You're fired

He sat in the back of the taxi as the streetlights went out one by one, sliding backward along with the droplets on the window.

It was another chilly Gotham morning, with the blessing of sunlight little more than a pipe dream.

Early commuters huddled into their coats, shivering in the cold wind after the rain.

Their pale, stiff faces offered no expression whatsoever. They were like NPCs spawned to set the mood, appearing on streets, crosswalks, and inside office buildings whose lights had just come on.

"Is life always this painful, or is it just when you're broke?" Oswald looked away from the window and asked a question that hardly sounded like him.

Qin Wei's answer was brief.

"Just when you're broke."

Yes, it was only painful when you were broke.

He liked to think he was a carefree slacker, but before crossing into this world, Qin Wei had lived that same life: cramming onto the subway at dawn, doing exhausting work in which he was utterly replaceable, devoting every stolen moment to short videos, then returning to his cramped rented room to stare at a drawer full of game discs, unable to muster any desire to play.

When he first arrived in Gotham, he had wanted to go back. Now, though, he was gradually falling in love with the place.

Thorns crowded every path, dark currents churned beneath the surface, and he opened his eyes to find himself teetering on a knife's edge. The fear of death made his heart race, but it also gave him a feeling he had not experienced in a long time.

The feeling of being alive.

In truth, he was not much different from Oswald. His single-minded drive to climb higher was only an attempt to prove something to someone.

Not his compulsive gambler of a father, nor his timid mother, but that fucked-up world.

He wanted to slap it hard across the face, spit a thick wad of phlegm at it, and tell it, It's not that I'm incapable. You just never gave me a chance.

The taxi stopped outside Dodge Manor.

The driver was the same guy who had driven Qin Wei to Wayne Manor late that night. He looked up and recognized Qin Wei immediately.

"Huh? It's you! Cabs are hard to come by out here. Want me to wait outside for you?" The driver leaned against the window and lit a cigarette. He did not reset the meter right away, figuring that even if he could not secure a return fare, dragging out the conversation would earn him a few extra cents.

But how could Qin Wei fail to see through that little trick?

"No need. Keep the change, too."

With a flourish, Qin Wei tossed over the last few hundred dollars in his pocket and strode into the manor amid the taxi driver's profuse thanks.

An elderly butler in a tailcoat had already been waiting beside a sightseeing cart for quite some time.

"You must be the manor's new owner! Please allow me to briefly introduce myself. My name is Paul-"

"No. Just take me to Dodge's men."

Paul lived up to his professional credentials. Without another word, he smiled and helped the two of them into the cart, thoughtfully fastening their seat belts.

The cart passed through a vineyard, and a vast expanse of grass opened up before them.

A fence divided the grounds. On the neatly trimmed grass to the left stood several golf flags, with three white canopies set up in one corner. Farther back lay an artificial lake, its surface rippling in the breeze and glittering with reflected light.

To the right, several tall white horses galloped and frolicked, their flowing manes lending them a magnificent air.

"Th-this is all ours? This is incredible!" Oswald excitedly unfastened his seat belt. If Qin Wei had not grabbed him in time, he might have pitched headfirst out of the cart.

"Don't get excited just yet..."

Qin Wei leaned over and muttered into Oswald's ear. In just a few seconds, Oswald's expression went from ecstatic to reluctant, finally settling into a look of utter loss.

"You really want to do that? Why?"

"I can't explain yet, but if you don't want to, forget it. It's not an essential part of the plan anyway."

"Ah, fine! I'll go along with you..."

Oswald let out a breath and made the difficult choice. After saying that, he slumped against the seat back without another word, like a Stormwind City soldier whose soul had been drained by Gul'dan.

The cart stopped in front of the castle.

The building had a rounded, heavy Byzantine feel overall, yet several Gothic spires jutted incongruously out of it. Its colors and detailing leaned more toward Baroque architecture, but every window was trimmed with ornate Rococo gold edging.

Qin Wei gazed up at this bizarre mishmash of architectural styles with a complicated expression, a stampede of curses thundering through his mind.

He took out the key and pushed open the door, only to find that the castle's interior had no intention of sparing him either.

The overall style was that of a European palace, but Ancient Rome-style wall tiles lined the edges. There was little furniture, and large sections of the walls on either side of the staircase leading to the second floor were covered in garishly colored murals...

He could not bear to look any longer. Every detail of this castle betrayed Dodge's atrocious nouveau riche taste. It was mercilessly assaulting his eyes.

On the second floor, Qin Wei finally met the people he had come to see-Dodge's subordinates.

Five men and three women all wore The Roman's signature black suits. Some leaned against the walls playing with daggers, while others sprawled on the sofas scrolling through their phones. Qin Wei's arrival seemed to count for very little-so little that it was not worth looking up.

Oswald frowned and was about to reprimand these oblivious fools, but Qin Wei held him back by the shoulder, a wicked grin on his face.

"They're trying to put us in our place. If we speak first, we'll just be begging them."

Qin Wei sauntered over to the tea cabinet and gently brushed his fingers against a porcelain vase, nudging it toward the edge a little at a time.

It shattered with a sharp crash.

Everyone turned toward Qin Wei, their gazes uncertain and suspicious. At last, the two sides met each other's eyes.

Unnerved by his stare, the Black man lying on the sofa finally lost his patience. He sat up and asked:

"What do you want?"

"Let's discuss terms. How much would it cost me to keep all of you?"

The Black man's lips curled into a smile, and he turned to exchange glances with the others.

An Asian woman with a high ponytail stepped forward. Her narrow eyes fit America's stereotype of Asians, and she sized Qin Wei up from head to toe with a contemptuous look.

"To tell you the truth, we're the ones who run all of Dodge's business. He paid each of us two hundred thousand dollars a month, plus fifty percent of the profits from the deals. If you want to keep us, it'll be three hundred thousand dollars and sixty percent of the profits."

This was Maroni's scheme.

On the surface, he had handed the manor over to Qin Wei. In reality, his own people handled all the drug deals. Whether it was Dodge or Qin Wei, the owner was nothing but an empty shell.

That was why he had dared to execute Dodge so casually.

He was just a puppet. Why not find another?

The woman's demands were excessive, but she had actually left Qin Wei some room to negotiate. She was keeping quiet now because she was waiting for his counteroffer. As long as it was no lower than Dodge's pay, she could accept it.

Qin Wei frowned thoughtfully, then suddenly turned to Oswald.

"Uh... how much were you paying the guys at the Senate before?"

"Fifty dollars a week. Anything extra depended on getting assignments from Mr. Maroni."

"Is that so..."

Qin Wei nodded with a smile and turned his gaze back to the woman.

"Did you hear that? That's what I'm offering you."

"Are you kidding me?"

At the insulting offer, the woman's eyebrows shot up. The others slammed their hands down and rose to their feet, and the room instantly filled with tension.

Oswald drew his pistol, ready for whatever might happen next.

"You need to understand something!" The Black man took over again. Worried that Qin Wei had failed to grasp what was at stake, he helpfully spelled it out in plain language:

"We've always controlled the drug business. Without us, you won't get anywhere."

"I know. Then let's just shut down the business! Congratulations, you're fired. As for this manor... I don't suppose there's any reason to keep it either. I'll have an appraisal firm come take a look at the property. You can all go wherever you please."

Qin Wei's face was utterly calm as he leaned against the wall with his arms folded.

But to everyone listening, those casually spoken words landed like a massive bomb.

Now they were the ones who could not keep their composure.

"But... but..." the woman stammered, trying to object, only for Qin Wei to cut her off with a harsh shout.

"You've been fired! What are you still standing here for? Do you want me to exercise the unlimited right to retaliate granted by castle law?"

Humiliated and furious at Qin Wei's shout, the woman's facial muscles twitched, her features gradually scrunching together. She spat out, "Fuck!" and suddenly raised her fist at him.

Bang!

The unexpected gunshot stopped the woman in her tracks. The bullet struck just in front of her toes, punching through the reddish-brown Persian carpet and leaving a smoking, scorched hole.

"Oi! Am I invisible to you?"

Oswald bared his teeth and jutted his chin forward, pressing the smoking gun barrel between the woman's eyebrows.