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Chapter 572: The Dark Sun and the Bat-Signal (2)

chapter 572: the dark sun and the bat-signal (2)

batman still remembered a question someone had asked him when he first began his journey as a hero: "if you also need evidence, what sets you apart from those ineffectual police officers?"

now, the facts he had uncovered firsthand proved that schiller's words back then were right. in a place like gotham, the law was nothing more than a joke.

or to put it differently, no matter where you looked, there was no way to deal with individuals like falcone. he had never personally killed anyone, never incited someone, never ordered a gunman to assassinate another. all his enemies had been killed by others, devoured by the jackals who sought to claim a bigger share of his interests. falcone, the uncrowned king of gotham for decades, the godfather revered by everyone, was far more innocent than anyone else.

this made all the talk of law, justice, and convictions seem like a joke. those who had killed for him had done so driven by interests, clearing obstacles from falcone's path. batman knew that even if he were to put falcone on trial right now, no judge could convict him.

just like they couldn't convict the killer of the wayne couple.

as batman delved deeper into the meaning of the law, he received a call from schiller that prompted him to visit his office. in a moment, he cast aside these profound questions about society because he knew he might be facing an even greater trouble.

when bruce arrived at schiller's office, he was surprised to find lex there as well. he immediately sensed that the impending trouble might be multiplied by two.

if there was one thing in this world that required both him and lex to deal with, bruce began to wonder if schiller was dissatisfied with sun's position.

bruce and lex took their seats across from schiller, and to their surprise, schiller didn't mention anything about relocating sun or the moon. instead, he gestured toward the ceiling and said, "have you noticed anything different up there?"

bruce and lex looked up together and noticed that the ceiling lights had been removed, leaving empty sockets where the light bulbs should have been.

"as you may know, gotham university has been experiencing frequent power outages lately. every time the power comes back on after an outage, it's easy for the circuits to burn out, and the light bulbs are prone to damage. the new light bulb we installed today suffered the same fate."

schiller extended his hand and gestured for them to take in their surroundings. now, the entire classroom was pitch-black, but the adjacent light bulb remained intact, allowing a faint glimmer of light to filter through the window, making it barely possible to see people.

"this is the environment in which i work now. to improve this situation, i've established a research group, and you two are the first researchers. there are currently two projects to choose from."

"the first one is to restore gotham to normal weather conditions with more than 8 hours of daylight..."

"i'll take the second one," bruce replied without hesitation, fearing that schiller might change his mind and assign him and lex to the first project together.

schiller then said, "alright, lex, your project is to completely change gotham's weather, making it sunny with abundant daylight, so that even if the light bulbs occasionally fail, the office will have enough natural light."

"no problem," lex promptly agreed, even a bit eager. in his view, the project bruce was desperately avoiding would prove his superiority if he could complete it.

bruce glanced at him with sympathy and then asked schiller, "what is the second project?"

"i know you've always distrusted me, or rather, you distrust everyone. considering your childhood trauma, i can understand your attitude. but if i chose to distrust you as well, then lex would be the one left here today."

"you should know that lex is different from you and clark. he's more like me. we both disregard laws and rules, unafraid to use extreme means to achieve our goals."

"so, one day, you two will inevitably clash. in theory, if i stand on his side, it would be the best retaliation against your distrusting attitude. but i don't want to do that."

"why?" bruce asked, his tone somewhat stiff.

"because in this world, there is not just one goal, and i don't have to pursue them with maximum efficiency. people are called human beings because, in addition to rational calculations of interests, they also value emotions."

"are you saying that your emotions compelled you to make this decision?" bruce's voice held a hint of reluctance.

"if i were to judge this matter with innocent rational thinking, then giving this thing to lex would probably be the better choice. it would create a rival for you, limiting your growth, and provide me with an ally who shares a similar stance, guarding against your potential interference with my plans one day."

"but i chose a different path, which is to entrust this to you, and i will explain why i made this choice."

bruce realized that this office was still his place of nightmares because every time he was here, he faced such choices.

he would have preferred if schiller hadn't made everything so clear, but now, bruce knew that schiller had chosen emotions over reason. in bruce's eyes, this was not the right choice, but he was the beneficiary.

this dilemma left him in a mental quagmire. his brain, accustomed to rational thinking, told him that schiller's actions were wrong, that his behavior and personality should not lead him to make such a decision. so, bruce's mind began to analyze schiller's motivations.

schiller's words had made it clear to bruce that his motivation was emotions. for a long time, the emotional part of bruce's mind had been inactive, separated by a thick door. alfred's presence was the key to the door, and his feelings for catwoman had slightly turned the key, while aisha and dick had collided with the door, cracking it open a bit.

if others were trying to force the door open from the outside, what schiller did was more like opening the door from the inside.

as schiller watched bruce's retreating figure, the model was faintly visible in the dark office. however, because it was merely a structural model, not a real ark reactor, it didn't emit light or provide any illumination.

but schiller knew that, with bruce's genius, lighting up the ark reactor wouldn't take long.

and this ark reactor, filled with countless conflicting thoughts, illuminated not just a street or a room but also something that had been lurking behind that closed door, peering out into the world.

if this bat insisted on lighting up in this dark city, schiller didn't mind replacing his bat-signal with a brighter light bulb.

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