After leaving the police station, Reid did not immediately return to Wayne Manor.

  It was iable that Gordon would suspect a e between him and the Jang. The as of the Joker and the formation of the gang were essentially Reid's strategy to deal with the upper echelons of Wayerprises, using them as a means to trol Gotham City.

  Although Gordon didn't realize it yet, over time, the Jang's steady as to stabilize Wayerprises would eventually draw his suspi.

  During the long Halloween stordon even had the audacity to storm into the Wayne family cemetery, dragging Bruce Wayo jail. His suspis about a e between himself and the Joker were irely unfathomable.

  However, suspis aside, tonight's story was far from over.

  Reid had indeed been deyed at the police station, but he had other allies. Tonight, the destabilizing factors within Wayne Enterprises would certainly be dealt with.

  ……

  Inside Earle's vil, he and Edward rushed in, panting heavily. Even as bodyguards approached, Earle refused to let them get close to him.

  "Get out of here! All of you, get away from me! Don't e near me, go guard the vil, and don't let anyone in!"

  The bodyguards naturally didn’t dare disobey their employer’s orders. Sihey weren’t o follow him, they simply carried out their task as instructed.

  The bodyguards then spread out across the vil, each armed with the test individual onry developed by Wayerprises.

  Thanks to Earle’s power within Wayne Enterprises, providing his bodyguards with such gear was not difficult at all.

  Peering through the window, seeing the bodyguards vigintly patrolling, Earle finally breathed a sigh of relief.

  "Damned Joker, why is he targeting me? Does he know I’m meeting with Alfred today?"

  Up until this moment, Earle still hadn't realized the possible e between Alfred and the Joker.

  However, what Earle didn’t realize, the clever people around him had already figured out.

  Even Gordon had suspected that Alfred could very well be the Joker, not to mentioure Riddler.

  "Mr. Earle, it's very likely that everything nned by Alfred. The Joker could very well be someone he sent."

  "Alfred?"

  Earle frowned and shook his head at the mention of Alfred.

  "I don't believe someone like Alfred could have any e to a lunatic like the Joker. The Joker is the kind of crazy person who doesn’t seem like someone you could deliberately groom as a subordinate." Earle's statement did make sense.

  The Joker's chaotic madness wasn't something that could be cultivated in a subordihrough special training. No matter hoable Alfred was, it was impossible for him to create a follower as uable and insane as the Joker.

  However, Edresented another possibility.

  "What if Alfred is the Joker?"

  "What did you say?"

  At this, Earle was even more shocked.

  "How could that be?! Do you know how old Alfred is? Although he was an excellent agent for the British MI6 during World War II! No matter how impressive he was in the past, there's no way he could still possess the kind of skills the Joker has!"

  The whole of Gotham khat madness and high intelligence were just part of the Joker's abilities. When it came to hand-to-hand bat, even the gangsters with their specially trained, muscur enforcers were no match for the Joker.

  "Mr. Earle, is it really so unbelievable that a 70-year-old could maintain excellent physical dition? After all, this world gave birth to Captain America."

  Upon hearing Edward's words, Earle fell silent.

  If Reid had bee, he too would have been shocked. He never expected Edward to use a Marvel character to vineone from the Diverse.

  The system had indeed merged Gotham and the Marvel world thhly.

  "You have a point." Earle finally said. "We o be prepared, and also..."

  Earle was eventually persuaded by Edward, not because of the argument’s persuasive power, but because it triggered a thought in him—an opportunity he could use.

  Carefully, Earle took out the Wayne family’s shareholding dots from his jacket and pced them oable.

  "Whether or not Alfred is ected to the Jang is no longer important. What matters now is that he invited me out for dio discuss matters, but the Joker attacked me with a clear target."

  "As long as this news gets out, and Alfred is under iigation, the Wayne family’s shares will naturally be unprotected. With just a little time, once I’ve finished my business, a mere butler won’t be able to do anything."

  "Mr. Earle’s pn is effit, with almost no ce of failure." Nodding his head slightly, Edward stated his agreement.

  He himself also believed there was nothing wrong with the pn. Once Alfred’s reputation was ruined, he would no longer be able to protect the Wayne family's shares.

  Yet, for some reason, Edward still felt uneasy, as though some dangerous force was drawing closer.

  "Who are you?! This is private property, leave immediately!"

  Suddenly, the sound of the bodyguards outside the vil drew their attention, making them alert.

  Edward quietly moved toward the window and looked outside.

  To his surprise, a rge group of Jang members had already surrouhe vil and had begun charging in.

  "Open fire!!"

  The bodyguards, of course, showed no mercy. The illegal intrusion of their employer’s prave them the right to shoot, especially sihey were fag the notorious, trouble-causing members of the Jang.

  The sound of gunfire immediately echoed throughout the entire vil area, but strangely, the security of the area showed no respohey allowed the bodyguards of Earle’s to engage in a fight with the members of the Jang.

  The gang members threw gas isters taining ughing gas toward the vil, and the bodyguards quickly pulled out their gas masks to block the deadly fumes.

  Sihe Joker’s appearand the widespread use of ughing gas, everyone important in Gotham had equipped their bodyguards with this essential gear.

  With the gas masks desigo ter the ughing gas and the ons provided by Wayerprises, the bodyguards, despite being outnumbered, were still able to resist the Jang’s attack. This allowed Earle ihe vil to breathe a slight sigh of relief.

  "e oill—"

  Before he could finish his sentehe situation took a turn for the worse. Solomon Grundy, the monstrous creature who had existed in Gotham’s sewers for over a tury, charged forward like a bulldozer.

  Bullets hit his body, causing blood to spill, but they couldn't infliy signifit damage.

  In this way, the bodyguards could only watch helplessly as Solomon crashed into the vil, tearing apart their defenses.

  "Mr. Earle, we o escape!"

  Edward khat with Solomon now in the fight, the ordinary bodyguards would be of no use. They had to leave immediately.

  **

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