Chapter 176

"My father was a tyrant, a dictator who didn't allow anyone to question him; I went to great lengths to meet his requirements and become a perfect heir, but he was still on guard against me and wasn't willing to tell me anything."

"I clearly knew that he could rule Cat Getan's underground for so many years not just by relying on his ability and wisdom; I knew..."

"He wasn't the true King of Cat Getan; there was someone else secretly controlling Cat Getan, a mysterious organization, a great organization..."

Batman watched Alberto silently; the movement of the muscles on Alberto's face had completely changed, like a stranger Batman had never seen before; the tone he used to narrate these things carried resentment and indignation, which were also emotions Batman had never heard in Evans's tone.

"But in Evans's words, the Godfather wasn't like that."

"Him? What does he know? Yeah... he is Carmine's perfect son; Carmine created him merely because he felt I wasn't perfect enough..."

"So what exactly happened with your death?"

Alberto snorted coldly; he looked down, and inside the cathedral's crack, there didn't seem to be the reaction he wanted, so, as if killing time, he said to Batman: "I inadvertently learned that Cat Getan is a city that cannot be saved, and those who don't belong here will eventually leave."

"All of this is because of a great organization secretly controlling Cat Getan; they control this city and make it turn according to their will."

"The Godfather? That's just a survivor gasping for breath; he never ruled Cat Getan; he failed in his confrontation with this force, and it was this mysterious organization that let him go, which is why he could become the Godfather."

"In an argument with him, he inadvertently revealed clues about this organization; I investigated secretly to no avail, but inadvertently came into contact with their believers."

"That was a great dark power I had never seen before..." Alberto's tone began to reveal fanaticism, and he said: "His wings have always protected this city, and we will all bow down to him..."

"So, you joined this organization?"

"No, no..." Alberto said somewhat neurotically: "They didn't allow me to join; I don't understand..."

In his manic muttering, Batman seemed to see a group of black owls standing behind him, giggling and saying in Alberto's ear: "You are the descendant of the rebels... you must atone, atone for your bloodline... go, go..."

Alberto knelt halfway on the ground again; he began to tremble all over, his tone became slurred, seeming both resentful and fearful, and he said: "They gave me a knife, a hard and sharp knife; I used it to stab..."

Alberto's tone began to become painful, as if everything he was recounting was different from what was in his memory.

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

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

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

Alberto's tone became full of unwillingness and resentment again: "Carmine was clearly on guard against me long ago; I acted too late!"

"Then he killed you and created Evans?"

"Not him, it was that..." Alberto paused and said somewhat arduously: "It was that priest; they are in cahoots; they know everything..."

"It seems that was indeed a farce; Falcone's eldest son didn't die at all, he just changed his identity."

"But I'm a bit curious, how could this deceive everyone? Your appearances are identical, and your ages are the same; someone would always recognize you, right?"

But just after saying this, Batman realized it and said: "That funeral?"

"... That's right, Carmine invited everyone who had seen me with their own eyes to attend my funeral, and then, they all died, including little Cobblepot's father."

"Does it have nothing to do with the umbrellas?" Batman muttered to himself.

Alberto sneered and said: "It seems you know a lot."

"It is precisely related to the umbrellas; you think Carmine knew nothing about them? You're wrong... no one understands them better than the Godfather, but he never says it."

"Carmine found a loophole; he tampered with the raw materials for a batch of umbrellas, making it impossible for the umbrellas to be delivered on time, and then on a rainy day, he called everyone over, and so they all died."

"He claimed that the fool was my younger brother, who had lived abroad with his mother since childhood, and so he replaced me and became the Godfather's youngest son."

Si Lu Ke

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

"He became a devout believer, often running to the cathedral to pray, but he didn't know that this was exactly the trick Carmine used to make me disappear completely."

"That priest has power beyond ordinary people; I don't know what it is... but he seems to truly be able to influence people's spirits."

"Every time Evans came into contact with him, his personality would become more stable, while Alberto would slowly dissipate."

"But fortunately..." Alberto revealed a smile and said: "In this disaster, the cathedral was destroyed, that priest had to leave, and Evans hasn't prayed to him for a long time."

"So you were resurrected?"

"At first, I couldn't control this body to move on my own, only having a vague consciousness, but I am the true owner of this body; soon, I could control this body when Evans was asleep."

"I have things to do; in order not to let others discover, I managed to control Xie Dun."

"But in the end, you killed him; why?"

"That was a selfish fool, short-sighted, only caring about immediate interests; I had intended to use his position to gather Cat Getan University students at the Easter banquet and then create an Easter egg bombing; those special Easter eggs were also prepared for these students."

"But that stupid principal felt this would damage his reputation; he didn't use the Easter eggs I gave him, so I had no choice but to change methods, sending them to various grocery stores to be sold, or giving them to those gang leaders."

"Why did you do this? Just to cause some trouble?"

"I was doing an experiment."

Alberto's answer was beyond Batman's expectations, but he instinctively thought of a question and asked: "What exactly is that substance in the Easter eggs that can make people go crazy?"

"It's the Immortality Factor."

"Immortality... what?"

"That is something that can make people obtain immortality, making people never die; do you understand?"

Batman didn't speak for a moment; he looked at Alberto's eyes as if looking at a fool; Alberto felt his gaze and said as if in a fit of rage: "You don't understand at all!! This is what that great force relies on to survive! I investigated for a long time..."

He took a deep breath, then said as if he had calmed down: "My contact with them was not without gain; I know that they rely on something called 'Fine Wine' to cultivate those powerful killers."

"'Fine Wine'? What is that?"

"In their records, this factor has the same characteristics as wine, which can make people crazily intoxicated, and can also make people immortal."

"They used this factor to create powerful killers, and I firmly believe that this is exactly the greatness of Him, it is the gift and reward He gives to humanity, and I, I will receive this reward..."

"Give up your weird and absurd theories; there is nothing in this world that can make people immortal."

Alberto revealed a crazy smile; he cast his gaze toward the crack in the center of the cathedral, where a faint green light vaguely emerged, and he said: "Thanks to that priest, thanks to that fool named Evans, I noticed the difference in the cathedral..."

Batman also cast his gaze there and said: "Don't tell me this thing is under the cathedral."

"After the cathedral was damaged, this precious Fine Wine seeped out from the crack; I collected some; in the mysterious organization's records about it, Fine Wine must mature before it can be drunk, but I don't know the time it takes to mature."

"For this reason, I must do an experiment to get the answer; I diluted them, made them into a spray, and put them into the Easter eggs."

"Fine Wine that hasn't been brewed well will make people go crazy, but it doesn't matter... I got the answer I wanted."

Alberto took a deep breath; he knelt halfway down, lay beside the crack, staring fixedly at the light in the crack, and said: "Fine Wine all needs fermentation and aging; just tonight, it will mature; as long as I can obtain the purest Fine Wine, I can be immortal..."

Then he looked up at the Jesus crucifixion statue in front of the cathedral and said with a somewhat trembling tone: "Just like Jesus, I will be resurrected tonight, and return to the Kingdom of Heaven, becoming a deity; those who made me suffer will definitely pay the price..."

"Stop dreaming." Batman's cold tone interrupted Alberto's reverie and said: "First, I think this so-called Fine Wine is a scam; second, I won't give you the chance to obtain it."

"You can't stop me!" Alberto saw that under the increasingly bright moonlight, that green light began to brighten, and a rich aroma of wine was emitted, like some kind of fruit beginning to mature.

He lunged forward like a madman, wanting to jump into that crack.

First, a gunshot hit his shoulder, the recoil sent Alberto falling backward, followed by two darts hitting his knees, causing him to lose the ability to move.

Alberto lay on the ground, as if subdued, but Batman still cautiously didn't walk over, but bypassed the crack and came to Alberto's rear, approaching him from behind.

Just when he was about to approach Alberto, he saw a smile of trickery succeeded in the shadow cast by Alberto's hair.

Batman retreated instantly; a violent explosion sounded from under Alberto; in an instant, the cathedral floor shattered, and the long crack was expanded by the explosion into a large hole; amidst the flying dust, all the cathedral floors ceased to exist.

Batman stood at the edge of the collapse, looking down; he saw that the cathedral basement had turned into a large swimming pool, filled with an unknown green liquid; that liquid emitted a faint light, and the smell was like high-proof alcohol; even inhaling a little made one feel somewhat dizzy.

Batman retreated a few steps, shook his head, and a cold wind blew past, only then did he feel a bit better.

Since the last fire, Batman had added a gas mask to his cowl; he pulled the faceplate, covered his mouth and nose, and then stepped forward, looking down into the green pool.

He didn't see Alberto's figure, but Batman remembered that during the explosion, Alberto had fallen down along with the collapsed cathedral floor and should have fallen into this green pool.

This liquid was too eerie; Batman didn't dare to handle it rashly, and he didn't have suitable salvage tools on hand; just as he intended to turn and leave to prepare tools, he heard a "gurgling" sound of bubbles coming from behind.

Batman turned back and saw that the green pool emitting a faint light had a series of bubbles floating on the surface, as if something was hiding underneath blowing air.

Immediately following, a pale hand stretched out from the edge of the pool; Cat Getan's cold moonlight shone on the back of his hand, and the joints and blood vessels on it were protruding, just like a dried corpse that had been stored for many years.

The moonlight became brighter, the wind became lighter, and the air around the cathedral was condensed into a piece of ice; in this atmosphere about to solidify, in an instant, the Jesus crucifixion statue affected by the explosion collapsed with a bang, shattering into several pieces.

In this long Easter, Jesus was not resurrected, but died completely.

Replacing him was Cat Getan's eternal nightmare, resurrected in madness—

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

---Author's Note---

Ten thousand words delivered today! Seeking votes and tips!

Aha! Didn't expect that, did you!

(Some people expected it, but not completely, hee hee)