"After merging with the Joker to gain greater power and a more solid status, the first thing you do is to create 'mediocrity'."
"Before, there was a significant difference between your verbal logic and behavioral logic, but I didn't notice it because they were not as contradictory. The appearance of sloth, however, felt very discordant to me."
"After you said you were going to merge with the Joker, I imagined many terrifying scenarios, such as you becoming crazier, more arrogant, harder to deal with."
"Yet the result I received, was that I am now faced with a more natural, peaceful, completely non-aggressive personality."
"Don't you think, voluntarily reducing your aggressiveness, completely contradicts the characteristic of arrogance?" Bruce looked into Shiller's eyes and asked, "Aren't you supposed to take pride in your arrogance?"
As soon as Shiller opened his mouth to respond, Bruce continued, "This differs entirely from your previous guidelines. The contradiction brings about a sense of conflict, and I found that rather strange."
"After the appearance of the morbid, this strange feeling became even more pronounced. You and the morbid describe it as a test, the purpose is to test the results of your teaching. But why now?"
"If, as you say, the morbid had notified you a long time ago that there might be such a test, have you ever thought about why he chose this time? Is there any significant change in our relationship? Has your teaching methods altered in any particular way that requires extra examination?"
"Or could it be, that the morbid, more clearly than you, realizes that Shiller needs therapy, that one day you will inevitably be treated. He was waiting for the opportunity when someone who may be capable of treating you would appear, and he disguised all this as a test?"
Bruce blinked, paused, and continued, "This isn't hard to guess. He gave me a lot of clues."
"For instance, he stressed that he watched the building of the tower, helped all personalities grow, and named them. He is your teacher and father. Then why, in the story you told about the arrogance trait being contaminated and split by the Joker's madness, was he not present?"
Shiller was taken aback. He looked at Bruce incredulously and said, "You're not trying to say he deliberately let the Joker's madness contaminate one personality, forcibly creating our destined entanglement, all to allow you to heal me, are you?"
"Are you aware that your perception of me is quite the opposite of the morbid's? You believe that I've no talent for studying psychology, yet the morbid complimented my talent and abilities more than once."
"In reality, I performed quite poorly in this so-called test, at least in the first half."
"The latter half wasn't any better either," Shiller interrupted.
With a helpless smirk, Bruce said, "Fine, the overall performance was terrible. Then where did this praise and appreciation for me come from?"
"As the morbid side opposing the normal, he helped you build the Tower of Thought. Therefore, it's likely that he could observe your every move, even without manifesting in control of the body. He was always observing me."
"When he thought I had accumulated enough knowledge and practice to improve your condition, he told you that the test had begun."
"Indeed, this is a test, but not one to examine your teaching results. It's to determine whether, given the right time and circumstances, I could put into practice a plan to save you."
Shiller moved his umbrella to the middle of his body, resting his hands on the umbrella handle, looking at Bruce with an expression as if to say "I'd like to hear the nonsense you're going to spew next."
"The first step to truly treating you is to resist paternal authority," Bruce spread his hands and said, "The status of a teacher and student is unequal. The teacher has inherent authority. If we cannot remove this authority and level the status difference, you can never truly be influenced."
"The morbid lead me through this step. He created an illusion for me that I had failed the test. I then had to find a way to reverse this situation. This stimulated my competitive spirit, and I threw an unfounded accusation at you."
"In this way, you were no longer a teacher, but a prisoner. The gap caused by status and authority was erased."
"Neither you nor I realized the influence of this authority was deeper than imagined. For a long time, I had no room for independent thought, my talent, and abilities were not utilized."
"Because I didn't understand you, I was always thinking about how to resist authority. My talent, inspiration, and imagination had no place."
"When you left, and this authority was lifted, I almost immediately realized that recognizing, accepting, and understanding my morbid state is the only way to deal with all pathological states."
"And when I truly understand, accept, and understand my pathological state, I also understand your pathological state. I understand a series of seemingly unrelated actions, and what their purpose was."
"He was trying to find a way to treat patients with loneliness other than pretending to be ordinary, pretending to have been cured."
"But being a patient of loneliness itself, he could never escape this disease, tackling all problems from a more objective angle. He probably thought, I could find an answer to this problem."