Chapter 746

Schiller is sure that he did smell alcohol. This is not something that can be done by replacing beer with ginger juice. He frowns and looks at Bruce, while Bruce just lies quietly on the sofa, breathing evenly, looking like he is asleep.

If the person opposite were really just a rich second generation, Schiller would not feel surprised at all.

The empty manor, the drunk young master, the extinguished unattended fireplace, all of this tells the story of a lonely heir.

However, Bruce Wei En is not just a rich kid. He is also Batman, the most self-disciplined person in the world.

Schiller once saw him use ginger juice instead of beer. That spicy feeling could make his performance more natural. As for the reaction after drunkenness, Batman handles it very well. Even Schiller cannot be completely sure whether he is really drunk or not.

Therefore, he walks forward and pokes Bruce with the tip of his umbrella. At the moment he raises his hand, Bruce does not move. Schiller is sure that he is really asleep.

Batman drinking alcohol is really too abnormal.

Schiller sighs, turns, and walks to the fireplace, finding that the shelf next to it is full of firewood, but it has not been added to the fireplace. Judging from the dampness of the firewood, it should have been added just now. Before leaving, Alfred prepared everything for Bruce.

Schiller picks up a few pieces of drier firewood and adds them to the fireplace. Soon, the flames become vigorous, and all the scenes in the lobby are displayed before his eyes.

Obviously, something happened here just now. In a space where someone has stayed, every trace represents a story.

Schiller takes a deep breath and begins his deduction.

The most obvious trace in the entire lobby is the footprints spreading in from the gate. Of course, this string of footprints was not left by Schiller, because Schiller is accustomed to wiping his shoes on the door mat.

Moreover, this string of small footprints is very small, looking like it was left by a seven or eight-year-old girl. Schiller walks toward the gate. He sees that this string of footprints should have been left by two people. One child with a smaller shoe size ran in front, and the other with a larger shoe size ran behind.

The two should have run in chasing each other, and were stopped not far from the gate.

Schiller squats down and looks at the place where the footprints end. There are some water stains there. It looks like it dripped from something. Schiller guesses it should be rainwater from the hair. Combined with the shape of the footprints, these should be two little girls.

Schiller looks at the gate. The pitch-black night sky outside begins to brighten. The moon sets and the sun rises. Just during the day today, Cat Getan welcomed the biggest rain in three months. In an instant, it poured outside the gate.

Two small figures rushed in from outside the gate. Both of them were soaked, and their shoes were also muddy. Just as they rushed in, Alfred, who was standing by the fireplace adding firewood, hurried up and stopped them.

Standing behind Alfred, Schiller moves one step to the left. He sees that the little girl who ran in first has a blurred face, and her identity cannot be determined, but the little girl behind is Aisha.

Aisha's hair has grown very long. After being rained on, it sticks to her face strand by strand. Alfred hurriedly brings a dry towel to wipe their hair. Because water droplets will drip when the girls' hair is wiped, they just happen to fall near the ground where the footprints end.

The light dims again. Schiller crosses the string of footprints and comes to the place near the sofa. Through the firelight of the fireplace, Schiller sees Bruce sitting there reading a newspaper. Seeing the two little girls rushing in one after another, he stands up and then walks toward the gate.

In an instant, time stops, water droplets stop in the air, and Bruce's walking action pauses.

Schiller walks forward, picks up the newspaper that has been pressed down from the gap in the sofa armrest. He sees that the newspaper reports the news that the Angelica Theater Troupe from Metropolis has arrived in Cat Getan, and at the same time, publishes their simple repertoire list.

Schiller flips the newspaper over, looks at the creases of the newspaper repeatedly, and then, Bruce, who had already stood up and walked to the gate, retreats and changes his posture.

He holds the newspaper and stands up. When he sees that the two little girls rushing in are two little girls, he doesn't even have time to fold the newspaper again, he just throws the newspaper next to the armrest and rushes over quickly.

The posture of the newspaper shows that Bruce is very anxious, but why is Bruce anxious? He knows that Aisha is different from ordinary people. Let alone being rained on, even if she were doused with boiling water, it would be impossible for her to get sick.

Then the problem might lie with that strange little girl.

Schiller walks back to the vicinity of the footprints, looks at the size of the footprints, and then recalls the children he saw in the basement at that time. Their faces and figures replay in Schiller's mind, and then, the face of the thinnest little girl appears in his mind.

In front of him, the little girl stands at the very front, Aisha stands behind her, still wanting to reach out and grab her, Alfred stands on the left, and Bruce, who just walked over, stands on the right.

Judging from the accumulation of water stains, they should have stayed here for a while, and then, the little girl stayed in place, but Aisha ran out, and at the same time, Alfred chased out.

The clues near the gate end here. Schiller speculates that Bruce should have brought the little girl home, but for some reason, this little girl ran out in the rain with Aisha, and Aisha chased her back.

At this time, Bruce might have felt very angry. He scolded Aisha, so Aisha ran out angrily, and Alfred chased out.

Schiller returns to the vicinity of the sofa where Bruce is lying, and sees a letter on the coffee table, which is in Dick's handwriting.

Because he has been giving Dick lessons, Schiller knows the changes in his handwriting. The content written in this letter is Dick saying that his studies are busy, so he wants to stay at school for a few days and will not come home for these few days.

Schiller holds the letter and frowns. Busy studies? How busy can middle school studies be? What's more, Dick doesn't like studying at all. He wishes he could commute every day and never stay overnight, so he wouldn't be stared at by teachers to do homework.

Schiller glances at Bruce, who is frowning even in his sleep. He knows that Bruce might have had some conflicts with Dick, causing Dick to be unwilling to come home.

Schiller actually expected this day to come long ago. Bruce's personality is really indescribable. He always has a day when he fails to communicate with Dick, but he didn't expect this day to come so quickly.

Why they had a disagreement, Schiller also has a certain speculation. After all, before, he saw Bruce's attitude toward that group of children, and Schiller knows better where the crux of those children lies.

For a child who has been abused, frequently changing environments is extremely unfavorable to them. This may lead to more serious stress reactions.

Before, Cobblepot rescued them and put them in the basement of a bar. Bruce sent them to the hospital, and then brought this little girl home. In these processes, the hospital environment might greatly stimulate these children.

Luxurious restaurants and manors are more easily accepted by them because although the things here have become more exquisite, they recognize the prototypes.

For example, the patterns on the chairs are very exquisite, but chairs are still chairs. They have the concept of this thing in their brains, knowing that chairs are for sitting, tables are for putting things, and beds are for sleeping.

But the hospital is different. There are too many things they have not come into contact with. For example, is the pole used to hang infusion bottles some new weapon? What is the needle tube in the nurse's hand used for? Why does everyone stare at them? Why change clothes? And why lie on the bed?

These unknown things will greatly stimulate them, and this little girl is even more pitiful. Just after being separated from such an environment, she arrived in another strange environment, and at this step, she might have no clear consciousness.

Schiller found some traces in the corner of the room. It looks like the little girl had hidden here, but it is not difficult to see that after she hid here, Bruce followed.

Obviously, the measures Bruce took for this little girl were almost all wrong. He was over-concerned and pressing step by step, which would bring great pressure.

For children who have been stimulated and abused mentally, their understanding of this world is distorted. Many behaviors that seem very normal to normal people seem very terrible to them.

For example, an adult walking toward them means they might be beaten. Someone pressing them on the bed means something more terrible might happen.

Someone constantly talking to them might mean they will be thrown out. Someone holding their hand and talking to someone else might mean they are about to be sold.

They have already formed such concepts in their brains, so these behaviors will further stimulate them.

Schiller outlined Bruce's behavioral trajectory in his mind. Obviously, in the step-by-step stimulation, this little girl completely lost her consciousness. She could only rely on instinctual reactions to protect herself.

And combined with her physical condition, Schiller believes that the time she can be active should not exceed three hours, after which she will fall into a coma. And after falling into a coma, she should be sent back to the room to sleep.

But what is even more terrible is that when she opens her eyes and wakes up, finding herself in a strange environment again, this stimulation will be even more intense.

They will not understand what "sleeping in the bedroom" and "eating in the restaurant" mean. They will only feel that they have fallen into a terrible vortex and cannot extricate themselves.

And the only thing they can do at this time is to run away.

Schiller doesn't know what method this little girl used to run out of Wei En Manor, but there is no doubt that she should have successfully run out, but Aisha also chased out.

Aisha drove this little girl back to Wei En Manor, but at this time, Bruce made another wrong decision.

He thought he had made progress with this little girl, but in the blink of an eye, she was rained on again, developed a high fever again, and almost got lost, which is equivalent to saying that the previous progress had completely disappeared, not only returning to the original point, but also getting worse.

He didn't think more deeply about the reason for this failure, but just simply expressed dissatisfaction.

Perhaps, he was asking Alfred why the little girl ran out, perhaps, he was questioning Aisha about what was going on.

However, Aisha is not an ordinary child after all. She is a wild and untamable chaotic creature. After feeling Bruce's emotions, she ran directly out of Wei En Manor.

At that time, it was raining heavily outside. Alfred would definitely choose to chase Aisha, and at this time, only Bruce and the little girl were left alone.

Schiller walked around the lobby and upstairs, but did not find the trace of the little girl. He thought for a while, then passed through the lobby and walked toward the garden behind.

There were no footprints of children in the garden either, but Schiller found some of Bruce's footprints.

Normally speaking, Batman would not reveal such flaws. It seems that his emotions were very abnormal when he walked this road.

Schiller had already expected the result, but when he opened the warehouse door, he still sighed.

In a crate in the corner of the warehouse, it was stuffed with blankets and quilts. Schiller walked over and lifted a corner of these plants. Sure enough, he saw a small foot.

Lifting all the blankets and quilts, inside was a little girl, but at this time she had completely stopped breathing.

Judging from the corpse, the death should not exceed three hours. The cause of death was excessive malnutrition, plus cardiopulmonary failure caused by hypothermia.

Schiller checked her chest, wrists, and neck. Bruce should have taken some first-aid measures, but children in this age group, after suffering such torture, have a very small chance of survival. And when she ran back to see Bruce, she might have already been on the verge of a coma.

An adult in a state of severe continuous hypothermia only needs 10 to 15 minutes to have cardiopulmonary failure, and this little girl's poor physical condition shortened this process extremely. The entire death process might not exceed 30 seconds, so much so that even with Batman's technological strength, he could not save her life.

Schiller sighed and covered the blankets and quilts again. Just as he stood up, he heard a movement behind him. He turned his head and saw a darker figure appear at the pitch-black warehouse entrance.

Bruce stood outside the door, holding a pistol in his hand, but did not raise it. His expression was a bit trance-like, as if he didn't notice that he was standing in the rain.

Just as Schiller took a step forward, Bruce turned and walked back. By the time Schiller walked outside the door, he only saw Bruce, carrying the pistol, turn a corner and disappear on one side of the manor.

Suddenly, a "bang" sound came, and the sound of something falling to the ground echoed in the empty manor, appearing particularly creepy.

Schiller opened his umbrella and walked back to the lobby. He saw that Bruce's figure was not there, but the wine cabinet on the side had fallen, and expensive red wine was scattered all over the floor.

Glancing over there, Schiller knew that in addition to the two bottles of wine that were missing when he arrived, two more were missing, which should have been taken away by Bruce.

Schiller turned his head and looked out the window. The roar of the Batmobile sounded, and a black shadow, set off by the lightning, sped toward the horizon.

Batman drove his car, speeding on the road of Cat Getan. The night here was very quiet. There was only one car on the wide and straight highway, and there was no obstruction in front, making him drive faster and faster.

The surrounding scenery became more and more blurred in his field of vision, and he began to be unable to clearly feel the existence of speed.

The Batmobile's peak shock absorption system made him unable to feel the vibration of touching the ground. He seemed to be flying in the rainy night, just like those bats skimming at low altitude.

Batman thought he was going to the Batcave, but in fact, the direction the car was driving had completely deviated from the intended destination. The brain affected by alcohol could not judge the direction well, and he didn't know where he was driving.

Suddenly, he felt that this road was a bit familiar. He gradually slowed down the car and looked at the buildings that kept shaking in his field of vision. Among the overlapping buildings, he keenly captured a familiar outline.

That is the White Community Middle School where Dick is currently attending school.

The pitch-black car slowly stopped. The rain became heavier and heavier. The light coming out of the middle school dormitory was like a lamp in a dark room, attracting many moths looking up there.

But soon, the roar of the Batmobile sounded again. Lightning struck at the end of the sky. The puddles on the highway were made bright white, reflecting the shadow of the Batmobile speeding past.

Only Batman himself knew that when the little girl fell into a coma for the first time, he discovered the crux of the problem.

All along, he had been looking at these problems from his own perspective, including not only this little girl, but also Dick.

He felt that this little girl should receive treatment, so he sent her to the hospital. He felt that Dick should go to school, so he sent him to the church middle school. Because something happened at the church middle school, he transferred him to the community middle school. Because the previous community middle school was too far, he transferred him to a closer community middle school. Because the boarding school had had an accident, he changed him to commute.

Realizing that this little girl might have had a mental breakdown precisely because she had changed environments too many times, Batman realized what he was doing to Dick.

When he recalled all this, he found that Dick had expressed it to him more than once, but he didn't care at all.

Dick said he had no interest in learning, but Batman just thought he was too young and ignorant. Dick said he missed his classmates in the choir, but Batman just felt that this was a separation that everyone must experience in life. Dick said he didn't know which club to choose at the new school, but Batman felt he should have the ability to distinguish it himself.

He never thought about what consequences this way of education would produce, just as he never realized what he had done wrong before sending the little girl back to the room to sleep. But when he suddenly realized and intended to change, things had already become irreversible.

When he was holding the little girl's corpse and walking on the road to the warehouse, he felt the corpse in his hands become heavier. In a trance, he saw a familiar face. He saw that it was Dick, and then saw that it was Aisha.

So much so that he could only return to the lobby of the manor in a panic. However, the fireplace there could not give him any warmth. Just at this time, he saw the red wine that had always been placed in the wine cabinet but had never been opened.

Three faces kept circling in Batman's mind: the little girl, Dick, and Aisha.

On the highway leading out of the city, the roar became louder and louder, and the speed of the car became faster and faster.

Suddenly, a harsh sound of braking sounded. The Batmobile's protective device was activated, but it had no effect at all. The whole car rolled over, and the engine exploded, rising with raging flames.

The flames burned more and more vigorously in the night rain. Such an absurd scene would only appear in Cat Getan.

Batman, who crawled out of the Batmobile, was covered in blood. In the hazy and trance-like field of vision, his eyes lit up.

Gentle light wrapped him, but he knew that all this was just an illusion. He tried to close his eyes, and when he opened them again, he saw something roll in front of his eyes.

That was a ring of light that appeared incomparably bright in the rainy night.