dmims Chapter 46 If you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet.
Chapter 46 If you walk by the river often enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet.
"Ughh ...
A terrifying scream ripped through the night as a figure plummeted from the top of the clock tower. As he fell rapidly, he could see the nearby buildings and the ground gradually approaching. The feeling of weightlessness made him kick his legs and scream in agony.
The next second, he suddenly opened his eyes from the bed, his face showing a look of shock, his mouth wide open, and he was breathing heavily.
The foot that had kicked the foot of the bed made a loud thud, attracting the attention of the police officers on duty outside the bedroom.
Gordon knocked on the door and called out, "Prosecutor Torres, are you alright?"
"Hmm..." Torres slowly exhaled, "I'm fine."
Ever since he was attacked by Batman and hung from the top of the clock tower, he has often recalled what happened that day in his dreams and often wakes up from nightmares.
As the saying goes, if you walk by the river long enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet. Torres, who had accepted bribes from the mafia and provided them with services for a long time, making a fortune in the process, had long envisioned his future.
If he's lucky, he'll retire smoothly and successfully; if he's unlucky, he'll be investigated by the government or affected by gang infighting. But he never imagined that he would be hanging upside down from the top of the clock tower by a bat-like monster.
The hoarse voice and the sudden feeling of weightlessness when the hook loosened still linger in his mind.
"Twelve cases, Torres."
The tall, dark figure was like a heavy mountain, pressing down on his heart and breaking down his defenses. "In the Falcone smuggling group money laundering case last July, you withdrew the prosecution due to 'insufficient evidence,' but in reality, you destroyed the transaction records of his Swiss account."
"In April of the same year, in the case of the dockworker's murder, the eyewitness recanted his testimony in court, saying that you threatened him with the custody of his daughter."
"In June of the year before last, Falcone smuggled contraband to prison guards through the black market, profiting 300 million euros. You shifted all the blame onto a deceased intern, allowing him to escape punishment..."
That shadowy figure, referred to by the media as Batman, that monster knew his crimes like the back of his hand.
He didn't know how the other party found out these things, but he knew that once these things were exposed, his current career and future prospects would be ruined.
Torres' first reaction was to beg for mercy.
"Please, let me go. Even if it wasn't me, Falcone would have found someone else. He's the head of Gotham's biggest gang, and no one dares to refuse him. I had no choice but to do this to save my own life."
He racked his brains to promise the other party benefits, "I, I can give you money, lots and lots of money, or whatever you want me to do, anything that I can help you with."
Torres often used his position to seek personal gain, and now he wants to use it to make a living.
Batman disapproved of his actions, but the other party was indeed as easy to compromise as he had expected.
"I want you to file a lawsuit against Falcone."
He needs a prosecutor to handle the legal process on his behalf; personal actions cannot gain public approval or be sustained in the long run.
Batman has always seen himself as a vigilante; judging criminals and convicting them is the job of prosecutors, judges, and government judicial agencies.
Even though he occasionally engages in illegal activities, it is often only occasionally.
Violence and fear do work, especially when dealing with most people who respond better to force than gentleness.
Using this method, he successfully got Torres to talk, but when Falcone was mentioned, the other man shook his head in fear.
No, that won't do.
Even when woken up in the middle of the night by someone's sleep, and with the cold wind blowing on the roof of the clock tower, Torres knew perfectly well what he should and shouldn't do. "That's Falcone, he'll kill me!"
"I can kill you too."
At this point, Batman's no-kill policy was not yet widely known. He intimidated Torres with a blank expression and pushed him off the roof.
Now Torres understood why the other person had brought him to such a high place.
He screamed in terror. It wasn't that no one noticed him, but Gothamites always knew how to protect themselves, and no one would meddle in other people's business.
Just as he was about to fall, the grappling hooks binding his legs saved Torres' life. He was left hanging upside down on the clock tower, his bloodshot and dazed mind swaying as he looked at the surrounding buildings and the road below.
He experienced double vision and became disoriented, but when he was pulled up, he felt an unprecedented clarity of mind.
Batman, gripping the grappling hook, said coldly, "If you don't file a lawsuit, I'll show you what it means to wish you were dead."
The cold wind made Torres's mind even clearer. He swallowed, his eyes glazed over, and said, "Okay, okay."
"You can apply for habeas corpus from the police station. During the investigation, someone will guarantee your safety and that of your family."
Batman disappeared into the night after speaking. Torres came to his senses and wanted to turn around and say something to him, but he could only stare blankly at the empty rooftop except for him.
He wanted to go down, but the door to the roof had been locked long ago. Batman had left him nothing, so Torres had to spend the night in the clock tower in his pajamas, exposed to the cold wind.
Torres was rescued the following morning when the bell keeper came up.
He heeded Batman's warning and quickly conveyed to the GCPD his willingness to file a lawsuit against a series of illegal activities, including human trafficking, organ trading, and human experimentation, that were taking place at Arkham Asylum, and submitted a habeas corpus application.
Although Batman has only been around for a short time, his feat of single-handedly taking down several gang hideouts has already spread throughout Gotham.
Even though most people still believe he is just a legend, a pretext used by gangs to save face when they lose in internal power struggles, there is no doubt that he has become a source of nightmares for some.
Torres hadn't believed that such a person would actually appear, but the sudden feeling of weightlessness and falling was so clear that it tormented him all night long, as if he would return to the clock tower that night as soon as he closed his eyes.
A massive figure materialized from the darkness. With nowhere to escape or retreat, he could only run forward desperately before plunging into the abyss.
Torres was unaware of the other party's origins, purpose, or intentions.
For money? For fame? A conflict with the mafia? Or for revenge?
He wasn't sure if his status was important enough in Batman's eyes, but Torres knew that Batman could kidnap him anytime he wanted, and perhaps one day he would wake up to find himself on the top of the clock tower.
Even Falcone couldn't do anything to Batman, so where could a mere prosecutor like him hide?