Chapter 475: When Schiller Finds a New Street Lamp (2)
When Batman crawled out of the car, looking somewhat disheveled, his understanding of the vehicle's emergency safety system reached a new level.
He shook his slightly dizzy head, opened his eyes, and walked to the side of the car, intending to pull Joker out as well.
But at this moment, he noticed that the rear door of the car had been blown away in the explosion, leaving a gap for someone to crawl out. While he was struggling with the airbag, Joker had already slipped away from behind.
Batman took a deep breath and looked through the Batmobile at the large pit that had been blown up by several rockets in front of the steps.
Then he looked up and surveyed the surroundings, confirming that he was indeed in the waiting hall of Arkham Asylum, not Gotham's Elizabeth Street or the Living Hell Waterworks.
During the time he was struggling to get out of the car, the situation at Arkham Asylum had changed once again.
Since Ghost appeared on the third floor, the patients on that floor were the first to take action. After the fourth and fifth floors were alerted, they provided firepower support to the third floor. Poor Ghost didn't last long and turned into a faint green light, disappearing on the spot.
But the people of Gotham were always ready to take revenge. In order to ensure that Ghost was truly dead, they used some safe and compliant weapons to thoroughly eliminate the threat.
Most of the patients here were not well-educated, and they didn't understand load-bearing walls or architectural mechanics. They just attacked any corner they could find, using not only guns but also explosives. As a result, the corner of the third-floor corridor collapsed.
Fortunately, Arkham Asylum was not a high-rise building, and the overall structure was large and stable. It didn't collapse entirely just because one corner had crumbled.
However, the unlucky ones were the people on the third floor. After the ceiling of the third floor collapsed, the unfortunate individuals in the corresponding rooms on the fourth floor fell directly onto the third floor and were injured by the falling floorboards.
Many of the people on the third floor were subordinates of the injured individuals, and when they saw their leader getting hurt, they rushed up to defend him and angrily accused others of being too reckless.
"Fisherman! Do you have eyes on your nose? Can't you see that the corner of the wall has cracked? How dare you throw grenades?!"
"Shut your mouth, Lawrence! You and your father are both softies from the West District. When the shootout happened, did you really have to check if the corner of the wall was cracked?!"
"You Pelican Gang just want trouble! When the water supply was allocated, you took two pipelines from us. It's only because of Schiller Doctor that I didn't come looking for trouble!"
"I'll blow your dog head off, Antonio! Do you have the right to speak here? Have you forgotten how your uncle died?"
"Shut your stinking mouth, Fisherman! Bang!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Rat-a-tat-tat..."
In an instant, the entire corridor descended into chaos. Everyone grabbed weapons nearby and started a shootout. The corridor was illuminated by the flames, making it as bright as day. The scene could not be described as peaceful negotiation or friendly communication; it was a settling of scores and grievances.
The shootout began on the third floor, and the fourth floor couldn't escape either. Soon, the leaders of the Living Hell's southeast, northwest, and Elizabeth Street's four giants joined the fierce battle. The leaders of the Twelve Families also wanted to help, turning Arkham Asylum into a mess.
In an office on the edge of the second floor, a small figure held a telephone and said to the other end:
"Yes, I'm looking for Copperpot... Yes, please tell the boss that the situation here is a bit chaotic. It would be best if he came in person..."Fôllôw new stories at novelhall.com
"Well, it all started with Fisherman from the South District. Do you know him? The bearded guy suddenly started shooting and claimed there were ghosts. The people on the third floor said they saw ghosts..."
"...I don't know because I didn't see it with my own eyes. After they started fighting, they asked me to go upstairs and call the others..."
"What?"
Schiller reached into his pocket and took out a piece of mineral emitting green light.
Seeing this strange mineral, Hal instinctively moved aside, but soon he widened his eyes and stared directly at the mineral. He said, "Is this... Green Lantern energy?"
"Correct," Schiller nodded, acknowledging this. He said, "During my trip to Metropolis, I made quite a discovery. The most important one being that I obtained a certain type of mineral."
"This mineral was originally meant to weaken people with superpowers, but after some processing by me, it turned into... this."
As he spoke, Schiller took out a transparent, colorless crystal from another pocket. He turned the crystal around and said, "Some glutton ate the energy here but spat out the mineral like a peach pit."
"Previously, the radiation here was also green, just like Green Lantern's energy. So I thought, could this mineral also carry Green Lantern's energy?"
"After conducting some experiments, I found that my speculation was correct. This mineral can indeed serve as a vessel for Green Lantern energy."
Hal hesitated, pondered for a moment, and asked in confusion, "Putting that aside for now, where did you get the Green Lantern energy from?"
"Oh, you mean this," Schiller said casually, "I suffer from a rare mental illness called dissociative identity disorder. Among my multiple personalities, there happens to be one that can summon a Green Lantern ring. So I summoned a Green Lantern ring and conducted a little experiment..."
Hal looked at the mineral filled with Green Lantern energy. He had also been a Green Lantern before and knew the nature of Green Lantern energy. He shook his head and said, "...The amount of Green Lantern energy contained in that thing you have in your hand is not something a single ring can provide."
"I never said this was provided by a single ring."
"But..." Hal reached out his hand and said, "Alright, even if you have some mental illness and multiple personalities, Green Lanterns are chosen based on the number of physical beings. Two Green Lantern rings wouldn't find the same Green Lantern."
"Moreover, Green Lantern rings have safety locks. Green Lantern energy can only stay in the ring or be infused into a Green Lantern's body. It can't be extracted. If everyone could extract Green Lantern energy from the ring, it would be chaotic."
"That's true."
To Hal's surprise, Schiller not only didn't deny it, but also acknowledged it seriously. He said, "You're right about what you said. But how I managed to do all this, we have to start with what you said."
"Start with what I said?" Hal was completely puzzled.
Schiller played with the green crystal in his hand and casually said, "Do you remember what happened after you broke into Wayne Manor before?"
"I remember, but how did you know?... Oh, I see, that little traitor Dick, he actually told you everything!"
"Yes, including your embarrassing moment when you begged for mercy with a shotgun pointed at you."
Hal's face fell, and he muttered softly. Schiller continued, "Do you remember how the ring fell off your hand?"
"Aisha attacked me and bit onto my arm. I tried to shake her off, but she flew out with my ring... Wait, you can't be..."
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