Finally, Constantine and Bruce sat side by side on the roadside, looking at the neon lights of the bustling commercial street across from them. Constantine's brain, numbed by drugs and alcohol, always saw many illusions in such lights. Then, Constantine said to Bruce:
"You don't belong here, you shouldn't have come here, you should go back to where you live, not sitting here with a bitter smile."
"Yes, they all say the same." Bruce replied, they say I don't belong here, that I should have left a long time ago. I don't live in the same society as them and I can't find any answers here.
"No, that's not what I meant." Constantine said, "When I tell an angel that they should not walk in the realm of Hell, I'm not saying how beautiful Heaven is, urging them to go back and enjoy such life. I'm warning them not to get involved with us."
"Those who are already deep in the abyss can't save others. They can't even save themselves. I now can't stand straight and feel like throwing up. My mind is full of filthy illusions. You can't expect me to help the poor in a charity house, can't expect me to spread the gospel in a church, can't expect me to change the city…"
Constantine looked at his own palm, covered with lines of age. Even though he wasn't particularly old age, the poor habits over the years had led his body to the brink of collapse. He said, "You're young, strong, dynamic, wealthy and stable. You can do many things that I can't. Those are things I once wanted to do but never finished…"
"Why didn't you succeed?" Bruce asked.
"Because I was pulled down by a hand stretching out from Hell. That's my fate." Constantine looked back at the slum alley and said, "Whether they were born in Hell or lured halfway, they're not inherently bad people. Perhaps they too dreamed of saving the world."
"Don't think it's childish, Batman. The things you thought and gave time to in the attic may not have achieved the results you wanted. They might be minuscule compared to what you could do, but it's not ridiculous."
"You think everyone is watching you, ridiculing you. You could have done it perfectly but only did a fraction, yet you're proud of it."
"But in fact, if someone has benefited from you, they will only be grateful. And those who haven't, have no place demanding more on behalf of those who were helped. Because it's not the bystanders that saved them, it's you."
"Like me, you tried to save me, but for some reason, you didn't have the ability to. I saw the effort you put in, that's why I consider you my friend. And if someone came out and said that you didn't try hard enough, that you should put in more effort to save me, I'd give them one hell of a punch."
Constantine looked at Bruce's face and found that his expression did not relax. He understood what Bruce was thinking now. His soul's frequency was expressing his current mood.
Before this, Batman might have thought everything very simple. His aim was to fight crime and avenge his parents. He thought he had been very successful. In just two years, he had stopped countless crimes.
Later, Bruce Wayne also planned to make some changes. He planned to use the power of Wayne Enterprises to do more. He was originally full of enthusiasm for this.
But the brutal reality was a hard knock on the head. He discovered that the reason Gotham had become this way was not what he imagined. Criminals had no shame, the poor were unwilling to work hard, and those trapped in this whirlpool had trouble looking after themselves. When trouble came to him, he also couldn't escape.
What he had done and thought before seemed very ridiculous. He was not the night, as standing on the roof of the Wayne building, the night he saw was still not dark enough. He was not revenge either, because the tragic fate might not be due to a couple of criminals he defeated.
Constantine took a deep breath. He realized that Bruce was in a very dangerous state. His spirit was sliding towards a certain abyss, and some hidden natural instincts were being awakened.
He did his best to comfort Bruce, but Constantine knew he wasn't very good at comforting people.
If Batman doesn't put things into perspective, the consequences will be severe. It is not simply just an ordeal of a well-trained superhero turning into a supervillain but the collapse of Wayne Enterprises is the most terrifying.
Constantine rubbed his eyes with his palm, thought for a moment, and decided to call for external help. He left Bruce and headed to the nearest public telephone booth, made a call to the Gotham Police Department.
At the Gotham Police Department, Gordon was interrogating Cobblepot.
But he was also impatient with this job, because he knew that no matter which hospital Cobblepot went to, he could be diagnosed with a mental illness. In the end, he definitely wouldn't be locked up in prison but would be sent to Arkham Asylum. Yet that place had become a mob boss's base. Going there would be like Cobblepot going home.
Moreover, whenever it came to key information about hiring a killer, Cobblepot would draw a cross on his chest. Everyone in Gotham knew what that meant. The chief of police was working for the godfather. As Gordon interrogated, the chief's face grew more and more ugly.