amaotonovel Chapter 4577 The Day of Brightest Day (36)
Chapter 4577 The Day of Brightest Day (36)
Chapter 4577 The Day of Brightest Light (Thirty-Six)
Deathstroke frowned deeply. This was somewhat counterintuitive. Because the boy was so outspoken, and Deathstroke had never heard him complain, he assumed everything was alright. If something were wrong, the boy would have said it directly, without any hesitation.
However, from Schiller's perspective, it does seem a bit abnormal. Because Deathstroke had more contact with the boy, he knew that the boy had many good qualities, but his weaknesses were a short temper, excessive protectiveness, and a tendency to flare up easily.
Previously, when he came to visit, they went shopping together at the mall. Someone took their parking spot, and he jumped out to fight them. Although the person was indeed in the wrong, his reaction was excessive, and on the way back, he kept saying how inconsiderate the person was.
To be fair, the person might not have intentionally tried to steal their parking spot; they just saw it was empty and drove over. But the boy described the other person as utterly wicked. This proves he is indeed a very emotional person and prone to exaggeration.
Even so, Deathstroke subtly inquired several times, and directly asked him several times, "Has Joseph been bullied at school?", and he always said no. This was a bit strange.
How could we not know the death knell? Whether it's a public or private school, there are bound to be plenty of extraordinary individuals. Public schools have more extraordinary individuals because they have lower entry requirements, leading to a more varied student body. But private schools have even more extraordinary individuals because they generally come from wealthy families and have people supporting their antics.
Joseph actually seems like the type who's easy to bully: he's mostly taciturn and prefers to quietly read or play with toys. Although he does participate in sports, he doesn't like competitive sports; it's more like he's just trying to stay physically fit. This kind of personality is definitely not popular in an American high school where social interaction is crucial for maintaining one's position.
Many people know how prestigious American universities are. Besides the exorbitant tuition fees, the various cliques and gangs are an unavoidable part of the experience. But universities are generally more open than high schools. If you're determined not to socialize, that's fine. But American high schools are a different story.
In some very conservative states, in church schools where teachers have absolute authority and all students live in constant fear, things might be slightly better. But most American high schools are so socially oriented that it's no joke that you can't survive without socializing.
Many school shootings in the United States occur in schools like these, not even the worst public schools, but rather top-ranked private schools in the area. This is because social interaction is so crucial; there's no room for anyone with low social skills. Without social interaction, you're socially dead. This, in effect, creates another kind of high-pressure environment.
Forcing extroverted and active people to quiet down and study under high pressure every day is painful. However, forcing naturally quiet people to conform to various social norms, constantly communicating with others, trying to guess their thoughts, and pretending to be actively integrated is not much better. Both are against one's nature, and are equally bad.
Logically, Joseph should have encountered some unfriendly people. And given that boy's personality, if his friend suffered even the slightest injustice, he would have made a huge fuss about it, letting the whole world know. But he didn't say a word.
Moreover, according to Deathstroke's own understanding—he had his own intelligence channels, otherwise he wouldn't have dared to send the child there—Joseph was indeed doing well. Although he neither joined the student council nor any clubs, and mostly kept to himself, his grades were good, he had a few close friends, and he didn't have any conflicts with his roommates. He also completed his social practice courses smoothly.
This was clearly not right. Deathstroke carefully recalled his high school days: someone like Joseph was very likely to be a target of various cliques. Even if a private school were to be more discreet, they wouldn't let him off so easily. What on earth was going on?
Only now did Deathstroke admit that he truly didn't know Joseph well enough. There were many things about Joseph that he hadn't noticed. Had he not cared enough about him?
“You underestimate him,” Schiller said, as if reading his thoughts. “You believe that violence represents strength, and that those who are not violent enough represent weakness. But that is clearly wrong.”
“That’s true,” Deathstroke readily admitted. “Anyway, I never imagined that someone like you could cause the commotion of a train.”
“I’m an exception,” Schiller said with a hint of helplessness. “Don’t make that comparison. I’m talking about Joseph. He was more reserved, so you think he was incompetent.”
“I didn’t say he was incompetent,” Deathstroke retorted. “I just felt that such a person was not suited to get involved in violence. Because in these situations, you can’t just wait and defend. You have to move forward to find a way out. And moving forward requires aggression.”
“I don’t disagree with that. But you shouldn’t equate violent traits with aggression. Just because some people don’t exhibit obvious violent traits doesn’t mean they aren’t aggressive. On the contrary, they’re just deliberately hiding it.”
“Take you for example?” Deathstroke stared at Schiller and said, “Honestly, the feeling I get from your demeanor is that if I had the ability to look directly at vengeful spirits right now, the world around you would probably be a million times more chaotic.”
Schiller lowered his head and laughed. He said, "Then you should be proud of yourself. Joseph didn't become like me because he had a good father."
Deathstroke paused again, and said, "Since you think Joseph is a lot like you, let's talk about you."
“I really don’t have much to talk about,” Schiller said. “This is not an excuse, it’s just a very old story, I bet you can guess it.”
“Hmm… an orphan?” Deathstroke tried.
Schiller nodded, and Deathstroke seemed encouraged. He thought for a moment and said, "Human experimentation?"
Schiller nodded again.
"The experimental subject escaped?"
Then he nodded.
"revenge?"
He nodded again.
“Well, that’s a bit cliché,” Deathstroke had to admit. “But you don’t look that evil. Something must have redeemed you, right?”
Schiller nodded again, and Deathstroke raised his hands, saying, "Even more cliché than I thought. Who is it? A gentle and kind girl? A compassionate and tolerant teacher?"
“Doctor,” Schiller said, “doctor and nurse.”
“Well. You’re lucky, oh no, I should say I’m lucky. If it weren’t for them, I’d probably be in the Red Sea by now,” Deathstroke said half-jokingly.
"Let's get down to business," he continued. "What methods did you use?"
"what?"
"Revenge? What methods did you use to take revenge?"
"If I don't kill with my own hands, am I supposed to just watch?"
“That’s exactly what I’m asking,” Deathstroke said. “You can’t deny that murder is an act of extreme violence, inherently linked to violent traits. How do you carry out your revenge while concealing your violent nature?”
“I hid my violent tendencies in order to carry out my revenge,” Schiller said. “You can go to many places with your image, but I can go to even more places with my image.”
Deathstroke hesitated for a moment, then said, "So your enemies are those people from high society?"
Schiller nodded and said, “That’s right. This method works even better for high society. Whether I’m playing a bewildered newcomer or a playboy at a celebrity party, it allows me to take down my target silently. It’s quick and easy, and I never miss.”
“That proves you’re a born killer,” Deathstroke said. “Because the most important thing isn’t your disguise, but your timing. Only by striking at the right moment can you succeed and escape unscathed.”
“That’s for someone like you,” Schiller said. “You think the trust I’ve gained is very shallow. They like me, but they still have doubts about me. So I need to find that fleeting moment to kill them. Otherwise, even the slightest slip-up will be exposed.”
"Is not it?"
"Of course not. The main reason my revenge plan succeeded was because I manipulated them. I made them trust me completely and have no doubts about me. So all I had to do was arrange their deaths according to what I was going to do next. Usually, it didn't take much effort. If I was in the mood, I would even give them a small funeral and then let them walk into their coffins on their own."
Deathstroke was horrified. He said, "You mind-controlled them? Is that your superpower?"
Then, somewhat incredulously, he said, "You have immense strength and mind control abilities—it's time to go to Batman's Tower of Babel and see how he plans to deal with you."
At this moment, Deathstroke suddenly remembered what Schiller had said earlier: Batman had reminded the Justice League that if they found out that Schiller was the one causing trouble, they should pretend they didn't see anything and just bring over another Schiller.
Very good, Batman truly deserves to be called the smartest person in the world.
“But Joseph doesn’t have superpowers.” Deathstroke decided to bring the conversation back to the beginning.
"He really didn't?" Schiller asked, looking into Deathstroke's eyes. "You must have had him after undergoing human modification, right? Why do you think your edited genes have no effect on him?"
Deathstroke paused for a moment, then said, "But he never..."
“He may just not show it,” Schiller said. “I can tell you with certainty: either he’s a genius at mind manipulation, able to brainwash people with ease, or he has superpowers in mind control.”
A gust of wind blew from behind them. Deathstroke and Schiller turned around simultaneously. The broad shadow cast by the Boeing 787's wings swept across them, and with a deafening roar, the landing gear lowered. The plane landed smoothly on the runway.
The plane door opened, and Deathstroke instinctively looked in that direction. The two pairs of blue eyes met, and they both froze.
“You lost.” Schiller turned back to lean against the railing, smiling as he said, “Remember, you owe me a favor.”
Just as Deathstroke was about to say something, a cold voice suddenly rang out: "Stay away from him."
That was Joseph's voice, but Deathstroke had never heard him speak in that voice before. And how could Joseph's voice be so clearly heard by the two of them when he was hundreds of meters away?
“I said. Stay away from him!” Joseph’s voice was laced with suppressed anger.
Schiller slowly turned around, looked at the boy standing in front of the plane, and slowly mouthed, "Child, don't be afraid."
“Get out of there, Slade.” His voice rang in Deathstroke’s ears again. Deathstroke jumped in surprise and said, “What the hell! And I’m your father, how can you call me by my first name like that…”
"Get out of there now, Slade Wilson...please!"