The Long Easter (IV)

At the Gotham Police Department, Gordon shook out his trench coat, pushed open the door, and strode quickly into his office. He found Schiller and Batman already waiting for him. Gordon said with a headache, "Judging from my colleagues’ reports, the situation isn’t optimistic."

He walked over to his desk and sat down. "Honestly, your move was very effective, but the losses were severe. Gotham’s entire groundwater system has been destroyed, and quite a few building foundations have been damaged as well."

"Of course, we anticipated that." Schiller nodded. At that moment, Victor walked in carrying a stack of documents. Gordon stood up and poured everyone a cup of hot coffee.

The others gathered around the table and sat down, drinking hot coffee as they talked. Only Batman stood alone in the corner of the room.

"The losses are indeed substantial, but they haven’t exceeded our estimates." Victor pointed to several lines in the report. "The process of water freezing into ice causes expansion in volume. We accounted for that, so the damage to the sewer system is within our projected range."

"Roughly how much?" Gordon asked after taking a sip of coffee.

"All of it."

Gordon sprayed out a mouthful of water. "I knew the losses were serious, but you’re telling me Gotham’s entire groundwater system has been destroyed?"

Batman’s voice came from the side. "It’s actually worse than that. Not only were the underground structures affected, but many buildings on Gotham’s surface have foundations that can’t withstand low temperatures. A great number of buildings have cracked and will all need to be rebuilt."

"The losses are far too severe. Didn’t you consider this before making the plan?" Gordon asked, deeply puzzled. "Our logistics system had only just begun to take shape, and now we have to start all over again."

"We anticipated this long ago, but as the saying goes, you can’t build without first tearing down."

Schiller sighed. "Detective Gordon, you should also know that although the construction of the logistics system has given Gotham some momentum, it’s still nowhere near enough."

"This place may have some advantages, but none are absolute. We have no flagship industries and nothing that other cities can’t replace."

"What we need to do now is artificially give Gotham an advantage that no other city in the world can imitate."

"I understand what you mean, but I don’t understand what that has to do with the losses caused by freezing Gotham."

Schiller gave Victor a look, signaling him to explain. Victor said to Gordon, "I think you should understand that a low-temperature generator capable of freezing all of Gotham in an instant can’t possibly be an ordinary ice maker."

"The reason the low-temperature generator can achieve that effect is because its ‘ice’ is different."

"Ice? What’s different about ice?"

"Have you ever heard of ‘super ice’?"

Gordon shook his head. Victor said, "You don’t need to understand its principles. In short, I used a newly developed kind of super ice in the low-temperature generator."

"Once it comes into contact with water, its crystallization speed exceeds one thousand kilometers per hour. It can still exist at temperatures above one thousand degrees Celsius. With further improvements, I think I might be able to freeze all of Earth’s oceans in a single day."

Hearing that, Gordon drew in a sharp breath and looked Victor over again. This scholarly professor always seemed mild-mannered and refined, but what he said had all the gravitas of a final villain.

"This isn’t the kind of little ice cube we put in drinks. In terms of both hardness and stability, it’s no worse than metal. You can think of it as an artificial diamond structure, only slightly less hard and with the low-temperature properties of ice."

"So…" Schiller summarized, "the reconstruction issue you’re worried about does exist, but it isn’t an ordinary reconstruction issue. And it will bring an unexpected benefit."

"This ice is indeed extremely difficult to handle, but likewise, once we put it to use, all of Gotham underground will become a vast natural cold-storage facility."

Schiller then revealed the entire subsequent reconstruction plan for Gotham to Gordon.

The next stage of Gotham City’s reconstruction would not involve melting all the ice. In fact, that would be extremely difficult. The ice created by Mr. Freeze, Victor, was not ordinary edible ice. This Dense Ice was extraordinarily hard and required extremely high temperatures to melt. Rather than ice for cooling, it was more like a sturdy building material.

This ice had replaced the rock layers beneath Gotham. In other words, the entire city now rested atop one enormous mass of Dense Ice.

Therefore, during reconstruction, there would be no need to consider melting the ice. They could simply carve passages through it and transform all of Gotham underground into a massive natural cold-storage facility.

This ice was difficult to process, and construction would progress slowly, but fortunately, it could be taken and used as needed, allowing the work to be completed in stages.

For example, if they wanted to build a cold-storage warehouse, they could choose a location, construct the building aboveground, and then start digging downward. Once they dug out a room, they could throw the products inside to freeze them first, then slowly excavate the other rooms.

The process would be slow and consume a great deal of manpower and resources, but once completed, they would have a natural cold-storage facility with virtually no maintenance costs and ample space, fully capable of meeting the storage needs of bulk goods.

More importantly, Victor’s freezing technology had unparalleled preservation abilities. In the comics, he had frozen Batman into an ice block many times, then chatted with him.

Batman always emerged from the ice completely unharmed and could still beat up Mr. Freeze afterward. Aside from Batman’s protagonist aura, Victor’s freezing technology’s remarkable preservation abilities were also an important reason.

The technology of Gotham’s villainous geniuses was just that absurd, but if it was used for legitimate purposes, it was simply an unprecedentedly powerful productive force.

When the cost of cold-chain storage in a city was reduced to the absolute minimum, it would be impossible for that city not to become a logistics hub. Producers seeking to lower their logistics costs would surely flock there.

Gordon wore a thoughtful expression, then said, "You mean we won’t repair the sewers, but instead use these ice layers as natural cold-storage facilities?"

"We still need sewers, but we can rebuild a new sewer system. These Dense Ice layers, which can exist at room temperature, will become Gotham’s trump card for development."

"This enormous underground cold-storage facility will be able to handle the storage of cold-chain products for the entire East Coast. Gotham will become a place that cold-chain transportation across the country cannot bypass."

Gordon looked at Batman. Batman was silent for a while, then said, "By my calculations, this is indeed achievable. There are still many technical problems, and reconstruction will take a great deal of time, but once it succeeds, Gotham will become a world-class logistics distribution center."

"It will also be difficult for other cities to replicate this success. Even if they obtain Victor’s freezing technology, they will have a hard time finding such a cooperative Court of Owls."

"Their artificial rain technology is indeed impressive. It lasts a long time and produces a great volume of rainfall, allowing them to gather enough water to create stable ice layers in an extremely short time. That’s quite rare." Schiller commented.

Gordon was almost starting to feel sorry for the Court of Owls. They had been sold out and were still helping count the money.

"Originally, I was a little interested in the Court of Owls’ artificial rain technology," Schiller continued. "After all, you’ve seen that its effects are quite good."

"But after thinking it over, even if we obtained the technology, we would still need to spend a huge amount to implement it. And flooding Gotham just to build an underground natural cold-storage facility wouldn’t be approved by the Federal Government."

"So it’s better to let the Court of Owls work for us."

"What they’ve done now is quite good. They launched a flood, created the world’s largest underground cold-storage facility, and made an outstanding contribution to Gotham City’s future development. I think we should give them some kind of Outstanding Contribution Award."

"But there’s a problem." Gordon said somewhat hesitantly. "I’m not trying to rain on the parade, but as you just said, these ice layers are extremely difficult to process. It’s a massive project and probably won’t be cheap. Rebuilding an additional sewer system will also cost money…"

Schiller placed both hands on the table. Suddenly changing the subject, he said to Gordon, "Detective Gordon, have you ever handled a kidnapping case?"

"A kidnapping case? I encountered a few back when I was in Chicago, but after coming to Gotham, there have only been murder cases. There haven’t been any kidnappings."

"Even when there is a kidnapping, the hostage is already dead before the police arrive at the scene, so naturally it can’t really be called a kidnapping."

"That’s fine. You only need to understand the principle."

"The principle? What are you trying to say?"

Schiller took a sip of hot coffee. As warmth flowed into his stomach, he gave a satisfied sigh, then said, "No rush. Let’s first analyze the current situation."

"Gotham faced the danger of a flood because of several days of unceasing heavy rain. We took a series of emergency measures, and although the losses were massive, we saved countless citizens’ lives and property."

"Now, our investigation has determined that this flood was a man-made conspiracy. A group of terrorists used a weather-disaster weapon against Gotham, and now…"

Schiller drew out the last word, then continued, "The culprits are currently frozen inside the enormous ice mass beneath Gotham. Detective Gordon, what do you think is the most important part of a kidnapping case?"

Gordon thought for a moment. "What is it? Persuading the kidnappers? Protecting the hostages?"

"That’s for the police. But right now, we’re the kidnappers."

Schiller tapped the tabletop and emphasized, "Demanding ransom."

"Obviously, the hostages are already in our hands. We can start talking about money now, can’t we?"

Gordon’s mouth fell open. He swept his gaze over Schiller, Batman, and Victor. "So this was your ultimate goal all along: use the flood the Court of Owls caused themselves to freeze them all underground, then… demand ransom????"

Schiller gestured to Victor. Holding the stack of documents, Victor said, "The location of the low-temperature generator was carefully designed to ensure that, throughout the underground area of Gotham, every room and passage connected to the surface would be filled with hard ice without exception."

"In other words, if the trapped people want to leave Gotham underground, there are only two routes."

"Either they dig downward through the rock layers, open a tunnel beyond the range of the low-temperature generator’s radiation, and then dig their way out of Gotham City."

"Or they dig upward, break through the hard ice layers, and only then can they leave the underground."

"But in fact, they probably don’t have that ability, do they?" Gordon caught the implication in Victor’s words.

"I’m not being arrogant." Victor put down the documents. "But digging upward is absolutely impossible. They cannot destroy the ice layers I created. As for digging downward…"

Schiller picked up where he left off. "Given the size of Gotham City, it would take at least a year to dig out."

"At the end of the day, these people make their living through conspiracies. When it comes to physical strength, they’re probably weaker than street punks who fight all the time."

"The Talons they raised are Assassins, not excavators. Even ten times their number couldn’t possibly dig their way out with manpower alone."

"So we kidnapped the Court of Owls?" Gordon wore a strange expression. "I thought they were some incredibly difficult organization to deal with. Well, that’s that—they’re completely trapped now."

"So…" Gordon paused, seemingly still unaccustomed to his role. "We’re kidnappers now, and we’re going to demand ransom from them?"

Schiller shook his head. "That’s only a metaphor, Detective. You haven’t grasped the essence. We aren’t kidnappers. We’re merely acting in self-defense."

"This group called the Court of Owls—yes, terrorists. They are terrorists."

"They used a large-scale weather-disaster weapon, threatening the safety of all city residents and causing such enormous losses. We should legally and reasonably demand compensation from them, shouldn’t we?"

Gordon glanced at Batman. He remained silent and showed no surprise at all at this statement. Clearly, this was something they had planned long ago, and Batman had been in on it too.

"By the way, Detective, how are the Police Department’s losses?"

"Uh… the Police Department didn’t really suffer any losses. This wasn’t a gang shootout. We only helped evacuate citizens, then adjusted the construction crews’ traffic routes…"

"Is that so? But these terrorists are so vicious. Didn’t they send Assassins to attack you?"

Gordon looked at Schiller and asked tentatively, "Um… did they send any? Oh, they did. They sent… two teams of Assassins?"

"No, no, no. At least a battalion."

Gordon covered his forehead. "That’s too exaggerated!"

"They’ve operated in Gotham for centuries. If they didn’t even have that kind of manpower, how could they call themselves Gotham’s largest and oldest terrorist organization?"

"All right, but…"

Schiller raised his voice, speaking with dramatic cadence. "The brave warriors of the Gotham Police Department fought them through the night, forging Gotham’s immortal glory with their blood! Three thousand police officers risked life and limb in a night of bloody battle. More than half were killed, and the remaining half were all seriously wounded. Their greatness deserves to be remembered…"

"But… the entire Gotham Police Department doesn’t even have three hundred officers…" Gordon touched his chest, as though his conscience hurt a little.

"It’s fine, Sheriff Gordon. We’re the victims. We decide how many there were."

Schiller suddenly changed direction and asked, "How are the luxury apartments on Gamma Street?"

"Of course they’re excellent. They’re among the best on the outskirts of the southern Affluent Area. Back then, I…"

Gordon suddenly choked up as if something had caught in his throat. His face reddened slightly as he looked at Schiller. "I’m not that kind of person. You can’t bribe me like this. I’m a police officer with a conscience…"

"Save your conscience for someone who needs it."

At that moment, Mayor Roy burst in energetically. He still held a walkie-talkie in his hand, and his boots were covered in muddy water, clearly having just come in from the streets. He said, "Guys! Good news! Casualties are very li—"

Roy said incredulously, "Gotham citizens’ emergency evacuation capabilities are too strong! We issued a danger warning three hours in advance, and within those three hours, nearly every citizen had evacuated to safe high ground. Even Metropolis can’t match that kind of mobilization ability, can it?"

Roy said with great emotion, "In such a huge disaster, fewer than twenty people died. Most were drunks who had blacked out or recluses who were high. Although several thousand people were injured, most of them weren’t seriously hurt. They didn’t even need hospitalization; a First Aid Kit was enough."

"You should see how many gang shootouts happen in Gotham every day." Gordon said quietly. "Anyone who runs slowly is already dead."

Schiller tapped the table, rather dissatisfied. "Mayor Roy, you really came at the wrong time. We’re discussing Gotham City’s losses."

"What’s wrong? Isn’t it a good thing if the losses are small?" Roy asked, staring wide-eyed.

"Mayor Roy…" Schiller smiled at Roy, then asked, "…do you know about kidnapping cases?"

Gordon covered his face with both hands.

Ten minutes later, Roy grabbed a tissue and blew his nose hard. The table in front of him was already piled with crumpled tissues used for wiping tears and mucus. In an utterly grief-stricken voice, he said, "…This horrifying disaster has filled me with immeasurable sorrow! Hundreds of thousands of living beings have suffered, and humanity’s great achievements of civilization have been destroyed!"

"These inhuman terrorists! They carried out a massacre in Gotham City! More than ten thousand of our citizens have died, every hospital in Gotham is overflowing, and countless more people cannot receive treatment because of shortages of medicine and supplies. God, save us…"

Roy blew his nose hard again and said through tears, "This is the largest terrorist attack in Federal history! The souls of hundreds of thousands of dead citizens will nail the name of this terrorist organization forever to the pillar of shame—the Court of Owls!"

Gordon stared at Roy with wide eyes, as though he had never expected his acting skills to be so outstanding.

"Do you think gradually building into the grief is better, or should I erupt intensely right from the beginning?" Roy pulled out another tissue and wiped his tears. "I think the latter should have more impact."

"Then we’ll do it that way. You’ll open tomorrow’s press conference. The reporters have already been contacted. The largest newspapers and media outlets across the East Coast will be there. You’ll have about thirty minutes to express these emotions."

Then Schiller patted the table, drawing everyone’s attention. "All right, next, let’s contact the victims… I mean, the culprits."

After saying that, he looked at Batman. "They should have a unique signal transmitter for communicating with the surveillance aboveground. If you can intercept that signal…"

Before Schiller could finish, Batman said, "In fact, I’ve already intercepted it and located their position. I can send a communication to the other side."

Batman looked at Schiller. "Is there anything you want to say to them?"

Schiller smiled, sending a chill down the spines of the others.

In a dark conference room beneath Gotham, people wearing white bird-shaped masks still sat around the enormous long table, but they had long lost their original composure.

At that moment, a radio used for communication on a nearby cabinet suddenly emitted several crackling bursts of static. Everyone turned toward it, and as their gazes fell upon the radio, a slightly hoarse voice came from within:

"I want to play a game with you."