Chapter 113: Gotham Past

Can Maroni beat Falcone within the rules of the underworld?

Very difficult, extremely difficult.

But what about within the rules of the law?

Also very difficult—but with his help, the jury will no longer be Falcone's one-man show; they can be manipulated by the Godfather, so naturally they can be manipulated by Maroni—just like Richard Daniel, who was threatened by the Godfather into passing a bank resolution, then warned by Batman to stop helping the Godfather, and finally simply resigned and left.

Yes, Richard's resignation was caused by both the Godfather and Batman.

And Maroni's threats can achieve the same effect, and he can threaten everyone up the entire judicial system in Gotham City.

Harvey Dent, originally just like Bruce Wayne, had always been opposed to manipulating court trials, but the perverted wheelchair man said something to them.

"To fight corrupt officials, an honest official must be smarter than the corrupt ones. Falcone has already manipulated the rules, and Harvey has no power to correct them; if he still charges ahead blindly adhering to the rules, that is not integrity and courage, that is a one-size-fits-all approach, that is refusing to think. If you crash headlong into a brick wall, who will be left to solve the problem?"

"Even children learning to ride a bicycle need an adult to hold them up; on what grounds do you demand Gotham to return to the right path on its own without anyone's help?"

"Father, do we really want to help Harvey Dent?"

Back at the manor, Sal Maroni, feeling completely secure, instead asked Luigi this question: "The Holiday Killer is gone; we have absolutely no need to continue cooperating with those people."

"The Holiday Killer is the Roman's son; Falcone is our enemy. Harvey Dent and Batman saved our lives." Luigi asked: "We are talking about righteousness and human feelings, Sal. Having allies who intend to join us against Falcone is a good thing; even if war breaks out later, it can wait until after Falcone is dealt with."

"." Maroni fell silent for a moment beside him, not knowing what he was thinking, then slowly nodded.

"Yes, Father."

On the other side, Alberto, who had been captured by several people, also had doubts in his heart.

"I can't figure out how you determined it was me," he said. "I can understand you suspecting me, but how could you be certain it was me?"

"Your target was too obvious," Batman replied coldly.

"Except for your case, all the other cases were basically targeting Maroni, or all beneficial to the Roman, and your body was never found." Ma Ma Zhaodi added: "We guessed you once considered finding a doctor to forge a death certificate for yourself, but in the end you chose to disappear directly to avoid having one more person know your secret."

"But these are only suspicions."

"And your marksmanship."

"My marksmanship is not good."

"In all the shooting ranges in Gotham City, your marksmanship scores were poor," Batman answered. "But your marksmanship was not trained in Gotham."

Alberto froze.

"You won a scholarship at Harvard University and went on to further your studies at Oxford University. There is no Falcone influence in Massachusetts, and certainly none in Oxford, England. You could completely tamper with all your shooting range records in Gotham City, but in the shooting ranges of those two cities, your shooting records hang clearly on the rankings."

Did Batman go all the way to England specifically to verify this possibility? This indeed exceeded Alberto's expectations.

"I didn't expect anyone to be so persistent—no wonder the style of the Gotham City vigilantes has changed in the last few days."

At this point, Gordon and Harvey both instinctively looked at the perverted wheelchair man beside them.

"Why are you looking at me? Alberto was just lucky today; if I had caught him alone, he would never have the face to come out and commit crimes again in his life."

After saying this, Ma Ma Zhaodi drove his Ghost Fire Wheelchair and disappeared around the street corner, leaving behind the Gotham Iron Triangle staring at each other in confusion, and Alberto instinctively covering his crotch.

"He"

"Let him go," Harvey shook his head. "First, take the Holiday Killer back; there is important business to do this afternoon."

"Mr. Bruce Wayne has very sincerely arranged a meeting."

The afternoon weather remained cool; although Gotham had entered summer, the thick clouds blocking the sun and last night's cool rain had almost taken away most of the stifling heat of today.

At Wayne Manor, Alfred Pennyworth was serving black tea to the guests present.

"Regarding my father and the Roman's father, the grudge between them is from a long time ago."

Recalling that incident, Bruce Wayne slowly narrated to Harvey and Gordon: "I roughly remember that Gotham was also raining heavily that day."

Knock knock knock!

The main gate of Wayne Manor was being pounded desperately by someone; that person's movements were very violent, and just from the sound one could feel that he must be in a state of extreme anxiety.

The manor gate was opened, and Thomas Wayne, looking at the person outside, could not help but exclaim.

"Oh my God!"

The person outside had a fierce face, with a ruthless air between his eyebrows, but at this very moment, he was soaked through by the heavy rain, the despair on his face far outweighing his ferocity, and he was dragging and holding a young man in his arms.

Bright red blood had soaked through half of the young man's body; rain mixed with the fresh blood on his face dripped drop by drop onto the ground. Clearly, his condition was not optimistic.

Thomas could certainly recognize who they were: Vincent Falcone, the head of the famous Falcone family in Gotham City. Besides Luigi Maroni, there was no other underworld magnate in Gotham with as much power and influence as him.

And the young man in his arms, who resembled him in face, was naturally his son, Carmine Falcone.

"Look what they did to my child!" Vincent accused bitterly and angrily.

"Alfred, come quickly! Bring my medical kit!"

Thomas helped Vincent support the unconscious young man into the room. Perhaps because he was worried his son could not be saved, or perhaps because he was too panicked and needed an outlet, Vincent kept talking.

"You have a child too, right? Dr. Wayne? You can understand the feelings of a father, can't you?"

Thomas did not answer his words; he simply placed the young man on the long dining table beside the fireplace, used a Mao Jin to wipe the water droplets and bloodstains from his face and body, and carefully examined the five bullet wounds on his chest.

"This person should be sent to a hospital." While opening the medical kit, he advised Vincent beside him: "I cannot—"

"No, he cannot be sent to a hospital." Vincent bit his teeth tightly, rejecting the doctor's proposal: "If I take him to any public place—Luigi Maroni, that beast, will kill him completely!"

For the sake of his son, this underworld magnate who had dominated the scene lowered his head at this moment.

"Dr. Wayne, you can name any condition; I only beg you..."

"Save him."

(End of this chapter)