Chapter 2: Crossing Over Once Again

If Schiller were to write a psychological profile of Batman in a comic, his biggest trait would not be caution, wisdom, or strategy, but rather, paranoia. Batman never completely trusts anyone. His spirit of skepticism has become a separate entity, and suspicion and conspiracy theories have engrained themselves deep in his bones. The smarter he is, the more skeptical he becomes.

Schiller's response evidently plunged the young Batman into a deep skepticism. Bruce had never considered someone could see through his mask, and he was extremely confident in his disguise. Even Alfred, who had raised him since childhood, he believed only understood a fraction of who he truly was, not the whole picture. But this professor, this seemingly ordinary and genteel psychology professor, gave him the most unlikely answer, the most accurate and incisive answer.

At the moment he received this answer, Bruce's heart swelled with excitement and anger - he had been waiting for someone to give him this answer. It was time to begin his revenge. But compared to the answer he received, the person who gave him the answer left him with a sense of disillusionment, as Bruce never believed, and never would believe, that someone could use psychology alone to see the devil lurking in his heart, the swarm of dark bats surrounding him.

Schiller said, "Our consultation time is up. I need to go to class. Goodbye, Mr. Wayne."

Schiller believed that Bruce was definitely going to struggle with this for a long time. If he figured it out, he would turn into Batman and fight for justice. What lessons did Bruce still have to attend? Why bother getting into conflicts with those diligent academic staff?

Schiller thought that he was most likely going to figure it out eventually. When that day comes, the mafia and crime syndicates would give him a headache. Schiller could stay at the university, make money and enjoy himself. Worst case scenario, he could fly to Hawaii during the holidays.

Schiller was quite well-regarded in the university because of his reputation, but that was all due to the original Schiller's resume. The new Schiller adheres to the principle of "do whatever for the amount of money paid," sits down and lectures during class and then vanishes once the bell rings. After-class consultations? They don't exist.

For the past five days, he has been conducting himself in this manner. Fortunately, the original Schiller was apparently a bit of a loner and didn't have many friends. His appointment as a professor at Gotham University had only happened in the past few months, and he was not very familiar with the people at the school, so time-traveling Schiller had not revealed any flaws.

During lunchtime, Peter sent a message to Schiller saying, "Mr. Schiller, everything is too bad". Accompanied by a sad chat emoji, Schiller knew that this chat system was not a direct communication between brains. Only he was using the system while Peter and Charles were coincidentally chatting with online friends on social media and a knowledge-based forum respectively. The system would convert conversations with these individuals into an acceptable form for them. For instance, Peter was using a social networking app, and Charles was using a knowledge forum. If it was Thanos, the conversation might be through some kind of universal network signal.

Therefore, the other party would not feel abrupt, and the system would only ensure that they answered the first question. How the conversation continued after that was up to Schiller himself. Currently, his main conversation partner was the young and naive Spider-ling.

Regarding old foxes like Charles, Schiller had no full confidence to probe into sensitive topics easily. He replied, "What's wrong? Peter? Is it not going well with Gwen?"

"Oh, it is not going well, but the bad news is not related to that."

"What happened? Did you mess up an experiment?"

"Sort of. I accidentally knocked over a dangerous experimental apparatus, and a dangerous creature inside ran away. It even bit me."

Schiller knew that Spider-Man's fate had already changed partially because of chatting with him. After conversing, he knew that he was chatting with Spider-Man from Universe 616. Originally, this high school student should have been bitten by the spider during an exhibition. However, since Peter had developed feelings for Gwen and constantly talked to Schiller about how charming and adorable she was, Schiller was annoyed. Therefore, he gave him some advice and taught him how to pursue Gwen better.

Gwen's family was quite well off, and she found an internship at the Oscorp Group during the summer vacation. This had nothing to do with Peter, but Schiller suggested that he should be bold and apply for the same internship. Peter had good grades, and he was actually accepted. As a result, he was not bitten by a spider at the exhibition but bitten by a spider from one of Oscorp's experimental instruments.

In any case, he had to be bitten someday because Spider-Man was selected by the Spider Totem as the master weaver, so if he was not bitten today, he would be bitten tomorrow. Schiller comforted the poor little Spider-ling and went back to bed.

Gotham's night was deep and dense, perfect to sleep, but Bruce stayed up all night. He looked at the misted moon, holding a stack of files. The name on the first page was Schiller Anders Rodriguez.

Schiller was completely unaware that Batman had investigated him thoroughly. He was deep in sleep when he heard the system's alarm. However, he was too deep in slumber and did not wake up. In his ignorant and unaware state, a blue light swept through him.

The system's alarm became more frequent, but Schiller still did not wake up. It seemed that something was blocking the system. Eventually, after a burst of chaotic noise, Schiller's figure disappeared instantly.

"Emergency protection system initiated. Universe located...Universe located...Universe received and identity information written...Writing...Writing failed...Writing...Writing successful."

When he woke up again, Schiller rubbed his eyes and was blinded by the sunlight. He was surprised to find that it was sunny in Gotham. He pulled back the curtains and saw that it was actually New York, completely different from the shitty weather in Gotham. It was clear and sunny, and the morning sun was scorching. Schiller looked out the window and realized he was in a high-end apartment in downtown New York. He turned around and saw a mess of things on his desk, including a bottle of alcohol and a work badge pressed underneath.

"Schiller, New York Elderly Hospital Psychiatrist...or Attending Physician? I crossed over again?" Schiller thought. Before he had the chance to curse, his phone rang. He answered it, and the person on the other side shouted loudly, "Dr. Schiller! Where are you? You cannot miss today's joint consultation! Are you drunk again!! Please come over now!"

Schiller's ears were ringing from the sudden volume, but he remembered that he was a doctor now. In such an emergency, there may be a patient in critical need of treatment. He had come this far, and he had to fulfill his duty.

Schiller immediately grabbed his identification, went downstairs to search for a car, and found a fairly new Mercedes in the garage. Its key matched his own, and he was able to start the car easily. Thanks to his previous academic exchange in New York, he was able to get to the Elderly Hospital quickly, thanks to the navigation in the car.

As soon as he entered the hospital, a receptionist came running over quickly and said, "Dr. Schiller, please hurry to the conference room. The joint consultation has already started."

Schiller did not know what his new identity was, but he nodded indifferently and followed the receptionist.

Fortunately, someone led him to the conference room. When he arrived, the room fell quiet for a moment, then resumed discussion. Schiller sat in the seat specially reserved for him and observed quietly.

It seemed like he was a well-known doctor, and one of the top professionals in his department. The doctor sitting across from him was clearly not from the psychiatric department. One of the doctors seemed particularly arrogant and said, "Indeed, it makes sense to let those quacks see him first, so he won't pretend to be crazy again and try to grope the nurses on the operating table."

Schiller looked at the name tag of the doctor, Stephen Strangelove, the "Supreme Sorcerer." Okay, he had stumbled into the Marvel universe again. Schiller couldn't be bothered to reply, judging by Strangelove's appearance, he probably hadn't been in the car accident for too long. Right now, he was just an extremely selfish and unpleasant person who hated people and dogs alike.

Schiller silently looked at the medical records, while Strangelove didn't think much of him. It was clear that Schiller had been drinking the night before and was late for the consultation the next day. Strangelove was a bit of a germaphobe and disliked Schiller's unprofessional attitude. Besides, he always thought that all psychologists were quacks, and he was extremely disgusted with Schiller.

During the meeting, he kept nitpicking at Schiller, who ignored him. After the meeting, Strangelove even intentionally bumped into him.

Schiller was very annoyed by him, but he knew he would eventually get his comeuppance. He probably wouldn't have minded reminding him if he wasn't so annoying, but now, let Strangelove go his own painful way.

Just as the consultation ended, Schiller opened his phone and received a call from a very pleasant-sounding woman, who sounded a bit anxious. She asked, "Dr. Schiller, has your consultation ended? Can you come to the Stark Building now? Tony is not doing well..."

Tony Stark?

When was he supposed to come? Was Iron Man kidnapped or has he returned already?

Schiller didn't even have time to look up information on the internet because Stark's car was already waiting downstairs. He quickly got on the car, with a beautiful lady sitting in the passenger seat, looking rather businesslike. She said, "Since Tony came back, as you know, he started having these tantrums out of nowhere, doing crazy things. I heard him crying last night..."

"Miss Potts? Are you okay?" Schiller asked tentatively, and Potts covered her eyes and said, "I'm sorry, but please take this treatment seriously."

Schiller understood. Iron Man was probably back after being kidnapped, and he was also informed that his company's weapons were being used in immoral wars. He was probably here because he was brought in by Potts when Stark was struggling mentally.