布鲁斯万万没想到,他的实习会遇到这么多意想不到的情况.
其中最矛盾的无疑是他的心理学教授席勒.
这位教授看起来更像是哥谭本地人,而不是一个只在这里呆了几个月的人.不,也许即使是大多数当地人也无法达到这个水平.
席勒很快就掌握了这座城市的所有规则,让布鲁斯措手不及.他不仅完全理解它们,而且还掌握了它们.
布鲁斯听戈登说过哥谭就像一个大泥潭.任何进入的人都会慢慢下沉.
但自称是凡人的席勒却心甘情愿地在布鲁斯面前跳入这个泥潭.他不仅反应迅速敏捷,而且还直接潜入其深处,没有任何逃跑的意图.
他变成了一个比恶棍本身更大的恶棍.从帮派战争的人员和地理优势,酒吧和餐馆的保护费,地下赌场的赔率,到重大非法贸易的规则,武器运输安全和危险的违禁品走私路线,他无所不知.
他的建议得到了法尔科内的不断点头,法尔科内称赞席勒天生适合这里.如果他早三十年来到哥谭,罗德里格斯这个名字就会出现在十二个家族中.
这使得布鲁斯对席勒的印象变得极其复杂.
如果你要说这位教授在做善事,他的方法远非光荣——即与暴徒手拉手.
但如果要说他在作恶,他确实是在利用自己的能力不断操纵哥谭的现状,用非常手段将局面朝着他想要的方向转变.
此外,在布鲁斯看来,这种变化似乎并没有朝着一个坏的方向发展,而是建立了一个不稳定但更好的新秩序.
尤其是当布鲁斯从戈登那里收到哥谭市犯罪率在过去两周大幅下降的消息时,他不禁觉得这很荒谬.
在席勒塑造的产业链中,警察部队的力量得到了极大的加强.因为他们与哥谭最大的犯罪组织法尔科内家族结盟.
这是因为警察局长得到了法尔科内的直接支持.教父为他们提供了大量的重型武器,他们享受着他的力量带来的威慑.
现在,每当帮派战争爆发时,他们都可以在10分钟内到达现场,迅速镇压双方,然后逮捕并送他们去避难.
Unlike before, the police officers display tremendous enthusiasm in their work. They even fight each other for opportunities to be deployed outside. As long as they send one patient to asylum, they can earn 2% of all their hospitalization fees as their bonuses.
Gordon has been extremely busy these days. Even the most laziest ones are clamoring to rush to the front lines to fight for justice and combat the mafia.
Lately, this righteous detective doesn't even know what is justice. It should have been a good thing to effectively combat the mobs, but he can't shake the feeling that something is off.
However, as the influences of mobs are contained and the lives of the police officers get better, they begin to fall in love with this damned job.
Recently, Gordon is shocked to discover that the entire police department is now working overtime! Have they been controlled by some devil?!
Indeed, that is a devil named greed. There's nothing wrong with a gun.When you are manning a heavy machine gun with ample ammunition and demand a ceasefire from the gangsters, you feel like this job is just that. And when, after doing so, you can receive a hefty reward, you feel like it's the best job in the world.
At first, Falcone has to send his men to instigate conflicts between some gangs, causing them to open fire at each other.
But later, the fires are ignited elsewhere. The Hound and the Captain team up to ambush the Breaker from two streets away. The Locomotive from the East End quickly joins the fight. Three out of the Four Heads of Elizabeth Street want to quell the situation. Maroni, who has just digested the Red Crow gang's legacy, finds satisfaction in the chaos of battle. The entire East End is dragged into chaos.
Many lives are lost in the fight, but while the battle is blazing, the police storm in with heavy machine guns and rocket launchers. The gangsters are dumbstruck. Are we the gangsters, or are you the gangsters? Why there are the police enforce the law with rocket launchers?!
So, some people die in their own conflicts and others are arrested by the police. The most formidable gangs in the East End are severely weakened and do not dare to make any moves, retreating to lick their wounds in their homes.
Gordon and his team become famous. The whole Gotham is aware of their violent tactics: putting the pedal of armed pickup trucks to the mental and dashing in. After setting up bulletproof shields, they spray bullets for universal coverage with heavy machine guns and hit the key with RPGs,then push forward while cleaning the streets with grenades.
The top dogs of the East End's wildest gangs are defeated, and the remaining do not dare to pop up.
Although this is more for Falcone's sake, as the old don is willing to fully support the police, with moral and military superiority,the common gangs do not want to bear the cost of provoking the formidable Godfather, and those able to pay are half-killed by this sudden onslaught of punches. Gotham quiets down in this strange manner.
All of this is caused by an ordinary professor who has a his own little eureka one morning.
Bruce thinks that the professor becomes rottener among rotten apples. The pest of society treat him as their ally, while the enemies of those troublemakers become righteous friends.
Bruce does not know how to judge this behavior.
Of course, Batman is a genius. After initially being conflicted, he discovers a new possibility in Schiller's doings.
Initially, he believes that combating criminals must be relentless, and ruthless. It would be best to eradicate the evil forces completely, preventing them from rising again.
But Schiller is different. Whenever he attacks a faction, he not only doesn't crack them completely, but sometimes even provides them with nourishment, allowing the once weakened seedlings to grow vigorously again. Then, using them as leverage to dismantle another complex vine.
After witnessing these, Bruce once again asks Schiller the same question. He questions, "Are you really just an ordinary one? Or is there some unknown special power that allows you to accomplish all of this?"
Schiller sits in his office, spins his pen around, and taps the desk, motioning for Bruce to sit down. He says, "I tell you that I am a mortal. The key to this answer is not whether I possess some magical power that ordinary people do not have."
"But rather, I want to tell you, the most incredible power of human beings lies within their smart brains."
Schiller stands up and walks to the window. The doctor's white coat drapes over him, making him look even taller. Compared to the strict professor at the school,Dr. Schiller appears calmer and gentler.
He replies, "The answer to this question is not whether I have superpower or not. It is just like I told you before, your advanced armor and expensive equipment cannot make you a true Batman."
"Because the answers to those questions that trouble you are not found in external possessions."
"It's within our brains, which everyone possesses."
"Actually, if you calm down and think about it, you will understand ,pure violence cannot achieve any of the conditions you desire. Whether it is revenge or saving this city, it is doomed to a dead end."
Schiller lowers his head and fidgets with the pen in his hand, then utters, "Actually, the path you chose is a dead end at first. But if you do not want to die, you need to find a way out among countless dead ends."
"I am only showing you one. But it is not all..."
Bruce says, "Isn't enough?Aren't strength, intelligence, and determination enough?"
Schiller smiles, "And Gotham."
"...When will I learn Gotham?"
"Perhaps when you die."
Before Bruce can respond, Schiller continues, "Gotham is a book that can never be finished."
"I am just a professor. What I will do is the same as what I do in the classroom—I have already highlighted the key points for you. But the test paper is for you to write."
Bruce asks, "Is the key strategy and balance? Or intelligence and foresight?"
"No, it's like what I do in class as well - the entire book is the key," Schiller replies.
Bruce is speechless. He doesn't know if Schiller is mocking him for not paying attention in class or hinting at something else.
But Schiller's answer does make him understand one thing.
If using violence to stop the crime in this city is pie in the sky, if Batman's strength and wealth can't fill the mire to the ground in a simple way, then perhaps, aside from pure violence, utilizing his other expertise, his intelligence, to manipulate everything from behind is better.
In this city filled with countless violence, but violence alone can't solve all problems. His immense power is only the key to enter, not the master key.
When he uses his wealth and equipment to open the door, he encounters his mentor Schiller. And what Schiller shows Batman is a completely new Gotham.
A Gotham that sets aside the surface violence, bloodshed, and intense conflicts, and is full of innumerable mysteries and complex relationships.
When Batman follows the intricate network within the massive canopy and reaches the deep roots beneath the land, when he slides down the crevices of the iceberg into the cold sea, he finally sees the true face of Gotham.
This is a new world, Batman thinks.
But for him, it isn't frustration and setbacks, it is a shot of excitement.
His brain has never functioned so quickly before. He never imagines he has the ability to accept and sort out these complex relationships so rapidly until he keeps up with every step of Schiller's actions.
The thrill of gradually uncovering the massive roots by digging through tiny veins fascinates Batman. He experiences a stronger excitement and joy than punching criminals.
Bruce thinks, perhaps, this is the right answer.
Perhaps, this is him, a man in the face of complex problems which can make any ordinary person feel immensely hopeless, gets excited like a madman.
This is him, this is bat.
A paranoid, chasing pathological pleasure, crazier than other crazier – Bat.