Chapter 49: I never initiate!
Watching little Sheldon's expression change from cocky confidence to stunned disbelief, Leonard felt a surge of satisfaction after witnessing his humiliation.
The feeling was absolutely priceless!
Thanks, Chuck!
Little Leonard grinned internally, thinking to himself, "Keep it coming—give him even more!"
He absolutely loved watching little Sheldon get knocked down a peg.
Meanwhile,
Chuck had returned to his townhouse.
Late that night,
after completing his daily sensory deprivation training to combat light and sound sensitivity, he slept in his specially darkened bedroom like a vampire in his coffin. Suddenly, he frowned and turned toward the ringing phone on his nightstand. He picked it up, glanced at the caller ID, and answered.
"Did you make it back okay?"
It was Jane.
"I was falling asleep,"
Chuck said bluntly.
"Oh, sorry,"
Jane apologized quickly.
"Go ahead."
Chuck cut straight to the point.
"I just wanted to update you on the latest developments in the case..."
Jane hadn't planned to hang up, so she dove right in. She explained the revenge aspect naturally, but when she got to the more violent details, she became somewhat uncomfortable.
"According to the medical examiner, Matt Olson was beaten with a blunt object before being forced to run barefoot through the snow... The cause of death was hypothermia and asphyxiation from inhaling the freezing air. He was coughing up blood and couldn't breathe. The mountain peak is the coldest spot up there. Matt Olson clearly didn't have Natalie Hansen's will to survive—he didn't make it very far at all."
Chuck listened calmly. "What's the BAU's assessment?"
"Same conclusion you reached. They're focusing primarily on the missing bodyguard, Sean. After all, this eye-for-an-eye retaliation is incredibly specific and personal,"
Jane explained. "But we can't rule out that someone else staged it this way to throw off suspicion. The tribal police are also suspects. They're locals, so this kind of payback would be easy for them to execute, and they definitely have motive. Sheriff Bishop's childhood best friend was also down in that basement..."
Chuck understood immediately.
Five people had been killed or injured by tribal police in the previous incident, and now there was both the personal vendetta against the female sheriff and the public outrage from the community. This was a tangle of old grudges and new grievances—a perfect storm of personal and institutional conflicts.
The sheriff had always tried to balance relations between the tribe and federal authorities, selectively overlooking abuses suffered by tribal members, prioritizing enforcement of inherently biased federal laws, treating these injustices as ancient history.
But when that ancient history landed squarely on her doorstep, it became an unbearable weight.
In the past, the sheriff would have eagerly offered assistance, but now she showed zero interest. Even the BAU's arrival was met with cold professionalism, demonstrating her complete change of heart.
The sheriff also had a daughter—a rebellious teenager who constantly fought with her and could easily follow the same destructive path as her vanished best friend.
Even the federal government's closest local ally was now filled with fear and resentment.
Such circumstances naturally made the BAU suspicious of both her and the entire tribal police department.
However, the tribal police had adopted a strategy of complete non-violent non-cooperation from top to bottom, and the FBI—represented by the BAU—was essentially powerless unless they wanted to completely tear down the entire system.
The real mastermind, Frank, had long since disappeared, and everyone who knew the full story was dead.
The BAU was destined to fail.
They had too many active cases to waste indefinite time on one investigation, and it wouldn't be the first time they'd returned empty-handed.
The FBI and other law enforcement agencies had notoriously low clearance rates. The BAU, created largely as a PR initiative, had much higher success rates, but still hadn't broken the 50% barrier.
"Are you still there?"
Jane couldn't help asking when there was no response from the other end for an extended period.
"Yeah,"
Chuck replied.
"...I heard that you spent one afternoon solving complex dissertation problems for some female chemistry PhD candidate?"
After Jane finished updating him on the case, she suddenly changed topics: "Was that girl one of your six practice partners?"
"No."
Chuck shook his head.
"Really?"
Jane said incredulously. "I heard you actively sought her out..."
"That's the point,"
Chuck interrupted. "Training subjects are always volunteers. I never initiate."
"..."
Jane was speechless.
What a statement... so infuriating!
The next day.
Princeton University.
A new week of classes began.
Little Sheldon, looking utterly exhausted, dragged his small backpack as he trudged listlessly across campus, his eyes fixed on the academic building ahead.
If he had the energy, he would have sprinted over to see if the solution was actually written on the hallway bulletin board. However, he was completely hopeless at athletics and had suffered a rare bout of insomnia the night before. Now he could barely manage a zombie shuffle and had to walk painfully slowly.
After finally reaching the bulletin board in the hallway, he saw that a crowd had gathered. He could only call out weakly in his high-pitched voice, "Excuse me, let me through so I can see!"
"Hey! Our little genius is here! Did you solve this one?"
Someone recognized little Sheldon.
"Idiot! Obviously it wasn't him. If he'd solved it, why would he be coming over to look?"
someone else scoffed. "Besides, he's way too short to write that high up."
"I didn't solve it first! But I did solve it!"
Little Sheldon protested indignantly.
"Oh really? When exactly did you solve it?"
the mocking voice challenged him.
"..."
Little Sheldon's eye began to twitch slightly.
"Stop picking on him."
A sympathetic girl, unable to watch little Sheldon's distress any longer, quickly pushed aside the person who'd been teasing him and created a path.
"It's completely correct, and this method is actually more elegant than mine."
Little Sheldon walked through the cleared space and looked up at the board. He was stunned at first, then his face went completely pale.
Someone had actually solved the problem faster and more brilliantly than he had.
Didn't that mean that even in a purely intellectual field like mathematics, he was inferior?
Just then, he noticed a tall figure passing by. He looked more closely and immediately called out, "Dr. Wolfe, is that really you?"
Everyone followed his gaze and saw Chuck walking down the hallway toward the lecture hall.
"It's me."
Chuck heard the call, stopped and looked back, saw little Sheldon pointing at the mathematical solution on the bulletin board while staring at him in disbelief. He nodded once, then turned around and continued walking toward the classroom.
"How did you do it?"
Little Sheldon forced himself to stay strong, took shuffling steps, and tried to catch up with Chuck, but he couldn't match his pace at all, so he stopped and shouted after him.
Chuck had already reached the classroom door. Hearing the question, he turned around and looked at little Sheldon, who was staring at him with frustration and confusion. After a moment of silence, he said quietly: "Because I'm Batman."
"..."
When little Sheldon heard this response again, he'd had the energy to argue loudly before, but at this moment he was completely stunned. Then his little face crumpled and he just started to cry.
(End of chapter)
join patreon for update and advance 40+ chapters
https://www.p-atreon.com/c/Soulforger
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)
"If you're enjoying this story, don't forget to drop a Power Stone! Your support keeps me motivated and helps the novel reach more readers."
"100 Power Stones this week = 1 extra chapter release!"
"500 Power Stones = 2 extra chapter release ."