Chapter 56 Gotham Night Bell (Part 1)_1

Silence echoed in the empty room, then Batman said, "From that day on, everything I've done, every hardship I've endured, was for revenge."

"The law and trial told me that my parents were killed by Joe Chill, but I knew that was not the case. It took me years to give myself the ability to question this outcome."

"...And now, it's time for Batman's revenge."

Accompanied by the dull night bell of the Gotham Cathedral, Batman's figure disappeared.

Batman, who monitors all of Gotham City every moment, noticed recent changes in the Edward family. Before the Edward Brothers made their fortune, when they first arrived in Gotham, they were the bosses of the alley where his parents died.

But now, the Edward Brothers are dead, leaving only their nephew. If Little Edward has offended the Godfather, Falcone, and if Falcone is not willing to let him go, then the Edward Family will cease to exist.

Batman went to Little Edward first. He doesn't need to send people to summon others as the godfather does; he can appear directly in anyone's shadow.

The next day, Gotham was engulfed in a gloomy fog again. Later on, dusk added more colors to the hazy mist over Gotham.

Shiller was chatting with the priest at the church entrance. Like a typical Westerner, he regularly went to the church, which did not seem out of place at all.

The priest here is very knowledgeable. He has a deep understanding of theology. Shiller likes to discuss philosophical and theological issues with him and, at the same time, sneak in some intelligence gathering.

The old priest has lived in Gotham his whole life. He has experienced all the eras of Gotham; he knows all its stories.

The priest said, "Recently, the dock workers have not been coming often. Maybe their business has improved. I hope this is the case. God tells people that they need to atone for their sins through such hard work."

"The number of merchant ships at the dock has increased recently, and the business of the ship owners has started to improve." Shiller said.

"I remember many years ago, there was a time when many of the workers liked to come here to pray. The church has never been so lively."

The old priest's voice carries the mark of his era, like railway tracks paved from history, old and faded with time.

"You could tell they weren't busy then. Probably not much business, a lot of people were complaining, some were easily angered, and there were some disputes. I did my best to dissuade them."

"You're a good man," Shiller said.

As the old priest squinted in reminiscence, he said, "In that era, there was chaos everywhere. I remember that the person who dominated the dock at that time was a man named Rafe, known as the 'big beard' or the 'Viking pirate.'"

"He was burly and strong, with a full beard, leading a group of equally strong men. They bullied everyone at the dock, no one dared to mess with them. They specialized in collecting protection fees from the workers and extorting others."

"So, who curbed them eventually?"

"It was Falcone who gave them a hard time," the priest answered.

The priest gently touched his somewhat withered fingers due to old age and continued, "The wharf was supposed to be taken over by the Godfather. But somehow, it ended up in the hands of the Edward family."

Shaking his head, the priest added, "I'm not saying the Edward family did a bad job, but perhaps if the Falcone family had taken over the dock initially, they could have connected the entire East District and become much stronger than they are now."

"I often hear people say," Shiller interjected, "that the Godfather's control over the East District is somewhat weak because he only controls some of the northeast and southeast areas, but he completely ignored the most critical dock area."

The priest shook his head and replied, "Maybe he has his plans."

Shiller was in deep thought; the priest hadn't told him any secret information. The reason why these stories aren't widely circulated is that very few people from that era lived to tell them.

As for why the Godfather didn't take control of the dock wholesale, Shiller speculated that there could be more complicated disputes involved.

After the sky darkened, Shiller said goodbye to the priest and walked out of the church alone.

When the last ray of sunset light had sunk below the horizon, he heard the bell tower of the church above his head ringing out seven heavy tolls, these tolls carrying an indescribable sense of decay.

Father made a cross on his chest at the church door and said in a low voice, "This is the death knell... God bless you, your soul must be redeemed..."

Shiller stood outside the door, he turned around, in the deep gray fog, he saw a figure in black and yellow standing on the tall bell tower.

On the other side, Little Edward collapsed to the ground. Facing the shadow in front of him with two pointed ears, he stammered, "I only know...I only know that when the Godfather ended the chaos at the East pier, my father and uncle wanted to get a piece of the pie, even if only one dock..."

"But, but the Godfather suddenly didn't want any of them...So we got all five docks, I don't know what happened...I was too young at the time, you can only ask the Godfather, I really don't know anything..."

After the shadow of the bat had left, Little Edward tremblingly climbed up from the ground. He cursed softly, and then saw another shadow appear before him.

He looked up to see a huge umbrella pointed at him, and behind that umbrella, a pair of grim eyes were staring at him. Just as Edward was about to scream in fear, his vocal cords, along with his throat, were severed.

After a faint, soft sound, followed by the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground, the lights went out at the old Edward mansion, and all was quiet.

Finally, Batman came to Falcone's residence. It was pitch-dark, so quiet as if no one lived there.

Unlike the brightly lit Edward mansion with guards around the clock, this mansion, where the Gotham Godfather lives, seems to be without any defense. Batman knew this was unusual.

At last, Batman saw Falcone in his office. There was still no one else there. Falcone was sitting alone in the office as though he was waiting for him.

"I knew you would come," Falcone said, "You weren't careful enough when investigating Old Edward's background."

"That means his background must be special in some way, worth your concern," Batman said.

"Indeed, are you interested in hearing a story from many years ago?"

Next, Batman heard from the godfather who had ruled Gotham for forty years about a turbulent era he had never seen or heard of before.

"...They rallied their friends, with unscrupulous methods, among them the Viking pirate Rafe controlled the largest power."

"I knew clearly that if I wanted the Falcone family to truly settle down here, I had to use him as a stepping stone."

"That big bearded man had made quite a fortune over the years by extorting ship owners. He wasn't convinced and wanted to rebel against me."

"So, in front of many people, I killed all his family members, and then stuffed him into a barrel of gunpowder."

"Of course, that scared many people and made my plan go smoothly."

"What I want to know is about Park Street," said Batman.

"Don't rush, it's coming soon."

Falcone swiveled his chair, looking at Batman: "You are somewhat like your father." He nodded, "... very much alike."

Before Batman could say anything, Falcone continued: "After I cleared out the major forces on the dock at that time, I didn't take over the docks, but left them to the Edward Family. This has something to do with your parents."

"Your mother was a kind lady who sympathized with the laborers on the docks. She thought they were working too hard for more than a dozen hours a day. Your father agreed. They felt that they should be nicer to those poor people."

"So, they didn't allow the mob to bully those workers. They made a more relaxed working system for them, you know, working only for a few hours and getting a break to eat and drink."

"The Wayne family was determined to reform the entire order of Gotham docks, but I knew... I knew."

"I knew they couldn't keep this up, but I didn't want to go against the Wayne family, so I stepped away and left them to manage things."

"I let the Edward family control all the docks. The Edward Brothers were smart."

Falcone lit a cigar, the faint light illuminated his face, under his sharp brows, it cast dark shadows that covered his eyes, from where you could vaguely see the young godfather who had once commanded the wind and clouds.

"So, Edward hired that thug named Joe, to kill my parents?"

The smoke from the cigar slowly rose, and Falcone's speaking pace started to slow down, as if the things he was recalling were becoming more distant and unclear.

"You mean the real killer? No, not them, not Edward."

"The one who really did it, was a dockworker named Louis."

"A laborer?" Batman found this very absurd, he asked: "Why? How could it be a dock worker?"

"I know you don't understand. The Waynes helped them, yes, the workers did not have to work so long every day, they were not oppressed by the mob and the ship owners, they found their saviors..."

Falcone shook his head: "But you don't understand that there are different ranks among the workers as well, those who carry sandbags and move heavy goods have the hardest jobs. The big workers only do lighter tasks like assigning manpower, keeping inventory."

"Your parents wanted everyone to be less burdened. No one wanted to do the dirty and exhausting work. The ship owners lost a lot of cargo due to delays. They would rather take a detour rather than coming to Gotham docks."

"I remember... that Louis was... the head worker of the third or the fourth dock, he was watched very closely by the Wayne family. He had to assign the same workload to everyone. They could only work nine hours a day, with two hours of rest to eat."

"The cargo was just sitting on the ship, unattended. The fresh produce and fruit got spoiled. The ship owners asked Louis for compensation. Louis couldn't afford it, so he was beaten up by the ship owners and sailors. They broke his leg."

"So, he hired that thug to kill Mr. and Mrs. Wayne?" Batman's voice sounded like a fall into a deep valley.

"He asked Old Edward for help, and together they committed that murder on Park Street."

"You must find it very absurd, Judas betrayed his master and caused his benefactor to suffer." said Falcone.

"... But this is Gotham, a place even the devils would detour."

Batman closed his eyes, the truth was completely different from what he had imagined.

This was not a story of a perpetrator and an innocent entangled in confrontation, there was no justice that could be upheld at a glance.

Everything was not just white walls and black shadows, but an old and faded grey videotape, carrying the thick dust of that era.

"The thug who committed the act and the Edward brothers are all dead, but Louis is still alive. If you still want revenge, go to No. 7, Grace Boulevard Tail Lane on the east side of the church, he lives there."

After speaking, Falcone exhaled his last puff of smoke, and he too, closed his eyes.

His fingers were well maintained and almost wrinkle-free. The cigar between his fingers had burned out, the light gradually faded, like the silent end to the boiling era, the turbulent waves of that time.