Chapter 28: Chapter Twenty-Seven: Gang Conspiracy

The Maroni crime family also operates in Gotham’s East Side, where the gangs are far more rampant than in the West Side near Gotham University.

Simply put, because it’s Gotham’s most economically depressed area, even the slums of the West Side seem like a peaceful paradise by comparison.

Gang infighting there is extremely fierce; as previously mentioned, the Sewer Gang—a tiny outfit of barely a hundred men—could never hope to control a single nightclub.

The Maroni family owns one restaurant, two bars, one dance hall, and one strip club—that’s already nearly the largest gang operation in the area.

The Maronis and the Red Ravens have long-standing grievances; their territories border each other, and a single bar at the intersection has seen constant gang wars, both sides desperate to control this vital transit hub—but neither has ever succeeded.

That bar became a no-man’s-land across the entire East Side, and the fastest hub for rumors and information.

Sal was able to establish himself in Gotham, especially in the most dangerous and chaotic East Side, because he had real skill.

The Red Ravens’ theft of production lines didn’t escape his notice; in the basement of a Maroni-controlled bar closest to the no-man’s-land, Sal lit a cigar and told his men: “I learned from our old friend, Police Commissioner Victor, that the red-headed kid across the way seems intent on stirring up trouble.”

His subordinate said: “Yes, they’ve stolen a lot of heavy machinery from the south or southwest. I heard it from a gambler who lost big—they say their boss wants to produce some kind of chemical that can control people.”

Sal narrowed his eyes and said: “A few days ago, I had dinner with Victor. He mentioned a case—the killer was a chemist, apparently a top professor at Gotham University. Could this be connected?”

His subordinate said: “I have two bodyguard informants near the red-headed guy’s mistress. He’s been sleeping with her heavily lately—I’ll get something out of her.”

Sal spun his lighter in his hand and said: “Every time they eat a piece of meat, we lose one. But now it looks like they don’t just want to take a share—they want to swallow us whole. Let’s see who’s stronger.”

Sal’s guess was dead-on—he didn’t even have to try hard to obtain the Red Ravens’ entire operation plan. Their leader was clever, but too young; Sal had read him perfectly.

At the same time, Shiler played an indispensable role—he did the most critical thing: he obtained the Fear Gas formula from the Red Ravens, then casually let a Maroni informant find it.

Sal’s connection to the Police Commissioner showed he was far more experienced and better connected than the Red Ravens’ leader. Soon, he found a reliable chemist to analyze the formula—the conclusion: it was a large-scale biochemical weapon with extreme potency.

After learning this, Sal could not let the Red Ravens succeed. If they obtained this weapon, the Maroni family would never rise again.

The first step was to absolutely prevent the Red Ravens from using their police contact to bail out Jonathan.

On another pitch-black night, Gordon clocked out as usual. His superior, Rantalos, disliked him and gave him no meaningful work—he was nearly reduced to a clerk, even denied patrol duty.

So he left early. His boss walked a few steps ahead, heading to a drinking party.

As Gordon stepped outside, he saw his boss turn a corner—then a speeding car slammed into him, sending the man flying over ten meters from the police station entrance.

Gordon didn’t hesitate—he ran back inside shouting for help—but before the ambulance arrived, Rantalos was already dead.

He’d been a cautious veteran cop, but recently, the Red Ravens had bribed him excessively to bail out Jonathan, fueling his greed beyond control. He even wanted to marry the Red Ravens’ leader’s sister—and in his haste, he never realized his enemies were already watching him.

Everything happened too fast. Before Gordon could react, he was thrust into his boss’s position.

This was, of course, Sal’s doing. To obstruct his rival, he needed to install the person his enemy hated most. Gordon and Rantalos’s feud was obvious—every cop in the station had heard of it. Sal naturally chose Gordon.

Of course, obstructing his rival was only step one. Sal also wanted to produce this vital weapon himself.

He was bolder than the Red Ravens—he directly bribed the manager of Wayne Chemical to repurpose a nitric acid production line for covert Fear Gas manufacturing.

He didn’t even want to move equipment—he planned to produce it right inside Wayne Chemical, disguised as normal operations.

But the same problem remained: large-scale Fear Gas production required larger separation machines and other high-end equipment. Though richer than the Red Ravens, Sal still wasn’t sure whether to make such a massive investment.

So he brought back the chemist and had him manually replicate a small batch of Fear Gas. The man he hired was far superior to the Red Ravens’—though he couldn’t perfectly replicate the formula, he achieved nearly 80% accuracy. Even without concentration, the effect was devastating.

Seeing how effective it was, Sal began considering a major investment. After all, if you could spray a simple pump at someone and make them go mad, who in the East Side could stand against him? Once he controlled the entire East Side, tens of millions in revenue would be nothing.

So Sal urgently ordered equipment from other states, spending millions and calling in countless favors, then hired a team of chemists at high salaries.

Such large-scale production couldn’t happen at Wayne Chemical. Sal had no chemical plant in his territory, so he launched a gang war—killing over thirty top men—to seize the small chemical plant from the Red Ravens’ territory.

At this point, Bruce finally realized his family’s chemical plant had been stolen—he finally understood the gangs had begun producing the gas.

Meanwhile, Gordon received an anonymous tip claiming a car with license plate ending in 676 had been circling Wayne Chemical repeatedly.

Gordon and Bruce immediately aligned—the Batman and detective duo reunited. They swiftly located the car and caught the Red Ravens’ tail.

Overnight, Batman raided the Red Ravens’ base. Though far stronger than the Sewer Gang—with hundreds of members—they had no elite criminals, just ordinary gangsters. Batman struck from the front, Gordon arrested from behind—in one night, over two hundred members were captured.

The Red Ravens’ leader was nearly furious. They’d stolen Wayne Chemical’s production line, but hadn’t produced a single drop of Fear Gas—the line and the factory were both seized by the Maronis.

Enraged, the Red Ravens’ leader, while being arrested, implicated Sal Maroni. Batman turned his focus to the Maroni gang.

But Sal was far more cunning and cautious than the Red Ravens’ leader. The entire chemical plant was heavily guarded, every member on high alert—Batman couldn’t find a good opening.

Sal knew he was being watched. He sought help from his protector: Police Commissioner Victor.

Victor first canceled the investigation into the Wayne Chemical theft, intending to bury the case. Then, under Sal’s direction, he interfered with Jonathan’s trial, trying to get him acquitted so he could work at Sal’s chemical plant.

Meanwhile, Shiler added fuel to this tense standoff.

Shiler guided Commissioner Victor to retrieve a vial of concentrated Fear Gas from the evidence room. After obtaining it, Sal understood Jonathan’s value even more—he pressured Victor relentlessly to bail Jonathan out immediately.

Before Victor could act, someone came to see him.

As Batman predicted, it was the president of Gotham University.

Victor, though Police Commissioner, had little influence in Gotham’s political circles. But the university president knew many jurors and state legislators.

Everyone knew he’d been bribed by the Red Ravens and was closely tied to them. Now that the Red Ravens had fallen, the university president urgently needed a new protector.

In Gotham, without a powerful gang’s protection, you couldn’t take a single step.

The university president had no qualms about switching allegiance to the Maroni gang. Learning they too wanted Fear Gas, he laid everything out for Victor:

“...That girl wasn’t careful enough. She bragged everywhere about becoming Bruce Wayne’s date. I kidnapped her when she came to see me. If we can influence the Wayne heir and use his power to free Jonathan, it would be effortless.”

“A woman?” Victor asked. “But young Wayne isn’t stupid. He may chase women and party every night—but one date? How could she make him willingly work for us...”

“We don’t need him to be willing,” the president said.

“You want to kidnap young Wayne? No, that’s too risky...” Victor said. “We might not even control him.”

The Wayne family controlled over half of Gotham’s economy. Targeting Bruce would bring catastrophic retaliation if it failed.

The president said: “Actually, I’ve already thought of a plan. We kidnap young Wayne—but we don’t need to control him. We can replace him...”