An absurd idea

The numbness came and went just as quickly. Selina pulled out the needle, and Qin Wei clutched his neck as he collapsed onto the ground.

Hearing the commotion, Oswald rushed into the alley, gripping a brick.

"Who are you people? Get away from him!"

"Relax. I mean no harm. I just wanted to borrow some of your friend's blood." Dr. Hugo took the blood-filled syringe Catwoman handed him and gave it a shake. Listening to the liquid slosh, he smiled in satisfaction.

With what he wanted in hand, Dr. Hugo turned and left. In the darkness, the Bioman's heavy footsteps gradually faded as well.

Oswald still wanted to go after him and demand an explanation, but Qin Wei grabbed him.

"Forget it. We've got the money."

Qin Wei handed him the checks.

"I'm sorry. I should have told you, but I was worried you wouldn't agree..." Selina averted her eyes. What she had just done was a betrayal of her partner.

"It's fine. I'd have done the same."

Qin Wei reassured Catwoman.

At first, he had indeed felt a surge of terror, but on reflection, if Selina had truly meant to betray him, she wouldn't have needed to return to the sewers. She had even given him the checks back. That thin stack was worth a full $4.5 million.

Hugo was meticulous and dangerous. It was hardly surprising that an inexperienced Selina had fallen into his trap.

Fortunately, he had only taken a vial of Qin Wei's blood. Although Qin Wei felt vaguely uneasy, the immediate priority was still to return the money to Maroni and end this farce as soon as possible.

Qin Wei explained his plan, only for Oswald to reject it.

"No. I'm taking it to Mr. Falcone!"

Just moments earlier, Oswald had devised a bold scheme-a scheme to drive a wedge between the Roman Empire's top two men.

Ever since the Joker incident, a rift had formed between them. Falcone had been looking for an opportunity to replace the ambitious Maroni.

"I'll tell Falcone that this whole thing was staged by Maroni and Hugo from beginning to end! I'll make Maroni pay!"

Oswald sneered, his wide eyes bulging unnaturally. In the flashlight's beam, his entire face looked especially hideous.

Qin Wei frowned in silence. After spending so many years under Maroni, Oswald certainly understood the Roman Empire's internal workings better than he did, and should have been a better judge of whether this could work.

Yet for some reason, the whole thing struck him as utterly absurd.

"What do you think?" Qin Wei asked Catwoman.

"I think it could work. Driving them apart would seriously weaken the Roman Empire."

Selina hadn't answered what he was really asking.

Still, it made sense. Catwoman's goal was to bring down Falcone. She would try even if the odds were terrible. Besides, as an outsider, Selina wouldn't have to get involved at all. She only needed to wait for the outcome.

I shouldn't have asked her.

Qin Wei regretted it a little, because Catwoman's words had given Oswald the one thing he lacked.

Confidence.

"See, Will? I was right! We can do this. Let's go see Mr. Falcone right now. As long as we help him bring down Maroni, Mr. Falcone will reward us!"

Oswald reached out to tug Qin Wei along. He couldn't wait any longer.

"Can we slow down a little? I really don't think this is a sound plan..."

"What are you still hesitating for? It's past midnight. Maroni's killers could find us at any moment... Wait! Maybe we should let them find us and get wounded a little. Then Mr. Falcone will think Maroni wants to silence us. He'll believe us even more!"

Unable to dissuade him, Qin Wei could only agree.

There was nothing he could do. Consumed by hatred and desire, Oswald could no longer listen to anyone else.

Qin Wei's doubts were justified; he simply hadn't had time to untangle the logic.

If their relationship had already fractured, why had Falcone kept Maroni around? Could this five million dollars really be the last straw?

After getting Falcone's address from Catwoman, the two broke into a muscle car parked by the roadside.

Oswald climbed into the driver's seat, pried off a panel, and started fiddling with the wiring.

He had only just promised Gordon he wouldn't break the law, and in the blink of an eye, he had become an accomplice to a car thief. Qin Wei could only turn toward the window and pretend not to see what Oswald was doing.

But that glance revealed something wrong.

Two drunks who had been lying quietly on a street corner suddenly sat up and stared strangely at them.

Then they reached into their pockets.

Qin Wei's scalp prickled.

"Duck! Drive, now!!!"

The words had barely left his mouth when a burst of bullets swept toward them.

Under the bullets' kisses, the car windows danced wildly, exploding into fragments that filled the cabin. With glass showering his head, Oswald slammed down the accelerator.

The car swerved through an S-shaped curve, roaring like a bull gone berserk as it lunged into the darkness.

Maroni's army of killers had opened its ravenous jaws.

The car tore recklessly through the predawn streets. Flashes flickered from the rooftops lining the road, and unexpected shots struck its body, leaving one black hole after another in the hood.

Headlights lit up the dark rearview mirror. Qin Wei glanced at it and saw more than a dozen motorcycles roaring toward them.

What the hell was this? Did they really need this many people to kill two small-time nobodies who'd failed an assignment?

Before Qin Wei could complain, a motorcycle pulled alongside them.

An Uzi extended through the window, its muzzle aimed straight at Oswald in the driver's seat.

Qin Wei kicked the gun away. Roaring bullets shredded the windshield and peppered the glass facades along the street with holes.

With his gun gone, the killer flicked a hidden blade out from his wrist and stabbed toward the artery in Qin Wei's thigh. Oswald reacted instantly, grabbing his wrist and yanking him off the motorcycle.

Thud!

The killer's helmet struck the car with a sharp impact. Then came a crack as the car ran over his body, bouncing merrily along the road.

"Can you drive?" Oswald picked up the submachine gun the killer had dropped.

"Does Need for Speed count?"

"Get ready. Grab the wheel!"

Qin Wei was stunned. Only then did he realize that Oswald might not even know what Need for Speed was. But it was too late to explain. Oswald had already climbed into the back seat, leaving him no choice but to take over.

With his hands free, Oswald's bloodlust surged. Flames spat from his submachine gun. Using the back seat as cover, he took out half the motorcycle killers in the blink of an eye.

Forced into the driver's role, Qin Wei could only try his best to remember the controls from the game.

A sharp bend lay ahead.

He shifted gears, braked, and turned the wheel. He thought his execution had been flawless, yet the wheels on one side still lifted uncontrollably off the road.

Games really weren't the same as real life.

"What are you doing? Why is the car flying?"

"I'm drifting!"

"Why would you drift?"

"Don't all the car chases in movies have drift-"

Before he could finish, the car went completely out of control, flipping over the guardrail and plunging into the Gotham River's embrace.

The killers parked their motorcycles on the bridge and fired furiously at the bubbles in the river. The two men clung to a bridge pier, shivering in the cold water.

Although Qin Wei had flipped the car, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

At least their pursuers had temporarily lost their target.

The army of killers withdrew from the bridge. The two dragged their exhausted bodies ashore and lay on the weed-covered embankment, gasping for breath.

After resting a little longer, Qin Wei confirmed that the checks were still intact, and they set off on foot for Falcone's nightclub.

Having handed all his shady businesses over to Maroni, Falcone had transformed himself into a prominent, successful Gotham businessman. This nightclub was the only establishment he had kept.

Some said he had grown old and lost his ambition, no longer the all-powerful "Roman Emperor" he had once been. Others said he was merely lying low, waiting for the right moment to do something that would shake Gotham once again.

But when all was said and done, who could truly fathom what that old fox was thinking?

Even Oswald, soaked to the skin and sitting opposite Falcone at the dining table, had no idea.

But he didn't think he needed to worry about any of that. All he had to do was hand over the five million dollars, then blame everything on Maroni.

Just as he was about to speak, however, Qin Wei beat him to it.

"Mr. Maroni asked us to bring you this money!"

He wasn't trying to sabotage the plan. Qin Wei's sixth sense told him that the gray-haired old man before him, wearing a napkin and leisurely chewing his beef, was dangerous-far more dangerous than Maroni.

Falcone hadn't once looked directly at either of them. Just a couple of casual glances had left Qin Wei feeling as though he had been stripped naked.

Falcone knows everything. If we lie, we're dead!

Qin Wei had grasped the situation.

Oswald, however, hadn't seen through it. He was even a little unhappy that Qin Wei had changed their story.

"That's not what happened. Maroni stole this money! We came to report him, and his killers chased us!"

The instant the lie left his mouth, Qin Wei covered his forehead in despair.

We're finished!

Sure enough, Falcone lifted one eyelid. The corner of his mouth rose slightly, and he let out a short, cold snort.

But Oswald was far too foolish. He waved his hands in the air, trying to make his story more convincing with exaggerated gestures.

Only when Falcone produced a revolver did his expression freeze. His mouth hung open, but no sound would come out.

"I don't care whose story is true. Let God deal with the troublesome part."

Loading three rounds into the cylinder, Falcone pushed the revolver across the long dining table.

"Gentlemen, I only want to hear from the living."