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"Alright, there's nothing for it, I thought we could reach a consensus..." Joker put the knife into his mouth, moving it from side to side, his eyes flickering nervously as he muttered to himself, though no one could understand what he was mumbling about.
"But Tony, as your friend, I must warn you, that hypocrite Batman might not let you go. What you've done has crossed his line... Batman believes Gotham City is his city, and yet you've stuck your hand in. He'll find a way to chop off your claws and banish you forever – or perhaps throw you into Arkham Asylum? You never know, you never know, hee hee hee. Most importantly, you've also killed quite a few people in Gotham City..."
"Aaron's group, you arranged them..." Tony felt an immense headache. Dealing with Joker was truly a terrible experience, because you never knew what he would do next... You could never hope to see into the heart of such a deranged, chaotic individual.
"I'm not that familiar with you, so don't call me 'friend'. What exactly do you want?" Tony frowned.
"Didn't I say? To tear off Batman's mask of hypocrisy. That bastard always acts high and mighty, deciding people's lives and deaths, yet he never considers that he's just a mortal... He's not as great as he thinks he is! And I will personally rip off his hypocritical mask and throw the cowardly Dark Knight for the whole world to see!" Joker waved his arms, raving madly.
Tony suddenly felt a headache coming on. *Damn it, you and Batman can have your obsessive rivalry, but why drag an uninvolved party like me into it? What in the world is going on in Joker's head?!* Anyone who gets caught up in the feud between Joker and Batman is doomed.
Tony's expression was volatile. Finally, he smashed the tablet with a punch, then kicked the terrified gangster out.
Batman had gone to Hong Kong, giving Joker ample room to operate. The city's high-ranking officials would be assassinated by Joker one after another. The struggle between Batman and Joker was about to begin. Tony had already placed Anderson as a pawn in Gotham City's Old City. He just needed to do what needed to be done and find clues.
Crane slowly emerged from the shadows. He had been confined to this room for days.
"It seems that guy has his eyes on you... He wants to drag you into this to muddy the entire situation." Crane picked up the tablet computer, dusting it off. "If I were you, I wouldn't bother with all that; I'd just kill everyone... It wouldn't be difficult with your abilities; you're a high-level mutant."
Tony remained silent. It wasn't that simple. Joker aside, Batman was a formidable opponent. Batman never made a move without certainty; once he acted, it meant he had made all the necessary preparations.
"You could actually entrust the Old City matters to me. I can do better than Anderson. The Fear Gas I produce is far more effective than any firearms." Crane gently placed the broken tablet on the table, speaking casually yet suggestively.
"No, you are a crucial individual. The League of Shadows will contact you one day, and I will follow the trail to find their headquarters." Tony had, at some point, taken out a coin and was idly flipping it. To be honest, he was a little disappointed. Crane clearly didn't know the secrets of the League of Shadows; Crane didn't even know what Dionysium was.
As for Crane's little schemes, Tony saw right through them. Not only would he not let this criminal genius go, but he would also tighten the chain around his neck even further.
...
At some unknown point, a stifling atmosphere began to slowly spread throughout the Old City, occasionally mixed with the heavy scent of blood. Large quantities of weapons flowed into the Old City. No one knew the exact numbers, nor how many people had obtained weapons. But at least one thing was true: more and more people in the Old City began to take up arms against the Falcone Crime Family.
Sporadic gunshots echoed in the silent air, accompanied by a biting chill that seized the mind. After the Falcone Crime Family realized what was happening, they immediately dispatched a large number of personnel to garrison the Old City, brutally suppressing the resistors.
"Where in the world did these wretches get so many weapons?!" A squad leader barely dodged a bullet, scrambling frantically behind cover. The cover reeked of garbage, almost making him throw up his lunch.
"Their weapons are all from Stark Industries. Apparently, there's a guy named Anderson in this area who's been constantly recruiting people and secretly dumping all sorts of weapons," another squad leader shot down an enemy, taking a moment to say.
The entire Old City was like a massive pile of kindling, with sporadic sparks already bursting forth, and tiny flames beginning to ignite on the woodpile. Their mission was to extinguish all the flames before they erupted into an inferno.
The entire Falcone Crime Family was in an uproar. While the Old City area didn't offer much in the way of profits, it had always been Falcone's most stable rear base. Anderson's actions were undoubtedly a harsh slap across the Falcone Crime Family's face, arrogantly setting fires in their own backyard.
Anderson had indeed become somewhat arrogant recently. He was like a wild wolf that had tasted meat, gazing at the world with greedy eyes, experiencing for the first time how delicious the taste of power could be. Wielding money and weapons, he had gathered a group of people, ambitiously aiming to form a new gang, constantly encroaching on Falcone's territory, attempting to replace Falcone as the king of the Old City.
The taste of power was intoxicating, rapidly transforming the once struggling rat. He was now a figure higher up on the food chain.
"What's there to fear from Falcone? We have money, we have people, and we have all sorts of weapons! We can completely incite the people of the entire Old City and recruit our own manpower from them!" Anderson encouraged his newly recruited subordinates around him while exchanging fire with the Falcone Crime Family members who had come to confront him.
He stared, his eyes wide with greed, at everything. A small figure's massive turnaround had made him somewhat arrogant and overconfident, his behavior growing increasingly brazen and undisguised.
"I also have people backing me. I'm acting on orders; nothing will happen to us," Anderson said.
But no sooner had he finished speaking than a subordinate, who had already picked up a stick, unexpectedly struck him on the head. With a thud, Anderson's vision went black. He collapsed to the ground in disbelief, his astonished gaze filled with confusion and bewilderment.
How could this be? How could someone betray him when he had offered such incredibly generous rewards?
"I'm sorry, boss, I thought you were just making money by selling weapons, but I didn't expect you to challenge Falcone." The subordinate said, holding the stick. "The Falcone Crime Family rules Gotham City not with money, but with undeniable strength."
(end of chapter)
"But Tony, as your friend, I must warn you, that hypocrite Batman might not let you go. What you've done has crossed his line... Batman believes Gotham City is his city, and yet you've stuck your hand in. He'll find a way to chop off your claws and banish you forever – or perhaps throw you into Arkham Asylum? You never know, you never know, hee hee hee. Most importantly, you've also killed quite a few people in Gotham City..."
"Aaron's group, you arranged them..." Tony felt an immense headache. Dealing with Joker was truly a terrible experience, because you never knew what he would do next... You could never hope to see into the heart of such a deranged, chaotic individual.
"I'm not that familiar with you, so don't call me 'friend'. What exactly do you want?" Tony frowned.
"Didn't I say? To tear off Batman's mask of hypocrisy. That bastard always acts high and mighty, deciding people's lives and deaths, yet he never considers that he's just a mortal... He's not as great as he thinks he is! And I will personally rip off his hypocritical mask and throw the cowardly Dark Knight for the whole world to see!" Joker waved his arms, raving madly.
Tony suddenly felt a headache coming on. *Damn it, you and Batman can have your obsessive rivalry, but why drag an uninvolved party like me into it? What in the world is going on in Joker's head?!* Anyone who gets caught up in the feud between Joker and Batman is doomed.
Tony's expression was volatile. Finally, he smashed the tablet with a punch, then kicked the terrified gangster out.
Batman had gone to Hong Kong, giving Joker ample room to operate. The city's high-ranking officials would be assassinated by Joker one after another. The struggle between Batman and Joker was about to begin. Tony had already placed Anderson as a pawn in Gotham City's Old City. He just needed to do what needed to be done and find clues.
Crane slowly emerged from the shadows. He had been confined to this room for days.
"It seems that guy has his eyes on you... He wants to drag you into this to muddy the entire situation." Crane picked up the tablet computer, dusting it off. "If I were you, I wouldn't bother with all that; I'd just kill everyone... It wouldn't be difficult with your abilities; you're a high-level mutant."
Tony remained silent. It wasn't that simple. Joker aside, Batman was a formidable opponent. Batman never made a move without certainty; once he acted, it meant he had made all the necessary preparations.
"You could actually entrust the Old City matters to me. I can do better than Anderson. The Fear Gas I produce is far more effective than any firearms." Crane gently placed the broken tablet on the table, speaking casually yet suggestively.
"No, you are a crucial individual. The League of Shadows will contact you one day, and I will follow the trail to find their headquarters." Tony had, at some point, taken out a coin and was idly flipping it. To be honest, he was a little disappointed. Crane clearly didn't know the secrets of the League of Shadows; Crane didn't even know what Dionysium was.
As for Crane's little schemes, Tony saw right through them. Not only would he not let this criminal genius go, but he would also tighten the chain around his neck even further.
...
At some unknown point, a stifling atmosphere began to slowly spread throughout the Old City, occasionally mixed with the heavy scent of blood. Large quantities of weapons flowed into the Old City. No one knew the exact numbers, nor how many people had obtained weapons. But at least one thing was true: more and more people in the Old City began to take up arms against the Falcone Crime Family.
Sporadic gunshots echoed in the silent air, accompanied by a biting chill that seized the mind. After the Falcone Crime Family realized what was happening, they immediately dispatched a large number of personnel to garrison the Old City, brutally suppressing the resistors.
"Where in the world did these wretches get so many weapons?!" A squad leader barely dodged a bullet, scrambling frantically behind cover. The cover reeked of garbage, almost making him throw up his lunch.
"Their weapons are all from Stark Industries. Apparently, there's a guy named Anderson in this area who's been constantly recruiting people and secretly dumping all sorts of weapons," another squad leader shot down an enemy, taking a moment to say.
The entire Old City was like a massive pile of kindling, with sporadic sparks already bursting forth, and tiny flames beginning to ignite on the woodpile. Their mission was to extinguish all the flames before they erupted into an inferno.
The entire Falcone Crime Family was in an uproar. While the Old City area didn't offer much in the way of profits, it had always been Falcone's most stable rear base. Anderson's actions were undoubtedly a harsh slap across the Falcone Crime Family's face, arrogantly setting fires in their own backyard.
Anderson had indeed become somewhat arrogant recently. He was like a wild wolf that had tasted meat, gazing at the world with greedy eyes, experiencing for the first time how delicious the taste of power could be. Wielding money and weapons, he had gathered a group of people, ambitiously aiming to form a new gang, constantly encroaching on Falcone's territory, attempting to replace Falcone as the king of the Old City.
The taste of power was intoxicating, rapidly transforming the once struggling rat. He was now a figure higher up on the food chain.
"What's there to fear from Falcone? We have money, we have people, and we have all sorts of weapons! We can completely incite the people of the entire Old City and recruit our own manpower from them!" Anderson encouraged his newly recruited subordinates around him while exchanging fire with the Falcone Crime Family members who had come to confront him.
He stared, his eyes wide with greed, at everything. A small figure's massive turnaround had made him somewhat arrogant and overconfident, his behavior growing increasingly brazen and undisguised.
"I also have people backing me. I'm acting on orders; nothing will happen to us," Anderson said.
But no sooner had he finished speaking than a subordinate, who had already picked up a stick, unexpectedly struck him on the head. With a thud, Anderson's vision went black. He collapsed to the ground in disbelief, his astonished gaze filled with confusion and bewilderment.
How could this be? How could someone betray him when he had offered such incredibly generous rewards?
"I'm sorry, boss, I thought you were just making money by selling weapons, but I didn't expect you to challenge Falcone." The subordinate said, holding the stick. "The Falcone Crime Family rules Gotham City not with money, but with undeniable strength."
(end of chapter)
