Shiller also looked up, glanced around the room's ceiling, then turned his gaze to Harley's face, squinting, he said, "You are saying...this house is yours? You own a building in the heart of Gotham's business center???"
Harley gently shook her head, standing still; she stepped backward, retreating beyond the threshold, motioning for Shiller to follow. Shiller followed in confusion and crossed the threshold, too.
Harley stepped to the left and pointed towards the street, saying, "This entire street, is mine!"
Shiller's eyes widened slowly. He lowered his gaze to Harley's face, saying incredulously, "Gordon said you've inherited a fortune, but don't tell me, it's such a huge inheritance!?"
Harley chuckled and replied, "My parents hardly had such capabilities; they were just small-time traders and only left me with a few somewhat remote stores and just enough money for me to lead a middle-class life."
Harley continued, "However, I was not interested in business so I sold those shops. I added that money to buy a decent apartment in the slums. After only two months, the wealthy elites started renovating the place… Yes, that place is called Living Hell."
"When they wanted to renovate, I was the first to respond. To set an example for others, considering the actual usage area, they compensated me with a property in a better location."
"Soon, mobs began frenziedly building cold storages. It seemed that where my property was located was particularly suitable for building cold storages. Some mobs wanted to get rid of me. However, the Falcone Family intervened, used me as a positive example and bought that plot of land for five times the price."
"I told them I didn't want cash. They gave me three buildings in even better locations. As a result, when Wayne Enterprises' second phase of construction came around, my property was included in the prospect. I then traded it for commercial space on a street in the East District."
"Later, a foreign tycoon, called 'the Great King,' said my street had strategic significance. He bought it for around five or six times the price, so I added a little more money and bought a street in the city center..."
Shiller stared, wide-eyed at Harley. Harley looked up at him, giving a cynical smile and said, "Jealous, aren't you, loser?"
"Who called me a loser?" Shiller reached out and rubbed Harley's head, stopping her from walking into the shop. He said, "Alright, Miss Landlord, I'll pay my rent on time. You should go back to work at the hospital."
Harley stood there, sighing heavily. She then looked at Shiller and asked, "You think I care about the rent? Shouldn't I be worried that this house might not make it through tomorrow?"
"No way, I must stay here to watch it." Harley lifted her leg to step inside, saying as she walked, "To prevent you from attracting explosions, alien invasions, or disasters like Batman..."
Before Shiller could respond, Harley held up two fingers and said, "Now, you have two choices. Either I stay here and watch my house; or once there's any damage to this house, you pay me ten times in compensation..."
Shiller looked helplessly at Harley. He felt that the current Harley Quinzel was just a child, not a crazy Harley Quinn she appeared to be, and is quite normal at that.
Some might say, how could she be normal for killing so many people at such a young age. She's even planning to become a serial killer and hangs around with a bunch of lunatics, isn't that crazy enough?
However, this is Gotham City. The standard of normalcy here is different from other places. Only a few kids here go to school and study the conventional way. Most are hanging out with mobs and living the brutal life on the streets. The King of Children has quite a few lives on his hands.
Harley kills in order to protect her inheritance. She doesn't actively seek out to kill, but when someone tries to harm her, she kills them off. She doesn't create mass explosions or indulge in carnage. She seeks revenge precisely and does not involve innocent people. She almost epitomizes the textbook example of justifiable self-defense in Gotham.
That's probably why Gordon is looking forward to Harley walking down the righteous path. Having seen all sorts of insanity in Gotham, Harley could be considered a well-behaved girl in her class.
Having thought of this, Shiller felt even more strongly that Harley should not stay here. After all, there is a bunch of serial killers targeting him. What if Harley gets influenced and back to being Harley Quinn, wouldn't that be leading astray the youth?
Shiller would not think that the life of Harley Quinn would be better than the current Harley Quinzel. Harley Quinzel now has a huge fortune, a brilliant mind, a healthy body, and a budding beauty. She has a bright future ahead; why would she want to be a lunatic?
Shiller bent down, putting one hand on Harley's shoulder, looking into her eyes, he said, "I promise I'll try my best not to damage your property. But if I do, I will repair everything exactly as it was or compensate you based on the cost price. So, you can't stay here..."
Harley looked into Shiller's clear eyes. She took a step back and said, "...you are not the professor."
Shiller was slightly taken aback, but Harley, focusing on Shiller's eyes, said, "You have multiple personalities, right?"
"The previous paper was not written by you." Harley was affirmative, "The one who attracted me is not you; you are not like me; you are completely different from him..."
Shiller slightly tilted his head; he was surprised. Harley was the first one to notice his Dissociative Identity Disorder only on their second encounter.
"Through that professor's paper, I can see what kind of a man he is; disciplined, indifferent, obsessive about cleanliness and, most significantly, the argument he puts forward, I could tell that he is a rather arrogant man."
Shiller's pupils suddenly contracted because he recalled a piece of information: for a long time in the past, he was also the Joker.
If time is extrapolated, Joker Shiller should be born earlier than Joker Jack. At the time Shiller met Bruce, Bruce was not fully Batman yet and, at that very time, Shiller had already been selected by the Joker.
Those chosen by Batman naturally become the Joker, hence, Shiller became a Joker.
And when Batman truly comes to life, a Joker is born as well, and so, Jack became the Joker.
This led to the existence of two Jokers in Gotham City of this universe.
It is because these two Jokers share the responsibility of being the Joker that neither of them is particularly strong.
The Joker persona in Shiller's Tower of Thought and Joker Jack are both quite mild compared to some of the Jokers in other universes, perhaps because this role is shared by two souls.
Unfortunately, every Joker attracts a Harley Quinn, it follows the same principle as Batman's Joker aggregation law.
Each mad Joker with their rambunctious and chaotic souls would attract a woman and plunge her into the abyss of madness.
As Shiller was the first Joker to appear, Harley Quinn, who was destined to be, naturally pursued Shiller first.
The silver lining, however, was the large age difference between Shiller and Harley. When Shiller was still the Joker, Harley hadn't grown up yet. And now, when Harley was of age to take the stage, the Joker's soul within Shiller had merged with his arrogance, and he was no longer an independent Joker.
Shiller speculated that possibly, this was why the Harley Quinzel in front of him seemed reasonably sane.
Since Harley was attracted by Joker Shiller, her descent into madness might not be the same as in the comics.
Harley just mentioned that she read an essay written by Arrogant Schiller. This essay very likely triggered Harley's descent into madness.
If arrogance and the Joker had not merged, Harley could have been infected by the madness due to reading this paper, and thus turned into the mad Harley Quinn.
But this was the latest essay from Arrogant Schiller, by then, he had already begun fusing with the Joker.
Therefore, this essay didn't influence Harley as much, so the girl Shiller now encountered was still relatively normal. She wasn't a mad woman with messy colored hair and a slashed mouth.
Next, what Harley said confirmed Shiller's speculations, because she gave a fanatical expression and spoke rapidly:
"This paper is a masterpiece! It's a monumental work on the relationship between psychology and criminology! You have no idea how many times I've read it! I'm deeply fascinated by the ideas in it. No matter what the cost, I have to meet the author!"
Harley's gaze started to turn dreamy as if she was lost in some of her imaginations. She said:
"No one could understand him like I do. I have amazing insights about his theories. I have to let him know that the crazy ideas swarming in my brain will come true in a spectacular way. It will be the grandest thing I've ever done…"
"Calm down, Harley." Shiller inhaled deeply, soothing Harley's overly excited emotions, then he said: "Do you still feel the same way? Can't wait to meet this author, and are willing to pay any price?"
After a pause, Harley's expression froze for a second, and she twisted her lower lip to one side, her face a mix of complex emotions. Then she said, "…I don't know."
"I feel like I'm being torn apart. I know he is Shiller Rodriguez. I can find him and enact the crazy imaginations from my brain. But, on the other hand, it seems pointless, I don't know what I'm doing..."
Shiller sighed in relief. It seemed his inference was correct. The merging action of Shiller and the Joker interrupted Harley's madness. It turned her mad, but not entirely.
At this moment, Harley was clutching her hair, screaming incredulously: "What am I doing? Why am I here?! No, wait, let me see him… Let me see him now!!"
Shiller held down Harley's shoulders, looked into her eyes until she calmed down, then he spoke, "Alright, you can stay here and look after your house, but you need to take care of tidying up the books, and undergo regular mental health checks…"
"I'm not insane! Why should I..." Seeing Shiller's disapproving look, Harley pursed her lips and sighed. Then she said:
"Alright, but you must promise that when he comes back, you'll let me see him right away…"
"Rest assured…"
After seeing Harley happily walked into the house as she received confirmation, Shiller added in a lower voice:
"But by then, you may not want to see him anymore."