amaotonovel Chapter 2886 When Night Falls (4)
Chapter 2886 When Night Falls (4)
Chapter 2886 When Night Falls (Part )
It was rare to have sunshine in the Gotham of this universe. The guest rooms in Wayne Manor were kept very clean, and the bedding gave off the scent of sunshine. When morning came, Schiller stood by the door and handed Alfred the clothes to be ironed.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Butler." Schiller smiled at Alfred. Alfred took the clothes, glanced down slightly, and couldn't help but praise him.
"You have very fine taste in fabrics, Doctor. I tried to get him to accept silk, which would go better with his coat, but he refused."
"Then he probably can't explain why every silk shirt of his gets snagged," Schiller said with a smile. "He probably just doesn't want to expose the calluses on his hands in this way."
Alfred instinctively looked at Schiller's hands.
Although it is known that hands are very important to surgeons and must not be neglected in maintenance, Dr. Schiller's hands are flawless. Even when smoothing extremely delicate silk fabrics, there will never be the slightest mark left.
Perhaps this is also true in other places. Is this really just the professional quality of a surgeon?
Alfred retracted his gaze, nodded to Schiller, took his clothes and left. A figure appeared at the end of the corridor. Tim walked over slowly and said, "I want to talk to you."
"For Batman? Please come in."
Tim walked into the room, but he kept his hands on his chest, and he walked slowly, showing his nervousness. When he sat down, he did not lean back but stood upright.
Schiller didn't sit down, but turned around to pour tea. Tim should have felt relaxed when he saw Schiller's defenseless back, but for some reason, he even felt a little restless.
"I did come for Batman, and I was a little worried about his condition," Tim said. "I knew that if he had to rely on an outsider to perform surgery, his condition would be as bad as it could be."
"I'm sorry, Master Tim. As a doctor, I have no right to reveal any information about my patients. Batman wouldn't like me doing that either. Tea or coffee?"
"Tea."
Schiller paused, but still reached into the drawer next to him to get a tea bag. He still turned his back to Tim and said, "Batman told me a lot about vampires yesterday. This was completely beyond my expectations. I find it hard to believe that these monsters have developed to the point where they can pose a threat to humans."
He turned around and placed the tea in front of Tim. Tim looked up and observed his movements, but he only saw the man walk slowly to the seat opposite him. When he picked up the cup to drink tea, the steam condensed on his eyelashes, but did not reflect any light in his eyes.
"People have been missing in Gotham recently. We are all investigating this matter. Did Batman say anything else to you?"
"He's not a very good conversationalist." Schiller shook his head and smiled gently. "I was just a little curious about the so-called vampires, so I asked a few more questions. But my time is very tight, and most of it is used to prepare for the operation tomorrow night."
Tim wanted to open his mouth but didn't know how. When he asked about the surgery, Schiller talked to him about vampires. When he mentioned vampires, Schiller started talking about the surgery again.
It always feels suffocating when talking to this person. You feel that he might be beating around the bush, but you also think that he is hinting at something by talking in a roundabout way. But when you think about it carefully, there is no definite evidence whether it is beating around the bush or hinting at something.
"I don't want to beat around the bush." Tim had to take a more direct approach. He said, "I strongly disagree with performing surgery on Batman at this time, no matter what the surgery is."
"But I also know that Batman should know this better than me. He doesn't like to expose his weaknesses in troubled times unless he has to do so. Can you tell me to what extent he has 'had to' do so?"
"Very smart, boy." Schiller couldn't help but admire. He put down the teacup and stared into Tim's eyes, making Tim sweat.
"Yesterday Batman told me something - whoever asks this question first, I mean, the question you just asked, I can tell him some truth."
Tim pricked up his ears.
"But I'm so sorry, you're not the first."
Tim was so shocked that he thought he must have heard it wrong, because there was something indescribably childish and mean in the man's tone, as if he had been preparing for this for so long just to play a trick on Tim.
"Who is it?" Tim couldn't help asking.
"A smart lady, eloquent and hard to resist." Schiller sighed helplessly and said, "I have never been able to deal with such smart girls. I can only tell you that she seemed a little hesitant before leaving. Maybe she went to discuss things with someone."
Tim immediately thought of Barbara and Dick. The smart girl must be Barbara.
Although there are two girls in the Bat Family, the other one is Cassandra. The Bat Family tacitly assumes that she is Batman's substitute for the mouthpiece. In short, she is a mute.
The word "eloquent" will never be used to describe her, so the only one left is Barbara Gordon. Ms. Oracle inherited some aspects of her father and has the qualities of Batman, which is indeed always difficult to deal with.
And if you were to ask who Barbara would turn to first when she encountered a problem, it would definitely be Dick.
Thinking of this, Tim became a little restless. He didn't have any prejudice against this eldest brother, but from Tim's point of view, the result that the two of them could discuss would definitely not be a good solution.
To be more specific, it is probably because there is too much justice and rigor, but not enough flexibility, which may cause delays.
Tim left in a hurry. Schiller looked at the steaming tea on the table and shook his head gently, as if talking to the air. "I told you, this method won't work. To your children, I'm just a stranger. They are not so vigilant as to drink the tea served by a stranger when they meet him for the first time."
Schiller walked to the table next to him and took out a Bible and a small cross pendant from the drawer. Batman's voice sounded from the depths of the drawer.
"This can protect you." He said, "There is still a lot of holy water. If someone wants to take action, this can at least help delay you for a while."
"I am sure that even if there is more than one vampire in your Bat Family, they will not attack me. As I said before, don't underestimate your children."
Batman fell silent. Schiller picked up the Bible and started reading it. He did not wear the cross pendant around his neck, but put it in his pocket.
Today he wore a rare black suit with dark patterns, which was much more low-key than his usual attire, but the marlin brooch on his chest was still shining.
Soon, noises of quarreling were heard in the corridor.
Tim slammed the door and walked out. Dick followed him with an anxious look on his face, and Barbara followed closely behind.
The noise not only woke Schiller, but also attracted the attention of Jason and Damian downstairs, and even Cassandra looked up.
Everything went quiet when Batman walked out of the room.
"It's tea time," Alfred announced. "Today I've prepared rich chocolate cherry cake, almond cookies, and Sri Lankan black tea. Does anyone want more sugar?"
The Robins have different requirements for sugar content. Damian's taste is stronger and he often clamors for more sugar. Dick will try his best to dissuade him, but when Barbara needs hotter tea and more sugar during her period, he will help her personally, which always causes Damian's ridicule.
Barbara nodded slightly to Alfred, and Alfred understood. But Damian felt a little strange when he saw Dick not moving, and his eyes rolled around.
Schiller opened the door, but did not come out immediately. Instead, he went back to the room and seemed to get something before coming out.
Tim had some unpleasantness with Dick and Barbara, so he sat down on a chair and didn't say anything. Jason gave him a look, but he pretended not to see it.
Originally, the situation had already become noisy at this time, but it seemed that because there was suddenly a stranger in the Bat Family, everyone kept silent, some questions that should have been asked were not asked, and the atmosphere seemed a little weird.
The afternoon tea started like this, with everyone having their own ulterior motives.
Batman sat in the main seat, Dick sat on his right, Schiller sat on his left, and the others sat in order of age.
"The operation will be scheduled for tomorrow night. I will not show up after three o'clock tomorrow afternoon. You must take care of the security of Wayne Manor and the Batcave, Cassandra..."
"I'm here." Cassandra signaled with her eyes.
"You will guard the manor tomorrow. I leave this place to you. Alfred will assist. Everyone else go to the Batcave."
Batman glanced around and said, "Barbara will go to the monitoring room as usual, Dick will be in charge of guarding the door, Jason and Tim will go to the armory, one will wait outside the laboratory door."
"I'll go outside the lab." Jason and Tim said almost in unison.
Normally, Jason liked to go to the armory the most. He also knew that it was a bit strange for him to ask for a change of duties at this time, so he said: "If anyone wants to invade here, it must be for you, Batman. Only I can take on this important task."
"But the arsenal is equally important." Batman looked at Jason and said, "I believe Tim can protect me."
Jason’s fingers tightened, but surprisingly, he said nothing, seemingly accepting the arrangement.
Batman felt relieved and almost ruled out Jason as the possibility, because Jason Todd had thousands of excuses to explode, but there was only one reason that would make him endure, and that was love.
Tim crossed his hands, tapping the back of his hand with the fingers of one hand. He said, "Why don't we all get together? If we are alone, we will be defeated one by one."
"Broken by what?" Batman asked.
"Don't play dumb at this time." Tim was very impatient. He said, "Since you already know the answer is vampire, don't let us waste time on meaningless guesses."
"Why do you say that, Tim?"
"Of course, this is an answer that anyone with a brain can guess. We are on high alert because the invaders this time are more cunning and secretive than any other criminals."
"I don't think so." Barbara said, "Vampires are afraid of sunlight, holy water and crosses. Their weaknesses are too obvious."
"That's why I said you were totally unprepared," Tim said, revealing the whole argument they'd had in the room. "There are so many ways to block UV rays, and it's easy to avoid holy water and crosses, so it's crazy to give up on a careful defense plan."
"Tim, don't say that about Barbara." Dick said, "No one ever said not to be prepared. I believe Batman has prepared holy water and a cross. We can also install a few more ultraviolet lights in the Batcave. They won't stand a chance."
"No need to argue anymore." Batman said, "Let's eat first, and then I will prepare the equipment that everyone will need. I believe there will be no major problems."