"Dear citizens, welcome to today's Gotham Day, I'm your old friend Felida Rodaz, and this is David Boer."
"Before we broadcast today's news...yes, we are going to deliver that exciting news, at exactly 7 pm tomorrow night, the opening ceremony of the Gotham Music Festival will be held grandly in the Gotham Central Square. We have invited well-known musicians from all walks of life, countless music fans have heard the news and have come to join the excitement, the heavyweight guests attending include..."
"Let us thank the Gotham City government and Wayne Enterprises for their strong support of this event, and also sincerely thank the cooperation of our citizens. At 7 pm tomorrow, Gotham Day will broadcast the music festival live for you, please remember to watch..."
With a click, the TV was turned off.
The killer of the summer in Gotham was at large for longer than expected, this year's weather was particularly hot, and autumn didn't arrive until October.
But the late summer and early autumn were still the best times of the year. Just after the temperature had dropped, Gotham had become a dazzling golden city.
At the desk in the Gotham University Office, Victor withdrew his gaze from the newly yellowed ginkgo tree and picked up a thesis from the edge of Shiller's desk.
Originally, he just skimmed it with no intention to read through, but when he saw the topic, he stopped and raised his eyebrows in surprise, saying, "Social engineering? Have you finally given up on teaching them to be mediums?"
"It's Psychoanalysis Method," Shiller, who was grading assignments without lifting his head, said, "I'm also a professor at the Magic Academy, which is much more difficult than teaching people to be mediums."
Victor's eyes widened slightly again, showing some surprise. Shiller put a freshly graded assignment aside and looked at Victor, asking, "What about Cobblepot? Is he in the lab?"
"No, the opening ceremony is tomorrow. Two hours ago, he was checking the security details with James in the Gotham Scenic Area. What do you need him for?"
"Ms. Li from the administration office of Gotham University thinks we could give the students a few days off so they can go and enjoy themselves at the music festival."
"So you're hoping that Cobblepot will tell her it's not appropriate to give university students a vacation now?"
"Why would you think that?" The tip of Shiller's pen paused.
"You don't like students taking holidays," Victor said, "You think they have too many holidays, and they never complete their assignments properly during holidays."
"That's true, but it doesn't mean I dislike students taking holidays. When they go home, I can finally have some leisure time. This is the only leisure time, apart from my annual leave, that I can enjoy."
"But if the holiday is too long, you have to grade more assignments." Victor looked down at the desk and said, "Every time I see the assignments of your students, I feel extremely fortunate that I have never made a mistake when making important life decisions. I once thought about studying humanities."
"Then you are smart and lucky," Shiller switched to the next thesis and said, "You are not suitable for studying humanities."
Victor sighed helplessly and said, "So do you really want to give them a vacation?"
Shiller's movements paused for a moment, then he tidied the papers on the desk, tapped them lightly on the desk to align the edges, put them on the right side of the file cabinet, sat back in his chair, holding the two ends of the pen, and said.
"You don't realize what a serious topic we are discussing."
"I'd like to know more."
"After security and weather conditions in Gotham improved, Gotham University's ranking has risen, surpassing the University of California, Santiago, and becoming the 61st in the QS rankings."
"At the same time, the football team achieved the best results in history, the cheerleading team was becoming more and more famous, the increase in the number of applicants made the academic affairs office decide to expand the intake. In the campus-wide headcount a month ago, we had 8,000 undergraduates and more than 16,000 graduate and doctoral students."
Victor's eyes widened in shock. He said, "We've already surpassed Harvard University."
"But we are far from the University of California," Shiller shook his head and said, "It seems that many people think we can open branches all over America like the University of California."
"Please, no." Victor shivered and said, "I can't imagine any school bearing the name of Gotham University branch. It sounds like it greatly increases the local crime rate."
"That's why you are not suitable for studying humanities."
"So what do you usually say?"
"If Gotham University opens a branch locally, they would have many outstanding alumni in law, finance, and journalism, they would also have the opportunity to learn philosophy, literature, history, fine arts, and other arts alongside many talented individuals. It would even provide many employment opportunities in investigative studies, criminology, and forensic science."
"I'm really glad I didn't study humanities."
"We also have a vocational technical school with more than 1,000 students. The students here are younger, usually around 16."
"So what does the number mean?"
"Now we have nearly 20,000 students. If we give them a break, obviously nobody would want to miss out on the fun."
"Isn't that great?"
Shiller twisted the pen in his hand and said, "Are you sure? 20,000 teenagers between the ages of 18 and 25 concentrating on the same event in one day, how many cases of explosions, arson, flooding, streaking, drug abuse, and AIDS do you think we will have to deal with afterward?"
Victor fell off his stool with a thump. He stood up shakily with both hands on the table and said, "I'll go find Cobblepot now."
"Don't rush yet." Shiller stopped him again and said, "When you feel scared about this, many people feel the same way, except for those clueless tourists."
Victor opened his mouth slightly, and after thinking for a while, he said, "Makes sense. Once the mob bosses learn that their unruly kids are going to attend this event with their classmates, they will definitely maintain order."
"That's not what I mean." Shiller shook his head again and said, "Even without considering this, the mob won't miss the opportunity to make money. They won't add chaos. What I'm referring to are the more unstable factors."
Victor understood. He asked, "The crazy people with abnormal minds?"
"They understand the lethality of teenagers better than anyone else," Shiller replied. "This kind of completely irrational chaos is also their deadly threat. So, if they knew in advance that there would be so many teenagers at the scene, they probably would not attend."
"How can you be so sure?"
"I wouldn't go."
Unable to refute, Shiller spinning the pen on the desktop said, "It would indeed be an unprecedented chaos. According to the herd effect, they would be infected more madly, morality would no longer exist. Although it could be seen as good academic material, I couldn't find a good position to ensure that I could patiently observe at that time."
"You hate chaos."
"More like enjoying observing chaos from the outside."
Victor spread his hands and said, "You can't have it both ways. Either don't let them go, or give them a holiday. However, you're always tangled up with this kind of issue. It seems that you came to me for advice."
"This is my office."
"So I'm not a great detective, but from the moment I walked in here, you didn't seriously correct even a single homework assignment."
Victor leaned on the table and looked at Shiller, "You seem a bit irritable."
"Who can channel spirits now?"
"I'm inclined to let them have the day off," Victor frankly gave his advice, and said, "If you keep them locked up in school, they will find a way to escape. At that point, you'll be their only obstacle, and you'll face more trouble than the entire music festival."
"The grass is always greener on the other side," Victor switched hands as if to hold his face, "The more you restrain them, the more they will think the music festival must be tremendously fun. But if you give them the day off straight up, maybe some people who dislike noise will decide not to go."
Shiller nodded and said, "But we still need to confirm with Cobblepot whether there will be enough reception capability around during the opening ceremony. Even though they're not like tourists who need long-term accommodation, if they can't book a hotel that night, the smell in the school the next morning will take you by surprise."
Victor seemed to be reminded of something and said with a distressed expression, "I experienced it when I studied in New York, no homeless person dared to reach his hand into the trash can on the morning after Carnaval."
"Unless someone paid them extra service fees."
Both of them chuckled, and Shiller sized Victor up saying, "Mrs. Friss is recovering well, isn't she?"
Victor realized immediately what he was referring to, but he acted unusually conservative and shy in this regard. He shook his head and said nothing, but Shiller continued.
"During the cryonic process, Mrs. Friss' body didn't age, and her organ conditions were perfectly preserved as they were when she was young, so....."
"It's not the time to talk about this," Victor hurriedly cut Shiller off. "We need to respect medical science, review more test reports, and also take care of those nano-neurons."
"You should have studied social sciences instead."
Victor mumbled, trying to change the subject, and Shiller gently sighed, "If school lets out this afternoon, come have dinner at my manor."
"Under what pretense?"
"To celebrate my godson's graduation, Lex Luther."
Victor seemed to understand. He asked, "Did Lex graduate from undergraduate studies? Shouldn't he have graduated long ago?"
"He took some time off to run Luther Group's business." Shiller recalled and said, "You should remember, he disappeared for a while a year back."
"Wait, I mean, he's your godson?"
"To some extent, his father's death had something to do with me, which means I bear some responsibility. Of course, there are other reasons, they are not that important. Now, yes."
"How did he perform?" Victor asked.
Victor kept looking at Shiller, and in return, Shiller did nothing but sigh, but this time with a hint of helplessness.
This surprised Victor. Even Shiller had stopped sighing over Bruce's grades. Now what on earth had Lex done?
Lex's residence in Gotham was a mansion on a hill in the affluent district, less than two kilometers from Wayne Manor. It resided on the hillside south of Wayne Manor. Since it was just purchased, the house hadn't been renovated yet, so it was not yet Luthor Manor.
But it's already so luxurious that Clark glanced frequently. He was just like a rural boy who has just arrived in the city, pulling his luggage and feeling like he needed more eyes to take it all in.
"So I'll live in such a place for a week?" Clark was admiring the beautifully carved fence, the complex and gorgeous chandeliers that were dazzling, and the gothic windows with dozens of patterns that only appeared on some churches in Europe. He spoke incredulously.
"You can fly up to see." Lex reminded.
Clark suddenly remembered; he always forgot that he could fly. Therefore, he levitated into the air.
Lex's voice came from behind him.
"...And while you're at it, wipe off the dust from the windows."