Chapter 744: Night Rain Elegy (Part 2)

Schiller was sure that he did smell alcohol, which was not something that could be achieved by replacing beer with ginger ale. He frowned and looked at Bruce, who was just lying quietly on the sofa, breathing evenly, and looked like he was asleep.

If the person opposite was really just a rich second-generation, Schiller would not be surprised at all.

The empty manor, the drunken young master, the extinguished and unattended fireplace, all of which told the story of a lonely heir.

However, Bruce Wayne is not just a rich kid, he is also Batman, the most self-disciplined person in the world.

Schiller had seen him use ginger ale instead of beer, and the spicy feeling made his performance more natural. Batman was very good at controlling his reaction after being drunk, and even Schiller could not be completely sure whether he was drunk or not.

Therefore, he walked up and poked Bruce with the tip of his umbrella. The moment he raised his hand, Bruce did not move. Schiller was sure that he was really asleep.

It was really abnormal for Batman to drink.

Schiller sighed, turned around and walked to the fireplace, and found that the shelf next to him was full of firewood, but it was not added to the fireplace. Judging from the wetness of the firewood, it should have been added just now. Alfred prepared everything for Bruce before he left.

Schiller picked up a few pieces of relatively dry firewood and added them to the fireplace. Soon, the flames became strong, and all the scenes in the hall were presented to him.

Obviously, something just happened here. In a space where someone had been, every trace represents a story.

Schiller took a deep breath and began his reasoning.

The most conspicuous trace in the entire hall was the footprints that spread all the way from the gate. Of course, this set of footprints was not left by Schiller, because Schiller would habitually wipe his shoes on the doormat.

Moreover, this set of small footprints was very small, and it looked like it was left by a little girl of about seven or eight years old. Schiller walked towards the gate and saw that this set of footprints should be left by two people, one of whom was running in front with a smaller shoe size, and the other was running behind with a larger shoe size.

The two of them must have chased each other and ran in, and were stopped not far from the gate.

Schiller squatted down and looked at the place where the footprints ended. There were some water stains there. It seemed that they were dripping from something. Schiller guessed that it should be rain on the hair. Combined with the shape of the footprints, these should be two little girls.

Schiller looked at the gate. The dark night sky outside the gate began to brighten. The moon set and the sun rose. Just today, Gotham ushered in the heaviest rain in three months. In an instant, it rained heavily outside the door.

Two small figures rushed in from outside the door. Both of them were soaked, and their shoes were also covered with muddy water. As soon as they rushed in, Alfred, who was standing by the fireplace to add firewood, hurried up and stopped them.

Standing behind Alfred, Schiller took a step to the left. He saw that the little girl who ran in first had a blurry face and could not be confirmed, but the little girl behind was Aisha.

Elsa's hair was already very long. After being drenched by the rain, strands of it stuck to her face. Alfred hurriedly took a dry towel to wipe the hair of the two people, because when a girl's hair was wiped, water drops would drip, and it just fell near the ground where the footprints ended.

The light dimmed again. Schiller stepped over the footprints and came to a place near the sofa. Through the firelight of the fireplace, Schiller saw that Bruce was sitting there reading a newspaper. When he saw two little girls rushing in one after another, he stood up and walked to the door.

In an instant, time stopped, the water drops stopped in the air, and Bruce's movements paused.

Schiller walked forward and picked up the newspaper that had been pressed from the armrest of the sofa. He saw that the newspaper said that the Metropolitan Angelica Troupe had arrived in Gotham, and at the same time, it also published their simple repertoire.

Schiller turned the newspaper over and looked at the wrinkles of the newspaper repeatedly. Then, Bruce, who had already stood up and walked to the door, stepped back and changed his posture.

He stood up with the newspaper in his hand. When he saw that two little girls rushed in, he didn't even have time to fold the newspaper again. He just threw the newspaper next to the handrail and rushed over quickly.

The way the newspaper was placed showed that Bruce was very anxious, but why was Bruce anxious? He knew that Aisha was different from ordinary people. She would not get sick even if she was exposed to boiling water, let alone rain.

Then the problem might be with the strange little girl.

Schiller walked back to the footprints, looked at the size of the shoe prints, and then recalled the children he saw in the basement at that time. Their faces and figures replayed in Schiller's mind, and then the face of the thinnest little girl appeared in his mind.

In front of him, the little girl stood in the front, Aisha stood behind him, and wanted to reach out to grab her, Alfred stood on the left, and Bruce, who had just walked over, stood on the right.

Judging from the extent of the water stains, they should have stayed here for a while. Then, the little girl stayed where she was, but Elsa ran out, and Alfred chased after her.

The clues near the gate ended here. Schiller speculated that Bruce should have taken the little girl home, but for some reason, the little girl ran out with Elsa on a rainy day, and Elsa chased her back.

At this time, Bruce might feel very angry. He scolded Elsa, so Elsa ran out angrily and Alfred chased her out.

Schiller returned to the sofa where Bruce was lying and saw a letter on the coffee table with Dick's handwriting on it.

Because he had been teaching Dick, Schiller knew the changes in his handwriting. The content of the letter was that Dick said that he was busy with his studies, so he had to stay at school for a few days and would not go home these days.

Schiller frowned when he took the letter. Busy studies? What can be busy with middle school studies? What's more, Dick didn't like to study at all. He wished he could go to school every day and never stay overnight, so that he would not be watched by the teacher to do his homework.

Schiller glanced at Bruce, who frowned even in his sleep. He knew that Bruce might have had some conflicts with Dick, which made Dick unwilling to go home.

Schiller had actually expected this day to come. Bruce's character was really hard to describe. There was always a day when he failed to communicate with Dick, but he didn't expect that this day would come so soon.

Schiller also had some speculations about why they had differences. After all, he had seen Bruce's attitude towards the group of children before, and Schiller knew better what the problem of those children was.

For an abused child, frequent changes in environment are extremely disadvantageous to them, which may cause them to have more serious stress reactions.

Before, Cobert rescued them and put them in the basement of a bar. Bruce sent them to the hospital and then took the little girl home. During these processes, the hospital environment may greatly stimulate these children.

Luxurious restaurants and manors are more easily accepted by them because, although the things here have become more refined, they all know the prototypes.

For example, the pattern on the chair is very beautiful, but the chair is still a chair. They have the concept of this thing in their minds. They know that the chair is for sitting, the table is for putting things, and the bed is for sleeping.

But the hospital is different. There are too many things they have not touched here. For example, is the pole used to hang the infusion bottle a new weapon? What is the syringe in the nurse's hand for? Why are all people staring at them? Why change clothes? Why lie on the bed?

These unknown things will greatly stimulate them, and the little girl is even more pitiful. Just after getting out of that environment, she came to another strange environment. At this point, she may no longer have any clear mind.

Schiller found some traces in the corner of the room. It seems that the little girl has hidden here before, but it is not difficult to see that after she hid here, Bruce followed again.

Obviously, Bruce's measures for this little girl are almost all wrong. He is paying too much attention and pressing step by step, which will bring great pressure.

For children who have been mentally stimulated and abused, their understanding of the world is distorted. Many behaviors that seem very normal to normal people are very scary to them.

For example, if an adult walks towards them, it means that they may be beaten. If someone presses them on the bed, it means that something more terrible may happen.

If someone keeps talking to them, it may mean that they will be thrown out. If someone holds their hands and talks to another person, it may mean that they will be sold.

Such a concept has been formed in their brains, so these behaviors will further stimulate them.

Schiller outlined Bruce's behavior trajectory in his mind. Obviously, in the step-by-step stimulation, the little girl completely lost her mind and could only rely on instinctive reactions to protect herself.

In combination with her physical condition, Schiller believes that she should be able to move for no more than three hours, and then she will fall into a coma, and after the coma, she should be sent back to the room to sleep.

But what is more terrifying is that when she wakes up and finds herself in a strange environment again, this stimulation will be more intense.

They don't understand what "sleep in the bedroom" and "eat in the dining room" mean. They just feel that they are trapped in a terrible vortex and can't extricate themselves.

The only thing they can do at this time is to run away.

Schiller didn't know how the little girl ran out of Wayne Manor, but there was no doubt that she should have succeeded in running away, but Aisha also chased her out.

Aisha drove the little girl back to Wayne Manor, but at this time, Bruce made another wrong decision.

He thought he had made progress with this little girl, but in the blink of an eye, she was caught in the rain again, had a high fever again, and almost ran away, which was equivalent to the previous progress completely disappeared, not only returning to the starting point, but also worse.

He did not think more deeply about the reasons for this failure, but simply expressed his dissatisfaction.

Perhaps he was asking Alfred why the little girl ran away, or perhaps he was questioning Elsa about what was going on.

However, Elsa was not an ordinary child after all. She was a wild and chaotic creature. After sensing Bruce's emotions, she ran out of Wayne Manor.

At that time, it was raining heavily outside, and Alfred would definitely choose to chase Elsa, and at this time, only Bruce and the little girl were left alone.

Schiller walked around the hall and upstairs, but did not find any trace of the little girl. He thought for a while, then walked through the hall to the garden behind.

There were no footprints of children in the garden either, but Schiller did find some footprints of Bruce.

Normally, Batman would not reveal such a flaw. It seemed that he was in a very abnormal mood when he walked this way.

Schiller had anticipated the result, but he still sighed when he opened the warehouse door.

In a crate in the corner of the warehouse, it was filled with blankets and quilts. Schiller walked over and lifted a corner of the plants. As expected, he saw a small foot.

After lifting all the blankets and quilts, there was a little girl inside, but she was completely dead at this time.

Judging from the body, the death should not have occurred more than three hours ago. The cause of death was excessive malnutrition and cardiopulmonary failure caused by hypothermia.

Schiller checked her chest, wrists and neck. Bruce should have taken some emergency measures, but children of this age have a very small chance of survival after such torture. When she ran back to see Bruce, she might have been on the verge of coma.

An adult in a state of severe and continuous hypothermia will have cardiopulmonary failure in just 10 to 15 minutes, and the poor physical condition of this little girl shortened this process greatly. The entire death process may not exceed 30 seconds, so that even with Batman's technological strength, she could not save her life.

Schiller sighed and covered the blanket and quilt again. He just stood up when he heard a noise behind him. He turned his head and saw a darker figure appearing at the door of the dark warehouse.

Bruce stood outside the door with a pistol in his hand, but he didn't raise it. He looked a little dazed, as if he didn't realize he was standing in the rain.

As soon as Schiller took a step forward, Bruce turned around and walked back. When Schiller walked out of the door, he only saw Bruce holding a pistol and turning a corner and disappearing on the side of the manor.

Suddenly, a "bang" sound came, and the sound of something falling to the ground echoed in the empty manor, which seemed particularly creepy.

Schiller opened his umbrella and walked back to the hall. He saw that there was no Bruce there, but the wine cabinet on the side fell over, and the precious red wine was scattered all over the floor.

Glancing over there, Schiller knew that in addition to the two bottles of wine that were missing when he came, there were two more bottles missing, which should have been taken away by Bruce.

Schiller turned his head and looked out the window. The roar of the Batmobile sounded, and a black shadow flew towards the horizon against the backdrop of lightning.

Batman drove his car and sped on the road in Gotham. The night here was very quiet. There was only one car on the wide and straight road. There was no obstacle in front, so he drove faster and faster.

The surrounding scenery became more and more blurred in his vision, and he began to be unable to clearly feel the existence of speed.

The Batmobile's ultimate shock absorption system made him unable to feel the vibration of contacting the ground. He seemed to be flying in the rainy night, like those bats flying low.

Batman thought he was going to the Batcave, but in fact, the direction of the car had completely deviated from the predetermined destination. The brain affected by alcohol could not judge the direction well, and he didn't know where he was going.

Suddenly, he felt that this road was somewhat familiar. He gradually slowed down and looked at the buildings that had been shaking in his field of vision. Among the layers of buildings, he keenly captured a familiar outline.

That was White Community Middle School where Dick was currently attending school.

The dark car slowly stopped, the rain was getting heavier, and the light coming out of the dormitory was like a lamp in a dark room, attracting many moths that looked up there.

But soon, the roar of the Batmobile sounded again, lightning flashed at the end of the sky, and the puddles on the road were made bright white, reflecting the shadow of the Batmobile speeding past.

Only Batman himself knew that when the little girl fell into a coma for the first time, he discovered the problem.

He had always looked at these problems from his perspective, not only for the little girl, but also for Dick.

He thought the little girl should receive treatment, so he sent her to the hospital. He thought Dick should go to school, so he sent him to the church middle school. Because the church middle school had an accident, he was transferred to the community middle school. Because the previous community middle school was too far away, he was transferred to a closer community middle school. Because the boarding school had an accident, he changed it to a day school.

When Batman realized that the little girl might have suffered a mental breakdown because of too many changes in environment, he realized what he was doing to Dick.

When he recalled all this, he found that Dick had expressed it to him more than once, but he didn't care at all.

Dick said he had no interest in learning, but Batman just thought he was too young and ignorant. Dick said he missed his classmates in the choir class, but Batman just thought it was a separation that must be experienced in life. Dick said he didn't know which club to choose in the new school, but Batman thought he should have the ability to distinguish.

He never thought about what consequences this kind of education would have, just like he never realized what he had done wrong before sending the little girl back to the room to sleep, but he suddenly realized that when he was going to change, things had become irreversible.

When he was holding the body of the little girl on the way to the warehouse, he felt that the body in his hand became heavier, and suddenly, he saw a familiar face. He saw that it was Dick, and saw that it was Aisha.

As a result, he could only return to the hall of the manor in a panic, but the fireplace there could not give him any warmth. At this time, he saw the red wine that he had kept in the wine cabinet but had never opened.

Three faces kept circling in Batman's mind, the little girl, Dick and Elsa.

On the road leading out of the city, the roar became louder and louder, and the speed of the car became faster and faster.

Suddenly, a sharp brake sound sounded, and the protection device of the Batmobile was activated, but it had no effect at all. The whole car overturned, the engine exploded, and a blazing flame rose.

The flames burned more and more in the night rain. Such a ridiculous scene would only appear in Gotham.

Batman climbed out of the Batmobile with blood all over his face. In the hazy and trance vision, his eyes lit up.

The gentle light enveloped him, but he knew that all this was just an illusion. He tried to close his eyes for a while, and when he opened them again, he saw something rolling in front of him.

It was a circle of light that looked extremely bright in the rainy night.

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