After calling Will several times without getting through, Oswald could only invite Harvey upstairs first.
He had been present during that negotiation and had heard Falcone’s plan.
Now Harvey Dent had actually come knocking on his own.
Logic told him that he should establish contact with Harvey as soon as possible.
But Will was like his brain.
Without him, Oswald didn’t dare make a decision on his own.
“Want a drink?”
Oswald deliberately tried to change the subject, but Harvey wouldn’t let it go.
“Answer the question.
Are you willing to cooperate with my investigation?
I have plenty of other things to deal with!”
Harvey wore an impatient expression, but his hand honestly accepted the beer Oswald offered him.
“I just want to know why you’re going after Mr.
Maroni.”
Oswald sat on the edge of the bed.
He spread his fingers and interlaced his hands, staring straight at Harvey while trying his best to imitate Will’s tone and deliberately slowing his speech.
Harvey, sitting on a small stool, felt increasingly uncomfortable under that stare.
“He’s a criminal, and I’m the district attorney.
Do I need a reason to go after him?”
Harvey raised his voice, deliberately putting on a stern tone to conceal the nervousness in his heart.
…
Before Maroni recruited him, Charlie had been an ordinary prisoner.
At twenty, he accidentally killed someone and spent eight years in prison.
In order to live more comfortably behind bars, he had packaged himself as a vicious serial killer.
He had been the starting quarterback on his university football team, with a large frame covered in muscle.
Combined with the wildly exaggerated criminal history he’d fabricated, he’d somehow managed to intimidate his fellow inmates and become the undisputed prison king of Blackgate Penitentiary.
But lies told for too long would eventually be exposed.
New arrivals were always eager to step on the old-timers to establish themselves, and the endless challenges placed enormous pressure on him.
At first, he could rely on his accomplices to back up his act.
But later, even his closest followers began to question whether he really possessed the strength he claimed.
He became increasingly anxious.
If someone saw through him, all the lies he’d spun over the years would come back to devour him.
He would be beaten to death in prison.
Just as he was on the verge of breaking down, a bombshell piece of news reached his ears.
Maroni wanted to bail out a group of criminals from prison and assemble a bodyguard team.
Charlie participated in the meeting.
He kept his head lowered and didn’t say a word throughout the entire thing.
Relying on the acting skills he’d honed over the years, he successfully fooled the old fox Maroni and obtained a spot on the list for release.
He had actually made the right gamble.
In Gotham, nobody dared to move against Maroni.
Being a bodyguard for him was actually the safest profession there was.
Until that evening, when his employer grabbed his face and said:
“Oh, my Jesus!
That face of yours is absolutely perfect!
I have a plan that I need you to carry out.
Pretend to be Harvey Dent and dig out the ticking time bomb hiding beside me.”
No one will touch you without my orders.
I’ve already told them not to act rashly.”
“Why me?”
Charlie maintained a calm expression, but inside, he was terrified.
“Why?
Because your acting is good enough to fool me, but you think it won’t fool those guys?”
Maroni’s words made Charlie feel as though he had fallen into an icy cellar.
This fox had known everything all along.
“Everyone is like a screw.
No matter the size or specifications, there is always a hole in this world that fits them.
And now I’ve put you in the right position.
It’s time for you to show your worth.”
Maroni patted Charlie on the shoulder affectionately.
“If you screw this up, you know what happens, right?”
“Yes.
I can’t screw up the boss’s plan!”
Coming back to himself, Charlie rubbed his brow and raised his head to look directly at Oswald.
At that moment, his entire bearing underwent a complete transformation.
“Gotham has been shrouded in darkness for far too long.
Its citizens need a ray of light.
Of course, I’m speaking from the perspective of justice.”
Charlie stood up and looked down at Oswald, exerting pressure through his sheer presence.
“The only status I can offer you is that of a tainted witness who earns credit for his crimes.
Once Maroni has been brought to justice, you won’t be among those I prosecute.”
Charlie had memorized every line Maroni had given him.
At this moment, even he was completely convinced by his own words.
He believed that he was Harvey Dent.
Oswald furrowed his brow without saying a word.
His mind was a mess, and the fake Harvey had already intimidated him.
“It’s fine.
You don’t have to answer.
But I’m afraid that means our cooperation is off.
You failed to seize your final opportunity.
Even if you come crying and begging me afterward, I won’t be able to help you anymore.”
Charlie accurately caught the hesitation in Oswald’s heart and fanned the flames.
He turned and walked away.
Just as he reached the door, Oswald’s voice came from behind him.
“Wait.
I’ve got a story.
Do you want to hear it?”
Charlie stood with his back to the light, a cold glint flashing through his eyes.
…
Leaving the police station, Will glanced at his phone.
It was already one in the morning.
He hailed a taxi toward the Senate.
Along the way, he acted like he had developed an anxiety disorder, constantly pulling out the comic and flipping through it.
Still nothing.
The danger hiding in the darkness was the most frightening kind.
Will’s current mood was about the same as when he’d played Resident Evil 7 in VR several years ago.
He never knew when that disgusting father-in-law covered in boils would leap out from some corner and scare the living hell out of him.
Back then, Will had screamed so loudly that he’d punched straight through the display.
He didn’t want to experience that kind of terror again.
After paying and getting out of the taxi, Will stretched.
When he looked up, he discovered that the lights in Oswald’s apartment were still on.
Oswald normally kept an extremely regular schedule.
What could possibly have kept him up this late?
Could it be that he couldn’t recruit any men and was hiding under his blanket, shedding little tears?
Imagining Oswald crying, Will couldn’t help laughing.
The moment he opened the front door, the wooden door upstairs was pushed open as well, its shrill creaking echoing through the empty apartment.
Will walked upstairs.
A figure came toward him on the staircase.
A large fedora concealed the person’s face, while an overcoat was wrapped tightly around the body.
An interview this late at night?
Even if it was an interview, there was no need to dress like that.
Was he ashamed to show his face?
Will was suspicious and quietly muttered a few words to himself.
He reached the third floor and pushed open Oswald’s door.
“You’re back!”
“Who was that just now?”
“I was just about to tell you.
Harvey.
You know Harvey Dent, right?”
Will froze.
He calculated the timing.
He remembered that when he had left the police station, Harvey had been talking to Gordon, and Will had immediately taken a taxi back here.
There was no way Harvey Dent could have arrived before him.
Unless he’d inherited Barry’s Speed Force.
Fake!
Will’s body suddenly trembled.
The terrifying jump scare had finally gotten him.
After the brief moment of fear, he quickly sorted out his thoughts.
Whoever had sent this fake Harvey, whatever their objective, the most important thing right now was to keep him here.
“Hey, Mr.
Harvey Dent!”
He gestured for Oswald to stay quiet, then shouted toward the stairs as he chased after him.
By the time he reached the ground floor, the fake Harvey had already opened the door.
Most of his body was outside, with only one foot still inside the apartment.
When the man turned half his head around, Will froze.
He looked far too similar.
It was no wonder Oswald had been fooled.
If Will hadn’t met Harvey earlier that day, he might have been fooled by this fake as well.
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