Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

The pale knight felt a heavy heart after leaving the memorial service, his thoughts a bit scattered, not knowing what he should be thinking about right now.

He knew he couldn't go on like this any longer, so he urgently wanted to find some work for himself to do, starting with what he promised Fiona, to investigate the truth behind Willie's death, and to not allow him to be slandered after his sacrifice.

The pale knight arrived at the Gotham Police Department; he needed to understand the situation from Gordon because the police were the ones most present at the time.

Gordon was also paying attention to the case.

"You finally came, I've been hassled by this little girl who claims to be your special assistant, you better tell me she is lying."

Fiona burst through the door, saying to the pale knight, "Mr. Mayor, I've found a clue! My dad stepped away to take a phone call during the protest, but they won't let me investigate the owner of the number, please come help me!"

The pale knight slightly furrowed his brows and looked towards Gordon, who first glanced at the redhead girl next to him, then pulled the pale knight to the end of the corridor, then said, "Do you really want to let her know?"

"Know what?"

"That phone call was made by your aide, Shiller." said Gordon. "Do you want her to suspect you?"

The pale knight was taken aback, grabbed Gordon, and asked, "When was this call made? I need an exact time."

Gordon gave him a time precise to the minute, and the pale knight then picked up his phone, scrolling through the information inside.

He then discovered the call was made around the same time as the photos from the protester data that Shiller had taken in Batman's study, roughly overlapping.

It seemed the pale knight understood something, he took a deep breath and said, "I don't want to hide it from her, she has the right to know the truth, but it would be best if it's the whole truth, can you get the specific content of the call?"

Gordon showed a troubled expression, saying, "Our entire tech department is tied up investigating the chemical plant explosion, we really can't spare more hands."

The pale knight hesitated for a moment, patted Gordon on the shoulder, and said, "You do your job, Commissioner, the rest is up to me."

With that, he turned and walked up to Fiona, looked into her eyes, and said, "That call was made by my aide, but I think you should understand, if he said something bad on the phone, I would not tell you this fact."

Fiona, as expected, did not get angry, she just looked straight into the pale knight's eyes and said, "I trust you, Mr. Mayor, but I want to know what they talked about on the phone."

"Is it that important?"

"Actually, I don't know." Fiona shook her head, "I just feel like I should know."

"Alright, then let's investigate," the pale knight smiled at her, then said, "Let's find someone who can figure this out."

The pale knight went out to say hi to Gordon, then went downstairs, and indeed, he ran into Nightwing who was hurriedly entering.

"Good heavens, you finally show up, the city is in total chaos now, I have no idea how that chemical plant could explode like that..."

"Don't rush, Nightwing, I have a favor to ask you." The pale knight pulled Fiona over, gave a brief explanation to Nightwing, then said: "I hope Batman can provide us with technological support, I want to find out exactly what Shiller said on that call."

Nightwing glanced at Fiona's young, naive face, and didn't say anything about refusing, although he didn't want to contact Batman, he still nodded in agreement.

Gotham rained again, although it was only nine in the morning, it was gloomy as if it were evening, and the sound of the rain could be heard everywhere, as if mourning someone.

Batman sat at his study desk listening to the recording of that phone call, his fingers tapping lightly on the tabletop, becoming thinner and paler until the hand with the silver ring ceased flipping through the files.

A protester's dossier appeared before Shiller, Willie Totzbeck, 43 years old, a transport worker at a recycling station, had a brief marriage history, and a 15-year-old daughter.

His profession was unremarkable, yet his life was exceptionally vivid; at 16, he was accused of aggravated assault for helping a girl harassed at a bar entrance, serving over two years in jail.

After being released, he became an employee at a gas station, and during a fire explosion at the station, he bravely entered the flames to save four people, one of whom was a local firefighter. After recuperating, the firefighter introduced him to the fire department.

In the following five years, he saved many people from various severe explosions, but during one rescue mission, he used water from a local private company to extinguish flames in a baby's room against regulations, incurring a debt of over 140,000 US Dollars, and had to leave the fire department.

Thereafter he drifted from job to job because his financial situation was significantly worse than his ex-wife's during their divorce, so he could have received alimony, but he never asked for it, even occasionally providing living expenses for his daughter.

In theory, he could have lived a settled life, but because he frequently participated in protest activities, he couldn't even find odd jobs, forced to work like stowaways in the harsh environment of garbage dumps.

He was also the leading protester of this pollution incident in Natural Forest, many protesters knew his life story, or were simply people he had once saved. They all had faith in him; he was bound to become a thorn in the side of Charabang Chemical Factory.

After taking this photo, Shiller picked up the phone and dialed the number provided on the document.

"Hello, Mr. Willie."

"…Who are you?" Willie's voice was somewhat hoarse and betrayed nervousness and vigilance.

"You do not need to know who I am. I just want to remind you that the agent hired by Charabang Chemical Factory has been cornered, and he is desperately trying to prove himself to his masters. You are likely to become his target."

"So what?" The other party's tone revealed deep anger as he said, "Is he going to kill me?"

"I'm afraid so, sir."

"Then let him come!"

After a pause, Shiller continued, "Even if you don't consider yourself, you should think of your family. I know you have a daughter…"

"She will be proud of me."

Beep—Beep—Beep—

Listening to the busy signal on the other end, Shiller slowly put down the phone. Perhaps this was for the better.

Shiller's original plan was not like this; he hoped that the deranged Rose's target would be the pale knight.

Knowing that the current head of Arkham Asylum, Tuck, is one of Rose's people, he moved the pale knight from Wayne Manor to Arkham Asylum. The purpose was to give Tuck a chance to monitor the pale knight's mental state.

At the same time, he approached Rose, explaining to her how much strength would be unleashed if the pale knight and Batman joined forces, causing her to feel anxious. This would surely make Rose want to sabotage the pale knight's mental state, and at the time, the best way to do that was to switch his medication.

But Shiller interfered, ensuring that the samples Rose got were not the pale knight's medication at all, so naturally, she couldn't analyze anything. Meanwhile, he learned from the head of the asylum, Tuck, that the pale knight's mental state had miraculously improved.

This would make Rose believe that the pale knight had changed his medication formula, completely eliminating Joker's threat, and considering that the pale knight was originally just an ordinary small-town boy with no background in medicine and chemistry education, it could only be possible that someone had helped him.

The auction held previously at Wayne Manor by the pale knight was very suspicious and evidence of a deep connection between the two. From this, it is easy to infer that it is possible that Batman helped the pale knight optimize the medication formula; they had formed a united front.

Rose really panicked. With Batman ahead, the pale knight behind, and Catwoman on the flank, and Charabang Chemical Factory's protest movements exploding, all the hidden dangers burst forth at once.

She had to pick something to deal with, or the people behind her would think she was incapable and abandon her.

Rose is just an agent, without her backers she is nothing. Once her backers are unwilling to solve her problems, she would inevitably face jail time.

Rose didn't want to go to jail. She didn't want to lose her position as the manager of the natural disaster fund. She had to do something, must do it now, immediately, and she must achieve results.

Pick the softest persimmons to squeeze; Rose naturally understood this principle. It was impossible to go after Batman without preparation, and going after the pale knight was tough. Catwoman had vanished somewhere, this thief was always hard to catch.

So, the only ones she could go after were the protestors.

In Shiller's original plan, after he sent the protesters' information to the pale knight, the pale knight would immediately realize that now was the best time to recruit them.

If he could go to the protest site, express his support and encouragement for them, and adopt a responsible attitude towards the pollution issue, he would surely win their favor, and the pale knight did not fear the risks.

Whether he might gain a bunch of followers, face violent law enforcement by the police, or be maligned by the media, the pale knight would definitely go.

And once he arrived on the scene, Rose would inevitably receive the news.

At that point, it would be a bet on whether the malice in her character would overcome her reason and lead her to make the stupidest choice.

Since the pale knight appeared, everything went off the rails. The natural disaster fund was under heavy scrutiny, and she, a powerful professional manager, faced a lot of pressure.

If not for the pale knight, the pollution of the Natural Forest might have remained hidden for decades or even a century, and it would not have implicated the Charabang Chemical Factory.

And now she even had to cooperate with Batman. What did they want to do? Turn the whole city upside down? Why can't they just be quiet, like those at the bottom, and just silently pass away?

Shiller bet that Rose would shoot at the pale knight.

Because he is Greed, he understood that the greatest greed in human nature is called "once and for all." Whether it's participating in gambling or making various risky decisions, it all boils down to this word.

And once the pale knight survives this assassination, no one will be able to shake his position again.