"It's over, it's over, it's over, it's over, it's over, it's over, it's over!!!"
Frantically dropping the surgical knife, Harley yelled, "We're done for!! I haven't even written the summary!! It's all your fault, without both of you messing around, I would have finished ages ago!!"
"Harley, are you in there? May I come in? I heard from the people on the first floor that you were in this room..."
"Oh, hold on a minute, I'm changing clothes!"
Harley hastily packed up her toolkit, sternly waving at the two others. Whispering, she urged, "Quick, quick, quick, hide! If he finds you, you're doomed!"
"Isn't Bruce Wayne... I mean, isn't he just Gotham's famous playboy? Why should we be scared of him?"
Red Hood, walking backward into the closet with Harley pushing him and continually rebutting, was forcefully shoved into the closet by Harley. Gazing at him wide-eyed, she exclaimed, "Are you serious?! He singlehandedly built this insane asylum!"
Red Robin gasped and was helped into the closet by Harley. Through the slit in the closet door, they watched Harley open the door as Bruce Wayne appeared on the other side.
Closing the door behind him, Bruce said, "I should have come earlier, but I had to pick up a letter from the office upstairs. I'll check on your progress and leave. Someone is waiting for me in the office."
Harley breathed a sigh of relief instantly. Since Bruce seemed to be in a hurry, he certainly wouldn't have time to review the written conclusion. Thankfully, she had only not written the summary as she had completed the practical part.
Bruce and Harley walked to the operating table. Bruce didn't change into scrubs but put on a pair of gloves.
He smoothly reached out to move aside the sliced open abdominal skin and unnecessary organs, pinching hold of veins and nerves, checking the status of the incision, his gaze calm and academically focused.
Then, reaching out to squeeze the dissected object's arm muscle, he looked up at Harley and said, "You didn't fully defrost him?"
"Err, the defrosting room downstairs was full, so I had to bring it up here to defrost naturally. But I didn't anticipate it defrosting so slowly. I was eager to do my homework, so I just operated."
Bruce's face clearly showed dissatisfaction. Even though this was not related to them, the two Robins' hearts rose to their throats as if returning to the times when they were awaiting Batman's reviews after their missions.
"Next time, remember to fully defrost before operating. However, this is also due to my lack of consideration. The defrosting room is too small. What do you think about adding another one in the basement?"
"Wouldn't the basement be a little far?" While putting away her surgical tools, Harley spoke, "Although it's closer to the cold storage, moving the defrosted corpses up here is still a hassle."
"What if we install a direct elevator?"
"Then there would be no problem. Must be nice to be rich."
"How is the limb slicing going?"
"It's here, let me show you."
Harley scampered off to the storeroom, then returned with a tray in hand. Bruce inspected the limb slices on it, then began explaining to Harley how to dissect nerves while holding one depicting the elbow structure.
Red Hood in the closet gave Red Robin a gesture, "I told you he's crazy, right?"
"Couldn't agree more." Red Robin vigorously nodded, gesturing in response.
But suddenly, Bruce's voice came from outside the closet, "I noticed there are bloodstains on that wall. What happened?"
Red Robin's heart tightened instantly. Through the dim light peeking through the closet slit, he noticed Bruce turning his head to look at where he had sat earlier. It must be a small amount of blood left behind when Harley went to get the bullet that she hadn't had time to clean up.
"Oh, that was when I accidentally dripped some while checking the storeroom inventory with my surgical knife in hand," Harley explained.
Red Robin's hanging heart was put to rest.
"Why did you take the first aid kit there?" Bruce asked.
Red Hood's heart tightened again.
"I thought I left my gloves in there, so I went to rummage through it, but couldn't find them. I haven't had the chance to put it back yet."
Red Hood's hanging heart was put to rest again.
Bruce kept his tone steady, as though he was just casually asking. But combined with the room's horrific state of blood and bodies, his normal tone seemed increasingly abnormal, even spine-chilling.
About ten minutes later, Bruce finally finished his lecture and checked the homework. As he turned to leave, the two people emerging from the closet resembled limp noodles.
Red Hood sat down flat on the floor, panting heavily, "I was scared to death, he was so close to discovering us!"
Red Robin was somewhat more clear-headed and reflected, "Why are we so afraid of him? We've never been as scared of Batman!"
"How should I know? When we were in that closet, you were shaking worse than I was!"
"I just thought him reaching into the abdomen to inspect the incision was so sinister!" Red Robin said in a tone of desperate self-abandonment. "I can't describe it, but the way he was dissecting the bodies made me feel that, if he had discovered us, we would be the ones lying on the dissecting table!"
Red Hood nodded vehemently to affirm this thought.
They had never seen such a sight with Batman. Batman didn't kill. He didn't expose them to bodies, much less let them see him dissecting one.
While they knew all of Bruce's actions were purely for medical research purposes and no way near as malicious as some serial killer who toyed with bodies, they couldn't help but link the two, thus giving rise to a totally different kind of fear from their contradictory feelings.
Humans invariably panic or get emotional in situations beyond their normal comprehension. If they remain calm in a certain situation, it means they find it acceptable and familiar - Bruce was just too calm.
This caused the two imaginative Robins to come up with some terrifying notions. Reason was telling them it was impossible, but they didn't have much reason left at this point.
Red Robin looked at Harley and asked tentatively, "Did you say this mental hospital was funded by Bruce Wayne?"
"More than that. The mental hospital was designed by him personally. From the architectural structure to the selection of materials, everything was decided by him... Of course, the operations model was also set up by him."
"So getting corpses from the mob is also..."
Harley nodded and said, "Who else could have such connections other than Wayne?"
Upon saying this, she led them to a window where she flung open the curtain, revealing an endless set of structures throughout the island to Red Robin and Red Hood.
Besides the building they were in, there were at least a dozen other buildings scattered all over the island which each looked different from the rest, making it look like an independent world with comprehensive facilities.
Without waiting for a question, Harley began her explanation.
"This building we're in is the standard ward of Arkham Mental Hospital. There are a total of seven above and below ground floors, including more than six hundred standard wards and over a hundred special care wards, as well as a two-floor patient activity center. The basement, on the other hand, is a morgue."
"As you can see, the people living here are terrifying serial killers, although they're not all that scary. Look over there. The building with the semi-circular rooftop and helipad is the sanatorium."
"The sanatorium is full of social luminaries, including scholars, millionaires, and even nobles."
"They don't always live here, only coming over at the invitation of the professor to participate in academic conferences or to vacation for a week or two in the late fall."
"Of course, they also share similar small hobbies as the patients in the standard wards. The higher the floor, the higher the class – in terms of social status and expertise. I heard that a certain Mr. Cannibal, who lives on the top floor, is a count."
Harley also briefly introduces some aspects of life in the Arkham Mental Hospital, including the dining and activity areas and conference center.
Meanwhile, Red Robin was gazing into the distance and seeing that the whole island had, in fact, more architectural circles around it, with about three or four other clusters of buildings in the far distance.
"Over there," Harley said, pointing to a square of buildings in the distance, "Do you see the separate bridge leading to those buildings in the North District? That's where the Gotham mob bosses hang out."
Red Hood and Red Robin looked out the window and saw an area of brightly lit buildings, full of towers and neon lights. Even in the middle of the night, spotlights were illuminating the dark sky.
"The area has mansions, dance halls, casinos, bars, etc. needed for the mob bosses' social life. All of 'The Twelve Families' and mob bosses exchange information and intelligence there. All their collaboration and deals have been made there since the beginning of this year."
"And over there..." Harley changed direction, and Red Hood and Red Robin looked in her indicated direction.
There was a somewhat quiet and short circular complex nestled in the densest forest on the whole island. Covered by lush vegetation, it was somewhat hard to make out the specifics, but they could clearly see a moderately large airport in the center.
"That's the current largest and most luxurious gathering spot in the world for mercenaries, where you can find any publicly available mercenary. Even if they're not there, there are people who can get in touch with them."
"The way to escape here, as I was going to tell you, is to simply call for a mercenary to escort you out. It's simple, convenient, and efficient. In return for you helping me finish my homework in time, I'll foot the bill this time."
Red Hood and Red Robin glanced at each other, and Red Hood licked his lips and said, "We will pay you back."
"Thank you for aiding us, miss. Helping you with your homework was something we should have done. It would have been better if the process was less thrilling," Red Robin smiled and said to Harley, "We owe you for this. Before we leave, we're all at your service."
Harley waved her hands in a rather righteous manner and said, "Alright, I didn't expect you to be so understanding. Looks like I'm really going to have to shell out some money this time."
"Just wait. I'll definitely call a professional for you!"
Three minutes later, a figure appeared on the rooftop of the Arkham Mental Hospital. Five minutes later, two neat screams rang out from the building.
"Deathstroke??!!!"