I, Joker (Part 2)

"Dr. Rodriguez! Please, have some mercy! Your friend has called more than 60 times this week, and the office operator is about to go crazy..."

"Mrs. Miller! Please, have mercy on me! This is the 10th time my friend has come for treatment this week, and I'm about to go crazy with him..." Schiller said to Mrs. Miller, standing in front of the table and covering his forehead.

Mrs. Miller sighed and said, "Can't you just refuse him?"

"I wanted to refuse, but he's mentally ill."

"So what?" Mrs. Miller stared at Schiller, Schiller was taken aback by her attitude, and then said, "... Isn't this a mental hospital?"

Mrs. Miller was also taken aback for a moment, then lowered her head and said, "Oh, right, this is a mental hospital, so can't he be admitted?"

"Good heavens, his commute is already so troublesome, what if he gets hospitalized..."

"Didn't he stay in the hospital before? I remember seeing him in the Inpatient Department."

"This time it's different. Before he was just a madman, but now he's a drunken madman."

Schiller sighed, gestured to Mrs. Miller to wait a moment, then walked to the table, picked up the phone, and asked Brand, "Didn't you say last week that a new attending Doctor was coming? Where is he?"

"... What? He just submitted his resume... and it didn't pass? Why didn't it pass?... Okay, I'll call him and ask."

Schiller hung up the phone, then dialed again, picked up the receiver, and said to the person on the other end, "Hello? Bruce, did someone apply for a physician position at Arkham Asylum last week? Did their resume get sent to you?"

Bruce paused for a moment on the other end of the phone, then said, "The Wayne Family does indeed own shares in Arkham Asylum. I rejected your job application immediately after receiving it..."

Why did you reject it?

Bruce fell silent again. He couldn't understand Schiller's attitude. There was only one position for attending physician. If someone applied for the job, wasn't that taking away his job?

"...Okay, Bruce, I know you mean well, but there's absolutely no need for this. I'm a university professor, and I'm here as the attending physician only because Brand is too busy. I'd love to have a new Doctor transferred here..."

"Really?" Bruce was skeptical, after all, Schiller had seemed to be enjoying himself the whole time.

Schiller, holding the receiver, said matter-of-factly, "If you think I have any passion for this job, that's just wishful thinking on your part. Right now, all I want is to leave here..."

"Okay, then I..."

Before Bruce could finish speaking, Schiller hung up the phone, because Schiller heard another series of maniacal laughs.

Seeing Jack clumsily climbing over the balcony, Schiller first pushed Mrs. Miller out, closed the door, then drew the curtains around the room. Finally, he walked to the balcony. Jack saw him coming and waved, saying, "Good morning, my friend!"

At that moment, he had only climbed halfway up the balcony, with one leg already inside and the other still on the adjacent balcony. Schiller, arms crossed, said, "Do you know what I'm trying to do?"

"What? You want to punch me? Hey! Wait, you can't do that! Weren't we having a great time lately, my friend? Where were we yesterday... Oh, Baroque art style. You shouldn't be busy this afternoon, right? My noodle soup is making my stomach rumble. What did you have for lunch? The patterns in the naturalistic decorations remind me of bats... Bats! Bats?..."

Schiller a deep breath and silently repeated to himself, "I am Doctor, I am Doctor, Doctor cannot physically assault patients..."

This situation arose from that night when Schiller and the Joker got drunk and became high.

Whether it's Schiller or the Joker, alcohol doesn't have much of an effect on their brains. No matter how strong the alcohol is or how much they drink, neither of them will have any more problems. But it's just ordinary alcohol.

Schiller had previously discovered a problem: the concentrated Fear Gas, the high-purity neuroactive agent extracted from the Fear Toxin, the Lizard Serum treatment injection, and the pure version of the Immortality Factor he possessed were all in liquid form. This gave him a very bold idea, which he then brought to life with the help of Connors.

He had Connors mix the liquids together.

Schiller called it "Mad Wine".

It combines all the effects of these drugs, and integrates their strengths while compensating for their weaknesses. It transforms the fear brought by the concentrated Fear Gas into excitement and madness, which has reached the point of causing physical damage to the brain. However, due to the presence of Lizard Serum, the brain can be continuously repaired.

For most people, taking this drug would be the most horrific torture in the world, because although you don't suffer any harm, your brain, which controls all your senses, simulates everything. But for some people, it's a very delicious high-proof liquor.

Schiller had been wanting to drink, but he was also afraid of getting drunk, so he had to drag along a drinking buddy, Jack, and the two of them downed a whole bottle that night.

As it turned out, Schiller had a better alcohol tolerance, or rather, Gray Mist had a better tolerance, after all, he was a seasoned drinker.

Schiller was high while drinking, but he slept it off after a night's rest. Jack was also high while drinking, but he couldn't recover after a night's rest, since there was no Symbiote to share his madness and excitement. As a result, he was a little too excited now.

Logically, an excited, crazed Joker should be looking for Batman, but unfortunately, Batman is investing in a movie for Catwoman, and the two are away on an investment trip and research trip, not in Gotham.

Schiller then reaped the consequences of his actions.

Jack wasn't interested in anyone except Batman, but this lack of interest came in different forms. Clearly, he felt he had a lot in common with Schiller, so he would have long talks with him every day and booked more than 10 treatment appointments a week. Not only did he see him every day, but he would see him in the morning and then again in the afternoon, seeing him all the time.

Schiller, to be honest, thought Jack was a good drinking buddy, and even a good conversationalist. Although he didn't know where Jack got his extensive knowledge and wide-ranging experience from, Schiller was still somewhat interested in talking about these things, since it was a way to slack off during work hours.

The One problem is that Jack manages to bring every topic back to Batman.

He was like a pervert with an incredibly broad knowledge base, unparalleled depth of knowledge, and an abundance of sexual interest.

Schiller had absolutely no interest in Batman, so he was really getting annoyed by the Joker.

Jack neither likes nor dislikes anyone other than Batman; in short, he ignores them. So, despite going in and out of the mental hospital so many times, he hasn't really damaged the environment. Therefore, Schiller doesn't have a legitimate reason to expel him.

Since we can't expel him, let's expel ourselves instead.

Schiller took the resume from Brand and said, "What's your future colleague like? Applying to come to Gotham's mental hospital, his resume must be amazing, right?"

"No matter how amazing he is, can he be more amazing than you?" Brand retorted, then stroked his chin hesitantly and said, "His resume is not bad, but it's just..."

"What's wrong?"

"I heard some bad rumors about him from former colleagues..."

"Bad rumors? What are they?"

"The reason he came to Gotham is because at the school where he used to teach..." Brand hesitated, unsure how to tell Schiller, but he continued, "It seems he was conducting illegal human experiments."

"Human experimentation? Interesting..."

Schiller glanced down at the resume in his hand, and sure enough, the name on it read "Hugo Strange".

Hugo Strange's resume is indeed impressive, but not as remarkable as Schiller's. His education and work experience are only average, not even comparable to the Strange from another world, and certainly not among the world's top.

Of course, it's also possible that the current timeline is too early, and Hugo hasn't had a chance to shine in his area of expertise.

While Schiller was looking at Hugo's resume, Hugo was also looking at Schiller's resume.

On the train to Gotham, he was reading the Gotham Daily while looking at a news article about an old case in the Metropolis. Hugo didn't know the main character or most of the supporting characters in such cases, but there was one figure that seemed somewhat familiar to him: Schiller Rodriguez.

It's impossible for Hugo to have never heard of Schiller, because there are only a handful of top psychologists in the world, and as a professional, Hugo knew of this person.

His decision to come to Gotham was twofold: firstly, he had incurred the wrath of an enemy after his previous illegal experiments were discovered, and he sought refuge in Gotham; secondly, he wanted to meet Schiller.

Throughout history, it has been common for colleagues to criticize each other and for writers to belittle one another. This is especially true for Victor Hugo, who considered himself a genius in psychology and psychiatry. He had his own unique theories in these two disciplines, but due to limited opportunities, he had not been able to perfect them. Just as he was about to do so, his experiments were discovered.

His previous city and the university where he worked would not tolerate his behavior, but he knew of one place that might: Gotham.

There was a suitable experimental environment for him, as well as people he was interested in, so Hugo naturally submitted his job application.

He initially thought the chances were slim, because it seemed unlikely that he could get Schiller out of the position given his current resume. However, to his surprise, shortly after submitting his resume, Arkham Asylum called him and warmly invited him to take up the position.

When Hugo arrived at the office of the attending physician at Arkham Asylum, he was warmly welcomed by Schiller.

Schiller squeezed Hugo's hand tightly and said, "Thank God, you've finally come."

"Uh..." Hugo was taken aback. He didn't quite understand what Schiller meant. After all, he and Schiller didn't know each other, and given their respective statuses, Schiller had no reason to be so enthusiastic towards him.

In a subsequent conversation, Schiller bluntly stated, "There are just too many difficult patients here. In all my years of practice, I never imagined there would be patients I couldn't cure, but that's just how it is..."

"Doctor Strange, I know you may be annoyed by your less-than-stellar resume, but that's alright. There are quite a few rare cases here, some of which I have no idea how to handle."

Because Schiller acted so much like an unscrupulous quack doctor who couldn't handle a tough case and was eager to shirk responsibility, Hugo's impression of him had somewhat diminished. He said indifferently, "Yes, Dr. Rodriguez, actually I've been troubled by the lack of good experimental subjects. In fact, I'm quite interested in some difficult cases. If that's the case, then that would be perfect..."

Schiller sensed the arrogance in Hugo's tone, and he could also tell that Hugo seemed to regard him as one of those hyped-up scholars who didn't live up to their reputation. But he still smiled and shook Hugo's hand, saying, "Then you must be the most suitable Doctor for this position... Well then, I'll be leaving now."

Watching Schiller quickly leave with his belongings, Hugo stared at his retreating figure with some confusion.

What could possibly make this world-renowned psychology master run faster than being chased by a dog?

Schiller: The Joker is Me (Please do not disturb while I am climbing this thread...)

Jack: The Joker is actually me (Batman didn't take me on his honeymoon!)

Hugo: The Joker is actually myself (?)

Batman returns from his trip: What happened?