"No, he definitely won't!" A sharp glint flashed in Falcone's clouded eyes. "All I want is for him not to interfere when we attack the Maroni Family! If we're lucky enough, maybe the Maroni Family will provoke him themselves. Then we'll find out what his relationship with Khada Jhin is, and it'll save us a lot of trouble..."
But before Falcone could finish, Victor excitedly cut him off.
"We're finally making a move against the Maroni Family?"
Falcone: ...
The logic of striking while they were sick and taking their life was certainly sound.
But that wasn't the point he should have been focusing on at all!
Yet as Falcone looked at Victor's excited, bloodthirsty expression, all his remaining words could only turn into a weary sigh.
"That's right. Go gather our people and make preparations..."
Chapter 18: Alchemy Doesn't Exist?
The black haze over Gotham City never dispersed, only rippling when the wind blew.
A taxi stopped outside Arkham Asylum. Li Wei stepped out and stood before the gates, watching the churning black clouds overhead.
"The wind's a little strong today."
It seemed things wouldn't be peaceful for quite some time...
"Pay up!"
The taxi driver's roar snapped Li Wei out of his thoughts.
Li Wei hurriedly apologized with a smile, then took out some change and paid the fare.
"Living in a place like this, you really are crazy!"
The taxi driver cursed as he accepted the money, then floored the gas and shot away, leaving behind a trail of exhaust as he vanished into the night.
Li Wei: ...
"Crazy? That might actually be one way to find some peace and quiet..."
Muttering to himself, Li Wei walked into Arkham Asylum.
Back in his office, Li Wei had barely sat down and hadn't even had time to take a sip of water.
When the office door was slammed open from outside with a bang.
Dr. Hugo rushed in frantically.
"Huh? Dr. Hugo?" Li Wei shrugged. "You came at just the right time. I happened to have something to discuss with you..."
Plans never kept up with change. Only plans that could adapt to change at any time were good plans!
With the Falcone Family's involvement, Dr. Hugo's meeting with the Court of Owls tomorrow needed some adjustments.
But Dr. Hugo directly interrupted him, his face full of urgency.
"Director, we can discuss everything else later. Something terrible has happened. Come to the laboratory with me first!"
Li Wei was startled.
Something had happened in the laboratory?
For Dr. Hugo to panic like this, what could it be? Had the laboratory exploded?
"Dr. Hugo, what happened exactly? Did the laboratory explode?"
"It's worse than that! Come to the laboratory and you'll see!" Dr. Hugo even grabbed Li Wei by the sleeve and pulled him out of his chair.
Hearing that, Li Wei could no longer spare any thought for the storm brewing outside. He followed Dr. Hugo at a brisk jog toward the hidden elevator on the top floor.
Nothing could go wrong with the Indian Hill laboratory!
It wasn't merely because the advanced experimental equipment stored there was expensive. More importantly, many of those instruments were extremely difficult to purchase on the market.
That place was Li Wei's future pool of hero material!
The laboratory was located in the underground Indian Hill Hospital, and the hidden elevator was the only way in.
The two entered the elevator and descended underground.
When the elevator doors opened again, they had arrived at Indian Hill Hospital.
The last time Li Wei had come here, they had still been enemies!
Li Wei had killed every one of Indian Hill Hospital's original staff, leaving behind only a "brilliant sea of flowers" stretching along the entire corridor.
The flowers of flesh and blood that had once bloomed there had now vanished.
Dr. Hugo had clearly cleaned them up.
Indian Hill Hospital was deathly silent now, so quiet that it sent chills down one's spine.
But neither Li Wei nor Dr. Hugo was ordinary, and there was even less reason for them to be afraid on their own turf.
Led by Dr. Hugo, the two headed straight for the laboratory.
The laboratory was located deep within Indian Hill Hospital. Along the way, Li Wei saw many rooms, each perfectly simulating various extreme natural environments.
Perhaps that was the difference between biological experiments and mechanical experiments.
If this had been Batman's laboratory, it would probably have been filled with all kinds of weapons and equipment instead.
Li Wei's thoughts wandered.
The two soon reached the laboratory.
But contrary to Li Wei's expectations, the laboratory had not exploded.
Through the laboratory glass, Li Wei instead saw a twisted corpse lying inside.
Dr. Hugo had probably just finished an experiment.
"What is it, Dr. Hugo?" Li Wei looked at him in confusion. "Didn't you say something terrible happened?"
"It is something terrible. I conducted an experiment according to Singed's experimental methods from his memories." Dr. Hugo's face was grim as he pointed at the twisted corpse on the laboratory floor. "This was the only result. Alchemy simply doesn't work."
Li Wei sighed in relief.
"So that's the problem." Li Wei spread his hands and advised, "That's not such a big deal. Isn't it normal for experiments to fail?"
"Not a big deal?" Dr. Hugo's expression gradually turned frantic. "If it were an ordinary experiment, then yes, failure would be normal. But I recreated the experiment exactly according to Singed's methods from his memories! If it still failed, then it's a huge problem!"
"Do you know what that means? It means every bit of Singed's knowledge is invalid!"
Listening to Dr. Hugo's roar, Li Wei gradually understood.
Compared to all of Singed's alchemical knowledge becoming useless, even a laboratory explosion really wasn't a major problem. After all, money could always build a bigger and better one.
As for an experimental subject dying, that barely even counted as an issue.
Could Gotham City ever lack experimental subjects?
If all of Singed's alchemical knowledge had become invalid, then this was truly a disaster!
More valuable than Singed's combat abilities was his knowledge as an alchemical scientist!
"Dr. Hugo, what experiment did you conduct?" Li Wei's expression turned serious.
"A werewolf! A werewolf experiment!" Dr. Hugo murmured distractedly. "In his memories, I found that Singed once successfully created a werewolf with terrifying combat strength using humans and animals. It happened to overlap with the human modification project I had been researching..."
For Dr. Hugo, the terrible news of alchemy failing was more painful than being killed.
An experiment that had never truly succeeded suddenly seemed to offer hope, only for him to discover that it could not be achieved at all.
That kind of blow was even more devastating than never having found hope in the first place.
"Director, does alchemy not exist?" Dr. Hugo looked at Li Wei with pleading eyes.
Li Wei frowned as he looked at the somewhat despondent Dr. Hugo.
He didn't understand the principles behind the werewolf experiment, but he knew about werewolves.
In League of Heroes, there was only one werewolf.
Warwick Vandals!
A deadly assassin who could drain blood and prowled the jungle, known as the Mad Dog.
It really did fit within Dr. Hugo's area of experimentation.
But there was no reason for it to fail. Although Singed's alchemical knowledge came from Runeterra, the principles of experiments and the basic laws of physics were not fundamentally different between the two worlds.
Then, a flash of inspiration struck Li Wei's mind!
That was it!
He had found the problem!
Li Wei slapped Dr. Hugo on the shoulder.
"Pull yourself together, Dr. Hugo!" A smile returned to Li Wei's face. "Alchemy exists! And it still works!"
"We overlooked one thing: the Principle of Equivalent Exchange in alchemy!"
Chapter 19: Rage Potion
"The Principle of Equivalent Exchange?"
Dr. Hugo raised his head, his face full of confusion.
"That's right! The Principle of Equivalent Exchange!" Wisdom gleamed in Li Wei's eyes. "The fundamental law of the world is equivalent exchange..."
"Applied to the werewolf experiment, I may not understand the experiment itself, but I roughly know the werewolf you mentioned. The werewolf created by the experiment should have the ability to drain others' blood to restore itself, right?"
Dr. Hugo pondered for a moment before cautiously nodding.
Though he still didn't understand what the werewolf experiment had to do with equivalent exchange, Li Wei's words sounded quite reasonable.
"Then that's it!" Confidence shone on Li Wei's face.
"This ability to drain other people's blood and replenish itself cannot be explained by science at all. It can only be magical power. But among the materials we used in the experiment, which one possessed magical abilities?"
Li Wei's words left Dr. Hugo speechless.
It made some sense, but not much!
Dr. Hugo fell into deep thought.
"Director, although what you said has nothing to do with the Principle of Equivalent Exchange, your words reminded me of something." Dr. Hugo's thoughts gradually cleared. "I remember that in Master Singed's memories, there was an alchemical potion called the Rage Potion. Those who drink it gain the ability to drain blood. It should be usable as one of the experimental materials."
Li Wei: ...
Although the first half of Dr. Hugo's words once again made Li Wei experience what it meant for the truth to cut like a knife.
Fortunately, Dr. Hugo had regained his confidence and already found a direction to solve the problem.
Li Wei could only silently remind himself that every genius had quirks in their personality. Be tolerant. Be tolerant...
At that moment, Dr. Hugo began walking toward the laboratory and spoke again.
"Oh, right, Director. If you don't have anything else to do, go upstairs and sleep first. I need to research what materials can recreate the Rage Potion. There's no use in you staying here. Good night."
There was some respect, but not much.
I may not understand the Rage Potion, but I'm very angry right now!
Li Wei: ...
He was working for him without asking for payment. Be tolerant. Be tolerant...
He suddenly understood why Singed's combat abilities were all geared toward escaping!
With that personality, if he didn't run fast enough, he would probably have been beaten to death long ago!
Since they had found a direction for solving the problem, Li Wei naturally had no reason to remain in the laboratory.
Dr. Hugo had been right about one thing just now.
There was no use in him staying here. He might as well go back and get some sleep early.
Before you continue