In fact, after Bruce completed his graduate studies, he had essentially given up researching the psychoanalytic school and admitted that he truly wasn't cut out for it, finding it better to study Shiller directly.
Yet this didn't stop a glimmer of hope lingering in his heart, or rather, after his condition had greatly improved, he harbored a common fantasy: if I had such talent, could I also become a master?
Ordinary people must have thought, if I had Mozart's musical talent, perhaps I could become a contemporary master composer. If I were a Da Vinci-style omnipotent genius, my name too would be recorded in the history of art.
Undeniably, talent is important, not only in the realm of art but also in mathematics and physics, perhaps especially in such fields, where painstaking research might not compare to formulas others write effortlessly.
However, geniuses with talent are ultimately a minority, so those without talent inevitably fantasize about possessing extraordinary abilities when facing difficulties.
Theoretically, such fantasies should not occur to Batman, not only because he is a typical genius, but also because he does not possess any traits of idle speculation. He wouldn't assume an utterly impossible situation and fantasize about solving his own problems through it, otherwise, he would have died hundreds of times.
But Bruce was different; as his mental state improved, his morbid, abnormal empathy gradually weakened, causing him to lose his talent for psychoanalysis.
Simultaneously, he began to act more like a normal person, avoiding difficulties and occasionally liking to diverge his thoughts to relieve mental stress.
He couldn't help but think, what if I were a natural empathizer? What if I had a talent for psychoanalysis?
Arrogance had never crushed such thoughts.
Because arrogance can fantasize too.
Please, this is Batman, the most comprehensively designed intellectual hero in human comic history.
If he were just a comic character, his limitation would be set by the editor's limitation, but Shiller had come to this world, facing a real person, an incomparable genius.
If Batman possessed such talent, it would undoubtedly surpass anyone else's, and wouldn't the psychoanalytic school take a big step forward?
As it's widely known, the psychoanalysis method is basically not recognized within the field. If you talk about Freud with a psychology practitioner, they would only smile helplessly.
The reason is, the discipline lacks an accepted core and a comprehensible logic, being largely reliant on feelings. When a person has a feeling, it's truly impossible to unify, making it not a subject that can be learned in the science realm focused on reproducibility, thus it holds little prestige.
If Batman truly could delve into this field, perhaps he might overturn most people's impression of psychoanalysis, even completely rebuild the discipline to have a status equivalent to other schools. Arrogance, of course, was also hoping for this.
But unfortunately, not to mention Bruce, even the severely ill Prime Universe Batman lacked talent in this area.
Bruce's recovery from illness was one reason; the Prime Universe Batman focused too much on logic and evidence, being unwilling to believe those abstract feelings, naturally, he couldn't be expected to engage in research.
Arrogance sometimes fantasized, wishing Batman possessed such talent.
After discovering that the Transcendent could replicate the performance forms of his own talent, Arrogance decided to try one last time.
As it turned out, whether or not one had talent didn't seem crucial and perhaps Shiller's talent was simply his alone, caused by multiple factors and an extreme, unique, and irreproducible scenario.
Even if given to Bruce, he completely failed to understand these things, his brain lacking the corresponding decoding structure; even if he could memorize the patterns, he couldn't empathize, naturally making it difficult to claim that he possessed this talent.
Now, Arrogance finally planned to give up completely.
Perhaps this was a good thing, as the two of them would no longer torment each other over this issue.
But Arrogance also gradually realized, with Bruce's mental state improving, he had also become weaker.
Indeed, Bruce, simultaneously holding the Angel Rank and being a Barbatos Apostle, was actually much stronger than most versions of Batman, but he no longer possessed the meticulous thinking of most Batmans.
To put it nicely, it's planning ahead, making more preparations; to put it harshly, it's just a sick mind, no cure for the OCD.
No normal person could possibly create thousands of contingency plans for an event that hasn't happened; it's clearly compulsive thinking, a pathological state, and should neither be emulated nor promoted.
The more typical a Batman, the more severe this compulsive behavior, indicating that their condition was more serious.
Conversely, Bruce, who fundamentally doesn't operate as Batman, had this kind of thinking far less often, considering matters more like a normal person and occasionally having a stroke of brilliance, making actions outside the plan.
These actions had their pros and cons. Sometimes they would make things go smoother, but at other times, they would mess things up. Yet, this is the normal mental state of the human race, as no one's thinking and execution abilities are perfect.
Later, Bruce became somewhat too unrealistic. However, it was precisely these out-of-the-box thoughts that allowed him to thrive both in Heaven and in a darker reality, amassing considerable capital for himself.
But arrogance sometimes caused worry. This less rigorous thought process put him at a disadvantage when facing other Batmen.
The so-called "know your enemy, know yourself, and you will fight without danger in battles." Since Bruce was no longer Batman, he naturally found it difficult to think like Batman and to predict what the real Batman might do next.
Although Batman couldn't predict his moves either, the true contest was still based on fundamentals. Unconventional thinking might be useful once or twice, but using it too much could not only fail to provide an advantage, it might even lead to fatal mistakes.
So, if Bruce could use his Mental Analysis Talent, even if he couldn't gain any advantage, he could at least ensure he wouldn't be at a disadvantage in front of the Primary Universe Batman like Arrogance was.
Sadly, Bruce clearly couldn't use this talent, as his level of psychoanalytic training had not improved at all.
Arrogance felt that despite Bruce's lively performance in front of the Primary Universe Batman now, sooner or later, Bruce would suffer a significant loss at the hands of such a typical Batman.
Through the flames in the fireplace, Arrogance heard the discussions near Greed coming to an end.
"Alright, I'll go back to the Lighthouse and check Batman's status, but don't hold out too high hopes." Shiller shook his head and said, "Given that you couldn't control him immediately, all his subsequent actions are unpredictable, and using hostages to threaten him won't give you any more advantage."
"Why not give it a try?" Greed said from a chair, "I just want to know what he'll do once he learns about the situation in this lab. Can he bring more reinforcements, or does he have some other ace up his sleeve?"
Shiller sighed, stood up, and said, "Give me a gun and enough bullets, preferably a night vision device as well."
"Why not just crown you the champion?"
"I need the ability to protect myself in front of Batman." Shiller emphasized, "We haven't explored the upper floors of the Lighthouse yet; how do you know Batman hasn't prepared resources there? If he also gets a gun, I won't stand a chance."
Greed hesitated but turned and pulled a handgun from a drawer behind him, sliding it across the table to Shiller's side, adding, "Only ten bullets, that's my bottom line."
"Aren't you a rich second generation? Why so stingy?"
"Reverse psychology doesn't work on me." Greed curled his lip and said, "I can also provide you with a night vision device, but the battery life is limited. I'm sure Batman can't find a way to charge it under these circumstances, so you better not misuse it."
Shiller didn't haggle further but said, "Even though Batman has made up his mind to oppose you, I think you should also be wary of the Joker, or he might indeed give you a big surprise."
With that, he picked up the handgun and the head-mounted night vision device Greed had just handed him and turned towards the lab's main door.
This time, he faced no obstacles; the door opened slightly to let him out. Shiller pondered over the intelligence gathered by both sides and their next moves as he walked.
Greed having captured the Wanderer was definitely something Batman couldn't possibly know. At most, he might suspect, since he didn't know Greed well enough to predict that Greed would directly use the opening introduction to capture the Wanderer.
But he probably guessed Greed took advantage of setting up his own background story, endowing himself with resources far surpassing others, including wealth and a lab, and possibly a large stockpile of weapons.
Greed must have known Batman knew something about the Siltex Company, but again, due to his lack of understanding of Batman, he didn't know to what extent Batman was informed.
In this manner, Shiller, knowing about both, could provide more intelligence to both sides.
Shiller had just seen the body claimed to be the Wanderer in a tank, and the substance in the tank was definitely not just water but had special components. It restrained the Wanderer and through some means made the fish that fed on the body attain special attributes.
Shiller replayed all the clues in his mind.
He thought that the few people in the cabin had probably visited this underground cavern together, but it was here they encountered Greed, who had other plans after the game started.
Marks from reeds on the kitchen body indicated that they had also encountered Reed monster, who wasn't provoked at that time, allowing the three ordinary people to narrowly escape.
The worn stones on Doug's head suggested there might have been a chase in the narrow caves. The range of Reed's radiation wasn't wide, so after encountering the Reeds, they likely ran into Greed and were chased ruthlessly.
Doug was killed by Greed with a Wind Blade, dragged inside through the door under the cabin rug, just as it began to snow heavily outside, concealing the fact that there were no drag marks.
The body in the kitchen might also have been killed by Greed—he admitted killing Doug but didn't deny killing others.
The only puzzling aspect for Shiller was Madeline's situation. Greed had killed two people already; it made no sense not to kill her, leaving her alive was a significant risk, wasn't it?