Mafia Conspiracy

The Maroney Mafia family was also located in Gotham's East End, where the gangs were far more rampant than in the West End near Gotham University.

Simply put, it was Gotham's least economically developed area. Compared to that place, the West End Slums were practically a peaceful Heaven.

The gang competition there was extremely fierce. A small gang like the Gutter Gang mentioned before, with only around a hundred members, would have found it nearly impossible to control a nightclub.

The Maroney Mafia family owned a restaurant, two bars, a dance hall, and a strip club. That already made them one of the largest gangs in the area.

The Maroney family and the Red Crow Gang had been feuding for a long time. Their territories met at the borders, and a bar there frequently became the site of gunfights. Both sides wanted control of that vital transit point, but neither had succeeded.

That bar had become a lawless zone for the entire East End, as well as the place where information traveled fastest.

Sal had managed to establish himself in Gotham, especially in the dangerous and chaotic East End, because he had some real ability.

The Red Crow Gang's theft of the production line could not escape his notice. In the basement of a Maroney-controlled bar closest to the lawless zone, Maroney lit a cigar and said to his men, "I learned from our old friend, Police Department Commissioner Victor, that that red-haired kid across the street seems to be planning something."

One of his men said, "Yes. They seem to have stolen a lot of large machines from the south or southwest. I heard from a kid who lost a bet that their boss wants to produce some kind of chemical that can control people."

Sal narrowed his eyes. "A few days ago, I had dinner with Victor. He mentioned a case involving a Chemical Doctor as the killer, apparently a very accomplished professor at Gotham University. Could it be connected to this?"

His subordinate said, "I have two bodyguard informants around that redhead's mistress. He's been completely infatuated with her lately. I'll get something out of her."

Sal spun the lighter in his hand. "If they eat one more piece of meat, we eat one less. But now, it looks like they don't just want a share—they want to swallow us whole. Let's see who is better."

Maroney's guess was extremely accurate. It did not take much effort for him to obtain the Red Crow Gang's entire operation plan. The Red Crow Gang's leader was clever, but still young, and Maroney quickly took his measure.

At the same time, Schiller had played an indispensable role. He had done the most crucial thing: obtained the Fear Gas formula from the Red Crow Gang, then casually allowed Maroney's informant to find it.

The fact that Maroney could get in touch with the Police Department Commissioner showed that he was far more seasoned than the Red Crow Gang leader and had broader connections. Before long, he found a reliable chemist to analyze the formula. The conclusion was that it was a large-scale biochemical weapon with extremely powerful effects.

After reaching that conclusion, Maroney naturally could not allow the Red Crow Gang's operation to succeed. Once they obtained such an important weapon, the Maroney family would never have a chance to rise again.

And the first step was to absolutely prevent the Red Crow Gang from using their Police Department informant to bail Jonathan out.

On another pitch-black night, Gordon got off work as usual. His immediate superior, Lantolos, disliked him and never assigned him any useful work. He was practically becoming the Police Department's secretary and could not even get patrol duty.

So he got off early. His superior was walking a little ahead of him because he was heading to a drinking party.

The moment Gordon stepped outside, he saw his superior pass around a corner. Then a speeding car slammed into him, sending his superior flying more than ten meters right in front of the Police Department.

Gordon did not have time to think. He rushed back into the Police Department to call for help, but before the ambulance arrived, Lantolos had already stopped breathing.

He had originally been a cautious old cop, but lately, the Red Crow Gang had been so eager to bail Jonathan out that they had given him too many benefits. His greed had spiraled out of control. He had even wanted to marry the Red Crow Gang leader's sister, and his eagerness had kept him from realizing that his enemies had already set their sights on him.

Everything happened too quickly. Before Gordon could react, he was pushed into his superior's position.

This was, of course, another one of Maroney's fine works. To obstruct an opponent, one naturally had to choose someone they disliked most. The conflict between Gordon and Lantolos had been too obvious; nearly every cop in the entire Police Department had heard about it. Naturally, Maroney chose Gordon.

Of course, obstructing his opponent was only the first step. Maroney also wanted to produce this important weapon himself.

He was bolder than the Red Crow Gang. He directly bribed the manager of Wayne Chemical Plant and used a production line for nitric acid preparations to secretly manufacture the gas.

He did not even want to move it. He planned to produce it directly inside Wayne Chemical Plant in a concealed manner.

But the same problem remained. To mass-produce Fear Gas, he needed larger-scale separators and other advanced equipment. Though Maroney had more money than the Red Crow Gang, he was still unsure whether he should make such a massive investment.

So he brought in that chemist again and had him manually reproduce a little Fear Gas. The person he found was far more capable than the Red Crow Gang's chemist. Though he still could not perfectly replicate Fear Gas, he could reproduce nearly eighty percent of it. It still could not be concentrated, but its effects were already astonishingly good.

Seeing how effective it was, Maroney began considering a major investment. After all, if he could simply spray someone with a bottle and drive them mad, who in the entire East End could stand against him? Once he took the whole East End, tens of millions of dollars in income would be nothing but a triviality.

So Maroney urgently purchased a batch of necessary equipment from other states. It cost him several million dollars and many favors, and he hired a group of chemists at high salaries to work for him.

Such large-scale production naturally could no longer be carried out at Wayne Chemical Plant. There was no chemical plant on Maroney's territory, so he launched a gunfight. More than thirty of his best men died as he seized that small chemical plant from Red Crow Gang territory.

Only then did Bruce finally discover that the production line from his family's chemical plant had been stolen. He finally realized that the gangs had begun manufacturing the gas.

At the same time, Gordon received a tip from an anonymous source claiming that a car with license plate ending in 676 was often circling near Wayne Chemical Plant.

Gordon and Bruce immediately saw eye to eye. The Batman-and-detective duo returned, and they quickly found the car and caught the Red Crow Gang's trail.

Overnight, Batman raided the Red Crow Gang's base. Though they were much stronger than the Gutter Gang, with several hundred members, they had no particularly formidable criminals among them, only ordinary gang members. Batman fought in front while Gordon made arrests behind him, and overnight, more than two hundred members of the gang were arrested.

The Red Crow Gang leader was nearly furious to death. They had indeed stolen the production line from Wayne Chemical Plant, but they had not produced even a drop of Fear Gas before both the production line and chemical plant were taken by the Maroney Gang.

Unable to swallow his anger, the Red Crow Gang leader implicated Sal Maroney when he was arrested, and Batman turned his attention toward the Maroney Gang.

But Maroney was far more cunning and cautious than the Red Crow Gang leader. The entire chemical plant was heavily guarded, and every member was in a state of heightened alert. Batman could not find a good opportunity for the time being.

Maroney knew someone was watching him, so he began seeking help from his protector: Police Department Commissioner Victor.

Victor first removed the Wayne Chemical Plant theft case from the books internally, intending to bury the matter. Then, at Maroney's instruction, he continued interfering with Jonathan's trial, attempting to clear Jonathan of the charges so he could work at Maroney's chemical plant.

And Schiller added another spark to this tense multi-sided standoff.

Schiller guided Police Department Commissioner Victor into obtaining a bottle of concentrated Fear Gas developed by Jonathan from the evidence room. After Maroney received the concentrate, he understood Jonathan's importance even more clearly. He kept pressuring Victor, demanding that he bail Jonathan out as soon as possible.

Before Victor could make a move, someone came to see him.

Just as Batman had expected, that person was the Gotham University Principal.

Although Victor was the Police Department Commissioner, he did not have close ties to Gotham's political circles. The Gotham University Principal, on the other hand, knew quite a few jury members and State Senators.

He had previously been bought by the Red Crow Gang, and everyone knew he had close ties with them. Now that the Red Crow Gang had fallen, the Gotham University Principal urgently needed a new protector.

Without the protection of a major gang in Gotham, one could barely take a step.

The Gotham University Principal naturally did not mind joining the Maroney Gang. Learning that they were also interested in Fear Gas, he told Victor everything:

"...That girl wasn't cautious enough. She bragged everywhere that she was going to become Bruce Wayne's date. I kidnapped her when she came to see me. If we can influence the Wayne Family heir and use his power to clear Jonathan, it will be no difficulty at all."

"Through a woman?" Victor asked. "But Little Wayne isn't stupid. He may be a playboy who messes around every day, but how could a mere date make him willingly work for us..."

"We don't need him to do it willingly," the principal said.

"You want to kidnap Little Wayne? No, the risk is too great..." Victor said. "We may not be able to control him."

The Wayne Family accounted for more than half of Gotham City's economy. If they set their sights on Bruce and failed, the retaliation they faced would be terrifying.

The principal said, "In fact, I came up with a method long ago. We kidnap Little Wayne, but we don't necessarily have to control him. We can replace him instead..."