In the slums, the 100 dollars that Joker Jack had given to Batman wasn't a key to unlock his shackles, but a hand dragging him into the abyss.
Because only he had the money to rent a house and stay in the slums, so he could witness the deeper darkness.
Arrogant Shiller was aware of everything. He didn't really want to do this, but he had to admit that this was the best way to deal with the Laughing bat. The harm was severe and the insult was great.
One can imagine that one day, the Laughing bat, with an excited heart, would open a new cosmos like unwrapping a new gift.
But in the box were not those suffering from mental illnesses, doubtful and controlling patients with a strong will, but a Batman who laughed and said "Surprise" to him.
This was truly frightening for the bat.
Shiller paused, then shouted, "Bruce's score is as far from graduation as it is from here to the Soviet Union. And yet, he dares to miss a round of internship!"
Victor quickly said, "But fortunately, the cure potion you provided is working. He might be able to catch up with the second round…"
Shiller sighed and said, "It's very likely that he won't catch up, and his score is too far from the graduation line."
Victor understood his implicit meaning, raised his eyebrows and said, "You seem to have started focusing on his scores rather than his academic level."
When Shiller turned to leave, he only left a final sentence: "For a mentally unstable patient with mental illness, we can't ask for more."
Upon finishing, they both left, leaving Bruce alone lying in the bed. His injuries were healing visibly fast, but because there were too many wounds, it would still take some time to recover.
After Shiller and Victor left, Bruce, lying on the hospital bed, gradually increased his breathing rhythm, moved his eyelids, then opened his eyes. But from the look in his eyes, he wasn't just waking up.
After leaving the ward, Shiller went straight back to Gotham University. He was going to pick up Jason, but he was stopped halfway by Captain Cold. Captain Cold said to him:
"We just received news from Central City. They said that the Pied Piper has disappeared for more than two months. According to them, the Pied Piper was also hired by Savage and came to Gotham. With no news for so long, I'm afraid he's in danger. Professor, we hope that you can..."
"Pied Piper?" Shiller said somewhat puzzled. He thought a bit but could only remember him as a villain from Central City.
He thought, what was Savage thinking, going to Central City, with the best public order, to win over the villains there, then send them to Gotham? In this way of thinking, with a high emotional quotient, is counterintuitive and quite creative. In low emotional quotient terms, it was just dumb.
So Shiller asked again: "What can the Pied Piper do?"
"He can control others through his flute sound, but in fact, his nature is not bad. It's because..."
Captain Cold introduced the Pied Piper to Shiller, and then he said: "His level of musical instrument is really good, and his age is not old. I heard that the main campus of Gotham University has a music department. If he starts preparing now, he might be able to get into Gotham University this September…"
Shiller nodded, thinking that Captain Cold made sense.
The villains from Central City weren't all bad. If thrown into Gotham, they would be exceptional moral models. Plus they each had their strengths, gifted and talented. They were excellent sources of students. Enrolling one of them would reduce the risk of delaying graduation by one part. No matter how you calculated it, it was an advantageous deal.
So, after ending a class, Shiller called Cobblepot to find someone in Gotham. As the 'King of Children', Cobblepot was the best choice.
Cobblepot was still in Arkham Sanatorium and did not come out. He decided to avoid the lunatic Batman and even planned to stay there until the end of this year. However, he received a call from Shiller. He frowned but still issued the order to find the person.
According to the physical clues provided by Captain Cold, these children turned Gotham's streets upside down, but they couldn't find any traces of the Pied Piper. In theory, a person with such a characteristic outfit shouldn't be hard to find.
During the search process, one kid learned from the mob members the last place the Pied Piper appeared, which was the street where a record store was located.
After further contact, the information that Cobblepot finally received was that a weird person in a green hood and black tights had appeared at the door of a record store. He was shot by the mob a few times and then disappeared.
When this information reached Shiller, he knew that the Pied Piper could not have escaped by himself. After all, people in Central City don't live in gunfights every day. Once they were shot, they would definitely lose their ability to resist immediately.
As to who saved him, Shiller had a guess. After all, it was Savage who sent the Pied Piper here. If the Pied Piper was in danger, he was sure to ask Savage for help.
Shiller's guess was spot-on. The Pied Piper was indeed saved by Savage. However, it wasn't on the streets. Instead, it was after Batman had captured the Pied Piper on the streets and taken him back to the Batcave that Savage found the Batcave and took the Pied Piper away from there.