Shiller quickly placed so small items where they should be, and with the help of Victor and Pala, wrapped things up. The office was almost tidy, but they still had to check the classrooms.
Here, Victor parted ways with them since he was more anxious to check the labs. He had made several calls just to get the labs opened earlier, and Anna seemingly wanted to see the supercomputer in the new campus too.
Indeed, the then financially booming Wayne Enterprises had placed a supercomputer in the school, not within the main teaching district but in the adjacent comprehensive experintal zone where most of the essential equipnt and high-risk labs were located.
Lex and Clark got to work on their "plucking the bald eagle" plan and swiftly left.
Pala had been in a hurry to return to her plants, but when Shiller called her, she had to go with him to inspect the classrooms.
"Professor, I'm really in a rush—those two dogs from the security are still roaming around, and I don't know when they might burst into my lab. If the shelf collapses again, this business deal's really going to fall through. Without that $2,000 commission, I definitely can't pay the insurance."
Pala kept prattling on, trying to get away from Shiller. Shiller, unhurried, took out a piece of paper from his pocket and said, "Do a favor, and you won't have to pay back the money."
"Really?!" Pala's eyes imdiately lit up as she looked at Shiller, "What favor? I guarantee I'll complete the task!"
"Help inquire with a real estate agent if there are any cheaper houses in the South District. This is my number." Shiller handed the slip of paper to Pala.
Pala was puzzled. She glanced at the slip in her hand and then back at Shiller, "Cheaper houses? Why don't you go ask an agent yourself? Would they give a cheaper deal just because I asked?"
"The kind of agents I'm looking for are certainly not the normal kind," Shiller cleared his throat and said, "Don't tell those black market agents all died out in such a short ti."
Pala opened her mouth slightly in shock and said, "You're looking for a black market agent, aren't you?! You know what kind of things they do!"
"That's why I only want a new house. They better not think they can fleece the hoowner and then sell the house to —it's not that era anymore."
Pala still looked doubtful and frowned, "I know everyone's not too flush with cash, and with a professor's salary, buying a house in the South District might be tough. Does it have to be there? The East District has plenty of good houses; for the sa money, you could even buy a building in a more remote area."
"I appreciate the sentint, miss, but don't forget my next plan. I'm opening a psychological clinic right where I live. The client base is very important."
"My God." Pala exclaid and then incredulously repeated, "My God..."
"Why so surprised?"
"It's hard to say." Pala shook her head and said, "I don't know if the more astonishing fact is that you plan to set up your office at your ho, or that you would actually consider the client demographic to make money."
"Like I said, it's not that ti anymore." Shiller said with a gentle smile.
Pala looked at him sowhat blankly and then also smiled, "Professor, you seem very relaxed. That's nice."
"My wallet is much more tensed than I am, so can you find the right place?" Shiller asked.
"I'll try my best, but you'd better be prepared. The houses from these black market agents are bound to be cheap for a reason, with all sorts of irreversible and unsalvageable issues. The living quality might be..."
"I believe I can solve most issues, can't I?"
Pala thought about it and realized that Shiller was only short on funds, not capability. There was nothing in the city he couldn't handle; actually, those cheap, problematic houses suited him better since no issue was really a problem for him.
"But why ?" Pala asked, "It seems to that Harley would be a better choice for this task. Although we are both locals, she has much more street connections than I do."
"Because she's very rich," Shiller said, "If I tell her I want to buy a house, she would just give one."
Pala nodded, finding the reasoning sound. In fact, Harley was indeed generous—her lavish spending was proportional to her shrewdness in business.
Thinking this, Pala asked, "Do you think she would invest in my plant cultivation business?"
"Didn't you have investors before?"
"Yes, but that guy pulled out because his own business isn't doing well either. Right now, we're mainly relying on delivering ornantal plants to a few long-term custors. We're planning to make a splash at the governor's inauguration ceremony."
"I don't think you should give up on that path, but if you want Harley to invest, you might consider trying that debt collection agency proposal," Shiller suggested.
"Really? Are you serious?" Pala rushed to express her skepticism, "That was just a crazy idea I blurted out. Sending a gang of plants to collect debts is just a pipe dream."
"Aren't this city's crazy ideas nurous? And don't you know? Harley loves that kind of madness," Shiller said with a hint of helplessness, shaking his head, "She even gave Jason and Jack a large sum of money separately to have them perform a Joker kidnapping Robin show."
Pala slapped her forehead and exclaid, "How did Batman not knock her out!... Alright, I can only say I'll try. It's no issue for my plants to hit people, but to completely control them, to have them strike when they should and stop when they shouldn't, that's incredibly difficult. They don't have brains to support such complex judgnts."
Not long after Pala left, Shiller received a mysterious phone call. The caller claid to be a real estate agent, but Shiller knew without guessing that it was no ordinary agent.
"Alright, sir, I don't know who you are, but if you managed to find these days, I believe you have the capacity to purchase those houses and move in," Shiller said.
"I don't have many houses in the South District for sale, as the area is secure and homicides, especially violent ones, are rare. Hoowners are mostly unwilling to lower their prices, so..."
"Get to the point," Shiller said, "If you keep rambling, I'm going to hang up."
The person on the other end coughed and said, "There is indeed a house with a problem we can't solve. If you have the ability, you could take a look. The seller is eager to sell, and I can negotiate as low as 30% of the price for you."
"How about the agent fee?"
"The seller pays the agent fee, but you must go through the formal property purchasing process and pay the property taxes. You can check out the house this evening, but I must warn you that three prospective buyers have already been scared off."
"Scared off? Is the condition of the house that bad?"
"No, the house is haunted, and I'm not fooling you. You'll know once you go there. If you don't want it, just give a call. That's it, goodbye."
After the other party hung up, Shiller frowned in thought. Could there really be a house in Gotham that couldn't be sold because it was haunted?
Gothamites' biggest fear is the specter of poverty; as long as the price is low enough, even a dragon's lair would have many willing challengers. If it were just so minor paranormal activities or soone playing tricks, it would have been dealt with a long ti ago. The fact that it persists to this day indicates that this haunting is not ordinary.
The fact that they wanted him to go in the evening instead of right away suggested that the haunting might occur at night, but in the West, there isn't much belief in the idea that negative energy is stronger at night. Could it be so nocturnal creatures?
It's actually quite possible, because although the pollution in Gotham has gotten much better, "The King of Seagulls" still flies in the sky every day. It's not so easy to deal with the species that have already mutated. One might have slipped into the house.
However, to prepare for a paranormal event that could scare away Gothamites, Shiller decided to make good preparations. After leaving the classroom, he returned to the manor, neatly packed away so wrinkled clothes, and put on a long coat he hadn't worn in a long ti, ready to go out and investigate this evening.
Unfortunately, it started to rain as evening approached, and Shiller encountered a visitor he hadn't seen in a long ti—Oswald Kolbott.
Shiller opened the door for him and passed him the umbrella stand, which Oswald looked at in surprise and said, "What happened, Professor? Is your butler on leave?"
"No, he went back to England," Shiller said. "I'm the only one in the manor now. Please co in."
Oswald stepped in and saw that the manor looked just like always. Then, turning back to Shiller, he said, "Is there a special occasion today? Why aren't you wearing a suit?"
"Shouldn't one wear suits only on special occasions?"
Oswald was visibly amused by the joke. He laughed and said, "Of course, that's true for most people, but you look like you're about to go out for so exercise. Is sothing going on?"
Shiller could clearly hear that Oswald was actually asking if soone had offended him, but he shook his head and said, "I'm just planning to check out a house in the South District. There might be dust in a new place, so I changed into clothes that wouldn't get ruined easily. Please have a seat."
After sitting down, Oswald looked at Shiller and said, "You seem to be in a good mood. Have any good events happened, or is it that Bruce hasn't been sending his papers to you lately?"
"Both, I guess. Do you have any reason for coming at this ti?"
"That's right, my mother's illness is pretty much better now, but since I'm busy with the mayoral campaign lately, I suspect she's dealing with so separation anxiety and isn't in a good ntal state. I was hoping to make an appointnt for her to receive psychological treatnt with you."
"Of course, that's no problem. But I probably won't be in this manor much longer. I'll make sure soone sends you the new address when the ti cos."
"Which district will the new address be in?"
"If everything goes as planned, it should be in the South District," Shiller nodded and said. "It should be not far from where your mother lives."
"That couldn't be more perfect. So, will you still charge by the course of treatnt, or are you going to switch to a more equitable hourly rate?"
Shiller gave him a sowhat puzzled look, and Oswald, rubbing his hands together, revealed an embarrassed smile and said, "I heard from Professor Victor that you're looking to buy a house."
"So you're here to give money for dical expenses on purpose?"
"Well, not exactly." Oswald sighed and said, "After my mother grew older... I don't know how to put it, but she started changing, always reminiscing about the days when she and my father were young."
"Have you been to a regular hospital for a check-up? Could it be early signs of Alzheir's Disease?"
"We've checked, but the doctors say it's not. My mother hasn't shown any signs of failing to recognize people, inattention, or mory loss yet. She just purely feels that my father and I owe her a lot."
"Is that the truth?"
Oswald nodded and said, "At least what we owe her from my father. When she married into the Kolbott family, it was still in its glory days, but soon after, my father t with an accident and the family fortunes declined, making her endure a long period of hardship."
"She blas my father for not listening to her, so she keeps dwelling on this matter. No matter how much I try to convince her otherwise, it's useless. I've tried to get her to develop new hobbies, but it's always difficult to get her out of the house."
"Is she opposed to you running for mayor?"
Oswald displayed another embarrassed expression, staring into Shiller's eyes for a while before saying, "You really can't hide anything from you, Professor. In fact, she is strongly opposed. She says it will lead down my father's path."
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