Shiller sat in the office of the city hall, staring at a docunt. The logo that appeared in the docunt was that of the Audine dical Equipnt Manufacturing Company.
But unlike Batman's unfamiliarity, Shiller was very familiar with this logo, because it was the sign of the Order Sect in the original work.
Speaking of Gotham history, the journey of Wayne Family ancestor Edmond Wayne to the New Continent in the original comics is full of twists and turns.
Although he was a descendant of the Wayne Family, due to his long absence from ho, all his relatives had died of the plague, and there was no one to prove his identity.
In England at that ti, impersonating nobles was a serious cri. Edmond Wayne was arrested as an impostor of Lord Wayne and was about to be exiled.
At this ti, a priest nad Bakar saved him. This priest claid to co from the Order Sect, and with a swing of his sword, he killed the guards watching over Edmund and rescued him, suggesting that they go to the New Continent together to rebuild their family.
Bakar did this not entirely to help Edmond. He wanted to spread the gospel of the Order Sect in the New Continent, but at that ti, Gotham Valley was full of pirates and smugglers, and a clergyman couldn't attract much favor.
Bakar wanted to reorganize the order in Gotham, but in that era, only nobles could beco lords. Without lineage and identity, even if he killed General Arkham, he could not beco a legitimate ruler. That's why he needed Edmond Wayne, who had noble status, with the aim to use Edmund's lordly title to beco the lord of Gotham.
As for the Order Sect from Bakar's origin, the comics don't ntion much. This is a sect that venerates the "Conflagration End of the World."
In a series of beliefs in God, there are two theories about the end of the world: one is by flood, the other by fire.
The latter's story is well-known because such factions gained the ultimate victory, letting the story of God's flood to destroy the world and create Noah's Ark be widely spread.
But at the sa ti, the faction believing that God would send down great fire to burn everything was also prevalent, and the two sides fought incessantly.
And England ruled by the Puritans at that ti labeled all such factions as heresy, including the Order Sect.
Shiller speculated that perhaps because the Order Sect was suppressed too harshly on the British mainland, they had to send out priests like Bakar to pioneer the New Continent and spread their beliefs.
However, from the surface, their pioneering efforts were not successful. Instead, the Catholicism believed in by the Irish beca the main religion in Gotham. In a sense, this could also be considered a defeat of the Puritans.
When Shiller was reading the original comics, he thought the Order Sect would be the biggest villain. Unfortunately, the comic editors didn't elaborate on this organization, and while many foreshadowings were laid early on, the story ended abruptly, revealing no clear clues.
It is for this reason that Shiller beca vigilant. Did the Order Sect really not win back then? Or did they just change their thod to rule here?
Shiller stood up from the desk and walked over to another drawing board. There, a topographic map of Gotham was displayed. Gotham is a peninsula surrounded by sea on three sides, and in the topographic map, the most striking feature is the Gotham River leading to the ocean.
Shiller stared at the map for a while and finally placed a red thumbtack on the Gotham Reservoir, which is upstream of the Gotham River.
Shiller's hands rested on the edge of the table as he carefully observed the direction of the water veins on the map. In fact, one doesn't need any particular expertise to see that the course of the Gotham River has been artificially modified.
The source of the Gotham River is a valley where streams flow out from the mountains, gradually converging various tributaries to form a river.
However, the angle of the valley is sowhat different from the current angle of the Gotham River. If there were no human intervention, the upstream river would not be as it is now.
Shiller used a pen to mark the spot where the river was remodeled, and the map showed that it was the site of Gotham's old dam.
Among the several outstanding contributions made by Gotham Lord Edmond Wayne to Gotham in its history, the most famous is his leadership in constructing the Gotham Dam, managing water disasters, and restoring navigation on the Gotham River.
But Shiller, who had read the comics, knew that the river remodeling project was not just for clearing the navigation routes, but more for covering up the old site of Gotham Village.
Now, under the waters of the Gotham Reservoir should lie the ruins of the earliest Gotham Village. Edmond specifically diverted the river here in order to subrge the ruins and cover up the early historical truth.
This was actually the most puzzling part for Shiller when he read the comics. He couldn't see the purpose behind Edmond's actions.
When Gotham was still a village, it was General Arkham who was ruling here. They defeated General Arkham, cleared out pirates and smugglers, and successfully turned this place into a city.
If the intention was to erase the traces of General Arkham's rule, they might as well have flattened the village directly and rebuilt the city from scratch, leaving no trace at all.
But oddly enough, Edmond preserved the ruins of the village but covered them with water instead, which seed sowhat counterproductive in his attempt to hide the evidence.
This inevitably made Shiller think of religious factors.
In the original work, the Order Sect that Bakar believed in revered the fla, but it was not ntioned what Edmond Wayne believed in.
He was born into the Wayne Family of England, an era when England was ruled by the Puritans. Is it possible that Edmond Wayne was actually a Puritan?
The conflict between him and Bakar was not rely personal differences, it could essentially still be a religious conflict.
From a religious perspective, Edmond's act of transforming rivers to cover up the ruins can be interpreted differently. He was reenacting the process of God's flood and destruction of the world, a declaration of faith.
In his most desperate tis, he had to rely on Bakar's strength to establish his own city in the New Continent. But when he obtained Gotham, he revealed his true nature. He did not worship fire, but revered the flood.
He was impatient to prevent the spread of the Order Sect's faith here, wishing eagerly for the Puritans to thrive and gain a foothold in the New Continent, thus he mimicked the process of the biblical flood, redirecting rivers and establishing the Gotham Reservoir.
This could have been the start of the rift between Bakar and Edmond because at this mont, their core interests diverged.
However, having stared at the map for a long ti, Shiller felt that although this speculation made sense, it seed sowhat contrived.
After all, building a dam was no small feat. At that ti, Edmond had just taken control of Gotham, his foundation not yet stable, yet he was so eager to embark on such a major project, which seed overly hasty.
Shiller was more inclined to believe that he did not want to do this, but was compelled. But what exactly was forcing him to flood Gotham Village?
Shiller did not have the luxury of daydreaming here. Since a question had arisen, he imdiately sought the answer. He swiftly drove to the Gotham Reservoir.
Coincidentally, Batman was also there.
After carefully reading his ancestors' diaries, he discovered that the village governed by General Arkham, as described by Edmond, was not located in the current center of Gotham.
In other words, New Gotham was not built on the foundation of Gotham Village, but rather the foundations of Gotham Village were abandoned, and a new city was built elsewhere.
This of course was a bit illogical. Batman also wondered what made Edmond abandon Gotham Village to establish a New City.
Based on the subtle clues in the diary, Batman deduced the original location of Gotham Village, and upon discovering it was now beneath the Gotham Reservoir, he also linked to Edmond's act of damming and rerouting the river.
He theorized that Gotham Village might contain buried secrets.
Shiller stood at the other end of the reservoir, watching the figure of Batman approaching the water's edge. Hidden behind a tree, he went unnoticed by Batman. It wasn't until Batman entered the water that Shiller slowly made his way to the edge.
Batman had taken the plunge first, but Shiller did not rush to follow him. Instead, he started observing the terrain surrounding the reservoir.
To the east of the reservoir was a Forest, clearly sustained by the rich aquifers there, forming a Natural Forest. However, to the east of this point lay the Natural Forest area that had been polluted by the Charabang Factory.
After utilizing the Gray mist to examine the underground aquifers and plant root systems, Shiller realized that the Forest next to the reservoir and the Natural Forest were part of the sa forest System, both growing on the foundation of the underground water veins of the Gotham Reservoir.
This discovery was far more significant than any Gotham Village ruins beneath the Gotham underground reservoir. There might not be any clues in the village, but if the pollution from the Charabang Chemical Factory wasn't an accident, and was directly targeting the Gotham Reservoir, it proved that the rerouting of the river was indeed no simple matter.
Although he had made so discoveries, Shiller still felt that he wasn't cut out for detective work. He was indeed too lazy to look into matters from decades or even centuries ago and then combine them with modern clues for analysis. Clearly, this was Batman's job.
Since they couldn't help with the revolutionary movents currently happening in Gotham City, they might as well make use of their remaining enthusiasm to investigate historic events.
However, after he completed his investigation, he wasn't sure Batman would share his findings, so he needed to take precautions.
While Batman was "swimming" in the reservoir, Shiller went to Jason's room at Wayne Manor. Jason was currently still unconscious.
Shiller had two types of capsules with him: one was the red wine given to him by Nya, which was a reward from a gaming session that would trap a person in an endless Illusion, never to awaken—a mysterious red wine. Those Shiller did not wish to wake, such as Miss Charabang and the addicts on Bourbon Street, all had taken this type of capsule, the ingredients of which had been proven to be unanalyzable by any technology in this cosmos.
The other type of capsule was intended for those Shiller wished to temporarily keep unconscious, containing a trace of the Gray mist. The Gray mist would only make their brains sleep temporarily without causing any harm, and incidentally, provided a check-up of sorts. Jason and the pale knight had both taken this type of capsule.
Shiller ca to Wayne Manor to awaken Jason.
Before Jason could even ask Shiller what was happening, he was bombarded with an overwhelming stream of clues from Shiller.
The Order Sect from centuries ago, the grand deeds of the Wayne Family, the suddenly erging Audine Company, the mysterious Gotham Reservoir and the Natural Forest...
Seeing Jason's focused expression, Shiller knew that this detective father and son duo would likely be very busy in the coming days.
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