Chapter 108 Battle of the Living Hell (Part 1)_2

But upon seeing Alfred so happy, Bruce didn't know how to describe his feelings, a question that had troubled him for quite some time.

With a turbulent mind, Bruce tossed and turned in his bed, unable to sleep. An inexplicable urge was affecting him. He had no other choice, but to put on the bat suit and then leave Wayne Manor.

It was the first time Batman was not donning this uniform to fight crime. He only wanted to escape the emotions he couldn't accept.

Therefore, after leaving Wayne Manor, he was aimlessly wandering in the sky above Gotham. Never before had Bruce wished, like now, to stumble upon a criminal, and then bring him to justice, to prison...no, it should be a mental institution today.

Thinking of this, Batman covered his forehead feeling somewhat uncomfortable. What was he thinking? Get a grip! You're not Bruce right now! Stop fretting over the trivial matters of the hospitals and prisons!

However, Batman still couldn't control himself. Whenever he thought about tomorrow's prison population increasing by 28%, and the ward vacancy rate being less than 15%, he felt this pressure was more terrifying than anything else.

But damn it, in the city where one could stumble upon three robberies just by walking a few steps out, Batman wandered around for half an hour and didn't come across a single criminal.

The streets near the city center roundabout were brilliantly lit. The four avenues extending out from the roundabout all had night markets that stretched over thousands of meters, brightly lit all night.

Most of those who came here were night shift workers. This included not just truck drivers who were transporting goods at night, but also dock workers, warehouse guards, and security guards, among others. These people were the most active citizens of Gotham right now.

Batman stood on top of a tall building. He knew very well that if he were to jump down in this get-up, he would be shot twice before he even hit the ground. Moreover, there were no crime incidents here, evidently, the city center didn't need Batman. He could only leave this place and head further away.

The central roundabout and the major transport hubs of Gotham were not all there was. In places not covered by light, there were even darker blocks. Following his natural affinity with the darkness, Batman arrived at the darkest spot in all of Gotham.

This was Gotham's East District. The East District had always been synonymous with chaos in Gotham. The mobs here could be described as tangled and complex. However, the chaos in the East District also had its hierarchy.

The most formidable place was called "Living Hell". It was the westernmost block in the East District, the farthest area from the dock. Also, it was the most crowded, had the highest population density, and was the darkest and poorest place.

Living Hell was often referred to as "Gotham within Gotham" by the Gothamites. All the residential buildings here were crooked and squeezed together. The alleyways between the buildings were so narrow that they didn't allow an adult to reach out their arms. In such a dark and narrow alleyway piled up with an abundance of junk, it was hard to find a place to set one's foot.

Batman descended from the rooftops and discovered, upon stepping into the first street of Living Hell, that the sky was barely visible. The dense wiring and antennas obscured most of his view, like a giant net spreading over his head.

Moving in such an alley was extremely difficult, even for Batman. There was almost no light, except for some faint light leaking out from a few upper-windows. Batman, after almost stumbling over garbage bags several times, finally turned on his flashlight.

But even then, traveling through here was challenging. Batman had barely walked a few steps into an alley when he came across an extremely convoluted staircase spiraling into a dark corridor.

He climbed up the creaking staircase and when he came out, he found himself on a flat rooftop and beneath his feet was another dark alley.

Batman found a ladder on the rooftop that led to another rooftop. Even for Batman, crossing this ladder required utmost caution.

While standing on the ladder and looking down, it seemed like an endless abyss, all windows, wires, and garbage bags crumpled together, a chaotic mess, resembling layers of hell spreading downwards.

After crossing the ladder to the other side, he saw a mountain of garbage bags stacked in a corner of the rooftop. Moving towards the other side it was another sprawling high-rise building with a small door on the side, where Batman had to bend over to enter. As he stepped inside, he finally arrived within the building of Living Hell.

The situation inside was worse than outside. There was almost no light. The stairway was so narrow that Batman had to stoop and shrink his arms, otherwise climbing the stairs was impossible.

Batman mused that it was inaccurate to call this passage a stairway. It was more like an intestine. Calling this place Living Hell was truly apt.

This narrow, dark, and cramped stairway, it resembled an intestinal organ of a living organism. After ascending the stairs of two buildings, Batman finally spotted another small door.

Upon exiting through this door, the passage was finally a bit wider. Still, all the doors here were tightly closed. Various signs hung in the corridor indicating food shops, grocery stores, barber shops and so on.

Batman was suddenly struck with astonishment. Living Hell seemed to have its own self-sufficient ecosystem. He walked through the passage and found six intestinal-like small doors leading to it. According to Batman's estimates, the structures of these six passages should be the same as when he arrived, each corresponding to six different entrances of the building.

It was truly peculiar and wonderful, Batman thought.

This city was a miniature representation of Gotham, truly deserving the title of "Gotham within Gotham".

He was surprised to find that not only were there various facilities for livelihood, there were independent systems for electricity, water, and communication. Thick water pipes extended endlessly in the dark corridor, like large arteries. The messy electrical wires were hanging over his head, resembling a dense web of nerves.

Next to every entrance were numerous posters and advertisements, and many entrances even had postboxes hanging in front.

It was the first time that Batman was seeing this side of Gotham. After all, he didn't have the Batmobile before. His crime-fighting radius was primarily centered around the Wayne building and extended a certain distance around it. Moreover, the robbers primarily lurked within this radius, as it encompassed Gotham's busiest commercial streets.

But now, he was in Living Hell, witnessing the unknown side of Gotham, or the reality beneath Gotham's prosperous surface.

But what was strange was the bustling, claustrophobic, terrifying, and mysterious atmosphere had its own complete ecosystem. This showed a different kind of vitality and charm. It even held a fascinating beauty.

Batman felt he might be going crazy. He even started to believe that this realistic and chaotic scene was the ultimate truth of this city.