Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics-Chapter 4286 - 3383: Old City, New Night (Part 2)

Shiller was sizing up his new house in the DC.

Admittedly, although the English retro decor seemed slightly intricate and appeared as though it could serve as a set for a few episodes of Holmes, as a psychiatrist's consulting room, it indeed qualified.

Firstly, unlike modern industrial furniture, the straight lines made from wood were more gentle, adding variations in the midst of rigidity and softness, which could effectively alleviate people's tension.

Secondly, the use of a large amount of red and brown in the soft furnishing created a warm atmosphere that made it easier for people to relax.

Moreover, the intricately patterned carpets and a variety of exquisite sculptures displayed in the decorative cabinets could catch the eyes of those in conversation, dispersing their attention and lowering their psychological defenses.

Lastly, the seemingly expensive decor could make people feel that every minute they spent there was precious, which would increase the patients' cooperativeness.

Not to mention, outside the house was a medieval-style apothecary shop. To call it an apothecary was actually a spice shop, filled with all kinds of mysterious spices neatly arranged on entire shelves and cabinets, giving a sense of order and neatness. The shop's decor leaned even more toward retro, and Shiller worried that someday a kid with a scar on his forehead might walk in.

Unlike Arrogance, Greed didn't have time for any housewarming parties. He had welcomed his first patient of the day here — Batman.

It had been over a week since the affair with the pale knight in the cosmos concluded. The Christmas holiday was not over yet, and the municipal department's work efficiency was low, so many things requiring their collaboration were temporarily set aside. Having sorted out most of the issues, Batman finally had the time to come over.

Accompanying him was Catwoman, who upon entering was immediately attracted to the sparkling crystal-like spice crystals in the spice shop, choosing her own selection there.

Even though the house's style had changed to one Arrogance would like, Greed was still a person who valued efficiency. He didn't have the time to dilly-dally with talk therapy for hours — instead, he took out a questionnaire for Batman to fill out.

If there was anything Greed thought was beneficial about the people here, it was that they indeed could sit still. Batman spent half an hour filling out the form, and not a single word came out.

Shiller could see his hesitation on some questions, but he just wouldn't open his mouth to ask. With nothing better to do, Shiller started looking around.

Soon, he noticed a Batman dart hanging on Batman's waist, one that was different from the others.

Batman sensed Shiller's gaze and subconsciously touched that particular dart. Shiller raised his chin and said, "A Christmas gift from someone?"

"It would be better if it wasn't made from a bat tire hub," Batman said, inadvertently revealing more than he intended.

Shiller pursed his lips. If he was going to show off a gift, just show it off — why beat around the bush? On the second floor of his clinic in Hell's Kitchen, he had the Spider Silk Launchers and Iron Armor gauntlets from various generations, and he even had six variations of Captain America's Shield, and even an arm belonging to Bucky, which was much newer than the two from Rocket Raccoon's collection.

After a while, Batman finished the questionnaire. Shiller started to look it over. Now it was Batman's turn to look around.

Gray mist emitted a camera, then another camera. Shiller couldn't even be bothered to remind Batman not to waste his effort — these were goods marked with the Bat tag. Taken to Bruce's universe, they could be sold as merchandise for a tidy sum.

After finishing the assessment, Shiller had no time to care about anything else. Batman's condition was more severe than he had imagined; his depression had advanced to a late stage. It was indeed impressive that he could still walk around smoothly, befitting someone with the strongest willpower.

Contrary to what many imagine, severe depression can bring about quite frightening somatic symptoms, including but not limited to severe headaches, tinnitus, dizziness, apnea, and also intermittent muscle rigidity and weakness. Many hospitalized depression patients are bedridden and require 24-hour care, otherwise, they're unable to take care of themselves.

Most of the severe depression patients Shiller had seen were typically those who had the misfortune of fainting while moving around at home and were taken to the hospital by ambulance. These were relatively lucky. Some fell and hit the back of their heads, leading to death, or experienced sudden apnea while bathing, drowning in the bathtub.

Therefore, the suicidal tendencies of patients with severe depression sometimes could be classified with those of cancer patients. It's not only due to psychological depression but also the desire to quickly end one's suffering under physical torment, which leads to the thought of ending one's life.

In the treatment of severe depression, alleviating somatic symptoms is a very important aspect, even the primary goal, because this can most rapidly reduce their suicide tendencies.

Batman's mental state was so poor that Shiller felt it was a miracle he could stand here so lively and energetically. He thought the Vare family's Flame Bloodline might have also provided some help. Without magical factors, this was almost impossible.

But the following conversation was not smooth either. Batman instinctively resisted, treating it like an interrogation. Shiller spent a lot of effort trying to open him up, so much so that the afternoon dragged on without any progress.

The main issue with this universe's Batman was that he couldn't be consistent with himself. According to Shiller's analysis of the Batman from the High Tower's memories, most formidable Batmen were not healthy, but sufficiently consistent.

Take the Primary Universe Batman, for example. He was a very standard mentally ill person, but several of his symptoms fit together very well, like gear parts that were damaged but still meshed, even improving the rotation speed due to reduced weight, making him stronger.

Arkham Batman was the same, with a very pleasing mental state. He didn't have gears, but the bearings' speed was so high, it directly drilled a Black Hole in place, giving him unparalleled execution power.

Although Night Owl's performance is not as strong as the first two, he is still above average. But what matters is not whether it's reversed or not, it's about how fast it's spinning.

However, Batman in this universe is not like that. He has one part rotating forward, another rotating backward, one part broken, another part unaware, the more he spins, the more energy he wastes.

In the comics, he also displayed his doubts many times, and even by the second part's decisive battle phase, he didn't seem very resolute, giving off a strong sense of self-conflict.

Although this may be a setup for a subsequent romantic storyline, the reality is, Harley, the other protagonist of the romance, is much more determined than him.

Infighting is almost an unsolvable problem because people who don't indulge in it are the ones that are truly sick. For example, the Primary Universe Batman never doubts himself, so how can we not say he's an egomaniac?

And if there is an end to self-conflict, then it's not a problem. Take, for example, the weakest Batman in the universe; he has finite energy within him, once depleted, he gives up, accepts reality, admits failure, and tries to complete his duties to his best before going to sleep as the night falls.

But Batman from this universe still has almost limitless energy like an ordinary Batman, yet he's crazily engaging in self-torment. This means the process of suffering will be long and unless stopped, it will become an endless torture.

This situation does look familiar—initially, Bruce was like this too, always doubting himself, struggling inwardly, constantly seeking validation, deeply unsettled, and overwhelmed.

But greed and arrogance are different. He is a man who pursues efficiency; he chooses to skip a series of mutual harm, repeated torment, philosophical ponderings, growth and sublimation, and steps directly to the final phase—farming justice.

"I have a nice farm on the West Coast," Shiller said directly. "And a group of kids on vacation are planning to spend 50,000 US Dollars to fix their little base. Are you interested in going there to provide technical guidance?"

Batman was stunned by the speed of the topic change. He realized, of course, that their conversation was not making progress. He had anticipated a variety of responses from Shiller but hadn't expected this.

"Sorry, I'm not available."

"I have to apologize to you too, because this isn't a question," Shiller stood up, stashed the stack of charts into the bookshelf, and said, "Having interacted with me for so long, haven't you realized? When I present you a choice, you no longer have one."

As the first Batman in the DC Universe to be battered by greed, this one obviously still isn't convinced—until Clark Kent shows up at the door.

Clark was dressed as a reporter and carrying a camera, obviously just rushed over from a press conference.

Shiller passed Batman, directly showed Clark the charts for Batman, and explained in detail what each item represented and how bad Batman's current mental state was.

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Batman thought about interrupting and arguing why he hadn't, which may have something to do with how Kryptonians evolved their Cyclops-like eyes.

Batman had noticed that when Superman was angry, his eyes would turn particularly red, not emotionally, but physically red—"burning holes with a glare" didn't seem like an exaggeration at that moment.

And after Shiller exaggerated Gotham's recent situation to Clark—using diesel fuel and vinegar—Batman realized there were things more intimidating than physical redness.

What could Batman say? All he could do was curse inwardly the "damn blue eyes" and start contemplating packing his bags.

"Are you planning to stay there for a few days?" Shiller asked.

Clark shook his head and said, "I've been invited to Battleworld. I heard there are many different versions of me there, and I plan to explore. I also want to exchange experiences on news reporting with them. They should also be good journalists, right?"

While escorting him to the door, Shiller said, "Most of them are, but some are not that serious. But I believe you will still find common topics with many of them."

"Even so, I still have to finish the three reports I'm working on first," Clark stopped, looked at Shiller, and said, "Won't you reconsider accepting an interview?"

To Shiller, the word 'interview' seemed allergic. He quickly shook his head and spoke rapidly:

"I know you're curious about the behind-the-scenes stories of this series of events and think that turning them into news reports could inspire many, lasting down history."

"But indeed, I don't wish to narrate all the plans to you in the role of the interviewee because from the Executor's perspective, some descriptions may inevitably be biased. Being misunderstood is the fate of the communicator, but to let such a diligent reporter like you bear the consequences of misunderstandings, leaves me feeling uneasy."

"Moreover, I cannot explain my sources. It might cause you to be accused of reporting falsehoods, and if this undermines your influence, leading to certain evils that only your voice can check slipping by, I would be greatly to blame."

"I can provide you with the contact of someone who participated behind the scenes. I believe her story will be more moving to the audience. Let me briefly introduce her to you; her name is Rose, a black girl from the Gotham slum..."