The confessional
Roland took Hugo Strange back to the Church and locked him in the basement.
This Abandoned Church had a very hidden basement, which Roland hadn't discovered even after living there for over a week. It was only when those kids were wandering around the Church that they found it.
Roland didn't know the purpose of the basement, but it felt a little strange.
The next day.
The Maroni Family searched all over Gotham City for Professor Hugo's whereabouts, but to no avail.
Roland was leisurely reading comics in the Church, with a box of chocolates next to him, which he would eat every now and then.
"Boss, a strange guy's come over there. He says he wants to confess in the confessional."
"Confessional?" Roland was taken aback, recalling a story about Nuns and a fish. "Our Church offers that kind of service?"
"Most Church have these services, but we don't offer any to the general public," the young man said frankly. "However, he just donated some money and is now waiting in the confessional. Why don't you go and offer him your services?"
"What do you mean by 'service'... it sounds so weird." Roland rolled his eyes and put on his priest's robe.
Roland entered the dimly lit Dark Room and then went outside the confessional.
The confessional is a Dark Room where believers who need to pray or repent stay, while the Priest listens outside. Inside, believers open their hearts and ask the Priest to forgive their sins.
For some, pouring out their innermost secrets can lighten the burden on their souls and prevent them from sinking deeper into a quagmire. The true meaning of confession is to shake off the dust and face one's original intentions.
Others may find reasons to justify their actions, thus repeatedly committing crimes to justify their behavior.
But no matter what, what is said in the confessional goes from the penitent's mouth to the Priest's ear, and that's it. The Priest has no obligation to report or expose anything. Even if the Priest secretly and anonymously reports what the penitent did afterward, what he said in the confessional will not be taken as evidence by the police.
Therefore, in the confessional, the penitent often tells the truth.
Of course, this excludes people like Little Northeast who come specifically to rob others.
"Honorable Father... I want to confess to you... I have sinned..." Roland sat down on one side of the confessional, and a voice came from the other side of the wooden board, sounding like a young man.
"Ah, my child, tell me what crime you have committed," Roland said, his words not quite standard, but the man opposite him didn't seem to care much and began to talk about his own affairs.
"I killed someone," the man said calmly.
"Uh..." Roland gasped, thinking to himself, "No wonder this is Gotham City; even a random believer's reason for confessing is so weighty." "Then... can you tell me your reason for killing him?"
"This story begins in my childhood..."
Roland sat up straight. Here it comes, the peculiar childhood tragedy typical of DC Supervillains!
Mr. Freeze's mother fell into an icy lake when he was a child, which caused her brain to freeze. Scarecrow was locked in a dark basement by his father, who was researching chemical weapons. The basement was filled with creepy models, and his father watched his every move on a monitor until he was terrified and broke out in a cold sweat before releasing him.
Killer Croc suffered discrimination and bullying from a young age because he looked like a cold-blooded animal; Bane was born in prison and almost had his workplace investigated by a pedophile; Mad Hatter was extremely insecure because of his short stature, and later, in an attempt to grow taller, he consumed an undeveloped drug that resulted in disfigurement; as for Black Mask... domestic violence has become a family tradition.
Even in the Joker's fictional stories, his childhood was incredibly miserable, and it's hard to say how much of it is true.
"... My name is Victor Zsasz. My family is extremely wealthy. I had a carefree childhood and became the head of our family's international company at a young age."
"Huh?" Roland was taken aback. "And then?"
"But when I was 25, my parents died... they died in a boating accident..."
"I'm sorry, but what does that have to do with you committing murder?"
"I felt incredibly depressed at the time... I couldn't sleep every night because of the pain, and to relieve this pain, I could only gamble every day. Only by squandering money in casinos all over the world could I find a sliver of comfort."
"One night not long ago, I went to a casino in Gotham City and gambled away all the money I had left, but in the end, I lost it all to the Penguin."
"Good heavens..." Roland was dumbfounded. Although gambling is harmful, betting to this extent was just too outrageous!
"After losing my last bit of money, I was in despair. In my despair, I decided to jump off the Gotham Bridge and commit suicide."
"However, before I jumped off the bridge, a homeless man tried to rob me at knifepoint. I instinctively grabbed the knife... and then killed him..."
"This could be considered excessive self-defense, but there were reasons for it, and God will forgive you," Roland said after thinking for a moment.
"Oh, and that's not all I have to confess... No, to be honest, I never intended to confess at all," Victor Zsasz continued. "That night, I realized that many people's lives are meaningless; they are trapped in the world and need me to liberate them..."
"What did you say?" Roland thought he had misheard.
"Priest, you're not angry, are you? Don't Wrath. They're just Zombie, and I'm just helping them find their way out..." The man chuckled lightly. "In my opinion, it's cruel of you to try and prolong their meaningless lives, Priest, don't you understand?"
"... You madman, why did you come here to provoke me for no reason?" Roland stood up abruptly, exerting force with his hand, shattering the entire confessional.
"Ha... you still want to fight me?" Victor Zsasz took off his clothes, revealing his battered body. "Every time I kill someone, I make a cut on myself to keep count. Looks like I'll have to add another one today."
"You deserve to be torn to pieces... but I'm afraid of letting you have any pleasure." Roland threw a punch with such force that it almost created a whirlwind.
"Hey, this isn't good. Didn't you say God would forgive me?" Victor Zsasz pulled out two knives and slashed at Roland's wrist, but Roland deflected them with tremendous force.
"Well, if he doesn't forgive you when you see him, you can appear in my dream." Roland ignored Victor Zsasz's knife and thrust forward with all his might, sending him flying.
Iron Mountain Lean!
"What... is this?" Victor Zsasz felt as if he had been hit by a Truck, with several broken bones, and he lay on the ground unable to move.
"You don't need to know." Roland carried the nearly broken Victor Zsasz to the basement. "Now, you should just look forward to seeing my big brother, God."