Blackgate Penitentiary

Blackgate Penitentiary

"Space-Time Portal: Cooling Down (7h-3m-21s)"

He turned right at the obtuse corner of the long, silent corridor.

"The people here sure aren't friendly."

Li Zu raised his hands bound by "silver bracelets" and wiped away the blood trickling from his nose.

He did not look to be in good shape. Having just regained his freedom from the Lasso of Truth, the divine power's erosion of his mind was severe.

Even so, his overly familiar personality had not settled down at all.

"The people here are murderers, robbers, rapists. Of course... not all of them target women~" The prison guard looked at Li Zu with undisguised malice, clearly implying something.

"That's why I prefer blue-and-white clothes. Yellow just happens to be my least favorite color," Li Zu said solemnly.

"Is that so? What a pity." The guard pressed his lips together and said no more.

The two crossed two sections and entered an office.

Before going in, Li Zu deliberately glanced at the nameplate on the door.

Warden Joseph.

Inside, a man in a striped suit sat behind the desk.

His pitch-black face and lips so thick they looked ready to launch into a rap at any moment made it hard for Li Zu to find any memorable feature on the warden.

After thinking carefully, he realized that "warden" was the man's only distinguishing trait.

Warden Joseph was flipping through a newspaper.

A television was mounted on the wall to his left.

It was playing an interview with a famous Gotham figure.

"Mr. Bruce Wayne, how do you plan to spend this evening?"

"When will TV news stop being gossip news?" Warden Joseph picked up the remote with an annoyed look.

He changed the channel.

"Calendar Man has been arrested. It is said Batman did it. Commissioner Gordon?"

Amid the heavy snow, a microphone was held before the stern-faced middle-aged man.

"There is no Batman in this world. That is nothing but your imagination!" Commissioner Gordon righteously denied the reporter's claim.

"I'm really glad you're still alive~" Li Zu muttered to himself in relief as he looked at the figure on the television.

The last time he had seen the man, he had been lying in a pool of blood.

Li Zu could never quite figure out his old boss, Joker.

If Li Zu himself was trying to experience chaos, then Joker was chaos itself.

"So, sir...?" Warden Joseph turned off the television. Frowning at Li Zu, who was covered in blood and looked miserable, he asked, "Can you tell me how you appeared here?"

He picked up the steaming coffee on his desk and dropped two sugar cubes into the cup.

The teaspoon stirred softly.

"I don't believe anyone would deliberately escape to Blackgate Penitentiary and choose to spend Christmas Eve in this hell." His gaze remained fixed on Li Zu's face, his expression calm and composed.

"Is this hell?" Li Zu asked with curious interest.

He had just left one hell.

Still, he cooperatively answered the warden's question. "Flash. I thought he was supposed to send me back to Arkham Asylum."

Li Zu pondered it. "But it seemed like something was wrong with his head? For some reason, he sent me here instead." A person who ran too fast might have trouble using his brain.

"Flash?"

Warden Joseph's response surprised Li Zu. "Who is that? I've only heard of Batman... Actually, two years ago, I preferred the Christmas Eve rumors about Santa Claus over some caped freak."

"Arkham Asylum? If you want to go to an asylum, you need to fill out paperwork and submit an application. But they do not work on Christmas Eve."

"Is that so..."

Li Zu fell silent, though the corners of his mouth could not help rising.

Why had Flash sent him to Blackgate Penitentiary instead of Arkham Asylum?

Did Flash know Li Zu was not insane?

Of course not!

Then why?

There was only one other explanation.

Even if Flashpoint had been altered, Flash had still inevitably affected this world.

For example, Batman was still merely an urban legend at this point in time.

After the world was altered, Flash's memories had inevitably been "altered" as well.

So, in Flash's "memories," Gotham had only Blackgate Penitentiary and no Arkham Asylum for locking up "talented people" at all.

Perhaps nothing had begun yet, or perhaps everything was completely different.

"So, sir, can you answer my earlier question now?" Warden Joseph set down his coffee cup.

"I forgot. Maybe I killed someone? Or maybe I was kidnapped and brought here?"

Li Zu spread his hands.

There were still more than seven hours before he left this world.

For now, doing nothing was the better option.

"Can I go back to my cell?" he asked.

"You are the first person who has wanted to move in," Warden Joseph said. "But this is your last chance to leave. If you give up your chance to explain, Blackgate Penitentiary would not mind gaining another permanent resident serving life."

Compared to hearing someone explain where he came from, Warden Joseph was probably more interested in the Christmas Eve snowstorm.

"Can I eat my Christmas portion of turkey early?" Li Zu asked instead. "The portion that belongs to me."

"Take him back. We will have another long-term resident from now on." Warden Joseph waved a hand, telling the guard to take Li Zu away.

Bang. The office door slammed shut.

Warden Joseph rubbed his brow. "What a lunatic... How did he get in here? But I have another problem to deal with now!"

Li Zu returned to his "room," a new "room."

He was specially permitted to take a hot shower and change into a new set of clothes—a yellow prison uniform, the color he hated most.

Someone outside began singing Christmas carols.

Others joined in harmony.

Li Zu turned over on the bed.

He would sleep for seven hours, then say goodbye to this "repaired" world.

But sleep never came as expected.

So he got up, moved to the bars, and greeted the one-eyed middle-aged man locked behind iron bars across from him. "Merry Christmas~"

Hearing him, the one-eyed middle-aged man stopped what he was doing and glanced at him.

He had been doing push-ups, his feet braced against the bed.

One after another, each one powerful.

"Have you heard of Toyman?" Li Zu asked with his usual familiarity.

The man even turned his remaining eye away, too lazy to waste it on Li Zu.

"I am one. I should have been famous a few dozen minutes ago, though I cannot guarantee there is not another Toyman in this world." He gripped the iron bars as though lost in thought.

After a long pause, he asked, "Do you like toys?"

"Hmph!" That was the one-eyed man's final answer.

He stopped exercising, lay down on the bed, and closed his eyes to rest.

His expression plainly said, "Don't bother me."

Then the muscular bald giant in the neighboring cell roared at Li Zu, "Shut up, you yellow-skinned pig!! You're disturbing my sleep!!"

"Hehehe~" Li Zu smiled and obediently shut his mouth.

Thank you to Santu River Naraku for the 500 Qidian Coins donation, Pen to You_You Do It for the 100 Qidian Coins donation, and Fan World Dream for the 500 Qidian Coins donation.

(End of Chapter)