Chapter 41: The Essence of Humanity Is

Gotham City has been in a state of panic recently.

Everyone knows that Carmine Falcone, the crime boss of Gotham, is quite agitated: first, Catwoman and Batman broke into his home during his nephew's wedding and stole something; then the Falcone Import Company he founded was suddenly refused cooperation by all banks in Gotham City; and on Halloween night, his little nephew was assassinated, and twenty million US dollars were burned.

A hideously ugly pumpkin was left behind as mockery.

You see, Gotham City's focus is just that strange; amidst a series of major incidents, they always manage to remember the strangest, craziest, and most unconventional observation point.

Falcone is different; he cares more about his own and the Falcone family's face, so he put up a heavy reward. Unfortunately, after all the investigation, the only clue was "a mysterious person wearing a ugly pumpkin mask appeared in Diamond District."

They couldn't follow it further because that pumpkin man only appeared for ten minutes and vanished afterward; the only reason people remembered him was because the pumpkin on his head was quite distinctive.

But Falcone was not satisfied with this result; he put a heavy bounty on that guy's head, yet for a whole week, nothing was found. His authority was damaged daily, and his sister Carla, also a leader of the Falcone family, screamed at him in rage every day.

"My Johnny, my son is dead! Carmine, if you can't think of a way to catch that damn pumpkin man! I will solve this problem in my own way!"

"Carla, we are the Falcone family, not street thugs; we will not kill innocents indiscriminately, nor can we vent our anger through indiscriminate retaliation."

"Kill innocents indiscriminately? Don't you think that prosecutor Harvey Dent deserved to die anyway? How many things of the family has he ruined?"

"You are not doing this for the family, Carla; we all know you suspected him only because he appeared in Johnny's party parking lot—but with his style, he would only think about how to bring the gang to justice, not pick up a gun, wear a pumpkin mask, and break into someone's home to kill."

"Oh, really? Was it really that coincidental? That Harvey Dent and Gordon happened to act together on Halloween night? That a sheriff just happened to be his alibi? That the ledger you lost just happened to be in his hands? Ask all the family members outside the factory at that time; every single one of them saw him personally flipping through your ledger in the warehouse."

"Enough!"

Falcone stopped his sister's hysteria and stubbornness; the accumulated authority of the Godfather in his daily life was fully revealed at this moment, and his powerful aura forced Carla to forcibly shut her mouth.

"Whether Harvey Dent killed Johnny or not, we cannot be sure, but Harvey Dent does have our ledger in his hands; unless there is a high-level traitor within the family, then only he could have traced the whereabouts of those twenty million."

"And that Gordon! And that Batman!"

"Carla, I said, enough. I do not want to repeat it a third time."

The black-clad, overweight woman adorned in gold and silver was furious, but she still followed the Godfather's words and sat aside, fuming in silence.

"Whether Johnny's matter was done by him or not, whoever took our things must pay the price—I will handle this matter."

—

Nearly a week passed, and Ma Ma Zhaodi's heart relaxed slightly.

At least the Romans did not really suspect him just because of an ugly pumpkin, which is a good thing—but thinking carefully, no matter how you put it, people are unlikely to connect a newcomer, a unlucky guy working in a restaurant run by the local gang, with a ruthless, traceless, perverted killer.

He had neither motive nor ability to do so; moreover, no one could determine whether this killer was hired by Falcone himself.

After all, his own nephew Johnny had planned to tell the jury everything he knew about the Romans before the wedding—extortion, bribery, murder, etc. —and at that time, everyone thought Falcone would desperately want to silence his own nephew forever.

But later, the Romans personally paid for Johnny Vitti's luxurious wedding, and on that day, Johnny Vitti did not go to court to testify as agreed; the two seemed to be getting along very well, completely like a loving family.

Contradiction? What contradiction?

But then again, can someone who once threatened the Godfather really survive from his hands? Who can guess the Romans' thoughts?

But to be safe, he still advised Drake to move Lady Camilla out of Gotham City, and incidentally lent him thirty thousand US dollars.

He was really afraid that one day Drake's enemies would come to seek revenge; that damn thing's ability to attract hatred was too strong; if you came to seek revenge with a gun, it would be fine, but Ma Ma Zhaodi living in the house did not want to suffer by association.

Anyway, he had no urgent need for money; for Americans, the most common types of huge loans—car loans, mortgage loans, tuition loans, and credit card debts—he was not involved in any of them.

He did not study at a local university, so he didn't need to repay tens or even dozens of years of student loans; he didn't buy high-priced items, so he never owed money on his credit card; the house was rented in the East District, which currently felt quite good, and after Drake left, he would continue the lease; and he already had a car, one with a soul ring, which was quite cheap.

Calculating this way, besides the fifty thousand US dollars, Ma Ma Zhaodi even saved some money; at least this month's rent was not paid by him.

Drake had emptied his family to treat his wife's illness; Ma Ma Zhaodi, following the principle of earning a little whenever possible, gave him a thirty-thousand-US-dollar usury loan; if he could earn enough money and survive to walk out of Gotham, then Drake would have to repay him.

"Damn, what was the interest rate again?"

Ma Ma Zhaodi blankly recalled the scene at that time; it seemed they really hadn't agreed on the interest rate then.

"Damn! I lost out!"

"Ding, you have a new part-time job available, please check it."

"Go to hell; the last three jobs, two almost killed me afterward, and the third almost killed me on the spot; if I ever take a part-time job from your system again, I am a dog!"

"Task reward: Advanced Culinary Mastery."

"Damn, you're still stuck on culinary skills..."

Ma Ma Zhaodi said this with his mouth, but his body honestly clicked on Shangcheng to check the price of Advanced Culinary Mastery.

"Advanced Culinary Mastery

Price: Twenty thousand US dollars

Note: Don't overthink it; the culinary skills that make dishes shine are priced separately."

"Thank you, System Father; System Father is so good; come here for a kiss, mua!"

(End of this chapter)