Chapter 67: The First Side Quest to Appear

"Man, my dear friend, you've really put on some weight lately."

Gotham City, with light snow falling on Christmas Eve.

Two men in black suits muttered under their breath as they laboriously hoisted a heavy object, staggering toward a blue car with what appeared to be great effort.

"Thud."

The heavy object was shoved into the open trunk of the car, and the two men let out a simultaneous sigh of relief. One of them chuckled, "This way, it'll sink a lot faster."

Inside the trunk, the stiff corpse of a man in a suit wearing a mustache still bore that manic smile on its face, as if he had literally laughed himself to death.

Laugh himself to death—he literally had.

One of the corpse-bearers rubbed his hands together, pulled a cigarette from his jacket, and lit it.

"Thud!"

A bat crashed heavily to the ground, and the car trunk slammed shut with a violent snap. The two men, whose moods had been relatively relaxed, were instantly frightened out of their wits, their mouths wide open as they prepared to scream—

Yet Batman's fists were already hurtling toward them.

...

"Curly? Angel?"

"Where the hell did you two idiots run off to?"

Maroni, a cigarette dangling from his lips, kicked open the restaurant's back door with a heavy crash. He was in a foul temper today; as the head of Gotham City's second-largest crime family, having a gun pointed at his head and being interrogated had left him profoundly displeased.

And now, the two idiots he had ordered to dispose of a body were dragging their feet. A full ten minutes had passed, and those two fellows were still nowhere to be seen, having failed to return and report back.

Maroni walked out with an enraged expression, and the first thing he saw was the blue car parked by the door, causing his face to change instantly.

This car should have been sunk into the harbor along with the body, but it hadn't even been driven away yet.

Meanwhile, his two subordinates, who should have been carrying out his orders, were both sprawled out unconscious in the snow right beside the car's trunk.

Who killed them—no, their chests were still rising and falling; they weren't dead.

At that very moment, the restaurant's back door was violently slammed shut from behind.

"Maroni."

The moment he heard that voice, Maroni's pupils contracted sharply. His entire body froze in place for half a second before he managed to react.

"Damn it, I've had enough..."

He immediately thrust his hand inside his jacket to draw his gun. The next second, predictably, his wrist was seized by that dark, imposing figure. A grip of iron-clamp strength descended, and with a gentle twist, the revolver Maroni had just drawn clattered to the floor.

"For an intelligent man, that was not a wise move. What happened here tonight?"

Veins bulged on Maroni's wrist as it was squeezed. Barely enduring the intense pain, he immediately answered, "There was a guy—calls himself 'The Joker'—he came looking for the Holiday Killer."

"Why?" Batman asked coldly, pushing his hand aside. "What does he have to do with the Holiday Killer?"

"Am I supposed to know? He's a lunatic! Just like you!" Maroni clutched his nearly crushed right hand with bitter hatred, gritting his teeth as he growled, "Ever since you got here, this whole damn city has been overrun by lunatics!"

"Lunatics! Lunatics, lunatics..."

In the pale snow, only Maroni remained, slumped on the ground clutching his arm and muttering to himself, while the creature of the night had already vanished without a trace.

...

"Can I... open my eyes now?"

Gilda asked somewhat cautiously, fine snowflakes drifting onto her red winter coat, her golden hair, and her iron wheelchair.

"Of course." The man's voice sounded by her ear, and the blindfold tied across her face was gently removed.

"Merry Christmas, Gilda."

Amidst the falling snow, a beautiful house decorated with golden string lights, emerald wreaths, vibrant red ribbons, and silver-white snow caps suddenly appeared before her eyes.

"Wow!"

Overwhelmed with joy, Gilda could no longer contain her happiness. Like a swallow in flight, she threw herself straight into Harvey's arms, embracing him tightly.

"Whoa, easy there, my love. The doctors wanted you to take it easy; you really shouldn't be out of your wheelchair."

"Doctors, what do they know?" Gilda tilted her head up with a soft huff, then looked toward the house. "Our home—it's all fixed up. Harvey, the reconstruction must have cost a fortune."

"We can still afford it, more or less," Harvey chuckled. "It's not like we're buying a brand-new cottage. Don't worry, my love, I'll just work a little harder."

Nestled in her husband's embrace, Gilda suddenly felt her body grow light, prompting a startled gasp: "Harvey!"

Scooping her up directly into a bridal carry, Harvey grinned broadly and stepped across the threshold into their home.

"Welcome home, Mrs. Dent."

Their eyes met, and the atmosphere instantly grew sweet. Gilda pressed her cheek gently against Harvey's rough, stubbly chin and whispered softly, "Do you think—if we start over in this renovated home—maybe we could try having a child again?"

"A second try?" Harvey lowered his head, bringing his lips close to Gilda's face. "Let's see..."

The two kissed, and naturally proceeded to head upstairs, enter the bedroom, and shut the door.

Perhaps, before long, a new little life would be added to the Dent family.

Yet Mr. Dent had no idea that two people had once broken into his home.

...

Maroni was currently staring blankly at the system interface.

Not long ago, holding the crystal ball model, he had headed straight out onto the street following his usual task routine, except that before leaving, he had taken out his cell phone and laptop and disabled the signal blockers on them.

Driving along the system's guided route for ten full minutes, the further he went, the more Maroni felt something was amiss. This task location... seemed, potentially, perhaps not quite right?

So he immediately pulled up the map and re-confirmed the destination for this delivery—it was right in the Diamond District, inside the Roman's private apartment.

"No, bro..." Maroni was on the verge of breaking down. "Are you for real? The person they're trying to kill this time is tied to the Falcone family! Do you have the nerve to tell me there's nothing wrong with this mission? Do you have any idea how many armed bodyguards are inside the Roman's apartment?"

However, the system remained silent, doggedly pointing toward the destination.

"Listen to me, placing a drop-off location in a place like this is way beyond my fragile little frame to handle. Sure, everyone in the Falcone family deserves to die, but I'm supposed to be a five-star model citizen, aren't I?"

"Can we please change the delivery location? At least put it somewhere far away from Falcone?"

To his utter surprise, just as Maroni was ranting, the system actually popped up a second prompt.

"Optional Side Quest 2 available for this odd job—Base difficulty evaluated as medium, upper limit unknown; base crystal ball reward remains unchanged, with an additional second base reward: the friendship of 'Harvey Dent'; secondary reward: 'Intermediate Physical Enhancement', valued at ten million asset points; special reward: unlocks the checkpoint-forward feature."

"Mission Destination: Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent's home"

"Mission Objective: Face a supervillain head-on and survive"

"Note: This mission involves the origin story of the supervillain 'Two-Face'; please choose carefully."