Chapter 103: A Match in Gotham (Part 1)_1

"...What I'm saying is that this is how it is, just as you see it. Everyone knows what I used to do..."

On a bar counter, from the screen of an old TV, Roy Brown pulled a violin case from under the table and placed it on top. He then snapped open the lid, revealing a gun inside.

"I'm from Chicago, yes, I was a mob leader there, a member of what you know as the Mafia..."

"This is my weapon, can you see it? This pretty little darling, you guys call it a typewriter, but I like to call it Hoff..."

"What do you think this place is? What do you think I'm doing now? Do you think I should be sitting in the mayor's office having tea? I need to tell you, this is not a threat..."

"I was born and raised in Chicago, so were my dad and granddad, back then they said this place would become a second gold mine, many getting people came with dreams of making a fortune, with many big companies and machines, working all day and night..."

"But, these guys walked away, leaving behind a great fire and endless pollution. After prohibition, what remains of my hometown? Nothing but a mess!"

"Riots rampage, broken trust among people, what can we do? We must take up arms in self-defense..."

"So you say, oh, the Mafia run rampant in Chicago, that place is a god-forsaken hell. Well, I am telling you now, it is hell! It is a hell that could swallow you assholes whole!"

"When immigrants were murdering people here, the governor only told everyone to keep their cool. As the Mafia problem gets worse, the police department? Ha! Do you have the nerve to bring this up?"

"I want to ask you, where did the police department's funding go? Why does Chicago have the largest police training school in the East, yet not a single new cop wants to stay?"

"Can you believe that just one year ago, on average, every three cops in Chicago only had one gun, even some logistical officers could only arm themselves with batons!"

"Is this your so-called security bill?"

"Why did those damned public housing streets appear? Because there are too many unemployed!"

"Why were they unemployed? Who's to blame for economic issues? What did those fat pigs sitting in the Capitol Hill do? They made people in Chicago fend for themselves! That's it!"

"Now you guys are denouncing me, saying Gotham let a mob boss become a mayor, I want to tell you, I will be the best mayor here!"

"Because I'm part of the Mafia, if you guys don't help us solve our economic problems, we will solve them ourselves. I will do what I want!"

"I know, some people say Gotham is worse than Chicago. Oh, who else? Miami? Brood Haven? Emperor City?"

"Yes, they see our East Coast cities as a piece of dog shit, but they have to keep watching this piece of shit put in their faces. Have we gotten any help from them?"

Roy directly pulled that Chicago typewriter from the violin case, then slammed it on the table and said, "Don't expect me to listen to your bullshit, those 'be a good boy' speeches, take them to the West Coast people."

"The East is just like this, I only have one thing to do here, grab a gun, kill anyone who gets in my way, and lead everyone to make a fortune together. I don't care if they're the Mafia or whoever."

After the speech ended, the television screen in the bar flickered twice. The bartender smacked the TV and said, "Well, it looks like this old thing is broken again."

The guests complained dissatisfiedly. A big black guy with a drink in his hand sat on the side of the bar and said, "The new mayor seems pretty good, a tough guy. He said what I wanted to say..."

"I was born in Gotham, yes, just two blocks away. You know, our former boss once took me out there, where was it? Oh, right, Metropolis. When people heard I was from Gotham, they looked at me as if I was something dirty..."

"Personally, I think our mayor is quite unusual. Past mayors, when faced with journalists' reprimands, only acted like scared turtles."

Then he gave a cold laugh and said, "Then he died, in a car accident a month ago..."

"Oh, that guy, I can't remember his name, but people say he was the second longest-living mayor in Gotham."

"I think our current one will definitely break the record. He's the godson of the old godfather, and he's much stronger than those weakling mayors."

The black guy added, "He made a lot of sense. Whether it's Gotham or Chicago, this damn place has always been like this since before we were born. We live here, we want to make some extra money, what's wrong with that? They just call us assholes all day..."

"If I could be like those people in Metropolis, studying since childhood, attending university, graduating and wearing suits and ties, working in an air-conditioned office, I would have to be crazy to want to be a gangster and get shot at!"

"He's just blowing hot air." Another black man walked over, ordered a drink and said, "Does he really think he can become a mayor, leading all the gangs to make money together? Is there such a mayor? Even if those reporters don't berate him to death, the state government will never agree..."

"I don't ask him to make us money, I just hope he doesn't act like the previous mayors, constantly drafting some civilized city ordinances, anti-gang security laws, to nag about every day..."

"Damn the anti-gang laws, is there anyone in Gotham who isn't part of a gang? Why doesn't he say he wants to raze the city to the ground?"

The people in the pub all started laughing, with some even miming a nuclear explosion.

The next day, Roy's speech made the headlines of major newspapers across the East Coast and even nationwide. You have to understand, this isn't the Prohibition era anymore. Most of the Mafia has dispersed, and gang culture is no longer as prominent.

At this time, a mayor jumping out and declaring, I am a gangster, I am the Mafia, not only do I admit it, but I also claim I want to make money with the gangsters. Of course, this will stir up vehement criticism from the media.

Metropolis Daily called this a "shocking regression", while Global Times labeled Roy as a "vulgar and barbaric hoodlum", but regardless, the moniker "Gangster Mayor Roy Brown" practically resounded across the country overnight.

Strangely, several cities maintained a conspicuous silence, with some of their leaders going as far as to suppress public opinion deliberately, exhibiting an ambiguous attitude. Among them were the East Coast cities that Roy had mentioned.

Actually, every city with illegal industries as their primary sector knows that what Roy said was the absolute truth.

The histories of these cities are all similar, the reasons for the emergence of gangs are also historical issues, either to counter outside immigrants or the lasting disaster from the Prohibition era.

Most people in these cities felt a sense of gratification from Roy's rant because no matter who it is, they constantly issue commands and exhortations but, apart from verbal condemnations and warnings, there's no actual action taken to improve the dire circumstances in these cities.

Most people saw those born in such places as inherently bad seeds and blamed their wickedness for creating these cities of crime.

But in reality, economic circumstances are the root of all these problems. Except for the slightly peculiar case of Gotham, most of the other gang-dominated cities have become what they are due to the high unemployment rates brought on by economic recession.

People living under such circumstances are naturally part of the gang. You want to eradicate gangs using security laws? You might as well just use a nuclear bomb to raze these cities.

The heads of many gangs in these cities of crime, led by Gotham, were very dissatisfied. We risked our lives to earn money, which was hard enough as it is. Now, these carefree individuals are constantly criticizing us, dissuading investors from coming, making the economy even more sluggish.

In the past, the gangs also felt guilty because no matter what, illegal industries were not presentable.

But now, Roy's speech reminded them of one thing, the transformation of these cities into their present state was not their primary responsibility.

Leaving aside the lingering historical issues, the inaction of the state government and Congress is the main reason why there's been no improvement in the current situation.

I was born here, with nowhere to go. I joined a gang, and you call me a thug. I yearn for the good, but those verbal reprimands and security laws don't provide me with bread. Should I starve to death if I don't join a gang?

Why can't I be corrupt? I'll be corrupt then!

The most important function of Roy's speech was to give these illiterate gang members a relatively unified guiding ideology—that their current rotten state was not their fault, but the fault of the world.

Actually, from Gotham's current situation, there's nothing wrong with this idea. People born in Gotham can't choose their birthplace, and once you're born in Gotham, you have no choice but to live in this hellish mode, or you won't survive.

Geniuses and superheroes in this world are in the minority. Ordinary people with no power to change their class are the majority.

Those who condemn this might not necessarily not understand this principle, but by placing this issue in plain sight, Roy sharply pointed out that it was precisely because of the inaction of various authorities and the incompetence of violent law enforcement agencies that the highest crime rate cities in the country were created. This is undoubtedly equivalent to ripping off the politicians' final fig leaf.

This speech naturally caused a huge backlash in the orderly society. The state government legislators bought off by Wayne Enterprises started to struggle under the pressure. The state government ordered Mayor Roy to suspend his duties for review and planned to restart the mayoral election process.

In the past, this kind of process in Gotham was just for show, basically whoever Wayne said was suitable would succeed. The gangsters didn't care either because the mayor of Gotham didn't have much power, and the gangs wouldn't listen to the mayor, so it makes no difference who took office.

But the state government believed that Roy had stepped too far out of line this time, the Federal Government even sent a reprimand. You can be corrupt, but you can't be so brazen about it, making us lose face, right?

So they decided to hold a new mayoral election.

This has been a common method employed to resolve similar issues. Just by restarting the election process and ensuring that the person who made the mistake is thoroughly defeated in the new election, they can prove that his ideas do not align with public sentiment and naturally quell most of the public dissent and fury coming from the higher-ups. This has been a tried-and-true method based on past experiences.

Until, the state government legislators saw that the first candidate listed in the new election is Carmine Falcone.