Dr. Hugo had done something absurd after robbing the casino. He had washed the blood off the stolen money, taken a small portion of it, and paid it to Maroni toward his loan-shark debt.
It was a blatant provocation. Unfortunately, Maroni was so distraught over the casino massacre that he had no time to bother with Hugo Strange.
Upon hearing that the two escaped underlings had been found, Maroni tightened his tie, took up his cane, and headed for the study.
Meanwhile, Qin Wei had finished reading the comic.
At Gordon's invitation, Batman had examined the crime scene, then descended into the sewers through the huge hole in the restroom.
In the sewers, he had discovered enormous quantities of hair, along with torn paper bags bearing biohazard labels.
Back in the Batcave, he had successfully identified Dr. Hugo through these clues.
But just as Batman was preparing to infiltrate the doctor's laboratory to investigate, the comic had gone blank again.
Qin Wei did not understand. If the casino incident had been an unavoidable ordeal for him, did that mean infiltrating Hugo's laboratory was also a necessary part of the plot?
As he frowned in thought, a series of footsteps sounded outside the room.
The study door opened, and Maroni walked in with a grim expression, his blond hair slicked up. He took off his finely tailored gray checked suit jacket and tossed his cane high into the air.
He caught the cane by its lower end and swung it like a golf club, striking Oswald in the jaw.
Crack!
With the crisp sound of breaking bone, Oswald collapsed to the floor, howling. He kept spitting blood onto the dark ocher Persian Carpet, writhing in agony like a maggot.
"So, do you have anything to say?"
"We weren't responsible for what happened at the casino," Qin Wei argued.
"I know. If you were actually capable of something like that, I'd be the one lying on the floor screaming." Maroni gave a disdainful snort, raised his cane, and struck Oswald across the back.
The cane's tip was sharp. It sliced through Oswald's suit and tore a huge, gaping wound across his scrawny back.
"What exactly do you want to know?"
"It would be wonderful if you knew who the killer was. If you don't, that's fine too. All I want is for someone to answer for this." As Maroni spoke, he brought the cane down again.
This time, Oswald made no sound. He had already passed out from the pain.
"You'd better hurry. I doubt he can take many more hits."
Qin Wei more or less understood. Maroni did not care who was really behind the casino massacre. He only wanted his stolen money back.
Seeing Maroni prepare to swing again, he hurriedly shouted for him to stop:
"Three days! Give me three days, and I'll help you recover the money!"
Qin Wei's guess was right. Maroni stopped.
A cold smile hung on his lips as he wiped the blood off the cane's tip with his thumb.
"How can I trust that you'll actually help me find the money, rather than just buying yourself time to run?"
"I know who did it. It should... it should be Dr. Hugo Strange! He couldn't pay back his loan, so he raided the casino. The perpetrators of the massacre were most likely his latest Biomen."
With the situation so desperate, Qin Wei could no longer afford to hold anything back. He blurted out everything the comic had revealed.
But what if Maroni pressed him? What if he asked how he knew so much?
His fears soon became reality.
"That sounds plausible enough. But how did you know about the Biomen?"
Maroni shifted his grip toward the end of the cane. He knew about the Biomen-from his police informant at the crime scene. That made him very interested in Qin Wei's source. If Qin Wei could not give a convincing explanation, he would not mind driving the thing into his eye socket.
Qin Wei bit the corner of his mouth hard enough to draw blood. Everything he knew came from the comic. What evidence could he possibly have?
"I have no evidence, but back at the casino, Mr. Panton told us something-there were monsters soaking in nutrient solution in Hugo's laboratory. Oswald heard it too. You can ask him."
"You mean Panton and Carlo..."
Maroni began to believe him. Just yesterday, he had sent those two to collect Hugo's debt.
Besides, the casino's silent, black-and-white surveillance footage had captured Oswald "chatting" with Panton, which seemed to support Qin Wei's story.
But what truly dispelled Maroni's doubts was the cryptic remark Dr. Hugo had made when he came to repay the money.
"Please give Mr. Panton my regards, and tell him not to flick cigarette ash into my experimental solutions again... oh, I almost forgot. He probably won't have another chance."
Was it really that son of a bitch Hugo? No wonder that penniless bastard could suddenly pay back five million today. He was paying me back with my own money!
Seeing Maroni waver, Qin Wei pressed his case.
"There's something wrong with the money he brought, too. If you don't believe me, you can use..."
"Bring me the case of money Hugo delivered, and get a UV lamp!" Before Qin Wei could finish, Maroni already knew what to do next.
His men brought the items over. Under the light, the washed and dried bills revealed their true colors one by one.
"Boss, there's blood on this one!"
"This one too."
"There's blood on the whole stack behind it!"
Listening to his men's reports, Maroni narrowed his eyes to slits.
The culprit had emerged. Now came the question of how to deal with him.
Whether the Gotham Police Department could be trusted was beside the point. With so many eyes watching, The Roman had to settle his own scores.
But Maroni had also heard about the carnage inside the casino. If he rashly sent his men to arrest Dr. Hugo and cornered him into releasing those three monsters again, he would probably lose quite a few men.
His gaze finally settled on Qin Wei.
This man was different from most of his dim-witted underlings. He had remained calm under deliberate pressure and had deduced the culprit's identity from just a few "clues." He certainly had what it took to handle this assignment.
Maroni's stare made Qin Wei's skin crawl. Considering where the comic had gone blank, he had a pretty good idea of what Maroni was about to say.
"Give me three days. I'll do my best to recover the money."
In truth, he had no intention of getting involved in such a dangerous assignment. He only wanted to get Oswald back and make a quick escape.
Perhaps Maroni had guessed what Qin Wei was thinking, or perhaps he had not. Either way, it did not stop him from making the right decision.
The key to making someone obediently risk his life for you was to have leverage over him.
"Talking to a smart man really does save trouble."
Maroni hooked the toe of his shoe against the barely breathing Oswald's cheek and turned his face toward Qin Wei.
"Whether he lives or dies is up to you. And don't think you can abandon little Penguin and run. I have sharp eyes and exceptionally keen ears. Forget leaving Gotham-you won't even make it out of the Financial District!"
But Qin Wei was more concerned with the explosive revelation hidden in that threat.
"Sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you just call him?"
"Penguin. It's dear Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot's illustrious nickname. Didn't you know?"
Qin Wei slowly closed his eyes. Hot air thick with the smell of tobacco flooded his lungs, and his dizzy mind miraculously cooled.
He began to slowly accept reality.
To accept the reality that Oswald was actually Penguin.
To accept the reality that one day, he would surpass Maroni and step over Falcone's head to claim the throne of Gotham's underworld.
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