After killing Earle, Reid turned his head to look at Edward. Although trembling with fear, Edward desperately covered his mouth, trying his best not to make a sound.

  The moment Reid's gaze shifted toward him, Edward could no longer hold it in.

  "Please, I beg you!!"

  Edward fell to his knees, wailing untrolbly as he pleaded desperately.

  "Please spare me! I won't say a word! I'll keep my mouth shut and live quietly as an ordinary person. I promise I won't get in your way!"

  Edward's plea wasn't just a rea to being ered; it was a calcuted move based on what he currently knew.

  Alfred was the Joker. The Joker was Alfred.

  Edward believed Alfred couldn't have been a lunatic hiding his true self for decades. The Joker's identity must have emerged as a respoo the current situation. Deep down, Alfred must still be the kind and loyal butler he onew.

  If Edward could show that he was harmless and swear not to interfere with Alfred's pns, there was a good ce he, a mere nobody, would be spared.

  This judgment wasn't made lightly. In the brief moments before Reid turned his attention to him, Edward had pieced together everything he knew about the Jang.

  Edward had noticed that the Jang's attacks were primarily targeted at ang members. While there had been civilian casualties, those were merely actal. The gang had never iionally aimed at ordinary people.

  Because of this, Edward was vihat Alfred must still possess a trace of kindness. As long as he begged for his life, there was a ce he might be spared.

  If Reid had known what was going through Edward's mind, he would have undoubtedly nodded in agreement.

  Edward's reasoning wasirely wrong—Reid could kill ao achieve his goals, but he wouldn't bother harming those irrelevant to his pns. To him, it was simply pointless.

  If the person standing before Edward was Alfred who had turned dark solely to maintain Wayerprises, then perhaps Edward's pleas might have worked.

  But unfortunately, this wasn't a darkened Alfred. This was Reid—someone who juggled both identities seamlessly.

  The moment Reid knew Edward would one day bee the Riddler, there was no reason to let him live.

  As for the reason, would Reid tell Edward that in his previous life, he had pyed a certain game and endured hours of frustration solving riddles with the Riddler just to achieve a perfect pythrough?

  Not to mention, pared to Solomon Grundy or Killer Croc, the Riddler wasn't particurly useful.

  Sure, he was intelligent, but his crimes always seemed to leave behind clues that could be traced ba.

  To Reid, not only was the Riddler useless, but he also had the potential to create unnecessary trouble.

  "I'm sorry, Edward. Let me tell you o thing."

  Reid hadn't hesitated as he listeo Edward's pleas. He was merely deg how he should kill him.

  Having e to a decision, Reid pressed the barrel of his gun against Edward's forehead, preparing to hahe situation in the simplest ossible.

  "That is... the Riddler o get out of Gotham!"

  Bang!!

  With the sound of a gunshot, Reid had successfully removed the Riddler from Gotham, ridding the city of this toxic presence. A cause for celebration, indeed!

  ......

  As the sun rose and Christmas Eve passed, the try was ushered into a more signifit holiday—Christmas Day.

  However, on such a joyful day, Gordon found himself irritated by everyone. He wao sp anyone he looked at.

  Just yesterday, his wife had been brutally killed by the Joker. Today, before he could even process his grief, he received another report: the Joker had attacked William Earle's mansion, killing Earle and his sultant, Edward Nygma.

  "Just as I thought, it was the Joker."

  Gordon held yet another pying card in his hand—evidence of the Joker's involvement. At the same time, the atta Earle made Gordon even more suspicious that Alfred was the one pulling the strings behind the Jang.

  As aive at Wayerprises, many had flicts with Earle. But at this moment, the only person who could have directly killed Earle was Alfred.

  With that thought in mind, Gordon waved his hand, calling his subordinates over.

  "I had you iigate Alfred's financial transas. What's the result?"

  "We've got results, Captain Gordon."

  Alfred wasn't an important figure in Gotham now, so there had been ao the iigation.

  The subordinate immediately reported.

  "Acc to the iigation, Alfred's spending has indeed increased retly, but it's all for the basic maintenance of Wayne Manor. Captain, you know he Wayne Manor is, and with the entire Wayne family go's just Alfred left. The expenses are siderable."

  "We haven't been able to determily how much money Alfred has, but all the spending we've tracked seems to be legitimate purchases. There's nothing out of the ordinary."

  "Is that so?"

  Gordon furrowed his brow. Had he made a mistake in his guess?

  He had specifically instructed his subordio focus on the period before the Joker's appearance, and the time before the Jang and the Maroni family decided the victor.

  Logically, during this time, the Jang had been recruiting heavily and had no sustainable sources of ine. If Alfred were the one funding the Jang, he would be providing them with money. But so far, the data didn't show any e to the Jang.

  'Did I really guess wrong?'

  Gordon shook his head, unwilling to give up on his theory.

  "What about Alfred? Where is he now?"

  "Report, Captain. Half an ho, Alfred left fotham Airport. It seems he was invited by the Stark family from New York City to attend the funeral of Howard Stark's wife, Maria Stark."

  "Is he flying for something like this?"

  Gotham and New York are very close to each other, both coastal cities with ports. Flying seems a bit excessive for such a short distance.

  Gordon began to suspect that Alfred was using such a vish method to secretly transfer some untraceable funds to the Jang.

  However, his subordinate quickly dispelled that suspi.

  "It's not that Alfred is flying, Captain. The Stark family sent their private po pick him up. You should have heard that not long ago, Alfred left Gotham to take care of some family matters and on his way back, he saved the critically injured Howard Stark."

  "I see, then never mind."

  Upon hearing this, Gordon immediately waved his hand, signaling that there was o tinue.

  He thought he had finally found a clue that Alfred was ected to the Joker, but it turned out to be just the Stark family being rich.

  Well, that's fine. In this try, everyone knows that the Stark family might not have much else, but they have plenty of money.

  **

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