Epilogue

Oswald emerged from the nightclub with disappointment written all over his face.

His recklessness and cowardice had nearly gotten them both killed by Falcone.

"Will, I'm sorry..."

He had lost count of how many times he had apologized. Oswald's voice stayed low in his chest, and he dared not raise his head to meet Qin Wei's eyes.

"What is there to apologize for?" Qin Wei looked perfectly relaxed, stretching comfortably in the cold predawn wind.

"At least your judgment was right. There really is bad blood between Falcone and Maroni. Besides, we accomplished what we came for and even picked up a job. We won't be short of things to do for a while."

"You... you're not really going to be Mr. Falcone's informant, are you? We'd be better off staying out of this. Caught between two bosses, ants like us can only get crushed."

Terror showed on Oswald's face. His recent string of setbacks had worn his fighting spirit down to almost nothing. The confident, swaggering Oswald of a few days ago was nowhere to be seen.

"What's wrong, Little Penguin? Being short is one thing, but have you lost your balls too?"

Qin Wei suddenly threw out that taunt, and Oswald thought he must have misheard.

"What did you say?"

"I called you Little Penguin, idiot!"

Oswald's features twisted, an angry flush creeping up his neck to his cheeks.

He simply couldn't believe that Qin Wei, whom he considered his best friend, would deliberately hit him where it hurt most.

"Will, I don't want to argue with you, but you'd better give me an explanation!"

"Did I say something wrong, Little Penguin? Woohoo, why's your face so red? Your eyes are all watery too. Don't tell me you're about to go crying home to Mommy!"

Bam!

Oswald answered Qin Wei's provocation with a heavy punch, and Qin Wei refused to back down, swinging back at him.

The two started fighting just like that. Strangely, neither tried to dodge. As though they had joined a fight club, they took each other's punches head-on, letting out all the frustration bottled up inside.

They fought for a full ten minutes before Oswald finally gave out.

He toppled to the ground with a thud, his face covered in bruises of every size. His right eyelid had swollen so much that it nearly filled his deep eye socket.

Qin Wei wasn't much better off. His whole face was misshapen, his nose crooked to one side, and a mixture of spit and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. A perfectly handsome young man had been beaten into a leprous dwarf.

They stared at each other, then burst out laughing at the same time.

"You son of a bitch. My punches hurt, didn't they? Look at that ridiculous nose!"

"Fuck you, Oswald. I fucking knocked you out, and you're still running your mouth." Qin Wei laughed as he cursed, then reached down and pulled him up.

That wild release swept away all the pressure they had accumulated, and it helped Oswald find himself again.

"Will! You're right. We can't spend our lives under someone else's thumb. We're going to bring Maroni down! But this time, it won't be for revenge, or to be good dogs wagging our tails and begging Falcone for scraps. It'll be because we have what it takes. That fucking seat belongs to us!"

Qin Wei nodded in satisfaction. This was exactly the result he had wanted.

If Gotham had no Batman, no one who could stand up for justice, then the only way to keep it stable was to build towering walls of order out of the bricks of evil.

To keep anyone from controlling or coercing him, he had to do this. Oswald would be his best ally.

And he would do everything in his power to help Oswald ascend the throne and become Gotham's king of the underworld.

Three days later, Qin Wei's superficial injuries had mostly healed. As for the bruises on his cheeks...

They didn't seem to diminish his striking good looks.

The two of them had earned a total of a hundred thousand dollars from Maroni for that job.

Oswald immediately bought himself a Ford Mustang and drove to the Lower District to recruit henchmen.

After all, the "senators" of the "Senate" had all died in the casino massacre. Without men under him, he couldn't get anything done.

During those idle days, Qin Wei first went to Gordon's home to repay the money.

Gordon was out on duty, so Barbara made a strawberry-filled crepe for the ravenous Qin Wei.

After chatting with the warm, innocent girl for a while, he learned that she would be starting college after the summer. She had applied to the Police Academy, hoping to follow in her father's footsteps.

Qin Wei didn't say much about it. After all, in the original timeline, Barbara would become Batgirl and fall in love with Robin. But in this world without Batman, everything was uncertain.

He then went to the hospital to visit Bullock, buying some fruit as was customary back home.

But the bearded cop wasn't in his room. Qin Wei looked around and found Bullock leaning on his crutches, chatting with a pretty woman at the nurses' station.

He decided not to interrupt. Leaving the fruit basket behind, Qin Wei quietly departed.

His final stop was Selina. Qin Wei took out the note.

That night, Catwoman had written Falcone's address on it. Qin Wei turned the note over and found another address.

Following it, he took the light rail to the Fashion District downtown and found the Yoga Studio in an office building.

Selina was an instructor there. It was almost closing time, and the students left one after another, leaving only her stretching in front of a mirror.

Her body on the yoga mat was as supple and graceful as a cat's. Gripping her ankles with both hands, Selina bent herself into a bow. It was no easy pose. She pressed her red lips together as sweat slid down her fair neck, soaked her gray tank top, ran over her firm abs, and dampened the waistband of her yoga pants.

Those flawless curves left Qin Wei dazed.

He didn't know how much time had passed before he looked up and found Selina watching him with her head tilted, a mischievous smile playing across her face.

"Enjoying the view?"

"Even Michelangelo would sing its praises," Qin Wei said with heartfelt admiration.

"I'll go take a shower. Let's have dinner afterward. I've got some questions for you."

They stepped out of the office building. The gentle summer evening breeze brushed their faces. Selina closed her eyes, drew a deep breath, and naturally slipped her arm through Qin Wei's.

It was an unconscious gesture, but feeling the solid muscles of his arm still gave her quite a start.

"Do you work out a lot?"

"Looks like I might."

Qin Wei scratched his head. Before transmigrating, he had found time to go to the gym, not to bulk up, but simply to keep his sedentary body from rusting away.

But this body was different. With clothes on, there might not be much to see, but stripped down, its muscles looked as meticulously sculpted as granite, so perfect they hardly seemed human.

Qin Wei had wondered about it himself. Could I be Bruce Wayne? But there was no evidence to support that theory. He couldn't get into Wayne Enterprises, and there was no sign of Alfred at the abandoned manor.

More importantly, he didn't want to find the answer to that question.

He didn't want to shoulder Batman's heavy burden.

"What would you like to eat?" Seeing that Qin Wei didn't want to answer, Selina changed the subject.

Her question suddenly made Qin Wei miss the flavors of home.

"I want dumplings."

"Dumplings? Chinatown might have some. It's right by Brown Bridge. We just have to cross downtown."

Chinatown? Hearing that name nearly made Qin Wei's heart skip a beat. Though he couldn't go home, Gotham's world was modeled on the real one. There, he could hear the familiar sounds of home and taste its authentic food.

"Let's go to Chinatown!"

Thrilled, Qin Wei pulled free of Selina's hand and started running toward the light rail platform.

"Where are you going?"

Selina called after him. A deep, throaty engine roar erupted behind Qin Wei. He turned to see Catwoman already wearing her helmet, the matte-black Ducati Diavel beneath her trembling with the rumble of its engine.

That is so cool! Qin Wei whistled.