Chapter 3005: The Dense Shade of Green Trees Prolongs the Summer Day (3)

The white-haired old man left behind a car with a driver who was obviously acquainted with Gordon. When Gordon passed him a cigarette, he started speaking intermittently about his boss's background.

This guy didn't really come from much, used to be a real estate developer, and now mainly manages resorts. He's got some connections in the South District; his name is Williams.

The piece of land behind Schiller's house was indeed previously acquired by a developer and was genuinely meant for public green space, but lately, due to mismanagement of the company, they started entertaining crooked ideas, looking to sell the land again.

Schiller didn't understand the specific legal provisions, but he guessed that they must have exploited some loophole in the law, which is quite normal for real estate developers. Anyway, they ended up with the land, and the construction of the resort was now on the agenda.

Schiller discovered that he might have a knack for being around renovations; wherever he went, there seemed to be construction. Previously near Arkham Sanatorium, the construction of the shuttle station took several years, and now, just as he had moved into a new house, they were planning to build a resort nearby.

Actually, he had no objections to them building a resort by the lake. When he wasn't working, his entertainment options were very limited. Going to a restaurant for a meal, playing cards at the club—with a resort right at the door, he wouldn't have to travel far for entertainment.

Of course, the construction process might be annoying, but after all, the woods were still quite a distance from the house, separated by a lawn. As long as the noise didn't exceed standards, Schiller wouldn't interfere.

But he figured Williams's plans would definitely not go smoothly because this was community green space. Theoretically, it belonged to all the residents of the community. Whether they used it or not was one thing, but erecting such commercial structures would greatly damage the community's privacy, and the residents would surely not be happy.

As expected, before long, a few cars chased after them. Schiller recognized one of his familiar patients among them. A man, smart in a suit and tie, came forward and shook hands with Schiller, saying, "I knew you'd be here, Professor. Have you seen that damn Williams? He's a racist from Central State, a damn bastard!"

Schiller nodded. Williams made no attempt to hide his contempt, openly humiliating Black people. It should be noted that globally, the equal rights for all skin colors movement is in full swing, and states on both the East and West Coast have enacted anti-racial discrimination laws. Normally, people might engage in discrimination surreptitiously, but such blatant expressions were rare these days.

The woman following said, "They sold a piece of land twice. These cunning real estate developers stop at nothing to acquire land, and our mayor is now at his wits' end."

"I heard it also involves the mayor," Schiller asked. "What happened?"

"Oh, you might not be aware, but the State Council has sent down a mayoral candidate who seems to be looking to replace Mayor Roy. The election situation is not looking good."

After a few people chased Williams into the woods, Gordon shook his head and said, "You can only see the rot when you peel back the skin, but when the wound is exposed for all to see, there are always those who will take the opportunity to claim incompetence on the mayor's part."

After some thought, Schiller understood. Roy had indeed made Gotham a better place, but once the fundamental problems of Gotham had been addressed, even more issues came to light.

Before, Gothamites were troubled by law enforcement issues. Now that law enforcement had improved and everyone could live peacefully, there were plenty of other problems: transportation, urban construction, environmental protection...

When law enforcement was poor, nobody dared to come, thinking that taking a job in Gotham was as good as a death sentence. But now that the situation had improved, everyone felt that by coming to Gotham and making a small effort to turn things around, they too could claim a political achievement, right?

Mainly because Gotham, as a super city on the East Coast, held a status parallel to New York. The significance of being mayor of New York City hardly need be mentioned—it's a fiercely sought-after position by both parties, a step close to the center of power in America.

Towards these people, Schiller could only offer respect and best wishes. If any one of them could solve Gotham's problems, America wouldn't be in its current state.

Williams seemed to be that prospective mayor's man, coming here first to secure his own benefits, an unshakeable old tradition.

"What do you plan to do?" Gordon asked him.

"As long as he doesn't cause trouble for me, I don't want to bother with him." The two of them walked back together, Schiller said, "He must have obtained the land and resort construction permissions legally. As long as he can handle the residents, there's nothing to criticize."

"I think you'll find such people very annoying."

"I've dealt with patients much weirder than him, so I wouldn't really say I dislike him. It's the same thing I always say—as long as he doesn't bother me, I don't care what he does."

Gordon left quickly, knowing that Schiller wouldn't get involved in such matters. Schiller was the type who wouldn't interfere unless something threatened him directly. Gordon's main purpose today was to get in touch with Bruce through Schiller, as only Batman had the decisive power.

Actually, it was only because the weather was too hot. Schiller would stay still if he could; the high temperature made him feel mentally unwell, which made him even less inclined to get involved in these matters.

Soon, Schiller saw Helen rush in, fuming. Schiller handed her a glass of ice water and asked, "What's wrong?"

"That damn bastard! He actually wanted someone to beat us up!"

"Did you guys kill him?"

"Of course not, this is your turf. We couldn't just start a fight." Helen exhaled deeply, gulped down the ice water, and finally calmed down enough to say, "Squirrel Girl tripped him up badly, Fungi Man made his athlete's foot come back, that's all."

Schiller chuckled and said, "He's probably not going to have a good few days then. What was the conflict about?"

"I was up in a tree, and the old man pointed at my nose and cursed, calling me a little bastard! He told me to come down quickly so as not to damage his tree..." As Helen spoke, she grew more aggrieved—she was Doomsday, after all, could she tolerate such treatment?

Shiller also sighed gently and said, "Indeed, it was wrong of him to curse at people, but you've made him fall, which squares things up."

Helen nodded and didn't say much, but then Robert came in angrier than her, practically cursing up a storm.

He cursed for quite a while before he remembered Shiller was there and, somewhat embarrassed, scratched his head and said, "Professor, he's so arrogant. Aren't you going to teach him a lesson?"

Shiller laughed and said, "Haven't you all already taught him a lesson? What else do you want to do, kill him?"

Robert immediately shivered and said, "Why bring up killing? I mean, I want to give him a good beating."

"He'll call the police," Shiller said. "He bought that piece of land, and everything was done legally and properly. If you show up on his property and beat him up, the police will throw you in jail."

Robert also sounded a bit downhearted as he said, "The police here are too tough. The patrol cars I saw on the streets are all equipped with heavy firepower; I might not even be able to get away."

"Besides, Matt said we shouldn't take advantage of our superpowers to cause trouble, but I just can't swallow this! He even called Helen a wild child!"

Soon, the other three members of the New Warriors Team came in, and except for Nightingale, the rest showed disgruntled expressions.

Shiller remained calm as he said, "It's not illegal for him to buy land and build a resort, and it's within his rights to kick you out. But if you unlawfully invade and even resort to violence, I won't be going to the police station to bail you out."

The others seemed dejected.

Shiller seemed somewhat surprised as he paused for a moment before saying, "My point is, he is acting within the law, and you are not."

"Yes, we understand, Professor," Robert mumbled. "We won't cause you any trouble."

Then Shiller realized they truly couldn't comprehend, and he had to be more direct: "Of course it's illegal if you beat him up. Can't you think of a legal way to do it?"

Robert was taken aback. Was that what he meant?

Shiller continued, "It's legal for him to buy land and build buildings, but does that mean there's nothing else he's doing that's illegal?"

The group had a moment of realization.

How could there be so many foolish children over at Greed's? Shiller thought resignedly. The Robins on his side, though rowdy, were at least quick on the uptake, he reflected, wondering how they were doing.

The group immediately started discussing enthusiastically. One suggested looking into Williams' assets, another wanted to check the legality of his land purchases, while another proposed investigating any unlawful conduct among his subordinates.

Helen approached Shiller and said with a grin, "I knew you wouldn't just stand by, Professor. You're going to take my side, right?"

"What do you want me to do? Throw him into the lake? Just so we're clear, disposing of a body is too much of a hassle this time of year; if anyone is going to throw, it's got to be you."

Helen still struggled to get used to how lightly people here spoke of killing and disposing of bodies. She had noticed that every person here considered murder and dismemberment as the ultimate social problem solver, completely replacing "let it go" in social contexts, mentioning it with an eerie calmness.

Her own people might be hot-tempered, but it was all just sound and fury, whereas Gothamites were different—most were ruthlessly succinct, forcing Helen and her group to hold their tempers and learn not to provoke without fully understanding the other party; otherwise, they would have already clashed with that Williams guy.

Like Professor Shiller here, who, after spending a few days together, Helen realized that, just as Doctor Schiller had said, was usually good-tempered as long as you didn't provoke him.

Even if you offended him, as long as you apologized sincerely, he wouldn't do anything to you. They were playing with water and mud in the backyard, making a mess of the garden, and when Shiller found out, a quick apology and a hasty cleanup got them nothing more than an eye-roll.

Even an ordinary person would be angry at such a thing, but Professor Shiller's mood remained stable.

It was the same with the construction of the resort. Although the resort would spoil the great view behind the house and take up Shiller's usual place for relaxation, as long as it was justifiable and not a threat to Shiller, he didn't seem very interested in intervening.

No wonder this cosmos wasn't developing as fast as theirs, Helen thought. If it were Doctor Schiller, he wouldn't be himself if he didn't exhaustively wrap up this Williams and whoever was behind him in a tremendously huge ball of yarn until they couldn't breathe.

Shiller might not want to get involved, but Helen did. Wanting to build a treehouse was one thing; the old man's attitude was just too appalling. Iron Man himself would throw a punch, and if she didn't teach him a lesson, would she really seem as mild-mannered as on Doomsday?

Just then, Shiller's phone rang. He picked it up and looked surprised as he raised an eyebrow and said, "You're already back? Alright, let's meet at the usual spot tonight."

"Who's back?" Helen asked, looking at him.

"The Robins, they've returned from your place. They said they've brought some local specialties; we'll head to Wayne Manor tonight."