Genius on the Left, Madman on the Right (Part 1)

Bruce never imagined that his internship would involve so many unexpected situations.

What troubled him the most was, of course, his Psychology Professor Schiller.

This professor acted as if he hadn't just arrived in Gotham a few months ago, but was a native of the city—no, perhaps even most natives couldn't do that.

Schiller quickly grasped all the rules of the city with a speed that even Bruce couldn't keep up with, and on that basis, he not only mastered them but also became one of the best at them.

Bruce had heard Gordon say that Gotham was like a quagmire, and anyone who entered would slowly sink into this inescapable mire.

But Schiller, the professor who claimed to be an ordinary person, plunged headfirst into the quagmire right in front of Bruce. Not only did he react quickly and move nimbly, but he also jumped into the deepest part without any intention of getting out.

He transformed himself seamlessly into someone even worse than a scoundrel, knowing everything from the personnel and geographical advantages in gang shootouts, the protection fees for bars and restaurants, and the odds in underground casinos, to the rules for large-scale contraband transactions, security for arms transport, and smuggling routes for dangerous goods. There was nothing this professor couldn't do.

Falcone listened attentively to his suggestions, nodding repeatedly, and praised Schiller as a natural-born professional, saying that if he had come to Gotham thirty years earlier, Rodriguez would surely have been a member of the Twelve Families.

This made Bruce's feelings about Schiller very complicated.

You might say this professor was doing a good deed, but the methods he used were not just dishonorable, they were downright tantamount to colluding with the corrupt.

But if you say he was doing evil, he was indeed using his abilities to constantly disrupt the existing situation in Gotham, and through some extremely outrageous methods, he changed the situation in the direction he wanted.

Furthermore, in Bruce's view, this change did not seem to be heading in a bad direction, but rather strangely establishing a crumbling yet better new order.

Bruce felt it was absurd, especially when Gordon Bruce Gotham's crime rate had dropped significantly in the last two weeks.

In the supply chain created by Schiller, the police's combat effectiveness was greatly enhanced because they were allied with the Falcone family 'Gotham largest mob.

Because the Police Department was directly supported by Falcone, the Godfather provided them with a large number of heavy weapons, and they also used the Godfather's power to intimidate others.

Now, wherever there's a gang fight, they can arrive at the scene within 10 minutes, quickly subdue both sides, and then arrest them and throw them into a mental hospital.

Unlike in the past, the police officers are now incredibly enthusiastic about their work. They even compete for field assignments. As long as they can send a full member to a mental hospital, they can take 2% of all the hospital fees paid by that person as their reward.

Gordon has been incredibly busy these past few days. Even those perennial layabouts are now clamoring to rush to the front lines and fight for justice and to combat the gangsters.

Recently, this righteous detective has even forgotten what justice is. He feels that something is wrong, even though such an effective crackdown on gangs should be a good thing.

However, this action not only curbed the gang's arrogance but also improved the lives of the police officers, making them start to love this damn job.

Recently, Gordon was utterly shocked to discover that people throughout the Police Department were now working overtime! Were they possessed by some kind of demon?!

Indeed, it is a devil called greed. With a gun in hand, one is not afraid. When you are holding a fully loaded heavy machine gun and demanding that the gang stop firing, you will think that this job is nothing special. And when you can get a considerable reward after doing so, you will think that this is simply the best job in the world.

Initially, Falcone needed to send out his Black Gloves to sow discord between certain gangs and incite them to fight each other.

But then, anger was ignited. "Hyena" and "Captain" joined forces to launch an attack on "Snatchers" two streets away. "A-Train" on the edge of the East End quickly joined the battle. Three of the four big bosses on Elizabeth Street wanted to lend a hand. Maroney, who had just finished digesting the corpses of the Red Crow Gang, got to fight a good fight in the midst of the chaos. The entire East End was in complete disarray.

The gang warfare had already resulted in numerous deaths, and in the heat of the moment, the police stormed into the fray armed with heavy machine guns and Rocket. The gangsters were dumbfounded: who was the gang, us or them? What kind of police use Rocket to enforce the law?!

And so, after a group of people died in their own shootout and another group was arrested by the police, the most powerful gangsters in the East District were severely weakened and no longer dared to venture out. They all went back to their hometowns to lick their wounds.

Gordon's Field Operations Team became famous overnight. All of Gotham knew about the violent tactics of these police officers: armed pickup trucks floored the gas pedal, bulletproof shields set up, heavy machine guns spraying bullets, RPGs targeting key targets, advancing all the way, and finally finishing off the ground with grenades.

The most notorious gangsters in the East District have all fallen, so what right do the rest have to say anything?

Although this was largely due to Falcone's influence, since the Old Godfather was willing to fully support the police, he had both the moral high ground and the power to back him up. Ordinary gangs were unwilling to pay such a high price to provoke the Old Godfather, and those who were willing to pay the price were beaten up by this sudden flurry of punches, leaving Gotham strangely quiet.

All of this was because of a sudden flash of inspiration from an ordinary professor one morning.

Bruce thought that the professor had become the worst of a bad bunch, and the bad bunch treated him as a companion, but the enemy of my enemy became a good friend of justice.

Bruce really didn't know how to evaluate this behavior.

Of course, Batman is a genius, and after his initial struggle, he felt that he had discovered a new possibility in Schiller's behavior.

He always felt that cracking down on criminals should be swift, accurate, and ruthless, like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut, and that it would be best to eradicate evil forces completely so that they could never rise again.

Schiller, however, did not use this method. Whenever he attacked a force, he not only did not eradicate it completely, but sometimes he would even fertilize the force he had previously attacked, allowing the poisonous seedlings that had been cut down to grow strong again. Then he would use them as wedges to dismantle another complex Vines.

After witnessing these actions, Bruce asked Schiller the same question again, "Bruce you really just an ordinary person? Or is there some unknown special power that allows you to do all this?"

Schiller sat in his office chair, twirled the ballpoint pen in his hand, and tapped the desk, gesturing for Bruce to sit down. He said, "The point of my answer is not whether I possess some magical power that ordinary people don't have, but that I'm telling you I'm just an ordinary person."

"But what I want to tell you is that the most amazing power of mankind is their thinking brain."

Schiller stood up and walked to the window. His white doctor's coat made him appear even more upright. Compared to the rather stern-looking professor at the university, Schiller, as Doctor, seemed calmer and gentler.

He said, "The answer to this question is not whether I am really an ordinary person, but that, as I have warned you before, your advanced armor and expensive equipment cannot make you a real Batman."

"Because the answers to the problems that are troubling you are not found in these external things."

"And in the brain that every ordinary person has."

"If you just calm down and think about it, you'll realize that pure violence can't achieve any of the things you want, whether it's revenge or saving the city. It's a dead end."

Schiller lowered his head, fiddling with the ballpoint pen in his hands, and then said, "Actually, the path you chose is a dead end, but if you don't want to die, you have to find a way out from among countless dead ends."

"I've only shown you one method, not all of them, not..."

Bruce said, "Isn't that enough? Force, intelligence, and determination—isn't that enough?"

Schiller said, "And Gotham."

"... When will I be able to learn Gotham?"

"Perhaps it will be when you die."

Before Bruce could speak, Schiller said, "Gotham is a book that can never be finished."

"I'm just a professor. What I do is what I do in class: I've highlighted the key points for you, and you have to write the exam yourself."

Bruce said, "Is the focus on power struggles and checks and balances? Or is it the power of wisdom? On thinking and foresight?"

"No, just like I do in class—the whole book is important."

Bruce was speechless. He didn't know if Schiller was mocking him for not paying attention in class or if he was hinting at something else.

But Schiller's answer made him realize something.

If using violence to stop the crime in this sinful city is destined to be wishful thinking, and if Batman's strength and resources are not enough to fill this quagmire into a flat plain using such a simple and brutal method, then perhaps it would be better to abandon pure violence and use his other strength, namely intelligence, to manipulate everything from behind the scenes.

This city, rife with violence, cannot solve all its problems with violence. Powerful force is merely a stepping stone, not the whole story.

When he opened the door with his vast wealth and equipment, he met his mentor, Schiller showed Batman a completely new Gotham.

A Gotham that, beyond the surface violence, bloodshed, and intense conflict, is filled with countless mysteries and intricate relationships.

When Batman followed the veins within the massive canopy to the deep roots beneath the earth, and when he slid down the ravines of the iceberg into the icy sea, he finally saw the true face of Gotham.

This is a new world, Batman thought.

But for him, this was not a setback or a blow, but rather a shot of adrenaline.

His brain had never worked so fast, and he had never imagined he would have the ability to accept and sort out these complex relationships so quickly, until he could keep up with Schiller's every move.

The thrill of gradually uncovering a vast root system along tiny veins fascinated Batman, giving him a greater sense of excitement and pleasure than simply punching a criminal.

Bruce thought that perhaps this was the right answer.

Perhaps, he is just that kind of person, excited like a madman in the face of complex problems that could make any ordinary person feel utterly hopeless.

This is him, this is a bat.

A bat—a paranoid creature that seeks morbid pleasure and is even more insane than a mentally ill person.