After an afternoon tea, everyone else left, leaving only Batman and Schiller sitting at the table. Batman looked at the leftovers on the table in silence.
"I don't want to say 'I told you so', but if you think you can rest easy by mixing holy water in food without detecting any abnormality in anyone, I won't risk your life anymore.
Put in more energy.”
"What did you say to Barbara?" Batman asked. He looked at Schiller and said, "And why did you provoke Tim into trouble with Barbara and Dick?"
"I thought you heard me."
"I just didn't understand."
Schiller seemed a little surprised by his straightforwardness, but he still tapped the side of the tea cup with his finger, and then said: "I am adopting a simpler security method."
He dipped his hand in the tea and started writing on the table.
"Assuming that vampires are naturally on the same side, we divide everyone here now into two groups and make them hostile to each other. If we side with one of them."
"Then there's a half chance that there are no vampires on our side, and a half chance that all the vampires are on our side."
Batman frowned slightly, as if he had guessed something.
"If there are no vampires on our side, then the vampires will have to deal with half of the Bat family plus us. If the vampires are all on our side, then in order to win our trust and deal with the other half of the Bat family, the vampires will at least temporarily
Stand with us."
"This is a question of the right to speak." Batman said: "When they become hostile to each other, they will all fight for us, whether they are vampires or not."
"That's right." Schiller said: "Since the vampire did not take violent action immediately, it means that he still needs to lurk."
"When there are no enemies and everyone is united, they can stay quietly and only come forward to guide the development of the incident at critical moments, and then completely shirk the responsibility."
"But once there is another faction that has always been against them, they need to win the trust of higher-level officials to improve their voice. Otherwise, if the top officials trust another faction, their voice will be reduced and they will not be able to respond at critical moments.
Once the team provides guidance, there is no point in lurking."
"That's why you deliberately divided the Bat Family." Batman said, "You don't look like a surgeon, but more like a sociologist."
"Everything I do is to force the traitors to take action." Schiller said: "The natural reason for you to expose your weaknesses is to give them a target. I feel that I don't need to lurk for too long, and they will soon have the opportunity to take action.
.”
"The purpose of dividing the Robins into two factions is to make the traitors feel that their position is unstable, and they may lose your trust, and then lose the opportunity to take action, so they can think of other ways to win over you."
"Once he takes the initiative to contact you, as the person who knows your child best, can't you see who is the dried cookie?"
Schiller suddenly leaned forward, stared into Batman's eyes and said, "Or do you actually have a decision already, but you just don't want to admit that your favorite child has betrayed you, and you still want to give him a chance?"
The tea cup fell to the ground, and Batman put aside his head to call Alfred. Schiller regained his relaxed posture, sighed softly and said: "You know there will be one. If you expect this one to repent, you are destined to lose the first one."
Two, the third..."
"That's enough." There was not much anger in Batman's tone, but a bit of warning. He said: "Don't try to interfere with the Bat Family's affairs. Just be prepared for the operation."
After Batman left, Schiller sat quietly on the chair for a while, pretending not to notice the eavesdropping figure behind the porch at all, retrieved the ironed clothes from Alfred and went upstairs.
After returning to the room, within five minutes there was a knock on the door.
Schiller smiled slightly. Robins are very smart, but they are not mature enough. If someone transforms them into vampires and wants to give Batman a fatal blow, it is probably just a bet that Batman will be soft-hearted.
In a head-on game, they have no chance of winning.
Schiller sighed softly, but the person standing outside the door was a little unexpected - it was Dick.
Schiller lowered his eyes as quickly as possible, suppressed the surprise in his eyes, and invited Dick to come in.
"I didn't expect you to come here." Schiller said with some confusion. At the same time, when he turned around, he lightly touched the cross in his pocket, but did not actually take it out.
He turned and poured tea for Dick.
"I'm very worried about Batman." Dick said, "It just so happens that at this time, he has an operation that must be performed."
"Are you also worried about a vampire invasion?"
"I don't think any outside force can breach the Batcave."
"Do you think you might be breached from the inside?"
"The Bat-Family has always been united."
"Until I show up?"
Dick stood up, took out a forearm-long cross from his arms and handed it to Schiller.
"You suspect that I am a vampire?" Schiller asked, looking at Dick.
"I'm giving you a chance to prove yourself. After all, you didn't touch anything during the afternoon tea during the day."
"It seems you already know what's in the food."
"Yes, and I ate half a piece of cake and drank a whole cup of tea."
"That doesn't prove that you are not, child. You want me to prove it to you, but the guarantee you gave me may not be so credible."
"I'm not vouching for you, I just want to ensure Batman's safety. I'm his assistant. This is what I should do."
"His assistant is Robin, and you are Nightwing." Schiller walked across from him, bent down and put down the teacup slowly, then stood up straight and looked at Dick and said, "After you are determined to leave Bruder,
That night in Haven, have you ever thought about what you should do?"
Dick's hand holding the cross tightened instantly, he frowned deeply, his chest began to heave continuously, and he felt like a knife was piercing his heart.
This is a topic that the Bat Family has a tacit agreement not to mention, about his departure, about Jason's return, and about Tim's existence.
And Schiller obviously didn't intend to let him go just like that. He walked slowly to Dick's side, held the wrist of the hand holding the cross, gently pressed it down and said: "In your opinion,
Is a powerful vampire more threatening, or an ordinary person who is familiar with the history of the Bat Family and deeply trusted by Batman?"
"Can't you be both?"
Schiller lowered his head and laughed deeply and said: "If I were the same, would you still be able to stand here properly?"
Dick was speechless.
But the strength on his arm was slightly loose, and the cross was pressed down. Schiller let go of his hand, walked behind him again and said: "The target of the vampire must be Batman. If I am, since I have convinced Batman to let him go,
His ability to reveal his true identity to me and take me back to Wayne Manor, I won't wait until tomorrow night to do it, it will be a long night with many dreams."
Schiller paused and continued.
"This shows that the real vampire may not even be more trusted by Batman than me, at least he thinks so, otherwise he would have taken action a long time ago."
"The fact that he didn't take action proved that he felt that Batman was on guard against him - think about it, when he finally showed his ugly face and stretched out his claws against Batman, what he saw was not Batman's shock and sadness.
His face was as calm as ever, as if he had guessed everything."
Schiller went around to Dick's side and said, "That indifferent expression seemed to say, 'I have known for a long time that you are this kind of person, and I have known that you would betray me, so I have been prepared for it.'"
"This will deny the meaning of his existence in the first half of his life... As Batman's assistant, as the person Batman should trust the most, he has never been truly accepted by him for a moment, and has never been able to get his candid confession.
I have never seen him defenseless before."
"Knowing that getting rid of Batman would be a huge step forward in his grand plan to occupy the earth, this coward hesitates to take action because he doesn't dare to bet on whether Batman is sincere towards him."
"Batman's expression makes him more haunted and uneasy than the throne that towers over all mankind."
Schiller's tone was laced with a smile. He reached out and took the cross from Dick's hand, tapped Dick's shoulder lightly and said:
"Well, boy, tell me, who is this coward?"
"That's enough."
But it was not Dick's voice. Batman's voice echoed in the room. He said: "Dr. Schiller, I warned you not to get involved in the Bat Family."
"How could I forget that there is an even bigger coward here?" Schiller had no intention of shutting up. He knocked the cross in his hand and said, "Knowing that his dear child was already polishing that
She had the knife to kill him, but she still harbored naive delusions and was unwilling to convict him even a moment before he took action."
The moment Schiller suddenly turned around, Dick knew something was wrong. The red light in his eyes went out too late.
Schiller suddenly raised the cross, and Dick stretched out his arm to block it - only shadows came.
The sound of the cross breaking through the air disappeared, stopped in mid-air, turned gracefully, and was handed to Dick.
"What's wrong? Dick?"
Schiller's smiling voice came, and Dick felt that his teeth could hardly clenched.
"I don't think this thing can help me guard against vampires. You should use it yourself." Schiller said: "The things Batman prepared for me are much more sophisticated than this."
Schiller took out the cross pendant from his pocket, shook it in front of Dick, and then said: "He seems to be worried about me being bitten, and thinks that putting this thing around my neck can ward off a predator for me."
Fang attack, there’s something special about this thing, isn’t it?”
Dick looked at the pendant. He had seen this necklace with Batman before. It seemed that he got it from a priest when the rumors of vampires first spread, but it was not hung on any Robin's neck.
superior.
Unique and close at hand.
Schiller's gaze remained unchanged, but his tone became sharper.
"Dick, is the perfect disguise that you carefully prepared that is not afraid of the sun and holy water really meant to deceive Batman, or are you just afraid to look at his disappointed expression on you in public?"
"Even if it comes to a life-or-death moment, do you only dare to attack from behind where you can't see his expression?"
Schiller raised his hand, and the cross pendant was suddenly thrown out. The silver light drew a graceful arc in the air. When it was about to fall to the ground, Nightwing instinctively bent down and stretched out his hand to catch it.
He looked at his hands in shock, the unspeakable humiliation making him unable to suppress the red light in his eyes.
"Nightwing...is this what you're supposed to do? Be a Frisbee-catching dog?"