Chapter Summaries

Li Jie accepted Harleen Quinzel’s authorization to join the operation, then prepared Gotham Central with James Gordon and his assault team for an attack using Nygma’s defenses. An explosion on the top floor sent everyone to their positions as the operation began.

• Harleen told Li Jie that Dr. Krain had secretly conducted harmful experiments on West District officers, and Li Jie agreed to let her participate under orders.
• James Gordon arrived with more than a dozen Special Operations Team officers, and Li Jie warned them to remain inside Nygma’s designated safe zones.
• Li Jie’s officers and Gordon’s team reinforced the station and established a stronghold linking the lobby, second-floor command area, and holding cells.
• Gordon saw the East End’s weapons stockpile, and Li Jie urged him to investigate former chief Loeb for money missing from the department.
• An explosion sounded on the station’s top floor, and Li Jie ordered everyone to their positions.

Li Jie and Gordon’s defenders used traps to repel several Nanda Parbat assassin teams trying to enter the East End Police Department. Raven detected another group approaching underground, where the assassins walked into a blinding flash and high-voltage trap.

• A rooftop grenade trap wounded three assassins, prompting Gordon to lead officers upstairs while Li Jie stayed with the defenders.
• Assassins swinging toward the precinct’s second-floor windows crashed into concealed iron bars and fell onto tire spike strips.
• Li Jie warned Harleen Quinzel not to point her Glock at people, and Raven sensed someone approaching below.
• Five assassins followed riddles through the underground passage and opened the marked boiler-room door.
• Xenon flash lamps blinded the five assassins, and an electrified floor knocked them unconscious.

Gordon’s team discovered that rats had killed assassins infiltrating the police station, while Talia al Ghul launched a new attack and called on Hugo Strange to help breach the East End Police Department. Batman arrived at the factory to confront Talia, who greeted him in the rain.

• Gordon’s tactical team heard assassins being devoured in the ventilation ducts, and Otis stroked a rat outside the Detention Room.
• Talia al Ghul learned that her first infiltration teams had been defeated and ordered civilians brought to the police station as hostages.
• Talia contacted Hugo Strange and told him to prove his value by helping the League of Assassins breach the East End Police Department.
• The Batmobile attacked the factory with Mechanical Bats, and Batman grappled up to confront Talia.
• Batman told Talia to take her people and leave his city.

Batman stopped Talia from falling and thwarted her attempt to stab him before leaving her on the rooftop. At the police station, demons emerged through portals to attack Raven, who destroyed them and closed the portals.

• Talia urged Batman to kill her and the people she had brought, then fell from the factory rooftop; Batman caught her with his Grapple Gun.
• Talia tried to stab Batman, but her dagger struck his armor, and he pulled them both back onto the rooftop.
• Batman learned that the League had taken an order from the Brotherhood of Blood to capture Raven, then left Talia behind.
• Edward Nygma noticed a spatial distortion on a surveillance feed and called for Li Jie, who had gone with Raven to the cafeteria for ice cream.
• A demon emerged through a portal, and Li Jie, Wilson, and the tactical team shot it and fought off more demons as portals opened around the cafeteria.
• Raven invoked Azarath Metrion Zinthos, collapsed the portals, and reduced the demons to black dust.

Raven explained that her connection to Trigon made her the key to opening a passage between Earth and his dimension, but using her powers weakened the barrier. Shadow Demons then possessed members of the team, and Li Jie led the others in driving them out with painful injuries.

• Raven explained that Trigon could send only weak demons through the barrier, but capturing her would let his followers create a stable passage for him.
• Raven warned that something had entered from inside, and Hopkins became possessed by a Shadow Demon and fired his shotgun at the group.
• Li Jie restrained Hopkins and used Harleen Quinzel's brooch pin to cause enough pain to drive the demon from his body.
• More Shadow Demons possessed officers and assault team members, and Li Jie organized the team to restrain them and use sharp objects to force the demons out.
• Harleen tried to attract a Shadow Demon, but it avoided her and fled into a crack.

Li Jie’s group repelled the shadow demons at the police station, and Batman withdrew after confirming the crisis was temporarily over. Meanwhile, Dr. Hugo Strange became obsessed with Batman and began plotting against Edward Nygma.

• Li Jie shoved Harleen Quinzel into the Detention Room with Raven and ordered her to stay there and stop recording.
• Raven said the shadow demons had been driven out or dissipated, leaving the police officers injured but alive.
• Li Jie and Gordon agreed to wait until morning and joked about who would pay for breakfast.
• Batman defeated the League of Assassins members outside the station, learned from Gordon that the internal crisis had passed, and left without entering.
• Dr. Hugo Strange watched footage of Batman, speculated that the Lazarus Pit gave him his abilities, and vowed to claim that power.
• Dr. Hugo Strange studied plans and attack data, then targeted Edward Nygma for interfering with his plans.

After surviving a night of demonic possession and assassins, Li Jie and the East End officers found the precinct surrounded by captured and dead attackers. As they gathered for food, Nygma raised the possibility that Jim had secretly contacted Batman, but Li Jie decided not to pursue the vigilante’s identity.

• Gordon called for prisoner transports and medical examiner vehicles after surveying the bodies and survivors outside the precinct.
• Li Jie sent Wilson and several officers to bring food, then released Harleen and checked on Raven in the Detention Room.
• Raven warned Li Jie that Harleen’s love of chaos could grow dangerous under sudden influence or stimulation.
• Nygma told Li Jie that Jim had made a secret phone call early that morning and suspected he had contacted the vigilante fighting outside.
• Li Jie reasoned that arresting the vigilante would have left the officers to face the assassins alone, and he and Nygma joined the others for food.

After surviving a dangerous night, Li Jie organized the precinct’s recovery and prepared it for a major donation visit. At the Batcave, Bruce learned Oliver Queen had donated three million dollars to Gotham and took the gesture as an insult.

• Li Jie ordered Anna Ramirez to protect Raven and sent Harleen home to rest.
• After sleeping, Li Jie learned that Queen International Charity Foundation representatives would arrive that night and that the precinct had to be made presentable.
• Li Jie offered officers two hundred dollars each to work overtime, and they eagerly began restoring the lobby and preparing the conference room.
• Bruce returned to the Batcave, reviewed the previous night’s fight, and discussed his armor with Alfred.
• Alfred told Bruce that Oliver Queen had donated three million dollars to the Eastern District Precinct, and Bruce angrily wondered who Oliver thought he was looking down on.

Li Jie escorted Oliver Queen, Thea, and their party from Gotham's airport, but Oliver's luxury-car plan was interrupted by a gang shootout in the Cauldron. After Li Jie got them safely through the battlefield in his Patrol Van, Oliver's confidence in his own experience had been shaken, and Li Jie promised to show them Gotham by night.

• Li Jie met Oliver Queen, Thea, and bodyguard John Diggle at the airport and warned Oliver against taking luxury limousines through Gotham at night.
• Oliver refused Li Jie's warning and led his party into the Cauldron in the limousines behind the Patrol Van.
• A firefight between Cobblepot's men and Maroni's men erupted ahead, and a rocket struck a car as the convoy halted.
• Oliver asked to join Li Jie in the van, and Li Jie secured a five-minute ceasefire by threatening a police crackdown on the gang bosses' businesses.
• Li Jie drove the group through the battlefield, leaving Oliver shaken by Gotham's violence, then announced he would take them on a nighttime shortcut.

Li Jie drove Oliver Queen, Thea, and Diggle through Gotham's unnerving districts to their hotel, leaving Oliver shaken by the city's darkness. The next day, Oliver arrived to donate three million dollars to the Eastern District Precinct, but a Wayne Enterprises motorcade appeared outside before the ceremony concluded.

• Li Jie took Oliver, Thea, and Diggle across the Three-Gate Bridge and past Arkham Asylum, then described his dangerous fight with Fish Mooney's men as they drove through Gotham.
• Li Jie brought the shaken visitors to the Gotham Royal Hotel and welcomed them to Gotham.
• Li Jie and Bob prepared a modest precinct buffet and makeshift venue for Oliver's donation ceremony.
• Oliver praised the Gotham Police Department and announced a three-million-dollar donation to the Eastern District Precinct.
• An officer told Bob that a Wayne Enterprises motorcade had arrived outside.

Bruce Wayne interrupted Oliver Queen’s donation ceremony at the Eastern District Precinct and challenged the scale of Queen International’s $3 million gift. He announced Wayne Enterprises would donate $3,010,000, turning the rivalry between the two philanthropists into a public contest.

• Bruce Wayne arrived with Lucius Fox and ignored Li Jie’s greeting to approach Oliver Queen.
• Bruce introduced himself to Oliver and Lucius, then took a seat while Bob completed the ceremony for Queen International’s $3 million donation.
• Bruce asked to speak and criticized the donation as insufficient for Gotham’s broader policing challenges.
• Bruce announced Wayne Enterprises would donate $3,010,000 to the Eastern District Precinct.

Li Jie stopped Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen from escalating their donation rivalry by proposing a coin-throwing contest. Both men sank all fifty coins through the highest-value slot, leaving the Eastern District Precinct with ten million dollars and Chief Bob reeling.

• Bruce Wayne donated $3,010,000, one thousand dollars more than Oliver Queen, and the reporters captured the ensuing tension.
• Li Jie interrupted the confrontation and proposed a coin-throwing game to determine the men's donations.
• Oliver and Bruce each threw all fifty coins through the slot worth $100,000 apiece.
• Lucius and Thea announced that Wayne Enterprises and Queen Industries had each pledged five million dollars.
• Chief Bob staggered at the ten-million-dollar total and wished he had another daughter.

After the donation ceremony, Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen watched footage of supernatural attacks on the Eastern District Precinct and discussed how to support its defenses. Bruce donated another million dollars for Nygma’s lab, while Oliver offered Queen Industries’ networking expert Felicity Smoak; the story ended with Raven identifying Anna’s excitement as a crush.

• Oliver Queen wondered how his planned three-million-dollar donation had grown to five million, while Bruce Wayne mingled at the reception.
• Li Jie told Bruce and Oliver about the supernatural attack, then took them and Thea Queen to watch the precinct’s surveillance footage.
• Bruce praised Nygma and offered him a job at Wayne Enterprises, but Nygma declined and said he wanted to solve the precinct’s problems.
• Li Jie asked Bruce for Lucius Fox’s help, but Bruce refused and donated another million dollars for Nygma’s forensic equipment.
• Oliver offered to have Felicity Smoak provide technical support for the precinct, with Queen Industries covering the cost.
• Anna excitedly approached Bruce and Oliver, and Raven described her as boy-crazy.

Oliver Queen left Gotham with a new understanding of its people after Li Jie explained the city's brutal realities, while Bruce Wayne investigated Oliver's past and turned to a mysterious old friend for advice about supernatural threats. Bruce ended the chapter thinking of a powerful woman who might help him confront magic and dimensional incursions.

• Li Jie told Oliver Queen that Gotham's people and conditions made the idea of the city belonging to its people different from an ideal in Star City.
• Oliver watched a shopkeeper shoot a robber, then silently observed Gotham's indifference to violence as Li Jie described the city's inhabitants.
• Oliver thanked Li Jie at the airport, gave him a gift, and departed with Thea and Diggle; Li Jie discovered the gift was a copy of Das Kapital.
• Alfred Pennyworth briefed Bruce Wayne on Oliver's suspiciously altered history and the likely connection between his return and Star City's vigilante.
• Bruce asked Alfred about Raven and the supernatural events at the East End Police Department, then decided to seek specialized advice from a woman he had known when he was young.

Li Jie and Wilson resumed patrol after Li Jie discovered Wilson had installed an electric stove in their van, but a call from Gordon soon drew them to the murder scene of Gotham University head Dr. Edgar Morris. They found Morris dead in his office, apparently from terror, and the cause of what he saw remained unexplained.

• Li Jie confronted Wilson about installing an electric stove in the patrol van, and Bob discussed precinct plans before they resumed patrol.
• Anna called to report that Dr. Harleen Quinzel had come to visit Raven, and Li Jie told her to supervise the meeting and distrust Harleen.
• Gordon called Li Jie to investigate the strange death of Gotham University head Dr. Edgar Morris, and Li Jie agreed to come.
• Li Jie and Wilson arrived at the university, where Gordon showed them Morris's office and his corpse, which bore no obvious injuries but showed signs of extreme terror.
• Gordon said the preliminary medical ruling was cardiac arrest from extreme shock, and Li Jie agreed to help despite the case being outside his precinct.

Li Jie and Gordon discussed Dr. Morris’s unexplained death but found no immediate evidence linking it to the ninjas or demons. After learning Hugo Strange would assess the precinct’s officers, Li Jie recruited Harleen to attend and watch for trouble, then headed to the market to make jianbing.

• Li Jie and Gordon considered possible motives for Dr. Morris’s death, including revenge and his many personal relationships, but found no clear connection to the earlier attacks.
• Gordon told Li Jie that Hugo Strange would visit the precinct the next day to assess the officers for psychological trauma or mass hallucinations.
• Li Jie called Harleen and persuaded her to attend Strange’s assessment by agreeing to pay for her shopping and inform her about unusual incidents.
• Harleen deduced that Li Jie distrusted Strange and promised to watch his counseling and intervene if she noticed a problem.
• Li Jie rode with Wilson to the market to buy ingredients for jianbing.

Li Jie and Wilson sold food in Grant Park, where they met struggling comedian Jack Napier. Li Jie gave Jack a meal and a chance to join a comedy group, leaving him with a little hope as he walked away.

• Wilson persuaded Li Jie to cook tossed noodles in their van and sell food in Grant Park.
• Wilson and Li Jie watched Jack Napier perform to an almost empty audience, then saw him unable to afford a hot dog.
• Li Jie gave Jack a bowl of noodles, and Jack explained that he had quit his job at ACE Chemicals to pursue comedy and had run out of savings.
• Li Jie gave Jack a Chinatown address for an amateur cross-talk group and told him he and his wife could get food by helping with odd jobs.
• Li Jie gave Jack hot dogs and Coke, encouraged him to keep hoping, and Jack left with a steadier step.

Dr. Harleen Quinzel monitored Professor Hugo Strange’s counseling sessions at the precinct while Sheriff Li Jie met with him first. Li Jie derailed Strange’s attempt to probe his trauma, and Strange labeled him psychologically abnormal before concluding he was an idiot.

• Dr. Harleen Quinzel arrived at the precinct with an $8,700 bill and agreed to observe Strange’s counseling sessions from the surveillance room.
• Professor Hugo Strange arrived at 9:30, greeted the officers, and entered the makeshift counseling room with his assistants.
• Chief Bob sent Li Jie in first and encouraged him to show Strange what the precinct was like.
• Strange asked Li Jie about traumatic events and feelings of fear, but Li Jie focused on the lost chance to capture and sell monsters and the need for heavier weapons.
• Li Jie described treating injured officers by driving a needle between their fingers, prompting Strange to end the session.
• Strange recorded Li Jie as resistant to psychological guidance and suspected his thought patterns were abnormal, then privately called him an idiot.

Li Jie interrupted Hugo Strange’s attempt to persuade Edward Nygma to imagine a more powerful second self, using a fabricated emergency involving Wilson’s riddle trap to pull Nygma away. After Nygma safely freed Wilson, Li Jie told him his promotion and new leadership roles were awaiting approval.

• Li Jie asked Harleen Quinzel and the others how his performance had gone, and Harleen said Strange’s questions initially fell within ordinary psychotherapy.
• Hugo Strange questioned Edward Nygma about loneliness and whether he sensed another consciousness, then tried to frame an inner ally as Nygma’s more complete form.
• Harleen recognized that Strange was trying to encourage Nygma to create a second personality and warned Li Jie to interrupt the session.
• Li Jie rushed into the Counseling Room and claimed Wilson was trapped in a rooftop riddle mechanism, drawing Nygma’s attention away from Strange’s suggestion.
• Nygma freed Wilson from the trap and revealed that he had removed the sulfuric acid tank, then Li Jie told him that a report recommending his promotion and new posts had been submitted.

Harleen warned Li Jie that Hugo Strange’s suggestion might take root in Nygma’s mind, while Li Jie gained a new skill. Elsewhere, Batman investigated Jonathan Crane’s fear experiments, was exposed to his gas, and collapsed into terrifying hallucinations.

• Harleen told Li Jie that Strange had planted the idea of an inner companion in Nygma and advised him to watch Nygma and provide real-world support.
• Li Jie thanked Harleen and promised to consider bringing her on future operations if she followed orders.
• Li Jie received a skill point after changing Jack Napier’s fate, unlocked Prodigal Returns, and deleted Even-Fist to recover a point.
• Batman investigated Krain’s office at Gotham University and discovered a hidden laboratory where Jonathan Crane studied and manufactured fear.
• A concealed trap released fear gas, and Batman was overcome by hallucinations of his parents’ deaths, Gotham’s destruction, and Jonathan Crane.