Chapter 3025: Dense Green Trees, Long Summer Days (23)

Cobblepot didn't understand why she suddenly brought this up, but the woman seemed to have a lot to say, so Cobblepot cautiously did not interrupt her.

"We got married 15 years ago, had a good relationship after, and have two lovely children. But about 10 years ago, one day, he came home drenched, acting like he wasn't himself. I asked him what was wrong, but he would not say."

"Since then, he started drinking heavily. Even though he was often not sober, he never hurt me or the children. I heard him talking in his sleep sometimes, but it wasn't clear... until one day four years ago, he left the house and never returned."

"Is he dead?"

"I don't know, no one could find his body. Perhaps he just disappeared."

"Then why did you come here? And why did you target Edward?"

The nurse named Helis pursed her lips and looking intently at Cobblepot asked, "Can I trust you?"

"Yes, madam." Cobblepot nodded and said, "And I trust you too, as you have been taking very good care of Edward. If it weren't for you, his condition wouldn't have improved so quickly."

Cobblepot wasn't making up stories to gain her trust—it was the truth, as both he and his mother suffered from hereditary mental illnesses. He understood all too well that, in the treatment of mental illness, although medical treatments are crucial, humane care is the key to recovery. Care and attention are especially critical for mental health patients, which is why he had put aside most of his work to come here and accompany his mother personally.

Edward had severe mental issues when he first arrived here and had almost no ability to care for himself. For a patient like this to recover nearly to the level of an ordinary person in just four years was nothing short of a medical miracle. The treatment plan of the doctors was undoubtedly vital, but the meticulous care from the nurse was indispensable.

Helis glanced at Edward next to her, sighed, and said, "He reminds me of my elder son, who is always absorbed in his books to the point of not hearing me call him to come eat."

"Then can you tell me what is going on?"

Helis glanced at the door, and Cobblepot immediately signaled his subordinate with his eyes to close the door and watch it. Helis sighed and said, "Someone has been watching Edward because he knows an unbearable secret. Someone intentionally drove him insane, sending him to this mental institution, because a jury will never trust the testimony of a psychiatric patient—no one would believe a lunatic."

"How do you know this?"

"My husband, on the night he left four years ago, he told me a lot. He said that ten years ago, during a demolition project he was involved in, he saw evidence of wrongdoing, but he knew he could never legally hold them accountable."

Cobblepot reflected for a moment. Ten years was a long time; ten years ago, Gotham was almost devoid of any improvement. The Mob ran rampant, and various dangerous individuals emerged incessantly; everyone was solely concerned with their own safety. Seeking justice and rule of law back then was a complete joke.

"Did he keep any evidence?" Cobblepot asked.

Helis shook her head and said, "He didn't explain the details, but I guess he couldn't access the evidence—he just saw it. And with that demolition, all evidence was destroyed."

"And four years ago..."

"I guess he went there again," Helis said, her hands tightly clasped and her voice trembling slightly, "These past six years, he was tormented by inner guilt. Besides getting drunk, he tried to investigate. It was during that investigation that he learned about Edward."

"What's special about Edward?" Cobblepot asked, though he already had an idea in his heart.

"He might also have been a witness," Helis did not state definitively, "At least my husband thought so. My husband didn't reveal that he knew the truth, but Edward must have exposed it, so they put him in a mental institution."

"Why not just kill him?"

Helis gently shook her head, saying, "I don't know, perhaps there is some special reason they couldn't kill him, only keeping him alive in a mental institution."

Cobblepot nodded in acknowledgment of this explanation, then he asked, "Did your husband tell you who the culprit was?"

"No, he probably was concerned for our safety, so he never spoke of it openly. If he hadn't fallen apart that night, I might never have known so much."

"Then you at least know where he went."

Helis hesitated and glanced at Edward, not saying anything.

Soon, the time for their appointment with Professor Shearer arrived. Cobblepot stood up with Edward and said, "I'll have my subordinate take you over there. Make sure to listen to Professor Shearer, okay?"

Edward nodded.

After Edward had left, Cobblepot turned to Helis and said, "That place is related to Edward, right?"

"Yes, that's the boarding high school in the Bolokin Community where Edward attended."

Helis standing at the door stepped aside, and Edward entered. Shearer smiled at him and said, "Cobblepot must have told you, don't worry too much, come, lie down here."

Edward was silent; he first sat on the bed and then lay down, blankly staring at the ceiling. Shearer turned off almost all the lights in the room, leaving only a small desk lamp behind Edward.

He picked up the tape recorder, pressed the record button, and began the guidance.

Following Shearer's guidance, Edward slowly relaxed, unconsciously closing his eyes, allowing his consciousness to sink into darkness. Soon, specks of starlight appeared before him, following the light, a strand of consciousness returned to the depths of his memory.

Shearer saw a massive maze, a school as large as a town, with countless corridors, classrooms, and offices stacked layer upon layer, a solitary ghost wandering within.

Shearer saw Edward fleeing in panic, a meaty mountain-like monster chasing after him—a terrifying creature assembled haphazardly from various human organs. Hair, teeth, reproductive organs were not in their usual places.

"Answer... my... riddle..."

Shearer heard Edward respond.

"Tell me, what is your riddle?"

"Who is it?"

Professor Shearer pondered for a moment, suspecting that Edward was referring to the monster. Did he need to answer with the monster's true identity?

"It's the principal," Professor Shearer replied, recalling that Edward had once disclosed this information.

But why was it just so perfect? Or had he known that this day would come, so he gave away the answer in advance?

The scene changed, turning into an office, but only the floor, ceiling, and furnishings appeared normal, while the walls had transformed into bars of a cage.

Edward was inside the cage-like office, with the flesh mountain monster outside, and this time, a child emerged halfway from the monster and struggled helplessly, crying out to Edward for help.

But in the end, the flesh mountain devoured him.

"Answer… my… riddle…"

"What is it doing?"

Professor Shearer paused briefly.

"It is feeding."

The scene quickly changed again, this time to a pitch-black space, so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.

Edward walked forward, suddenly picking something up—it was a bone. The experienced Professor Shearer immediately determined that the bone had not fully developed, belonging not to an adult but to a child.

Suddenly, a hole appeared under Edward's feet, and he fell through it, then abruptly woke up from bed.

As their eyes met, Professor Shearer uttered a single word.

"Flowerpot?"

Indeed, he suspected that the last pitch-black space was a flowerpot because the hole Edward fell through resembled the drainage hole beneath a flowerpot so closely.

Edward's smile brightened, but he seemed unsure of what he was smiling at. He pulled a piece of candy from his pocket and handed it to Professor Shearer as if rewarding him for solving the riddle.

Professor Shearer was not in the mood for candy, but still accepted it, and soon Edward was sent away, leaving Professor Shearer sitting alone in the dim room.

Helen pushed the door open and ran up to Professor Shearer, who handed her the candy. Helen, clueless, accepted it.

Unexpectedly, as she peeled the wrapper off the candy, Professor Shearer snatched it back and said gravely, "Don't just eat things given by others."

"You're not just anyone," Helen retorted, snatching the candy back and popping it into her mouth, musing, "And come on, I am Doomsday. How can you poison candy with me here? Stuff a neutron star inside it?"

Professor Shearer was somewhere else mentally and seemed not to be on the same wavelength as Helen. After she nudged him, he came back to reality.

"What exactly did you call me here for today? Isn't having Squirrel Girl around enough? She's pretty formidable."

"Originally, it was just supposed to be Squirrel Girl," Professor Shearer nodded and explained, "Just her alone guarding the doors and windows would be sufficient; bringing you was mainly to avoid further confrontation with Williams."

Helen appeared perplexed, but Professor Shearer shook his head and said nothing, unwilling to share what he had observed about Williams with her.

Professor Shearer stood up, picked up a phone beside him, and called Pamela, saying, "You're accompanying me to the forest tonight."

Then he turned to Helen and ordered, "Take everyone to Wayne Manor, and don't go anywhere else tonight."

Helen seemed to sense the seriousness of the situation and nodded. The two made their way downstairs together, but as soon as they reached the first floor, they encountered a mental patient having a breakdown. Helen immediately stepped in front of Professor Shearer to protect him.

Professor Shearer's attention was not on the hysterical patient. Through the crowd, he spotted a pair of indifferent eyes staring at him.

The moment that person reached toward the small of his back, Professor Shearer pulled Helen and jumped back behind a pillar in the lobby, then quickly entered the registration office.

Feeling the lingering attention on him, Professor Shearer asked Helen, "Can your Doomsday spores still be used?"

"They can, what do you want to do?"

"Make the mental patient attack a young man with red hair in the crowd, about 1.8 meters tall, with a mole on the lower left of his jaw,"

A sinister gleam flashed in Helen's eyes. The commotion in the lobby intensified soon after, punctuated by screams. Professor Shearer stood by the registration window, looking outside to see the red-haired young man being brutally pummeled by the mental patient.

Brand quickly appeared from the stairs, shouting to everyone, "Clear out, clear out! Nurse, put a straitjacket on him!"

Then he paused abruptly, turning his head toward another figure in the crowd. Helen, who was peering out from the registration window, gasped sharply and immediately withdrew her head.

"Am I seeing things?!" Helen incredulously said to Professor Shearer, a bit panic-stricken, "What on earth was that dark figure?!"

"You saw correctly." Professor Shearer replied without looking back, "The doctors here eat children. If you had looked a moment later, they would have eaten you too."