Chapter 828 Jesus Is Forever (Part 2)

After leaving Arkham Asylum, Bruce did not choose to get in the car, but put on the long-lost bat suit and returned to the dark night of Gotham.

Walking along Arkham Asylum, you can reach the edge of the East District. Going south along the edge, you will reach the territory of the Curly Tail Gang. This can be said to be the sub-center of the East District. It is a new and active area besides the Living Hell and Green Street.

The water on the main road has basically been drained, but there are still many puddles in the alleys near the street. When the boots step on them, they can splash high water.

The roads in Gotham are actually not enough to carry so many overweight trucks, so many places are crushed beyond recognition. Some truck drivers choose to take shortcuts and take alleys. The road quality here is worse and there is more water accumulation.

The children of the Curly Tail were all sent back to their territory. No one bothered them. Jason was sent to the hospital, but he might have been discharged now. Standing on the wall of the alley, Batman searched aimlessly. He wanted to see an acquaintance, but Jason did not appear in his sight.

He knew that he could not just enter the territory of the Curly Tail Gang, rush into their base, and then find Jason, because he was not a child now, he did not belong here, and breaking the rules here would only bring more serious disasters to the children.

Going further east from the Curly Tail is Green Street, where the East District gangs made their fortunes and the wealthy area where the most prominent gangster families once lived.

But that was a long time ago. Now all the houses here look particularly old and sparsely populated. At the door of several nightclubs at the end of the street, the doormen are bored. They haven't seen guests worthy of compliments for a long time.

Batman walked over from the terrace above their heads, followed the neon lights, and came to the vicinity of the living hell. It was very lively here. From a distance, you can see the iconic building of the living area, which is the integrated residential building.

The entire living hell area is a whole building, which is connected to each other and crisscrossed, like an independent world.

Standing at the foot of the steel giant, Batman can see the figures coming and going in various narrow corridors.

He is sure that he saw smiles on the faces of the residents here, but this makes him feel particularly absurd. The living conditions here are not good at all. The per capita living area is less than ten square meters. The passages are relatively narrow due to the structural construction. In some places, you even have to bend over to pass.

But the people here seem to feel very happy, even very proud. Why is this?

Batman thought, maybe it is because they live better than anyone else here, and they will feel happier.

Batman felt that this was very unfair, because the people here had never seen a wider world since they were born. They didn't know what a truly happy life should be like. The sense of happiness brought by being better than the best and better than the worst was false. They had too many unmet needs.

But Batman knew that the first phase of the transformation of the living hell had emptied almost all of the working capital of the Wayne Group at the time. It can be said that this spectacular building was full of his blood.

Logically speaking, he had saved so many people, improved their lives, and made them feel happy. He should feel very proud and feel that his compassion was satisfied.

After all, he had paid so much, and he didn't have to do this. These people died and rotted here, and it had nothing to do with him. Now, he saved them, and they wouldn't express their gratitude, or even remember it. They might even scold him when they saw the newspaper.

Batman's reason told him that it was meaningless for him to do all this, but an emotion sprouted from his heart. At this moment, he suddenly understood what Clark had said to him.

"Because I am stronger, smarter and can fly than them, they regard me as a god, but I don't like this very much, because being a god is not just about being strong, smart and able to fly."

"If a person can save everyone and make everyone happy, then he can be called a god. I can't do it, so I don't want anyone to call me a god."

"Or rather, I am afraid of this title. If they have such expectations of me and I can't do it, they will be disappointed, and I will feel ashamed."

Batman didn't know whether Clark realized that he could actually save all mankind when he said this, but now, when he read this sentence, he knew that he had this ability.

So why didn't he do it immediately?

What emotions were rising in his heart now?

What was the thought that prevented him from giving Schiller a positive answer directly?

Maybe it was human nature, Batman thought, or maybe it was the most instinctive self-protection as a person. This emotion tells him that he doesn't want to lose the luxurious Wayne Manor, the Batcave with all kinds of high-tech equipment, and the Wayne Group that can provide him with a steady stream of funds...

Is it worth it to use these to exchange for the tiny happiness of every person who has nothing to do with him?

When thinking about these questions, Batman felt like he was nailed to a cross. When the wedges were driven into his body one after another, hypocrisy, selfishness, and greed flowed out along with the blood.

While walking through the East District, Batman felt that he was on a pilgrimage. Some negative emotions in his heart were worn away by the wind and sand, and more light shone from the cracks in his heart.

Continuing to walk south from the living hell, he was about to approach the Gotham Cathedral. In a slum residential area not far from here, Batman stopped outside. He remembered that he had been here before.

He followed the trail of the murderer who killed his parents and came to an attic. He saw the old Louis, who was holding an empty salt shaker in his hand. There was nothing in it.

Batman climbed up the building again and jumped from the roof to the balcony of the attic. When he looked in from the window, there was no one inside, only a mess of miscellaneous items.

This was not surprising, because Louis's physical condition was on the verge of collapse at that time, and he could not have survived three years in this place. After his death, it seemed that this place was not rented out again, but became a storage room.

There was a noisy sound downstairs, as if a drunkard had smashed a flower pot, and the owner of the house was scolding him. There were children screaming on the lower floor, as if someone was scolding him for stealing.

Batman left the building and walked along the alley all the way to Gotham Cathedral, but he met someone he didn't expect on a street next to it, Constantine.

Constantine seemed much more sober today. He was holding a cigar and looking down for something. When he saw Batman, he was stunned for a moment, looked him up and down and said, "Are you okay? Originally, I wanted to go to the manor to see you, but unfortunately, your butler didn't let me in."

"What are you looking for?" Batman asked.

"I moved recently, but the truck driver who helped me move was a bad driver. The truck was too bumpy. The materials I used to make the magic circle disappeared. I looked around..." Constantine put his hands in his windbreaker pockets, turned left and right, and searched carefully close to the ground.

"Materials? What are those?" Batman asked again.

"Well, I can't say it, you'd better not know." Constantine stamped his feet on the spot, as if he wanted to change the subject. He said: "What are you doing here? I remember that you seemed to be injured before. Why don't you go to the hospital to recover?"

Batman was silent for a while, then looked at Constantine and asked: "Do you think I can save Gotham?"

Constantine was stunned for a moment. He rolled his eyes first, looked at the sky, and then said: "...I think I can."

"I want to hear the truth." Batman seemed particularly concise and straightforward.

Constantine sighed, walked forward, put his arm around Batman's shoulders and said, "Bruce, you don't need to put so much pressure on yourself. Really, this city doesn't need to be saved, and it can't be saved."

"Why?" Batman asked.

"It's just... you see, the people here are actually living a good life, I think. You may have seen too little. There are many places that are much worse than here. The slums in London may be worse than here. Don't worry too much."

Batman turned his head and stared at Constantine. He knew that he didn't tell the truth. Constantine was oppressed by his eyes. After a while, he let go of his hand, rubbed his hands, stamped his feet and said:

"Okay, kid, you are always so sharp. If you have to know, I can only say that you can't save this city, but it's not because you are not strong enough, but because of some more mysterious reasons."

"I know you don't believe in fate, but fate is real. Maybe someone can decide the fate of this city, and he doesn't like this place, so he put Here is a trash can. "

"Look, the world is so big, you don't have to paint the trash can into a house, there must be a trash can in a house, right?"

Constantine spoke a little incoherently, and mixed in some occult terms, but Batman understood, he said: "Gotham has become what it is now, it's not just man-made, right?"

Constantine sighed deeply again and said: "There are some things I can't say too clearly, there are many people staring at me, I can tell you these only because you are my friend, I can only tell you, Batman, don't do useless work."

Batman walked past Constantine, Constantine wanted to chase him, but couldn't catch up at all, he could only watch his figure disappear at the end of the alley.

Batman's pace became faster and faster, as if he was chasing something, his footsteps became heavier, but also more and more determined.

The sound of boots stepping on the steps was dull, like deafening thunder. Batman stepped onto the steps of Gotham Cathedral and came to the wide chapel, but the one waiting under the statue was not the priest, but Schiller.

Batman slowed down and walked slowly to the opposite side of Schiller. He saw the halo above Schiller's head, but was not surprised by it. Schiller flipped the Bible on the pulpit and prayed in a low voice.

Then he asked: "Batman, have you made your choice?"

"I will save this place." Batman took a deep breath and said, "No matter how much it costs, no matter how much I have to sacrifice, no matter whether people can remember me or not, I don't care, because I am the night."

"Of course I will save this place. No matter who arranged the destiny of Gotham and my fate, and let the tragedy that could have been avoided happen again and again, I will let him know how powerful he is, because I am revenge."

"I will eventually save this place, using all the resources I can get, my wisdom and talent, and everything I have learned from everyone to win this war. I will definitely win this war, because I am Batman."

When his voice fell, the moonlight that originally shone through the top window of the church and added clothes to the suffering Jesus also fell on him.

Schiller was still praying in a low voice:

"My loving Father, I will repent for my arrogance, because I have not heard the gospel, have not seen the miracle of your advent, and do not believe, do not have pious faith..."

"Now, you have chosen me and sent your beloved Son to suffer in the world, be nailed to the cross, corrode the skin, peel off the face, bleed, and die..."

Batman lowered his head because he saw that the wound on his body was emitting a faint light.

Schiller's low prayer echoed in the cathedral, and as he spoke faster and faster, the light became stronger and stronger, until it turned into a circle of halos, lighting up behind Batman and then retracting into his body.

"Whoever believes in you on earth will follow you in heaven. We heard from the Lord that when he died, he was resurrected. All his sufferings were for our redemption."

"When he lost everything, he made us recognize that he is... the everlasting Lord Jesus."

After the prayer, Schiller looked at Batman and smiled and said:

"From God to man, and then from man back to God... Jesus is everlasting."

Batman felt that he did not gain extra power, but something was different. Finally, he heard Schiller's low hum echoing in the church, with a strong murderous intent he had never heard before:

"Laughing Bat, come quickly... Jesus will bless you, Amen."

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