Chapter 101 The Bat in the Jar (Patreon)

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On February 23, 1987, in Chicago, at night.

Miss Tina, who had just finished a splendid and lively ball, lightly touched her fur cape and got into a luxurious car with the help of her driver. When she returned to her luxury apartment, a handsome man with blue eyes embraced her waist. Tina said, "Our ball has just begun, right, Mr. Bruce?"

Moonlight shone through the window, and those beautiful blue eyes were shrouded in the shadow of the eyebrows. The handsome profile of Bruce Wayne fascinated Tina. The man turned around, and it was Bruce Wayne.

On an ordinary afternoon of February 20, 1987, Schiller woke up in bed at Falcone Mansion. He remembered that before crossing over to the Marvel Universe, he had rested in a guest room at the Godfather's estate.

The mornings in Gotham were never sunny, but the early morning always brought special inspiration to Schiller. When he had breakfast with the Falcone father and son, the professor gained some inspiration again and quickly improved it in his mind.

"How do you see the future of Gotham?" Schiller asked Falcone.

Falcone shook his head and said, "If you had asked me this question 40 years ago, I would have told you that this city is doomed, but now I want to say that this city does not need anyone to save it. It is what it is and will always be like this..."

"Do you think Gotham needs a new order?"

"Many people have asked me this question, but I can only say that any effort to make this city better will ultimately come to nothing, no matter how generous and passionate its beginning is. It will all end up in nothingness."

"Why is that?"

"You've hit the key, but I don't know the answer."

The Godfather lit a cigar, and the smoke slowly drifted away. He said, "During these 40 years, I have seen resolute revolutionaries and saviors with moral standards like saints. There are so many people in this world, not lacking in one or two good people or heroes who are determined to save this city."

"They come to Gotham with this idea, and you have to admit that even if you know they will not succeed, you are still deeply shaken by that determination."

"Perhaps you may find it ridiculous, but I have indeed been changed by these people. Many people may wonder, if that's the case, how did I become the Godfather of Gotham? How did I become the biggest gangster in this gang city?"

"But it is precisely because I have seen these things, I have personally experienced that era, that I know that good people cannot save Gotham, and neither can heroes."

"So where are these people now?"

"Most of them are dead, and some lucky ones have escaped from here. People who do not belong to Gotham will eventually leave Gotham. If there are any left, he must be someone who originally belonged to Gotham."

"Are there such people? Where are they?"

The Godfather seemed to be lost in memory. After a while, he made a cross on his chest and said, "I once swore to the Lord to keep this secret for him."

He didn't give Schiller a clear answer, but Schiller already knew who he was referring to.

The next day, Bruce was called to Schiller's office. Schiller rarely called him over, so Bruce was curious about what was going on.

They sat on opposite sides of the desk, just like when they first met. Schiller asked him, "Have you ever had a second where you thought about saving this city completely?"

"Of course..."

"I mean, after you realized what the essence of this city really is."

Bruce opened his mouth, and Schiller took off his glasses. He looked straight at Bruce and said, "I think you should have realized that this city doesn't need to be saved, and it can't be saved."

"So, are you telling me not to do it anymore? Not to be Batman?"

"Of course not. I don't care if you're Batman or not. I just want to know if you really want to save Gotham."

"What's the difference?"

"Are you sure you're being Batman to save Gotham?"

Bruce fell silent.

"I'll ask you another question. If there is a possibility of bringing a new order to Gotham, would you be willing to make some effort for it?"

"Although I have this guess now, I still can't be sure what the essence of this city is. Why did it become like this? And is it really impossible to save it?"

"Falcone once told me that many people have tried to save this city, but they have all failed. Most of them perished here, but some stayed and became part of Gotham."

"Who is he?"

"The only father of the Gotham Church. I think you can go see him and then come back and give me an answer."

Bruce shook his head. He thought Schiller was a little unclear.

But he was also interested in Gotham's past. There are too many mysteries in this city for him to explore.

At first, his goal was simple - he wanted to take revenge on all the criminals. But when he learned about a part of Gotham, he felt that he should save the city. However, as he learned more about Gotham, he felt that the city did not need to be saved.

And now, he had to learn Gotham all over again, and he found that this city seemed to be beyond saving.

Just like Schiller said, Gotham was like a book that could never be finished, with endless mysteries. Every time you read it, you would gain new insights.

When Bruce arrived at the grand Church of Gotham, Father warmly welcomed him. This old Father looked like he was well past his seventies, to be honest, it was rare to see ordinary people live to such an old age in Gotham.

In Gotham, no one taught children to help elderly people cross the road, because there were no people who taught children, and no elderly people.

In front of the pulpit, Father smiled as he took Bruce's arm and said, "I have heard of Mr. Wayne's name for a long time. Of course, forgive me for not having anything better to offer you. After all, this Church is already too old, just like me."

"Look, these tables and chairs are falling apart. I wonder if there is any kind-hearted person who can replace the pulpit without needing bricks to prop up the legs..."

Bruce was very familiar with this kind of talk, and he crossed himself, saying, "I do not bestow grace upon the Lord. Wayne Construction Team will thoroughly renovate the interior of the Church, making His kingdom clean and new, all for the glory of the Lord."

The old Father seemed very pleased with this. When Bruce talked to him about the past, he did not seem to have any intention of hiding anything, but rather spoke candidly about his own experiences.

"I come from an ordinary family in England. I served in the church in my youth, and I came here to Gotham in order to let more people hear the Gospel of the Lord."

"Originally, I just settled in a small town on the East Coast, but I heard people say that Gotham was not bad, so I came here."

"You might find it hard to believe, but Gotham was actually not bad back then, thanks to the presence of Pier. It was prosperous with lots of people, and the living conditions were decent. Also, back then, the gangs were just starting out, and there weren't many of them."

"At that time, there were still some ordinary people here with dreams. They wanted to establish order and grow together with the city. Of course, I was one of them at that time."

Father's voice then began to grow deeper and echoed in the empty church. The colorful light shining through the stained glass windows at the top of the church was like a tunnel through time and space. Father's voice seemed to follow this tunnel and returned to that era.

"There were many people like this at that time, ambitious and thinking that this place was a gold coast or a new gold mountain. Although there was some chaos, everyone felt it was just a normal pain in the city's development."

"Young missionaries, with a Bible in their arms, set foot on this land with the fleet. This story of coming from afar was not as magnificent as others imagined, but there were still many people interested in me."

"Of course, I spread my faith here and helped everyone as much as possible, mediating some of the too intense conflicts and disputes of the gangs. Almost everyone was willing to give me face."

When Bruce heard this, he began to view Father with some admiration. This old man who lived during the same time as Falcone seemed to have had a place in the music world as well.

In this city ruled by gangs, food can be eaten recklessly, but words cannot be spoken carelessly.

No one would dare to fabricate such stories boldly, claiming that all gangs have to give him face. Bruce knew that the only one with that kind of power was Falcone. If anyone else dared to brag like that, their body would be thrown into the sea the next day.

But Father seemed to be talking about something insignificant. Bruce heard the humility in his tone and wondered if this old man, who lived in the same era as Falcone, had once had the same reputation as The Godfather.

But now they were very different. Falcone had become The Godfather admired by everyone in Gotham, while this old Father was guarding a dilapidated church, where there might not be a single worshipper for days.

Bruce had always been curious about that somewhat yellowed era, like people always imagine the glory of their fathers.

The story Falcone once told him about Pier showed the rise of gangs in that turbulent era.

But now, in this empty church, this old Father seemed to reveal to him another side of the city in that era.

"When I came to Gotham, the war was far from over. Isolationism prevailed here, but more lower-class civilians were afraid of the war. They didn't understand how a mess suddenly broke out on the other end of the Earth."

"I started spreading the doctrine here. I believe that faith can bring peace to people's hearts. At first, I did pretty well. You know, there were still many British people who had not evacuated here in that era. They invited me to their estates and listened to me preach. I spent almost every afternoon like that."

"At first, some small gangs were just wandering around Pier, and even fewer could get into the inner streets. At that time, I met Falcone, but there was no Falcone and Twelve Families yet. Perhaps the entire Gotham could not find twelve decent gangs combined."

"At that time, this place was still basically a colonial economy. Because of an accident, I started dealing with gangs. They saw that I had channels from wealthy British people and wanted me to be a middleman to help them grow their power."

"I didn't want to get involved in these vortexes, but I had no choice. If I had to, I would choose the most promising one, which was Falcone."

"Later, many people began to realize that Gotham was not as good as they had imagined. The wealthy British people began to gradually withdraw from this place and gather in other more prosperous and potentially better places."

"The main legacy they left to this city was the estate district and this big church. Under my persuasion, they collectively contributed to building this place, and I became the only Father in this church."

"So what happened after that? What happened next?"

"When the upper layer that maintained a stable order suddenly left, the ones who filled in the upper structure became the ones with the most guns and bullets. Falcone and his Twelve Families were those people. They had some trouble at first, but then they took over."

"Once, Falcone and I were very good partners because I knew that he was different from other gangs. He wanted to create a new order here, even if it was a violent one, it was better than no order."

"I did everything I could to help him. I thought that gangs were just a temporary replacement for the upper-class blocks that had been emptied. I believed that someday, Gotham would return to the right path."

"But I didn't expect that everything would get out of control. After Falcone and his gang family took over the city, it became a real city of crime. From the twelve gangs that sprouted, there were 120 gangs, 1,200 gangs, and finally, a city where everyone was a gangster or a criminal."

"Evil spread here, but I was helpless. I knew that Falcone might be the same. Many people thought he was the culprit for Gotham's decline, but I knew that wasn't the truth."

Finally, Father looked up and surveyed the church. He said, "There aren't many buildings left from that era. I'm grateful that they left me a place like this where I can find shelter."

"Why don't you leave then? Even if you can't go back to your hometown, you can at least go to the church in Metropolis. There are still quite a few clergymen there, and they live well."

Father said, "You don't understand. I not only witnessed how evil gradually infected this city, but I was also deeply trapped in it a long time ago."

He drew a cross on his chest, prayed softly for a few moments, and then said, "The biggest truth I learned in this process is that this city will only accept those who belong here. Those heroes who truly want to save this place will eventually leave because they don't belong here."

"So what is all of this for?"

"I don't know, but I always believe that my choice back then was not wrong. Falcone and I, like him, are guardians of this city, not destroyers."

"In your eyes, The Godfather may be a success because he ruled the Gotham underworld for 40 years, but I know, and Falcone knows, that we are all losers. We can only weave an unstable order in the abyss of sin to preserve ourselves."

Father shook his head and said, "But unfortunately, I'm just an ordinary person who has lived longer than others. What I know is even less than Falcone. Or maybe Falcone doesn't know the real answer either."

As the sun gradually set, the shadows of the tables and chairs inside the Church grew longer, and the light from the colorful stained glass spread over Bruce.

Finally, old Father said, "I can only stay here, guarding a piece of His kingdom, and after I die, this pure land will also dissipate, just like the countless hopes that have dissipated in Gotham."

"Of the group of people back then, only Falcone and I are left. We are both old. Perhaps when we go to meet our Lord, the remaining order in this city will no longer exist."

"Do you think there is a possibility of establishing a new order?"

"Countless people have tried for it, but they all failed. Falcone succeeded in a small part, but it only delayed it for a while. Maybe no one can delay it any longer."

With a sigh in his voice, old Father's words made Bruce fall into contemplation.

Whenever he heard these stories about the history of his hometown, Bruce couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia like a returning wanderer.

Because the story of Gotham was filled with absurdity and despair from beginning to end, everything that happened here had no cause and no result, and even those who experienced that era couldn't explain it clearly.

In this mysterious journey of exploring Gotham's history, the parts of the time machine were always stuck by some fragments shrouded in mist. Whenever Bruce tried to fix this old-fashioned projector and uncover the truth within, various forces always tried to stop him.

Bruce walked out of the Church and began to ponder the question Schiller asked him. Father's answer to him was that this city probably wouldn't have a chance to have a new order, and after the older generation died out, it would fall into darkness completely.

He suddenly came up with a strange analogy, "Gotham and all the evils generated in this city, and all the criminals living here, are like grains of salt sprinkled from a salt shaker."

This is a Salt shaker that will never be empty. The person holding this Salt shaker calmly pours out some crystal-clear salt grains, just like a patient angler crafting his bait.

Just-turned-adult Bruce had learned a fact from his professors, Falcone, and his old Father, that the reason why Gotham had become what it is today was not a simple natural evolution. The goals he once held of seeking revenge on criminals may never be achieved, and he may never be able to save Gotham completely, because the Salt shaker above Gotham would never be empty. The crystal-clear salt grains, full of guilt, would continue to come and go with the wind, just like the never-ending fine rain in Gotham city.

But this didn't make Batman feel defeated, instead, it made him more ambitious.

Batman didn't want to keep chasing after these salt grains, which were scattered as if someone was giving them away, like a stupid fish swimming around the bait, waiting for the water to wash up some residue to fill its stomach.

What he wanted to do was to directly crush this Salt shaker, or, just like what he did to Luis, appear behind him like a bat, enveloping this person who was smugly holding the Salt shaker in shadows, making him tremble with fear of the bat.

Then, he would get this Salt shaker and all the salt grains inside.

If there was destined to be a Salt shaker that accommodated all criminals in this world, it would be best for this Salt shaker to belong to Batman.

And it must belong to Batman.

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