Chapter 171: The Long Easter (End) _1

"My father was a tyrant, an autocrat who tolerated no dissent. I broke my back trying to meet his expectations, to be the perfect heir, but he remained suspicious of me and withheld his secrets."

"I knew, ruling Gotham underground for so many years required more than just his capabilities and wisdom, I knew..."

"He wasn't the true King of Gotham, somebody else was controlling Gotham from behind the scenes, a mysterious organization, a powerful organization..."

Batman silently looked at Alberto, whose facial muscles contorted unrecognizably. To Batman, Alberto was a stranger, speaking with an undertone of resentment and indignation he had never heard from Evans before.

"But according to Evans, the Godfather wasn't like this."

"Him? What does he know? Yeah… he is Carmine's perfect son. Carmine brought him up just to make up for my imperfections..."

"So what exactly happened to your alleged death?"

Alberto sneered, his gaze falling to the gaping hole in the church. Not receiving the reaction he expected, he spoke nonchalantly to Batman, "Gotham, I realized, is a doomed city, and anyone not native will eventually leave."

"All of this is due to a great organization controlling Gotham from behind the scenes. They control the city, bending it to their will."

"The Godfather? He's just a survivor hanging by a thread. He never ruled Gotham. He lost in his struggle against this power. It was this mysterious organization that let him become the Godfather."

"During one argument with him, he accidentally revealed clues about this organization. I secretly investigated but found nothing, only to inadvertently come into contact with their believers."

"It was a great dark power like nothing I had ever seen before..." Alberto's tone became fanatical, "Its wings have always sheltered this city, we will all bow down to it..."

"So, you joined this organization?"

"No, no..." Alberto nervously replied, "They wouldn't let me join. I don't understand why..."

As he spoke frantically, Batman seemed to visualize behind him a group of black-clad Night Owls, whispering in his ear, "You're a descendant of the rebels... you must atone, atone for your lineage... go, go..."

Alberto half-kneeled on the ground, trembling, his voice started to become indistinct, filled with both fear and resentment. He said, "They gave me a knife, a hard and sharp knife, which I used to stab..."

Alberto's voice grew pained, as though his recollection diverged from his memory.

"You wanted to kill your father?" Batman asked.

"No, I didn't...I just wanted to atone, I wanted to..."

"You wanted to kill him, but you failed in the end, right?"

Alberto's tone filled with bitterness and resentment again, "Carmine was clearly prepared for me, I was too late!"

"And then he murdered you, and created Evans?"

"Not him, it was that...," Alberto paused, his expression troubled. "That Father, they're in cahoots, they know everything..."

"It seems like some sort of farce. Falcone's eldest son never died, his identity just changed."

"But I wonder, how could this have slipped past everyone? You two look identical, the same age, someone would've figured it out, right?"

But as soon as he finished that sentence, Batman realized. He said, "The funeral?"

"...Yes, Carmine invited everyone who'd met me to my funeral, and then they all died, including Cobblepot's father."

"Was it anything to do with the umbrella?" Batman muttered.

Alberto sneered, "You seem to know quite a lot."

"Indeed, it has everything to do with the umbrella. Do you think Carmine knew nothing about them? You were wrong...no one knew them better than the Godfather, but he never spoke."

"Carmine exploited their vulnerability. He tampered with a batch of umbrellas, delayed their delivery, and invited everyone out on a rainy day. Consequently, they all died."

"He claimed that Evans was my brother, who had been living abroad with our mother since childhood, to replace me and become Godfather's young son."

"For a long time, I was indeed dead. Only Evans existed."

"He became a devout believer, often going to church for prayers. But he didn't know that it was Carmine's machinations that completely erased my existence."

"The Father possessed strength beyond ordinary people. I don't know what it was... but he seemed to genuinely influence people's minds."

"Each time Evans met with him, his personality would become more entrenched, while Alberto would slowly fade away."

"But luckily..." Alberto revealed a smile, saying, "In the disaster, the church was destroyed, the priest had to leave, and Evans hadn't prayed to him for a long time."