Half a month passed, and the shock waves from Maroni's downfall gradually began to fade.
The colossal organization's collapse gave many small and medium-sized gangs a chance to rise, such as the Irish Mob, which specialized in car theft, the Eastern Expeditionary Force, founded by Maroni's unemployed confidants, and the Finger-Cutting Gang, made up of pickpockets missing fingers.
Foremost among them was the Masked Society, rooted in the East End. Their leader, Black Mask, was a deranged, sadistic villain who liked using Flaying to torture troublemakers who refused to obey him on his turf.
His brutal nature had attracted a large following as soon as he appeared.
Accounts of Black Mask's origins varied. Some said he was a madman who had escaped from Arkham; others said he was the serial killer who had vanished ten years ago. But most people favored another explanation.
He was Roman Sionis.
The boy who had burned his parents to death had wept and screamed himself hoarse in repentance in court, winning the unanimous sympathy of the jury. But fifteen long years in prison had not been enough to make the devil repent.
Now he was back, gathering a band of vicious criminals and preparing to take brutal revenge on the jury and judge from his trial.
And there were plenty of other gangs like this, hoping to claim a share of the dead Roman's spoils.
Jason ran his fingers through his thick black hair, staring helplessly at a stack of documents on the desk.
Qin Wei had indeed kept his promise and returned the East End to its people. But rather than returning to normal as Jason had expected, the situation had spiraled completely out of control.
Jason had tried imitating Joseph by issuing all sorts of rules, only to accelerate the Red Hood