48. Gotham: Harbor Tower Glimmer
56.
Some scholars believe that children's understanding of death can usually be divided into several stages - from believing that death is reversible to believing that death only occurs in specific people, and finally realizing that death can never be avoided. This inevitable evolutionary process is a sign of children's mental maturity.
Regardless of the stage, children are inevitably exposed to death. Death is as much an iron law of nature as the sun rising eternally in the east.
If the other person's tone was strange, he would take it as a hint of murder, just like the people in Arkham Asylum, strange questions were often a harbinger of attack.
But now, Aria lowered her hands, frowned slightly, and pushed Batman from one answer to another - she was really confused and really expecting an answer.
People who have never encountered death are like children who have lived in a sterile environment since childhood. It is hard to say whether to say that they are lucky or unfortunate.
Batman, who was well versed in child psychology, paused, tilted his head slightly, and returned the question, "So, in your opinion, what 'dies'?"
Pets don't age, and the cattle and sheep she keeps don't get sick. If the game runs properly, the NPCs Aria encounters will likely live happily ever after. Thinking about it, the only death you'll encounter in life is from monsters in the mines and fish you catch.
——Now there are also red-named targets in Zuzu City.
"I think death only comes to bad people." Aria stared at the cracked ground, mistaking the conversation for casual chat. "Good people don't die."
Perhaps from her perspective, she was just asking a question, but she had no idea what kind of horrifying information was revealed behind the question.
A person who has never encountered death in life naturally cannot feel death, but the fact that he can ask this question makes Batman more inclined to believe that there is something wrong with the other person's growing environment - to a certain extent, it also explains why Aria would kill the Gotham villain.
Perhaps in the eyes of the farmer, life is like the crops she plants. In the cycle of plants withering and flourishing season after season, the most important thing is to distinguish the quality of seeds from the pile of seeds of varying quality.
Good seeds are picked out, and bad seeds are either fed to animals or crushed and used as fertilizer - in the end they all cannot escape destruction.
This is a perfectly natural part of agricultural activity, one that doesn't attract any moral condemnation or criticism. But Aria's problem is that she brought these learned rules into human society, viewing this land called Gotham from the perspective of a farmer.
"Houlihan was a good man, too," Batman stated. "Now he's dead." The whole story is clear now. Gordon will send someone to search the waters, perhaps unearthing the body of this respectable retired policeman. Using him as an example might be inappropriate, but Houlihan himself and his experience are perhaps the best example of how death never favors the good.
"I know." Speaking of Houlihan, even if it was just the plot of the game, Aria couldn't help but feel sorry for him: "It would be great if he was an NPC in Pelican Town."
Like the flickering black and white noise of an old TV, the end of the farmer's words seemed to be suddenly erased by an eraser, and became a vague short tone in Batman's ears.
This ambiguity did not affect what Batman was about to say. He continued to lead the way, half of Aria's body ahead, but his pace was much slower than before.
"Everyone will die." The tall buildings on the ground are the surface skin of Gotham, and the crisscrossing sewers are the blood vessels of Gotham - using this as a passage, Batman can go to most places in the city, but he cannot arrive every time a crime occurs, nor can he prevent all regrets.
Because death never makes sense.
The death of a fighter has been artistically reworked countless times in literary works. Writers have endowed them with unparalleled victories and saintly conduct, making them shine, but all of this is merely a garnish for the impending death—like scattered fruit garnished on top of a dessert.
Their deaths must reflect the dark side of society like a mirror, tear off the high-sounding surface, and make the people in the audience shed tears for the fall of heroes.
But in real life.
"Death is equally and lovingly present to all."
Bruce Wayne once imagined his own death. He might die peacefully as Bruce Wayne, but it is more likely that he would die in various accidents while being Batman - falling from a high altitude, poisoning, revenge from villains, or just collapsing in a Gotham gutter one day - after all, death is never predictable.
The voice, processed by a voice changer, was as deep as a messenger from hell, but the words he spoke actually made up for the life education he had missed: "Maybe now, maybe in the next moment, a person's life will come to an end. This is the truth of life."
Aria looked over, her eyes quite shocked. It was the first time she heard of this. "But it's just a game."
It was another blurry sentence like snowflake noise. Both the farmer and he realized it, but Batman frowned thoughtfully, while Aria wondered if the game had been installed with some banned word MOD.
To make her words clear, Aria tried to gesture. She spread her hands in front of herself, like dropping a chess piece: "This is the world we are in now." A world that exists only for games.
The farmer held up five fingers: "We are the ones standing."
“If we imagine the world as a stage play filled with various landscapes, then our past and the people we love are part of this landscape and can never be changed.”
The graves and deceased people in Pelican Town have forever become a part of the town's landscape.
The farmer's free hand gently cupped the metaphorical hand, as if holding a candle, more like a priest's prayer ritual.
"And the living—the good people among the remaining people—they will not die and will all be happy."
A chill crept up Bruce Wayne's spine through his gear. Batman stared at the farmer intently, as if he wanted to burn a hole in his face with his gaze, while Aria smiled at him.
"Because I'm here now!" Lewis's good helper is here, doesn't Zuzu City have a blue sky?
The last person who tried to be the sun of Gotham's political and legal circles was burned and is now receiving treatment in Arkham Asylum, but he still runs out from time to time to cause some damage.
Bruce Wayne was now quite certain that this kid was crooked from the very beginning.
"In fact, it's very regrettable," he ruthlessly shattered the worldview constructed by the farmer, just like popping a bubble: "No matter whether you are good or bad, in Gotham, if you are killed, you die."
It is well known that Batman does not understand humor, so this sentence can be regarded as a hint of his new background setting as an NPC.
Aria's expression cracked, disbelief filling her face. She seemed to be wondering who had come up with this wicked mod. "You mean, if someone wants to hurt my friends?"
She made an erasing gesture towards her neck. "Will they truly disappear from my life?"
Batman lowered his jaw and gave a forced nod.
The farmer was about to break apart, she was like a flattened bread: "Then you..." If Aria could choose when to go to the mine and when to fight the monsters in the mine, then Batman would be in dire straits, living every day like living in a mine.
"Batman won't fall."
"And I'm not a good person either." If there really is a God who wants to bring happiness to the good people of Gotham City, he probably won't be among them.
It was obvious that Aria didn't agree with what he said, but in order to divert attention, Batman quickly changed the subject back to the first question: "Weren't you worried about Killer Croc before?"
Originally, Aria was not too worried because she thought the person would not die. But now, she was shrouded in a layer of sadness, a little worried that Killer Croc really met with an accident.
...Although from Batman's perspective it is currently difficult for anyone to defeat Killer Croc head-on, he still explained the next arrangements for Waylon.
"Killer Croc's genes are unstable." The distorted gene is like a lone boat drifting on the sea. Its ultimate direction is determined not by the helmsman but by the direction of the wind and waves. "Emotions, environment, and other factors can alter the effect of his 'crocodile' form."
Waylon Jones remained sane most of the time, but when he lost control and turned fully animalistic, the casualties were far worse—a risk no one could afford.
"Arkham Asylum will provide him with appropriate housing after he has paid the legal price for his actions."
"So this is why Killer Croc was locked up in the first place?" The long sewer finally reached the exit. Cold moonlight spread through the gap to her feet. Aria asked, "Because he's dangerous?"
"...Because he committed a crime." Batman tested the sturdiness of the iron stairs and stepped aside to let her go. "That's the only reason."
This was also the reason why he could still chat calmly with Aria here - she hadn't made any big mistakes yet, and in Bruce Wayne's eyes, she was just a wolf cub who almost went astray - although her thoughts and actions were dangerous, and she was always on the edge of the law.
"Okay," the farmer breathed a sigh of relief. She climbed up the stairs and looked back at Batman, who was completely covered in equipment with only his chin exposed, as if she remembered something. "I can hear you pointing at me. I'll be more careful next time." Be careful not to do anything illegal in front of Batman.
Aria's dark eyes curved as she smiled broadly. "Since you said death treats everyone equally, life is fragile, and once lost, it can never be regained..."
"Then please, Mr. Batman, don't forget to demonstrate to me how to cherish life and stay away from danger in the future."
The farmer scratched his head and said, "I think I'm a good student, right?"
...But he at least saw the possibility that she might get better, like the glimmer of light on Gotham's harbor tower.
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Batman is actually quite humorous sometimes
When discussing the topic of Batman and death, the most classic one should be the fate of the Caped Crusader.
This chapter has been revised several times. I am worried about OOC and some other issues. It is really difficult for me to write it. If there are characters that make me dissatisfied or hate them, you can attack the author for not writing well, but I hope you don't attack the characters (Dogeza
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