The rain was getting heavier.
The Cherokee's wipers swung frantically back and forth across the windshield, barely clearing a blurred view through the downpour. The car smelled of wet earth.
Wilson gripped the steering wheel tightly. His lips were a little pale, but his expression gave nothing away.
"Straight back to the station?"
Li Jie leaned back in the passenger seat. The tension and jolting earlier had left the wound in his side aching again. He was about to nod when his gaze happened to catch something outside the window. Through the dense curtain of rain and the city lights, the sky in that direction seemed to glow an unnatural orange-red.
"Wait..." Li Jie frowned and pointed. "Turn here. Let's take a look at Civic Plaza."
"Civic Plaza? Didn't they say there were mercenaries over there..."
"Let's have a look. We might find something."
Wilson clearly didn't understand, but he obediently turned the wheel and headed toward Civic Plaza.
The closer they got, the more obvious the signs became. Fine black ash began to mingle with the rain, and an acrid smell of smoke filled the air, carrying the distinctive stench of burning. The orange-red glow above Civic Plaza grew clearer in the distance. They could even faintly hear screams and a constant, low roar of flames.
"What the hell is this now..."
When the Cherokee finally turned onto the tree-lined avenue leading to the plaza, both men sucked in a sharp breath at the sight before them.
Civic Plaza, once a symbol of Gotham's respectability and prosperity, now resembled the gates of hell. The ornate baroque facade of the Gotham Royal Banquet Hotel, the venue for the banquet, was being devoured by raging flames. Fire poured from multiple windows like tentacles reaching into the night sky. Thick black smoke