It was a not bright but still warm morning in Gotham City. Schiller put down the coffee cup in his hand and heard the footsteps of his colleague Anna's high heels. After a while, a blond American sweetheart walked in and knocked on the door.
Knocked on the flap on Schiller's desk and said: "The lazy guys in the freshman registration office have asked for leave. You go..."
"I dont go."
Schiller replied without raising his head. If this scene had happened a year ago, then Schiller might still be just an ordinary university professor in Gotham, instead of writing a thesis on the surface like he is now.
Underneath several pieces of paper are the Green Lantern Corps' industrial plan and the fog crystal industry plan.
Anna rolled her eyes and said, "You have the least classes this week. If you don't go, who will?"
Suddenly, Schiller came back to his senses from the messy work. He turned his head and glanced at the calendar next to him and said: "It is January now, which should be the time for the spring semester to start. There should be no spring registration at Gotham University.
Professional, right?”
"Who said that?" Anna walked to Schiller's seat, folded her arms and said, "You have forgotten that the previous principal Seldon was a liberal arts student. He opened a major in literature and philosophy at Gotham University, but it happened that he resigned
Previously, these two majors had passed the review, and the start date was set for spring."
"Oh, yes, he may have forgotten to tell you that the psychology major has also been transferred to the School of Humanities, so the major you teach also starts in spring."
Schiller squinted his eyes. He recalled that American universities are slightly different from Chinese universities. Many American universities are divided into three semesters a year. The semester starts in January, May and August respectively. Among them, the spring semester is
New students will arrive in January and August in the fall.
However, Gotham University is closer to Chinese universities. Although it also has three semesters, the registration month for freshmen is only August, and no one comes for the spring registration.
The reason is that there are relatively few colleges in Gotham University and the management is relatively chaotic. For the sake of convenience, some administrators of the school have designated all majors for fall reporting.
Previously, when the principal named Seldon came, he drastically reformed the administrative system and created three more colleges. Now all three colleges have been changed to spring reporting.
With Schiller immersed in work, Gotham's deep winter has passed. It's now January when the temperature has just warmed up a bit, and Gotham University's spring reporting has begun.
Putting down his pen and stretching his stiff shoulders, Schiller thought it would be a good idea to go to the freshmen registration office for half a day. Recently, his mind had been almost filled with all those messy numbers.
Schiller stood up and wanted to leave. Suddenly, the lights in the room flickered twice, and with a "pop", the light bulb hanging in the center of the room stopped lighting.
At this time, the days are still relatively short, and you still need to light a lamp in the early morning to read the words on the book clearly. But now the light bulb is out, and the room is dark.
Anna raised her head and glanced at the light bulb, but she did not show any surprise. She said: "In recent days, you have not had morning classes and have been away in the morning and evening, so I don't know. The school pipelines are aging, and there has been a power outage every day these days."
Two hours, and repeated power outages caused most of the old light bulbs to break.”…
"What should we do?" Schiller asked.
"What can we do? Just make do." Anna walked back to her seat and sat down. She skillfully took out a flashlight from the side. After turning it on, she shined it at Schiller and said, "Now Gotham University is the only one on the East Coast.
In a school without a principal, who do you expect to take care of it?"
Schiller shook his head and looked up at the room again. This office, where he had stayed the longest since arriving in Gotham, was actually very old.
There is no decoration style here, because most of the furniture has been replaced several times, and the white wall skirting and ceiling have been damaged to varying degrees. The only desk that can be called a pretty good one has been damaged to varying degrees.
It's no longer old.
Schiller doesn't really like things that are too modern, but that doesn't mean he likes to use old things, especially when these things are so old that they start to affect their use.
Sighing, Schiller picked up his things, left the office, and walked towards the freshman reporting office.
When he arrived at the freshmen registration office, he found that there was also a power outage. What was even more tragic was that there were no floor-to-ceiling windows in the office, and the lighting was even worse. It was pitch black at this time.
That's fine, Schiller thought. When the new students arrive, they will immediately know what a wrong decision they made.
In the rest of their college career, they will not be able to happily attend parties or have sex with men and women. There are no student activity rooms or party rooms here at all. The only room with an independent generator is Victor's cryogenic laboratory and
library.
Schiller moved a chair and sat down in the darkness. Soon, students came in one after another. Basically, when everyone came in and saw someone sitting in this dark room, they would instinctively pause and retreat.
Go out and look at the door number of the room, then walk in carefully.
Schiller was still writing with his head down. Suddenly, he heard the sound of the heels of leather shoes coming from far away. He seemed very calm and without a trace of panic. When he felt a figure coming to the table, Schiller picked up the pen without raising his head.
asked: "Name?"
"Lex Luthor."
"Lex...Room 403, Building 2, Boys' Apartment..." Schiller wrote subconsciously. Suddenly, he paused with his pen and raised his head. Sure enough, it was the red-haired Lex who appeared in the darkness.
"Lex?" Schiller looked up at him, then looked down at the form in his hand and said, "Don't tell me, you applied for Gotham University?"
"Actually, I didn't apply for Gotham University. I'm not old enough to go to college, but I donated a lot of money, so..."
Schiller took off his glasses, rubbed his eyebrows, and said, "Can I ask you about your thinking in doing this? Have you never visited your local Metropolitan University?"
"Of course I visited. Just before I came to register, I went to Metropolitan University and found Clark who was studying journalism and communication, and made him make a big fool of himself in front of his classmates."
"Since you have already been to Metropolitan University, on your way from the gate of Gotham University to here, you should leave without looking back. What gave you the courage to come here?"...
The teaching level and hardware facilities of Metropolitan University and Gotham University cannot be said to be similar, but they can only be said to be worlds apart.
"Of course it was you, Professor. To be honest, what happened at the Metropolitan Mayor's Palace and your performance made me interested in the subject of psychology, and among the universities on the entire East Coast, I could find
The only one whose academic level is trustworthy is you."
"Thank you for your compliment." Schiller turned over the form in his hand and said: "You are much more likable than Wayne who just came to report, but I still want to say that you'd better go back to Metropolis, here.
This is not the place you should be."
Lex didn't listen at all. He shrugged and said, "Is there any place I can't go? No."
"Wherever Wayne can come, of course I can, too. I'm no worse than him."
"Seriously, Professor, how is his academic performance? He should be the first in the grade, right? It doesn't matter, I will break his record soon."
Just as Schiller was about to continue talking, Lex picked up his suitcase. Schiller looked at his movements and said, "Don't tell me that you didn't even bring a security guard or a housekeeper, and you also planned to live in a student dormitory.
"
Lex nodded and carried the suitcase over with some difficulty. His body was so thin that the originally small suitcase seemed very heavy.
Schiller shook his head, looked up at the light bulb that had gone out, and then said: "You will pay the price for your confidence today. Those who do not belong to Gotham will eventually leave."
Lex didn't understand Schiller's fatalistic words, he just picked up his suitcase and left.
As he walked through Gotham University's teaching buildings and square, it was already completely bright, but the power had still not been restored, so after Lex entered the dormitory, it was still dark.
What's even more frightening is that Gotham University's dormitory building has 6 floors, Lex lives on the 4th floor, and there is no elevator in this building.
In other words, Lex had to carry his heavy suitcase and climb up to the fourth floor alone.
In fact, this is not difficult for any college student with normal physique. Although it will be more or less tiring, it is not to the point where it is impossible to persevere. But for Lex, this is not the case.
As he said before, he is not old enough to go to college yet. He is three years younger than Bruce is now and has just turned 16 this year. Moreover, because of Lionel's previous control of him and excessive drug use,
As a result, his health was very poor and his physical strength was very poor.
Therefore, it was very difficult for him to drag his suitcase up the stairs. He had to change his position after walking two steps, and it was not by moving, but by dragging. The suitcase hit the edge of the steps, making a dull "bang" sound.
ring.
After dragging the suitcase up one floor, Lex could no longer move it at all. He could only lean on the stairwell to rest, panting, and began to regret why he didn't bring a housekeeper and security guard.
At this moment, a tall figure walked up and saw someone else in the stairwell. He was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Are you a new student this year? What's wrong with you? Do you need help?"
"I..." Lex swallowed, pointed to his suitcase, and said, "It's too heavy, I can't move it, but my dormitory is on the fourth floor..."...
"Oh, that's it. It's okay. I'll help you move it." The tall figure walked out of the darkness. When he came to the stairwell, Lex could see clearly. He was a boy with black hair, tall and handsome.
, and also wore a suit, looking very well-educated.
"My name is Lex, from Metropolis. What's your name?" Lex asked proactively, and the boy said, "You can call me Thomas, Thomas Elliot. You should have heard of the Elliot family."
Bar?"
"I am a foreigner and have never left my own city, so I have never heard of any Gotham family." Lex watched the boy named Thomas pick up his suitcase and then walked up the steps.
Walk.
"What about the Wayne family?" Thomas asked.
"I've heard of it, after all, they are so famous." Lex followed Thomas, and he walked very slowly, as if he had exhausted his energy before, so Thomas had to stand on a higher step to wait for him.
"Oh, then you should also know that Little Wayne goes to school in this school, right? Although he doesn't come to class much, you should be able to meet him recently, because he often lives in the dormitory recently."
"Live in a dormitory? Isn't his family very rich? Why do you want to live in a dormitory?" When they arrived on the third floor, the two rested for a while in the stairwell, and then chatted while resting.
"Don't mention it. His daughter often makes noises at night, making it difficult for him to sleep well, so he can only leave Wayne Manor and go to the dormitory to rest and relax."
Thomas spread his hands and said: "My family and his family are family friends. We have known each other since childhood, but even I don't know when he had his ex-wife and daughter."
Lex frowned, and Thomas saw his reaction and continued: "Of course, I can understand him. A man should have his own space, and he is not the kind of person who revolves around his wife and children.
"
Seeing Lex's frown getting deeper and deeper, Thomas picked up the suitcase again and walked up the steps. Lex followed him, and the two of them reached the fourth floor together.
But the moment they stepped onto the corridor on the fourth floor, a strong smell of blood wafted over.
Through the dim light from the window at the end of the corridor, Lex saw that the door of the fourth room on the right was open, with a pair of legs sticking out, and blood flowing from the door.