Not Very Peaceful

"Age?"

"Twenty-four. I'm a restaurant waiter."

"Gender?"

"Male."

"Name?"

"Ma Zhaodi."

Staring at the glaringly pale interrogation-room lights, Ma Zhaodi couldn't help narrowing his eyes.

"I was just driving past, officer. Was it really necessary to bring me back for questioning?"

"You don't look much like a good person."

Faced with such a simple and blunt answer, Ma Zhaodi was speechless for several seconds.

"Hold on a moment. Where did my glasses go? Oh, here they are."

He put on his gold-rimmed glasses, immediately giving off a faint air of a refined scoundrel.

"What now?"

"You can leave once we've finished taking your statement. Remember to take your personal belongings with you."

That was surprisingly considerate.

"You might be here for the first time, so you're probably not used to it. But don't worry. In Gotham, I always get to meet people from every gang. We have plenty of opportunities to deal with each other."

Oh, that statement had a rather threatening undertone.

"But I'm not with any gang in Gotham City." Ma Zhaodi shook his head. "I just work at a restaurant."

The blond veteran detective across from him had deep-set eyes. He carefully studied Ma Zhaodi's expression, as if trying to determine whether he was lying.

"But you know the background of that restaurant, right?"

"I do, but only a little." He shrugged. "Anyway, I try not to get involved in their affairs. I just work there—I'm an innocent civilian, officer."

"Interesting." The detective examined Ma Zhaodi's hands and wrists, as well as his neck. There were indeed no calluses from prolonged gun use, nor any Falcone family gang tattoos.

"Since you're still young, let me give you a piece of advice. Stop working at that restaurant."

"But they really do pay well..."

Ma Zhaodi answered instinctively. Looking at the man's blond hair and two tufts of mustache, he suddenly found him familiar and asked without thinking, "Oh, I'm sorry, but may I ask your name?"

"You don't recognize me?" He smiled. "That's not necessarily a bad thing. At least it means you haven't committed any crimes in Gotham."

"My name is Gordon. Jim Gordon."

After leaving the Gotham Police Department, Ma Zhaodi drove home.

Damn, he'd even gotten himself on Jim Gordon's radar now.

Including Harvey Dent, whom he'd met before, if Batman started watching him too, Gotham's three big names would all be accounted for.

Ma Zhaodi could only obediently remain a law-abiding citizen and pray that he wouldn't attract Batman's attention.

But then again...

"The president of Gotham Bank resigned and was murdered?" he muttered, thinking. "Is this a sign of some event to come? I have absolutely no memory of it."

He opened the door and returned home. Outside the window was pitch-black, while the hands of the huge clock in the distant clock tower pointed to two o'clock. At that hour, he hadn't encountered a single mugger or burglar nearby. He didn't know whether that was because his beloved car had become too infamous.

"Only a workaholic like Gordon would drag someone to the police station to give a statement at this hour."

After sighing, he opened the Gotham news homepage on his phone, entered "Gotham Bank" in the search bar, and tapped search.

News articles appeared on the webpage in chronological order. One headline, "Gotham Bank and Falcone Company About to Reach a Partnership," caught Ma Zhaodi's attention, so he tapped it.

"Since June, Falcone Import Company's proposal to cooperate with Gotham Bank has been undergoing intensive preparations. After several months of negotiations, bank president Richard Daniel stated that, as the bank president, he was willing to facilitate this partnership. Considering that this cooperation would provide Gotham Bank with several million in available funds..."

"Damn, who's got the nerve to ruin Falcone's business? Wait, that doesn't make sense. He's Gotham's Black Gang Godfather, so why has he started an import company?"

"Money laundering?"

He thought it over carefully, then opened the most recent news article. It had been posted that very morning.

"Today, Gotham Bank president Richard Daniel officially announced his resignation. However, he refused to disclose the specific reason, merely stating that he was no longer able to continue serving as president of Gotham Bank."

Ma Zhaodi immediately understood. Daniel had probably reached an agreement with Roman. He was originally supposed to arrange the partnership between Gotham Bank and Falcone Import Company, but clearly, he had stood Roman up.

He had resigned abruptly before the partnership was finalized, causing the nearly completed project to suddenly lose its key operator. Roman's business had fallen through.

He also remembered the few words he had vaguely heard from the dying man on the road.

"...leave Gotham... Paris... find... place..."

"No wonder he wanted to leave Gotham City for Paris, France. And no wonder he resigned in the morning and was shot dead that very night. It really isn't wise to stand Roman up. Revenge never waits until the next day—is this Falcone's style?"

There was another follow-up report linked beneath the article.

"After Richard Daniel announced his resignation, the identity of Gotham Bank's next president was also revealed. It is none other than Bruce Wayne, heir to Wayne Group. This famous playboy stated personally that he had no interest whatsoever in the so-called import company, and that Falcone Import Company would do well to seek cooperation with another bank."

This article made Ma Zhaodi raise an eyebrow.

"This one won't bend to either force or persuasion. Bribery is impossible, and threats wouldn't be appropriate either. If Falcone wants to make money or launder money, he probably won't be able to deal with Bruce Wayne using his usual methods."

But now that he thought about it, why had an ordinary bank president dared to stand Roman up? Was he truly not afraid of dying?

And how could Bruce Wayne seamlessly take over as bank president? Had he bought Gotham Bank?

He continued searching for corporate news about Gotham Bank. To his surprise, the bank had always been a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises.

In other words, Bruce Wayne's attitude was clearly opposed to cooperation between Gotham Bank and Falcone Import Company, yet Gotham Bank had previously been on the verge of finalizing a cooperation agreement with the company. The matter had only been interrupted by Daniel's resignation.

As the heir to Wayne Group, the playboy Bruce apparently couldn't decide the policies of the companies under his control.

"Let me guess. It's the same old routine from the movies. The board thinks money is money, and refusing to make money makes you an idiot, while Bruce thinks the gang's money shouldn't be touched."

He closed his phone and casually tossed it onto the table before flopping face-first onto the sofa.

Sigh. Considering the way Godfather never gave up until he achieved his goal, Gotham probably wouldn't be very peaceful in the days to come.

It would be far less peaceful than usual.