There is no Batman in Gotham City comics.

Chapter 35 The Storm Is Brewing

Qin Wei had no intention of getting involved in the drug business, because for some reason he deeply abhorred it.

As for the manor...

The pivotal event will occur in a month, and Qin Wei has given himself a strict order: he must use this event to bring down Maroni.

If successful, Maronny will be brought to trial, and as the de facto owner, the estate will become illegal property, meaning they can only enjoy it for a maximum of one month.

Moreover, Oswald is currently recruiting, and it's a time when money is flowing like water. It would be better to exchange the manor for Knife Joy, which would not only allow him to recruit a group of high-quality subordinates, but also reserve sufficient funds for the next operation.

But what if they fail to defeat Maroni?

Qin Wei had never considered this question. After experiencing several incidents, he had accumulated enough confidence and took the success of this matter for granted. If he couldn't even handle Maroni, he might as well just smash his head against a wall and die, rather than spouting nonsense like climbing over Falcone to ascend the Gotham throne.

The scene shifts back to the castle. Dodge's men's faces are a deep purplish-red, their fists clenched, and veins bulging on their foreheads.

But the gun in Oswald's hand was no mere decoration.

"Forget it, let's go!"

The leader of the black men was the first to realize the reality. Arguing with Qin Wei now would be futile; this man was clearly there to drive them away. It was pathetic that they were still naively thinking they could use a show of force to gain more benefits.

But he didn't understand, wasn't Qin Wei afraid of offending Maroni by doing this?

Qin Wei was not afraid at all. The fact that he dared to take this step meant that he was already prepared to deal with it.

Not long after the group left, Maroni called.

Qin Wei didn't rush to take it; instead, he took a bottle of Lafite 1982 from the wine shelf and tasted it with Oswald. But it wasn't until half the wine was gone that he suddenly realized what was happening.

"Oh no! I forgot to sober up... Oh well! Even a rough pig can't swallow fine chaff, and I'm not the type to drink expensive liquor, so let's just stop here."

Qin Wei didn't answer the phone until Maroni called a second time, still drunk.

"Why did you send all the staff away? Did they make you angry?" Maroni's tone sounded no different from usual, so Qin Wei couldn't tell if he was angry or not.

But he guessed that Maroni wouldn't be angry.

Is that really the case?

Of course, Maroni was not angry at all; in fact, he was secretly pleased.

As long as the team doesn't fall apart, it doesn't matter who plays the puppet. He was originally worried that Qin Wei might have a moment of madness and report his drug trafficking to Harvey Dent. Now, Qin Wei has chosen to distance himself from the situation and even threatened to sell the manor, which will only further solidify his image as a "greedy villain."

Maroni liked greedy people because they were easy to control and bribe. He believed that as long as Qin Wei received benefits, he would obediently work for him.

"Is Oswald next to you?"

"Of course! I beat him up, and now... uh... he's behaving himself." Qin Wei deliberately let out a burp.

"If the estate is sold, how much of his share will you get?" Maronny raised his voice.

"That's my money... how could I give it to him?"

"Hey, this isn't what we agreed on!"

"Shut up!"

Qin Wei's drunken roar had barely ended when the drum-like sound of shattering glass began again, interspersed with Oswald's extremely vulgar insults.

The voices from both sides rose and fell incessantly, creating a grand farce.

Hearing the noise on the other end of the phone, Maroni hung up the phone with satisfaction.

"Did he hang up?" Oswald asked.

"Okay, I'm hanging up!" Qin Wei nodded.

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Just as Qin Wei put down the half-empty bottle, his phone rang again. This time, there was no caller ID, and even the number was unknown.

Qin Wei hesitated for a moment before answering the phone.

"Hello, my dear partner," came the voice of Falcone from the other end of the phone.

Qin Wei remained silent, waiting for the other person to continue. This was a secret code they had set up to prevent eavesdropping; if Qin Wei determined that the surroundings were safe, he wouldn't need to answer anything except for necessary questions.

"Put your phone on the table, turn on speakerphone, and let me hear the sounds around me."

Qin Wei did as instructed.

"I heard you've become Maroney's favorite and taken over Dodge's drug business. I'm genuinely happy for you."

"And now I have a few questions I'd like to ask you."

The old lion's tone was slow and steady, giving people an inexplicable sense of pressure even through the receiver.

"Firstly, is there a third person listening to our conversation?"

"Yes."

"Oh, it must be Oswald. He's also part of my plan. I'll allow him to listen to this call."

"Now I will ask you the second question: have you made contact with Harvey Dent?"

"No," Qin Wei replied.

"Hmph!" A short, heavy snort followed. "Please hurry up, my patience is running out. Now, let's move on to the third question..."

"Have you already been suspected by Maronny?"

"no."

"Very good. Maroni is suspicious by nature. The fact that you haven't aroused his suspicion means I've chosen the right partner. So, one last question..." Falcone paused for a long time, an invisible pressure haunting the room like a ghost.

Oswald pursed his lips, instinctively holding his breath. If he could, he would even want to squeeze his heart and stop it from beating.

It is unwise to let a bloodthirsty lion hear your heartbeat.

"Have you already been turned by Maroni and are now working for him?!"

Oswald believed he had made great progress through repeated trials, but under Falcone's pressure, he still felt like a bloodied lamb that had been skinned naked.

If the person on the other end of the line were him, even if he mustered the courage to lie, he would definitely stumble and stammer.

He couldn't believe that Qin Wei could withstand such immense pressure and lie without batting an eye.

Please, the other party is Falcone!

"No!"

Qin Wei's tone remained as cold and calm as a robot's, devoid of any inflection. And as his words fell, the receiver went dead.

Oswald let out a long sigh and rubbed his dizzy head. He had so many questions he wanted answered from Qin Wei.

"Didn't you say you were going to work for Mr. Falcone? Why didn't you tell him the truth?"

Trust my judgment. The less you know about certain things, the safer you are.

Since Qin Wei had already said that, Oswald took the initiative to change the subject:

"So what do we do next? Find a room to rest? It's already ten in the morning." Oswald glanced at the huge grandfather clock in the corner.

"We haven't slept for over 24 hours."

I hadn't felt tired at first, but after hearing that, I suddenly felt sleepy.

I really should get some sleep.

Qin Wei drew the blackout curtains, plunging the room into complete darkness. The rapid secretion of melatonin made him yawn widely, stretch out his legs, and lie down on the sofa in a comfortable position, not forgetting to pull the blanket next to him to cover his stomach.

"Go to sleep, I have an appointment with an asset appraiser who will arrive at 1 p.m., we can still sleep for three more hours..."

Before he could finish speaking, Qin Wei had already started snoring softly.

Oswald soon fell asleep as well.

Just a few minutes after he had completely fallen asleep, his cell phone rang repeatedly in the dark room, the piercing ringtones seeming to proclaim the urgency of the situation.

But the two of them were so tired that neither of them woke up.

Meanwhile, in the Lower West Side, far south of Gotham, a horrific massacre had just come to an end.