the end of the world.

"Then how do I... how do I show that I love him?"

Schiller made a very confused look and said, "Love doesn't need to be shown. When you love a person, you need to try hard to restrain yourself from appearing too crazy. If you need to try hard to perform in order to look like you love a person, then you don't love him."

Damian was clearly confused. Schiller thought again and said, "Don't you remember how you did it before?"

"I..." Damian was stunned there again, just like a system crash. After a long while, he slowly stood up and said, "Batman is right."

"Sorry, what?"

"Someone tampered with it." Damian said, "I can only remember what I did before, but I don't remember how I felt at the time."

Schiller narrowed his eyes: "Can you tell me in more detail?"

"You asked me to recall how I did things before, so I started thinking about what I had done with Batman before. We did many things together. Besides some daily routines, we experienced many adventures."

"For example, once we went to fight crime. The process was very thrilling; when Batman was in danger, I used a grappling hook to pull him up. Then we successfully subdued the criminal. Batman praised me for being a good assistant."

Schiller also heard the problem. Damian described this matter very clearly, but the problem was that there was no emotion in his tone.

Judging from their relationship, they were biological father and son, teacher and student, and detective and assistant. In that kind of dangerous situation, Damian should have been very worried, but it couldn't be heard at all. Also, subduing a criminal was also a thing worth being happy about; Damian's tone didn't have any fluctuations either. And, what should have moved Robin the most was Batman praising him. If this were changed to any of those in the main universe, although they would be very restrained on the surface, pretending not to care, the pride in that tone couldn't be hidden at all.

Even, even if it were Jason from the main universe who was also resurrected, when mentioning that Batman praised him for learning quickly when he had only been Batman's assistant for two months, he could perfectly imitate the situation, the scene, and Batman's tone at the time. Just such a small matter, he could mutter for several minutes, proud after being humble, and humble again after being proud.

But Damian was completely not like this. He described it plainly, without a single bit of emotional fluctuation, and without any unnecessary nonsense. This was clearly abnormal.

Even for someone who is very restrained and unwilling to talk nonsense, when describing moments that are very important or exciting to them, it is inevitable to use some emotional modifiers. For example, "simply," "finally," "almost," "hurriedly," etc., this is completely an instinctive behavior, very difficult to avoid completely.

If it were the normal Damian, he would describe this passage, although not exaggerated, but very likely say: "We went to fight crime, the situation was extremely dangerous at the time, Batman was almost shot, fortunately I reacted quickly at the time, hurriedly took out the grappling hook, and pulled him up with one grab. Fortunately, we successfully subdued the criminal afterward. Batman even praised me for being a good assistant."

"It seems this is the key." Schiller said, "Memory contains two parts. One part is the memory of the situation at the time, which is what you described. The other part is the feeling, which is the emotion in your heart when this matter happened. The person who resurrected you very likely deleted this latter part."

"But he might not have deleted it completely, but deleted the good part, leaving only the bad part. Let's do a test."

Schiller thought for a moment and said, "I heard from Batman that he was present when you died. Your death also has something to do with him, right?"

Damian pursed his lips, clearly not wanting to answer this question, but finally nodded. Schiller asked again: "You also feel that your death has something to do with him. You remember this matter itself, and you also remember your emotions when you fell. Then do you remember your feelings when you saw Batman rush to save you?"

Damian recalled for a moment, and then his expression slowly cracked. He shook his head and said: "No, I don't remember at all."

Clearly he also understood. As a child, especially a child who was in danger after being kidnapped, it was impossible not to be excited the moment he saw his father rush to save him. This is human nature. As long as the spirit is normal, it's impossible not to have any reaction.

But Damian just couldn't remember. He remembered this matter, remembered Batman rushing to save him, remembered the dialogue between him and the Joker, but completely didn't remember what he felt in his heart the moment he saw Batman appear.

But he remembered clearly what he felt in his heart the moment he fell.

First of all, of course, fear; after all, falling from such a high building, it's impossible to survive. Damian is also afraid of death. Secondly, it's resentment, because Batman was angry at the time and pushed the Joker. The Joker took the opportunity to let go, and then he fell. This couldn't be without resentment—you said, why did you push him?

In other words, you could push him, but couldn't you subdue him directly? This was clearly a retarded move made only when one had lost their mind.

"Then you might have forgotten more." Schiller said, "The moment you fell, you might have had feelings of resentment; after all, Batman didn't do well. However, you might also have had feelings of worry, such as worrying about Batman blaming himself. Or you might have had feelings of guilt, feeling that you shouldn't have run out and been caught by the Joker. You might also have had reluctance, feeling that you would never see your father again, feeling very regretful."

"However, all of these were deleted by someone, and in the end, only resentment remained. So much so that there was no way to re-establish love for Batman. Because the good times you spent before all became dry program logs. The love and warmth you felt, you can't remember at all. What's left are only those bad impressions in the conflicts. How could you possibly love him again?"

Schiller tapped the table lightly and said, "I'm afraid others are like this too. After being resurrected, there is no way to re-establish love for each other, while hatred has been magnified. So they all chose to stand on the opposite side of the Justice League."

"But that's not right either." Damian spoke again, "I'm like this, that's fine, but what about the Flash's parents? How could they have grudges against their own little son? And that doctor, his death shouldn't have anything to do with his friends, right?"

"And, that pilot died for his girlfriend; he didn't have any resentment either, but acted like he didn't care. Why is that?"

"Their emotions aren't necessarily directed at the Justice League; they might also be directed at this world." Schiller spread his hands and said, "The Allens died in a home invasion robbery; they would blame this on society. Dr. Oude goes without saying; he was persecuted to death by certain government departments. As for Steve, people who have experienced war are very prone to stress disorders. Once their minds are full of the terrifying scenes of the battlefield they have experienced, I'm afraid they would wish for this world to be destroyed quickly. Others are the same, aren't they?"