"This is Doctor Schiller, I'm going to have a minor surgery in two days and he is the lead surgeon, so he will be staying at Wayne Manor recently. I hope no one will disturb him, you can do that, right?"
Batman stood in the hall of Wayne Manor, introducing a man to the Robins. While Batman observed the Robins' reactions, they were also scrutinizing this surgeon named Schiller.
He didn't look young, with meticulously combed hair, the temples of which were graying. Dressed in a brown, plaid, three-piece suit, he wore a swordfish brooch on his chest and carried a black case in his hand. His expression was a perfectly measured smile.
"Honestly, he doesn't look much like a doctor." Damian whispered, "Are you expecting him to perform surgery in that outfit, Batman?"
"You'd better remain polite, Damian." Batman wasn't wearing his mask, so his stern expression was even more intimidating. He said, "He is a very skilled surgeon with a wealth of clinical experience. I would be very happy if any of you could achieve what he has."
"You wouldn't be." Muttered Red Hood, wearing a hood, "The last person you trust is a doctor. I have no idea what kind of crazy you're up to now."
The others also looked at Batman with a hint of confusion, really unable to comprehend why Batman would suddenly bring back a surgeon and announce that this doctor would be performing a minor surgery on him.
Batman was extremely distrustful of doctors.
He would definitely treat any ailments himself if possible, and if surgery was absolutely necessary, he'd rather develop a machine to replace manual operation than go to a hospital for surgery.
To Batman, exposing his back to a stranger was an extremely dangerous act, after all, no one knew if this doctor was disguised as the Joker or Clayface, if he had been brainwashed, or if he would turn Batman into a sieve during the surgery.
And most importantly, Batman wasn't wearing his mask in front of this man. What did that mean? Don't tell me the Batman Family is about to gain a new member.
Batman still didn't explain anything. It was that surgeon named Schiller who nodded to them and said, "I'll probably only stay for about a week, just enough time to prepare and observe the recovery. I won't disturb you for too long."
"No need to be so polite, Doctor." Barbara was the first to nod, giving a friendly response, then said, "Thank you for all your help to the Batman Family. Let me show you to your room."
Schiller nodded and followed Barbara upstairs. As soon as he was up, a heated discussion erupted downstairs.
"What in the world is with Batman? What surgery needs to be done by someone else, and why haven't I ever heard of this Doctor Schiller before??" Jason was very puzzled, but Tim remained silent.
Dick just quietly watched the backs of Batman and Schiller, shaking his head, but said nothing.
After everyone had gone to their rooms, Batman appeared in Schiller's room, saying, "Are you serious? The King of Vampires is hiding within the Batman Family?"
Schiller leaned back in his chair very relaxed, saying, "You can choose not to believe, but you should at least know, the Doujie System wouldn't call you back to guard without reason. Besides the King of Vampires, you've got a lot more trouble to handle."
Batman frowned. He had been surprised when he received a communication from this man. He had thought he was the most unremarkable among the Batmen.
Compared with the other Batmen immersed in turmoil, apart from some recent missing persons cases in Gotham, there was nothing particularly special about his Gotham. He had thought things would continue this way.
But suddenly, this Doctor Schiller sent him a message, saying that soon, the Doujie System would require him to guard because someone had chosen his cosmos as their copy.
Batmen had long since deduced from the distribution of copies that the vast majority of cosmoses used as copies were about to encounter some trouble.
And since someone had chosen his cosmos as a copy, it proved that his cosmos was about to face trouble too. This forced Batman to reconsider the recent missing persons cases. There was much evidence suggesting that the victims died after being drained of blood.
Indeed, it wasn't long before the System sent an email, requesting Batman to return to his cosmos to guard. If a cosmos was fine, no one would come, hence there would be no need to guard. Receiving an email meant there was a 100% chance something had happened.
Batman promptly replied to Schiller's email, and in subsequent communications, he learned that the other party had also chosen this copy. He had been located through some information provided by other Batmen. The early communication was to exchange information.
The two established a preliminary cooperation. Schiller gave him some intelligence regarding vampires and their king.
After discovering the issue of vampires, Batman had already devised a plan to weed out the traitors. But when he shared his plan with Schiller, the latter doubted its effectiveness.
"To be frank, exposure to sunlight, touching a cross, or drinking Holy Water might work against vampire monsters," Schiller said, resting his hands in front of him, and looked at Batman, "but the premise is that they lack wisdom."
"A person who has been completely brainwashed will not hesitate to use any means to avoid detection. The methods they can think of are much more numerous than what we understand. Maybe they know magic? Perhaps they have developed some kind of potion to conceal their identity? More pessimistically, perhaps some vampires have evolved and are no longer afraid of these things?"
"Using these means to test will only yield superficial results. If you really want to know who in the Batman Family has been converted, the best method is to expose your vulnerabilities to them."
As Schiller's unhurried voice echoed in the room, Batman fell into thought.
"If someone in the Batman Family wants to betray, you are like a great mountain they can't get around. Anyone who wants to do something behind your back has to figure out how to deal with you first."
"So conversely, once you show a weakness, the person who doesn't want to protect you, but instead wants to kick you while you're down, is the traitor you are looking for," Shiller said with a smile, "That's why I suggested you have surgery."
"I've never done this before, do you think they'll believe it?"
"Not only will they believe it, they will think that you would never have asked an outsider to perform surgery on you unless you were vulnerable to a certain extent. In the eyes of the traitor, this is the perfect opportunity to strike."
Batman's fingers lightly tapped the back of his other hand as he instinctively licked his lips and said, "Who do you think the traitor might be?"
"I'm not sure either," Shiller shook his head. He wasn't lying. Manipulation wasn't necessarily a leading characteristic of his persona on duty; therefore, he didn't churn through the memory bank and have a grasp of every comic plot like Greed and Arrogant.
Now that he had a new body, watching memories required streaming from the High Tower, and he thought it lacked a certain challenge, so he simply didn't watch. He only knew roughly that there was something to do with vampires, but he wasn't clear on the specifics.
He crossed one leg over the other, rested his chin in his hand and said, "However, in our recent communication, I noticed some clues. Would you like to hear them?"
Batman nodded.
"Have you heard of Tiramisu, the dessert?" When Shiller mentioned this name, it was as if he was really talking about some food, and he was indeed very good at talking about food.
"I would compare the emotion of anxiety to the coffee liqueur soaked into ladyfingers; the cocoa powder sprinkled on the very top layer of the cake completely hides the taste of the coffee, but that hint of bitter liqueur is precisely the essence of the dessert."
"The point of this metaphor is that no matter how many different emotions cover up anxiety on top—doubt, anger, confusion, or even a different kind of anxiety—it can't fully mask the underlying taste of liqueur that real anxiety brings."
"Liqueur is made from various ingredients, but the source of anxiety is always love, an emotion that monsters cannot mimic."
Shiller sat up straight again, leant forward, and lifting the teacup said, "If you scraped off all the mousse on top, you'd find out which of your children are still turning their love into liqueur, and which ones have dried up, not squeezing out a drop of moisture even though the ladyfingers have cracked and can't be eaten."
"That is the best way to differentiate humans from vampires. The biggest difference between man and monster is internal, not an aversion to sunlight or fear of touching a Cross and such externalities."
"The same goes for your companions. If you're worried that your friends have been controlled as well, what you should observe is not who's afraid of sunlight, but who's afraid of you, dodging and escaping from you."
"I'll call them over," Batman said. "If possible, it might be best for you to not be alone with them. After all, in their eyes, you're key to the surgery, and the traitor wouldn't pass up a chance to interfere with you."
Shiller didn't refuse, nor did he agree, just flashed an enigmatic smile that made Batman's hairs stand on end.
After Batman left, there was a quick knock on Shiller's door. Barbara stood outside, giving Shiller a friendly smile, "Doctor, I'm sorry to disturb you, but may I come in?"
"Of course, Miss, please come in."
Shiller moved aside like a true gentleman, Barbara stepped inside, but restrained herself from going further in, and instead sat down on a chair in the reception area by the door, tucking her hair behind her ear, "I once dreamed of becoming a doctor. Because of my father's job, I've met many doctors, so I think you must be a good doctor."
"Why would you say that?"
"Because you possess a certain confidence, a trait I've found in all the excellent surgeons I know."
"I'd rather interpret that as arrogance," Shiller replied.
"I didn't mean it that way at all."
"Of course, I'm not saying it's a pejorative term. Sometimes the power of the mind really can turn the tide, can't it?"
"Alright, Doctor," Barbara said with a gentle shake of her head, "let's dispense with the formalities. I want to know what's really going on with Batman."
"He's fine," Shiller handed a cup of tea to Barbara and said, "It's just a minor surgery, no need for you all to worry so much."
"But he... he's not the kind of person who makes a fuss over minor surgery."
"It's hardly making a fuss. Or do you think a minor surgery doesn't warrant him having access to the most professional medical resources?"
Barbara looked embarrassed. She said, "No, that's not what I meant. Of course, he should... but he's never..."
"It's not too late to start now," Shiller said flawlessly as he sat down with his teacup, "He's finally let go of his prejudices against doctors and opted to leave the professional tasks to professionals. This is an improvement, don't you think?"
"I..."