"We've lost..."

  In the office of Sal Maroni.

  The embers of the Maroni family had gathered there, and Sal Maroni, the current head of the Maroni family, lowered his head, deg the failure of their battle against the Joker.

  "Boss, please resider! Our power hasn't been signifitly dimihe Joker set fire to the warehouse, but he didn't gain anything. If we hold on, we still win..."

  "It's because the money was burned by the Joker that I've admitted defeat!!!"

  Sal Maroni yelled in frustration. He didn’t want to surrender, but he had no other choice.

  "That warehouse had nearly a hundred million dolrs in it. For us, such a loss is severe, but not unbearable. But what happehe Joker bur down. He didn’t want the money. He set it on fire and wiped out everything we held dear! This... this is madness!!!"

  Maroni shouted, and gradually, the others started to uand the gravity of the situation.

  "If the Joker wahe money, I could at least be relieved. We have the money, we could afford to outst him. But he doesn't want the money. He's just a reckless madman! We're not only fighting the Joker, but also the Fale family. Does the Maroni family really want to risk everything and perish with a lunatic like him?"

  "Although they’re temporarily caught up with Wayerprises and ’t get involved right now, if we end up both taking eabsp;other down with the Joker, will the Fale family pity us? Will they help us?!"

  No matter from what angle, going against the Jang is simply not worth it. Those lunatics are willing to die at any moment, and the Joker’s existensures that his gang will always drag them into a situation where both sides suffer.

  To abandon their current position just for the sake of the Jang—how could that be possible?

  Finally, Sal Maroni sighed deeply.

  "All the busitacked by the Joker’s gang should be handed over to them. After that, we’ll give them some of the still-profitable underground fighting arenas and os. Peace, for now. We ime to recover from our losses."

  "Uood."

  No one objected to Sal Maroni’s decision.

  They all realized the same thing: if giving up a few small businesses could help stabilize the Jang, it was a small price to pay. The real focus should be on the petition with the Fale family for trol of Gotham's rgest criminal empire, which was the Maroni family's biggest challenge.

  ……

  At Gotham City Police Department, Gordon felt a strange sense of relief after learning the details of the Jang flict with the Maroni family st night.

  From what it seemed, the Joker’s as weren’t directly reted to him. It appeared the Joker nning to use the Maroni family as a stepping stoo rise to power, and Gordon was just caught in the middle.

  As for why the Joker had spared him and not killed him with ughing gas, Gordon could only assume it was due to the Joker’s twisted way of thinking—something far from ventional.

  'Anyway, the fact that the Joker isn’t targeting me is probably the best news.' Gordon thought to himself, and for the first time, a rexed smile crossed his face. At this moment, there was a knock at his office door.

  Befordon could respond, a beautiful female officer entered, holding a stack of files. They exged a brief smile, and without saying much, the officer sat dowo Gordon after anizing the materials. She gently leaned against him.

  "James, your mood seems better." she observed.

  "Yeah..." Gordon reached out, pg a hand on her shoulder and pulling her into his embrace.

  "I haven’t fotten about our date in a few days." he said with a soft smile. "Don't worry, I will definitely arrive on time."

  The officer was her than Sarah Essen Gordon, Gordon’s sed wife.

  If there was a the Gotham Police Department who, apart from Gordon, still upheld a strong sense of justice, it was Sarah. It was because of their shared values that they had gradually grown close.

  The two shared a passionate kiss, and as their lips parted, Sarah smiled and said, "You know, Gotham's been dangerous tely. With Maroni, the Joker... so please don’t make me wait too long, Officer Gordon, the man of justice."

  "Don't worry, I'll be there on time." Gordon replied, his voice filled with reassurance.

  Sarah left, having her own work to attend to, while Gordon remained, a smile of happiness on his face as he looked forward to tomorrow.

  He still has a beautiful wife who loves him and a young daughter and son. He was determi justice to Gotham City. Whether it was criminal families like Maroni’s or madmen like the Joker, he would bring them to justice.

  ......

  December 24th was an important day. For ordinary people, it was Christmas Eve.

  Even in Gotham, there was a slight festive atmosphere that night. After all, even the gangs wao enjoy the holidays. If they didn’t have time to rex, how could they have the drive to make money?

  But for Reid, today was the day of his pn's final phase.

  He had already sent an invitation via email to Earle and his advisor, Edward Nygma, to di a restaurant owned by the Wayne family.

  The reason, of course, was that there were important matters to discuss.

  In their view, the bargaining chip that Alfred, the butler, could use to unicate with them was naturally the shares of the Wayne family that he held in his hands.

  What Reid o do tonight was ehat Earle’s death would be known across Gotham. He wanted everyoo know that Earle had died at the hands of the Joker.

  ……

  "Mr. Earle, I must remind you that Alfred's loyalty to the Wayne family is beyond question. His invitation to you must be part of some kind of scheme."

  Edward, trailing behind Earle, did his best to dissuade his boss, but his words were in vain. Earle merely gave a dismissive smile.

  "No, no, no, Edward, you’re wrong this time. Where is our diaking pce? At a restaurant owned by the Wayne family. It’s precisely because Alfred is loyal to the Wayne family that I’m certain he won’t harm me—at least not in the restaurant. He wouldn’t risk tarnishing the Wayne family’s reputation by harming someone of importahere!"

  Earle spoke with great fidence, dismissing Edward’s warnings. Without a sed thought, he pushed open the door aered the restaurant.

  Inside, he quickly spotted Alfred—or rather, Reid—sitting alo a table in the ter of the rge hall, waiting.

  "I thought you’d clear the pce out. After all, what we’re about to discuss isly a respectable matter, is it?" Earle remarked as he sat down across from Reid.

  He gnced around at the people dining—the men and women who had e out to enjoy their Christmas Eve dinner—a disfort rise within him. He didn’t like discussing important matters in subsp;an atmosphere.

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