Chapter 108: The Battle of Living Hell (1)

Words : 1401 Updated : Sep 19th, 2025

Chapter 108: The Battle of Living Hell (1) In the morning, sunlight shone into the bedroom of Wayne Manor. Bruce sat up from the bed, and Alfred stood outside the door. Bruce asked him, "What time is it now?" "It's nine o'clock, sir," Alfred replied. Bruce was a bit surprised. He walked to the window, opened the curtains, and looked outside. He realized that it was already very bright outside. Since he returned to Gotham, it was the first time he had woken up so late. However, his butler Alfred seemed very happy. When Bruce went downstairs to have breakfast, Alfred stood by with a smiling face. "Alfred, what's going on? Why do you look so happy?" Bruce asked. "Because you seem very happy lately, sir," Alfred replied. Bruce was momentarily stunned. Was he really happy? He touched his face and tried to recall his recent behavior pattern. Due to Schiller's brilliant internship program at Gotham University, Bruce had been very busy lately. During the day, he had to work with other students to control traffic, and at night, he had to run between the hospital and the prison, arranging the relocation of gang members from one place to another. He suddenly realized that he had been spending more time being Bruce than being Batman lately. In the past, he would conceal his true nature while at Wayne Manor. He rarely smiled and was rather quiet. Although he was close to Alfred, he rarely showed any emotional fluctuations. Recently, however, because he had been Bruce for too long, his behavior pattern had become increasingly like that of the playboy persona he had been pretending to be. He no longer had a constant stern expression and occasionally joked around with Alfred. This raised a warning sign in his heart. Since returning to Gotham, he had never slept naturally until nine o'clock, which was an indication that he was relaxing his vigilance. From a psychological perspective, this is actually normal. A person becomes who they are largely because of how they see themselves. Bruce is only 18 years old, just started college. When he throws himself into playing the role of a cheerful and sociable billionaire, he cannot clearly find the boundary between this kind of fake identity and his own personality. After another busy day, Bruce came back to his Bedroom's bathroom, turned on the tap, and washed his face with cold water. The curtains next to him were gently swaying in the evening breeze. The cold color of the Light above his head created dark shadow that gathered at his feet. Bruce put his hands on the vanity, looked at himself in the mirror, and saw a pair of blue eyes. But the Light from top to bottom shrouded his eyes in Brow shadows. "Who am I?" he asked. "Who am I?" "Who am I?" His voice echoed in the empty room, bouncing off the wall and returning to his ears. It was as if another him was asking him this question and he vaguely heard an answer but at the same time, heard nothing. Echo couldn't give him an answer, and Bruce was very clear about this. He reached out his hand to wipe off the fog on the glass, trying to see his eyes clearly but in the end he didn't. He let his entire face and eyes be shrouded in the fog on the surface of the mirror, and then he stood up straight and looked at himself in the mirror like Overlook. "I am Batman." "I am Batman." The corners of his mouth gradually turned down. He wasn't wearing a face mask, but when the Shadow crawled onto his face, his entire face seemed to be covered by a black Mask. Living Hell is often called "Gotham in Gotham" by Gothamites. All residential buildings here are crowded together, buildings and alleys are so narrow that an adult cannot even stretch his arms out, and there is almost no place to step on in such dark and narrow alleyways where a lot of junk is piled up. Batman fell from the rooftop and walked into the first alley of Living Hell. Looking up from the ground, he realized that there was only a very narrow gap left in the sky above his head, and the densely packed wires and antennas above covered most of his field of vision, like a big net hanging over his head. Moving forward in this alley was very difficult, even for Batman. There was almost no light here, except for a faint light coming from a few high windows. After almost tripping over a garbage bag a few times, Batman finally opened his flashlight. But even so, walking here was still very difficult. After walking only a few steps in an alley, Batman found a twisted staircase circling into a dark hallway. He climbed the creaking stairs and when he emerged from the hallway, he found himself on another flat ground. Moving forward, he realized it was the rooftop of a building, with another dark alley below him. Batman found a ladder on the rooftop that led to the other side. Even with Batman's skill, he had to be cautious crossing this kind of ladder. Standing on the ladder and looking down, it was like an endless abyss of layered windows, wires, and garbage bags. All the chaotic and complex things were intertwined, like a hell spreading down layer by layer. After crossing the ladder to the other side, he saw a mountain of garbage bags piled up on a corner of the rooftop. Walking to that side, he found another high-rise building stacked layer by layer. There was a small door on the side that required bending down to pass through. After walking in, Batman finally entered the building in Living Hell. The situation here was worse than outside, with almost no light. The hallways were so narrow that Batman had to lower his head and tighten his arms to crawl up the stairs, or he couldn't make it. Batman felt that calling this kind of passage a staircase was inaccurate. It was more like an intestine. It was so appropriate to call this place Living Hell. The narrow, dark, and cramped hallways were like an intestinal organ in a living body. After climbing two floors, Batman finally saw another small door next to him. After going out through this door, the corridor in front of him finally became a little wider, but the door was still tightly closed. There were various signboards hanging in the hallway, such as Deli, etc. Batman suddenly realized with surprise that there seemed to be an ecosystem in Living Hell. Walking down the corridor, he found a total of six small doors leading to the other complex passages. According to Batman's estimate, the structures of these six passages should correspond to the entrances of six directions of the building, just like when he came. "This is bizarre and wonderful," thought Batman. This city was like a microcosm of Gotham, worthy of the title "Gotham within Gotham." He was surprised to find that not only were there various living facilities here, but the electricity, water, and communication systems were also self-contained. Thick water pipes extended forward into the dark corridors like blood vessels, and messy electric wires hung overhead like dense nerves. Countless posters and advertisements were posted beside each doorway, and there were even mailboxes in front of many doors. It was the first time Batman had seen this side of Gotham. After all, he didn't have the Batmobile before, and his scope of crime-fighting was basically centered on Wayne Tower, spreading outwards for a short distance. Most of the robbers were also within this range. After all, that was the most prosperous commercial street in Gotham. But now, he was in the midst of Living Hell and saw another side of Gotham that was unknown to the public, or rather, the reality under Gotham's prosperous surface. However, it was strange that this place was dark, cramped, terrifying, and bizarre, but with a complete ecosystem. It exuded a different kind of vitality and charm, even a fascinating beauty. Batman thought he might be going crazy. He even felt that this real and chaotic scenery was the ultimate answer to this city.

Chapter 108: The Battle of Living Hell (1)

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