When Schiller and Gordon walked into the room, the theater owner was still struggling. He looked at the expressionless Bruce in disbelief and said, "Mr. Wayne, you must have misunderstood something, let me go!"
"
Bruce let go of his arms and stood up. At that moment, the troupe owner turned around and wanted to run away.
Schiller picked up the umbrella, and the special device at the tip of the umbrella emitted a faint blue light. With a "swish", an ice pick hit the troupe owner, freezing him into an ice sculpture.
This was the first time that Schiller used the freezing gun that Peter installed on his umbrella. Now it seems that the effect is good. Although the troupe owner cannot move, his voice can still be heard from the ice sculpture.
Bruce walked over and picked up the long sword. It was wrapped with a performance costume. The blood stains on the sword's body had been wiped off, but perhaps because of the haste, there were still traces of blood on the joint between the hilt and the sword's body.
Very obvious blood stains.
At this point, the theater owner finally had no way to quibble anymore. After all, no matter which country's law, the murder weapon is the most important physical evidence, and the murder weapon was seen in his hand by three witnesses, one of whom was Bruce Wayne.
Well, no matter what, he has no room for escape.
"Tell me, Mr. Andover, why did you kill Miss Vicky, and how did you commit the crime?" Schiller tapped the ice with the tip of his umbrella.
The troupe owner gritted his teeth and said: "It's all that ***!! That damn ***! Not only did she want to leave, she also took Alex with her! She was bewitched to pursue some movie dream! Damn it!
movie dream!!”
"I know that she hooked up with a rich man. The rich man said that he would make a movie for him with her as the heroine. She actually believed this idiot!!!"
"If I hadn't overheard her talking to Alex, I wouldn't have known she was having such a stupid daydream! And that stupid Alex, he actually listened to Vicki's words,
Want to leave the troupe with her?!"
"They never thought that it was me who single-handedly made them famous! Want to leave the troupe? Dream on!"
The troupe owner looked ferocious. Gordon walked up to him with all his notebooks and asked him: "How did you kill Vicky?"
"Of course it's with that sword..." The troupe boss snorted and said, "I originally built a new armor for Alex. I hope this new image will make him more popular. Since both of them are
If you don’t want to stay, then let’s go to hell together!”
Gordon nodded and did not continue to ask further questions. After all, as a troupe owner, it was too easy to enter the prop room in advance and take out a long sword.
"Did you bribe the prop master Jasmine?" Gordon asked again.
"I didn't bribe her. I told her that she was jealous of Vicky. I said I wanted to teach Vicky a lesson and she needed her cooperation. She immediately agreed." The owner of the troupe snorted contemptuously and said: "That ugly monster
She will never be able to stand on the front desk, she should go to jail!"
Before Gordon could ask, the troupe owner continued: "Originally, I would put this sword in Alex's lounge to threaten him and perform the subsequent performances well. Don't even think about leaving the troupe, otherwise
I'll let him go to jail."
"But who knew, I just pulled out the sword, and I don't know who climbed in through the window!" The troupe owner gritted his teeth and said, "I had to carry the sword and run away in panic, but I just ran to the second floor.
, I met the group of visitors walking up, and I could only hide in this room in a hurry..."
"So, when we turned our attention to the prop master Jasmine, you hurried over to transfer the murder weapon..." Schiller shook his head and said: "You will be fooled by such a simple trap. You are better than you."
The idiot you talk about is even stupider."
Ten minutes later, on the roof of the Gotham Theater, the light of police car lights shone on the faces of Bruce and Schiller. Schiller turned to look at Bruce and said: "Your performance today really surprised me. If
It's the old Bruce Wayne, he can't do anything."
Bruce was silent, watching Gordon put the troupe's boss into the police car, and he said, "I'm going to accompany Alfred."
Then he turned around and left. Schiller stood on the roof of the Grand Theater, looking at the still gloomy night in Gotham. He knew that as the lights in Gotham became brighter and brighter, the pitch-black bat would gradually become stained with different colors.
s color.
This inspiring bat who wants to become the God of Gotham will soon understand that God does not love the world, and the world will not love God. God sends a flood to destroy the world, but people like to watch God fall. The love between them
There is no common ground, but the hatred goes in both directions and lasts very long.
Unconsciously, Batman can no longer be a lonely and brilliant god, because there are always people in this world who are willing to accept his imperfections, willing to forgive him again and again, and take care of those things that he values incomparably.
, as a normal and trivial matter.
When a person is always tolerated, he will become particularly soft-hearted.
Sitting in front of Alfred's hospital bed, Bruce felt the blood in his heart gradually flowing out like an ebbing tide. After a while, Alfred woke up from his sleep. When he saw Bruce
, he smiled.
Bruce poured him a glass of water, adjusted the hospital bed, and asked him to sit up. Alfred coughed twice, but he felt much better after drinking a sip of water.
Bruce looked at him and asked, "Don't you feel disappointed?"
"What are you disappointed about?" Alfred asked him.
Bruce paused and said: "All this I did, all this Bruce Wayne did..."
Alfred shook his head and said: "Why am I disappointed? A child who has not been protected by his parents does not seek revenge on the society because of resentment and anger, does not appear unreasonable and arrogant because of lack of education, does not appear unreasonable because of no one
I will give up on myself and damage my body due to supervision, what else can I pray for?"
"You don't want me..." Bruce lowered his head and took a deep breath and said, "Don't you want me to take revenge? To take revenge on those criminals?"
"No...Bruce." Alfred called his name for the first time, which made Bruce's fingertips tremble. He heard Alfred say: "I hope you can forget this forever,
But unfortunately, I can’t do it.”
"If I were someone like Professor Schiller, I would definitely try my best to make you forget your life experience and never mention that tragedy again. It was the source of all pain. You shouldn't have to endure this.
"
"Don't you think. Don't you think I can be a hero? Don't you think I can save the world?" Bruce asked, staring into Alfred's eyes.
"Perhaps you know that with such passion, I once embarked on the road to save the world. On this road, I did not make it to the end. I was a cowardly deserter and a loser who gave up resistance."
Bruce wanted to interrupt what he was saying, but he heard that Alfred's tone had always been calm, without sadness or excitement, so he could only continue to listen.
"But to this day, I still don't regret this experience."
"So, if I want you to save the world and become a hero, it's not because I want to see the world saved."
"But because I hope that when you walk on this road, you can meet more friends who have the same great ideals and like-minded goals. I hope that after you walk on this road, you can tell your children about that glorious period.
years."
"But if, in the end, you have no relatives, no lovers, no friends, then why are you doing all this?"
"If a world would allow a hero to be left alone with his wife and children separated, is it really necessary to be saved?"
"Then you...why did you teach me so many skills? Fighting, reconnaissance, intelligence...don't you want me to use these skills to save the world?" Bruce asked.
Alfred shook his head and said: "If I really caused you such an illusion, then I'm sorry. I just...at that time, I just felt empty and wanted to find something to do."
Bruce thought about the flying snow he saw in the metropolis, and he once thought about whether his butler had seen bigger and more beautiful snow in that northern country.
Now, he got a definite answer, because if he hadn't seen more magnificent scenery, why would the days in the gorgeous Wayne Manor seem so mediocre, boring and empty?
Bruce took a deep breath, feeling that this was all a joke.
From beginning to end, except for himself,
No one expected him to do anything.
No one has any expectations for him beyond ordinary people, and the missions he has given himself, the heavy burden on his shoulders, and the illusion of high expectations are all just a dream.
Bruce reached out his hands to cover his face. Today, for the first time, he took some actions as Bruce.
He set a trap for the troupe owner. First, he used Wayne's identity to put pressure on him, making him panic and look for a scapegoat. Then he cooperated with Schiller and deliberately transferred the biggest suspicion to the prop master so that the troupe owner could
Relax your vigilance.
Then he deliberately picked up the murder weapon to break the troupe owner's psychological defense. Finally, he pretended to leave, waited in another room, followed the troupe owner, and subdued him at the first scene when he handled the murder weapon, and stole the goods.
If it were Batman, what would he do?
But maybe Gordon wouldn't count on him and he would eventually call Schiller because the professor seemed more experienced.
This made Bruce start to think about whether his looming hostility towards Schiller came from being vigilant and wary of his possible crimes, or from the sense of crisis that his identity, ability and existence were replaced?
Bruce recalled the scene when he first met Schiller in the alleys of Gotham. At that time, Bruce was investigating the missing persons case in the Mawson neighborhood, and Schiller claimed that he was the same.
At that moment, was his suspicion of Schiller that he was the murderer, or was it a sense of crisis that his perfect identity might be replaced?
Bruce felt that he could not find an answer, but he felt that it was impossible for him to ask Schiller. There was no reason, he just didn't want to do it.
But just because he didn't go to find Schiller didn't mean that Schiller wouldn't come to him. When the door of the ward rang, Bruce turned around and saw a figure holding an umbrella appearing outside the door.
Bruce stood up and looked at Schiller. Schiller tapped the ground with the tip of his umbrella and said, "I forgot to ask you something before."
"Bruce, do you know how long it has been since you handed in your homework? Do you know that the papers and grades you owe me now are enough for a freshman to graduate from school?"
Just as Bruce was about to speak, Schiller picked up his umbrella and pointed at him and said: "Listen, Bruce Wayne, this is an ultimatum. If you can't hand in all the papers you owe tomorrow morning, I will publish it in the newspaper immediately.
Tell all the citizens of Gotham that the famous Batman doesn’t do his homework!”
"I'll say it one last time. Tomorrow morning, I want to see all my homework on my desk!"
Looking at Schiller's leaving figure, Bruce closed his eyes and sighed, thinking to himself.
No, not everyone has expectations for him that are beyond ordinary people.
At least, the professor thought, he had eight hands.