Inside the Iceberg Restaurant, Cobblepot curiously looked at Shiller sitting opposite of him and asked: "Do you think Bruce can successfully manipulate Talia?"
"There are many ways to manipulate," Shiller said, popping a piece of lettuce into his mouth and swallowing before continuing, "Oswald, you must understand, the vast majority of people in this world will not willingly sit in your therapy office, giving you the opportunity to peer into their inner world. Friends are generally the only ones who allow you to do this, and friends don't need manipulation."
Cobblepot paused for a moment, but still questioned in confusion, "Then how to influence the other party psychologically?"
"You can sometimes take more direct means," Shiller said as if remembering something, "like those Batman is skilled at."
In the restaurant of the Wayne Hotel, after Bruce finished his speech, he fell silent, and Talia didn't receive the long discussion she had expected.
So, she turned her head, letting a strand of black hair cover half of her face, and looked out through the dim glass of the Gothic window. The weather in Gotham was still not entirely clear.
Suddenly, Talia revealed a smile, and turned her face back to Bruce, saying, "Actually, I've never agreed with my father's foolish ideas, including his desire to overturn the world order and control the future of mankind through a ridiculous assassin organization. That's utterly stupid."
"This world belongs to the strong," Talia straightened her body, and said to Bruce, "You could have done it, but you didn't want to, so I had to settle for less."
"But why not give more thought to this issue?" Talia looked at Bruce, "You could choose not to throw the candles into the fireplace. You could let them all stay lit, your family wouldn't be blamed. As long as you make them all shut up."
"Have you never thought about this? Or did someone not want you to think? You thought my evil came from my father, so where does your justice come from?"
"It seems you've investigated me, Miss Talia." Bruce put a piece of salmon covered in sauce into his mouth and stated, "You believe someone influenced my choices, made me follow the rules and live under social norms, not break them."
"Isn't it true? Otherwise, why would you waste your talent?"
Bruce shook his head, "The truth is just the opposite of what you think. What Shiller taught me wasn't justice, but was more like pulling me out of the box of justice and throwing me into an opposite but broader world."
When Talia looked into his blue eyes again, she noticed that the admiration and curiosity had disappeared, leaving only a breathtaking chill.
Talia suddenly realized something. Suddenly, uncontrollable dizziness blurred her vision, she widened her eyes in surprise, and then fell uncontrollably forward.
Just before the falling-forward Talia's eyeball hit the fork, an arm held her up. Bruce, dressed in a neat suit, held Talia as she fainted, carrying her from the chair and walked towards a room on the same floor.
Lex Luther was waiting for him in the room. Bruce placed Talia on a chair in the center of the room. He impassively looked at Talia's beautiful face, and reached out to take a bottle of wine from the adjacent wine cabinet.
"Your evil is shocking," Lex, with his hands on his hips, stared at the unconscious Talia, "Fortunately, I made an excuse to get a new computer to turn off your helicopter engine, otherwise we both would have been tossed into the Gotham River."
"So, we have to move quickly," Bruce said, as he pulled the cork out of the bottle, "If we were caught, we would definitely face execution of justice. Aren't you aware of how the aliens love to interfere?"
Lex sighed deeply, looking at Bruce with a complicated gaze, "You might as well be Batman."
With the cork removed, the strong aroma of the wine filled the room in an instant. Almost at the same time, Bruce and Lex entered Talia's dream.
After parting ways with Cobblepot, Shiller drove back to the Rodrix Manor. Merkel greeted him at the door, and said, "Mr. Wayne and his group just left a few hours ago."
"Did they leave together?"
"No, Mr. Luthor said he was going to the Luthor Corporation Headquarter in Gotham to get a new computer for Mr. Kent, and he left first. Mr. Wayne said he had an appointment and left about ten minutes later, and Mr. Kent went to buy ice cream for Barry and Halley. He should be back soon."
Shiller slightly tilted up his chin, revealing an understanding look. He pushed open the door and walked into the manor. Indeed, he saw Barry and Halley each holding an ice cream with faces full of joy, while Clark stuffed an ice cream cone into his mouth and looked surprised at Shiller's arrival.
With his mouth full, he couldn't speak. Clark kept making gestures with his hand, as if saying, "I came here to look for Bruce, but both of them have left."
Shiller immediately realized something. Bruce was likely to be doing something with Lex and made up an excuse to distract Clark. Their act of distracting Clark almost certainly proved they were up to no good.
Shiller didn't need to guess to know, Bruce was preparing to mix psychology with chemistry this time around.
Shiller sat down across from Clark. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, he suddenly furrowed his brows, sensing some unusual movement in the Dreamworld.
Shiller possessed the authority of the dream god, therefore he could naturally sense some changes in the Dreamworld. He was quite familiar with the dreams of the people around him. Thus, if their dreams had any abnormalities, Shiller would be the first to notice it.
His apparent trouble passed quickly and was replaced by a smile. Clark was confused and wanted to ask what was going on, but he didn't want to disturb Shiller. Just as he hesitated, Shiller took the initiative and asked, "Clark, didn't you bring your dog and cat with you to Gotham this time?"
"Eh, why should I bring them?" Clark replied with bewilderment. "I'm just here to fix a computer. They wouldn't be much help, would they? Plus, what if they break the computer again if I bring them along?"
"So, it was them who messed up your computer before?"
"To be precise, it was Little Kryptonite, but Bat Cat was equally to blame. They ruined my computer while they fought." Clark responded with a look of sorrow.
"Have you ever thought that your dog might be feeling very guilty about this? You rushed here to fix the computer and didn't even give him a chance to apologize. What do you think he would do?"
Clark's mouth flew open in surprise. He quickly looked around and said, "Little Kryptonite didn't follow me here, did he?"
"He flew to Gotham, but since he doesn't know where you are, and he didn't dare to make a big fuss, Bat Cat came up with a good idea. They decided to look for you in the Dreamworld."
Shiller's smile never left his face as he took a napkin from Merkel and wiped the food off the faces of Barry and Halley. However, his gaze seemed somewhat unfocused, as if his attention was elsewhere. Not until he felt Clark's gaze on him, did he react and say: "Unfortunately, two people in Gotham are planning to do wrong, and just like you, your dog is brave and righteous."
Clark took off with a whoosh.
When he arrived at Wayne Hotel, Little Kryptonite was still busily chasing Bruce and Lex Luther around. Not in the Dreamworld, but in the real world.
Little Kryptonite and Bat Cat had decided to dream-walk in Gotham as part of their search for Clark. Their sojourn placed them very close to the dreams of the Gothamites when Lex Luther and Bruce were trying to probe Talia's subconscious through the Dreamworld, and Little Kryptonite got them right-handed.
No one can count on a dog's worldview being very complex. Little Kryptonite's moral values were mostly from Clark. So, when these two men treaded stealthily, intending to trespass into a woman's conscious world, what good could they possibly be up to?
Little Kryptonite instantly lay down an attack. Bruce and Lex Luther, who never expected to be bitten by a dog while minding their business in the Dreamworld, were taken aback.
Upon seeing who was attacking them, they quickly returned to the real world knowing that if the helicopter engine's dog has arrived, can the helicopter engine itself be far behind?
When Clarke arrives and finds them with an unconscious woman in a room that's filled with the scent of alcohol, they simply won't be able to explain things. Clark would definitely literally throw both of them into the Gotham River if he saw them like that.
Luckily, the time lag caused by Shiller's question gave Bruce and Lex Luther a chance to move Talia to another room. However, back in the real world, they had Little Kryptonite to contend with. As soon as Clark arrived, he saw the chaotic pursuit of Bruce and Lex Luther.
Let's set aside briefly how the three ended up resolving this misunderstanding. Over here, Talia had already awakened. Bruce and Lex Luther were preoccupied by Clark, giving Talia an opportunity to escape.
While running, Talia roared in her mind — isn't Batman supposed to be a Justice Messenger? Damn it, he's a hooligan!!!
Talia, also known as the Devil's daughter, was not to be trifled with. Basically, she's as crazy as any Gothamite. She originally sought out Bruce for a love affair and flirtation, and they indeed had many deep conversations about life. But in the end, it was still all a trap. How could Talia not be angry?
Angry enough to combust, Talia didn't choose to leave Gotham immediately, instead she seized the opportunity while Bruce and Lex Luther had disappeared for some reason, returned to the Wayne Hotel, and successfully found a wine bottle cork in the room that Bruce had taken her to.
Without taking a closer sniff, Talia was able to identify that the scent of the liquid on the cork was exactly the same as the liquid in the Dionysium pool beneath the Gotham Cathedral.
In an instant, Talia's attention turned to Shiller.
So, was she actually set up by this mentor-student duo?! To be precise, was she planned to be duped by a student arranged by his teacher?! That time when Shiller stepped back assisting her in escaping was because a bigger trap was awaiting her?!
Talia realized that she had not only been played by the mentor-student duo but they had individually tricked her once too. Her rage exploded, and without a second thought, she dashed towards Rodriguez Manor.
In her blazing rage, Talia did not notice that the manor's butler, who often appeared around the manor, was now cowering in his room. The two children, who were usually gallivanting and shouting in the garden, were now obediently squatting in the study doing their homework.
And there, in the hall checking the wine cabinet, was the figure of a man in a ochre-colored three-piece suit with a dark purple tie. The edge of his cufflinks, adorned with rubies, gleamed brightly.