"I'm very sorry."
Commissioner Gordon's face showed surprise when he heard Clark say that the shadows on his lungs had spread.
Clark thought Commissioner Gordon didn't know about it, and his expression became exceptionally heavy.
Although he was Superman and could do many things that earthlings couldn't, he had no ability to save a terminally ill person.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have watched Alicia die before his eyes, unable to do anything.
He had always held a reverence for Death.
He always revered things that he could not touch and whose outcomes he could not change.
Even though there was a girl "possessed by Death" right before his eyes.
"You don't have to apologize. On the contrary, I should thank you for reminding me."
Commissioner Gordon flicked the ash from the cigarette in his hand and said to Clark, "I already knew about the spread of lung cancer cells. I knew two weeks ago. My family doctor, Hanks, checked me and told me my situation was not optimistic."
"Although it's somewhat frustrating that things have come to this, we cannot change the outcome of what has already happened."
As Commissioner Gordon spoke, he casually tossed the extinguished cigarette onto the ground.
"Let's get back to the main topic. Is Batman still alive?"
He asked Clark.
"Yes, Batman is still alive, but his condition is not too good."
Clark said, "His spine is fractured, and his brain suffered a severe impact. He's currently in a coma, and we don't know when he will wake up."
Hearing Clark say that Batman was still alive, Commissioner Gordon's mood improved somewhat.
But upon hearing that Batman was in a prolonged coma, his slightly improved mood immediately became incredibly gloomy.
"In that case, where is he now?"
After a moment of silence, Commissioner Gordon asked Clark.
"He is currently receiving treatment from Doctor Fate."
"Doctor Fate?"
Commissioner Gordon frowned; he had heard that name before.
"Magic?"
Pushing his glasses up, Commissioner Gordon's expression became exceptionally serious.
"At this point, things that modern medicine cannot solve can only be sought with the power of the mystical side."
Perhaps thinking of his own illness, Commissioner Gordon sighed with a complex expression.
"So the culprit who left Batman half-dead is Homelander?"
Commissioner Gordon tightened his clothes to protect himself from the cold wind.
"It seems so."
Clark's expression was somewhat complex when he mentioned Eric; he didn't know what attitude he should have towards Eric now.
Although the other party stood on his opposite side, to some extent, he was protecting this country and Earth from invasion.
"Yesterday, a group of green-glowing aliens invaded Metropolis. The target of these aliens was clearly our President, but he once again defeated the invading enemies."
Commissioner Gordon sighed, and after a long while, said to Clark, "If he continues to win, then in the eyes of the public, he will become a true god. The public will be willing to be led by him, eager to become his subjects. This has nothing to do with freedom and democracy; it is the only choice humans have when facing a class far superior to them."
"I don't want to see such a future, because the future will be as lifeless as this peaceful city is now. Although it looks perfect from the outside, it is ultimately castrated."
Commissioner Gordon pulled out a cigarette pack from his pocket; there was only one cigarette left in the shriveled pack.
He was about to light the cigarette when Amy suddenly stopped him.
"Your lungs are already cancerous now, why are you still smoking?!"
Amy said angrily.
She strongly disliked people like Commissioner Gordon who didn't cherish their lives.
Perhaps because she had touched so much Death, she was very angry at Commissioner Gordon's disregard for Death.
"Sorry."
Seeing Amy's angry expression, Commissioner Gordon smiled bitterly and put the cigarette back into the pack.
"You have to understand that a helpless and suffering person can only rely on these cigarettes to numb himself."
After explaining to Amy, he said to Clark, "Our President has designated Gotham as the first city on this Earth to receive special protection."
The special protection Commissioner Gordon referred to was the security patrol teams composed of enhanced individuals, who began to enter the city and conduct patrols day and night.
Although there had been military police maintaining order in Gotham before, they had not yet begun a large-scale deployment.
"But Gotham doesn't need them!"
Commissioner Gordon glanced at Gotham under the night sky and said, "This city has its own history; it doesn't need anyone to add unnecessary things to it. I don't know how our new President views this city, but I can roughly guess that most people believe Gotham is a stain on this country, and I, having served as the police chief of this city for a long time, have long allowed this city to have the highest crime rate."
"Therefore, he treats this city as an experiment."
Commissioner Gordon gave a bitter laugh, "I am indeed not a competent police officer! But I try to fight evil with my strength, even if most of the time I am the one who seems to overestimate myself."
Clark listened to Commissioner Gordon's confession in silence.
He didn't know how to comfort this police officer, who looked exceptionally desolate and lonely.
Clark was not familiar with the city of Gotham.
His impression of Gotham was still what Eric had told him.
According to Eric, "This city is completely beyond saving, because everyone knows how to eradicate corruption and evil, but those capitalists only blame the greed of the lower-class rioters, and even Batman would think so."
Clark recalled Eric's words and said to Commissioner Gordon, "We analyzed the data of Homelander's enhanced soldiers from the information left by Batman and created this Super Serum."
He handed a pill to Commissioner Gordon, "Perhaps this might be useful to you."
Commissioner Gordon looked at the Super Serum handed to him by Clark in surprise, "What is this for?"
"Strength and speed beyond ordinary humans, allowing you to fight like an enhanced person. In short, it enhances all aspects of a person's attributes."
Clark explained to him.
"Is that so?"
Commissioner Gordon solemnly put away the Super Serum and thanked him.
"Thank you, I think this thing might have an unexpected effect."
The next day.
Heavy rain fell in downtown Gotham City.
The sky was overcast, and the torrential rain fell like a waterfall.
The view was completely white, countless splashes of water rose from the ground, and then completely disappeared.
Occasionally, people hurrying through the rain stepped on the puddles, their hurried steps giving the rainy streets a desolate appearance.
On Gotham Bridge, Commissioner Gordon, wearing a raincoat, stood on the side of the bridge closer to the city.
Although he was wearing a raincoat, he hadn't put on his hood, letting the rain wash over his glasses and face.
Standing beside him was Harvey Bullock, holding a black umbrella, a pipe in his mouth, and wearing a bowler hat.
Harvey Bullock was an old-timer police officer by Commissioner Gordon's side.
He looked sloppy and undisciplined, with constant negative rumors. Among colleagues, there were even rumors that he accepted bribes from the underworld. In short, he was the "bad cop" in the "good cop, bad cop" routine.
But Commissioner Gordon didn't think so.
After actually working with him, he believed all of it was baseless.
In his perception, Harvey Bullock was an upright and good police officer, which is why he would work cases with him, share his information with him. In the Gotham Police Department, Harvey Bullock should be the person he trusted the most.
Harvey always used his appearance to play the "bad cop" in the "good cop, bad cop" routine to assist in cases.
Seeing Commissioner Gordon take off his raincoat hood, Harvey Bullock walked over and moved the umbrella over his head.
"If you want to try the taste of a bad cold, I don't mind you enduring the torrential rain here."
Using the umbrella to shield Commissioner Gordon from the falling raindrops, Harvey said to his old partner.
Standing next to the two was police officer Renee Montoya, also a Major Crimes Unit detective.
She had a capable physique and excellent professional skills, her weakness, like Louise, was alcoholism.
Looking at the opposite side of Gotham Bridge, the uniformly dressed, helmeted enhanced soldiers were advancing towards them in neat formation.
The police officers of the Gotham Police Department were standing on this side of the bridge, watching these intimidating soldiers.
These enhanced soldiers began to be stationed in Gotham starting today.
And the police officers were here to block them, following Commissioner Gordon's orders.
Even though they didn't understand Commissioner Gordon's intentions.
Commissioner Gordon looked at the fully armed soldiers, then at his subordinates, whose faces showed fear, and finally shook his head.
Picking up his walkie-talkie, he said to the subordinate police officers, "Don't block them, let them in!"
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
After all the police officers cleared the way, the enhanced soldiers marched in neat formation towards Gotham Bridge.
The soldiers' disciplined steps and black uniforms, in the pouring rain, created a strong visual impact.
The three, Commissioner Gordon, Harvey Bullock, and Montoya, were caught in the soldiers' ranks, watching these soldiers enter downtown Gotham.
"Are we just going to do nothing and watch them enter and take over our city?"
Montoya, wearing a raincoat in the pouring rain, asked Commissioner Gordon.
"It's not time yet, Montoya."
Commissioner Gordon murmured, shifting his gaze to the soldiers.
"Commissioner?"
Seeing Commissioner Gordon's expression, Montoya couldn't help but worry about her Commissioner's health.
Commissioner Gordon's face was pale and he looked exceptionally haggard.
"I hope everything gets better!"
She said to herself.
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