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Chapter 573: Lex's Gotham Journey (1)

After leaving Schiller's office, Lex began contemplating how to tackle this project.

To be honest, he had no formal education. All the knowledge he had acquired was during the times when he was away from Lionel. His father, while still alive and medicating him, would sometimes hire home tutors for him. However, those tutors knew they were mere tools Lionel used to showcase paternal affection. Who would dedicate themselves to teaching such advanced knowledge to a socially withdrawn child? Nobody thought Lex could learn.

So, he had no idea how to approach research on a topic. Nevertheless, disregarding the standard procedures, as long as he achieved the objective of this project, Lex believed he could do it.

Firstly, he possessed nearly limitless wealth, which already resolved most problems. No longer bound by financial constraints, Lex could focus entirely on addressing the issue. He believed that, as a 16-year-old genius, there was nothing he couldn't accomplish in this scenario.

Before embarking on his experiments, he needed some preparation. First, he had to find a suitable laboratory. Lex considered that since he was now a student at Gotham University, borrowing one of its laboratories should be possible.

However, when he investigated, Lex discovered that Gotham University's laboratories were far from adequate. In more diplomatic terms, Gotham University's laboratories would have sufficed for Galileo's experiments. The university had two old laboratory buildings, situated behind the administration building. On the surface, both buildings appeared substantial, one being six stories high and the other seven, totaling over twenty laboratories.

However, upon entering, Lex found that there were no modern experimental equipment available here. There were hardly any teachers or students conducting experiments. Everyone crowded into the new laboratory building on the far west side. Unfortunately, that building was relatively small, with only five usable floors and seven laboratories. So far, each was dedicated to a specific department, leaving no spare laboratories for Lex.

In that case, Lex was not confined to Gotham University's facilities. He believed that a metropolis like this had several institutes or research centers, similar to Metropolis. Apart from the Central Research Institute, Metropolis had many private research institutes that accepted individual researchers for a fee. Lex had no shortage of money.

However, he discovered that he had underestimated Gotham. He bought various maps, consulted various people, and confirmed that there were no research institutes in the city. The last research institution that had appeared in the city was the European-run Divine College.

Gotham was not a city built around the science and technology industry, or rather, the city's entire science and technology foundation relied solely on Batman. He was single-handedly upholding the city, and most of the high-tech equipment with scientific and technological content in Gotham was provided by him.

Lex certainly couldn't ask Bruce for access to a laboratory. He had to find an alternative solution...

Constructing a new laboratory building with his financial resources or establishing his own research institute independently was not difficult. However, it would take time, and even if he donated a laboratory building to Gotham University, it would still take at least a year to complete. Lex couldn't afford to wait that long.

After some searching, he finally found a place he could possibly use: Victor's cryogenic laboratory.

Victor had been in the city for a long time, and he had gradually modified his cryogenic laboratory. It was located in the basement, first floor, and second floor of the second old laboratory building, and it had everything he needed for his experiments.

As another super genius, Victor had built his base impeccably. Although he was no longer the supervillain Freeze, he had all the necessary freezing chambers, cold storage units, an armory, and most of the equipment required for physics and chemistry experiments. Victor had a good relationship with Bruce, so he had acquired many advanced devices from him, albeit at the cost of some low-temperature technology.

Moreover, Victor earned extra income working for gangs in his spare time and monetized his low-temperature patented technology. He was now wealthy, and his cryogenic laboratory was even expanding towards the Batcave, fully equipped with various devices from different fields. Occasionally, professors from other departments also came to borrow equipment, so the reputation of this laboratory had spread.

Upon hearing this, Lex naturally wanted to use the laboratory. So, he went to find Victor but was promptly refused.

In Victor's eyes, Lex was just a freshman, not even having completed basic courses. Why would he need to conduct experiments? Moreover, experiments were not child's play, and Victor's laboratory contained many dangerous items. As soon as Victor learned Lex was only 16 years old, he immediately rejected the idea. No responsible teacher or researcher would allow a minor into their specialized laboratory, which would not only be irresponsible for the laboratory's equipment but also for the individual's safety.

Would Lex give up so easily? Of course not. He wasn't Batman or a superhero, burdened with morality. He wanted to achieve his goals and was willing to resort to any means necessary.

So, on the second night after Victor's refusal, Lex entered the laboratory directly.

In Lex's view, Victor was just an ordinary scholar. If he disagreed, it didn't matter. After all, Lex had ways to unlock doors and infiltrate. Then, he could use the equipment here as he pleased.

Once he entered the ground floor of the laboratory, as Lex expected, there was nothing special. It appeared to be an ordinary laboratory. After opening the first room, the preparation room seemed equally unremarkable. Lex went inside to change his clothes and also found a catalog of equipment storage.

He flipped through the catalog and discovered that the cold storage for storing certain special chemical reagents was located on the basement level. So, he made his way to the staircase leading to the underground on the first floor.

As he descended a few steps, a bone-chilling cold emanated from below, causing Lex to shiver.

However, he thought to himself that in a place with a cold storage room, lower temperatures were to be expected. He was only going downstairs to fetch something and wouldn't stay long. He could return quickly...

An hour later, Victor sighed as he looked at Lex, frozen solid at the entrance of the underground cold storage room.

Inside the massive ice block, Lex was still alive. Not only that, his eyeballs could move, and he stared at Victor, apparently realizing that the refined and amiable professor before him was not the ordinary scholar he had initially assumed.

"My cold storage is different from others. You need to wear special protective gear to enter, especially special gloves to touch the doorknob. Otherwise, you'll end up like you, frozen inside the ice," Victor donned a pair of gloves and then turned the doorknob in front of Lex.

Lex's gaze fixated on the doorknob. He had stumbled here by coming down the staircase and, without thinking, reached for the doorknob, intending to open the door. But then he was instantly frozen.

Lex had never seen or heard of such technology, the ability to freeze a person within a massive ice block in an instant. What was more astonishing was that he felt no discomfort, not even the cold. His physiological functions and thoughts were normal; he was just completely immobilized.

To Lex, this technology was nothing short of miraculous. It was precisely because he had some knowledge in this area that he understood how powerful it was.

However, Victor remained unfazed. He changed into his protective suit, entered the cold storage room, and retrieved a gun. With a "whoosh," a beam of light shot directly at Lex's ice block.

With a "crack," the ice shattered, and Lex stumbled a bit upon landing but managed to stand upright.

"How was this done?" Lex spun around, surveying the ice blocks scattered on the floor. In his eyes, these didn't look like regular ice blocks but more like high-density crystals resembling diamonds.

"You should answer my question first. What were you trying to do by barging in here? Your name is Lex, right? A freshman. Hasn't anyone told you that this area is off-limits at Gotham University?" Victor inquired.

"I wanted to borrow a laboratory to complete a project assigned by Professor Shiller," Lex replied.

Hearing Schiller's name, Victor furrowed his brow. He took a few steps back and scrutinized Lex. Despite Lex appearing thin and pale, his eyes had a peculiar gleam.

The last person for whom Schiller had personally assigned homework was Bruce. Victor was well aware of how brilliant Bruce was. Did Schiller believe that the young man before him was on par with Bruce?

Suddenly, Victor became interested. He walked back to the control panel, grabbed a set of protective gear, and tossed it to Lex, saying, "Come with me. I'll ask you a few questions, and if you can answer them, I might let you use the laboratory."

Lex didn't say anything but silently put on the protective gear and followed Victor inside. Upon entering the laboratory, Lex was left in awe.

Gotham was a peculiar place where disparities weren't limited to architecture and the ecological makeup of its citizens; it extended to the realm of science and technology.

Right next to the old and dilapidated laboratory building was another one that appeared to have been transported intact from an alien spacecraft. The walls had a grayish-blue hue, crafted from a metallic material whose source Lex couldn't discern. The connections between the walls were made of the same high-density crystal-like substance he had noticed earlier. Light strips emitting a cold glow adorned the walls at regular intervals.

There were four rows of lab tables, all facing the walls, and in the center of the room lay an enormous machine, connecting the floor of the first level to the ceiling of the second level. A blue liquid flowed within it, emitting a surreal glow.

Next to the massive machine, there were two control panels with buttons that looked dizzying just to glance at. Additionally, there were rows of document cabinets near the windows and specialized platforms for holding test tubes, which were illuminated by a faint glow.

In short, if one were to wake up in such a laboratory one day, being a creature with only six legs would be the least of their worries.

While Lex was examining the laboratory's surroundings, the laboratory door suddenly swung open. Another small figure entered, holding a stack of documents.

"Professor Victor, I've finished organizing the materials I brought back yesterday. Should I put them in document cabinet number two?" the newcomer asked.

Lex and the newcomer were equally surprised when they looked at each other. Lex saw a young boy who appeared even younger than himself, with a pale complexion and somewhat gloomy eyes beneath his brow.

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