Batman's Night Raid on the Roman

That night.

The window of Falcone's private bedroom suddenly shattered. A dark figure burst in and hauled Falcone up from his bed.

"You... it's you!" Falcone opened his eyes and saw Batman before him. His expression changed instantly.

Batman said nothing. He decided to let his actions make his intentions clear, grabbing Falcone by the neck and dragging him out of bed.

Cursing, Falcone reached for the pistol hidden beside him, but a moment later, his wrist was wrenched out of its socket.

For a mob boss, Falcone was no slouch in a fight, but taking on Batman was like an Akita challenging a Tibetan mastiff. He went flying in an instant.

"You..." Batman slammed a fist into Falcone's face, cutting off whatever he was about to say, then shoved him into a small window nearby.

The window frame was narrow. With Falcone wedged into it, his upper body was completely immobilized. Like the female lead stuck in a washing machine, he was utterly at someone else's mercy.

Batman showed no restraint, hammering Falcone with a barrage of heavy punches.

"You wouldn't want me visiting again tomorrow." Batman's voice was low. "Then keep your men in line."

Even after saying that, Batman apparently felt he had not made enough of an impression. He stripped off all Falcone's clothes, trussed him up, and left him hanging in the window.

It was not until the next morning that members of the family found Falcone. By then, the cold had left him looking like a shriveled old quail.

"This is an absolute disgrace!" Falcone raged before his family. "That damned bat freak! How dare he!"

"Godfather, what do we do now?"

"Spread the word! I'm putting a bounty on that bat freak's head!" Falcone slammed his fist onto the table in fury, smashing a glass ashtray to pieces. "Bring that bat freak's head to the Falcone family, and I'll give you ten million dollars!"

"Carmine Falcone offers ten million dollars for Batman, dead or alive..." Roland stared in surprise at the capitalized "DEAD OR ALIVE" in the newspaper. This was the first time he had seen that outside One Piece.

"You really called it. Batman actually went after the Falcone family," Jason said in amazement. "Ten million dollars. Falcone really does have money to burn."

Roland snorted. Putting a bounty on Batman for less than his pocket money was just too funny.

"But can they really print this in a newspaper?" Something felt off to Roland. "Announcing a mob bounty out in the open?"

"Maybe the Falcone family invested in the newspaper." Jason did not find it strange at all. "That's pretty normal. What industry in Gotham City has absolutely no ties to the mob?"

"So I misjudged that potato seller?" Remembering how he had accepted generous gifts from two public-spirited citizens yesterday, Roland could not help muttering to himself.

"What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. Go on."

"Look at what it says here." Jason pointed to the other side of the newspaper. "Gotham City Police Department Commissioner Gilliam B. Loeb claims Batman threatens order in Gotham City and the safety of its people, and he's calling on everyone to provide tips... now people on both sides of the law are hunting Batman."

"That's nothing. Someday, people on both sides of the grave will want a piece of Batman," Roland said. "But this has nothing to do with us. Let's figure out how to make money instead... the more we earn, the more people we can help."

"There aren't any holidays coming up. Where are we supposed to find all these chances to earn extra cash?"

"Says who? Isn't March first a holiday?"

"What holiday is that?"

"International Seal Day. Haven't you heard of it?"

"What normal person has heard of that? Never mind anyone celebrating it, I bet even the Holiday Killer wouldn't pick that day to kill someone," Jason could not help retorting. "And whose money are we supposed to make that day? Steal a seal from the zoo and make it perform?"

"Forget it. Let's think of something else." Roland sighed.

Just then, the church door suddenly swung open, and a child ran inside with his head covered in blood. "Boss, something huge happened!"

"Manuel! What happened to you?" Roland exclaimed in alarm. "How did you get hurt?"

"Oh, I'm not hurt."

"Then the blood on your head?"

"Some guy jumped off a building and hit a streetlight. He coughed blood all over my head."

... Everyone in the room fell silent at his explanation.

"So what exactly is this huge thing that happened?"

"This fell out of the guy who jumped, so I picked it up and brought it back." Manuel pulled a notebook from inside his clothes. "I took a quick look. It seems pretty important."

Roland took it and looked, then froze in disbelief. "Damn! Isn't this the Falcone family's ledger?"

Gotham City's sewers.

A child handed an identical notebook to Killer Croc. "Your Majesty, I heard two people arguing beside a pipe. Then one pulled a gun and killed the other. He searched the dead guy, found this notebook, and tossed it down."

Killer Croc opened the notebook and looked through it. "The Falcone family? Forget it. We don't want to get mixed up with them. Burn this thing, and don't let anyone know it exists."

"Okay. Oh, Your Majesty, I also heard smugglers in the sewers by the harbor. They've teamed up with Gotham City's police and are planning to bring a shipment of contraband ashore there."

"Hmph... the cats and mice are sharing a nest now..." Killer Croc had little interest in that, either. "Leave them alone. Right now, we need to take in more people who can't survive in the world above."

"Yes, Your Majesty." The child gave a somewhat comical bow, then turned and left.

The Falcone family.

Riddler set four cups before Mad Hatter and spoke in the cadences of someone reciting a long poem. "Alice, the March Hare, Mr. Mad Hatter, and the Dormouse are having a mad tea party. The Hatter tells her that, as punishment, time has been frozen forever at six in the afternoon, which is teatime, so they have to spend all day having tea."

"'I want a clean cup,' the Hatter interrupts her. 'Let's all move one place forward.'"

"'You've already had too much tea,' Alice remarks."

"The Hatter replies, 'I haven't. The March Hare has had more than I have.'"

"The March Hare says to the Hatter, 'Alice and I together have had less than you and the Dormouse.'"

"By this point, the Dormouse has closed its eyes and is about to doze off."

"But upon hearing its name, the Dormouse wakes again and announces, 'Alice and I have had just as much tea as the March Hare and the Hatter.'"

"Mr. Mad Hatter, which cup did you drink from?" Riddler smiled as he asked Mad Hatter, who was lying in a hospital bed.

Mad Hatter looked ready to murder him. If Batman had not broken his hands, he would have thrown all four cups of tea in Riddler's face right then.

"Why are you always picking on Mad Hatter?" Poison Ivy came through the main entrance and greeted the two, then handed a notebook to Falcone. "One of my little darlings found this. Take a look. Is it the ledger?"

"Yes." Falcone flipped through a couple of pages, then hurled the notebook to the floor.

"If it's real, why do you still look like that?" Poison Ivy asked in confusion.

"This is already the seventh one I've received today."