The Long Easter (End)

"My father was a tyrant, a dictator who did not allow anyone to question him. I tried my best to meet his requirements and become a perfect successor, but he was still wary of me and unwilling to tell me anything."

"I know perfectly well that he was able to rule Gotham's underworld for so many years not just because of his ability and intelligence, I know..."

"He is not the true King of Gotham. Someone else is secretly controlling Gotham, a mysterious organization, a great organization..."

Batman stared silently at Alberto, Alberto facial muscles had completely changed, as if he were a complete stranger to Batman. Alberto recounted these events with resentment and indignation, emotions that Batman had never heard in Evans's voice before.

"But according to Evans, the Godfather was not like that."

"Him? What does he know? Yes... he's Carmine's perfect son. Carmine created him simply because he thought I wasn't perfect enough..."

"So what exactly happened to you?"

Alberto scoffed. He glanced down at the crack in the church; there seemed to be no reaction from within. So, as if passing the time, he said to Batman, "I've learned by chance that Gotham is a city beyond saving; those who don't belong here will eventually leave."

"It's all because of a great organization that secretly controls Gotham. They control the city and make it revolve around their will."

"The Godfather? He was just a survivor clinging to life. He never ruled Gotham. He failed in his fight against this power. It was this mysterious organization that let him go, which allowed him to become the Godfather."

"During an argument with him, he inadvertently revealed clues about the organization. I secretly investigated without success, but I inadvertently came into contact with their followers."

"That was a great Dark Force I had never seen before..." Alberto's voice began to tremble with fanaticism. "His wings have always protected this city, and we will all bow down to him..."

"So, you joined this organization?"

"No, no..." Alberto said nervously, "They won't let me join, I don't understand..."

In his frantic soliloquy, Batman seemed to see a flock of black night owls standing behind him, chuckling and whispering in Alberto's ear, "You are a descendant of the rebels... You must atone, atone for your bloodline... Go, go..."

Alberto knelt down again, his body trembling, his voice becoming slurred, seemingly filled with both resentment and fear. He said, "They gave me a knife, a hard and sharp knife, and I used it to stab..."

Alberto's tone began to sound pained, as if everything he was saying was different from what he remembered.

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

"No, I didn't... I just want to atone for my sins, I want to..."

"You wanted to kill him, but you failed in the end, didn't you?"

Alberto's tone turned resentful and bitter. "Carmine was clearly on guard against me all along. I was too late!"

"And then he killed you and created Evans?"

"It wasn't him, it was that..." Alberto paused, then said with some difficulty, "It was that priest, they're in cahoots, they know everything..."

"It seems that it was indeed a farce. Falcone's eldest son did not die at all, but simply changed his identity."

"But I find it strange, how could this be fooled by everyone? You all look exactly alike, and you're the same age, surely someone would recognize you?"

But as soon as he said that, Batman realized what he meant and said, "The funeral?"

"... That's right, Carmine invited everyone who had seen me in person to my funeral, and then they all died, including that little Cobblepot's father."

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

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

"It's all about umbrellas. You think Carmine knows nothing about them? You're wrong... No one knows them better than the Godfather, but he never says it."

"Carmine took advantage of a loophole. He tampered with the raw materials for a batch of umbrellas, causing them to be unable to be delivered on time. Then, on a rainy day, he summoned everyone, and they all died."

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

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

"He became a devout believer and frequently went to church to pray, but he didn't know that this was exactly what Carmine did to make me disappear completely."

"That priest had superhuman strength, I don't know what it was... but he seemed to really be able to influence people's minds."

"Each time Evans had contact with him, his personality would become more stable, while Alberto would slowly dissipate."

"But fortunately..." Alberto smiled and said, "The church was destroyed in this disaster, the 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 the body's movements on my own; I only had a vague consciousness. But I am the true master of this body. Soon, I will be able to control this body while Evans is asleep."

"I had something to do, and to keep it from being discovered by others, I managed to take control of Sheldon."

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

"That's a selfish idiot, short-sighted, only concerned with immediate gains. I originally wanted to use his position to gather Gotham University students together at the Easter banquet and then stage an Easter egg explosion. Those special Easter eggs were all prepared for these students."

"But that idiot principal thought it would damage his reputation, so he didn't use the Easter eggs I gave him. So I had to find another way and sell them in various grocery stores or give them to those gang leaders."

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

"I did it to conduct an experiment."

Alberto's answer surprised Batman, but he instinctively thought of a question and asked, "What exactly is that insane substance in the Easter egg?"

"It is the Immortality Factor."

"Immortality... what?"

"It's something that can grant immortality, making people never die, do you understand?"

Batman was speechless for a moment. He looked at Alberto as if he were a fool. Alberto sensed his gaze and said, as if enraged, "You don't understand at all!! This is what that great power relies on for survival! I've investigated it for a long time..."

He took a deep breath, and then, as if calming down, said, "My contact with them was not without results. I know that what they rely on to train those powerful Assassin is something called 'Fine Wine'."

"'Fine Wine'? What's that?"

"According to their records, this factor has properties similar to alcohol, capable of making people go crazy and become intoxicated, and also capable of making people immortal."

"They used this factor to create powerful Assassin, and I firmly believe that this is precisely His greatness, His gift and reward to humanity, and I, I will receive this reward..."

"Abandon your bizarre and absurd theories. Nothing in this world can make people live forever."

Alberto grinned maniacally, his gaze fixed on the crack in the center of the cathedral, where a faint green light emanated. He said, "Thanks to that priest, thanks to that idiot named Evans, I've sensed something different about the cathedral..."

Batman also looked in that direction and said, "Don't tell me this thing is under the church."

"After the church was damaged, this precious Fine Wine seeped out from the cracks. I collected some. According to the records of that mysterious organization, the Fine Wine must mature before it can be drunk, but I don't know when it matures."

"To find the answer, I had to do an experiment. I diluted them, made a spray, and put it into Easter eggs."

"Unfinished Fine Wine can drive people crazy, but it doesn't matter... I got the answer I was looking for."

Alberto took a deep breath, knelt down, and lay prostrate beside the crack, staring intently at the light within. He said, "Fine Wine need fermentation and aging. Tonight, it will mature. If I can obtain the purest Fine Wine, I can live forever..."

Then he looked up at the Jesus in front of the church and said in a trembling voice, "Like Jesus, I will rise again tonight and return to heaven as a god. Those who caused me suffering will pay the price..."

"Stop dreaming." Batman's cold tone interrupted Alberto's reverie. He said, "First of all, I think this so-called Fine Wine is a scam, and secondly, I won't give you the chance to get it."

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

He lunged forward like a madman, trying to jump into the crevice.

First, a shot hit his shoulder, the recoil causing Alberto to fall backward. Then, two darts struck his knees, rendering him immobile.

Alberto lay prone on the ground, seemingly subdued, but Batman remained cautious, avoiding the crack and instead approaching from Alberto.

Just as he was about to approach Alberto, he saw a sly smile appear in the shadow cast by Alberto's hair.

Batman instantly retreated, and a violent explosion erupted beneath Alberto. In an instant, the church floor shattered, the long crack widening into a large hole. Amidst the flying dust, the entire church floor was destroyed.

Batman stood on the edge of the collapse, looking down. He saw that the church's underground had turned into a large swimming pool, filled with an unknown green liquid. The liquid emitted a faint glow and smelled like strong liquor; even inhaling a little bit would make one feel dizzy.

Batman took a few steps back, shook his head, and a gust of cold wind blew past, making him feel a little better.

Since the last fire, Batman has been wearing a gas mask over his face. He pulled down his mask to cover his mouth and nose, then stepped forward and looked down into the green pool.

He didn't see Alberto, but Batman remembered that during the explosion, Alberto fell down with the collapsed church floor, probably into this green pool.

The liquid was too strange for Batman to handle rashly. He also didn't have the right tools to retrieve it. Just as he was about to turn around and leave to get the tools, he heard a gurgling sound of bubbles behind him.

Batman turned around and saw the green pool that was emitting a faint glow, with a series of bubbles rising to the surface, as if something was blowing from below.

Then, a pale hand emerged from the edge of the pool. The cold Gotham moonlight shone on the back of his hand, making the knuckles and veins stand out like a mummified corpse that had been stored for many years.

The moonlight grew brighter, the wind gentler, and the air around the cathedral seemed to freeze solid. In this atmosphere of impending freeze, in an instant, the crucifixion statue of Jesus, caught in the blast, collapsed and shattered into pieces.

During this long Easter, Jesus did not rise from the dead, but died completely.

Instead, Gotham's eternal nightmare was resurrected in madness—

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"

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Aha! You didn't expect that, did you!

(Someone thought of it, but not completely, hehe)