Chapter 103 Gotham Longzhong (Part 1)

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"...What I want to say is, it's like this, as you can see, everyone knows what I used to do..."

At the counter of a bar, on an old television screen, Roy Brown lifted a violin box from under the table and placed it on the surface. He then clicked open the lid, revealing a gun inside.

"I come from Chicago, that's right, I used to be the leader of a gang there, a member of the Mafia that you all know..."

"This is my weapon, see it? This pretty little thing, you may call it a typewriter, but I like to call it Heff..."

"What do you think this place is? What do you think I'm doing now? Do you think I should be sitting in the mayor's office drinking tea? I'll tell you, this is not a threat..."

"I was born and raised in Chicago, my father and grandfather were too. They said this place would become the second Klondike, many people came here with dreams of getting rich, many big companies, big machines, working all night long..."

"But those people left, leaving behind a big fire and a pile of pollution. After Prohibition, what did my hometown have left? A rotten mess!"

"Riots and insecurity everywhere, what can we do? We must pick up our guns to protect ourselves..."

"So you say, oh, gangs are rampant in Chicago, it's a hellhole. Well, let me tell you, it is hell! It can swallow you whole!"

"When immigrants here carry guns and kill, what does the governor say? Just calm down a bit. After the gang problem becomes a disaster, the police station? Ha! Are you still going to bring that up?"

"I have to ask you, where did the police station's funding go? Why does Chicago have the largest police training school in the entire East, but no new police officers willing to stay here?"

"Can you believe it? Just a year ago, on average, every three police officers in Chicago had only one gun, and even some logistical personnel could only use a baton to protect themselves!"

"Is this what you call the public safety bill?"

"Why do those damn housing projects exist? Because there are too many unemployed people!"

"Why are they unemployed? Who should be blamed for the economic problem? What did those fat pigs sitting on Capitol Hill do? He let the people of Chicago fend for themselves! That's it!"

"Now you all are condemning Gotham for electing a gang leader as mayor, but let me tell you, I will be the best mayor here!"

"Because I am a member of the gang. If you don't solve our economic problems, we will solve them ourselves. I will do whatever I want!"

"I know some people say Gotham is even more rotten than Chicago, oh, who else? Miami? Brooklyn? Imperial City?"

"Yes, in their eyes, we Eastern cities are just a pile of shit. But they have to watch this pile of shit in front of them. Have we received any help from them?"

Roy directly took the Chicago typewriter out of the advance box and slammed it heavily on the table, saying, "Don't expect me to listen to your nonsense, those who behave like good babies. Go talk to the people on the West Coast!"

"This is how the East looks like, a ghost. There is only one thing I need to do here, pick up my gun, kill all those who stand in my way, and then lead everyone to get rich. I don't care if they are from the gang or anyone else!"

After the speech ended, the TV screen on the bar flickered twice. The bartender patted the TV and said, "Okay, it seems like this old guy has gone bad again."

The customers grumbled dissatisfaction, and a large black man holding a glass sat on one side of the bar and said, "It looks like the new mayor is pretty good, he's a tough guy. He said what I wanted to say..."

"I was born in Gotham, yes, just two blocks away. You know, our boss took me out once before, where did we go? Oh, right, Metropolis. People heard that I'm from Gotham and they look at me like I'm something dirty."

"I have to say, this mayor is quite special. The previous one who sat in the mayor's office only behaved like a coward when facing the journalists' accusations."

Then he laughed coldly and said, "Then he died, he had a car accident over a month ago..."

"Oh, it's him. I can't even remember his name, but I heard people say he's the second-longest-serving mayor in Gotham."

"I think he'll definitely break the record now. He's the Godfather's protégé, and much stronger than those weak mayors."

The black man also said, "He makes a lot of sense. Whether it's Gotham or Chicago, this place has been like this before we were born. We live here, trying to make some extra money, what's wrong with that? They just keep calling us bastards all day long..."

"If I could be like those people in Metropolis, reading books since I was a kid, going to college, graduating, wearing a suit and tie, working in an air-conditioned office, I must be crazy to want to be in a gang and get shot!"

"He's just talking." Another black man walked over, ordered a drink, and said, "Can he really become a mayor and make money with all the gangs? What kind of mayor is that? Even if those journalists don't curse him to death, the state government won't approve..."

"I don't expect him to make money for us. I just hope he won't be like those previous mayors, always coming up with some civilized city regulations, anti-gang security laws, and talking about them every day..."

"Damn anti-gang security laws, are there anyone in Gotham who's not in a gang? Why doesn't he just say to flatten this city?"

The people in the tavern burst into laughter, and some even made gestures of a nuclear bomb exploding.

The next day, Roy's speech made headlines in major newspapers across the East Coast and even the United States. It should be noted that this is no longer the era of Prohibition, and most of the Mafia has scattered and the Gang culture has largely declined.

At this time, when a mayor came out and said, "I am Gang, I am Mafia, and not only do I admit that I am Gang, but I also say that I want to make money with Gang," of course it would attract the condemnation of the media.

The Metropolis Daily called it a "shocking regression of the times," and the Global Times called Roy a "vulgar and barbaric villain." But regardless, the name "Gangmayor Roy Brown" echoed throughout the United States almost overnight.

However, it is somewhat strange that there are several cities that have tacitly not spoken out about this, and some of their leaders have even deliberately suppressed public opinion, showing an ambiguous attitude, including those East Coast cities mentioned by Roy.

In fact, every city whose pillar industry is illegal knows that Roy is telling the truth.

The histories of these cities are similar, and the reasons for the emergence of Gang are also historical problems, either to resist foreign immigrants or to deal with the legacy of Prohibition.

Most people in these cities feel relieved when Roy curses, because no matter who it is, they only issue orders and urge them every day. Apart from verbal condemnation and warning, there is no practical action to improve the poor situation of these cities.

Most people just feel superior and say that those born in these places are born bad and that it is their evil that has created these City of crimes.

But in reality, the economic situation is the root cause of all of this, except for Gotham, which is somewhat special, most of the Gang cities have become what they are due to high unemployment caused by economic decline.

People living in this environment are naturally Gang. You say you want to use security legislation to eliminate Gang, but it is really better to use a nuclear bomb to flatten these cities.

Many of the Gang leaders in these City of crime, led by Gotham, are very dissatisfied. It's already hard enough to keep our heads attached to our pants and earn money with our lives, but these people who talk nonsense still curse all day long, making investments even more reluctant to come, and the economy even more depressed.

In the past, Gang also felt guilty, after all, the illegal industry couldn't be justified.

But now, Roy's speech reminded them of one thing, that those who should bear the main responsibility for these cities becoming like this are not them.

Not to mention those historical reasons, the State Government and Congress's inaction is also the main reason for the current situation not improving.

I was born here and have nowhere to go. I joined Gang, and you say I'm a villain. I aspire for righteousness, but those verbal condemnation and public security laws cannot give me bread. If I don't join Gang, do I have to starve to death?

Then why can't I be rotten? I'll be rotten!

The most important role of Roy's speech is to give these Gang members who have not read many books a relatively centralized guiding idea, that is, my rottenness now is not my fault, but the fault of this world.

In fact, if we talk about the current situation in Gotham, this idea is not entirely wrong. People born in Gotham cannot choose their birthplace, and once you are born in Gotham, you can only choose to live in this hellish way of life, otherwise you cannot survive.

Geniuses and superheroes are few in this world, and the ordinary people who cannot change the class are the majority.

In fact, those who condemn may not be ignorant of this truth, but Roy brought this issue to the forefront and pointed out that it is precisely because of the inaction of various powers and the weakness of the violent law enforcement agencies that have created several cities in America with the highest crime rates. This undoubtedly tore off the last fig leaf of those politicians and gentlemen.

This speech naturally sparked a strong backlash in the orderly society. State Government lawmakers who were bought by Wayne Enterprises also struggled to withstand the pressure, and the State Government ordered the suspension and investigation of the mayor of Gotham City, and intended to restart the process of mayoral elections.

In the past, this process in Gotham was just a formality, basically whoever Wayne said was suitable would be elected, and the gangs didn't care because the mayor of Gotham City actually had very little power, and the gangs wouldn't listen to the mayor anyway, whoever was in charge was the same.

But the State Government felt that Roy had gone too far this time, even the federal government had sent admonitions. It's okay for you Rottens to be rotten, but you can't be so brazen about it, making us lose face.

So they decided to hold a new mayoral election.

This was a tactic they often used to calm similar troubles. As long as they restarted the election process and let the person who made the mistake fail miserably in the new election, it would prove that their viewpoint was not in line with public opinion, and naturally most of the public opinion and anger from higher-ups would be calmed down. Based on past experience, this move was almost always effective.

Until State Government lawmakers saw that the person who ranked first among the new candidates was named Carmine Falcone.

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