Although he had already gleaned something from Schiller's hints, the answer still shocked Jason.
This wasn't right. Jason would rather believe the Batman before him had been replaced by someone else. How could he be the kind of person who harmed himself out of inner guilt?
Jason maintained that posture and looked up at Batman, trying to find some trace of deception on his face. He had to have been hypnotized by that Doctor Schiller. That had to be it.
But reason told Jason that was impossible. Compared to the answer Batman had given him, the idea that Batman could so easily be influenced into hurting himself was even more unbelievable.
Either Batman was a coward, or Batman was weak. Jason did not know which one he should choose, and Batman had never been good at explaining himself.
So they fell silent.
And Bruce could not bear silence right now. He did not know whether Jason had been disappointed in him again.
Batman could not remember how long it had been since he had lost control like this. When Schiller had said he needed his blood for research, his first reaction had actually been to use a Batarang to cut open his own arm.
Batman was certain that Schiller had been shocked at the time.
First of all, it had been completely unprofessional. Blood for medical research had to be drawn with proper equipment.
Cutting open his own skin and catching the blood directly looked like the sort of research method some amateur scientist might dream up. It was no different in essence from something out of a vampire fantasy novel.
Batman himself had been stunned after doing it. He and Schiller had simply stared at each other, causing them to miss the best time to stop the bleeding.
In