"What?!"

  Upon hearing Wells' response, Maroni was momentarily fused, uo uand what was happening.

  "The Jang ’t have this many people. In just two days, their forbsp;couldn’t possibly attack both of our locations at the same time. What’s really going ohere?"

  Maroni’s words only firmed Wells’ growing suspi. He quickly ordered his men.

  "Hurry! Go check the other bodies, see if ynize anyone."

  As soon as he finished speaking, the other thugs sprang into a, removing the Jang members' masks.

  Soon, they arrived at a terrifying clusion.

  "Boss Wells... they... they’re from the Diamond District o! They’re our own people!"

  "Our own people? Could it be...?"

  Wells’ mind raced. Then it hit him. It was the Joker. He recalled the rumors that the Joker had a chemical gas that could make someone ugh themselves to death. Now, it seemed the Joker had used something simir to trol the security from the o in the Diamond District, f them to charge headlong into a trap Wells had set.

  "Dammit!!!"

  Wells could feel his carefully id pns crumbling before him. Not only had he failed to strike a blow to the Joker, but he'd also killed many of his own men. He knew now that his dream of climbing the ranks was shattered. Even if he mao keep the bck money in the warehouse, it would hardly be enough to make up for the disaster he'd caused.

  "Damned Joker!!!"

  Furious, Wells raised his gun and began firing bullets relentlessly at the warehouse ceiling.

  "e out if you dare! Step out and fight me face to face!!!"

  Everything was the Joker's fault. Without the Joker's ing scheme, Wells was sure he would have been promoted, earning more money, and reag the peak of his life.

  Just then, a voice echoed in his ear.

  "Are you... looking for me?"

  Suddenly, Wells felt a chill, as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over his anger. He realized something was wrong as he felt a hard object pressed against his spine.

  Behind Wells, a thug from the Maroni family pressed the muzzle of his gun against his body, while his other hand grabbed at his face.

  In an instant, a human skin mask was ripped off.

  And the persoh it was none other than Reid, who had already disguised himself as a Maroni thug and infiltrated the warehouse.

  "Joker... huff..."

  After several deep breaths, Wells forced himself to calm down. Surrounded by his own men, he felt that there was o worry.

  "Give it up, Joker... you—"

  Bang!

  Before he could finish his sentence, a gunsh out. But it wasn’t Reid who fired—it was other thugs from the Maroni family.

  One by ohese men, just like Reid, tore off their face masks. They then aimed their guns at Wells' own people and pulled the triggers.

  Wells couldn’t believe it. Half of his supposed temporary underlings, whom he'd gathered from the lower levels of various anizations, were actually disguised members of the Jang.

  All of his as, all of his preparations, had been exposed to the Joker from the start, and he was the only fool eaining himself.

  He could already imagine how these bastards must have ughed at him during his speech.

  "Joker, you bastard!!!"

  Bang!

  Reid didn’t give Wells a ce to speak. He immediately shot through his spine.

  In an instant, Wells lost the feeling in his lower body as his spine was shattered. He colpsed helplessly to the ground, his eyes wide open as he watched members of the Jang slowly take trol of the entire warehouse, methodically sweeping through the Maroni family’s thugs inside.

  "Dammit! Why does someone like you eve in Gotham?!"

  Wells's heart was filled with fear towards the Joker.

  Because he realized, this Joker didn’t even know what fear was. All that was inside him was madness. He didn’t care about the sequences of his as, only that he wa chaos to this city.

  If he found it amusing, perhaps tonight, Sal Maroni, the head of the Maroni family, would be repced.

  A person like this, with his exceptional abilities, was far more terrifying than all the crime families in Gotham.

  "It seems like you've e to your senses."

  Reid slowly crouched down, using some cheap paint he had acquired to smear it across Wells' face, drawing the Joker's signature smile on him.

  "Look at your crimes. There's no fun in them, it's just gunfire and explosions. Why 't you just ugh a little?"

  The smell of the cheap paint made Wells instinctively feel uneasy, but he soon realized that his disfort wasn’t just from the smell.

  His skin began to swell and turn red, itg horribly.

  "Oh! I almost fot to mention it.” Reid tinued. "You probably fot too, but you're severely allergic to paint, the kind that kill you."

  As he spoke, Reid forced open Wells' mouth and poured a bottle of cheap paint directly into it. He held Wells' jaw down, f him to swallow the paint.

  "Ah!!!"

  Swallowing the paint, Wells lost the ability to speak. His eyes bloodshot, he could feel his life slipping away.

  The cheap paint was toxic to begin with, and with his allergy, there was nothing he could do except curse the Joker to die without a grave before he succumbed to death himself.

  "Everyone, are you ready?"

  At this moment, Reid raised his arm and shouted.

  The members of the Jang around him immediately rushed toward the mountains of cash, stuffing as much as they could into their clothes and pants.

  Their boss, the Joker, had already said that they had the ability to under money, and how much they could get from this operation depended on how much they could carry.

  "Long live the Joker!!"

  These men, driven by greed and the lure of wealth, charged into the mountain of cash, pletely oblivious to the fact that Reid had quietly pulled out a Molotov cocktail and thrown it on top of the pile of money.

  Fire, alcohol, and Reid's special fireworks.

  In an instant, fmes spread throughout every er of the warehouse.

  And those Jang members, trolled by greed, didn’t hesitate even as their bodies were set on fire. They kept scrambling to seize the cash, uerred by the fmes.

  "Put out the fire! Put out the fire!"

  "We 't put it out!"

  "Then grab as much as you !"

  "Help! I'm on fire!"

  "Get away! Don’t block me! I still grab more money!!!"

  The members of the Jang, who hadn't died in the gunfight with the Maroni family, ended up perishing due to their own greed. Their deaths, and the fmes, once again illustrated the Joker's mado all of Gotham.

  As the warehouse was pletely engulfed in fmes, a giant firework shot up into the sky.

  In the dark night of Gotham, it illumihe Joker's signature smile.

  Everyone in Gotham could see the Joker smiling above the city.

  **

  **

  **

  Thank you for reading! If you'd like access to extra chapters and want to support my work, you visit my P@treon:

  P@treon/SilverShark769

  Your support means a lot, thank you!