Chapter 4467: Blackest Night (Part II)

Victor was speechless and looked at Schiller for help. He said in a low voice: "Perhaps precisely because of this, he didn't choose to blow up my laboratory. Regardless, we have to solve..."

Then he looked at Chick again and said: "Now it's still a long way from the Christmas dance, why not find another dance partner?"

"He clearly promised me! It wasn't my fault! Why should I endure humiliation?! And he... he..."

Victor was stunned when he heard the pronoun he used, then sighed and said: "He found a girl?"

Chick didn't answer, but his expression said it was eight or nine out of ten. Victor felt a splitting headache, sat on the sofa, and drank a cup of black coffee in two gulps. Mrs. Ederson finally realized that this topic was not suitable for her to listen to anymore, so she left under the pretext of making coffee.

"I'm more curious about how you hanged yourself." Schiller looked at his neck, there were no ligature marks on it, he should have been saved before he hung himself.

"There are beams above the cryogenic laboratory," Victor said, "Physics laboratories don't seal the ceiling, because many pipes need to run from above, the ceiling will affect the inspection, so he can hang the rope up."

"Did he tie a knot?"

"What?"

"After throwing the rope up, did he tie a knot below?"

"I don't remember," Victor said, "The scene was chaotic, everyone was busy getting him down, and no one looked at the rope. Is there any problem?"

"No, this only shows that he is committing suicide for the first time and has no experience. It's difficult to hang yourself by letting a thin, long, round rope cross the beam, because the rope will roll. When a person struggles in the face of death, the range of movement is very large, and they will fall because the rope rolls. Either use a flat silk ribbon, or throw it up and throw another circle, then tie a knot above to fix it..."

Victor revealed a speechless expression, looked at Schiller and said: "You are still guiding him?"

"This proves that he is probably just temporarily angry, rather than suffering from severe depression or any other illness." Schiller said.

Victor looked at Chick. Chick was sitting there in a daze. Victor still tried to solve the problem, saying: "Why don't I invite your dance partner over..."

"Don't!!!" Chick let out a scream, "Why do you always want to push the responsibility onto him?! If it wasn't because of you..."

"So that's it," Schiller said, "You think he stood you up because Victor scolded you, causing you to make a fool of yourself?"

Victor was even more speechless, saying: "Who exactly would break up with you because the professor scolded you a few times?"

"Nora certainly wouldn't," Schiller said, "That's why you two can end up together."

"Stop talking for a

"He said I'm always careless, and he was referring to this matter. I'm very clear on that..."

"Are you sure it isn't that you forgot about the rehearsal you had scheduled?"

"I didn't forget!"

"Your mother wouldn't let you go," Schiller said again. "You chose to listen to your mother, lost your dance partner, but because you felt aggrieved, you decided to push the responsibility onto the professor."

Victor pushed his hair back, wiped his face, and said, "Tell me, how do you plan to solve this? What exactly do I have to do to keep you from throwing a rope over the rafters?"

"You have to apologize to me!" Chick said. "You shouldn't have scolded me like that in public..."

"I can't do that," Victor said. "I cannot apologize to you after you have indeed made a mistake, because that would make it seem like I condone your actions. But in reality, not turning off the power supply is a very dangerous thing. If I did that, it would bring greater risks to others."

"But you shouldn't have scolded me in public! There were so many people in the lab at the time, and none of them like me. You made me lose all face; I don't even have a way to keep getting along with them!"

"I can apologize to you in private," Victor said. "I did indeed lose track of the occasion at the time, but I was just so angry. That piece of scrapped equipment was worth 70,000 dollars..."

"Chick," Schiller called his name. "Although this is a bit heartless, I still have to remind you that whether this matter is taken to the principal or to Brainiac, you will have to bear the financial loss. I don't think you can afford to pay that money. Perhaps you should consider more carefully whether it is worth it to reach this point with the school and the professor because of your dance partner."

"Why wouldn't it be worth it?! You ruined me! From now on, I won't be able to hold my head up in school; this is all your fault! I wanted to get along well with them, but that's impossible now. It's all because of you..."

Victor pressed his eye corners firmly and looked at him, saying, "Just tell me what you want to do. Aside from a public apology, I can agree to anything else."

"Nothing else will do. If you don't apologize to me, I will definitely die in your lab, or perhaps your office—there's always a time when no one is around! Or I will jump from the classroom..."

Schiller sighed and said, "I think you should calm down. Shall I have Mrs. Edson come to keep you company?"

Before Chick could say anything, Schiller pulled Victor away. Victor let out a silent roar. Schiller patted him on the shoulder and said, "Look on the bright side; he's just very immature, but at least he's still willing to communicate, rather than blowing up the school without a word."

"If it weren't for that, do you think I would bother with him?!" Victor grabbed his hair irritably. "Brainiac told me that there will be more and more normal people in the coming years. Is this what a normal person is? Then I'd rather have the lunatics back! At least they wouldn't be so unreasonable!"

"Some individuals among normal people are just like this," Schiller said. "They have no way to precisely control their emotions; when they get worked up, they act without regard for anything, and once they get stuck in a rut, they can't get out."

"Then what do I do now? I can't let him actually die in my lab or classroom, and the office is even more out of the question!"

"Brainiac will be keeping an eye on him. Otherwise, how could it be that someone always goes to save him before he even puts his neck in the noose?" Schiller said.

Victor let out a long sigh. Schiller raised his hand to check his watch; it wasn't lunchtime yet. He looked at Victor and asked, "Are you going to practice dancing with Nora?"

"She still has class," Victor said. "After class, she has to go pick up Billy, because the weather is bad, so the elementary school only has a half-day. They should be eating lunch at home."

"Then going to the library to prepare for class?"

Victor pulled himself together, nodded, and said, "Let's go. There happens to be a contract document I need to look at carefully."

"I'll go back to the office to get my books, see you at the library in a bit."

Schiller returned to his office and took out his basic psychology books and some reference materials. He rummaged through a pile of papers; he had an extension class in the evening and needed to teach some cutting-edge industry knowledge, so he needed to use his own papers as reference.

Just as he was searching for useful papers, there was a knock on the office door. Schiller didn't even look up and said, "Come in."

Jenna walked in, smiled at Schiller, and said, "Good morning, Professor. I'm here to ask for leave. I'm afraid I can't make it to the extension class tonight; Amanda needs me for something."

"How much does the Federal Shield pay you?" Schiller asked.

"Two thousand dollars a week. But that's not important; what's important is that the credits they give are very generous. If I can't have a whole Neapolitan pizza with triple cheese and cream of porcini mushroom soup after school on Friday, life will be meaningless."

Schiller smiled helplessly and said, "Go ahead. But may I ask what she needs you for?"

"I'm not too sure about that, but last night, Bruce Wayne went to the Federal Shield headquarters; I saw him."

"I suppose the Justice League has some business," Schiller said, and then, as if thinking of something, he asked, "Have you heard about what happened in the Department of Low-Temperature Physics?"

Jenna's hand, which was resting on the door, paused: "I know a little bit."

"A little bit?"

"Milos's new dance partner is my roommate," Jenna said. "Her ex-boyfriend is that Chick who's threatening suicide. Perrotta said it's because Chick is always very unpunctual and has stood Milos up several times."

"Just like that?"

"I only know Perrotta isn't lying; I haven't seen the other two people," Jenna shook her head and said. "With Brainiac around, no one would be able to successfully commit suicide, right?"

"Chick is very agitated."

"You saw him?"

"Because he intends to push all the blame onto Professor Fries."

"Oh? How so?" Jenna said. "How can such a private emotional dispute be blamed on a professor?"

"Victor scolded him to his face for not turning off the power supply."

"It's a mercy he isn't making him pay for it."

"Who's to say otherwise?"

The two walked out the door together and then parted ways at the stairwell. Jenna paused for a moment and said, "I always feel that whatever could make the Justice League and the Federal Shield join forces can't be small. If anything happens, I'll have Brainiac send you a message, Professor."

"No problem. Let's hope nothing major happens."

Schiller arrived at the library and quickly found Victor by the window: "Why are you sitting here?"

"What's wrong?"

"Didn't you say that changes in the weather and light affect your work? You usually sit inside."

"I don't think I can focus on work. I have to ask Brainiac every ten minutes if the rafters in the lab are still okay."

"You're too anxious." Schiller went to pour him a cup of hot water and said, "Brainiac doesn't recognize suicide as a person's freedom. If he does indeed have multiple extreme behaviors, Brainiac might take compulsory measures against him, including admitting him for treatment."

"In my view, he's just temporarily lost control of his emotions, influenced by hormones. The emotional fluctuations triggered by hormonal changes need some time to subside. He'll be fine once he calms down."

"The problem is how long will it take for him to calm down? I can't keep living in fear like this, can I?"

"I'm afraid that won't be until after the Christmas dance." Schiller blew on the hot water and looked at the mist on the glass next to him. A snowplow passed in front of the library door, and the asphalt road that had been cleared was soon covered by a new layer of fine snow.

Victor leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the ceiling. After a long while, he finally came back to his senses. He buried his head in his materials, but with a very obvious sense of avoidance.

"If this matter can't be resolved as soon as possible, I might actually have to use those little tips on hanging that you taught him." Victor sighed heavily.

Schiller sighed lightly and said, "I'll figure something out."