Chapter 147: The Righteous Trio Using a Son Against His Father (Big Lie)

"Alberto, is that you?"

Falcone's voice carried a barely perceptible tremor and a hint of hope—in this moment of isolation, with almost no trusted family left by his side, seeing the call from his long-missed youngest son, his heart, once like dead ashes and nearly despairing, now reignited with a spark of hope.

Even though he knew his youngest son was likely in grave danger, even though he knew this sudden call might have some issues, he no longer wanted to consider more; the only thing he wanted was to confirm the life or death of his most beloved youngest son; as for anything else, he had no mood to think about it for now.

And the voice coming from the phone left him frozen in place.

Because that was indeed the voice of his youngest son.

"Father, I—"

Two simple words, yet they made Falcone's hands tremble; he gripped the phone receiver tightly, as if afraid it would vanish in the next second.

"Son, my Alberto."

At this moment, the voice in the receiver suddenly changed, replaced by another person, someone the Godfather knew very well, someone he never expected, someone he had always thought was being manipulated at his and Maroni's whim, someone he believed had already been cleared of suspicion as the Holiday Killer.

"Mr. Falcone, I have something I wish to discuss with you."

"Harvey Dent—" The Roman's eyes bulged with rage; in that instant, all the clues in his mind instantly connected, and he believed he had finally discovered the truth of the matter.

All the killings were done by him; Harvey Dent was the Holiday Killer—just thinking this, the opposition between the two gangs, the shootout, and even today's confrontation all had a reason; just thinking this, he could understand why his son had fallen into the other party's hands; just thinking this, he could understand how Harvey, a mere district attorney, could maneuver freely and profit from both sides in the conflict between the two underworld powers.

After the Maroni father and son were shot, the conflict between the two gangs had become irreconcilable, so he did not continue to act, so the Holiday Killer completely vanished, because his purpose had been fully achieved.

The enraged Godfather forcibly suppressed his anger and spoke word by word: "Whatever you intend to do, come directly at me; whatever money you want, I will give you. But Alberto is innocent; if you dare touch a single finger of my son, you will know—"

"Mr. Falcone, did you misunderstand something?" Harvey's voice rang out again, this time with a slight hint of laughter: "I am the District Attorney of Gotham City, not a criminal; I will not use violence against innocent civilians, nor will I commit acts such as kidnapping and extortion."

Falcone was stunned.

Harvey's words denied all his guesses; he still insisted on his identity as District Attorney and refused Falcone's proposal to pay for his son's release; in other words, he was not the Holiday Killer—at least, he did not intend to make this call using the identity of the Holiday Killer.

Then, had he inadvertently saved his son?

"I'm sorry, Mr. Harvey." Thinking of this, Falcone immediately changed his attitude: "I apologize for my... rudeness just now. May I ask where you are now? I very much wish to see my son immediately; I think you should, to some extent, understand my state of mind."

"Oh, I called precisely for this matter. Mr. Falcone, regarding your son, I have some very important things to say; if possible, I do not wish the address I am about to reveal to be known by others; in fact, I hope the content of the following conversation will not be heard by anyone."

The Godfather frowned slightly, but still waved his hand behind him; about half a minute later, the assistant in the room opened the door and walked out, closing the door behind him.

"Alright, Mr. Harvey, you may speak."

"He is in a certain secret safe house, temporarily detained by the Gotham Police Department, Mr. Falcone." Harvey replied: "Next, I will tell you the address of the meeting building; if you wish to see him, come to see him after changing your appearance."

"One more reminder, Mr. Falcone, you had best come alone and not let anyone else know about this; this is my advice—but if you do not listen, I will respect your choice, but please remember, I will not stand idly by and do nothing while illegal acts occur."

What does this mean again? Why was my son temporarily detained by the police department?

The Godfather's mind was full of doubts, but when he wanted to ask further, the phone was hung up by the other party first.

Beep—

Hearing the busy tone in the receiver, the Godfather's expression suddenly turned gloomy; Alberto was still alive, which was naturally great news, but he seemed to be caught up in trouble, and it seemed to be major trouble that he could not settle with money.

"Detention..." Falcone lit a cigar, took a deep drag, using it to help himself concentrate his thoughts: "Alberto, what exactly have you experienced?"

On the other end, Harvey hung up the phone in his hand and nodded to the two people in the room.

Chief Gordon beside him looked at Alberto sitting at the table; he was sitting there quietly, his eyes somewhat empty, as if still recalling his recent conversation with his father.

"Alberto, you will meet your father tomorrow; whatever you want to say, think it over in advance—once you go in, the opportunities for you to meet may not be many."

"... What do you want to get from him?" he asked: "You hid me for so long, never revealed my whereabouts, and now suddenly contacted my father—what do you want him to do for you?"

Chief Gordon shook his head at this moment and answered his question.

"Not 'for', but 'help'; your father helps us, and we help him; in the end, this is a transaction where each gets what they need; we are not kidnappers; our way of doing things is fundamentally different from yours."

Hearing this, Alberto did not say anything more, while Chief Gordon and Harvey left the room one after the other.

Outside the room, Ma Ma Zhaodi was waiting idly, holding three paper bags in his hand; seeing the two walk out, he casually handed the paper bags over: "Here, burger sets—what did Falcone say?"

"Falcone said nothing, but I guess he agreed to this meeting." Gordon replied: "However, I am still not sure if it is the right time to bring Alberto into the open."

"If you don't play the card now, it'll rot in your hand; Old Ma's suggestion was right." Harvey reached out to take the burger: "Using Alberto here is already enough to deliver a checkmate against Maroni and Falcone."

Ma Ma Zhaodi added: "Anyway, according to my guess, if we were to ask how much Falcone is willing to give up for his youngest son—"

"Perhaps everything he has."

(End of Chapter)