Chapter 135: Why Doesn't He Just Go Rob Directly?

This morning marked the first day of Maroni's imprisonment.

"Get up! Everyone get up! It's already five-thirty!"

"People who get up at this hour are future stars! Pillars of the nation! They are the 'learned beyond measure' in idioms! The immortals descending to the mortal world in proverbs! The light of hope in urban novels! The 'ba jiu nian bi' in Cantonese! The dragons and phoenixes among men in wuxia novels! The self-disciplined who examine themselves three times daily! And..."

Every sentence was shouted loudly, every sentence sharply stimulating the drowsy nerves of the prisoners in the jail.

Waking from the three-tiered communal bunk, Maroni felt his whole body aching with soreness and pain; this was the first time in his life he had slept in a cramped environment where people were packed together. The smell of sweaty feet, the hard bedboards, the thunderous snoring rising and falling one after another, the sounds of passing gas, the grinding of teeth—everything and anything became a powerful obstacle to achieving the feat of "falling asleep."

Facts proved that whether rich or not, the prisoners in jail all shared the same sleeping posture.

But in reality, during the first half of yesterday, none of the prisoners here had slept; however, the guards did not stop them from whispering at night, only warning them that every hour of conversation would deduct ten dollars—ten dollars multiplied by their respective time of imprisonment, charged to everyone, even if only two people in the cell were talking.

Yet this still could not stop their urge to vent; in fact, before imprisonment they had all been pampered wealthy men, and after imprisonment they became captives under others' control. Since arriving here, they already had a basketful of complaints to air, so the thousands of dollars each had been deducted overnight—such matters now seemed relatively unimportant.

"Can we escape? If we could escape..."

"What nonsense are you talking? There's Batman outside; can you guarantee you won't be caught and brought back? If you get caught again, you'll be forced to stay here for a week!"

"Damn it, if I keep escaping..."

"Then you'll be sent to Arkham. Didn't you hear Poison Ivy? Do you want to keep company with those madmen who kill at the drop of a hat? Now Scarecrow, Mad Hatter, Joker, and Calendar Man are all inside; do you want to go in and try?"

"Damn it, I really..."

At this moment, a prisoner on the lower bunk patted his bedboard: "Look on the bright side; at least the perverted wheelchair man, Catwoman, Penguin, and that Freeze Man who previously ruined Gotham Company weren't caught and thrown into the asylum; otherwise Arkham would be even more lively."

"What nonsense are you saying? The perverted wheelchair man and Batman are definitely on the same side; the moment Batman appears, he disappears. I even suspect the perverted wheelchair man is just Batman in disguise, fulfilling his perverted cravings."

"I think Catwoman isn't clear with them either; maybe Batman, her, and that perverted wheelchair man have formed an alliance."

"Everyone, are we really going to discuss such Marvel Comics stuff here? We are all adults, respectable adults."

"Then what should we discuss? How to upgrade our cabins? That sword-wielding woman Poison Ivy said we must stay here for three days before we can upgrade—damn it, she actually calls this 'upgrading cabins'! Have you ever seen a long-term paid cabin upgrade service?"

"Sigh, one hundred dollars a month, multiplied by our sentences; my minimum is ten thousand dollars a month, ev-ery sin-gle month! Damn it, do they think they're selling presidential suites? Why doesn't Bruce Wayne just go rob directly?"

"Robbery is illegal; this is legal."

"I damn well refuse to pay!"

"Then he can openly apply to the court for enforced execution—don't forget, he can directly deduct these charges into your living expenses in prison, and the court won't side with you now."

"What's there to say? Which one of us here doesn't like making money?" An insurance company boss lying on the third-tier bedboard, who had not participated in the conversation before, suddenly let out a cold laugh: "If we had such an opportunity, who wouldn't rake in more ruthlessly than Bruce Wayne?"

"That's damn right; Bruce, that fool, is rarely shrewd."

"I'd rather he be as confused as usual; at least he'd deduct less money from me."

At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded outside the cell door.

"Gentlemen," he said, "I'm not quite sure what you're thinking, but it's already one in the morning; you must get up at five-thirty tomorrow, so you don't have much rest time left—of course, if you want to keep chatting, I have no objection, after all, there's money to be made."

Maroni's heart stirred at this moment.

So he whispered to the person outside the cell: "Kid, let me ask you, do you want to make money?"

"Yes."

The cell instantly fell silent; everyone exchanged glances. Even if they couldn't get out, bribing a guard was enough to bring them a considerable degree of freedom.

"Very well, there's an opportunity right now, placed before your eyes; as long as you seize it—"

"As long as I seize this opportunity, I'll be prosecuted and thrown into a cell to be your cellmate," the guard shook his head. "I'll also be fined; whatever I earn will be spent—You probably can't imagine how tight the surveillance on guards here is; I really want to know who designed it."

"Mr. Maroni, I recognize your voice; you're quite a figure in Gotham, so I'll give you a little advice: stop trying to find loopholes and just spend money to upgrade your cabin. Even if you run away, your father Laozi will send you back—now many people in Gotham City know that Luigi is slightly... dissatisfied with your love life."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately turned their gaze to Maroni on the lower bunk; gossip is human nature.

Maroni said nothing—damn it, the matter with Sophia had been exposed.

He then recalled the words Luigi had spoken to him when he visited a few days ago.

"Sal, those two traitors are about to enter prison; that fool Harvey thinks I really let them go—find an opportunity to have someone take them out inside."

Who would have thought that in the few days from the end of that conversation until today, those two could sell him out to his father once again.

"There are two more pieces of advice: first, calmly follow the prison's schedule; both roll call and labor are very important. Second, Mr. Vernon and Mr. Jenkins have also entered prison; you can pay to apply to the prison for a ring battle; if the reason is reasonable, the prison will agree to let you settle personal grudges while wearing protective gear."

Maroni's eyes instantly lit up.

With this interruption, everyone lost the mood to chat; thus, after enduring half the night on the hard, cold bedboards and bedding, everyone finally fell asleep amidst the dripping sound in the corner, the moldy smell of the room, the small black sprites darting by from time to time, and the pitch-black darkness where one couldn't see a hand in front of their face.

Of course, calling it "passing out" would also be appropriate.

(End of this chapter)