As the boss of Gotham’s largest mob family, Falcone was undoubtedly a smart man.
However, Falcone was clearly struggling to keep up with the changing times, much like Nokia collapsing under the impact of smartphones.
The endless emergence of supervillains and various new criminal methods in Gotham left this old-school mobster overwhelmed, even sparking thoughts of retirement.
In the end, he was killed by his own daughter.
In this regard, the Penguin was much better than Falcone.
The Penguin was also an old-school mobster, but he kept up with the trends and was indomitable.
Of course, the current Falcone still retained some ambition; he was still the formidable boss who struck fear into the hearts of Gothamites.
“I certainly wouldn’t accept an invitation lightly, but the gift you sent is indeed quite special.”
Falcone’s tone wasn’t as aggressive as Maroni’s.
Instead, he spoke softly and was full of gentlemanly grace.
He was followed by a few burly men.
On their way over, someone had already recognized Rex’s identity and whispered it to Falcone.
“It’s just that I didn’t expect the person who invited me would be a hunted boxer.” Falcone paced in front of Rex, his gaze sharp.
“Are you here to seek asylum?”
“No.”
Facing a mob boss, Rex was not nervous.
He smiled and replied, “If I wanted to seek refuge, why would I alarm Don Falcone to come here in person?”
“I actually wish you were here to seek refuge.”
“Otherwise, things are going to get very troublesome.”
Seeing Rex so composed, Falcone signaled his subordinate to hand him a gift box.
This was exactly what Rex had entrusted the street urchin, Peter, to deliver to his house, and it was the reason for his visit.
Falcone’s address was public knowledge in Gotham.
But even his rival, Maroni, didn’t dare to attack his front door directly.
This was the prestige of the number one man in Gotham’s underworld.
Waving his hand to dismiss his men, Falcone waited until the others could no longer hear their conversation before continuing, “At first, I thought you were one of them, but on second thought, you are not.”
“After all, if they wanted to contact me, a simple phone call would suffice.”
Falcone opened the gift box, and inside lay impressively—an Owl mask!
“Yes, the Court of Owls,” Rex picked up the conversation.
“A bunch of cowards who control Gotham from the shadows.”
“Since you are not one of their men, what is your purpose in looking for me?”
Hearing this, Falcone naturally assumed Rex was an enemy of the Court of Owls.
Falcone asked calmly, but in his heart, he had already decided that if Rex said anything about joining forces to overthrow the Court of Owls, he would immediately have him thrown into the sea.
The Court of Owls was a supervillain organization in Gotham and the sworn enemy of the Wayne family.
In the show Gotham, the Court of Owls was composed of various local Gotham families, secretly controlling the entire city.
Rex did not directly state his intentions, but the identity he revealed made Falcone’s heart skip a beat.
“Talons are the Court of Owls’ enforcers.
Of course, I’ve heard of them.” Falcone looked at him with interest.
“For a Talon to contact me privately without orders is probably not a good thing.”
“Perhaps I should give the Court of Owls a call right now?”
As a mob boss, Falcone knew the importance of taking control of a conversation, so he deliberately asked this question.
Rex maintained his smile, completely unbothered.
“Of course, no problem.
I recommend you call Kathryn directly.”
“The Court of Owls will even thank you heavily for it, although it won’t affect their plans regardless.”
Seeing that Rex could name a member of the Court of Owls, Falcone initially believed his identity.
“What kind of plan?” Falcone guessed this was the reason Rex came to find him, so he asked straightforwardly.
Rex no longer kept him in suspense and immediately gave the answer:
“To destroy Gotham.”
“What?”
Even a seasoned veteran like Falcone was stunned by this news.
After a long silence, he said in a deep voice, “Impossible.”
“The Court of Owls controls every aspect of Gotham.
Everyone, whether they know it or not, is working for the Court.”
“The Court of Owls would never cut off its own limbs!”
Falcone was right.
Gotham was still firmly under the Court of Owls’ control; they naturally wouldn’t destroy their own foundation.
However, the Court of Owls did indeed attempt to destroy Gotham, but that would be two years later.
Drastic changes in Gotham’s underworld and political scene made the Court feel that the city had slipped from their grasp.
The most surreal part of it all was that even the Penguin became the Mayor of Gotham, making him the most inspiring figure in mob history.
Combined with a horde of monsters and freaks escaping from Arkham, the Court of Owls deeply felt that Gotham had fallen.
Thus, they planned to destroy the existing Gotham and rebuild the city, executing a so-called purification.
Although the timeline was wrong, it didn’t stop Rex from bluffing Falcone.
The greatest advantage of knowing the plot was the information gap.
He could piece together many fragmented pieces of information to increase the credibility of his words.
As for the rest, Falcone would fill in the blanks himself.
This trick worked best on smart people. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
“The Waynes thought the same thing before they died,” Rex dropped a bombshell, leaving Falcone speechless.
Falcone naturally knew who the mastermind behind the Waynes’ murder was; otherwise, he wouldn’t have stepped forward to handle the aftermath.
“That doesn’t prove anything.” Falcone was naturally unwilling to believe it.
“Whenever Gotham develops to a certain extent, the Court of Owls will destroy it and rebuild it, thereby deepening their control over the city.”
“The Court of Owls has already done this twice.” Rex’s tone was extremely firm.
Falcone wavered slightly because he thought of the two rebuildings in Gotham’s history.
Each time was a massive reshuffling of the city’s power dynamics, yet the Court of Owls always remained standing.
“Regarding this great purge, opinions within the Court are actually not completely unified.”
“The death of the Waynes is the fuse lit by the hardliners within the Court.
Their goal is to plunge Gotham into chaos, forcing the Court to reach a consensus on destroying the city.”
Rex continued, revealing the secret history behind the Waynes’ deaths.
In reality, he made it all up.
In the original plot at this point in time, the Court of Owls was still plotting how to seize control of Wayne Enterprises from Bruce Wayne.
By now, Falcone had no more doubts about Rex’s identity.
He thought for a long time and found that everything Rex said aligned perfectly with reality.
The Godfather of Gotham’s underworld frowned.
He placed the gift box on a pier pillar and pressed his palm against it.
He had finally touched the inner workings of the Court of Owls.
He asked, “When?”
“When Gotham’s underground order collapses,” Rex replied softly.
Falcone took a deep breath.
“Gotham’s order will never collapse.”
He had absolute confidence in Gotham’s underworld.
But Rex immediately poured a bucket of cold water on him.
“I naturally believe in Don Falcone’s capabilities, but that is assuming the Court’s radicals don’t intervene.”
Falcone fell silent.
If the Court of Owls could kill the Waynes, they would definitely interfere with Gotham’s underground order.
However, as Falcone carefully recalled what Rex had said, he suddenly realized something.
Rex had mentioned that opinions within the Court were not unified.
Since he came from the Court of Owls and shared this top-secret information with him, he was acting exactly like someone who hoped Falcone could maintain Gotham’s underground order.
Therefore, Rex’s identity was glaringly obvious:
The conservatives within the Court of Owls had ordered him to come!