Chapter-59 | Mr Freeze...

If you like my translation, be sure you become a patron!

PATRE0N.C0M/shanefreak

If you find any error, do comment!

....

The new principal of Gotham University, Sheldon, is a capable and experienced individual with a wide network. He seems to have very bad luck, however.

In fact, it could be said that it's extremely bad. His friends helped him nominate six professors for a job at the university, one of whom just happened to be Victor Fries, a future villain of Gotham known as the "Frozen Man." Sheldon planned to hire three of the professors, including Fries, but the only one to accept the offer was Fries.

Gotham University seems to have a streak of bad luck. They have just recently subdued a few demons, only to have a new villain, Victor Fries, join the staff. However, it should be noted that Victor, like Scarecrow, is currently just an ordinary academic professor.

Schiller, a colleague of Sheldon, knew that even as a villain, Victor was relatively mild. He usually likes to freeze Batman and then talk to him about philosophy and art. Most of his paranoia and madness stem from his love for his wife, rather than any desire to harm Batman or Gotham.

When Schiller met Victor, he was struck by how much he resembled a typical academic, with his tall frame, meticulous grooming, and professorial demeanor. Despite looking a bit haggard, he exuded knowledge and intelligence.

Each professor has their own individual office, but there is also a communal office where everyone gathers for meetings and casual conversations. After Jonathan left, his spot in the communal office became vacant. That's when Victor came and sat right next to where Jonathan used to sit, right next to Schiller.

During their first chat, Schiller noticed that Victor kept looking at the ring on Schiller's finger. After a while, Victor brought up the topic of family and asked, "You seem to be married. Is your wife also in Gotham now?"

In Europe and the United States, it's not considered polite to discuss someone's marital status during a first meeting as it can be seen as an invasion of privacy. Schiller could tell that Victor seemed to be in a troubled state of mind and was looking for approval.

Schiller was caught off guard by this question and didn't know how to respond. He couldn't tell Victor that he had a symbiote that had been watching too many TV shows, right? Schiller's hesitation was misinterpreted by Victor.

People often act this way - feeling insecure and anxious and unconsciously looking for others who are similar to them. They want to find comfort in shared experiences and understanding.

Victor, seeing Schiller's impressive resume, thought that perhaps Schiller's thrilling detective stories hid a more poignant love story than his own. With this sense of connection, Victor and Schiller soon became familiar with each other.

During his interactions with Victor, Schiller realized that they had many similarities in their interests, such as ancient philosophy, modern art, and religious art. He was surprised to find that his first friend after crossing over was the villainous Mr. Freeze. However, he couldn't help but notice that Victor was very charismatic, gentle, and empathetic. They had many thought-provoking conversations that reminded Schiller of his past life and expert debates in the same field. Victor's colleagues at the office also recognized his good perception.

As Schiller got to know Victor better, he learned about his current situation. Victor had used cryogenic technology to preserve his wife, but it was expensive and required a specific location. The institute that had originally funded his research could not provide the necessary resources, so he had come to Gotham University in search of a suitable location. He needed the salary from Gotham University to pay for the cryogenic laboratory where his wife was being kept.

Although his actions may appear perverse when viewed in the context of his later villainous actions, most of his colleagues at the office could understand his motives. At the time, there were many people who believed that freezing people with incurable diseases and waiting for medical advancements was a viable solution.

Victor was just one of the pioneers in cryogenic technology. Schiller believed that even if Victor hadn't had the accident that turned him into a frozen man, he would still be a reliable ally. Compared to the inexperienced young bats, Victor's knowledge and expertise in cryogenics made him seem more trustworthy. To solve the problems of the frozen man, they first needed to find a cure for Victor's wife's degenerative disease.

Schiller accompanied Victor to the cryogenic warehouse where his wife was stored. She wasn't particularly pretty, just an ordinary white woman, but Victor always looked at her with love in his eyes. Schiller asked the symbiote inside his head, "Is there a way to save her?" The symbiote responded, "The nerves are atrophied and it's a pain in the ass."

Victor looked at the cryogenic bin and said, "My wife's neurodegenerative disease is almost hopeless. Her nerve cells are dying so fast that I only had time to seal her up. There's no way to reverse it. Even if I can barely control cell death, the immune inflammation will damage her brain..." He crouched down, and anyone could hear the desperation in his voice. Perhaps he knew that freezing his wife and waiting for a solution that may never come was just him fooling himself.

Schiller frowned in thought. He realized that, although Victor was considered a villain in Gotham, he was also a world-renowned cryogenist. But when it came to professional matters, they should leave it to the professionals. For example, a top neurosurgeon.

The next day, Schiller returned to New York and showed up at Strange's house unannounced. Schiller explained that he still hadn't settled the score with Strange, who had sold his information to an agency. Strange replied, "Jesus Christ, why are you always here at my house like this?" Strange defended himself, saying that he had no choice but to comply with the agency's request.

As they stared each other down, Schiller proposed a new idea to Strange. "I have a way to get rich now. Do you want to hear it?" Strange was skeptical, having heard that Schiller had offered Stark a million dollars an hour.

Schiller explained that he had information about a lady with a serious neurodegenerative disease and her husband who may have the world's unique patented cryogenic technology. If Strange could cure the lady's disease, they could share the patent together. Strange, however, reminded Schiller that he was a doctor, not God and that he needed to meet the patient before making any promises. Schiller handed Strange a pile of papers with the patient's pathology, but after a quick glance, Strange shook his head and said, "Impossible, it can't be saved, give up."

Schiller simply wanted to speak, but Strange interrupted him, "This is no longer a matter of neuroscience. If you want to fully restore her, the difficulty is akin to turning cooked bacon back into a pig." He then looked Schiller up and down, before his eyes finally landed on the ring on Schiller's finger. Strange said, "Well, my earlier statement may have been a bit too absolute. You could find someone else, although I don't think there's a better neurosurgeon in the world than me."

"What if we work with Stark?" Schiller asked.

Strange was about to decline, but then he thought for a moment and said, "Stark may have some research into mechanical aspects, but for his technology to be applied to neurosurgery, it would need a lot of research and transformation. If you can convince him to put in the effort to study this technology, then I can consider it, but you should be prepared to pay me a hefty consultation fee."

As Strange spoke, he remembered the ring he had just seen in Schiller's hand and the strange way Schiller was acting. He realized that he too had misunderstood something and let out a sigh, muttering to himself, "Ha, love...what a fool."

The sudden appearance of Schiller behind Stark startled him and he shouted, "I know you have this magic! But that's no reason for you to walk more than 30 stories without using an elevator! Aren't you afraid of getting stuck in the wall?"

Schiller replied, "What the hell are you talking about? How can you get stuck in a wall with magical teleportation? That's just stupid."

"Let's hope I don't get a call from the maintenance guy one day telling me there's a man-sized hole in one of the walls of the Stark building," Stark said.

"Well, I came to see you on business," Schiller said as he pulled out a pile of information.

Ten minutes later, Stark said, "Actually, you've really come to the right person. I've done some research into neurology. You know, last time I got a lot of bio-mechanical information from Obadiah's database, and that included some techniques about neurological modification to adapt to mechanical control."

"These techniques are dangerous, but what can't be denied is that if successful, it will allow the human body to manipulate the mech to an unprecedented level of refinement. If the machinery could receive commands directly from the nerve center, it would eliminate all the time needed for secondary operations and it would allow all the battle armor to reach a true arm-like level."

"So you can do it?" Schiller asked.

"No, not yet. Obadiah's research on this technology is also stuck in a bottleneck, which has a key technical threshold that needs to be broken, and now we all still have no ideas," Stark replied.

__________

Find any error and become helper of the day!