Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Batman lowered his head and gazed at the documents Penguin Man had sent over. These were the competitors he had promised Penguin Man he would deal with.

Batman looked over these individuals for a long time but couldn't discern anything significant. They seemed to be just some minor followers of Penguin Man's rival factions. The only one of importance had recently had a conflict of interest with the faction Penguin Man belonged to. There was no problem for Penguin Man to deal with them.

But Batman's intuition told him something was off. Penguin Man's actions had an ulterior motive, similar to "Zhuang dancing the sword for Pei." His ultimate target, however, was still unclear to Batman.

Worried that Penguin Man might have left something up his sleeve involving Jason, Batman couldn't directly back out. He could only hand over the list to Lucius Fox, asking him to use Wayne Enterprises to trouble these people.

Lucius Fox investigated but didn't find any issues. It all seemed to be just some political wrangling. So he went ahead as planned.

Now Batman was more concerned about Jason. But he didn't put all his hopes on Shiller; instead, he continued to urge Dr. Tompkins, hoping she could come up with a more reliable treatment plan.

The Midnight Doctor Piet didn't let Dr. Tompkins down. He stirred up minor troubles for the wealthy in the Upper city area, sufficiently speeding up the turnover of the sewers in that area, temporarily preventing them from concocting any nasty plots. Finally, Dr. Tompkins had some free time on her hands.

Dr. Tompkins arrived at Wayne Manor. Batman was already there waiting for her. As soon as she saw Batman, Dr. Tompkins said, "I don't believe Jason's mental state can handle being around people. So before the consultation, I want to perform a comprehensive check-up on him. I just ask that you don't interfere. Okay?"

Batman nodded, but not because he agreed. Since Shiller's last visit, the surveillance and listening devices in the room had been dismantled and couldn't be reinstalled effectively. Moreover, Batman dared not get too close to Jason, leaving him entirely in the dark about Jason's condition.

Dr. Tompkins quickly went upstairs and entered Jason's room, only to find it empty.

She hesitated instinctively. The next second, she was choked by a sudden grip, but the arm released her just as quickly. Dr. Tompkins turned around to meet Jason's cold gaze.

His eyes were nothing like the vacant stare she had seen before. Almost immediately, Dr. Tompkins made a judgment—Jason Todd was not insane; he had been pretending.

Jason, though releasing her, did not apologize. He tossed his red mask aside and sat back down on the bed.

He was no longer in hospital attire, allowing Dr. Tompkins to see through his tight-fitting shirt the muscular lines of someone who clearly had not been bedridden for a long time. He must have been exercising regularly.

"Jason?" Dr. Tompkins tried calling out.

Jason responded in a muffled tone. Dr. Tompkins let out a sigh of relief and said, "That's good. I'm glad you're alright."

Jason didn't respond to her but fiddled with the parts of a handgun. Dr. Tompkins sat opposite him and said, "It's been a long time. The last time I saw you was at the dental clinic. You were fussing about not wanting to see the dentist..."

Jason's expression showed a rare fluctuation; he turned his head away, murmuring, "Don't talk about that."

Dr. Tompkins finally showed a sincere smile for the first time in days, but it soon turned to worry as she said, "Why did you do this, Jason?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why pretend to be insane? Why deceive Batman?"

Jason let out a long sigh and said, "Before I answer your questions, I have many of my own. Doctor. What did Thomas tell you back then?"

Dr. Tompkins was taken aback. She looked incredulously at Jason and said, "How could you know..."

"I found a tape," Jason half-truthfully said, "Thomas spoke to you about something, it seemed to be about his mental state, but I couldn't understand. Can you tell me what it was?"

Dr. Tompkins glanced involuntarily towards the door.

"Relax. He can't monitor here," said Jason.

"It wasn't anything special," Dr. Tompkins said, "Thomas was not in good mental health. I diagnosed him. He was suffering from bipolar disorder. I recommended he visit a psychiatrist with prescription authority to get some medication."

"Is that all?"

Dr. Tompkins' eyes grew deeper as she stared into Jason's eyes and said, "You seem to know more than I expected. What exactly are you trying to do, Jason?"

"The Wayne Family has a kind of hereditary mental illness, right?"

Dr. Tompkins' eyes widened suddenly. She began coughing violently, as if trying to cough out her lungs.

Jason just kept looking at her.

Dr. Tompkins recovered after a moment, leaned her hand on the back of the chair beside her, and hesitated before saying, "You have to promise me not to tell Batman... okay, it seems you're the least likely to tell him."

"I... had my suspicions," Dr. Tompkins said, "You might not be aware of the history of the Wayne Family. But Thomas told me some."

"The Wayne Family came from England. About 300 years ago, an ancestor named Edmond Wayne crossed the ocean to come to Gotham Valley, becoming one of the first builders of what is now Gotham."

"This ancestor defeated the cruel warlord who once ruled Gotham Valley, bringing freedom to the people here. From then on, the Wayne Family became the most prominent family in Gotham."

"However, for some reason, the heads of the Wayne Family from generation to generation never met a good end; all were assassinated. Rumors have it that there is a Curse laid by the warlord before his death, cursing every Gotham family heir to die a terrible death."

"I don't believe in such rumors. Thomas's actions lead me to believe that the Wayne Family might suffer from a peculiar genetic disease."

"Why assassinations then?" Jason asked a critical question.

"I discussed the connection with Thomas," Dr. Tompkins said, "Thomas thinks it's a conspiracy. He believes that someone had been poisoning them, assassinating them in moments of mental confusion, propagating rumors of the Curse to overthrow the Wayne Family."

"That doesn't hold up," Jason said, "If they could poison, why not just poison all the heirs to death?"

"So, there's another possibility," Dr. Tompkins lowered her voice, "Someone wants the Wayne Family members to go mad but not die. However, neither Thomas nor I could figure out why someone would do this."

Jason fell into deep thought.

"You know that Batman was being used, right?" Jason asked after a while.

Dr. Tompkins nodded with some difficulty.

"A paranoid madman is easier to manipulate," Jason speculated, "Being unable to fully control his mind, naturally, he can't expose the conspiracy. Constantly indulged in the illusion of being a hero, becoming a tool for some people's profit."

Dr. Tompkins's fingertips trembled slightly. She bit her lip hard, then said, "But why Bruce?"

"Because Thomas noticed," Jason said, "Think back carefully to what Thomas told you. Didn't he hint at something?"

Dr. Tompkins's thoughts became confused. She tried hard to recall the scene; fragments of language and expressions gradually pieced together. Her fists clenched tighter.

"If that's the case, he might have been seeking help then," Dr. Tompkins said, "He knew someone wanted to do this. He came to me hoping I could help him escape the torment of madness so that he could confront those people."

"But he failed," Jason said, "They found he was hard to control, so they killed him. That way, they could groom his children. Judging from the current situation, they succeeded."

"We need to help Batman." Dr. Tompkins said, "If he ever finds out the truth, he'll go crazy."

"Do you think he doesn't know the truth?" Jason shook his head, "If his illness is the bipolar disorder you mentioned, then his intelligence is normal. After going through so much, wouldn't he know if he had made a mistake? He just refuses to admit it."

"He's not that kind of person," Dr. Tompkins instinctively countered.

"He just doesn't realize the severity of the situation," Jason leaned forward, looking into Dr. Tompkins's eyes, "Alfred might not have died a natural death."

Dr. Tompkins froze. She stared at Jason and said, "Do you have any evidence?"

"It's because I don't have evidence that I need to find it. You need to help me look too," Jason said unapologetically, "If we can indeed find some clues, it'll prove our speculation is correct. They are trying to drive Batman insane. For that, they'll eliminate one after another of those close to him, including you, me, and that new kid…"

Dr. Tompkins's hands trembled more violently. She stood up and said, "What have you found out? What do you expect me to do?"

Jason caressed the mask in his hand and said, "When Alfred's condition was not severe, he was receiving treatment at Wayne Hospital. Looking at the medical records, nothing seems amiss. But I noticed he had undergone five X-ray examinations within a single week."

"Five times?!" Dr. Tompkins exclaimed, surprised, "Why would they need so many examinations? Alfred was elderly, tumors wouldn't develop that fast. There's no need for such frequent checks."

Jason shook his head, "That's beyond my expertise, Dr. Tompkins. I know you have classmates and friends at Wayne Hospital. Maybe you can try to find out something."

After Dr. Tompkins left, Jason took out a mobile phone that Shiller had left him. It contained some photos of Alfred's medical records.

He stared at these photos in silence, his mind filled with memories of the old housekeeper. After a while, he seemed to make a decision and sent all the photos to a number.

Nightwing, who was on patrol, took out his phone and saw those few photos and the long string of text, his eyes widening in disbelief.

_minutes later, the roar of a motorcycle sounded at the GTO headquarters entrance. Nightwing rushed into Batgirl's office like a madman, showing her what he had received.

Batgirl was similarly incredulous. She immediately turned on her computer and quickly accessed the internal system of Wayne Hospital.

After searching in the system for a long time, she slowly said, "Something's not right. Alfred has only passed away recently, but why can't we find him in any of the surveillance footage?"

"Someone deleted the surveillance?!"

"I'm afraid so," Batgirl turned to look at Nightwing, "This could cover up the fact that he was taken to the examination room at an abnormal frequency."

Nightwing tightened his grip on the chair. Then, as if he remembered something, he said, "Check the doctors and nurses who passed his ward. If they were really bribed, there must be some unusual activity traces."

Batgirl looked at the screen again.