Chapter 2: Another Journey Through Time

If Schiller were to create a psychological profile for Batman from the comics, his greatest trait would not be caution, wisdom, or strategic planning, but rather suspicion. Batman never fully trusts anyone. His spirit of skepticism has become a distinct philosophy; doubt and conspiracy theories are ingrained in his very bones. The smarter he becomes, the more suspicious he is. Schiller's answer clearly plunged this young Batman into deep doubt. Bruce had never considered that anyone could see through his heart. He had immense confidence in his disguise, believing that even Alfred, the old butler who raised him, only understood part of him, not the whole.

Yet, this professor, who appeared to be an ordinary, cultured psychology professor, provided him with the most improbable answer, which was also the most accurate and to the point. At the moment he received this answer, the turmoil and heat within Bruce told him that he had indeed been waiting for someone to give him this answer—it was time to seek revenge. However, compared to the answer he received, the person who provided it made the revenge that had just ignited in his blood feel as if it had been doused with cold water. Bruce did not believe, nor had he ever believed, that anyone could see the demons lurking in his heart, that shadowy group of bats.

Schiller then said, "The consultation time is over; I have to go to class now. Goodbye, Mr. Wayne." Schiller believed Bruce would be entangled in thought for a long time. If he figured it out, he should quickly transform into Batman to uphold justice and not waste time in class. What lessons did Bruce have left to attend? Why bother clashing with those diligent faculty members? Schiller figured he would likely come to terms with it, and by then, the gangs and criminal organizations would be enough of a headache for him. This way, Schiller could happily lounge around at school, getting paid to do nothing, and at worst, fly to Hawaii during the holidays.

Schiller had a decent reputation at the university because of his high profile, but that was mostly based on the original Schiller's credentials. He adhered to the principle of "doing as much as you pay for," so he would start lecturing as soon as he sat down, and as soon as the class ended, he would vanish the moment the bell rang. After-class Q&A? That was nonexistent. He had been this way for five days. Fortunately, the original Schiller seemed quite withdrawn and had few friends. He had only been hired as a professor at Gotham University a few months ago and was not very familiar with people at the school, so the time traveler Schiller did not reveal any flaws.

During lunch, Peter sent a message: "Mr. Schiller, everything is terrible." Accompanied by a frustrated emoji, Schiller knew that this chat system was not a brain-to-brain communication. Only his side used the system, while Peter had fortuitously met an online friend, and Charles had received messages while browsing educational forums in his spare time. The system would convert chats with these characters into forms they could accept. For example, Peter communicated via social networking software, while Charles used knowledge forums. If it were Thanos, it might be some sort of cosmic network signal.

Thus, the other party would not feel awkward, and the system only guaranteed they would answer Schiller's first question; after that, how to continue the conversation was up to Schiller. Therefore, Schiller's main chat partner was the young, naive, and inexperienced Spider-Man. As for someone like Charles, a cunning old fox, Schiller would not easily test the waters without full confidence.

Schiller replied, "What's wrong, Peter? Is it not going well with Gwen?" "Oh, it's indeed not going well, but the bad part isn't about that." "Then what is it? You didn't mess up your experiment, did you?" "Sort of. I knocked over some equipment that looked very dangerous, and one of the… dangerous creatures escaped. I got bitten by it."

Schiller knew that Spider-Man's fate had already been partially changed by chatting with him. Through their conversation, he realized that the person on the other end was Spider-Man from the main universe 616. Originally, this high school student should have been bitten while attending an exhibition, but because Peter had developed feelings for Gwen and constantly vented to Schiller about how charming and lovely Gwen was, Schiller became quite annoyed with this chatterbox. So he gave him advice on how to pursue Gwen.

Gwen came from a good family and had found an internship at Oscorp during the summer, which originally had nothing to do with Peter. However, Schiller urged him to be a bit bolder and apply for the same internship. Peter performed excellently in school and actually got accepted. As a result, instead of being bitten by the spider at the exhibition, he was bitten directly by one of Oscorp's experimental spiders…

In any case, he was bound to get bitten because Spider-Man was chosen by the weaver master of the spider totem; it was not a matter of today or tomorrow. He was destined to take that bite eventually. Schiller comforted the poor little spider and then went back to sleep.

The night in Gotham was deep and thick, perfect for sleeping. Bruce had not slept all night, gazing at the moon, which had nearly lost its shape in the fog, holding a stack of files, the first page bearing the name Schiller Andel Rodriguez. Unbeknownst to Schiller, he had been thoroughly investigated by Batman. In his deep sleep, he heard the system's alarm, but he was too deep in slumber to wake. In his ignorance, a blue light swept across—

The system's alarms became more frequent, yet Schiller still did not awaken, as if something was obstructing the system. Finally, after a jumbled noise, Schiller's figure vanished completely. "Emergency protection system activated, locating universe… locating universe… receiving universe confirmed, identity information writing… writing… writing failed… writing… writing successful."

When he finally woke, Schiller rubbed his eyes and was momentarily blinded by the sunlight. Had he gone mad? Gotham City actually had a sunny day? Upon pulling back the curtains, he found himself looking out at the sunny… New York City. In stark contrast to Gotham's dreadful weather, New York was bright and sunny, already scorching in the early morning. Schiller looked out the window and realized he must be in some upscale apartment in downtown New York. Turning around, he saw a jumbled mess of things on his desk, along with a bottle of alcohol, which was pressing down on a work badge.

"Schiller, Psychiatrist at New York Presbyterian Hospital… or attending physician? Have I crossed over again?"

Damn it, Schiller thought. Before he could curse, his phone rang. Picking it up, a loud voice on the other end said, "Dr. Schiller! Where have you been? You absolutely cannot miss the joint consultation today! Have you been drinking again? You need to come right away!"

Schiller winced at the loud noise, but remembering he was now a doctor, he thought that this urgent situation might involve a patient needing rescue. He had to do his job. Schiller quickly grabbed his credentials and went downstairs to find a car. Living in such a high-end apartment, there was no way he wouldn’t have a car. He found a relatively new Mercedes in the garage downstairs, and with a press of the button, it actually started.

Thanks to Schiller's previous academic exchanges in New York, he used the car's navigation to reach Presbyterian Hospital, New York's largest hospital, as quickly as possible. As soon as he entered, a young woman at the front desk rushed over and said, "Dr. Schiller, please hurry over! The joint consultation has already started."

Schiller was unsure what kind of persona he was supposed to embody now but simply nodded coldly and went upstairs. Fortunately, someone led the way. Schiller arrived at the conference room, and upon seeing him, the room fell silent for a moment before continuing the discussion. Schiller took his specially reserved seat and observed quietly.

It seemed he was quite a famous doctor, and among his department, he was one of the top few. The person sitting across from him was clearly not from the psychiatry department. One doctor appeared arrogant and said, "Indeed, it makes sense to let those quack experts take a look first, to avoid him pretending to be crazy and trying to get fresh with the nurses on the operating table."

Schiller glanced at his name tag: Stephen, Stephen Strange, Doctor Strange. Well, he had crossed into the Marvel universe again. Schiller couldn't be bothered to engage with him. Looking at Strange's appearance, he seemed to be far from the accident that would give him a lesson. Right now, he was just an extremely selfish and annoying person, someone that people detested.

Schiller remained silent, reviewing the medical records, but Strange looked down on him. The reason was simple; Schiller looked like he had been drinking the day before and was late for the consultation the next day. Strange had a bit of a cleanliness obsession and could not stand Schiller's unprofessional attitude. Moreover, he always believed that any psychologist was just playing mind games, so he held a deep dislike for Schiller.

During the meeting, he constantly nitpicked at Schiller, who remained unfazed and indifferent to his remarks. After the meeting ended, Strange even deliberately bumped into him. Schiller found it irritating, but he thought that Strange would eventually learn his lesson; it probably wouldn’t be long before he got into trouble. If he weren't so annoying, Schiller might have even given him a heads-up, but for now, Strange could continue to suffer through his storyline.

Just after the consultation ended, Schiller opened his phone and received a call. On the other end was a very pleasant female voice, though somewhat anxious. She asked, "Dr. Schiller, has your consultation finished? Can you come to Stark Tower right now? Tony is not doing well?"

Tony Stark? What time is it supposed to be? Had Iron Man been kidnapped? Or had he already returned? Schiller didn't even have time to look up information online because a car from Stark Industries was already waiting downstairs at the hospital. He hurriedly got into the vehicle, where a beautiful woman sat in the passenger seat, looking somewhat businesslike. She said, "Since Tony returned, you know, during the last diagnosis, he started losing his temper for no reason and doing those crazy things. I heard him crying last night..."

"Ms. Potts? Are you okay?" Schiller asked cautiously. Pepper covered her eyes and said, "I’m sorry, but please ensure that this treatment is taken seriously."

Schiller understood; this must be after Iron Man had returned from being kidnapped, and he had learned that his company's weapons were being used in unjust wars. He was probably called in as the psychologist because Pepper was overly concerned during Stark's psychological struggles.

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