But Gordon understood that before he had concrete evidence, he could not rely too heavily on the police department's resources.
No one knew how many people in the Gotham Police Department had their "eyes."
Gordon could only call in favors through some friends and find a lawyer in Gotham City known for his sense of justice.
Harvey.
That was right, this lawyer shared the same name as his partner, Harvey.
However, this lawyer's surname was Dent.
Harvey Dent, a prominent lawyer who liked flipping coins.
To everyone else, Harvey Dent was Gotham's most famous and best lawyer, but Li Wei cared more about his other identity.
Two-Face!
More precisely, the future Two-Face, and one of Li Wei's ideal Hero Templates.
What happened afterward between Gordon and Harvey Dent did not differ much from what Li Wei knew.
Information about Catwoman Selina leaked due to Harvey Dent's negligence, and she was hunted by assassins inside Wayne Manor...
That was nothing much. Li Wei believed that as Gotham's King of Duels, Gordon could handle it as long as neither Li Wei nor his people made a move.
"Eh..." Li Wei rubbed his temples in frustration, then leaned back in his recliner and stared blankly at the ceiling.
Yet his mind was racing at high speed.
He did not need to worry too much about Gordon investigating the case, but Gordon and Bruce Wayne had finally joined forces, and that was something he had to take seriously.
Li Wei was not afraid of what those two could do to him together. Let alone the current Bruce Wayne and Gordon—even the future Batman, honestly, was only so-so in terms of strength as long as he did not challenge Li Wei to a fight.
What he was considering was the impact their alliance would have on Gotham's situation.
Even the young Bruce Wayne could not be judged by ordinary standards.
Especially now that Bruce Wayne had gradually regained control of Wayne Enterprises.
When he joined forces with Gotham's King of Duels, the resulting chemical reaction was far greater than one plus one equaling two.
Capital was king. That saying might not be entirely true in Gotham, but it made some sense.
After receiving Bruce Wayne's sponsorship, Gordon would be able to do far too many things!
They might not necessarily be able to do anything to him or Arkham Asylum, but without question, Gotham City's underworld would likely be the next to suffer.
Li Wei wanted to keep Gotham in a delicate balance. That was no easy task...
Black could not overpower white, and white could not overpower black.
That was an art.
He liked something Camille had once said—this world was neither black nor white, but an exquisite shade of gray.
He had to ensure that Gotham could sustainably provide him with Soul Essence!
In fact, quite a few ideal Hero Template vessels had already entered his sight: Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face...
Yet the Soul Essence balance in his hands had only barely surpassed two thousand.
Soul Essence Balance: 2089
Since he had bought the Hero Template for Demolition Genius Jigs last time, he had earned less than six hundred Soul Essence in total!
That rate of growth was clearly nowhere near enough.
After thinking for a moment, Li Wei gradually came up with a plan.
As the sky slowly darkened, he summoned Ian, Warwick, and Dr. Hugo.
"Go on, make a big score!" Li Wei said to the three men before him. "Don't cause too many casualties, but make sure the commotion is huge."
Having received Li Wei's explicit orders, the three naturally went to carry them out without hesitation.
No matter how much Dr. Hugo liked to crack jokes in private, how honest Warwick was, or how many bomb blueprints Ian had yet to realize.
At this moment, absolute loyalty brought absolute efficiency.
Li Wei watched the three men turn and leave the office, his fingers unconsciously tapping against the desk.
His true purpose in sending those three out to stir up trouble was not to collect more Soul Essence by slaughtering Gotham City.
Otherwise, Ian alone could destroy half of Gotham City with a single Perfect Storm. At most, three would be enough to massacre the entire city.
He would not do something so shortsighted. Sustainable development was the proper path.
He merely wanted to draw Gordon's attention and divert some firepower.
Gordon knew that Arkham Asylum had problems; he simply lacked evidence.
As long as Gordon focused his attention on Arkham Asylum, it would buy some time for the ongoing reshuffling war in the underworld...
As for whether Gordon might actually catch Arkham Asylum by the handle?
Fortunately, Li Wei was willing to follow the rules most of the time.
Unfortunately, Li Wei possessed the ability to destroy the rules whenever he wished.
Tonight, Gotham was destined to remain sleepless!
Still, was the "big commotion" those three understood really the same big commotion Li Wei had meant?
Gotham's night was exceptionally "lively."
Especially since Maroni had made up his mind to strike first.
The conflict between the two sides stemmed from the Arkham District development project. In theory, they were merely business rivals.
But sometimes, business competition was just that simple and unpretentious.
Maroni went all in!
He firmly believed that going all in was a form of wisdom.
Tonight, under Maroni's orders, the Maroni Family launched the first all-out assault against the Falcone Family!
Every member of the Maroni Family came out in force, using all manner of firearms to attack Falcone's various strongholds.
The scale was so massive that even the Gotham Police Department avoided it.
At a time like this, no one was willing to provoke the Maroni Family...
The officers of the Gotham Police Department all stayed obediently at home, except for the partners Gordon and Harvey.
But even Gordon was helpless against a war breaking out everywhere at once. He was good at one-on-one fights, but no one was fighting him one-on-one now.
He wanted to go out and stop those thugs, but armed with only a handgun, he was completely pinned down by their heavy firepower!
Nearly every one of them had a heavy machine gun! Some even had rockets!
"Damn it!" Gordon cursed as he hid behind a wall, feeling the repeated impacts shaking it behind him. "They've gone insane! Did these damned gangs buy an entire army?"
His partner Harvey had completely lost any desire to joke around. Seizing an opening, he extended his hand past the wall, emptied his magazine as quickly as possible, reloaded, and continued firing.
"Buddy, you'd better come up with a solution before this wall gets turned into Swiss cheese, or we'll be the next ones full of holes..."
Gordon felt helpless as well. He could not think of any solution at all.
Even back on the battlefield, he had never fought a war with such a disparity in equipment!
He had skill, that was true.
But under this level of fire coverage, no skill meant anything.
The moment he dared show his head, a rocket or a burst of machine-gun fire would immediately find him, while he had only a little handgun in his hand.
"Click, click, click..."
The sound of an empty magazine rang out. Gordon knew he had only one magazine left.
He looked somewhat lost, his face full of unwillingness.
He had only just formed an alliance with Bruce Wayne, and the clues about the Waynes' murder had only just begun to surface. He clearly had a chance to make this city better...
Just as Gordon and Harvey were gradually emptying their final magazines, a violent explosion suddenly erupted from the direction of the gang members, accompanied by wave after wave of screams and cries.
"Ah..."
"What the hell is that thing?!"
"It's poisonous! Watch out!"
"There are bombs! Fuck!"
"The Gotham Beast is here..."
Blow It All to Hell!
Amid fear and screams, the Maroni Family's gang members fell into chaos.
For a time, the pressure on Gordon and Harvey visibly eased, until...
No more bullets came flying in their direction.
At first, Gordon and Harvey thought the other side was merely putting on an act, trying to lure them out of cover with such a clumsy trick.
The two became even more cautious behind their cover and dared not show themselves. They did not even use their final magazines, saving them for self-defense as a last resort.
But gradually, Gordon noticed that something was wrong.
The Gotham Beast? Strange bombs?
There was even poison gas?
What the hell was all this?
Even if the Maroni Family was acting, they should at least make it believable!
In all of Gotham, anyone with even the slightest connection to the underworld knew that Khada Jhin and the Gotham Beast came from Arkham Asylum!
As for poison gas and bombs? Please, ever since Khada Jhin and the Gotham Beast made their debut, neither of them had anything to do with those two things!
That was until a Maroni Family member's head was torn from his neck and rolled toward Gordon like a ball.
The head was clearly a "Black Beauty watermelon." It looked black, but it was very juicy.
It rolled all the way over, leaving behind a bloody trail.
Its eyes were filled with terror and refusal to die, while the massive torn wound on its neck explained exactly how he had died.
Looking at the tragically dead Black Beauty watermelon before them, Gordon and Harvey exchanged glances.
Could it... be real?
Though both of them wavered slightly, they did not stand up right away. Instead, they pulled out a small mirror and used its reflection to look toward the Maroni gang.
Do not ask why a grown man like Gordon carried a small mirror with him. His ex-girlfriend Barbara had left it behind.
Through the mirror, they finally saw the Maroni Family being slaughtered.
That was right!
Slaughtered!
"This... probably isn't an act, right?" Gordon glanced at the black-skinned watermelon rolling beside him and hesitated. "Otherwise, this acting is way too convincing."
Neither Gordon nor Harvey felt like vomiting. After all, whether it was Gordon, who had come off the battlefield, or Harvey, who had spent over a decade in Gotham, both had long grown accustomed to scenes like this. They had even seen worse.
It was simply that the situation had become too absurd, leaving both of them unable to process it.
How had things developed to this point?
After exchanging looks, the two cautiously rose from behind the wall and peered over it toward the source of the explosions.
Now they could see even more clearly.
Before you continue