Falcone hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.
"Director Li, what are your thoughts on the state of Gotham's underworld?"
Victor, standing behind Falcone, had long since lost the arrogance he had displayed during their first meeting. He stood there obediently, like a transparent man.
He had already accepted reality.
Fighting Arkham Asylum? That was courting death!
If you couldn't win, you couldn't win. If you couldn't win, you should quietly act like you were invisible instead of jumping out to spout nonsense and make threats!
Besides, if the sky fell, there would be taller people to hold it up!
Wasn't the boss still here?
Little did Victor know that his boss, Falcone, was feeling rather uneasy as well.
What he planned to do next was naturally devour the forces left behind by the Maroni Family and become Gotham's sole underworld overlord.
But everything depended on Li Wei's wishes.
If Li Wei showed even the slightest hint that he did not want Falcone to do this, Falcone would never dare proceed. Even Falcone himself did not know when Li Wei had changed in his eyes from an interesting young man into a superior figure capable of deciding his life and death.
Having an emperor suddenly appear above his head naturally left him unwilling.
But what could unwillingness do? The gap in strength was simply too great. If he couldn't win, he couldn't win.
Better to spend money to stay safe!
Of course, Falcone had used a little trick in this matter.
The first thing he did after entering Li Wei's office was offer a "donation" of one hundred million dollars, hoping Li Wei would favor him a little for the sake of that donation.
Little did he know that Li Wei was feeling rather helpless as well.
The state of Gotham's underworld?
Why were they asking the director of an asylum about that?...
Do whatever you want. As long as you weren't trying to destroy Gotham, it had nothing to do with him!
He did not care about such matters at all right now. What he cared more about was Dr. Hugo's progress in purchasing bugs. He could barely wait to start stacking!
Fine, for the sake of a hundred million dollars!
"Mr. Falcone, I am merely a law-abiding, upstanding citizen of Gotham City. Gotham's underworld has nothing to do with me, and I certainly have no opinions on it." Li Wei shrugged. "If you have no other medical matters to discuss, please return to your work as soon as possible."
Li Wei's words were polite, but not entirely polite.
He was practically telling Falcone to get out.
Yet to Falcone's ears, they sounded like heavenly music.
Director Li had no intention of meddling in Gotham's underworld!
That was good news. Since Li Wei would not stop him, who else could stop him from unifying the underworld!
"Alright, thank you, Director Li." Falcone stood and spoke to Li Wei. "Then I'll be leaving now."
Without any further delay, he immediately took Victor and headed for the door. He did not want to anger Li Wei over such a trivial matter.
But just as he stepped out of the office, he saw Gordon and Harvey coming up the stairs.
Falcone hesitated, then turned back to Li Wei.
"Oh, right, Director Li. The matter you asked me to handle should have results soon. Gordon will be transferred here to work security before long..."
A Hundred Million Dollars' Worth of Cockroaches?
Falcone left.
At the same time, he had arranged Gordon's next career move in one go.
Other people only became security guards in their sixties, but Gordon became one in his twenties.
It was not merely getting there in one step. He had practically taken three times fewer detours than everyone else!
As for safety...
Was there anywhere in all of Gotham City safer than Arkham Asylum?
Falcone could not understand it. He was even a little jealous. Why was Li Wei so good to Gordon? Not only had he let Gordon take three times fewer detours than others, but he had also arranged the safest job in all of Gotham City for him.
Of course, if Falcone himself were asked to work security here, he definitely would not come.
After seeing Falcone off, Li Wei had not even had time to call Dr. Hugo and ask about the progress of the bug purchase before the office door was knocked on again.
It was Gordon and Harvey.
Li Wei could only helplessly put down the phone.
"Sheriff Gordon, hello." Li Wei sighed. "This is not the mayor's office. You don't all need to come running to me."
Gordon had no mood to respond to Li Wei's joke.
Ever since he had seen Falcone downstairs at the entrance to the asylum, many of the doubts in his heart had been resolved.
Falcone's respectful attitude as he left had made it obvious.
He had always underestimated Li Wei and Arkham Asylum.
If the Falcone Family was the haze hanging over Gotham, then Li Wei and Arkham Asylum were dark clouds even higher than that haze.
They were more deeply hidden, and even more powerful.
He could do nothing against the Falcone Family. Could he possibly deal with Li Wei and Arkham Asylum?
Setting aside whether Li Wei and Arkham Asylum were willing to obey the law and accept its judgment.
Simply finding evidence of Arkham Asylum's crimes was nearly impossible.
But Gordon still came upstairs.
He was unwilling to give up. He could never forget how Gotham Beast and the other two had saved him and Harvey last night.
Perhaps Li Wei was not a bad person?
That was the only hope Gordon still held onto.
"Director Li, whose side are you on?" Gordon got straight to the point.
Instead, Li Wei was stunned by the question.
Gordon's question had completely exceeded his expectations.
Whose side was he on? That truly stumped him.
A good person? Yet he was not the sort of good person who obeyed the law. Stan, before becoming Warwick, had been that kind of good person.
He could not be called a good person!
A bad person? Yet some of the people he had killed since making his debut had not been bad people. It was not as though he had never killed good people, but there were barely any good people to be found in all of Gotham anyway.
Besides, he had no extreme ideas like destroying Gotham or destroying the world, so he could not really be called a bad person either.
The distinction between good people and bad people seemed difficult to define.
After remaining silent for a moment, Li Wei seemed to think of something, and a relieved expression appeared on his face.
"Sheriff Gordon, it is difficult for me to answer that question. I am only responsible for my own interests."
"Then what are your interests?" Gordon's eyes lit up. "Falcone once told me something: even gangs need order. Chaos is everyone's enemy."...
At that moment, even Gordon himself did not notice that he had already begun gradually giving up on the idea of bringing Li Wei to justice.
They could not even handle Falcone. Could they possibly handle Li Wei, who was stronger than Falcone?
Perhaps there was some way for them to coexist...
Unfortunately, Li Wei was not a gang boss, nor was he one of the city's tycoons.
Only by maintaining a balance between chaos and order could his interests be maximized!
Li Wei shook his head, no longer interested in continuing to answer Gordon's questions.
"Sheriff Gordon, you will understand in time. If there is nothing else, you should leave. I need to get back to work."
The order to leave was equally blunt.
Although Gordon was unwilling and wanted to keep trying to persuade Li Wei, Harvey, standing beside him, was very clear-headed.
He understood one thing perfectly: the reason Li Wei had not killed them was much the same as the reason Falcone had not killed them.
It was not that they could not. It was simply unnecessary.
If they truly angered him, the two of them would not even know how they died.
Harvey hurriedly nodded to Li Wei, then dragged away Gordon, who still wanted to say something.
After Gordon was pulled away, Li Wei sighed helplessly.
In film and television, characters like Gordon, filled with justice and a sense of duty, were very likable.
But once they appeared in reality, especially when they stood against you, they really were not very likable.
He was too persistent.
If not for the need to maintain a delicate balance in Gotham, with the side of order needing power capable of contending with the side of chaos, Li Wei would have killed him long ago!
Of course, if Gordon became truly unbearable, it was not as though Li Wei could not kill him. Li Wei was simply too lazy to find another candidate to support on the side of order.
Li Wei shook his head and threw those chaotic thoughts out of his mind.
He called Dr. Hugo to ask about the progress of purchasing bugs.
The result made him very happy.
Dr. Hugo had found a breeding company in Metropolis willing to supply Arkham Asylum. For five million dollars, he had purchased all the bugs currently held by that company.
Not ants, but cockroaches.
Compared to ants, cockroaches were clearly more resilient, and their reproductive speed was not much worse.
The other party would transport the cockroaches to Gotham City's docks in three days.
The estimated number was around thirty million, though the exact number was impossible to verify.
"Good! Dr. Hugo, you did very well!" Li Wei's tone was full of excitement. "In three days, I will personally go to the docks to receive those cockroaches."
To others, cockroaches might be nothing more than bugs so disgusting they made one's scalp crawl.
But in Li Wei's eyes, they represented tons of damage and an unfathomable amount of health!
Thirty million cockroaches. Who knew how great a boost they would bring him!
He was looking forward to it.
"I am happy to serve you." Dr. Hugo clearly would not try to be clever and anger Li Wei at a time like this.
"Mm, since that is the case, I have just received another donation from a kind-hearted person. One hundred million dollars. I am giving it all to you now. Use it to continue purchasing these bugs for me."
Dr. Hugo:...
At Indian Hill Hospital, Dr. Hugo stood completely frozen, phone in hand.
This was a disaster! He could not take it anymore!
That damned "kind-hearted person" had donated another hundred million to the director!
That was a hundred million dollars!
Even for the original five million dollars' worth of cockroaches, he had only found a supplier after getting introductions from several people!
And thirty million cockroaches had already completely emptied that company's inventory!
Where was he supposed to find someone to buy these things from!
After all, breeding cockroaches was a business with a very small market share. Even Wayne Enterprises had not gotten involved in it, let alone anyone else!
Before you continue