Bab 147: Chapter 101 Bat in the Jar_2
Now, as he learned about Gotham all over again, he realized that it seemed like a city that couldn't be saved.
Just as Shiller had put it, Gotham was like a book one could never finish reading, filled with endless mysteries. Each time you read it, new insights would arise.
When Bruce arrived at Gotham Cathedral, the priest warmly received him. The elderly priest looked as if he was already in his seventies. Truthfully, very few ordinary people in Gotham lived to such an age.
No one in Gotham teaches children to help the elderly cross the street because there are neither teachers nor elderly here.
At the podium, the priest said cheerfully as he held Bruce's arm: "I've heard of Mr. Wayne. Unfortunately, I don't have anything better to offer you as this church is old, just like me."
"Look, these tables and chairs are falling into disrepair. I wonder if some kind-hearted soul would give us a new podium that wouldn't require a brick to prop it up..."
Bruce was familiar with these kinds of pleas. He made the sign of the cross on his chest and said: "With the guidance of the Lord, the Wayne Construction Team will undergo a thorough renovation of the interior of this church to return it to its former glory... All for the glory of God."
The old priest seemed very satisfied with this. When Bruce started to talk about his past, the priest didn't hold anything back and shared his experiences openly.
"I came from an ordinary family in England, served in a church during my youth, and came here so that more people could hear the Gospel," he said.
"Originally, I only landed in a small city on the East Coast, but I heard that Gotham was nice, so I came here."
"You might find this hard to believe, but back then, Gotham was indeed not bad. Thanks to the existence of the docks, it was relatively prosperous. There were a lot of people, the living conditions were decent, and the mobs were just starting out, so there weren't many."
"Back then, there were still ordinary people with dreams here. They wanted to establish order and grow alongside this city, and of course, I was one of them."
The priest's voice grew softer and echoed throughout the empty cathedral. The light from the stained glass at the top of the cathedral windows formed a colorful tunnel, and the priest's voice seemed to travel back in time.
"There were many like-minded people at that time, full of ambition. They saw this place like the Golden Coast, a new El Dorado. There was some chaos back then, but everyone thought it was just the ordinary growing pains of city development."
"Young missionaries, carrying a Bible, set foot on this land with a fleet. The story from afar is not as grand as others imagine, but I still managed to pique people's interest."
"Of course, I came here to spread faith, tried to assist everyone as much as I could, mediating some of the more intense disputes among the gangs. Almost everyone was willing to give me face."
Upon hearing this, Bruce started to see the priest in a new light. This man, a contemporary of Falcone, appeared to have also had some influence in Gotham at one point.
In a city ruled by the mob, you could eat what you wanted but you had to watch what you said.
No one would dare to fabricate such a story, claiming that all the gangs respected him. To Bruce's knowledge, only Falcone had that ability. If anyone else dared to boast like this, their body would be in the sea by the next day.
Yet, the old priest's words were spoken as if they were mundane. Bruce could sense the humility in his tone and thought that perhaps this old man, a contemporary of Falcone, once shared the same level of prestige as the revered Godfather.
But now they were worlds apart. Falcone had become a respected figure in Gotham, while this old priest was left tending to an old church, likely with no parishioners coming in for days to pray.
Bruce was always curious about that era, which seemed somewhat faded like an old photograph, much like how people tend to romanticize their forefathers' generation.
The story Falcone once shared about the docks depicted a turbulent era in which the mob rose to power.
However, now in this empty cathedral, the elderly priest revealed a different side of the city during that bygone era.
"When I arrived in this city, the war was far from over. Here, isolationism was the norm. Still, most ordinary folks were afraid of the ongoing war; they didn't understand why a war was happening on the other side of the world."
"I began to spread the teachings here, believing that faith could bring peace to people's hearts. Initially, I did well. You know, many English people hadn't left yet and they would often invite me to their estates to give sermons. That's how I spent most of my afternoons."
"At first, small gangs only lurked around the docks and seldom ventured into the main streets. It was around this time that I met Falcone. Back then, he wasn't the Falcone he is today nor were there the Twelve Families. Maybe, the whole of Gotham couldn't have gathered twelve decent mobs."
Hadiah
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