Chapter 5: Welcome to Cat Getan

Shiler woke up. He didn't even need to turn over to know that he must have returned to the simple-minded Cat Getan City, because the smell of kerosene in the air and the sky outside the window that had never been clear told him that he had transmigrated back.

And time hadn't moved at all.

He turned off the alarm and looked at the calendar. It was the day after the night he transmigrated to Marvel, which meant that when he went to Marvel, time in the DC world didn't move.

Shiler sighed, and for a moment he didn't know whether the simple-minded Cat Getan City was more dangerous, or the cosmic center New York City was more dangerous.

Honestly speaking, although New York was more enjoyable, Cat Getan was his home forever. At least it hadn't entered cosmic mode here yet. Shiler couldn't deal with Thanos now.

He got up and put on his clothes. Cat Getan University required professors to wear formal attire for classes, so Shiler was always in a shirt, vest, and suit, sometimes changing suit styles, or wearing a trench coat.

The temperature in Cat Getan in September was not bad, not cold. Maybe because it was a coastal city, the breeze in the city was blowing, which was quite warm.

As soon as Shiler went out, he saw someone he didn't want to see at all—Bruce Wei En.

Shiler turned his head and walked back.

Bruce hurriedly chased after him and shouted: "Professor! Professor! I have some questions about psychology I want to ask you! Can you wait for me?"

Shiler cursed inwardly. There were quite a few teachers near the professor's apartment, so Shiler couldn't just refuse. He could only say: "Fine, fine, I'm not deaf, Mr. Wei En. Let's go to the psychology consultation room and talk."

So the two entered the psychology consultation room. Bruce didn't sit down but took the initiative to make coffee. He put the hot coffee in front of Shiler.

He said: "Shiler Andael Rodriguez, world-famous criminal psychologist, holds four psychology-related Ph. D. degrees, participated in the investigation and detection of the famous Fortress City Blood Man Massacre, Imperial City Red Glove Serial Murder Case, and Seaside City Underground Dismemberment Case. And, most importantly, four months ago, you resigned midway through the trial of the Deputy Mayor of Metropolis and accepted the teaching invitation from Cat Getan University..."

"Professor Shiler, can you tell me why you want to come to Cat Getan?"

Shiler felt his hair stand on end. Good guy, this resume of the original owner could directly go to Arkham Asylum! Even the Joker couldn't be as crazy as you!

You participated in not just one of these terrifying cases! You participated in a string of them! Bruce was still holding back, right!

Shiler cursed in his heart, but he didn't show much expression on the surface. He took a sip of coffee and said: "Cat Getan is a good place."

"Is it? The city with the highest crime rate in the United States?"

"That's not important."

"Oh?"

"The crime rate in Metropolis is not high, kid. Sit down. You think Metropolis is safer than Cat Getan, right?"

"Isn't it?"

"At least for me, it's not," Shiler said.

Shiler came here having inherited the original owner's knowledge and abilities, but he suspected that before he transmigrated, the original owner had already lost a part of important memories. At least now Shiler couldn't recall a single detail about those terrifying cases. There seemed to be some vague shadows, but he couldn't recall them clearly at all.

Shiler knew that the original owner must have been involved in a complex case that was hard to describe, and then was plotted against.

Shiler said: "You have checked my resume, but it is still not detailed enough. I have offended too many people, and only here is safe."

"Why?"

"Only criminals can deal with criminals," Shiler said.

"Why?"

"Only criminals can deal with criminals, right? Professor, is that what you think?"

"Bruce, let's change the subject," Shiler said.

Bruce looked at him. His eyes were as gloomy as the Cat Getan sky. Shiler realized that he was no longer facing the cynical playboy Bruce, but Batman, a superhero who was the most complex in history, a dark hero, a paranoid genius who was only a line away from being a madman.

"If you want to get more from me, you must pay the price," Shiler said.

"What do you want?" Bruce asked.

"What I want, you can't give me now. You should understand what I mean," Shiler said.

"Then I can give it later, right?"

"Definitely."

Bruce restrained his expression. No one could tell what he was thinking. He said: "Professor Shiler, it's a pity, there is some little gadget of mine in your coffee, a kind of nano-virus..."

"Bruce, being dishonest won't let you get more from me, kid. This isn't a little trick you use to get candy," Shiler said.

"It seems I'm destined to return empty-handed today," Bruce said.

"That's not necessarily true," Shiler said.

"I hope you can give me a good enough grade in the final test, Bruce. Prove that you have the heart to learn this skill, and then come find me," Shiler said.

"I won't waste more time here," Bruce said.

"You are far from being a teacher, Bruce. You are still a student," Shiler said.

"I have learned the knowledge and skills of the whole world, hundreds of fighting skills, detective work, lock picking, anti-reconnaissance..."

"Except for Cat Getan, you haven't learned Cat Getan yet," Shiler said.

Bruce was silent. Shiler had already seen that Bruce wasn't the dark hero Batman of the later period yet. Indeed, the thought of revenge and executing justice had always been in his heart. Perhaps there was a darker side, but he didn't understand Cat Getan yet—this hell of human nature—what exactly it was.

Bruce wanted to use all the power he could use, such as this Professor Shiler.

Batman was a hero with almost no weaknesses—near-godlike intelligence, cautious and meticulous, rivaling gods with a mortal body. But the premise was that he had to put on that bat suit first, thoroughly become a dark knight spreading fear in the night, take Cat Getan and all the sins here into his pocket, and be determined to face all the dirty human nature and fight against it. And now? Bruce wasn't Batman yet; he had weaknesses.

Shiler suddenly felt fortunate. If he really faced the dark knight standing in the shadows of Cat Getan, perhaps all his means wouldn't work, because Batman wasn't Superman. He wasn't a righteous hero; he was a thorough outlaw.

After Bruce left, Shiler stood in front of the window for a long time. Perhaps Batman would arrive soon. Bruce couldn't wait any longer.

The next day, Shiler went to class as usual, and it was the first class for freshmen. Unfortunately, his action to stop Bruce from choosing psychology didn't succeed. This young Batman just had to appear in Shiler's peaceful life to remind him that this place was about to become a muddy mess.

But what was strange was that Shiler found Bruce actually limping. His right foot seemed to be injured, but he still insisted on coming to class. Shiler thought while lecturing, what did Bruce do?

He had billions of assets, the old Wei En family of Cat Getan City. How could he be beaten by thugs?

After class, Shiler refused Bruce's obvious hint of "let's talk." He quickly packed up his books and courseware, and then left with the flow of students. He had to go out tonight.

If Cat Getan City was hell, then Cat Getan City at night was something even Satan would be afraid of. This city of crime had never stopped the aftermath of sin. Shiler left the safe university and truly walked into Cat Getan City.

He was tracking Scarecrow Tier.

Tier wasn't a normal person. He had started murdering since he was eighteen, so even if he wasn't Scarecrow now, he had already started his fear gas experiments.

Shiler wasn't here to uphold justice and stop him. He wanted to get some fear gas to protect himself.

In this dangerous city, a laboratory secretly set up by a chemist could be considered the safest place to steal. At least Tier, like Shiler, was a white-collar worker, not a burly gang member, and wouldn't use fighting or firearms, only relying on his brain.

This night, Cat Getan was raining again. The night was as dark as thick ink, and the rain carried a heavy smell of kerosene. No matter how warm it was here, the cold rain in September still made people shiver. Shiler wore a long trench coat, holding a black umbrella, and passed through a narrow street. He had gradually touched the location where Tier hid the gas. That was the basement of an abandoned church in a block. As long as Tier wasn't there, Shiler could logically go in and get the fear gas.

Suddenly, Shiler's heart began to beat fast. A picture of him being hit by an unknown hidden weapon flashed before his eyes. He turned around instantly, "Bang," and opened his umbrella.

Two hidden weapons didn't pierce his umbrella and fell to the ground. Spider-Sense saved Shiler's life.

Shiler slowly put down the umbrella. His expression was completely different from the gentleness during the day. He almost died.

Anyone who had just been attacked by death probably wouldn't have a good expression. At the end of the alley, Bruce, wearing a bat suit, saw his precision-guided, fast-flying dart being instantly blocked by that mysterious person with an umbrella. That reaction was as fast as if it had been predicted in advance.

And the black umbrella with rainwater was put down, revealing a face Bruce was very familiar with—that was his university professor, Shiler.

It was indeed him, but it didn't seem to be. Shiler's temperament was completely different from the daytime. At this time, Shiler was more like the person described in the resume Bruce saw, a madman addicted to criminal psychology.

Shiler took a deep breath and said: "You should know what would happen if I hadn't blocked it."

"The dart would have stopped thirty centimeters away from you," Batman said.

Bruce's voice was also completely different from the daytime. Shiler knew he used a voice changer.

At this time, Batman was still far from mature. His bat suit wasn't mature enough, without a cape and belt, and the bat darts didn't seem to be very easy to use. It could be seen that the fledgling Batman must have taken some detours. After all, upholding justice starting from Cat Getan was a direct challenge to hell-level difficulty for a novice.

Shiler said: "I want to remind you, Mr. Bat. Unlike the rich area you live in, the rooftops of the Mosson block don't have protective railings. If you fall down again, you might suffer internal organ rupture."

The black shadow opposite was silent. He asked: "How did you see it?"

"You are still too green, Mr. Hero. The medicine you used has almost no smell. It's a high-end chemical preparation, not something that the poor ghosts in the slums can afford. And..." Shiler's gaze fell on the only chin Bruce revealed. He said: "No one here would shave their beard so neatly and symmetrically."

"Who the hell are you?" Batman asked.

Shiler opened his umbrella again and said: "Go home quickly, young master. No one will answer every question you have. I am not a novice mentor."

After speaking, he left in the rain. Batman stood in that alley for a long time. He limped out, turned into another street, and saw a beggar shivering in the rain.

He took out a stack of money and handed it to the beggar. Then he heard the sound of leather shoes stepping in the rain behind him, and a sentence that made his hair stand on end: "That's why I said you don't understand Cat Getan, Bruce."

Batman turned around and saw Shiler standing at the intersection. Shiler walked over and handed the umbrella to the beggar. After the beggar took the umbrella and opened it, she could cover the cold rain, and then she tremblingly returned the stack of dollars to Batman.

"Why?" Batman took the dollars and asked.

"Because this is the territory of the Shuigou Gang. If they knew she had such a large sum of dollars, her body would appear in the sewer the next day."

"A large sum of dollars?" Batman's voice revealed absurdity. He said: "Thirty-seven dollars?"

"Yes," Shiler looked at the end of the street and said: "This is Cat Getan..."

"Welcome to Cat Getan." ===== CHAPTER 6 =====

"Welcome to Cat Getan."