Chapter 998: Battle for the Gao Ta (33)

"The capital you possess makes you have a gap in class with the people you pity, bringing you greater power than them. You want to use this power to take responsibility and create a happy life for them."

"But in fact, the happy life of the people is not created by capitalists, nor does it need capitalists to create it."

"Capitalists create nothing. They just exploit layer by layer and suck blood constantly in the process of people creating a happy life."

"You think you have such great power, but you didn't abuse it, but did your best to benefit the people. But in fact, the power you obtained is precisely built on your exploitation of the people."

"This is why there are no kind-hearted capitalists in this world. The wealth they use to distribute kindness is all drawn from the blood vessels of the proletariat, including you, Batman."

"The huge wealth, high-tech equipment, and all the investment you use to save the people actually come from the people."

Shiler walked to the opposite side of Batman. When the gray and blue eyes met, it was like a high wall of a dam hit by waves.

Shiler looked at Batman and said: "At the beginning, I told you that you must invest all your wealth to save all mankind and help them achieve ultimate happiness."

"You made this difficult decision, so you felt that you were very great and had a spirit of dedication."

"But in fact, you are not great, and this is not dedication. These things you paid are what the people deserve."

"Just like now, you led the demons to take down the mine, overthrew General Fuxin's rule, and you became the new master of the mine, so you had greater power. But this should not belong only to you, but should belong to every demon who paid labor and shed blood in this process."

Shiler tilted his head, stared at Batman's eyes and said: "Your eyes are telling me that you are not convinced."

"You are thinking, if it weren't for you, they would never awaken. You are thinking, you also shed blood and fought on the battlefield, and even achieved more results than them."

"Indeed, you acted as a guide, and naturally you should have your return. But is this kind of return really so much that you have to occupy the labor results of everyone else?"

Shiler leaned forward a little, he looked at Batman's blue eyes and said:

"I think, for my conclusion, your brain should be full of all kinds of negative emotions now."

"Then, answer me, Batman, do these negative emotions come from your greed for capital, or your arrogance towards the people?"

"Let me go!" Batman roared in a low voice. He raised his lips very rarely, revealing his teeth, like a wild beast defending itself. He repeated again: "Let me go! Joker! Otherwise you are dead!"

Shiler took two steps back, showing a very bright smile, and said: "Do you see it? Do you feel it?"

The blue veins on Batman's forehead burst out, his arm muscles expanded, and the ring buckle of the iron chain was pulled loose by him, but the next second, he suddenly froze there.

He kept panting, as if he had consumed a lot of physical strength, and then he finally calmed down, and said somewhat trance-like: "... Why?"

"What do you want to ask?" Shiler asked very patiently again.

Batman didn't speak, he hung silently on the stone pillar, like a piece of bacon in the corner of the butcher shop that had been placed the longest but was the least resigned to its fate.

"I think you have already found the answer." Shiler's tone suddenly softened, just like a real teacher. He said: "You should have already understood why we are unwilling to discuss this topic with you."

"It's not because your identity now is a capitalist, but because, from beginning to end, you are unwilling to become a proletariat."

"You are afraid of this identity." Shiler evaluated, and said: "Perhaps, it's not because of your greed for capital, nor because of your arrogance towards the people, but still because the psychological trauma of the past makes you afraid of 'inability to change'."

"You don't want to face the death of your parents, but you are powerless, and you don't want such a tragedy to happen again. You don't want to feel powerless again when facing such things."

"You think the proletariat is powerless, without knowledge, without wealth, without weapons, nothing. The more you understand the cruelty of reality, the more you feel that they cannot resist... You are afraid of this situation."

Batman lowered his head. He had been silent, but Shiler opened his mouth and said: "Powerlessness often comes from low or weakened internal drive, and the growth of internal drive requires a sense of security."

Shiler sighed and said: "Actually, I really don't want to say this. It sounds really like an old antique from the last century, but this sentence is really suitable for your situation."

"Money, technology, equipment, none of them can bring you true security. Capital cannot be your only hope, and capital cannot be anyone's only hope."

"You need care, understanding, and trust. Someone must love you, and you must also love others."

Batman closed his eyes. He had been silent. Shiler did not intend to force him to speak. He tilted his head to the demon standing at the cave entrance. The demon stepped forward to untie the iron chain. Shiler shrugged his shoulders and said:

"I am used to taking some fixed measures for my patients to prevent them from running away. They often run away. I don't know why. Their courage is always so small. I am clearly treating them according to the regular process. It feels not bad, right?"

Batman, who landed, knelt on the ground and coughed twice, appearing very weak. Shiler stood high and looked down at him with his hands in his suit pants, somewhat puzzled and said: "Look, you are always like this. You can't even persist in a treatment process of less than an hour."

"Stop lying there. You look like you're saying I'm an unprofessional violent doctor, but this is the first extremely formal psychological treatment I have ever conducted on you."

"I used almost every technique I have ever learned. To date, no one has received such treatment. If you act like you've been abused, I will burn your medical records when I go back to prevent you from mentioning me in your autobiography later, forcing me to have to respond in mine."

Shiler's tone was very relaxed. Batman hadn't heard such a tone in a long time. He remembered that the last time Shiler was this relaxed was during his freshman year, when he and Shiler were at a gathering, along with Harvey, Gordon, and Victor.

They gathered around a table together, talking and laughing. At that time, Shiler was also very good at this kind of slightly sarcastic dry humor, acting more like an Englishman.

These scenes kept circling in Batman's mind, making him even more dazed. Seeing this expression on him, Shiler shook his head, then turned and walked forward. He said: "Don't expect me to help you up. My fusion process is not yet complete. If you don't want to hear that lunatic laughing in your brain in the middle of the night, it's better to stand up and walk yourself."

Batman stood up unsteadily. He looked back at the scene in the mine; the riot had already been quelled.

The two Red Devils did not succeed. Morlun was not a very shrewd opponent, and although Merkel was young, he was much more experienced than him. The moment he pulled out his dagger, he was subdued by Merkel.

Merkel walked back with the trembling Hex, stroking its tentacles to comfort it, while listening to it tell the plan that Morlun and his companions had plotted to assassinate Batman.

Merkel just smiled at this plan and didn't take it to heart. This group of miner slaves trapped in the mine all day long actually found it very difficult to formulate any decent strategy.

In this world, no wise decision comes from day-long daydreaming. The closed environment doomed their little tricks to appear clumsy and lame. Let alone Alfred, who had been through a hundred battles, even Merkel could easily see through them.

Finding that Hex was fine, Batman followed behind Shiler all the way out of the mine. They walked along the road halfway up the mountain again and returned to the gate of General Fuxin's castle. Standing outside the gate, Shiler turned to look at Batman and said: "Why are you following me?"

"The psychological treatment is already over. Although I don't charge by the hour, you'd better not expect any freebies." Shiler shook his head, revealing a smile, polite and courteous like a cashier refusing a rude customer.

Just as Shiler turned around and wanted to walk toward the castle gate, he heard Batman's voice from behind: "I want to go in and stay for a while."

"Don't play dumb with me. I know you're not actually injured, and there are still many things waiting for you to do..." Shiler paused, then revealed an expression of sudden realization, and said:

"Oh, I almost forgot. General Fuxin provided me with quite a bit of help, so I should also take over his duties. According to the original script, after you rush into the Demon King's castle and kill him, you will find a letter in his office."

After finishing, Shiler took a piece of paper from the demon beside him and said: "This is a handwritten letter to General Fuxin from the wife of the Demon Lord Belial, who is also the Empress of this country."

"This General Fuxin seems to be the Empress's cousin, or they have some other blood relationship. This Empress, named Lady Dass, claims in the letter that the newly appointed Imperial Preceptor has replaced her position in the heart of His Majesty Belial, and His Majesty Belial has begun to distrust her."

"Of course, it is also mentioned here..." Shiler pointed at the letter and said: "The name of this Imperial Preceptor is Shiler. Of course, that's not me, but one of the many Shilers you saw earlier who ran out of the high tower."

"According to Lady Dass's intelligence, these Shilers went to different Demon Lords respectively and assisted them. It was they who incited the war in Hell, and the goal seems to be to compete for that high tower in the center of the battlefield."

Speaking of this, Shiler closed the letter and said: "I won't read the content that follows, but this Empress really can't count on her cousin anymore, because I found too many fat layers under General Fuxin's skin. This general has been comfortable for too long, and I'm afraid he can't provide any military help to his anxious cousin."

"Of course, he can't, but you can." Shiler stepped forward, stuffed the letter into Batman's arms, and then said: "Next, you must pay a certain reward for the most professional psychological consultation in the world that you just received."

"When I was in trouble, not a single one of those cold and heartless guys was willing to stand up and share the burden for me, and they must pay the price for this."

"I think the history of the rise of that behemoth across the ocean has already told you the way to stimulate the greatest war potential in a short period of time..."

"Go, Batman."

After Shiler finished speaking, he and Batman stared at each other. Batman stood in place and didn't leave, so Shiler looked at him and said: "The mission has been read out, you can go now."

But Batman still stood silently in place. Shiler sensed that Batman might want to say something, so he also stood in place without moving. The two of them remained in a stalemate like this for more than ten minutes.

Now Batman was certain that the memory of Shiler's childhood that he saw in the memory space at the beginning must be true. Shiler really could stand in place and stare at a person for more than ten minutes; from childhood to adulthood, it was exactly the same.

He cleared his throat, opened his mouth, but closed it again, lowered his head, and then raised it again, just like a puppet performing a mime.

"What do you want to say?" Shiler asked, and he instinctively said: "There are no more clues. Haven't I made myself clear enough? Find a way to beat them all down and let me return home in glory. It's that simple."

"I'm not asking about that." Batman suddenly spoke. He was silent for another few dozen seconds, and then, he cast his gaze on the wound on Shiler's shoulder. The metal ring passing through the collarbone had still not been removed, and because of Shiler's strenuous exercise, his shoulder and neck were already a bloody mess.

Shiler followed Batman's line of sight and looked down at his own collarbone, but he appeared somewhat dazed. At this moment, he heard Batman's slightly stiff tone ring out:

【To be honest, I've been using a source-switching app to read books and follow updates recently. There are many reading voices, and. huanyuanapp works on both Android and Apple.】

"... Is your wound okay?"

Shiler froze in place.