Alright, Alright, Alright, So That's How We're Playing It?

Meanwhile, twelve minutes later, in front of the Diamond District City Plaza.

Bartel struggled against the flow of traffic and stopped behind a crowd of onlooking citizens.

Looking at the citizens blocking the road, Bartel helplessly picked up his handgun, then opened the car door and got out.

"My boss, just like Captain Gordon said, you get restless if you go even one minute without causing trouble!"

As he spoke, Bartel put on the same act he had used back when he was with the Falcone Family.

He fired three shots into the air, scaring the surrounding citizens into crouching down with their hands over their heads.

"The Falcone Family is handling business. Everyone else, get the fuck out—"

He stopped halfway through the threat, suddenly remembering that he was no longer part of the Falcone Family.

Then... what was he supposed to say at a time like this?

His heartless boss did not even have a proper name for his organization!

In the distance, Downton was gripping the neck of a man wearing Louis Vuitton and casually going through his wallet when he heard Bartel shouting.

Not recognizing Bartel's voice at all, he shot Bartel an irritated glare.

"You're with the Falcone Family, huh!

Fuck the Falcone Family!

Falcone is old. Gotham is my era now. Let me see who the fuck you are... Bartel?"

At that, Downton looked amusedly at Bartel, whose eyes had gone wide and whose legs were trembling.

Under Downton's gaze, Bartel hurriedly waved his handgun around.

"I-I-I-I said it wrong! That's not what I meant! It was just a slip of the tongue, I—"

"Alright, I got it!"

Downton impatiently cut off Bartel's incoherent babbling, then tossed the wallet he had emptied onto the ground beside him.

As a professional robber, Downton had an exceptional eye for targets. Familiar with all the major brands, he only needed to keep an eye out for limited editions and launch collections to pick them out with perfect accuracy.

Sure enough, he had found over two thousand dollars in cash on some random passerby. Wasn't that a much better drop rate than his beloved game?

As he pocketed the money, Downton released the man by the neck, then turned and walked toward Bartel.

As he walked, Downton raised his gun and shouted demonstratively.

"The Wraith Party is handling business! Everyone else, get the hell out!"

As soon as the words fell, Downton fired three shots into the air, immediately setting off screams all around them.

Downton himself pushed through the crowd to Bartel's side and irritably kicked him.

"They all say I'm Gotham's Wraith, and I kind of like that name.

From now on, we're the Wraith Party. I can't die even if I want to, so an organization named after its boss will never get the chance to change bosses, hahaha!"

Laughing loudly, Downton tucked his handgun into his waistband and pointed at the car nearby.

"Let's go. Take me somewhere to change clothes. I'm meeting a woman later, so I can't show up looking like this mess."

"Y-yes, Boss. P-please... get in!"

Bartel nodded frantically and hurried to open the car door for Downton.

But just as Downton stepped one foot into the car, a curse suddenly rang out from the crowd.

"Damn yellow-skinned monkey. Falcone is such trash, letting people like this strut around Gotham!"

"Oh, for fuck's sake?"

The instant those words fell, Downton was interested. He pulled his foot back out of the car and coldly looked over the crowd again.

Under Downton's scrutiny, some citizens finally could not help looking toward the source of the voice.

Following several citizens' gazes, Downton fixed his eyes on a family of three.

They looked like a fairly warm little family: a couple in their thirties and a girl of five or six.

Under Downton's gaze, the woman anxiously picked up her bewildered daughter while tremblingly tugging at her husband's sleeve.

Seeing the little girl, Downton let out a soft sigh. He really did not want to kill someone in front of a child.

So, gun in hand, he coldly walked toward the family.

As Downton drew closer and closer, the woman was on the verge of breaking down, backing away nonstop with her child in her arms.

As for the man—the one who had shouted at Downton—when Downton arrived in front of him, he parted his trembling lips and tried to keep up a tough front.

"I... I'm a cop. Are you trying to assault an officer?!

I've never heard of any Wraith Party in Gotham. You... you're insulting Falcone here. Aren't you afraid he'll come after you?!

That's... that's Falcone!"

"Oh, a cop~"

Hearing the man's words, Downton shook his head regretfully and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Then tell me, does being a cop mean you don't have to fear bullets?"

With that, Downton lightly patted the man's shoulder, then stepped in front of his wife and child and reached toward the child.

Seeing that his wife and child might be harmed, the man who had insulted Downton could no longer quite hold himself back.

However...

After noticing Bartel in the distance mercilessly aiming a gun at him, the man ultimately did not put up any resistance.

He simply watched as Downton rubbed his daughter's head.

As he tousled the little girl's hair, Downton once again shook his head regretfully.

He had already given the loudmouthed man plenty of chances, but the man had been useless even when given the chance!

Thinking that, Downton lightly patted the little girl's back.

"Little girl, how old are you?"

"She's only five, please... please... don't..."

The moment Downton finished speaking, the child's mother nervously answered for her.

Hearing the woman's terrified voice, Downton lightly patted her butt.

"Don't what? What exactly shouldn't I do? Do you take me for some scumbag who hurts innocent little girls?

What kind of joke is that? If I could even lay hands on innocent little brats, then I wouldn't deserve to be Gotham's future boss~"

With that, Downton smiled as he put an arm around the woman's shoulders and looked her up and down.

After a moment, Downton smiled.

"Judging by your bearing, you don't look like the kind of woman who got hundreds of thousands in bride price. That means you're actually a good woman.

Your taste in men is just a little lacking!

Let me do the math for you. Women around here do not ask for bride prices, and you and your kid even took your husband's surname. With conditions like that, what kind of man couldn't you find? Yet you picked this fucking loser who only knows how to run his mouth?

Looking at that cowardly sack of shit you married, when he gets it on with you, all he can probably do is spit all over your face.

Tell me honestly, is this girl really his daughter?

Whether she is or not, I have to seriously advise you: once you get home today, immediately divorce that bastard!

Trust me!"

"I... I... sob..."

The woman immediately burst into tears. Downton had frightened her so badly that she was practically crying down there too.

Just then, the little girl in the woman's arms suddenly opened her arms toward Downton.

"Handsome uncle!"

Calling out excitedly, the little girl hugged Downton's arm, then puckered her lips and leaned toward him.

Seeing that, Downton smiled and bent down, offering his forehead for the little girl to kiss.

Afterward, the little girl happily clapped her hands.

"Mommy, this uncle is so handsome! He's even more handsome than the celebrities you like!"

Hearing the little girl's words, Downton's smile grew even brighter.

"Alright, alright, alright, so that's how we're playing it? Then don't blame me for forgiving your bastard father a little~"

Downton gently pushed the woman holding the child, then pointed toward the park behind the plaza.

"Take your kid to the park and find some children to play with, or maybe some cats and dogs or something. I need to discuss some serious business with your husband."

"But..."

"Go!"

The woman wanted to say something else, but Downton immediately cut her off. She could only shakily carry her child away.

And so, amid the little girl's increasingly distant cries of "Goodbye, handsome uncle!", Downton returned to the loudmouthed man.

Pointing the Desert Eagle at the man's head, Downton said coldly.

"Kneel."

Thud!

The invisible pressure grew heavier and heavier, and the man dropped to his knees in an instant.

Seeing how readily the man had knelt, Downton finally nodded.

"Very good. So, do you know what you should call people like me from now on?"

"I..."

"You don't need to say it, because no matter what you say, what I do will only make you hate Asians even more.

Come to think of it, I don't need your promise. I only need to make sure you never forget this day!

Illness enters through the mouth, and disaster comes out of it. That's how we say it where I come from. You should learn it well!"

With that, Downton pulled out a shotgun from his backpack and kicked the man to the ground.

Holding the shotgun like a baseball bat, Downton aimed at the man's legs and smashed it down expressionlessly.

Once, twice... countless times.

When the blood spattering Downton's face made him look pockmarked, he finally stopped.

Behind him, Bartel handed Downton a handkerchief. Downton casually wiped his face with it and asked.

"Old Bartel, I don't have much experience with this. You think he won't die like this, right?"

"He probably won't die, but he'll definitely lose his legs. He might lose his wife and child too."

"Haha, fuck him. He only lost two legs, but I lost an entire day's good mood!"

Downton laughed and cursed, then rubbed the bloodstained handkerchief through his hair.

The sticky blood immediately acted like hair gel, giving his tousled hair a bit of a slicked-back look.

After casually tossing the handkerchief aside, Downton sneered at everyone around him, then passed through the silent, terrified crowd and got back into the car without a word.

Bartel got into the car after Downton and asked.

"Boss, where are we going next?"

"Metropolis. Drive that way first. As for the exact location, I need to make a call."

Still waiting for news. I wonder if I can get a trial recommendation...

There should be word this afternoon. If I don't get that trial recommendation, I'm screwed~

I'll do my best to keep my spirits up, and I hope everyone keeps following Downton's story. Also, please send some votes my way.

Love you all.