Maroni sat on the sofa with a cigar between his teeth, watching a live broadcast on the television in front of him.
The man on the screen had a head of bright blond hair.
Under the focus of a battery of cameras and microphones, he spoke calmly and confidently.
“…Once this bill is passed, Gotham’s crime rate will fall by twenty percentage points.
I will personally oversee its implementation and ensure that everything proceeds smoothly.
Criminals who have escaped justice will not evade judgment, whether they’re corrupt officials or members of organized crime…”
With that, the man pointed directly at the camera.
“I am Harvey Dent.
I will make you pay for your crimes!”
Puff!
Maroni exhaled a long stream of smoke.
He rested both arms against the back of the sofa and spoke toward the empty space in front of him.
“Paul, was that bastard just provoking me?
Hahaha!
He actually provoked me through a television screen.
Looks like Harvey Dent really is as annoying as the rumors say.
No wonder those people in New York sent him to Gotham.”
“Then let’s send him a little surprise.
How about your corpse?
We could rig up a little trick.
When he opens the door, you can drop right down and splatter his face with blood.”
“Why aren’t you saying anything, Paul?
Oh…
I almost forgot.
I stuffed your mouth shut!”
Maroni sneered as he leaned forward and glanced at Paul, who was bound hand and foot on the floor.
He pulled the handkerchief from the man’s mouth.
“Boss, I’m sorry!
Boss!” Paul pleaded, his face covered in bruises.
“I didn’t work for Falcone willingly.
He kidnapped my wife and forced me to do it!
I didn’t have a choice!”
Maroni said nothing.
He removed the cigar from his mouth and tapped off the ash.
“I know.
But betrayal is betrayal!
And you know how much I hate traitors!”
His tone gradually grew cold and manic.
Maroni held Paul’s eyelids open with two fingers, then, amid the man’s frantic pleas, pressed the burning end of the cigar against his eye…
A piercing scream echoed through the room for a long time.
Not long afterward, Maroni stepped gracefully out of the study and crooked a finger at one of his bodyguards.
“Do as I instructed.
Deliver the body inside to Mr.
Harvey Dent.”
“Wait!”
As if suddenly remembering something, he stopped the bodyguard.
Maroni straightened himself, leaned closer, and stared at the bodyguard’s face for a long moment.
“Oh, my Jesus!
That face of yours is absolutely perfect!”
…
After sitting and chatting for a while, Will left the girl’s apartment.
Fortunately, she really hadn’t meant anything by the invitation.
They had simply had a cup of coffee. Find the original chapter at g.com.
Compared with the endless seduction tactics she’d used before, Selina seemed to have put aside her Catwoman identity and begun trying to interact with Will as a friend.
That was good news.
But just before Will left, Selina casually brought something up.
“I almost forgot to ask.
Do you know whose aircraft it was that pulled us out of the water that day?
It looked like a giant bat.”
The Batwing?
So it wasn’t just him who had seen it!
Will was going crazy.
Every time he convinced himself to let go of his obsession with Batman, another clue would appear, as though Batman were deliberately hiding from him.
Forget it.
Don’t think about it!
Since he’d already boarded this pirate ship, it was time to wave goodbye to that thorn-covered road of justice.
Right now, Will was only worried about one thing: what if he built himself up too much and Batman suddenly appeared?
That was also why he’d pushed Oswald onto the stage.
After all, according to the original script, Oswald would eventually become one of Gotham’s crime lords.
As long as Will maintained a good relationship with Oswald during this period, he could eventually hide behind the Penguin and live a peaceful life.
Will didn’t actually want to be like that either—two-faced and full of schemes.
But if he wanted to survive in Gotham, how could he manage without keeping a few extra tricks up his sleeve?
A few thugs were beating a beggar viciously on the roadside.
Hearing the man’s screams, Will frowned as well.
But unlike the incident with the trolley, he had grown.
This time, he didn’t meddle.
He merely glanced over, tightened his coat around himself, and hurried away.
After everything he’d experienced, his heart had grown increasingly cold.
His phone rang when he reached the street corner.
Will glanced at the screen.
It was Gordon.
“Are you free?
There’s someone who wants to meet you.”
“Harvey Dent?”
Will glanced at a newspaper rack by the roadside.
The headline was about Harvey’s appointment.
His photograph and name were printed beneath the title:
“Can the White Knight Bring Hope to Gotham?”
“That’s right.
He wants to go after Maroni first.
He wants to talk to you and get some information.”
Will hesitated.
He would have to meet Harvey sooner or later, but this wasn’t the right time.
At a moment like this, every crime family in the city was watching the new district attorney.
Meeting such a high-profile figure without taking precautions wasn’t a wise move.
“Why me?”
“Because you’re the only person I know, and I think you’re the most likely to cooperate with the investigation.”
“Then you picked the wrong person.”
Will intended to end the conversation.
But his finger trembled as it hovered over the hang-up button.
He was deeply conflicted.
He had looked at the comic in his pocket.
The entire book was blank.
In the past, they had only appeared when the story reached moments of life and death.
But this time, the very beginning of the comic was blank.
That meant there was an important decision point before the story even began.
If he made the wrong choice, he would die.
His sixth sense told him this conversation was that decision point, and that his life depended on it.
“Meet me at the police station in half an hour.
Have Harvey cover himself up and leave through the back door.
Make absolutely sure no one recognizes him.”
After thinking it over again and again, Will finally agreed.
He turned and walked into a men’s clothing store nearby.
He took off the black suit that symbolized his affiliation with the Romans, messed up his slicked-back hair, and chose a loose gray hoodie.
After disguising himself, he looked like a completely different person.
When the appointed time arrived, Gordon led him through the noisy police station lobby and into the conference room.
Harvey Dent had been waiting for quite some time.
When he saw Will, Harvey immediately extended his hand.
Harvey’s palm was broad and powerful.
Compared with the average white man, his skin had a slightly yellowish tone.
His chin protruded somewhat, and beneath his high nose was a large nose tip.
Purely in terms of appearance, Harvey was by no means handsome.
But combined with his confident smile, the presence he gave off was no weaker than Will’s.
After a brief introduction, Harvey suggested,
“Before we start talking, we’d better turn off our electronic devices.”
Will didn’t answer directly.
He took out his phone and shook it.
The battery had already been removed.
“You’re a very cautious man.
I imagine our cooperation will be quite pleasant.”
Harvey nodded approvingly.
…
Meanwhile, at the entrance of the Senate in the lower district, Oswald parked his car by the roadside with a dejected look on his face.
Today was the fifth day he’d been recruiting.
Whether it was because the casino massacre had damaged the Romans’ reputation, or because Harvey’s inauguration speech had frightened all the little punks who were thinking about doing something bad, he hadn’t recruited a single person these past few days.
All he’d done was burn through gas money.
He’d talked about punching Maroni in the face and kicking Carmine Falcone’s ass, but right now he was nothing more than a small-time boss who couldn’t even recruit his own men.
When would his dream of unifying Gotham finally come true?
Oswald found himself missing Will.
Whenever he was frustrated, grabbing a couple of drinks with Will and talking things over always made him feel better.
But Will had left early that morning and still hadn’t returned, even though it was almost midnight.
He glanced at the passenger seat.
The hot dog he’d bought for Will had already gone cold, and the beer wasn’t cold anymore either.
Leaning against the window, he cracked open a can of beer and gulped down a few mouthfuls.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the window.
“Are you Mr.
Oswald?”
The newcomer wore a hat that concealed half his face.
He was also wearing sunglasses despite it being nighttime.
Everything about him looked suspicious.
Oswald’s face immediately screamed caution.
His right hand moved toward the door lock, while his left hand drew the dagger tucked behind his belt, ready to strike at any moment.
But when he saw the face beneath the sunglasses, he was so shocked that he nearly dropped the dagger.
His entire mouth slowly puffed outward like an enraged pufferfish.
He never would have imagined that this person would come looking for him.
“Harvey Dent!”