Chapter 2980: Leisure Time (Fourteen)

Some commotion came from the living room, as if the front door had opened.

Surprised, Pamela said, "Someone's here?"

"Isn't that quite normal? He never gave up on meeting up." Tim said, "Before you came, he made excuses to go into the town to buy firewood, met with God knows who, and just now, using picking up firewood as a pretext, he signaled to some place. Now, I guess his contact must have come to the door."

Pamela couldn't help but glance down at Tim. If there was any difference between him now and Batman, it was probably that he was talkative and had a kind of self-contentment and narcissistic complex commonly found in the mentally deranged.

Pamela felt that both Dick and Jason were deeply influenced by Professor Shearer. Professor Shearer's presence meant that Bruce was never truly a senior figure to Dick but more like a friend, which made him more relaxed and not as burdened with a strong sense of responsibility. It was a natural composure, not one that was feigned.

There was no need to elaborate on Jason's influence. The Professor had taught him to condense the surging power in his heart into a real weapon, and it was fair to say he had directly shaped his character.

But Shearer had no such influence on Tim; to be precise, they had been like parallel lines from the beginning, never crossing but capable of synchronizing. It was not that the Professor couldn't influence Tim, but that he didn't need to.

If to use Professor Shearer's words, people like them are adept at shaping themselves, never having been forced for even a moment, and any disaster is no excuse for them becoming what they are now—every evil is their own choice.

In Pamela's view, even if Tim Drake were handed over to Gordon, he would still be the hopeless case he is today. And Bruce, who raised Tim, isn't exactly a good role model himself; when the beam is crooked, the rafters will be too.

However, Tim had to surpass the master in excellence. At least Bruce had the experience of tough growth losing both parents. Tim had an easy life all the way, and it's a blessing from God that he's only shown an iceberg tip of the Demon Lord of Mayhem so far.

Slightly heavy footsteps sounded, along with another sound of light tapping on the ground, rhythmically harmonizing with the footsteps.

Tim lifted his eyelids and said with some surprise, "A blind man?"

In an instant, a whooshing noise burst through the air, and a white cane whirled through the glass above their heads, shooting out like a bullet, landing more than a meter away from them.

Shearer opened the back door, dragged them back inside with one hand each, and even had to remove the shattered glass from their hair.

"I told you we would be found out, didn't I?" Pamela said, irritated.

"It wasn't Shearer who found us." Tim was still stubborn.

"You're only sure Shearer doesn't have superpowers, but didn't you ever consider whether his contact might have them?" Pamela asked.

Tim was left speechless.

But indeed, this was his oversight. In Gotham, there are very few real superpower users, mostly those with super intelligence, but the Earth they're on now is literally crawling with superpower users, each one more exaggerated than the last.

For example, the blind man in a suit sitting opposite them now. They had chosen the furthest window corner to eavesdrop, yet he found them in an instant.

After picking out the glass from their hair, Shearer sent them up to the second floor, telling them to stay in their rooms and not come out. Obviously, Tim couldn't let it go so easily.

The two bedrooms upstairs were adjacent; Tim climbed straight out of the window and jumped onto the balcony of Pamela's window, then rolled in through her bedroom window.

"Did you forget you're a superpower user too?" Tim said, dusting off his hands.

Pamela gestured for him to be silent and pointed towards a tall pine tree outside the window. The wind rustled the leaves, creating a sound Tim couldn't decipher. But to Pamela's ears, the pine tree was recounting the conversation from the living room.

So she repeated it for Tim to hear.

"...he's gained quite a reputation lately. If things go as expected, I can ride his coattails and attend the gathering."

"Are you sure he's reliable? Matt?"

"What you need isn't reliability," said the suit-clad man, known as Matt, taking back his white cane from Shearer. "Just a kid fresh out of law school, how reliable can he be? Do you really expect him to punch out those big shots?"

"His antics online have delivered quite a punch to many people," Shearer placed a glass of wine in front of Mark and said, "He must be the hottest cyber lawyer right now, many well-known lawyers might not earn as much in their whole career as he did last year."

"Just lucky, that's all. He's still too impetuous," Matt modestly shook his head saying, "Initially, I just wanted him to offer free legal help to people in financial difficulties on the internet. I didn't expect him to do even better. He deserves that money."

"That's not what I'm concerned about. When I say reliable, I mean does he have the traits they are looking for?"

"What traits?"

"An opinion leader." Shearer seemed intent on clarifying, pouring wine into his glass and saying, "The female candidate has too many online supporters; the male candidate needs a strong and convincing argument, and their first choice is still me."

"You? Forgive my directness, but you're the antonym of an opinion leader—the behind-the-scenes manipulator."

"Now that you've got the precise wording, can we stay on topic? We're discussing your student, not me."

"Not to boast, but Larry really is good at expressing his opinions; his remarks always carry a provocative edge. That's why I didn't let him get too involved in the traditional lawyering industry and steered him towards new media. It's better for everyone," Matt said.

"I thought the traditional lawyering industry was like that too."

"It's fine when it's just about swaying the jury, but his paperwork abilities are lacking. He's all talk, and when he gets too emotional, he tends to make extreme statements and even feels like hitting his clients. He's not cut out for the traditional lawyer role."

"Then he really is quite suited to be an opinion leader,"

"Yes, if they invite him over, they'll find that such a young man is much more in line with their requirements than you are. You've been too cautious, not giving them any hope,"

"I'm already dealing with so much harassment now, I can't believe what they would do if I didn't act so maturely,"

"You just don't like it, that's all. I suggest Larry for the role of an internet lawyer because he likes the attention; he enjoys being in the spotlight and doesn't see it as harassment,"

"Born to be a star."

"Isn't that the truth?" Matt said after a pause. "But I'm just his teacher, not his father, let alone God; I can't guarantee he won't really be bought."

"We want him to be bought. If you brought in a Captain America, it would actually make things difficult for me,"

Matt frowned and said, "He may stumble for a moment, but you can't push him over the edge, nor can I, and I'm against doing so."

"That's the difference between us, Matt. If you don't let him fall into the water, he'll never know how cold it is,"

Matt took a sip of his drink, seeming to not want to argue anymore, or perhaps they had debated this issue too many times before, and he never won, but after a moment of silence, he still said,

"You have to promise me he won't get hurt too badly,"

"I promise you he won't have a mental breakdown,"

"So that means he'll have nothing but his sanity? You're too cruel, Shiller; he's only 25 years old,"

"Do you want me to tell you what I did when I was 25?"

"No need, but you can't compare yourself to ordinary people." Matt persisted in his counsel, saying, "I know Larry's personality is bound to lead him into trouble sooner or later, but there is a difference between tripping over something and jumping off a building. Promise me, you're not the one pushing him off the building, okay?"

"I'm not, but someone will be, and at least I'll pick a place for him where there's a swimming pool right below. If someone else goes to push him, there won't be a crack in the cement,"

Matt fell silent for a long while before saying, "Whatever you say, I'm going with him anyway,"

"You know you can't stop him. If he were a hen, throwing him into the crowd would be my fault, but if he's a peacock, landing in a dung pit won't stop him from strutting his stuff,"

Matt sighed heavily, which meant he recognized the truth in Shiller's words.

"You think you're pointing him in the right direction to avoid the pitfalls he might encounter in the traditional legal industry, but is the internet really any easier? How can he become a different kind of opinion leader without going through these trials?"

"A different kind?" Matt echoed the word, knowing what Shiller meant, though such genuine opinion leaders had largely disappeared last century, leaving mostly clowns who fed on sensationalism and vanity.

"Fine, I promise I'm just going to watch. As long as his life isn't in danger, I won't intervene,"

"You won't be welcome,"

"It's not the first time," Matt chuckled and said indifferently, "Even if he finds me annoying, it doesn't matter; I'm just doing my duty,"

"You're just soft-hearted," Shiller assessed accurately.

The two upstairs finished their eavesdropping and exchanged glances, and Tim, stroking his chin, said, "This guy named Matt is a lawyer. He has an intern named Larry, who seems to be a very famous internet lawyer,"

Pamela had already searched online and quickly said, "Not just famous, but seems to be the hottest internet lawyer right now. He's resolved many cases online and often causes hilarious misunderstandings. In today's terms, he's got 'great showmanship.'"

"So, like Shiller said, the female candidate has too much power online, and the male candidate urgently needs to counter, initially targeting Shiller, but finding him impervious, they turned to Larry,"

"It seems Shiller is planning to facilitate this, but why?"

"He wants to buy a farm, and the farm is holding a party that will affect the election. So does he really just want to buy a farm?"

"Could it be that one of the candidates is his man?"

"Which one?"

Pamela shook her head; if Tim wasn't sure now, she was even less so. Tim said, "If he wants this deal to happen, it should favor the male candidate. But he also said Larry might take a hard fall in this case, a consequence as severe as jumping from a building, implying it's not a good thing for Larry to stand with the male candidate,"

"So it's the female candidate?"

"Then she wouldn't have to push Larry over; instead, she should prevent him from appearing. It's not like internet celebrities are a dime a dozen. If the male candidate's overtures are rejected by two internet personalities in a row, she'll be out of options, and by the time of the election, it will be game over,"

Pamela felt her brain was smoking; she was totally unsuited for deduction. So, she simply cleared her mind and listened to Tim's conclusions.

"There must be a decisive force beyond our field of vision," Tim said, sitting on the floor, one hand covering his mouth, eyes rolled up looking at the ceiling, "A force that destroys all order, disrupts the seemingly balanced card game. Until they appear, any speculation about Shiller's ultimate purpose is unreliable,"