In the car, Gordon looked suspicious, constantly turning to glance back toward the asylum.
After pondering for a long while, Gordon said to Harvey.
"Buddy, let's go back to the precinct!"
Harvey was puzzled. "Why? Aren't we going to keep investigating that Gotham Beast?"
"Not for now." Gordon shook his head. "I want to take another look at Stan's body at the precinct first. Otherwise, I just can't shake the feeling that something's wrong."
Could there really be two people in the world who looked exactly alike?
And they both just happened to be in Gotham City? And both happened to appear at Li Wei's asylum?
There were too many suspicious points!
As Gordon turned to look toward the asylum behind them, it was clearly still standing there, yet in his eyes, it seemed as though it had been shrouded by endless fog!
And why had Li Wei pretended to be insane when they first went to the asylum?
"Come on, buddy, didn't that guy just say it? His name was Warwick Vander..."
Though Harvey grumbled, his hands had already turned the car around toward the precinct.
Gordon's sixth sense had always been rather inexplicable, but Harvey had no choice but to take it seriously.
Just as Harvey and Gordon hurried back to the precinct.
Inside Arkham Asylum.
After Stan shut the door again, he nervously walked over to Li Wei.
"Director, I'm afraid Sheriff Gordon has started to suspect my identity."
Though Stan had now gained great power, and his hands were even stained with sinful blood.
Perhaps because he had been an ordinary civilian for so long, he still couldn't help feeling intimidated when facing Gordon, a police officer.
"What do you want to do, then?" Li Wei looked at him with interest.
Li Wei was not worried about this at all. He had even planned for it long ago; everything was within his calculations.
But he wanted to hear Stan's answer.
"How about... I leave the asylum?" Shame showed on Stan's face, and he quickly added, "Director, I'm not trying to dodge my debt. I'm just afraid I'll cause trouble for the asylum."
Besides that, perhaps killing Gordon and Harvey was also an option.
But for Stan, that thought had never even crossed his mind.
After being resurrected, he had also read the news reports about his death.
He had to admit that in Gotham, Gordon and Harvey were among the few good cops. The two had not covered up Weizhan Pharmaceuticals' crimes in the slightest, instead reporting them truthfully to the media.
That successfully stirred public opinion and forced City Hall to suspend Weizhan Pharmaceuticals' project.
Perhaps it looked like an unremarkable occurrence to outsiders, but in Gotham, it was exceptionally rare!
Although Stan had jumped to his death while the two were trying to arrest him, he had never resented Gordon or Harvey...
In the end, Stan was still a good person...
Hearing Stan's thoughts, Li Wei shook his head.
"Don't worry, Stan. No, you're Warwick. You don't need to leave the asylum. They won't have the energy to investigate you." Li Wei smiled, his gaze seeming to pierce through Gotham City and fall upon the precinct and some alleyway. "I've already made arrangements. Just go do your job."
What a joke!
He had finally gotten his first employee—someone who could handle miscellaneous work, conduct chemical research, and even hunt down gangsters and criminals under cover of night, increasing his Soul Essence income.
How could Li Wei possibly let him leave so easily!
Not to mention that Gordon would soon have no time to keep investigating him. Even if Gordon continued pursuing the matter, Li Wei could simply deal with the evidence himself.
Without evidence, not even Gordon—or even the future Batman—could do anything!
For such a hardworking employee as Stan, all of this was worth it!
Hearing Li Wei say so, Stan could only drop the matter.
Though he did not understand why Li Wei said Gordon would soon be too busy to investigate the asylum, he trusted Li Wei.
Meanwhile, after Gordon and Harvey returned to the precinct.
They immediately found the Gotham Police Department's coroner and requested to view Stan Topolsky's body.
The coroner was somewhat surprised, but after thinking for a moment, he agreed to their request.
He merely told them to wait there for a while.
Before long, the coroner came out with a horribly disfigured corpse.
Stan's real body had long since been bought by Li Wei at a high price!
And the coroner was highly experienced with this sort of thing and had been prepared.
After all, among the many people who died in Gotham every day, there were bound to be impoverished nobodies with no one to claim them!
Faced with a prepared coroner, Gordon and Harvey, neither of whom were professionals, naturally could not find any flaws.
After examination, the disfigurement, shattered bones throughout the body, and other characteristics all matched Stan, who had fallen to his death from a rooftop.
The two had even checked Warwick Vander's file. It really existed, and everything about it was completely normal!
They could find no suspicious points at all!
This time, even Harvey began to wonder whether Gordon's sixth sense had stopped working.
"Buddy, are you being too sensitive? Maybe that Li Wei really was cured by the asylum?"
"Is that really it..." Gordon murmured. He always felt that he had overlooked something wrong.
Just as Gordon was still trying to find the clue he had missed, the Police Commissioner who pushed open the door interrupted his thoughts.
"Gordon, Harvey, there's a new major case that needs investigating. You must solve it as quickly as possible! A City Councilor from Gotham City Hall was assassinated on the street last night..."
Plans Can't Keep Up with Change
"A City Councilor was killed?"
Both Gordon and Harvey were shocked by the Police Commissioner's words.
Even in Gotham, this counted as a major incident!
No matter how much Gordon suspected Li Wei, he had no choice but to shift his focus to the City Councilor's murder.
Quite a few gang members had died at the hands of that Gotham Beast, but the assassination of a City Councilor clearly had a greater impact!
As always.
In Gotham, the deaths of several civilians could not compare to the impact caused by the death of a single powerful figure!
And this time, it was not merely a rich man who had died. It was a City Councilor who could participate in Gotham's development plans.
Gordon and Harvey could only devote all their energy to investigating the City Councilor's murder.
As their investigation deepened, they still had no leads on the true killer, but the reason for the City Councilor's death had surfaced.
The reason was simple, but it gave Gordon a headache all the same.
Because of the Arkham District development project!
The Arkham District development plan had once again been put on City Hall's agenda.
The Arkham District was the only area in all of Gotham City that had yet to be developed.
At present, the only families in all of Gotham City with both the strength and intention to take on the entire Arkham District development project were the Maroni Family and the Falcone Family!
But the problem lay there as well. Both the Maroni Family and the Falcone Family wanted to take the project for themselves!
In the end, City Hall had no choice but to activate the City Councilor system and use a vote to determine which family would receive the contract.
The City Councilor assassinated that night had been one of the many City Councilors who supported the Maroni Family!
There was no evidence yet as to who the killer was, but the true culprit—or rather, the person behind it—was already obvious!
The Falcone Family!
There was only one possibility!
This was also what gave Gordon a headache.
The Falcone Family? That was a massive force that had occupied Gotham's underworld for who knew how many years!
It was definitely not something he could bring down in a short time.
Never mind that he had no evidence now. Even if he did have evidence, going to confront them would be no different from seeking death.
Back then, Falcone had not even needed to act personally. Fish, one of the Falcone Family's subordinates, had strung up both him and his partner, Harvey.
Had Falcone not arrived in time and spared them out of consideration for his father, the two of them would have nearly been slaughtered like pigs!
Gordon would not foolishly believe that his father's reputation would always protect him.
How to catch the killer was merely the easiest question.
The harder question was how to prevent more City Councilors from being killed!
Just as Gordon stared at his desk in despair, with all the evidence they had gathered pointing to the Falcone Family.
His phone rang.
The caller was his girlfriend—Barbara!
"Hey, honey..." Gordon answered, speaking gently. "I won't be home for dinner tonight. Things are really busy at the precinct..."
Though work had not been going well, Gordon was clearly not the sort of person who brought his work frustrations home with him...
"No, Gordon." Barbara's voice came through. "A friend of yours came looking for you at the house. His name is..."
"Cobblepot, ma'am. My name is Oswald Cobblepot!"
An extremely familiar voice sounded from the other end of the phone!
The instant Gordon heard Cobblepot's voice, his heart sank to the bottom!
Why had this guy come back!
And why had he come looking for him!
Back then, Falcone had forced him to kill Cobblepot, or else Falcone would kill him and everyone around him!
But Gordon had shown mercy. He truly could not betray his principles as a police officer, so in the end, he could only put on an act.
He pretended to kill Cobblepot and throw him into the sea, warning him never to return to Gotham!
Gordon had no doubt that if Falcone discovered Cobblepot was still alive, Falcone would absolutely not spare him just because of his father!
And... Barbara would die too!
"Okay, I'll be right back." Gordon said gravely. "Barbara, don't open the door for anyone until I get home!"
"...All right."
Though Barbara did not understand what was happening, she could sense that Gordon was exceptionally restless and anxious.
After hanging up, Gordon was just about to say something to Harvey before rushing home.
But unexpectedly, Harvey spoke first.
"Buddy, do you need help?" Harvey spread his hands. "I don't know what trouble you're in, but I'll do my best to help."
Gordon pondered for a moment before shaking his head.
"Not for now, Harvey. Thanks for the offer, but I need to go home and deal with something first. Sorry for the trouble, but organize these files and see if you can find any evidence."
"Okay, no problem, buddy!"
Before you continue