Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

"Hello, Lady Rose, I am Schiller Rodriguez, pleased to meet you."

Schiller took a seat by the window in the restaurant, sizing up the black woman sitting opposite him. She was dressed in a trench coat, a bit overweight, resembling an oversized Amanda.

"Please, Mr. Shiller, no need for formality. What do you need to see me for?"

"I'd like to ask about the natural disaster fund. I've heard that it's always been under your management."

"That's correct. Does the new mayor have any opinion on this?"

"No, not at all, it's just that I have a piece of news." Schiller leaned back in his chair and said while looking into Rose's eyes, "Batman intends to take down the GTO. Did you know?"

Rose frowned deeply, but quickly shook her head, "Impossible. Batman has always opposed the establishment of this unit. He even broke ties with his assistant over it."

"You and your master also oppose the establishment of this unit, but that's only because the blade is not in your hands. How do you know Batman doesn't think the same way?"

"What does this have to do with the natural disaster fund?"

"There's another piece of bad news." Schiller changed the subject and said, "I had a chat with Joker. He claims he's unwilling to work for you all and has rejected my offer to cooperate."

Rose stared intently at Schiller's face, seemingly trying to find some clues in his expression because she just couldn't see through what this man was getting at.

Schiller stretched out his hands, slowly parting them, then said, "You've built a stage for good and evil to clash upon. No matter who beats whom half to death, you could demand reparations under the pretext of damage to the stage."

"But the premise is that they fight unarmed. What if one side gets a gun?"

Rose gripped her coffee cup tightly and said, "It seems you know a lot, so let me speak frankly; we won't allow Batman to possess the GTO."

"He's asking for a high price."

"Do you think we'd enter into a bidding war with him peacefully?" Rose scoffed, then said, "Either we get the blade, or we melt it down to forge it anew."

"Quite bold." Schiller nodded, "You're too adept at these tricks. First, corrode the management with heaps of money, interfere with personnel administration, set up all sorts of harsh demands, replace fresh blood with a bunch that doesn't know their own gender, devour all the equipment and training funds... Soon, Sharp Blade will turn into scrap metal."

"I never said we did that." Although Rose's reply was curt, it carried an admission.

"Gordon couldn't stop this, perhaps Batman can't either. You can even make bribery legal, beyond reproach by anyone."

Rose blew on her coffee without responding.

"The mayor wants me to arrange for his supporters to join the GTO."

Finally, Rose sat up straight, her gaze intense on Schiller, "What do you mean? Does he intend to allow those brain-dead yes-men to join the special counter-terrorism unit?"

"You know, for counter-terrorism personnel, the traits you've described are actually assets."

"Stop joking. They wouldn't dare." Rose appeared to relax again, "If they really dared to do something, they would have done it by now, instead of just holding up signs and chanting slogans."

However, her mood did not seem as calm as she presented. She took a sip of her coffee, which was obviously very hot, but she swallowed it anyway.

"The one joking is you, lady. You seem to describe them only with negative adjectives, but that's not your true intention. It's just bravado from fear, knowing better than anyone that the difference between the wealthy and the poor isn't that great. They aren't inherently foolish; to the contrary, many of them lack only an opportunity to soar to great heights - they are would-be warriors and sages."

Schiller leaned forward, looking into Rose's eyes, "So tell me, among the Pale Knight's six million supporters, how many are like that?"

"You're the one posturing," Rose said coldly. "They lack adequate education, don't understand what it means to follow orders, nor do they have any courage. Even if they did, you couldn't possibly weed out such people, much less get them into counter-terrorism."

"Is that so? Maybe indeed I can't, as I'm just an advisor to the mayor." Schiller's voice suddenly became softer, "Even maybe the mayor can't. He's just a small-town boy who has struggled from the bottom, neither understanding nor controlling this city."

Rose was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when she heard Schiller say, "What about Batman?"

Her heart clenched suddenly, as if it skipped several beats in an instant.

"Batman wants to take control of the GTO, and he's not limited to merely outbidding you in a fair fight. Whatever you can do, he can as well, for he is one of you."

"But he has a bigger advantage, not because he's richer or knows Gotham better, but because he stands on the side of justice, truly willing to do something for the people at the bottom of this city."

Schiller put down his cup, leaned back in his chair, and continued, "Whatever you can offer, he can match. If he invests the money meant for bidding into winning hearts, he might give more than you can."

"What he can offer and you cannot is to teach them what justice is, what honor means, to tell them that they are fighting for the safety and well-being of their families. He will demonstrate this with actions."

"He can't do it," Ruth said.

"Do what? Get the poor to fight for the poor?"

"Yes, because not all poor people are the same," Ruth inhaled deeply and said: "They support different parties, have different political views, races are not the same, gender is not the same, and their identities are different, even the food they eat is not the same. They can't possibly stand together."

"Exactly." Shiller nodded and said: "But what if Batman and the pale knight were to work together?"

Shiller sighed lightly, almost pityingly, and said: "The pale knight has a group of supporters with basically the same political opinions. Judging from the events of the day, most of them are willing to tolerate the differences of others for the sake of supporting the pale knight and stand together to attack you all."

"Batman is rich and powerful, the symbol of justice in Gotham, understands you all better than anyone else, and is perfectly capable of employing the same methods you use. He can select the elite from this group of supporters for training, and use them to take control of GTO."

"That's impossible," Ruth said. "The pale knight got Batman imprisoned and reviled by thousands. Batman could never cooperate with the pale knight."

But Shiller shook his head and sighed again, this time more like he was lamenting Ruth's intelligence.

"Are you trying to tell me the basis for cooperation is emotional?"

Ruth was taken aback; she knew well it wasn't. The basis of cooperation is always interest, and nothing else.

Emotions do play a certain role; people naturally tend to cooperate with those they have a good relationship with, but that's only if there isn't someone else promising more benefits. Even sworn enemies can choose temporary cooperation in the face of sufficient interests.

"You should feel fortunate that the pale knight had to harm Batman to ascend, creating discord between them, and causing them not to reach an understanding for the time being."

"But soon they will realize that in the whole of Gotham, no two have more aligned interests than them. They both want the city to get better, they both represent justice, and they both want to completely save Gotham."

"How coincidental, isn't it? Apart from common interests, they even have common enemies, and this enemy has become strong enough that they must join forces to gain any advantage. With this in mind, why wouldn't they cooperate?"

Ruth's face had turned very ugly, her coffee was drained, and to gather herself, she left her seat and went to the bar for another cup of coffee, standing there until the coffee was ready before returning.

This readjustment did its job; she seemed calmer than before when she looked at Shiller and said: "I admit you're right, but what is the purpose of your visit today?"

"Don't rush." Shiller shook his head, Ruth realized the person she was talking to now always had an unpredictable attitude—when you think he should be proud, he's unexpectedly humble; when you think he should be conservative, he pushes aggressively.

It's as if he has a completely different definition of victory and defeat than others, like a madman talking to himself in a dream—a madman who hits right at the heart of the matter.

"Batman and the pale knight should naturally cooperate closely, but they haven't done so. Apart from being a bit slow to respond, perhaps there's another reason, what do you think?"

Ruth didn't want to follow Shiller's line of thinking, but she realized at this point that the hesitations of Batman and the pale knight were their last chance. Once the two joined forces, the situation would become very unfavorable for them.

Batman and the pale knight are both intelligent; they might indeed be awkward due to past grudges, but they shouldn't have taken this long to come around.

What's the last barrier between them?

Suddenly, the tightly furrowed brows of Ruth relaxed, and a glint of insight flashed in her eyes as she said the name: "The Joker..."

The corners of Shiller's mouth twitched upward, but Ruth, deep in thought, didn't see it. Shiller took a sip of his coffee, glanced at the time on his watch and said,

"I don't have much time left. As for the question that's been preoccupying you, I can only tell you that I don't care who the enemies of Batman and the Joker are, nor do I care if this city is saved. I do as much as I'm paid to."

Once finished, Shiller stood up, Ruth suddenly snapped to her senses and called out to him, then said: "Did someone hire you to say these things? Who? One of our own?"

"Sorry, I can't reveal his name," Shiller shook his head and said.

"How much did he pay you?" Ruth stared intently at Shiller.

"Just to be a spokesperson, 2 million US dollars."

"That's quite the demand," Ruth said.

"You're right about that, I have other matters, so I won't disturb you further."

"Wait!" Ruth quickly called after him and said: "I don't need you to tell me who hired you, but I need some information about the mayor."

"Like?"

"I know he's taking a certain medication," Ruth stood up, seemingly regaining her confidence as she said: "This medication can improve his mental state, but it must be taken continuously. If you can tell me the details about this medication and the specifics of his dosing routine, I can give you 2 million."

Shiller smiled and said: "That's exactly what I'm good at, it's a deal."