Chapter 473: Is Schiller Sick? (Part 3)

"Uh, hello? Is this Arkham Asylum? Yes, Brand, it's me, Victor. We met at the dinner party."

"Have you seen Schiller recently?... Oh, is that so? It's like this, I'm a bit worried about his mental state recently. Do you want to make an appointment for him to go over?"

"Performance? It's hard for me to say..."

In the office at Cat Getan University, Victor stood with one hand on his hip and the other holding the phone, saying to the other side: "Do you know how scary it is? He can even finish a meal in 15 minutes, and he actually started eating broccoli!"

"Remember that dinner party we had at the Wayne Hotel? He specifically found the kitchen and fired a shot at that head of broccoli! Before that, he had always told me he wouldn't use a gun..."

Victor switched the phone to the other hand. The hand holding the phone gradually became younger, and the phone also changed from blue to black. Bruce held the phone and said to the other end:

【Baimengshu】

"Yes, Dr. Brand, the situation is quite serious. Knowing full well that class was at 10 o'clock, he actually only left at 9:30."

"And, he actually didn't go and snatch any other teacher's class because he missed one. For the whole day today, he didn't mention this matter, didn't leave more homework, and didn't say there would be an exam tomorrow..."

"Because he was late due to Cat Getan's traffic jam, he didn't even go and trouble the mayor. I think you probably need to let him receive treatment quickly; otherwise, I find it hard to imagine what else he might do..."

"Dr. Brand, I found your number in the phone directory. I hope you don't mind my intrusion. I am Mr. Rodriguez's butler, Merkel."

Merkel stood beside the telephone stand, lowered his voice, and said: "Could I ask you to come over tomorrow?... Oh, is that so? You really don't provide home consultation services?"

"Yes, I understand. The pressure of mental illness treatment for an entire city is all pressed onto one hospital. Of course, you would be very busy..."

"Right, I hope you had best make an appointment for Mr. Schiller to go over. Although it's a bit offensive for a butler to say such things, his state is indeed a bit..."

"Yes, not only that, he didn't even frown once for the whole day today. I think this is really a bit dangerous."

"Okay, looking forward to seeing your invitation in the mailbox tomorrow. Thank you very much, Mr. Brand."

The next morning, Schiller still got up early. He stood by the window again, stretched, yawned, and after washing up in the washroom, he walked downstairs.

And this time, Merkel got up even earlier than him. Seeing Schiller come down, he reached out and greeted him: "Morning, sir. Breakfast is ready."

Schiller nodded and then walked toward the dining table. When he sat down and started eating, he discovered that Merkel had been standing by the door, looking at the scene outside the window.

"What are you standing there for? Aren't you eating?"

"Thank you, sir, but I have already eaten."

After Merkel finished speaking, he turned his head to look outside the window again. Schiller didn't understand what was wrong with him, but he shook his head and didn't continue to ask, instead lowering his head and starting to eat.

After a while, the light sound of a bicycle bell came. Merkel opened the door directly and strode out. The paperboy waved at him, and Merkel handed over the bread he had prepared.

The paperboy first took a newspaper from his bosom. After Merkel took it, the paperboy took out a letter and said: "This is an express letter, but the other party has already paid the delivery fee."

"Do you know? You are even more dedicated than a professional postman. I thought it wouldn't arrive this morning." Merkel praised.

The paperboy snorted and said disdainfully: "Postman? Postmen don't live for two days in Cat Getan!"

"I know all the small paths from the South District to the West District. It doesn't even take an hour to get here, faster than those gentlemen driving cars."

Merkel gave him a thumbs up, then took out a few coins and handed them to the paperboy, saying: "Thanks."

"Oh, wait, I can't accept this." The paperboy suddenly handed the money back. Merkel sized him up with some surprise. The paperboy shrugged his shoulders and said:

"Things are different now than before."

"You know that Cobblepot in the North District, right? The Falcone family let him take over the management of all the children in Cat Getan. He formulated a very powerful set of rules."

"I can't explain the specifics to you, but we are not allowed to accept tips in violation of the rules now. If someone reports it, I will lose my job."

"I don't want to lose such a lucrative job. I finally managed to take on all the work in the West District. Ever since Cobblepot cleaned up those annoying dads and moms, the money I earn is all my own. If they don't let me do it, that would be bad."

Seeing Merkel stop in place and not take it, the paperboy threw the coins back directly. When Merkel caught the coins, he only saw his receding back. He shook his head and then returned to the manor.

When the letter was delivered to Schiller, Schiller had just finished eating. He looked up at Merkel. Merkel showed him a smile.

Schiller picked up the envelope. After opening it, he discovered it was a letter from Brand. He recalled it slightly and then said: "I have class this afternoon, so I'll go over tonight?"

"Okay, I'll call Mr. Brand back in a while."

"Wait, then why didn't he call directly to invite me over?"

"Because this is a formal invitation, and formal invitations all require written invitations. If it were a private gathering, one could call directly."

"Then I'll call him in a while."

Merkel rubbed his palms somewhat embarrassedly and said: "Sir, it's best if I go, because the person answering the phone on the other side might not be Mr. Brand."

"Then can't I just let that person go find Brand?"

"Then I can call first, and after finding Mr. Brand on the other side, I'll let you take the call..."

Schiller covered his forehead somewhat helplessly and stopped arguing. By the time he finished eating and rushed to school, it was already afternoon.

In class, Schiller first explained the reason for his lateness. He originally thought some students would have some complaints, but what he didn't expect was that everyone expressed understanding, almost to the point of praising "late is good, late is wonderful."

Before class, just as many university teachers do, Schiller intended to chat with the students about daily topics to relax the atmosphere and shorten the distance. As a result, everyone sat in place trembling, and no one talked to him.

By the time he started lecturing and reached the interaction session, he started letting the groups below discuss, but the students below were all looking at him with blank faces.

Schiller was stunned for a moment, and then thought, it's 1988 now, it shouldn't be the modern classroom mode yet. And he remembered that DC Schiller's teaching mode was completely reading from the textbook, and forcibly requiring students to memorize by rote until they were familiar with it.

Schiller lowered his head and flipped through his lesson plan. Only then did he react that he wasn't teaching at Harvard or other Ivy League schools. The quality of the students here was far from reaching the level of flexible learning, so rote memorization was more suitable for them.

After class, Schiller's mood wasn't very good. On one hand, the classroom feedback wasn't good enough; Schiller wasn't quite used to this one-way knowledge output mode. On the other hand, he felt that people in Cat Getan were all a bit strange.

He didn't know why, but his acquaintances' attitudes toward him were all a bit special—that kind of feeling of fear mixed with a trace of worry, worry mixed with a trace of anxiety, and anxiety mixed with a trace of sympathy.

Schiller thought this while packing his things. After leaving Cat Getan University, he drove to Arkham Asylum.

Actually, he had no idea what Brand suddenly called him over for, but he felt that chatting with a peer should help release the pressure on his emotions.

Arriving at Arkham Asylum, Brand was already waiting for him at the entrance. The two shook hands and hugged. Brand said: "Haven't seen you for a while, how have you been recently?"

"Not bad." Schiller gave an ambiguous answer. Afterward, he remembered something and suddenly asked: "Right, how is that Hugo Strange?"

"Oh, him. Last time I found him fainted in the consulting room, so I carried him to the ward. After he woke up, he became a bit crazy, kept muttering about monsters, impossible, and so on, and even attacked the nursing staff."

"Then how did you handle it?"

"How else could I handle it? It's obvious his mental state has a problem. It's probably another case of a doctor becoming a patient. He is receiving treatment. We gave him medicine and also conducted some soothing therapy, but the effect isn't very obvious."

The two walked inside while talking. Arriving at Brand's consulting room, Brand changed the topic: "Let's not talk about him, let's talk about you. How have you been recently? I see your complexion doesn't look very good."

Schiller touched his face and said: "Is that so? Maybe it's because I haven't been sleeping very well recently."

"It's like this, Victor called me and said you seem to have some pressure recently. Do you want to do a mental self-test?"

Schiller hesitated, but still said: "Okay."

Brand took out a document from the drawer. Schiller picked up a pen and started doing the questions. After finishing, he handed it to Brand. Brand's brows furrowed tighter and tighter the more he looked. He shook his head and said: "Have you encountered anything recently?"

"Nothing much? If I have to say, something did indeed happen when I went to Metropolis. Right, I haven't told you about my experience in Metropolis yet. It was quite exciting..."

"When I just arrived there, a murder case happened, then agents blocked the entire manor, then..."

"Wait, agents??" Brand suddenly furrowed his brows.

He stood up, strode to the door, opened it, looked left and right in the corridor, then came to the window, pulled all the curtains shut, and finally sat back at the table, looking at Schiller with great worry:

"Those people found you again??"

Before Schiller could answer, Brand sighed deeply and then said: "I said back then that the path you chose was very dangerous. Now look at what happened?"

"And, it's one thing for you to hide in Cat Getan, but you actually ran out yourself to throw yourself into the net? Did those agents discover your identity? You shouldn't have been seen through by them, right?"

Shiler slowly widened his eyes. Looking at his expression, Brand said with a tone of frustration at his lack of improvement:

"When you were in school, you read Marx. I didn't want to stop you. Everyone has the freedom to pursue their own beliefs."

"After graduation, you said you wanted to go to Berlin. I didn't say anything either. Everyone has the freedom to choose their own path."

"After working, you stayed in Moscow for a period of time. I didn't want to say anything either. Although our beliefs are different, friends should be tolerant of each other."

"But what I can't understand the most is that you had already joined the KGB, and you actually went back on your word!"

"If you didn't want to complete the task at all, why did you accept it in the first place???"

These words of Brand seemed to have been held back for a long time. His tone contained anger:

"Back then, because you lost contact with Moscow, you were suspected by the KGB and came to Cat Getan to take refuge. As a result, now you've actively left Cat Getan and gone to Metropolis to participate in another mess?!"

"Schiller, I really don't know what you are thinking. Jumping back and forth between so many forces, are you really afraid that you won't die?"

Schiller, sitting in the chair, swallowed his saliva. At this moment, he and DC Schiller in the Hall of Thought asked simultaneously:

"He... am I sick?" ===== CHAPTER 474 =====