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Chapter 26: The Failed Zero-Cost Plan

"In this week's class assignment, I want to commend Mr. Robert for his outstanding presentation on emotional deconstruction analysis. His arguments align very well with the theories I discussed in class. Of course, Miss Hoff's paper had the highest word count this time, but I must emphasize that word count doesn't necessarily reflect the quality of your work. If you can present your arguments clearly within 3,000 words, I will be more than satisfied."

"As expected, there's still one person who didn't submit their assignment this time, Mr. Wayne, please come to my office after class. If you have no intention of completing your assignments, then I believe you won't need to sit for the final exams either. After all, without any assignment grades, you won't earn any credits for the semester."

Schiller closed his textbook in front of him and said, "Class dismissed."

Gotham University, situated on the East Coast of the United States, was well-known. It was common knowledge that most prestigious U.S. universities, including Harvard, MIT, and Princeton, were all located on the East Coast.

Gotham University, however, was not a competitor to these esteemed schools. Despite being a nationally recognized public university, it was not an Ivy League institution. Moreover, Gotham City, where the university was located, had a notorious reputation for its poor safety. Few local students from the U.S. would consider applying to this university. Even those from Gotham who could attend college locally often chose to apply to nearby prestigious universities.

This resulted in the students who stayed at Gotham University being either those who couldn't secure admission elsewhere or international students. Expecting exceptional academic performance from this group was challenging, but many of them managed to submit their assignments on time, likely due to Schiller's formidable reputation.

However, the low ranking of Gotham University was not solely due to the students. With the backing of the Wayne Family, Gotham University had the resources to attract top-tier professors and acquire cutting-edge laboratory equipment. Despite the security concerns, as long as one remained within the confines of Gotham University, it was a relatively safe place.

The problem lay in the fact that the university's president was unwilling to cede too much control to the Wayne Family. It wasn't out of moral superiority; rather, Gotham University was his political leverage, and he didn't want to relinquish it to the Wayne Family.

As a result, Gotham University remained in a semi-dormant state, which displeased Schiller. He didn't want to tarnish his impeccable record with a teaching position at a bottom-ranked school. His goal was to elevate Gotham University to Ivy League status before anything else.

Since they were all Northeastern universities, Gotham University's football team performed reasonably well. Joining the Ivy League didn't seem like an unreasonable aspiration.

Before that happened, Schiller had no interest in getting involved in the chaos of Gotham, including Batman and other criminals.

In the afternoon, Bruce visited Schiller's office and explained, "Professor, I haven't actually failed to write my paper. I'll have my butler deliver the USB drive shortly..."

"Failure to bring it means failure to submit it," Schiller said sternly, cutting him off.

Schiller then tapped the desk and continued, "If I let Bruce off the hook for not completing his assignment, it won't affect the others, right? After all, it's normal for Wayne Family members to enjoy certain privileges."

"But you've donated hundreds of millions to the school, and that money didn't end up in my pocket. So, if you don't submit your assignment, I'll still deduct all your credits, and you won't receive your degree."

Bruce replied quietly, "Actually, I already have my diploma. The company that prints the diplomas is owned by my family."

Schiller rubbed his forehead and said, "What am I supposed to do with a damn rich second-generation like you... How's your investigation going?"

"Miss Christine hasn't left Gotham University. She disappeared on campus, but this isn't related to Jonathan's arrest since it happened after Jonathan was apprehended."

"Do you have any suspects?" Schiller inquired.

"Actually, the university president is a prime suspect."

Before Schiller could question further, Bruce added, "I don't have concrete evidence to prove that he kidnapped Christine, but three members of the jury who acquitted Jonathan and his defense lawyer are all from a well-known gang on the East side of Gotham, the Red Crow Gang."

"Furthermore, the university president is friends with the leader of this gang. They attended the mayor's banquet together, and most importantly, his daughter is married to the head of the gang, who manages their smuggling operations."

"But what role does Christine play in this story? As far as I know, she's just an ordinary girl, albeit exceptionally beautiful."

"I suspect Miss Christine may have overheard something about Jonathan's conspiracy during her visit to the president's office."

"Do you have any evidence?" Schiller asked.

"I think I'll refrain from focusing on evidence for now. Of course, I won't rush to confront the president because that could alert him."

Schiller remarked, "I suspect Miss Christine is not dead yet. You see, if the person who attacked her is indeed the principal, it's highly unlikely that he directly killed Christine. The cheerleading squad cannot replace a leader so quickly, and if the cheerleading squad falters, it will affect the results of the football game. That's the one thing Gotham University can boast about, and it's also a part of the principal's personal record."

Bruce sighed and replied, "Regardless, Miss Christine is innocent."

"Have you seen Gordon lately? How's it going on his end?"

"Not very smoothly. I think if I can find Miss Christine and have her as a witness to accuse these people of trying to frame Jonathan, then maybe Jonathan can end up in prison."

"Have you ever considered that Jonathan going to prison doesn't necessarily have to be Gotham Prison?"

"Do you want me to build a private prison?"

Schiller remained silent, merely rising to his feet and stating, "Are you planning to follow this kind of procedure for every criminal you capture from now on?"

"Or perhaps, do you find it intriguing to tangle with them in these unjust judicial processes?"

"With this time, not only the Morrison District, but also the gangs from the surrounding two or three blocks could be handled."

"What Batman should do exactly, you know better than I do, Bruce."

Bruce left, burdened with his own thoughts once more.

Schiller had another issue to deal with: if Jonathan ended up in prison, regardless of which one, the source of the fear gas would become unstable. He had a limited supply on hand, and without the formula or the ability to create it, this powerful weapon would vanish forever, which would be a great loss.

Schiller was more cunning than the current Batman, who was always in a hurry. He knew that the best course of action was not to force Jonathan to reveal the formula for the fear gas or to break him out of prison and control him to work for him; that would be both troublesome and dangerous.

What he needed to do was find a new buyer for Jonathan, someone who could extract the formula from him, control him, and let Schiller continue to profit from the stolen fear gas.

Those people wouldn't use the fear gas for anything good, so as long as they didn't get their hands on it, everything would be fine.

It was a win-win situation: you produce on one end, I steal on the other. How much you produce, how much I steal. With the sharp weapon that is Grey Mist, could you even catch me?

Schiller suspected that Jonathan was still too naive. He probably had already given away the formula for the fear gas. Once those people got the formula, they would have ways to manufacture it.

Schiller knew that if they wanted to do something big, they would need a large-scale production line for the fear gas, not just for small-scale fights. To produce this poisonous gas on a large scale, they would need a factory assembly line.

There were many chemical factories in Gotham, but most of them were not very professional. To have a high-end chemical production line, there was only one place: Wayne Chemical Factory.

No matter how hard this group of people tried to cover up and operate, they couldn't avoid using Wayne Chemical Factory's production line.

With the Grey Mist ability, Schiller could move around more freely at night.

As he expected, it was another rainy night when Schiller, standing outside the Wayne Chemical Factory's railing, saw a car with a license plate ending in "676" enter the factory.

In the days that followed, trucks constantly shuttled between Wayne Chemical Factory and another destination. It seemed they were transporting some large equipment. Schiller had no intention of stopping them; instead, he tracked the trucks to find out where they were taking the stolen production line equipment.

Unsurprisingly, it was in the eastern part of Gotham, the territory of the Red Crow Gang. There was another chemical factory there, though not as large as Wayne Chemical Factory. The stolen production line equipment from Wayne Chemical Factory had all been transported to this smaller chemical factory.

However, things didn't go as planned. Once the production line started operating, problems emerged. First, they were missing several machines, as Wayne Chemical Factory's production line wasn't designed for making fear gas, and they needed to purchase some machines. Second, the chemists they had recruited didn't seem to be as skilled as Jonathan. The experiments before production went very poorly, and the fear gas they replicated didn't have the same potency as Jonathan's, let alone the same level of concentration.

So, all the problems circled back to the issue of getting Jonathan out. Despite Jonathan being a Scarecrow Criminal with little experience, his expertise was formidable. The Red Crow Gang couldn't just abandon him; they had to figure out a way to exonerate him.

Schiller hadn't anticipated the gang's incompetence. They had the formula, but they couldn't produce the gas. He had even considered intercepting the production line at its delivery point and just taking it all.

Schiller's zero-cost plan had failed, but he wasn't giving up. Since the Red Crow Gang couldn't handle it, he needed to find a more capable buyer for Jonathan, someone like Sal Maroni.