589

"Professor Shearer, I must remind you, all the cats in this Insane Cat Hospital are highly dangerous. They are the most vicious criminals I have arrested in my fight to reshape the city. It probably isn't a good idea to interact with them."

In the eerie hospital, the blue-eyed black cat leading the way is fully armored, an assortment of visible and hidden gadgets hangs on its robust body. The other black cat only has a simple gray exoskeleton, its gray eyes megawatt radiant in the corridor.

"Don't worry about it, Bat Cat. I've already told you my story, I'm just curious about these lunatics. Of course, if I can cure one or two of them, it would benefit both the city and yourself, wouldn't it?"

Just as Bat Cat was about to speak, Shearer interjected, "Speaking of it, why not just kill them instead? These vicious criminals have no right to remain in this world, wouldn't it be better to free up the hospital for patients who need it more?"

Bat Cat seemed taken aback by this question. He paused and then replied somewhat awkwardly, "No, if their crimes were committed due to mental illness, they should not be put to death."

"What if their mental problems were congenital, beyond their control? They are innocent too, and should enjoy the same freedom as everyone else, shouldn't they?"

"But I can't let them loose to commit more crimes. That would be irresponsible to the law-abiding citizens." Bat Cat responded.

"Just kill them, and they'll never commit again."

"You seem to hate criminals more than I do." Bat Cat paused, looking at Shearer.

Shearer did not stop, he continued to walk deeper into the corridor and said, "I've told you my background, do you know why I'm investigating serial murder cases?"

Bat Cat didn't answer; either he didn't know, or the conclusion he had drawn didn't align with his perception of Shearer.

It couldn't be that Shearer, out of pure hatred for criminals, felt compelled to bring every serial killer to justice. Compared to this righteous act, Shearer seemed more like a high-intelligence criminal, obsessed with the thrill of serial murders.

Bat Cat paused, no longer following Shearer. He just stared at Shearer's retreating figure. As if comforting himself, he scratched the floor with his claws, then turned around and left.

As he left the hospital entrance, he activated a controller on his neck with his claw, turning on all the surveillance devices within. Bat Cat figured he might find evidence of Shearer's criminal activities within these so-called treatments.

Standing outside the hospital, Bat Cat reminisced about his encounter with Shearer. A cat--never before seen on Gotham's citizen roster--appeared in surveillance footage soon after the emergence of that strange high tower.

The city wasn't devoid of foreigners, but they were quickly assimilated. Unlike other outsiders, Shearer did not intend to evade surveillance. In fact, by looking straight into the cameras, he drew Bat Cat's attention.

Bat Cat sought him out personally, but Shearer had already learned about the city through other citizens. Shearer proposed to undergo a potential crime propensity test. Bat Cat had no reason to refuse.

A high score meant a high likelihood of criminal activity. Bat Cat had complete confidence in this Deep Testing System... until Shearer scored zero points in the test.

Shearer told him about himself. He claimed to be a university professor who's been investigating various serial murder cases. After getting into trouble with a formidable adversary, he sought refuge in Gotham.

He earnestly asked Bat Cat to harbor him, adding that he may know a better approach to quell the city's chaos. Bat Cat couldn't trust a stranger, a foreigner, but the test results told him that Shearer was the most trustworthy of all, with a zero crime probability.

Before encountering Shearer, Bat Cat had never doubted his system. But when the impossible did happen, he was instinctively reluctant to admit that his system might be faulty. He tried different testing methods and exhausted all means, but Shearer's score was always zero. In other words, he was even more eligible to rule this city than Bat Cat, whose score was not as low.

Bat Cat saw Shearer as a test subject, but he was also willing to take suggestions from Shearer. Shearer's proposal to modify patrol routes achieved good results, making Bat Cat realize that Shearer's zero crime probability wasn't without reason. Maybe he had adequate experience in crime prevention.

Bat Cat never trusted Shearer, but he hoped to utilize him to fulfill his objectives.

Meanwhile, he was in a bit of a quandary. His gut was telling him that Shearer was a criminal, and the most dangerous kind at that--the kind that should be locked up at the very bottom of the Insane Cat Hospital.

But the testing system was telling him the exact opposite: that no one was more virtuous than Shearer.

If Bat Cat just trusted his gut, it would mean that the entire testing system was flawed, and that all his previous judgments were wrong. The ones he thought were good could be bad, and the bad ones might actually need protection.

Bat Cat couldn't accept such an outcome, refusing to admit that the reform he'd been implementing over the years had been pointless. Thus, he had to pretend to trust Shearer in order to reassure himself and avoid falling into a loop of logical inconsistency.

However, his inherent skepticism made him want to find Shearer's weak points.

That's why he didn't refuse Shearer's suggestion to visit the most dangerous criminals in confinement. He figured that if Shearer were among these criminals, his true nature might be revealed.

Then, ten minutes after Shiller entered the Insane Cat Hospital, all surveillance went offline.

Bat Cat, who had just returned to the Batcave, looked at the pitch-black screen, narrowed his eyes, but the emotion that rose in his heart was not anger, but joy. It was the kind of excitement like finally catching an opponent's misstep.

So, he began to prepare his gear, ready to confront Shiller personally at the Insane Cat Hospital.

In his view, Shiller wouldn't be able to cause much trouble because he had complete confidence in the imprisonment measures he'd set up. He'd captured many, many criminals, and all the facilities were set up according to these criminals' weaknesses. They've passed countless security checks, ensuring absolute safety. Even if Shiller severed the surveillance, it would be impossible for him to let these dangerous criminals loose.

Within the pitch-black Insane Cat Hospital, Shiller leisurely strolled down the corridor. Rather than a hospital, it felt more like a highly perfected prison. There weren't any staff here; all nursing and care were automated, making escape routes practically non-existent.

The Superego that threw him out here was somewhat merciful, it let him bring the Gray Mist along. Shiller used the Gray Mist disguised as an exoskeleton to paralyze all the surveillance and security equipment here, then began to search, room by room.

Considering all the inhabitants were cats, this place wasn't much like an insane asylum. Instead, it felt more like an unscrupulous cat trader's base, with all the cats locked in cages. Different cats had different cages, which, at first sight, seemed somewhat adorable, yet enveloped with an eerie atmosphere.

As Shiller passed each room, he would call out to the sick cats inside: "Hello, have you seen a green cat? The kind that laughs!"

"Hello, have you seen a green cat? Or perhaps one with a green head and ears, likes to laugh— should be an old foe of Bat Cat..."

"We're all old foes of Bat Cat." A deep voice came from the end of the corridor. Shiller walked over and saw a black and white cat lying in a cage, its body filled with tubes.

Looking at the familiar path of the tubes, Shiller guessed at the cat's identity and asked, "Hello, I'm looking for a green cat, do you know where it's locked?"

"Are you a new robot created by Bat Cat? Well done, you do look like one, but this old trick is a bore."

"Can you tell me where to find a green cat, one that laughs a lot?" Shiller just kept repeating this question until eventually, the black and white cat with tubes piped up, "Okay, if you insist, that nutcase is on the lowest floor, right under my cell."

"You're lying. If such a cat exists, you two should be kept on the same floor. After all, for Bat Cat, you may be just as dangerous as him."

At that moment, the cat, who had been lazily lying on the floor and only moving its tail, finally looked up at Shiller and heard him say,

"All the surveillance and security robots here have been destroyed by me. I know you don't believe it and think it may be a trap set by Bat Cat, but if my guess is right, Bat Cat thinks you are addicted to the fluid in the jar behind you. However, that's just a trap you set…"

The cat finally got up slowly, shook the fur on its body, stared menacingly at Shiller, and asked, "Who are you? Another Joker Cat? Only he ever saw through my disguise…"

"That's not important." Shiller stood in front of the cell door, using the bars for support, he tried to pick the lock. The black and white cat inside the cell said, "Don't bother, even if you cut off the signal, the physical protection of this lock…"

"Click."

The lock was opened from the inside, and the door of the cell cracked open. At that split second, the cat inside escaped at breakneck speed.

Then, standing in the corridor, he looked back at Shiller and said, "If letting me out is part of Bat Cat's plan, I can only tell him that he's sorely mistaken."

With that, he turned away, but Shiller stopped him, saying, "Before you go, introduce yourself. What's your name?"

"You can call me Bane Cat." The cat licked its paw, Shiller looked at him and said, "I helped you by letting you out, so you should do me a favor too, right?"

"What do you want to do?" Bane Cat turned his head to look at Shiller, a strange feeling enveloping him, his instinct told him not to approach this cat across from him, who seemed even more dangerous than Bat Cat or Joker Cat.

Then, he saw that the cat on the other side smiled, revealing two sharp teeth hidden in its mouth. His grey vertical pupils glowed faintly in the dark. He heard Shiller say,

"Go and release all the cats here…"

"I want to teach Bat Cat a lesson, that is…"

"A cat dressed as a bat is the one who's truly insane."