I, V, Gotham Legend

...

With the sound of sudden brakes and a cloud of dust, Valerie stopped the car in front of the Middleman Bar.

The door of the Excalibur opened automatically, and Valerie got out of the car with a frosty face.

It was night time, but the shutters of the bar were still closed. However, Valerie forced herself to relax, after all, there were gang fights everywhere in Gotham.

She squatted in front of the bar and pulled up the rolling door with force. The light from the street lamps poured into the dark bar.

Valerie's hope was shattered. The tables and chairs in the bar were scattered all over the place, and the ground was littered with the bodies of the waiters. It was obvious that a fight had taken place.

The blood blended together like a red carpet.

NO32. You dare not kill me

In a small villa in the western suburbs of Gotham, the famous "Roman" Carme Falcone was sitting on a fishing stool in front of the fireplace, warming himself by the fire.

Falcone is almost sixty years old and has ruled Gotham for nearly forty years. Even though he has been threatened by emerging gangs such as the Penguin in recent years, no one still questions his position in Gotham.

Now, all those who had come close to competing with him have fallen, and only the Roman empire remains standing.

Falconet stared at the fireplace, the firelight making his silver hair look red.

The so-called gang war in downtown Gotham is intensifying, and in just one afternoon it has dealt a huge blow to Roman's criminal empire.

Falcone did not take some emerging gangs seriously, but he was extremely wary of the behemoth hidden behind the chaos.

He could only hide in this small villa far away from the city and try to handle everything remotely.

"Crackling..." The sound of firewood cracking was heard. Falcone enjoyed this sound very much. It was very relaxing for him, and that was why he liked to roast in the stove.

He reached for another piece of wood and threw it into the fireplace, sending up a shower of sparks and embers.

"You're the only one here now." A cool voice suddenly sounded, causing Falcone's whole body to tremble.

He turned around in surprise and saw the woman with blue hair and yellow clothes.

"I haven't received any appointment from you to see me." Falcone calmed down. He was very dissatisfied with the woman who suddenly appeared.

"You don't deserve me to make an appointment." Valerie walked behind Falcone, "Where's Marlon?"

"[Good guy] Malone? Did something happen to him?"

"Don't pretend. He disappeared on your territory, and you have been protecting him." Valerie put her hand on the back of Falcone's chair.

Valerie investigated the bar and Marlon's home. Unfortunately, she found traces of Marlon, proving that he had come back. Fortunately, she did not find the body, so Marlon might have just been kidnapped.

Marlon's bar has always been the Romans' territory and is located in a very core area. It is impossible for the Romans not to know about the kidnapping in such a place.

"Ms. V, maybe I was too nice to you, so you thought I was a good-tempered person."

Falcone looked kind, but his tone had turned cold. He didn't even bother to look at V, but just stared at the burning firewood.

"I just want to know the whereabouts of my middleman Marlon. He is very important to me." Valerie said earnestly.

"You are just a small mercenary. From the beginning, you can only be a chess piece, just like Ma Long." Falcone said in a deep tone, "He is just an insignificant pawn in my game with other chess players. He just made some achievements and thought he could become a chess player.

So I made a deal with some of the guys you couldn’t get to, and Malone was just part of the sale.”

Falconet's nickname "The Roman" comes from his coldness and ruthlessness.

"Is that so...it seems like you do know where he is." Valerie let go of the back of the chair.

"Stay away from this matter and pretend nothing happened. This is my advice to you." Falconet was roasting by the fire, looking like a superior.

"Would you like to take a pill? It will be very useful to you later." Valerie suddenly took out a pill from her pocket and shook it in front of Falconet.

Falconet looked up in surprise. He didn't understand why Valerie suddenly jumped to this point.

"Forget it, your thoughts are not important." As she said that, Valerie suddenly held down Falcone's head and forced the pill into his mouth.

Falcone didn't expect Valerie to be so rude. He banged on the table desperately, trying to call someone over.

Valerie used two fingers to force the pill down Roman's throat, and said in a cold tone: "Relax, you won't die...By the way, you are calling for help, right? You don't seem to have thought about how I got here."

Valerie pulled her fingers out, lifted Falcone's head with her left hand, dragged him to the window, and forced his head against it.

Falcone was shocked to see the dead bodies lying all over the yard. Judging from their attire, they were all his subordinates who were guarding nearby.

They didn't even draw their weapons, and it seemed that they didn't even resist. They just fell to the ground peacefully. If you didn't know better, you would have thought they were sleeping in the snow.

"It's so unlucky that all the thugs who were loyally guarding the Roman stronghold died in a gang fight - what do you think about recording this in tomorrow's report?" Valerie leaned close to Falconet's ear.

"Are you scaring me?" But after the initial shock, Roman immediately calmed down. "You don't dare to kill me. If you kill me, the order of Gotham will collapse further. Besides, death is not a threat to real gangsters."

"I know, that's why I said you can't die." Valerie pulled Falcone's face down from the window and dragged him back the way he came.

"What do you want to do?" Falcone suddenly felt uneasy.

"You like to sit by the fire, right?" Valerie's words made Falcone feel like he was falling into an ice cellar.

"No, you can't..."

Before he could finish his words, Valerie had grabbed his head from the back and stuffed his face into the fireplace.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

The fire in the fireplace, which he had just added wood to, was very strong. His face and silver hair were immediately wrapped in flames, and the extreme pain made him scream incoherently.

Valerie's hand was on the back of his head, but she seemed unfazed.

Falcone felt like his tongue and eyeballs were on fire, and he felt like he should be dead, but for some reason, he was still in pain and mentally alert, and he couldn't even faint.

The sound of wood cracking rang next to his ears. This sound, which should have made him feel relaxed, was now more terrifying than the devil's call for his life.

Quickly, but for Falcone long, his head was finally pulled out.

"You know what? You said one thing wrong." Valerie brought Falcone's charred face in front of her. He was not dead yet. Valerie's medicine was very effective.

"You've never been a big shot. In my eyes, you're no different from a street thug. You just have a few more people under your control and are a little older, so everyone treats you like a god. But like I said, you're nothing."

Valerie leaned close to Falcone's ear and spoke in a cold, contemptuous tone.

"If I wanted to, I could crush you like a bug at any time. The reason why you can still sit here and pretend to be awesome in front of those hooligans who are afraid of you is the same reason why I don't take the initiative to crush bugs, because doing so makes me feel disgusted."

Valerie has always considered herself a normal person. She is happy to participate in social life and abide by the rules that everyone follows.

But now, these blind bastards forced her to overturn the table with her own hands.

"Ah...crazy...crazy! You crazy!"

It seems that Valerie's medicine was very effective, and the Roman's ripe tongue has healed.

The dignity of the King of Gotham was shattered.

Valerie should have taken the opportunity to force Malone to reveal his whereabouts.

But she is in a bad mood now.

"The drug will take some time to take effect."

As she said this, she stuffed Falcone's head into the fireplace again.

NO33. Owl Court

"The Court of Owls! The people who arrested Malone! They call themselves the Court of Owls! That's all I know!"

When Falcone was brought out for the third time, his shouting sounded like a scream.

"I'm not asking you a question right now." Even as she said that, Valerie threw him to the ground.

Falcone's whole body was convulsing, and he obviously had not yet recovered from the terrible experience he had just had.

Valerie squatted beside him, put her small hand on his charred face and wiped it vigorously.

The carbon ash and burnt skin on Falconet's face were wiped away, revealing the fragrant flesh underneath.

The flesh is being pushed away by new cells at a speed visible to the naked eye. After it has grown back, it can be torn off and you will have a clean old face again.

The cheats derived from the game are so unreasonable.

Having said that, looking at the Roman's face that was roasted beyond recognition, Valerie still felt a little sick. She really couldn't understand how someone like the Joker could find happiness in abusing others.

"Now tell me what the Court of Owls is and how you made your deal with them." Valerie's voice was gentle and she sounded as if she had calmed down, but the Romans didn't dare to act tough with her anymore.

Falcone said carefully: "The Court of Owls... I once thought it didn't exist..."

Ballads about the Court of Owls existed in colonial North America long before the United States, or even the city of Gotham, was created.

No one knows who they are. They hide in the deepest part of Gotham and secretly control everything in Gotham.

They meet in darkness, using the nocturnal owl as their symbol, and they eliminate anyone who tries to defy the will of the court.

Falconet originally thought it was just a simple legend. In his forty years of dominating Gotham, he had never seen a so-called court.

Until that day, the court came before him personally.

Falcone was locked in a birdcage like a pigeon, hung in a dark room, and surrounded by a group of people wearing white masks and gorgeous dresses.

He didn't even know how he was put in this cage.

As the recognized king of Gotham's mafia, Falcone had no dignity in the Court of Owls, and this was just a simple beating.

Roman thought he was the biggest player on the chessboard of Gotham, but it was from this time that he realized that he was just one of the chess pieces.

It was after that day that he realized that he was able to sit firmly on the throne of King of Gotham only because the court allowed him to sit there.

But Falcone was not going to let himself be manipulated. He decided...

"I don't care what you think. You are not important at all." Valerie suddenly interrupted Roman's long speech, "Let's get to the point. Why did the Court of Owls target Malone?"

"Marlon discovered the court, I don't know how he found it..." Falcone was cooperative.

As Falconet said before, he protected Malone as a chess piece under his command, but this chess piece personally found the chess player hiding in the deepest part.

The chess piece wanted to overturn the table and change the rules set by the chess player, which angered the Court of Owls, and they ordered Falcone to hand over Marlon.

But Falcone didn't understand the court at the time. He wanted to get back at the court, so he resolutely rejected the request of the Court of Owls.

Then, a gang war broke out.

These people had no advance plans, they even thought that the simultaneous battles were just a coincidence. The only one who could see the big hand that pushed the chess piece was Falconer.

On the surface, the gang war is devouring the bodies of Penguin and Black Mask, but in reality, this is the court demonstrating against Falcone.

They can always support a new [Roman].

Falcone did not intend to give up completely, but he still realized that he should make a concession. Just like sacrificing the pawn to save the king, he gave up Malone.

"I don't know how they did it. I just left Malone's keys and whereabouts at the location they designated, and asked my men to temporarily give up patrolling the bar." Falcone said without reservation. He now felt that the madman in front of him was more terrifying than the court.

"Then tell me, where will he be taken?" Valerie stroked his charred face.

"I... I don't..." Falconet wanted to struggle one last time, but then he heard the crackling sound of firewood being burned in the fireplace.

The voice frightened him so much that his whole body trembled, and he didn't care about offending the court: "I have investigated! I was taken to the Tower of Miracles! They may not be there now, but there may be clues about them there!"

"Really..." Valerie's hand suddenly grabbed Falconet's chin.

"Ms. V... I told you everything! This is really all I know!" Just as V said, Falcone is now no different from an ordinary gangster.

Valerie did not speak. She tore off Falcone's face with force, and the charred and cooked meat with pus were peeled off. The pain and fear made the Roman scream further.

The drug was very effective, and the Roman was almost fully recovered. His wrinkled skin now even looked whiter and tenderer.

Falcone's tearful face was exposed to the sunlight again, but he didn't dare to open his eyes.

"This thing is like a mask now." Valerie threw the charcoal on Falcone. "Keep it well. It will remind you of the consequences of angering me."

Falcone finally opened his eyes, and Valerie's delicate face came into view, but it was more terrifying than a devil.

He suddenly figured something out.

"I... I have deeply understood... that there will be no good end to making an enemy of the court..." Falcone actually spoke out his true feelings.

"What did you suddenly say?" Valerie was surprised that this guy had the courage to say such a thing.

"Even you were sent by the court to punish me... I understand... I completely understand..." He kept muttering as if he had gone mad, "The court is punishing me for overestimating my own abilities, so they brought you here..."

"That's enough." In order to make him look at her, Valerie held down Falcone's bald head - the treatment medicine couldn't save his hair. "Are you scared?"

"No! This is all the work of the court! They are the Owls! They are secretly controlling Gotham! You don't even realize you are being used!" Falcone was going crazy, he screamed.