The cold morning breeze rustled the branches outside the window, and the orange morning light illuminated the dimly lit room through the layers of heavy curtains.

There was a knock on the bedroom door, Schiller turned over, and the manservant outside said, "Sir, ten minutes ago, a gentleman named Gordon called you, and I told him that you would call him back when you got up. ”

Schiller's voice was a little hoarse and said slowly, "...... Got it. ”

He sat up from his bed, awoke from his still somewhat drowsy sleep, and then went to the window, and with one hand he opened the curtain on one side, and he saw the milkman on his bicycle ring the bell at the door, and soon someone went out and took the milk jug from him.

This is Gotham is a manor in the West End and Schiller's new home in Gotham.

While Gotham's faculty apartment isn't bad, it's time for him to buy a house of his own.

This is the old town of Gotham City, which is different from the rich area in the south, which was established by a group of British aristocrats when European immigrants arrived in the Americas, so most of the people here are traditional English estates, and later, because of the tilt of urban planning and the more advantageous location in the south, the rich area moved from the west to the south.

Most of the old manors left here have a classical English style, but because the children of the nobles rarely continue to stay here, most of these manors are also uninhabited, and Schiller bought the one with the best maintenance and decoration style he likes the most at a very good price.

He didn't go to the wealthy south to buy a house, not because he couldn't afford it, but for a very practical reason — the estate in the west, closer to Gotham University, where he worked.

And to get to work from the wealthy areas in the south, he had to drive thousands of miles through most of Gotham City.

The worst thing is that you have to pass through the most congested central city during the rush hour.

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Therefore, no matter how luxurious the villa in the rich area of the south is, it is definitely not in Schiller's choice, he is not Bruce Wayne, once the traffic is jammed, he will take a helicopter directly, he does not want to spend most of the day on the road.

There is another advantage to choosing an old-fashioned manor in the West End, there are fewer people here, it is relatively quiet, and there will be no cars coming and going early in the morning.

On top of that, it's a long way from Wayne Manor, and it's far from the mountain where Bruce wants to build the Batcave in the future, so if Batman gets a joker, the range won't hit him.

After a while, the manservant walked in, opened the curtains and fastened them, and said, "Breakfast is ready, sir." ”

Schiller nodded, took the glasses case he handed over, put the glasses on, looked down at his watch and said, "When did Gordon call?" ”

"About 25 minutes ago."

Schiller glanced back at the window and went downstairs for breakfast.

Descending the wooden staircase, through a somewhat gloomy corridor, the dining room was at the westernmost edge of the manor building, and down the hallway, there was a semicircular dining room with tall arched windows, flanked by dark green silk curtains, and the silver cutlery on the mahogany table shimmered mysteriously in the faint morning light.

The morning light from the arched window fell on the dining table, and the squares and round cutlery projected by the window formed a picture of light and shadow, and Schiller picked up the ironed newspaper from his right.

The printed newspaper ink was a little blurred, and the top line read: "January 25, 1987, overcast weather and rain in the afternoon, Gotham Daily." ”

Schiller was eating breakfast while searching for the information he needed from the newspapers, which were often printed in small fonts and the ink was so easy to get so mixed up that he had to resort to a magnifying glass.

After a while, the valet walked in and said, "Mr. Gordon is here." ”

Schiller put down the magnifying glass in his hand and looked up, Gordon was wearing a brown trench coat and a beret, when he walked into the restaurant, he still had a chill on his body, and when he saw Schiller reading the newspaper, Gordon said, "Did you see today's news?" The Godfather was furious, and he did not allow the Met's ship to dock at the docks in the east again. ”

"I'm seeing this part." Schiller pushed his glasses and said, "I stayed up late last night to write my dissertation, and I happened to miss your call this morning." ”

Gordon took off his trench coat and said, "I don't have anything to do, you know, I've been busy lately, I just wanted to call to congratulate you on your new housewarming, oh yes, my gift is still in the car......"

"Don't worry, have you had breakfast? Why don't you sit down and eat something together? ”

Gordon handed the manmaid the coat he had taken off, and said, "I went to the bureau this morning, and I have already eaten, and I brought you the information you asked me to find." ”

As he spoke, he placed a black briefcase on the table and began to rummage through it, then took out a document from it and handed it to Schiller.

Schiller said, "It's hard work, even if you've eaten it, let's have a cup of hot milk." ”

Gordon did not refuse, he sat down at the table and said, "At first you said that you were going to take over Viscount Bernard's estate, I was a little strange, after all, there are not many people who like this kind of old-school manor now. ”

"Now the rich people in Gotham still prefer that kind of vertical villa, and it would be better to have a big garage where they can park their luxury cars."

Gordon looked around, and the décor was in the most typical English style, with silk curtains, knitted rugs, wooden furniture, and a stone fireplace, and the fire in it crackled, and even if you didn't get closer, you could feel a kind of warmth.

The dining room of the old manor house is not too big, the corridors are narrow, and you can even see very retro metal candelabras on the walls, and the atmosphere of the whole building is as if you have traveled back to the Victorian era.

Gordon retracted his gaze and said, "But now it looks like this place is a good match for you." ”

"It's not that I have a soft spot for the Ying Manor, it's just that if I buy a house in the south, it's too far away from where I work, and the bad traffic in Gotham might make me miss all my morning classes."

Gordon picked up the cup and took a sip of milk and said, "Who isn't?" Every time I go to work at the police station, I get blocked by the damn crowd at the center turntable, you know, I got the first place in the driving class at the police training school! ”

"This damn place, everybody is an outlaw, and they never think that in a turntable with hundreds of cars moving forward at the same time, pressing the accelerator pedal to the bottom could suffocate them to death by the airbag that pops out!" Gordon said angrily.

"You can see that you should have been blocked for a while." Schiller said with a smile.

"I've come all the way and I've seen at least 10 talented drivers who can win F1 titles." Gordon said with some depression.

"Speaking of which, this is also to blame our new director, the police station is not manpowered, and the traffic police can't be transferred, right? In the past few days, I have also transferred several newcomers to my group, and they don't understand anything, and they want to rush up with guns. ”

Gordon shook his head and said, "You might as well go back and direct their traffic!" ”

"The life of the police is better, and it is inseparable from this director, so you can bear with it."

Gordon put down the cup and rubbed his hands, and said with some excitement, "But I'll soon be able to buy an apartment next to the police station." ”

"Have you saved enough money?"

"It's almost there, can you imagine? I made $80,000 last week, and even if I don't have that much income the next week, I can buy an apartment with all my savings. ”

"How can there be so many? Last week's case shouldn't be too much, at most only $50,000, right? Schiller turned to him as he ate.

Gordon raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh, I forgot, you're not a local, Gotham has to pay protection money wherever you go, and the police are the same." I'm now the head of the field team, and all the police officers under me have to give me 15 per cent of their earnings. ”

"So you took it? Like a gangster boss? Schiller joked.

"You don't know about it, and if you don't take it, they're scared, because in Gotham, if you take their money, it means that you're willing to take them on and keep doing it, and if you don't, they'll have to worry that the business won't be there tomorrow."

"I heard, you're going to marry your fiancée? Is she in Gotham right now? When are you planning to get married? ”

Gordon coughed and said, "She's going through the process of job transfer, and the company handover over at the Met is particularly troublesome, and it will take at least a week, but it's okay, I can have some time to buy the apartment I fancy and surprise her." ”

Schiller shook the newspaper in his hand, then read it and said, "Have you decided what wedding gift you want?" I'm rich now. ”

"Really? Richer than Wayne? ”

Schiller rolled his eyes and said, "If I had more money than him, you wouldn't have seen me here." ”

"Actually, if I hadn't made so much money, I wouldn't have wanted to get engaged so soon, and I might have been on vacation in Hawaii by now."

"I thought you were all year round."

"Come on, then I'm going crazy, I have to have a good body and a good mood to live in this damn city for a long time."

Schiller took a cigar from the humidor on the table, picked up the scissors and cut it, and handed it to Gordon, who took it, and Schiller took the match handed by the manservant, lit one, and lit a cigarette for Gordon.

Then he took one of his own and lit it, and he exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "The godfather has been in a bad mood lately, and some bold people want to come to his land to spread wilderness. ”

Gordon stretched out his hand holding the cigar, changed his position, leaned back on the arm of the chair, sighed a little comfortably, and said, "Why are you looking for me to check the information of the floating population in Gotham?" Is there something wrong with the Met? I've heard that the people who provoked the godfather were from the Met. ”

"Wouldn't you be a little surprised if I said it was a trouble that came with me?"

"Of course not." Gordon denied it almost without even thinking about it.

"The first time I saw you, I had the feeling that you must be someone who can cause big trouble."

"Why?"

"You can see it as a detective's intuition."

"Interesting, can you elaborate on that?"

"I've seen a lot of criminals, and they're not ......" Gordon straightened up, braced his wrists on the table, and said, "...... It's completely different, those stupid thieves are very different from the real felons. ”

"I've never heard a single serial murderer shout at a judge and speak disrespectfully, they have a temperament that is different from ordinary people......"

"When you're facing Batman, I always feel like you're looking in the mirror."

"You think I'm a lot like him? Are you serious? ”

"Some places are completely different, but some places are surprisingly consistent."

Schiller looked at Gordon and said, "Keep this sharp, and you'll be the savior of Gotham." ”

Gordon knocked the cigarette ash on the silver plate, and then said: "The godfather is not easy this time, the gang that mixed in seems to have some way, they killed the two bartenders of the Falcone family, if the godfather doesn't catch them in a short time, he will lose face in Gotham, it is more serious than anything else." ”

"The gangsters shouldn't dare to provoke the godfather in a short period of time, right?" Schiller put down the newspaper and leaned back in his chair.

"It's hard to say, don't underestimate those people. But don't forget, Maroni is not dead, he has made a lot of money in the conflict in the East End, and may be planning to fight the godfather. ”

"He's looking for death." The smoke fell to the ground as he spoke, and Schiller reached out and flicked his cigar with his fingertips, and the fine dust slowly drifted down.

"Not necessarily, the godfather somehow crossed him and had people kill the old director Victor, I heard that he also wanted to get involved in Arkham Hospital, but he was kicked out by the godfather again, Maroni couldn't bear this breath."

"The Eastern District is not peaceful, Maroni is eager to subdue the forces that he has co-opted, he needs to win the battle to establish his authority, to completely collect the fresh blood he has just absorbed."

"He dares to use his godfather to establish his authority, and Falcone will let him be taught." Schiller leaned back in his chair, and he pulled the collar of his sweater, looking relaxed.

Gordon coughed twice, squinted his eyes at the reflection on the silver plate through the smoke coming from the top of his cigar, and said, "Marone is a great man, and the godfather is old." ”

"Are you more optimistic about him?"

"No, I hope the old godfather wins, as long as Falcone is still around, Gotham won't be in chaos, and once there is no him, it's hard to say."

Soon, Gordon left, after all, he still had work to do, and it was his peak season recently, and it would not be a problem to buy a villa after another month of hard work.

After Gordon was gone, Schiller leaned back in his chair and smoked his entire cigar, the smoke curling his fingertips, he hadn't thought so relaxed in a long time.

In a city full of crises, he didn't even have a break for a cigarette if he wasn't sure he was safe.

Before that, Schiller had never thought of buying a house and didn't need a home, because he was not a Gotham, he came from one of the safest countries in the world.

As the cigar burns, the smoke, which is several times thicker than a cigarette, wafts into various elusive abstract shapes, evoking countless associations, and in that psychedelic and sweet smell, Schiller begins to recall.

He couldn't remember whether the first emotions that arose when he encountered a shooting in Chicago for the first time after leaving his hometown were shock or excitement.

He only remembered that when the plane fell, in the memories of life that accompanied weightlessness and lack of oxygen, the treacherous waves that he had participated in in this half of his life blurred into a fog, and as they wished, when these memories dissipated with death, countless secrets were buried forever.

If there really is a god in this world, Schiller thought, then this great being who can give people another life really knows him well enough.

Gotham is the sewer of evil in the world, and good people are not washed down the sewer.

Schiller looked at the tip of his finger at the tip of the cigar, where the fire was gradually extinguished, the smoke began to thin out, and the patterns that had been transformed began to slowly dissipate.

He knew that the excitement that filled his brain for the first time when he regained consciousness and learned from the memories of his original owner that this was Gotham City would eventually destroy all his ambitions for a peaceful life.

Or rather, the enjoyment of the mundane and mundane daily life is just the self-deception of a madman who is proficient in self-hypnosis from beginning to end, until he sees the appearance of Batman.

As the smoke cleared, Schiller recalled how he felt when he first touched Batman's heart with his feeble mind-reading abilities.

Like Gordon said, he felt like he was looking in a mirror.

So, he gave Batman an answer he wanted to hear the most, and then he almost couldn't wait, drawing an end to the boring and dull life that made him desperate.

And now, he finally became a citizen of Gotham, on the winter of Gotham 1987, on the first birthday of his second life.