The Tables Turned

Maroni had underestimated Oswald after all.

Little Penguin was indeed timid, but that was because he had spent his life at the bottom of Gotham's food chain, where reading people's moods had become second nature. He was greedy, too, but he never hoarded the money he got from Maroni, always distributing it generously among his men.

But he was by no means selfish or cowardly.

More fatally, Maroni had underestimated Qin Wei's influence on Oswald.

He arrogantly assumed he could use Dodge's drug business as leverage to make Penguin talk. Little did he know that, under Qin Wei's subtle brainwashing, Oswald had already become convinced that he would be king of the underworld.

Dodge's business was certainly tempting, but beside that grand ambition, it seemed laughably insignificant.

Still, in all honesty, motivational platitudes were comforting, but when Maroni's punches and kicks rained down on him, Oswald's mental defenses came close to collapsing.

That old fox had long since branded fear deep into the minds of every gang leader. That fear came from what they had all seen and heard: one brutal punishment after another, one public killing after another.

It was not a fear that mere pep talks and brainwashing could erase.

Qin Wei knew that, too, so before Oswald left, he gave him one final piece of advice.

"If someone can kill you with the flick of a finger but doesn't do it right away, there's no need to second-guess it. Killing you would cost him something.

"At that point, you need to exploit his mindset. The more he wants something, the more you must refuse to give it to him. That's your last bargaining chip!"

At first, Oswald had not understood that convoluted advice. Not until Maroni had beaten his face bloody and his gaze happened to stray toward Dodge's corpse.

You spent all those years as an obedient, loyal dog, and you still ended up dead!

The instant his eyes met the corpse's empty stare, Oswald suddenly felt like laughing.

He wanted to laugh at Maroni's temper. After all these years, he still knew no better way to control his men than crude violence. He wanted to laugh at Maroni's incompetence, at how much trouble he was having prying even one answer out of him.

Most of all, he wanted to laugh at Maroni's stupidity. Every move he made fell within Qin Wei's calculations.

Suddenly, Oswald felt that Maroni was nothing special after all.

There it was!

When content finally appeared in the blank comic, Qin Wei let out a long breath and slumped into his chair like a puddle of mud.

Oswald had passed the test after all.

He rubbed his face excitedly, calmed himself down, and began reading the comic carefully.

The comic opened with a group of robbers wearing red hoods raiding Gotham Central Bank. Unlike the Red Hood Gang wreaking frenzied havoc outside, they had clearly defined roles and were highly professional. In just fifteen minutes, they swept up forty-five million dollars and sped away in a Modified Armored Pickup before the Gotham police arrived.

The story itself offered few details, but Qin Wei noticed something unusual in one panel.

In a corner of the panel, one of the Red Hood Robbers was pressing a shotgun against the bank floor manager's forehead, demanding the vault access card.

When Qin Wei saw a few strands of dark green hair sticking out from beneath the hood, his mind exploded with a buzz.

Who else could a green-haired man be but Joker?

He was vicious and erratic, full of schemes and adept at manipulating people. More frighteningly, his plans had no clear objective. He seemed to want nothing more than to drag the whole world into a mire of chaos and terror, using humanity's screams and sobs to satisfy his twisted taste in comedy.

Impossible to work with, impossible to tame, and impossible even to hold a normal conversation with, Joker was chaos incarnate-and the person Qin Wei least wanted to encounter. If this man was his opponent in the current main storyline, Qin Wei would abandon all his plans without hesitation.

Playing games with Joker would leave you with nothing, even if you won.

Qin Wei breathed a sigh of relief as he continued reading.

Those strands of green hair seemed to be nothing more than a little Easter egg the artist had planted. Joker did not appear in the rest of the story.

Back in the comic, Batman teamed up with Gordon to investigate the case and discovered that the bank's true owner was Sal Maroni. It was a mob bank dedicated to laundering money for the Roman Empire.

Besides the forty-five million dollars, Maroni seemed to have lost something even more important. He sent out all his men and offered a hefty bounty, launching a citywide hunt for the Red Hood Robbers.

Meanwhile, Batman located the robbers' hideout. On a dark, windy night, he slipped into their lair...

The comic ended abruptly there.

It had given Qin Wei little information, but what it did reveal was crucial.

First, the comic corresponded to reality. The robbery took place on August 22, exactly one month from now. Second, Qin Wei suspected that "the thing" Maroni had hidden in the bank was most likely evidence of scandals and crimes he used to blackmail Gotham's wealthy businessmen and political figures. Once those things were exposed, those people would never let Maroni off, even without Harvey Dent lifting a finger.

It was a reasonable guess, and it explained why the old fox had been so panicked.

In other words, it was Maroni's fatal weakness. As long as Qin Wei could get his hands on "the thing," he could bring him down.

But how was he supposed to get it?

Strike before the robbers and turn the bank upside down first? Qin Wei could barely keep a straight face at his own idea. Never mind how heavily guarded a mob bank would be-he did not have a single usable man at his side. There was no way to even get the plan off the ground.

The second option was to follow Batman's example, track down the robbers, and find a way to steal it from them.

But that meant confronting Joker head-on.

Torn, Qin Wei began biting his nails again.

Suddenly, the phone rang, and Oswald's voice came through the receiver.

"Are you all right?"

"Everything's... fine. Don't worry... I didn't sell you out."

Oswald kept his voice low. It sounded extremely hoarse, like the noise of a glass marble rolling around in an earthenware basin.

"What are you talking about, you idiot...? Has Maroni let you go?"

"I'm afraid not. That's why I'm calling. That son of a bitch Maroni says he wants to talk to you."

"Okay. I'll be there soon." Qin Wei was not surprised. If anything, he was a little excited.

In his calculations, if the plan went smoothly, Maroni would certainly demand to see him. Now events were unfolding exactly as intended. Everything was under control, and that wonderful feeling gave Qin Wei an unprecedented sense of security.

He took a taxi to Maroni's mansion. As soon as he got out, he saw Oswald waiting by the roadside to greet him.

Poor Little Penguin had been beaten black and blue. Dried blood clung to his hair and stained half his face red, but Oswald held his chest high, standing straighter than ever before.

Qin Wei stepped forward and gave him a big hug.

"I'll take you to Maroni... but are you really ready for this?" Now Oswald was starting to worry about Qin Wei instead.

"Ready? Do I need to prepare just to meet him?" Qin Wei laughed. He needed no preparation at all. Whatever card Maroni played, he only had to respond as the situation unfolded.

At first, the fake Harvey plan had indeed caused him considerable trouble, but from the moment Oswald called, the situation had completely reversed.

In this game, it was his turn to move.