Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

"Do you expect me to pay to bail out Balk?" Batman narrowed his eyes, looking at the man sitting opposite him, Shiller, and asked, "Why would you think I would do that?"

Shiller shook his head and said, "You have no reason to bail out Balk, but you have reasons to save the GTO which is on the verge of being dissolved by the State Council."

"You should know that I've always been against the establishment of GTO, right?"

"Yes, because it was the pale knight's idea. And he once framed you and got you imprisoned, and his inner Joker is uncontrollable."

"Now none of these are problems anymore," Batman said, "I oppose GTO because it's not a sustainable mode of operation. Once it fails, it will be a disaster."

"Very foresighted, sir. But are you planning to just watch it get dissolved?"

"Why not?"

"Yes, you could do that," Shiller nodded again.

Batman found it exhausting to talk to Shiller.

Shiller was not a contrarian. He wasn't that type of personality that reflexively objects to everything when trying to persuade someone.

But he went to the other extreme, which is the affirmative personality type. When he tries to persuade others, he ends up affirming their views. This makes it impossible for you to find a point to argue against.

If everyone is saying that you are right, how can you argue with that?

What's more frightening is that in negotiations, expressing resistance is to negotiate terms, not a genuine intention to refuse. But Shiller's demeanor seems to take every raise as a real refusal.

How could anyone negotiate like this?

If it were someone else, this negotiation wouldn't be a must. But Batman has already figured out Shiller's pattern of action:

He comes to talk to you, but he doesn't really want to negotiate. The negotiation model he recognizes is he makes an offer, you agree immediately, completely skipping the "negotiation" process with no room for bargaining.

If you don't agree to his first offer, he takes it as your refusal to negotiate with him. Then he naturally starts using means outside of negotiation to achieve his goal.

Usually, these methods are not pleasant.

When Shiller comes to talk to someone, it's more like saying, "I've prepared a surprise big plan for you, and now I just wait for the negotiation to break down so I can put it into action."

The underlying logic of this behavior is to push all responsibility onto others.

"I come to you to talk about martial virtue, to follow the principle of politeness before forces, I am a big good guy. It's you who are ungrateful for rejecting me. Whatever happens afterward is not my fault."

This logic gives Batman a headache.

If Batman agrees as soon as Shiller makes a demand, the other party will surely ask for more and more until they make an exorbitant demand.

But if he wants to haggle, he needs to play hard to get, but in the "playing hard" phase, the other party simply picks up their marbles and leaves, soon creating a big surprise.

It's wrong to refuse, and it's wrong not to. Ever since Joker became the pale knight, Batman hadn't felt such a dilemma for a long time.

Since there's no right choice either way, Batman might as well just break the jar. He asked directly, "If I don't agree, what do you plan to do?"

He didn't expect Shiller to answer because everyone knows that if Batman learns your plan, it will be hard to complete. Batman was ready to hear some perfunctory words.

But Shiller seriously introduced his plan to him.

"If you really don't plan to help, I can only let things continue to develop. In that case, the GTO will definitely be pushed to the brink of dissolution."

"If the team is still in a financially embarrassing situation to maintain operations, team members may have complaints but will accept the reality. The citizens of Gotham City will do the same."

"But now, the GTO has received a large sum of money. Not only that, the Charabang Family poses no threat either. They now have both freedom and money, which is a great situation."

"At this moment, if news of dissolution suddenly comes out, no one will let it go. Whether it's members of the team or citizens who have been helped by the team, they will feel very puzzled and angry."

"This feeling urgently needs an outlet. The State Council is a good choice, but unfortunately, it is too distant, and they have no way to vent their anger. Batman is different."

"Very soon, a lot of people will know that you have always been against the establishment of GTO and have maintained a stance of opposition. The evidence that framed you into prison is still widely spread among the public and has not been completely cleared."

"I believe you still remember, that's the evidence that said you are the lapdog of upper-class people. Reporters won't pass up the chance to link these two things together for another wave of hype. By then, the reputation you have just built up will plummet again."

"Do you think I care?" Batman said, "If I wanted a reputation, I wouldn't be a masked hero."

"Oh? Is that so? You don't care either that your dear adopted son Nightwing misunderstands you?"

Batman's expression instantly grew stern.

"He won't believe those baseless rumors," Batman said, "He has always known my true identity and the truth about the Gotham Natural Disaster Fund."

"Then why didn't he stay by your side and instead joined the GTO?"

Batman fell silent.

"You always wonder why he chooses Joker. But it's not Joker he chose; it's that he doesn't want to choose you," Shiller said to Batman across from him, "He thinks you can't protect him; he just wants to protect himself."

Batman's fists clenched instantly. He knew why Dick felt he couldn't protect him. Jason Todd, the boy who had never even haunted his dreams. He must have resented him deeply. And Dick was just afraid of repeating past mistakes.

"Nightwing will know that you had a chance to save GTO, but you didn't do it. He might not understand your considerations. He would feel that your prejudice against Joker even exceeds your concerns about Gotham's public safety."

"This will make you look very selfish in his eyes. He might even think that your role as a masked vigilante is just to vent your excessive violent desires on Super Villains like Joker, not really to save this city."

"You won't explain because you are disappointed that he doesn't understand or trust you enough. And he won't listen to your explanations because he regrets his past complicity."

"This will create an irreparable rift between father and son. Even if GTO isn't disbanded in the end, things can never return to how they were."

Holding a coffee cup, Shiller looked into Batman's eyes dark as the bottom of a pot and said with a smile, "Do you like this story?"

"Has anyone ever told you that you're despicable?"

"I'm honored if you choose to sincerely offer such praise. There are few who would," Shiller replied.

Batman was silent but seemed to be at a loss for words. He had always been at a loss with shameless people.

No, he actually had one last ace up his sleeve.

"Do you think you can safely leave here and carry out your evil plans?" Batman asked.

"Oh, yes. You still have this move," Shiller said with another laugh, "Haven't you noticed my efficiency in getting things done? I can travel back and forth across Gotham multiple times in a single day. Is it because the city's traffic is so good?"

Batman caught the hint. The moment he reached for Shiller's shoulder, he was met with a thick fog. The next moment, Shiller, who should have been right in front of him, appeared behind him.

"Sorry, Super Villain, always ready to commit crimes," Shiller's voice came from behind Batman with a hint of amusement.

"It's the worst outcome," Batman thought. "It's time to call Superman."

"Do you want to call your friend over? That's great. I must talk to him about the benefits GTO brings to the people of Gotham, and where the money you're prepared to offer would be better spent."

Batman pressed the hang-up button on his communicator in an instant and thought, "Sorry, Clark, pretend I pressed it by mistake."

Alfred's death led to a great silence in Batman, affecting him far more than he could have imagined. He hadn't made any plans recently and just thinking about it gave him a headache. Otherwise, he wouldn't need to call for Superman when facing a Super Villain with superpowers.

But now he couldn't even call Superman. Knowing Clark as the small-town guy he was, he too might wonder why Batman had the money but wouldn't save an organization positively affecting Gotham's public safety.

Once Superman gets tangled in Shiller's web, before even losing the support of his foster son, he might lose the support of his friend and ally. Becoming an isolated island would mean complete failure.

"Perhaps you could try, try to get Bruce's support," Shiller offered his suggestion and said, "Though he is not Batman, he still has the same wisdom as you. Maybe he can come up with something."

Batman hesitated for a moment.

"How much money do you need?" Batman asked.

Shiller was a bit surprised, "You would agree right away, without even trying to go to Bruce first?"

"You're right, he's not Batman," Batman said, "I'm clearer than you that if Bruce Wayne is not Batman, then I know what he is. I'd rather cooperate with Joker."

"Isn't that a bit extreme? He hasn't offended you, has he?" Shiller returned to his seat and said, "Other than being useless, there's nothing particularly special about him."

"He's indeed useless compared to you," Batman said, instantly regretting his words.

"Seeing that you're so perceptive, I can give you a discount," Shiller said, leaning forward with his hands on the table and looked at Batman, "You pay half, the other half goes to manage the pollution in the Natural Forest."

Before Batman could speak, Shiller continued, "I know you want to improve the environmental pollution in District X15 because you were involved in that incident and feel responsible."

"But actually, there was no pollution there; it was just a scheme Bruce made to trap the real estate developers. However, since you have the money to manage it, the pollution near the Natural Forest is the same. Just make minor adjustments to the plan and you can use it."

Batman frowned. He indeed had not investigated the situation in District X15. He was exhausted during that time and truly could not spare the energy for a thorough investigation.

Then suddenly, Batman realized he was like a pendulum, constantly swinging between taking down GTO and managing District X15. If one side didn't work out, he would swing to the other.

But this swinging wasn't naturally occurring. Someone was applying force, pushing him at just the right moments to abandon one side for the other, then abandon that side again for the previous one.

This swinging meant he never really got anywhere with either side, but he was always busy.

While others dangled a carrot in front of a donkey to urge it forward, Shiller hung a carrot behind the donkey to make it spin in circles.

As this metaphor crossed Batman's mind, he felt utterly deflated.

Because he suddenly realized that everyone who had dealings with Shiller was the same. They were busy running in circles, doing a bunch of work they thought was effective, when in reality they weren't achieving their goals, but the goals Shiller wanted.

Batman felt this could be his worst day yet.

But as it turned out, there is no worst, only worse.

Two seconds after Batman realized this fact, a red and blue figure appeared outside the French windows of the drawing-room at Wayne Manor.

Right now, Batman could only sneer—the biggest donkey had arrived.