There can't be a Harvest Moon in the RimWorld.

But only if I win the bet can the townspeople live peacefully.

"Should I sacrifice myself to save everyone? I never imagined I'd end up on this path. Is this the destiny of the Dark Knight?"

Chapter 151 Rescuing Private Marcus

In the dimly lit room, I leaned against the wall, looking at the exposed brickwork, feeling the passage of time.

I don't know if little Hook, who was also locked in a room back then, was struggling with the same dilemmas and hesitations as me.

I have no way of knowing what attempts he made or how much effort he put in back then. Judging from the images in my dream, he made up his mind after reading a book.

Am I capable of having the same level of awareness as him?

I even cried out from the bottom of my heart that I would never meddle in other people's business again. What is a human life or a truth? Can they be compared to the peaceful life I pursue?

But………

Ultimately, I still feel uneasy.

…………

"Harris, I heard you detained Marcus?" Boss Dart, still calm and composed, found an exhausted Harris at the police station and asked.

Harris's voice was weak: "Dart, didn't I already answer your question this morning? Marcus is responsible for the illegal acts, I was just doing my duty as sheriff."

Mr. Dart said nonchalantly, "Come on, Harris. Everyone knows this illegal logging regulation was copied by Thomas from the forest fire prevention and control regulations. Marcus is definitely not the murderer! You and I both know that!"

“The law is the law, and there are no exceptions.” Harris remained unwilling to negotiate with his old friend on this point.

Mr. Dart, enraged, laughed and threw out a wad of cash, saying, "So the law allows for the bail of prisoners, right? I'll pay the bail, and I'm taking Marcus with me."

“Absolutely not!” Harris flatly rejected Boss Dart’s request, explaining, “The matter is still unclear, and detaining him is also for his protection! If the murderer is going to commit another crime, then Marcus, who was at the crime scene, is the only candidate, and I must be responsible for everyone.”

Dart's eyes suddenly sharpened as he met Sheriff Harris's gaze without fear: "Are you doubting my ability to protect Marcus? Or are you doubting... that I'm the murderer?"

“Dart, don’t do this! I don’t mean to doubt anyone. This is exactly what I’m worried about. If this kind of panic spreads among the residents, the situation will be out of control! You know, no one can solve this for me…”

Boss Dart squinted and looked for a long time before saying, "Before I came, I promised Lin that I would protect Marcus and keep him safe. I will come to see him again tomorrow."

Harris breathed a sigh of relief: "Don't worry, Dart, I'll take care of Marcus's safety. He's still sleeping inside. Do you want to talk to him?"

The owner, Dart, collected the banknotes on the table and politely declined, saying, "Let the young man get some sleep; don't disturb him. I'm leaving now; the tavern still needs to serve its customers."

Not long after Mr. Dart left the police station, another customer arrived.

Lady Lilia walked slowly from the town's crossroads and gently knocked on the police station door.

"Lilia, what brings you here?"

Harris could speak sternly to Boss Dart, but he dared not be harsh with Lady Lilia, lest this long-term patient collapse here, and he would be held responsible.

Mrs. Lilia sat down in the police station room, extended her silk-gloved hand, and pointed to the door of the detention cell.

“I’m here for Marcus,” Lady Lilia said softly, but with unwavering conviction. “This child is not the murderer. He needs to be free, and I hope the police will deliver a fair verdict.”

"Of course! Marcus was only detained for illegal logging. I won't wrongly accuse innocent people until the matter with Gotz is clarified."

“I believe, and Poppy believes, that Marcus is not the murderer. I can testify that he bought chickens from my chicken farm yesterday during the day. This is not something a violent attacker would do on a whim.”

“Understood. I will record your testimony. Lilia, you can go back now.” Harris nodded solemnly.

Lady Lilia smiled and placed the food box on the table. "Then I won't disturb you any longer. If this child wakes up, be sure to save these dishes that Popuri made for him."

Harris only breathed a sigh of relief after Lilia's figure disappeared around the street corner. Having known Rhodes since childhood, he knew how important this woman was to him. If something had happened to Lilia, even God didn't know what Rhodes would have done.

"That brat is really popular with women. How come every family has daughters who are on his side?"

But after a while, another furtive figure appeared at the police station entrance...

"Old Sebala, you don't need to hide anymore. I've seen you!"

Harris spotted Sebala's shadow peeking out from the wall of the next room from a distance, giving away his location.

"Harris, how did you know I was here?"

Sebala walked out of his hiding place with a sheepish grin, and asked awkwardly.

Harris looked at him with disdain: "I told you to quit drinking a long time ago! You smell of alcohol all over town."

Sebala, however, was uninterested in the volunteer alcoholics' explanation and seized the opportunity to slip into the police station. Peeking around the room, he shouted into the detention cell, "Marcus, are you in there? Old Sebala is here to rescue you!"

Harris, exasperated, retorted, "Marcus's asleep inside, he can't hear you. And besides, are you trying to break me out of jail right in front of this cop?!"

“Harris, don’t misunderstand. I’m just here to testify for him.” Sebala stroked his white beard, finally showing some of the composure of an old man. “Marcus is definitely not the murderer!”

"Without evidence, this point cannot be ruled out or confirmed."

“I have evidence!” Sebala shouted.

"Evidence?" Harris finally became a little curious.

Sebala sat down in front of him and finally revealed the details of his trip.

"Actually, I wasn't too concerned about Gray stealing the greatsword. My friend gave it to me, partly as a way of keeping it safe. It was only when I saw how badly he had used it, with the blade almost entirely blackened and corroded except for the rainbow ore, that I beat him up."

“You know, Gray is a very stubborn kid. The more you hit him, the less he'll admit his mistakes. After I hit him, I locked him in the house and went drinking. But when I got back just now, Gray unusually took the initiative to talk to me. He said he was also on Mount Mads last night and had a head-on encounter with an unknown rotting behemoth…”

Harris's pupils contracted sharply, and he quickly lowered his head, pretending to take notes to cover his embarrassment, before continuing to ask, "What giant beast?"

Sebala scratched his bald head and said, "Gray saw a huge monster from a distance. It looked like a piece of rotting corpse, dead wood, and silt. It walked on two legs. When the liquid dripping from its body touched the ground, it made a sizzling sound like sulfuric acid burning, but there were no signs of corrosion on the ground."

"He witnessed the monster for a few seconds, then it suddenly vanished for some unknown reason. He touched the liquid on the ground with his greatsword and discovered that it was incredibly corrosive,"

"Gray said that monster is very dangerous..."

Chapter 152 The Reason for Protection

After seeing Sebala off, Harris shut the police station doors completely, determined never to accept harassment again.

But when he opened the door to the detention cell, he found me, who had been sleeping soundly as if I were dead, sitting alone on the detention cell bed, resting my chin on my hand with an ambiguous expression, my whole being immersed in the dim light.

"You heard that, didn't you, Marcus?"

Harris handed me the food container to fill my stomach.

"I heard you," I replied succinctly, and then began to wolf down my food.

Harris smiled at me and shook his head: "You haven't heard enough. Before Dart and Lilia, almost half the town had come to the police station for various reasons."

"What?" My eating motion froze.

"Lin and Poppy came over to clean my place, but I refused. Zack suggested that you should be sent to the federal government for investigation, but I guess he wants to release you by sea."

“Eileen brought Jeff here, hoping to bail you out, but I refused. Dick offered to put you in labor instead of detention.”

"Ellie and Dort arrived later and produced a medical report proving that you had no opportunity to commit the crime. Gotz was injured long before you found him."

"In the end, even Father Carter asked to see you and atone for your sins with the light of God."

I asked incredulously, "Does everyone... really believe I'm innocent?"

Harris nodded: "I can only say that everyone in this town really likes you, and they all trust you unconditionally as their new neighbor. This has exceeded my expectations. Even old Mookie brought his two children, May and Yu, to come and assure me that you often play with the children and are a good young man."

Am I already a member of this small town?

Harris stated definitively, "It's all because of your usual actions that you've earned everyone's approval. There's no doubt about it. If you treat everyone sincerely, why wouldn't they genuinely accept you?"

I never imagined that when I was in such dire straits, so many people would trust me unconditionally and help clear my name. I began to regret my earlier hesitation.

That's because I never equated the interests of my small town with my own, which is why I hesitated and wavered at this crucial juncture. Actually, there was no one protecting everyone; rather, everyone was protecting me.

It was at this moment that I suddenly understood Batman's choice and realized why Batman was able to move Grey.

Batman is more like a city hero of Gotham City than a superhero who saves the world. A city is a large society, and a city hero, though a hero, is still an integral part of that society.

Justice doesn't require grand gestures; anyone can be a hero simply by standing up. As Batman said, a person is defined not by their name, but by their actions.

To a country boy like Gray, goals like saving the world were too distant; protecting those around him was the only achievable objective. Within the reach of his sword lay his country, which he would protect.

As an ordinary person, Batman's burden of bearing the world's pain is arduous yet noble. But as the embodiment of a city, all of this seems so natural; we live in this community, and we should collectively bear all the pain, happiness, laughter, and tears.

The superhero Gray wants to be is someone who has the ability to protect his family, home, and life; a warrior who stands on solid ground and looks up at the vast starry sky.

Compared to his simple and sincere wish, I seemed far too calculating. What I was thinking was that choosing to bear this potential blame would deal a devastating blow to my reputation.

Then I started to back down. I even considered starting over far away from the town as a last resort. But would Batman have such a backup plan?

It is precisely because there is no way back that they will go forward without hesitation! When the land beneath their feet is the land they want to protect, and the homeland behind them is the homeland they want to protect, some people will bravely stand in front of the surging tide of history and do the incredible feat of trying to stop a chariot with their bare hands.

Why am I hesitating? Is it because of fear? Or because of dissatisfaction?

No, it's because I felt it wasn't worth it. I treated my due contribution as a sacrifice, and my temporary misfortune as a humiliation. Anyone in my position in this town would likely feel bad, but no one would choose to run away. They would only have one choice: to take responsibility.

It was because, without my knowledge, the town had calmly and acquiesced to my existence. Every street bore the marks of my footsteps, every resident heard my news, and every tavern echoed with my laughter.

Just as a resident of a small town, I should change my mindset.

All I need to do is uncover the truth, clear my name, and restore peace to the town. My initial worry that I would encounter misunderstanding, suspicion, and rejection in the process has now proven to be nothing but unfounded anxiety.

I suddenly remembered the Joker's experiment in The Dark Knight.

A group of people fleeing the city boarded two boats. One boat carried ordinary citizens, while the other was filled with gangsters. When the two boats reached the middle of the river, they suddenly stopped, and a clown's threat rang out: "Each boat carries a large amount of explosives and a detonator, but the detonator controls the other boat. Only the people on one boat can survive, on the condition that the other boat is detonated."

In this suffocatingly dark moment, a touching scene unfolded:

A boat carrying ordinary people voted not to detonate the detonator, but on a boat carrying criminals, the detonator was thrown into the river by a mob boss...

The clown believed that the fear of death was people's most fatal weakness; if exploited, even good people could turn into monsters. However, he didn't know that in this moment of desperate desperation, everyone's hearts were surprisingly united. Because, regardless of the circumstances, people harbored an infinite yearning for light, and no one wanted to harm the innocent.

What I didn't expect was that everyone already knew in their hearts that Marcus wasn't a bad person.

In return, I should do what I can.

This time, it's not about protecting one's own interests or one's own life, but rather about seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages.

I want to do what I believe is right, even if those things seem silly or like something a superhero would do.

The anxiety and unease in my heart seemed to be blown away by a strong wind, leaving only a clear and bright mind, and my expression returned to its usual nonchalant attitude.

“If Old Man Hook saw this, he would be very pleased,” Harris said with a smile, uttering a statement that surprised me greatly.

Chapter 153 Harris's Memories