mtl008 Chapter 4480 The Darkest Night (8)
Chapter 4480 The Darkest Night (8)
Chapter 4480 The Darkest Night (Part 8)
Schiller shook his head. He walked to the door, but didn't go in. He just stood in the doorway and said, "There must be another person among them."
"Who?"
Schiller didn't answer directly, but turned back and continued, "Fanny isn't just someone who lacks boundaries. Her various transgressions are essentially attempts to suppress others by excessively encroaching on their space. This phenomenon is very common; you've probably seen it before."
Everyone else agreed with him. Often, when people are strangers, trying to take advantage might just be about getting something for nothing, and lacking discretion might just be a matter of lacking discretion.
However, in close relationships where people know each other well, it's not that simple. Many people gain an advantage in social situations by excessively encroaching on the space of others.
For example, in roommate relationships, some people will use other people's things without permission, and they repeatedly refuse to change their ways, even after being confronted harshly. Many people would assume this is due to bad habits or a tendency to take advantage, but that's not actually the case. They are using this method to establish their dominance.
This can be compared to a wolf pack, where the alpha wolf's greatest power is the allocation of prey. After a successful hunt, it can eat first, or let its closest wolves eat first. If a disliked wolf approaches, it will drive it away. The same principle applies to humans.
In a relatively closed relationship, such as a family relationship, a roommate relationship, or an office relationship, the power to allocate resources is contested. Whoever gains this power can exert social dominance. Essentially, it's not about coveting a tissue or a snack, but rather using this method to demonstrate, "I can allocate your resources at will, therefore I am superior to you."
Some people who do this may not even realize it themselves. They simply find it fun to manipulate others' emotions in this way, which is why they keep doing it despite being told not to. But this is also an instinctive manipulative behavior, not just about saving money or indulging in gluttony.
“The eagerness to take control stems from the belief that someone has escaped control,” Schiller continued. “This struggle for dominance is usually directed at someone he believes he cannot suppress by his own inherent abilities.”
This is easy to understand. If you feel that someone is inferior to you in every way, you won't feel threatened by them. Especially in social situations, you'll feel that you are superior to them in every way. This sense of security will actually help build your relationship, like the relationship between an alpha wolf and its foes.
However, as a subordinate wolf with inferior natural advantages, if it wants to compete for the alpha position, it has no choice but to take the initiative. It must compensate for its natural disadvantages with superb hunting skills and a ferocious fighting style. In a wolf pack, the alpha wolf is not necessarily the largest, but it is always the most ferocious.
“Fanny is jealous of you,” Schiller said, looking at Jenna. “She feels inferior to you, but she wants to surpass you. So she tries to suppress you by constantly encroaching on your territory.”
“Maybe,” Jenna said. “Actually, I can sense it. But I can’t stop it. I want to get out of this circle, but I still have to go to school and stay in the dorms sometimes, so I can’t completely get away.”
“This could be considered a long-term behavioral pattern. However, any behavioral pattern, after being subjected to short-term stimuli, will also experience short-term, stereotypical outbursts.” Schiller glanced at the bed and then said, “When you came to get your things, the bed shouldn’t have been moved, right?”
Jenna nodded and said, "No. Although I didn't stay here last night, I can confirm that Fanny didn't sleep in my bed last night. Nothing was touched."
“She didn’t sleep in your bed yesterday, but suddenly she’s sleeping in your bed today. This means she’s been stimulated. This has led her to engage in short-term, compulsive, stereotypical behaviors, which is to suppress you by invading your territory.”
“But when I came back, the dorm was empty,” Jenna said, frowning. “Fanny shouldn’t even know I was back. I didn’t see her or speak to her all day yesterday. What happened to her?”
“That’s why I said there’s another person,” Schiller said. “This person played an important role in it.”
“Perlotta,” Jenna said thoughtfully, “the two of them often get together and talk bad about me. And Perlotta likes to use Fanny as a pawn, always trying to get her to cause trouble for me. But even if Perlotta is talking bad about me again, there has to be some reason, right? I haven’t offended them recently.”
Barry, however, seemed to have a sudden realization. He said, "It might not have been Milos who saw you, but Perlotta. That would explain why she recognized you at first glance. Although it's also possible that Perlotta told Milos about your features, it's more reasonable to say that she saw it with her own eyes."
“I understand,” Gordon said. “Perlotta saw you go out at night, so she went to tell Milos that you might have seen him go out and commit murder. But at the same time, she went to tell your roommate Fanny that you looked great today, or that you have a tall and handsome boyfriend or something. This provoked Fanny, making her want to get revenge on you by invading your territory, so she slept in your bed. This led to Milos coming in the middle of the night to silence the wrong person.”
“Why did Perrotta kill Fanny?” Barry asked, frowning. “Shouldn’t she be most jealous of Jenna?”
“That’s true. But Jenna has a very clear intention to leave this circle, and no one can stop her. Jenna obviously won’t threaten Perrotta’s real interests,” Schiller said.
"Rodriguez's words inappropriately reminded me of a joke: when a bear is chasing you, you don't need to run faster than the bear, you just need to run faster than your companions. There's another principle at play: you don't need to run faster than the fastest companion, you just need to overtake the one closest to you. Miss Jenna's relationship with her two roommates was clearly like that. She was the fastest, obviously out of danger. But Perrotta and Fanny were neck and neck. So while they might have some complaints about Jenna, they saw each other as more of a threatening opponent. This conclusion I drew was affirmed by Rodriguez—of course, after the matter was over."
“I don’t understand,” Gordon said again. “What competition could there be between the two of them that would lead to such a deadly act? Could it be that they both like Milos?”
"That would be too melodramatic," Victor sighed, frowning.
“I haven’t heard anything about who she likes,” Jonathan said. “Fanny is a very hardworking girl, she’s always in the lab, and she’s quite talented in chemistry…”
"Which department is Perlotta in?" Schiller asked.
“Well, she’s a computer science major,” Jenna said after a moment’s thought, “but she wants to switch majors.”
"why?"
“Because of Brainiac,” Jenna said. “Who can surpass Brainiac’s achievements in the field of computers? Of course, she doesn’t aspire to be a master; it’s mainly because this field has a higher probability of leading to Krypton. They need people there to optimize Krypton’s computer systems, but she doesn’t seem very keen on going, thinking it’s too far away and the conditions aren’t good.”
Which major does she plan to switch to?
"I'm not sure, but it's not up to her. After all, each department has strict requirements for the number of students they can admit, and it also depends on whether the professors have any openings. She asked me if she could transfer to the psychology department. I told her that the psychology department definitely didn't have any openings, so she gave up."
“The psychology department was indeed full,” Schiller said. “But the main reason she gave up was that the career prospects for the major weren’t good enough. And the medical school entrance exams were too rigorous. If she couldn’t get into medical school to study clinical psychology or psychiatry and only had a bachelor’s degree, the job market would be even tougher.”
“But chemistry is different.” Schiller changed the subject, looking at Jonathan, and said, “With Brainiac, the job prospects for chemistry have actually improved. Because the chemical and pharmaceutical industries are no longer driven by capital, their market-driven development has decreased, while their academic focus has increased. The subsidies offered by various project teams are very high, making it a good time to produce results. Otherwise, Brainiac wouldn’t have released Professor Klein…”
“Schiller!” Jonathan glared at him.
Schiller merely glanced at him and said, "If it weren't for your recent achievements, Brainiac wouldn't have let you come here to argue with me."
"...You mean this is to take care of my feelings?"
"No, I want you to get a scolding to remind you not to get too cocky."
Jonathan shut up. He couldn't win an argument with Schiller anyway, so there was no need to invite trouble.
"So, the real conflict between Perrotta and Fanny isn't about love. Perrotta wants to switch departments, but Brainiac's quota is too tight—one spot for one person. If the old ones don't leave, the new ones can forget about getting in. In this situation, the best solution is to kill Fanny, create a vacancy, and then she'll have a chance."
“It sounds absurd,” Victor commented. “I find it hard to imagine anyone killing someone for something like this.”
"Then what do you think is the reason for someone to kill?"
"For example, he suddenly got an inspiration from a computer program and thought that performing some kind of death ritual could allow his soul to ascend into a great electronic system. So he chose Fanny as the sacrifice..."
Brainiac suddenly made a noise, drowning out what Victor was about to say. Gordon said dismissively, "What are you yelling about? Do you think these people can be corrupted by this? Aren't the thoughts that pop into their heads a hundred times more terrifying than this?"
Then he looked at Victor and said, "You've been out of practice for a while, so you're a bit rusty. This kind of cult ritual is from the gangster era two generations ago. In my opinion, Perrotta is using Fanny's death as a symbol to announce the beginning of yet another insane serial killing spree..."
Victor and Gordon both looked at Schiller, seemingly wanting him to judge and see who was right. Schiller was rather speechless. He said, "Is it possible that the murders you're talking about are outdated? Gotham is a normal city now. Killing for personal gain is the most common form of murder in ordinary society."