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Chapter 161: The Long Easter (1)

Spring thunder roared in the sky above the East Coast, followed by a torrential downpour. Puddles on the tree-lined road reflected the light from the gaps in the dark clouds. Countless raindrops pattered on the dense leaves, and the sound of rain streamed in through the windows. Outside was the chilly spring rain, while inside was warm and cozy.

Schiller gently flipped through the textbook in his hand, the sound of the pages rubbing together completely drowned out by the rain. He cleared his throat and had to raise his voice, saying, "Easter is just a week away. The Psychology Club's dinner will begin at exactly seven o'clock on Easter evening. Students who want to attend should be seated by six-thirty."

Pausing, Schiller glanced at the heavy rain outside the window, then continued, "There have been thunderstorms throughout the city in recent days. Please remember to bring an umbrella when you go out. It is estimated that if the rainfall continues to increase, there may be a risk of flooding. Please pay attention to evacuation notices..."

After finishing his announcement, Schiller packed up his textbook and prepared to leave. At that moment, Evans, who was sitting in the front row, stood up and walked to the side of the podium. He whispered to Schiller, "Professor, the rain has been so heavy these past few days that many students can't attend classes on time. So, about the homework..."

"Submit it later. Remind everyone to inform their parents. If the rain continues, evacuations may be necessary at any time. Tell them to keep an eye on the local gang activities..."

Evans took out a schedule and said, "In the past, the Easter banquet was held on the evening of the holiday, but this year, our new principal moved the banquet up by two days, so it doesn't coincide with the club dinner. We plan to..."

Evans discussed the arrangements for the event with Schiller. As they were talking quietly, Bruce approached them. Evans glanced at him, and Schiller said to Evans, "Let's settle on this plan for now. I'll confirm with you later."

After Evans left, Bruce spoke up, "The recent rain has been too heavy. The drainage system in Gotham has major issues. I need to go back to Wayne Manor to keep an eye on things and prevent flooding."

"Permission granted. Also, it seems they've breached our defenses."

When Schiller returned to his office, Victor was holding a goose egg and measuring it with a paintbrush. Schiller walked over, looked at the egg, and asked, "Where did you get this? You didn't go raiding swan nests on the lake, did you?"

"Of course not. Do I look like someone who would do something so boring?" Victor dipped his brush in blue paint and drew a star shape on the egg. As he focused on his painting, he said, "The logistics department prepared five Easter egg materials for each professor. We need to finish painting them before the holiday and give them to the students."

"How strange," Schiller laughed. "Shouldn't they be the ones painting and giving them to us? Heaven knows how tired I am from teaching them."

"They'll be giving us some too, but probably finished products since not many of them can paint."

"Actually, I quite like this activity. When I was young, I wanted to be a painter." Victor leaned in close to the egg, using a smaller brush to perfect the details of the star.

Schiller shrugged and returned to his seat, where he found several goose eggs. Picking one up, he said, "The rainfall lately has been really unusual. Have you seen the weather forecast?"

Anna, sitting at the neighboring table, was also painting an egg. She looked up at Schiller and said, "There are hardly any sunny days in this place all year round, but this rain is too much. My rain boots are barely holding up."

"I just heard from my student that the Easter banquet has been moved up?" Schiller sat down and began toying with the paintbrushes and paints.

"Yes, our principal moved the banquet up to hold more events. As a result, the dance has also been moved up."

"Why would he do that? Are there really that many events to hold?" Victor asked, puzzled.

"It's the first major holiday of his first year in office. Maybe the new principal wants to show off. In addition to the banquet, dance, and dinner, I heard there are also plans for Bible exchanges, prayers, and hymn singing."

"He doesn't seem like a particularly devout believer, so why is he suddenly placing so much importance on Easter?"

The three of them shook their heads. Schiller examined the goose eggs on the table. He picked up a brush and made a few gestures. Just as he was about to start painting, Victor stood up with a freshly painted egg in his hand, proudly saying, "Look at this, look at what I've painted."

The egg in his hand was covered with many stars, painted in red and blue, resembling the American flag. However, due to the oval shape of the goose egg, most of the stars were distorted, and some areas were not evenly painted.

Anna teased him, saying, "I didn't know you were such a patriot. The designer of the flag would surely be moved to tears by your work."

"Please," Victor complained. "It's hard enough for me to paint on a flat surface, let alone on a round goose egg. This is already pretty good, okay?"

Anna looked down at her own work and found it even worse than Victor's. She threw down her brush in frustration, saying, "This damn rainy weather is blocking my thoughts. My thesis isn't going well, and the stuff the students are writing is unbearable..."

"Ever since two weeks ago, I've noticed that the biggest problem with the endless rain is that it's flooded their brains."

"Don't joke about it. Even without the rain, their brains are full of water." Anna.

All three sighed. Clearly, the quality of students at Gotham University was worrisome. Victor looked at the painted egg in his hand and said, "I don't think they'll be interested in this. They prefer bullets or stuffing some flammable plants in here."

"That's it. I'm going to the store to buy some ready-made ones. No one will notice anyway." Anna stood up and said. Schiller stopped her and said, "Get a few for me too, thanks."

After Anna left, Victor and Schiller looked at each other. Schiller asked, "What do you plan to do? Don't tell me you're really going to stuff something into the goose eggs..."

"I plan to finish painting them and then give them to a few unlucky students. If they dare to complain about my ugly painting, I'll fail them."

"By the way," Victor stood up and said, "I've studied the blueprint of the freeze gun you gave me last time, and it seems not suitable for ordinary people to use."

"Really? Why do you say that?"

"Just pulling out the magazine requires a lot of strength, and if there's not enough force when putting it back, there's a risk of leakage."

"This gun seems to be designed for well-trained soldiers or strongmen. If it were me, my arm would be frozen stiff from the leakage before I even got a chance to shoot."

The blueprint Schiller gave Victor was the one Peter had developed for the freeze gun.

With Victor's explanation, Schiller understood that the person who developed the gun was the incredibly strong Spider-Man. The users of this gun, besides superheroes like Iron Man and Captain America, were SHIELD agents or, at the very least, well-trained armed police.

These people could, of course, ignore the strength or recoil, but researchers like Victor couldn't. Schiller asked Victor, "So how do you plan to improve it? Do you have any ideas?"

"Of course. Actually, I came to invite you to join me at the laboratory. I need a test subject, and I think our body sizes and strengths are quite similar. I'd like you to help me test the sample I've created."

Schiller shrugged and said, "Alright, I hope you can get the data you want."

As the two left, the thunderstorm had mostly stopped, but there was still a lot of water on the road. Victor shook his wet shoe tip and complained, "The drainage system in the school is really bad. The rain has stopped for over an hour, but the water on the ground hasn't drained at all."

Schiller looked around and didn't see any visible drains or channels. He recalled that the entire Gotham seemed to be like this – the drainage system was inefficient. It was fine during light rain, but when there was heavy rainfall like today, the whole city seemed to be flooded, and one could see a water view without leaving home.

Just like his immunity to fear gas, Schiller was immune to this rainwater, or at least the symbiote gray mist inside him didn't detect any abnormalities.

When they arrived at the laboratory, Schiller and Victor chatted for a while before Schiller began helping Victor test the freeze gun.

After recording several sets of experimental data, Schiller asked Victor, "What do you think about the low-temperature generator?"

"It's actually not a problem. It has a high power output, and if there's enough energy, it can freeze a large area."

"Can the power be increased? What's the maximum?"

Victor looked at Schiller with some surprise and said, "There's no upper limit, but what do you need such high power for?"

"Could you make a few more for me? I might need them later," Schiller said thoughtfully.

Victor didn't ask further and agreed to his request.

Schiller noticed that Victor seemed a bit absent-minded and asked, "Haven't you been sleeping well lately?"

"No, but I have been feeling a bit dazed recently," Victor shook his head and said, "Usually, even if I spend the whole night in the laboratory, I can concentrate. But lately, I start feeling sleepy before midnight."

"It might be because of the recent rainy days. Rainy weather can cause depressive emotions, and the damp air is not good for the body. Try to stay indoors as much as possible."

Schiller looked out the window, and the rain that had stopped earlier had started again, becoming heavier and heavier.

Schiller thought, looking at the recent excessive rainfall in Gotham, the Court of Owls must be getting desperate.