When Schiller saw Bruce's dark and depressed look written on his face, he knew that the conversation with Catwoman might not go well.
"You guys shouldn't be fighting again, right?"
"It's worse than that," Bruce said.
"Okay, so which ward is she in now?" Schiller asked.
"I mean, things are worse in Gotham than I thought."
"There are a group of bad people here that you can't criticize because they have done a good enough job in this environment," Bruce said.
"I think you should realize by now that being Batman is not that simple, right?" Schiller said.
"Indeed." Bruce said, "I thought I had a hard armor, a bullet-blocking helmet, sharp batarangs, a gun and bullets. With these things, what gangster can't deal with it?"
"Guns are really useful," Schiller said.
"At least it ensures that someone is willing to listen to what you have to say."
"I can't say to Selina, 'You're wrong,'" Bruce covered his eyes and said, "Actually, she has done a good enough job."
"I'm afraid Jonathan doesn't think so. If I tell you now that Jonathan actually grew up in such an environment, and the crimes he committed were actually because no one taught him, what would you think?"
Bruce opened his mouth, and he realized that originally he thought he was just, but then he learned that nothing is absolutely just, but he felt that he was at least fair, but now he found that he didn't seem to be fair enough.
He had to admit that he was partial to Selina. Many of the gangsters he punished were the same as Catwoman Selina, but they were not as lucky as her.
Their families and pasts are in a mess. They go to work for gangsters not because they are vicious villains or born bad guys. They just make a living.
Breaking away from the shackles of the original class is much harder than imagined, especially in Gotham.
This fact made Bruce feel a little desperate, and he finally understood why Schiller said he didn't understand Gotham.
Because anyone who wants to completely save Gotham doesn't understand Gotham.
Everyone here is a bad person, but there is no bad person here.
Among this group of zombie-like people, you won't find anyone who should be saved, nor can you find anyone who was born to be eliminated.
There is no culprit here, everyone is the culprit here.
This path of hero's upgrade is completely different from what Bruce thought. He felt that he only needed to capture enough criminals, ask for information from them, and then follow the clues to find the cancer that has been affecting Gotham.
Finally bring them to justice, and then Gotham will get better and better.
But now he discovered that this is a bottomless pit. When he captures a batch of cancerous tumors, there will be another batch. When he punishes one culprit, there will always be another batch.
No one can withstand such consumption, and this does not refer to wealth or body. Harvey believes that the winner is not the one who reaches the end, but Batman, he does not even have an end.
Only now does Bruce realize that his struggle with Gotham will last his entire life.
Then he realized that wealth, equipment and fighting skills could not make him a real Batman, because his biggest enemy was not criminals, but giving up.
The biggest problem he faced was not how cunning his opponent was, but whether he was determined enough to spend his whole life endlessly fighting a city that could not be saved.
It's like ordinary people spend their entire lives trying to make the sun rise from the west.
Batman stood on the roof of the Gotham Central Building. The wind here was very strong, whistling past his ears. Under his feet, there were countless mediocre villains, like a group of ants building a nest. From here, it was clear
See everything Gotham has to offer.
Batman originally thought that there was no order in Gotham, only chaos here, but now he discovered that not only was there order here, but it was also stronger than anywhere else. If there was only chaos, then he could rebuild order, but now, he can't even break Gotham.
This original order cannot be achieved.
After a while, Batman heard footsteps behind him, and Catwoman walked over with her hands behind her back.
Seeing Batman turn around, she smiled, took out a gem from behind, handed it to Batman with a smile, and then said: "I picked a beautiful little treasure from my collection. Of course, I couldn't bear to give up the biggest one."
I’ll give that piece to you, but I think this piece is pretty good too.”
Before Bruce could speak, Catwoman said: "I was chatting with Maggie yesterday, and she said I should apologize to you, because no matter what, I shouldn't have scratched you with a dagger."
"I have never apologized to others. If those people wanted to hit me, I would hit them back. But I thought you were very nice to me and even accompanied me for a ride on a tall building, but I stabbed you. This seems true.
wrong."
She blinked her beautiful big eyes, her brown eyes shining brightly in the Gotham-like darkness, and said, "I can tell that you are very troubled. I hope this gem can make you feel better."
Batman lowered his head and glanced at the gem in his hand. It was a triangular ruby, a bit like his ear. It was cut very delicately and had a charming luster in the faint light.
For the first time, he felt that this was not a piece of mineral that meant nothing to humans other than good looks.
Batman asked: "Do you want to hear my story?"
On the other side, Schiller was holding the phone and saying: "Medical parole? How did he get approved? Although I don't want to blame you, the Gotham Police Department is really a bit too childish..."
He thought for a while, well, there really is no lower limit that the Gotham Police Department can break.
Then he said to Gordon on the other end: "I hope he can stay well in the hospital and don't come back to cause trouble again. You know, I am different from Batman."
Gordon hung up the phone and sighed. He knew it was not that simple. Despite many efforts, Jonathan finally ended up in the lunatic asylum, Victor disappeared, and Lantalos died.
But the old president of Gotham University did not go to jail in the name of medical parole. He had been living in Gotham for so many years and had some connections, so he finally succeeded.
Schiller was never afraid to think the worst about a Gotham citizen, and he knew that the old principal would not give up so easily.
Sure enough, the next day, when Schiller was about to get off work, a girl rushed into her office in a panic. This was the girl who complained to the school when Christine disappeared. She was Kris
Ting's good friend.
"Christine disappeared again?" Schiller asked.
"It's worse than that." The girl said anxiously: "After that time, Christine gave me a safe number. She told me that as long as this number calls my mobile phone, it means that she may
dangerous!"
Schiller picked up the things quickly and said, "When did it happen?"
"Just three minutes ago! The call was connected, but there was no sound from the other side!"
Schiller comforted the girl, and then called Bruce. He said: "Bad news, something happened to Christine again. I wonder if Gordon told you? The old principal did not go to jail in the name of medical parole. If he
If he wants to take revenge, he must be the first to take revenge on the person who testified against him..."
Bruce immediately returned to Wayne Manor and put on all the Batman equipment. He had originally persuaded Christine to testify against the principal, so he had to save the girl.
It's a pity that the old principal was smarter this time. Instead of using low-class gangsters, he hired professional kidnappers. They didn't leave any traces. The old principal seemed to simply want revenge, not revenge.
Use her to threaten others.
But this just shows that Christine is likely to be in an extremely dangerous environment.
After a while, Batman received a call from Schiller, who said: "The street where the Red Crow Gang in the East District used to be, the drug manufacturing den that you destroyed..."
Before Bruce could ask why, Schiller hung up the phone, and Batman sped off, speeding through the Gotham night.
But now he doesn't have the Batmobile. An ordinary sports car is not fast enough. It will take a while to get to the East End from Wayne Manor, and Christine may be hurt at any time. Although he doesn't like Christine,
But I don’t want to see an innocent person tragically killed.
Batman hammered the steering wheel hard, feeling deeply that he must have a better vehicle.
Suddenly, an unexpected number called, and Catwoman's voice rang over there. She said, "Hey, I seem to see your little girlfriend waiting for you on the street every day. What's going on? What's wrong with them?
Going to Maple Leaf Street? It’s very dangerous there..."
"She's been kidnapped, find a way to save her! No... I mean, can you keep an eye on them?... Look at them from a distance, and then call me... Forget it, no, no, no,
Don't follow them, just tell me where they went."
"You sound like you need help," Catwoman said.
Batman looked a little impatient and said, "It's none of your business. Just don't go out and cause me trouble tonight."
After saying that, he hung up the phone and drove all the way to Maple Leaf Street.
After a while, Batman appeared at the end of Maple Leaf Street. This was indeed the original residence of the Red Crow Gang. Here he destroyed a den for manufacturing and producing poppies. Batman's memory is very good. He walked along the right side of the street.
Go straight forward and then turn through two alleys.
As soon as he reached the end of the alley, he heard a fierce fight and gunshots coming from inside. Batman quickly found the back door and pried open the lock. When he entered, he saw a group of unscrupulous gangsters lying around.
Outside, these people were screaming in pain on the ground, as if they had been hit by joint techniques.
Passing through the concierge and entering the living room, you can see seven or eight masked kidnappers lying on the ground. A whip with a whistling wind almost hit Batman.
Catwoman turned around and said, "Thank God, this little girl is okay."
Batman turned his attention to Christine on the sofa. Her clothes were a little messy. If Catwoman hadn't arrived in time, something might have happened.
Then, Catwoman sniffed, frowned and said, "No, why do I smell a smell of oil? Is your car leaking oil? No, that's bad! It might be a Molotov cocktail, hurry up and get out of here.
…”
Before she could finish speaking, the glass at the main entrance was smashed, and countless Molotov cocktails wrapped with cloth strips were thrown in.
The blazing flames burst into flames. There were many fabric sofas, curtains and other combustible materials in this abandoned den.
After a while, the fire became very fierce. Bruce held up the unconscious Christine. As soon as they walked to the back door, they found that the back door that had been pried open had been blocked by heavy objects from the outside.
Obviously, this was a well-planned trap.
Batman's clothes are fire-proof, but if the fire continues like this, both Christine and Catwoman will be in danger, and the fact that the clothes are fire-proof does not mean that he is choking-proof. The fire is getting bigger and bigger, and the thick black smoke makes the whole house almost empty.
I couldn't see clearly, and several people were coughing repeatedly.
Suddenly, there was a clear "clang" sound from the right side, as if something fell. Catwoman reacted quickly and whipped it directly, but when she pulled it back, she saw that it was a fire extinguisher!
No matter where the fire extinguisher came from, Catwoman shook the fire extinguisher vigorously, and Batman said: "Go from the place where they threw the incendiary bottle. There should be a vacuum zone there!"
Batman was leading the way with a fire extinguisher, and Catwoman was supporting Christine from behind.
Sure enough, the person who threw the flask used a lot of force, causing the flask to fall in the center of the hall instead of in front of the door. There was no flammable material except a small piece of carpet in front of the door. Batman used the fire extinguisher to put out the flammable objects.
With the flames burning, the two of them rushed forward.
Walking to the door, Batman first broke the door lock with his gun, and then began to hit the iron door with all his strength.
The man who threw the Molotov cocktail obviously left in a hurry. The front door was not as blocked as the back door. Batman knocked on the front door several times and opened a gap.
But this also means that the air has begun to circulate, and the fire has become bigger. Catwoman has almost fainted from choking. Batman can clearly feel that his hand on her shoulder has begun to slide down. Once he loses consciousness,
, she and Christine will definitely die.
Batman used all his strength and finally hit hard. With a "Bang!" sound, the door was opened and the three of them escaped. Catwoman was breathing heavily. At this time, both Batman and Catwoman were covered in smoke.
Traces of burning fire.
After sending Christine back, Batman asked Catwoman sitting in the passenger seat while driving: "Why did you rush in to save Christine? That was dangerous, wasn't it?"
Catwoman was still looking at the interior decoration of the luxury car excitedly. It was obvious that she had never been in such an expensive car.
She cleared her throat to ease her excitement. After a while, she said: "Actually, I just thought of a lot of reasons for you to praise me. For example, I plan to learn from you to be a good person. For example, I actually
She is a righteous heroine at heart, or maybe I can’t stand those kidnappers harming innocent people..."
Then Catwoman looked at him, and when she was stared at by those brown eyes, Batman felt his heart beating fast again.
"You don't want me to do bad things, but I really like those gems so much. Then I can do bad things once and do good things again. Isn't that okay?"
"...Well, actually, I just want to make you happy." Catwoman shrugged.
"I know that I can't be a great hero. I just like to steal things. This is a habit I have developed since I was a child. I don't know how to speak great principles. Maybe that girl is always waiting for you on the street.
She is much better than me. After all, she is highly educated, beautiful and charming, but also very simple and ignorant, and has never done anything bad."
"But that's just me. I never think about those things. I just do what I want to do. Whether you think of me as a criminal or as an irredeemable bad guy, I am who I am. This is who I am.
a cat."
Batman's hand on the steering wheel loosened slightly. He didn't know if this was the answer he wanted.
But he knew that Catwoman's romance, liveliness and sincerity were not the fundamental reasons why he fell in love with her.
A bat will fall in love with a cat. He is just envious of her freedom. Those are the freedoms that he, as a Dark Knight, will never get.
He has made up his mind to fight to the end with this hopeless city.
Looking at the luxury car slowly stopping at the intersection, Schiller on the roof said to the symbiote in his mind: "...No, we can't go down. What happens next is not something children should watch."
The symbiote let out a series of dissatisfied grunts.
"Yes, I know you did a great job just now. You took a fire extinguisher from the cafe across the street and threw it in. It was very accurate!"
"But what happened in the car is just a meaningless reproduction process of human beings. You symbionts don't need this process. You just need to shed the scum."
The symbiote fell silent, and Schiller didn't know if he understood.
Schiller moved his eyes away from the luxury car and looked at the dimly lit night in Gotham.
Maybe this is a hopeless city, maybe Batman is an ordinary person who feels despair and confusion, he thought.