Chapter 115: Half Darkness, Half Light

Chapter 115: Half Darkness, Half Light

The iron door of the confinement room gradually closed, and darkness returned to the room.

It took a while for Jones to readjust in a lightless environment before he could see Arthur clearly in front of him.

Today’s Arthur, wet hair back behind his head, and no uniform on his body, he just put on a white shirt and tight rider pants.

With a cowboy hat and suspenders, perhaps Arthur would look more like a western cowboy on the North American prairie than a Scotland Yard policeman.

Arthur lifted his leg and stepped forward, and Jones took a half-step backward with some trepidation, but after a moment, he finally paused and stayed where he was.

He swallowed hard, then spoke, “Sir.”

“Don’t call me sir.”

Arthur pointed to his white shirt and said, “Can’t you see that I don’t have a uniform? I’m only a police officer when I’m in uniform or plainclothes on duty. Other times, I’m an ordinary London citizen, no different from you now.”

Arthur’s words weren’t too long, but the information revealed made Jones feel as if the sky was falling.

His upper and lower teeth chattered as he asked in a broken voice, “So …… so that …… I’ve been removed from office?”

“Otherwise?”

Arthur leaned down to sit at the bottom of the door step, and he looked at Jones with a deadly gleam in his pale reddish shimmering eyes.

“You think Clemens will step in and bail you out? Why do you think he’d step in to help you when he’s struggling to protect himself right now?
Do you feel like you’re part of their little group just because you’ve done something shady for him?
Jones, I always thought you were smart, at least you were smarter than Tom and Tony. But now it seems that you are too stupid, you have an air of stupidity all over you.

In this world, it’s okay for you to do bad things. There are plenty of people who do bad things for profit.

But if you’re really going to do it. Then you’d better have a level of intelligence that matches the crime you’re committing.

If you’re not smart, then don’t be a good person, don’t be a bad person, just be a normal, ordinary person.

Because those two types of people will soon put their fate in the hands of others if they are not capable enough on their own. Letting other people decide your fate is the stupidest thing in the world.”

Jones shivered all over as he heard this, and he felt his throat go a little dry, which made even his voice seem hoarse.

“Inspector Hastings ……”

“I told you, don’t call me anything Inspector, I’m not a cop now, I’m not in uniform.”

Saying this, Arthur suddenly smiled, “But do you know why I’m not in uniform?”

Jones’ mind went blank, at this point, he was no longer capable of thinking, he could only shake his head.

Arthur seized the collar of his coat, and then hooked his finger at him.

Jones put his ear to his side and only heard Arthur’s calm voice with a bit of fire in it ring out.

“Because I’m not like you guys. You guys wear that suit to protect yourselves, whereas if I wore that suit, my mission would be to protect you without a police uniform!”

As soon as Arthur’s words left his mouth, Jones heard the sound of whistling wind in his ears.

All that could be heard was a thud as Arthur knocked him to the ground with a nice hook.

Arthur stood up and punched him again with a hard kick to the stomach, “Get up! Jones, don’t your kind love the argument of the weak and the strong? Since you like eating people so much, don’t give me this ‘spare my life’ look when you’re being eaten! If this world is really the weakest and the strongest, in the end, even if it shouldn’t be me who lives, it won’t be your turn!”

Jones covered the side of his bruised and swollen face and raised his hand to indicate, “Sir, I ……”

Arthur picked up his collar and lifted him up, “What did you call me?”

“Black …… Mr. Hastings ……”

“And that’s admitting defeat?” The corner of Arthur’s mouth lifted, “I’m not going to let you off the hook even if I admit defeat!”

He flung his hand and slapped Jones again, knocking him out of his eyes, then slammed him down hard on the ground.

Arthur choked and gasped for breath as he spoke, “Come on, Jones, don’t say I’m not giving you a chance. Now that you’re not a cop and I’m not a cop, we all have nothing to worry about. If you don’t want to die, then get me killed here. The weak are the strongest, the law of the forest, very fair one-on-one, let me see if you’re qualified to live or not.”

Jones lay on the ground gasping for air as he spoke, “You shoot me, Mr. Hastings, I …… am not going to fight back.”

Arthur’s smile widened when he heard this, but he didn’t do it because he was happy, he did it because he was angry.

He kicked Jones in the body, sending him into the wall.

Then without waiting for Jones to catch his breath, he mounted Jones and slammed his fists, which even Fred couldn’t take, into Jones’ body.

“Not fighting back? Not fighting back won’t win you any semblance of sympathy! You should know better than I do just how many dead bodies sink in the Thames every day! It’s not just you, it’s Clemens, neither of you can escape me! Do you know how many people have been killed, directly or indirectly, because of your selfish interests? Not just indentured servants, not just the crime rate, not just Adam, but millions of Robin’s!”

The sound of Arthur landing punch after punch on Jones carried out of the door, and Tom and Tony, who were standing guard outside the confinement room, winced as they listened to their bodies shudder.

Someone walked past the door to the confinement room and took a curious look, only to be instantly rewarded with an angry glare from Tony.

“What are you looking at? Be honorable and serious, this place has nothing to do with you!”

The young officer was so agitated by his scolding that he could only leave the place with quick steps. But gradually, Tom couldn’t listen any longer, and he asked, “Tony, why don’t we go in and persuade him. Arthur shouldn’t be doing this kind of thing, he’s a good man with a good sense of humor, and he’s never been fond of violence. Can he really feel good inside if he keeps fighting like this?”

When Tony heard this, he didn’t answer positively, but opened his mouth.

“Maybe you’re right, but it’s Arthur’s duty to think about whether it’s appropriate or not, and my duty is to carry out Arthur’s orders. It was because I listened to him last time that we brought all the body-snatchers in London to justice, and all the rangers in Scotland Yard got a collective pay rise.

In spirit as well as in substance, Arthur is true to his word, and everything has been carried out as he promised. I was very happy about that. So from then on, I made up my mind that I would carry out Arthur’s orders as long as they were given.

Of course, Tom, I don’t advise you to follow my example. But as for me, even if Arthur is wrong, I intend to follow him all the way to the end.”

At these words, Tony closed his mouth, and it seemed as if instead of the sound of a beating, the sound of rain falling on the street was coming from the confinement room.

Hearing this, Tom couldn’t help but frown and sigh, “Tony, what are you talking about!”

He couldn’t help knocking on the iron door after much patience, “Arthur, Arthur! Almost done, leave him alive. Why are you putting your future on the line for him?”

Inside the confinement room, Arthur heard this and stopped with his fists hanging in mid-air.

He looked at Jones, whose nose was bleeding and whose face was covered with bruises, and took a deep breath.

He asked, “You’re really not going to fight back, are you? At least let me see your backbone.”

Jones raised his swollen eyes, his smile revealing a hint of helplessness, “Sir, I have a family.”

Arthur sniffed and was silent for a moment.

He looked at Jones’ face, his hanging fists didn’t slam down after all, he loosened his hand that was lifting the other’s collar, then stood up and said.

“I forgot to tell you, although I wrote your malfeasance report, I haven’t turned it in yet.”

When Jones heard this, a little bit of light suddenly blossomed in his originally dull eyes.

“You …… you mean?”

Arthur relit his pipe, “This life of yours isn’t worth much, and it can’t cover so many sins. So this time, for the time being, you’ve made it through. But that doesn’t mean you’re safe, don’t forget whose hands your life is in right now. You’re absolutely right, don’t forget that you still have a family.”

Jones sniffed and just felt the light emerge from the dimly lit confinement room, as if it wasn’t Arthur standing there, but his God.

He knelt down in front of Arthur’s body and excitedly thanked him a thousand times, “Thank you! Really thank you! I …… promise I will redeem myself.”

Arthur bent down and patted his face, “Atonement? What do you take me for? I’m not God, so I’m not responsible for forgiving anyone. What I want is for you to work for me, just like you did for Clemens before. Jones, this is what you get.”

Jones nodded his head back and forth, he felt relieved and a smile was written all over his face, “This is my karma, indeed I deserve it, thank you Mr. Hastings.”

Arthur frowned when he saw this and gave him another kick in the stomach.

He looked at Jones, who was curled up in a ball over his stomach, unable to catch his breath, and turned to leave, leaving behind only a back and the lingering sound of his voice.

“Gotta call me sir, dumbass.”

Agareth hung upside down from the roof of the confinement chamber, wrapping his bat wings tightly around his body, all the while surveying Arthur’s departing back with his crimson eyes as he took it all in.

The Red Devil’s voice exploded in Arthur’s ears as he murmured with a low chuckle, “Wow, Arthur, not a bad scene. So many times, I thought you were really going to beat him to death on the spot.”

Arthur walked out the front door of the police station in his bloodied white shirt as the officers looked on in awe, he tilted his head back to breathe in the fresh air against the drizzle of the London streets.

“I didn’t intend to get him killed, though. But if Tom hadn’t called me, I did have the possibility of beating him to death on the spot.”

The Red Devil hemmed and hawed, “So what were you planning on doing with his dog’s life?”

Arthur rubbed the raindrops from his face, washing the blood from his face, “Clemens is gone, Fred is dead. But that doesn’t mean London is at peace, after all, the poverty rate in London is there. On the contrary, without these people, I’m afraid the East End of London will return to the Wild Middle Ages. That’s no good, in my opinion.”

When the Red Devil heard this, a hint of delight passed through his eyes, and he smiled in a low voice.

“So, you’re still planning to take in that ‘little brother of Cambridge’?”

Arthur nodded, “That depends on whether they are worthy or not.”

The devil asked, “What if they don’t cooperate?”

Arthur exhaled a smoke ring, “I’m sure that they will cooperate.”

The Red Devil gave a smile worthy of amusement, “My dear Arthur, you have finally recognized the two sides of the world. You have finally realized that for people like you, the only way to dominate the light is to tame the darkness.”

Arthur glanced at him and took a deep drag on his cigarette, then poured out the ashes and opened his mouth to curse, “What bullshit about darkness and light.”

“You’re still talking tough?”

The Red Devil smiled as his form faded away, only his seductive voice could be heard still ringing in Arthur’s ears.

“This …… is your destiny …… accept whatever fate has woven into you, for beyond that, I truly cannot think of anything that would suit you better.”

(End of chapter)