togophonebook Chapter 57 Justice
Chapter 57 Justice
Chapter 57 Justice
"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself should become a monster; and he who gazes long enough into an abyss should look back into him."
The amygdala awoke from the excruciating pain, weeping and wailing as it lamented the agony and torment it had suffered.
The killer crocodile released the amygdala.
Chen Tao looked at him, and even his chaotic and disordered mind, afflicted by bipolar disorder, felt Batman's gaze.
The crying was stopped by an invisible hand gripping his neck. He whimpered and collapsed to the ground, trembling and curling up in fear.
"It's all over, Batman. You've become a prisoner of Gotham's evil too."
The Riddler announced, "Do you remember the Roman? Carmen Falcone. Did you know that young Carmen Falcone's life goal was to end all the evil in Gotham?"
"—And he later became Gotham's biggest mob boss, just like you, Bat. When upright people succumb to sin, it's as harmful as a poisoned well!"
He said in a somewhat delirious manner, "Therefore—Batman is dead!"
He threw the gun on the ground: "The Bat King has been reborn!"
He bowed exaggeratedly to Chen Tao, like a jester in a stage play: "Batman! You're a criminal now too!"
He shouted with jubilation:
"You are no different from us!"
The Riddler had been convinced by his own logic, and Batman, who had directly murdered the Joker, was undoubtedly a criminal accomplice like him in his eyes.
Batman possesses the same qualities as him, but is far more powerful, therefore—
He surrendered, in every sense of the word.
Chen Tao knew that at this moment, he might just beckon with his finger, and the Riddler would pounce on him and frantically lick his toes...
Okay, maybe the other party will be more reserved and won't go that far.
But their underlying attitudes are the same.
If Chen Tao wanted to, he could immediately get the Riddler's help. If he did that, it would be very convenient to defeat Bane, find the nuclear bomb, and save or rule the entire city by relying on the other party's intelligence, resources, and military strength, right?
but……
I reject!
"I've been a criminal for a long time, Nigma. Violation of personal rights, illegal possession of deadly force, blatant breach of fortress laws—I've never denied that. Now it's just a matter of adding first-degree murder to the charges."
"But you bastard, listen up."
"All that you said, I think it's all bullshit!"
"Your theory of being swept away by darkness is nothing more than a variation of the 'bad day' theory."
Chen Tao said:
"You think everyone will become a slave to darkness, like the Joker thought that if he had a bad day, even Gordon would become the Joker. But Gordon didn't become the Joker. Nor did Barbara."
He said these words, but his eyes were fixed on Jim Gordon, who was blindfolded.
"Whether it's a bad day or darkness envelops us, it's just an excuse for bad guys to do bad things."
"The law? The law is just a piece of waste paper to me. Nigma, please don't misunderstand. The bottom line I drew for myself in the past was not to protect myself, but to protect you."
"I have been thinking about whether it is just to sacrifice a small part of justice for the sake of a greater justice."
"So now you have an answer, Batman?"
Chen Tao sighed.
From the moment Edward Nicoma opened his mouth, he knew that the person he needed to argue with was not the already broken Riddler in front of him.
Instead, it was another member of Gotham's former trio, the police chief Jim Gordon, who dedicated everything to the city.
He removed Jim Gordon's blindfold. The other man looked at him with pity.
"Batman, you were once hope."
He said.
Jim seemed somewhat dazed, his eyes fixed on Chen Tao:
"You told us, you told Gotham."
"No matter how much knowledge one possesses or how high one's talent is, one should not be as arrogant as Nigma."
"No matter how much you want to save your family, you can't sacrifice innocent lives for them like Victor did. Even if the nights in Gotham are cold, you shouldn't warm yourself with the blood of others."
"Judicial efforts will eventually yield results. Society will not remain in a gray area forever, and justice will ultimately be worth upholding."
"You told us that life is worth living, even if we've experienced the worst day, even if we've endured pain that countless people can't even imagine, but no matter how painful, crazy, or desperate it is, it's all worth it."
He suddenly seemed to be having a mental breakdown and said:
"You told us that humanity's greatness lies in facing the incredibly brutal and bloody darkness of human history and still holding onto hope, striving to heal human society instead of simply shooting it down! These are all your words, these are all what you taught us!"
"Why? Why let the Joker win? Why make such a sudden decision? Why make yourself like them?"
"God, you should have sent the Joker to jail instead of shooting him!"
"I didn't shoot him," Chen Tao said. "I chopped him into mincemeat."
Chen Tao added, "The kind that's ground into powder. Clown sauce."
"Clown, clown-chan. I'm pretty sure that's some kind of Japanese lame joke."
Gordon, exasperated, rambled on, "What, are you planning to make some kind of bat-clown flavored sandwich with Joker Sauce?"
"And that's what I did, I'm sorry, Jim."
"Do you know that by doing this, Batman will degenerate into..."
"Procedural justice is just a means, Jim Gordon."
"What?"
"I will only despise the Joker's corpse, Gordon. Murdering the Joker will not make me some kind of tyrant or dictator who kills indiscriminately."
"Do you really believe in such a fallacy as the slippery slope theory? Haven't we always been pursuing substantive justice?"
Chen Tao said, "Superheroes have the ability and should inspire and guide people to make the right choices."
When procedural justice and the system are capable of achieving this, I should certainly support the system and procedures. However, when the system and procedures fail and become corrupt, I should also regulate the system and procedures themselves.
Essentially, the justice that superheroes pursue should supersede the law. Otherwise, why wouldn't I just join the system and become a police officer?
Gordon responded with silence.
Chen Tao sighed. He stopped himself from saying anything more, then shook his head.
This is essentially a difference in ideology and thinking. Jim Gordon has been in the system for too long, and his thinking has become confined.
From the moment he murdered the Joker, he had already realized that it was impossible for the two of them to ever work together again like they had in the past.
This was a price he had to pay, something he had anticipated.
"So now, Mr. Nigma, you'd better tell me exactly where you stole the Penguin's nuclear bomb."
"What nuclear bomb? I've never stolen a nuclear bomb!"
(End of this chapter)