civilwarnovels Chapter 4523 The Darkest Night (51)
Chapter 4523 The Darkest Night (51)
Chapter 4523 The Darkest Night (Fifty-One)
“I think our planet was swallowed by a black hole.” After I expressed this opinion, Rodriguez surprisingly didn’t laugh at my naive analogy. “Darkness makes time stand still, I think that’s what you’re going to say, Mr. Fries. It makes sense, both physically and sociologically, and it’s quite interesting.” I hadn’t expected such a comment; perhaps he was just trying to comfort me, but it did make me feel better. You see, even a cold and arrogant detective can be generous with his comprehensive observations when trying to comfort someone.
My phone suddenly rang. I looked in that direction, and the screen lit up, only reflecting Rodriguez's cold expression. 'Moriarty's here,' he said. His expression wasn't a good sign, but we'd been through so much bad things that even I generously thought one more wouldn't make a difference.
'He greeted an old friend, Mr. Fries, what do you think that means?' Honestly, I don't know. But I tried my best to guess: 'He knew you before, probably.'
That's an utterly foolish answer. Of course, you wouldn't use that term for an old friend, a complete stranger. But comparing himself to Moriarty just doesn't sound like someone Rodriguez would want to know.
"Who is Moriarty's adversary?" the detective asked himself, answering, "Sherlock Holmes, of course." He paced back and forth, seemingly reasoning, but actually with a hint of disdain, "A puzzle of this caliber..."
I looked at him, somewhat bewildered, but he had already put on his coat and headed for the door. I followed him into the damp, dark night. Even after we both got into the car, I still couldn't figure out what he meant.
'A cliff,' he said, 'a cliffside restaurant on the coast.'
Victor looked up and shook his stiff neck. Although this passage was short, he had revised it several times. Knowing that Hugo had arranged to meet Schiller at the cliffside restaurant, he needed to deduce what kind of puzzle Hugo had set up.
But Victor himself wasn't very good at designing puzzles; even with wordplay, he could only come up with the allusion to the cliff where Holmes and Moriarty perished together. Perhaps Hugo designed some more complex puzzles, but this was truly the best he could think of.
Victor retracted his previous opinion that he didn't need to look up information. To make the duel tense, exciting, and thrilling, various puzzles were essential. But what kind of information did he need to look up for these?
After sitting there thinking for a long time without finding a solution, Victor had no choice but to take out his phone to ask Brainiac. However, he discovered that there was no signal, so he had to take his phone downstairs.
“I only know how to solve puzzles with numbers and symbols,” Brainiac said, “but I don’t think either of them are that kind of person, what do you think?”
“Uh, indeed.” Victor touched his forehead; he couldn’t imagine the scene of Leper cracking the combination of numbers.
“I can help you consult a professional,” Brainiac said. “I happen to know a riddle master who knows Schiller. He might be able to tailor a few riddles to your specifications…”
“That would be perfect,” Victor said. “Not just a puzzle, but also the process of solving it. Ideally, it should be exciting, with a style reminiscent of psychology and psychoanalysis.”
Not long after, Brainiac replied. The message was very long, leaving Victor's head spinning. But he had to admit, this riddle master was truly skilled. He had written a series of riddles around the "imagery" and "metaphor" of the spiritual world, and even provided a detailed Schillerian solution.
This involves not only technical terms, but more importantly, a clash of perspectives and viewpoints between the two sides. Schiller's view is that "the essence of manipulation is love," while Hugo's view is that "the essence of manipulation is hate." The two sides engaged in a series of exchanges on this topic.
This gave Victor an idea. He knew how to handle the part about the little girl. He went back upstairs and wrote furiously, quickly finishing the prelude to the confrontation—the part where Hugo sets up the puzzle and Schiller solves it. Besides the puzzle-solving, there was also a great deal of verbal exchange.
Then, the little girl Novi appeared. Of course, she wasn't thrown down as a corpse; instead, she stood in front of Schiller, and the two even had a conversation.
The main content of the conversation was what Schiller had told Victor about the little girl's experiences at Wayne Manor. In Victor's story, Hugo didn't distort the little girl's memories to make her hostile towards Schiller; instead, he amplified Novi's "hatred" for Bruce, allowing her to use this to attack Schiller. This also demonstrates Hugo's viewpoint: the essence of manipulation is hatred. If Novi didn't hate Bruce, Hugo's manipulation wouldn't have succeeded.
However, Victor was somewhat perplexed about how to articulate Schiller's point of view. He wanted Schiller to convince Novie, but in Bruce and Novie's case, Bruce was in the wrong. No matter how he tried to persuade her, it would seem like sophistry. Although Schiller was also adept at sophistry, the current situation wasn't quite right.
Indeed, this creative method of designing the ending first and then working backwards to deduce the process is somewhat anti-human. For this dish of dumplings wrapped in vinegar, all you need to do is pour out the vinegar, but there are many more things to consider regarding the dumplings themselves.
Victor scratched his head for ages but couldn't write anything. Frustrated, he went to Brainiac, but Brainiac knew nothing about literary creation.
“I think you should ask the person in question,” Brainiac said. “Why don’t you ask Bruce Wayne?”
Victor paused for a moment, then said, "Isn't he busy right now?"
"It depends on how you define 'busy.' If being busy forming the Dark Knights and disrupting the harmony of the multiverse counts as being busy, then he is indeed quite busy."
"Forget it, can you send him a message for me and ask him what to do in this situation? Oh, and remember to emphasize that I'm writing a novel, otherwise he'll come and ruin my peaceful life."
Brainiac did as instructed. Not long after, Victor received a reply from Bruce: "The professor will probably show Novie just how bad I am at psychoanalysis, and then Novie will understand me."
Victor suddenly realized. How could he not have thought of that?
Although Victor wasn't involved in what happened back then, he could imagine what it was like, especially after he and Nora adopted Billy. He fully understood how difficult it was to raise children.
Both he and Nora had been elementary school teachers and had interacted with many children before. They were both very patient, respectful of children, willing to communicate, knowledgeable, and experienced. Billy was also a very sensible child who never threw tantrums. Because he had been fostered before, he was a bit cautious and good at reading people's expressions. But even so, sometimes they would cause chaos and commotion.
Bruce was under 20 at the time, had never been a parent, and had little experience with children. To make matters worse, his parents had passed away early when he was a child. Therefore, he lacked experience in both parenting and childhood, a lack that remains true even now.
Bruce and Dick have no conflicts now, not because Bruce has become so mature and skilled, but because Dick and the others have grown up. Those kids have all passed their rebellious phase and become Bruce's peers, so naturally they can understand and forgive each other.
If Novi could understand Bruce's predicament and put herself in his shoes, perhaps she would forgive him.
But Novi is, after all, a child, and a child whose mind has been distorted by Hugo. Even adults struggle with empathy, let alone her. How can we possibly get her to understand?
He got stuck here again. Victor was getting really frustrated. Sure enough, anything becomes painful once it becomes a task with a goal. The joy of creating freely was gone.
Victor didn't know whether this pain stemmed from the restrictions or from the act of literary creation itself. Perhaps it was both, but there was no turning back once the arrow was released. He had to finish writing it no matter what.
Victor sat behind his desk in his study, quietly pondering how to make the plot work. He wanted to discuss it with Brainiac again, so he went downstairs. But then he received a text message: "I'm back. —Xi"
Victor immediately put away his phone, left the library, and drove back to Gotham University. Seeing Schiller standing at the office door, Victor went up to him and gave him a hug.
“You have no idea how worried I was,” Victor said.
“You have too many unrealistic fantasies about me,” Schiller said, looking at him. “You know I’m the last person who would risk my life unless I’m absolutely certain.”
That's what they say...
How's your novel coming along?
“You changed the subject too abruptly,” Victor said as they walked into the office. “We’re in a tough spot.”
Tell me about it.
Victor gave a brief explanation, and Schiller paused, then said, "I gave you the rings so you could go and drive out the mastermind, not so you could make up stories about me here..."
"So how do you plan to break Novi's brainwashing?" Victor spread his hands. "This is the fastest way."
“No need to dispel it.” Schiller shook his head.
"what?"
"Hugo only changed Novi's perception of me. In other words, she only hates me. All I need to do is stay away from her."
“But…” Victor didn’t react for a moment, but then he quickly remembered. He said, “But didn’t you want to manipulate her to comfort Bruce? How can you not appear in front of her?”
“I don’t need to control it,” Schiller said, looking at him. “That’s the biggest takeaway from this trip.”
Victor looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“Novie doesn’t hate Bruce,” Schiller said, walking over and sitting down. “Remember what I told you about her incredibly strong will to live?”
Victor nodded and said, "So where did that come from?"
"In her final moments, she processed most of the information through thought and realized that Bruce wanted to save her."
Victor's expression froze, and he said in shock, "So..."
She just wanted to say 'thank you' to him.