"People detest authority, especially authority wielded over those close to them. They know you're my student and that we share a relationship as friends, mentor and mentee, even as father and son. That's why they find my actions inexcusable."
"I don't equate arrogance with stupidity, I wouldn't use the word 'stupid' for someone as brilliant as you. I understand that someone who hasn't attempted anything can make mistakes. The speed at which they correct those mistakes and what they learn from it reflects their true talent. Your performance exceeded my expectations, shockingly excellent."
Bruce just looked at his own fingers and didn't respond. After a while, he cleared his throat like a self-effacing student who had scored full marks, and spoke: "However, I don't think the plan is perfect. There were still some accidental mishaps."
"Do you mean, Jimmy's death?"
Bruce nodded in silence, "When I saw Talia and William again, I knew they had killed. At that moment, I guessed that if Shiller had seen them, he would have known they had killed."
"I didn't want the murder they had committed to interfere with my plans. So, I found the body and concealed it."
"This is another lesson I learned." Bruce shook his head, "The tragedy had already happened, I couldn't bring the dead back to life. Letting anger disrupt my rhythm serves no purpose. If I can't set aside my anger, I won't be able to fight against cunning criminals who always remain calm, like you."
Bruce glanced at Shiller, "I admit, during the previous events, my anger about your possible act of cannibalism clouded my judgment, leading to one mistake after another."
"The anger should only surface after the murderer has been punished." Bruce continued.
"So, what was the reason you hid Jimmy's body?" Shiller asked.
"This has nothing to do with Shiller." Bruce responded calmly, "No matter what, Shiller would plead guilty. Even without this body, he would have found another way to make people believe he killed."
"But the Federal Bureau of Investigation doesn't know this. They might fabricate a murder case to frame him for it, with Jimmy as the victim."
"I wanted to introduce some confusion into their plans. For instance, the agreed murder scene was to be on an office balcony, but then the body mysteriously appeared in a storage room."
"Although the result had not changed, these agents are full of doubt. They would suspect that there might be someone trying to sabotage their plans deliberately. Could someone be defying their orders intentionally? Does the culprit have some hidden agenda?"
"A simple alteration can make them suspicious of everyone within their ranks." Bruce looked down and said, "Clearly, their ranks are not solid. At the very least, Talia and William, and the later arriving Davis, seem to stand together but are actually suspicious of each other."
"A simple sowing of discord." Shiller concluded, stating, "Your approach might not be the most sophisticated, but it's the best choice you could make within your moral bounds."
Bruce pressed his lips together, and said, "I know what you mean by 'sophisticated'. You're suggesting to make the crime scene gorier, such as dismembering the body or doing something similar. This would not only create more suspicion among them, but it would also instill fear."
"But I wouldn't do that. Agent Jimmy may not have accomplished much, but he was a responsible agent."
Shiller shook his head, looking into Bruce's eyes, "You should carry through with what you've learned, instead of hesitating. That's a waste of your talent."
But Bruce stood up, his hands resting on the rail's edge; he leaned towards the rail. His deep blue eyes peered through the gaps of the rail at Shiller, and he said:
"No matter how much you flatter or praise me, I know that what allowed me to pass this test wasn't my interpretation of others' inner thoughts, my judgement of factual evidence, but the nature of this thing itself. I'm forcing Professor Shiller to confess."
"I stand in opposition to him, outsmart him, and confront him."
Bruce slowly parted his lips, revealing his teeth like a beast in the wild, staring into Shiller's eyes, and he spoke slowly:
"I am proving that I'm not your tame lamb."
Shiller's mouth remained unmoved, but a hint of a smile curved in his eyes. Suddenly, he slammed the armrest of his chair forcefully, producing a resonating "clang".
With a loud "bang", the door swung open as two agents burst in with their guns drawn.
"Our conversation ends here." Shiller rose from his chair, allowing the agents to unlock his handcuffs.
As Shiller was being escorted past Bruce, he leaned in and whispered into Bruce's ear: "You will come looking for me... lamb."
Bruce clenched his fists, remaining still as he took a deep breath until Davis entered the room. Davis looked towards him and said:
"Alright, Mr. Wayne, this case is over, and everyone has met their rightful end."
Upon seeing Bruce's troubled expression, Davis interpreted it as concern and lowered his voice, whispering:
"If your teacher threatened you in any way, you don't need to worry. No matter how he intimidates you, he probably won't have the chance to carry it out."
"Given the global situation and repeated violent conflicts, in order to maintain the security of the Federation, the Congress has decided to activate early and use Florence Supermax Prison, founded in 1983, near Denver, Colorado."
"It will become the most famous maximum-security prison worldwide. As far as I know, the new method of extreme confinement would have hardcore criminals in cells of less than four square meters, under surveillance for more than 23 hours per day."
"Professor Rodriguez's sentence is 40 years, and based on data from other maximum-security prisons where sensory deprivation is used, 95% of prisoners do not survive for more than three years. The remaining 5% tend to develop severe mental illnesses and lose all their self-care abilities."
At this moment, Bruce's mind was filled with dazzling fireworks as countless fragments of information whizzed past.
He realized that Shiller, the most terrifying man he had ever encountered, had used a scheme once again to trick him into sending his teacher to Hell.
With the unveiling of the truth, under the hazy and dreamy moonlight filtered through the window, Bruce saw Shiller confined behind the iron bars.
Heavy metal mask covered the lower half of Shiller's face, but Bruce could still see the victorious smile in his eyes and hear the deep whisper- "...lamb."
Guilt, it is not only a knife but also a chain leading the lamb.
Suddenly, Bruce felt the room spin.