"However, the legitimate wife had a miscarriage, and her health was originally poor, the recovery process was very slow, and the sudden shock was overwhelming. Old Spencer had just sent out the invitations, and she was rushed into the emergency room."
"Despite the emergency room's all-night efforts, they couldn't save her. It was then that the mob boss remembered to sympathize with his wife, accusing the Spencer family of injustice. Before long the situation had escalated to the Godfather himself..."
"What happened next?" Red Hood listened intently. He had never imagined that the mob had such stories, thinking most of their tales consisted of blood and gunfire.
"I'm not sure how the Godfather intervened, but eventually, everything calmed down again. But the eldest daughter of the Spencer family has had a major fallout with her father, and the eldest son has returned from abroad. The struggle for the inheritance is still very much alive."
Jason only reiterated the facts, but Red hood heard much more from it. He instinctively felt that it was not just a family dispute, but there was a plot behind it.
Through this story, he was able to understand some of the order within the mob structure, which made him have to admire the Godfather.
The mobs of Gotham were not beasts arbitrarily exercising their power. They all wore a collar and were led by a leash. Yet, all of this was shaded under the guise of rules and etiquette, adhering to them became a kind of honor.
This distinguished the mobs of Gotham from those in other parts of the world. They had complex codes, even subtly replacing the societal role of law.
This was almost like rewriting a code of laws. The depth of these waters can only be perceived once you reach in to touch the surface.
As they chatted, the two of them finally reached the end of the street. Jason looked left and right at the intersection, and Red Hood asked him: "Do you have a target? Where do you plan to find Savage?"
"Of course, you need to know, an outsider can't hide in Gotham for long. After all, everyone here is the mob's eyes. If he hasn't been noticed and reported as a suspect, it means he is staying somewhere with few or no mob members."
Red Hood paused for a moment, then said: "Sokolov's Grand Hotel?"
Jason widened his eyes briefly before squinting at Red Hood: "So, you're of the silver spoon lineage, even knowing such places."
Red Hood remained silent, and Jason did not ask further. He continued: "Yes, Sokolov's Grand Hotel in downtown Gotham was established by various wealthy businessmen who lived here. They weren't born in Gotham and disliked the mob's interference, so they gathered funds to build an extravagantly luxurious hotel, rivalling the grandeur of Wayne Hotel."
"The hotel's waitstaff were all imported from abroad by these wealthy men and occasionally rotated with staff from other cities. They wouldn't have too many affairs with the mob, and the residents didn't need to provide driving licenses either. The exorbitant room rate already filtered out those attempting to stir troubles."
As Jason walked onward, he commented "Although Sokolov's Grand Hotel doesn't match Wayne Hotel's luxurious hardware, its rates are three times higher. Let's just say, those visiting are naive foreigners from out of town. They believe staying here would protect them from the insecurity of Gotham, but I can only say, they're too naive."
"Why would you say that?" Red Hood asked.
Jason sighed and answered: "They want to keep this place isolated from the violent mob, but why don't they think that as long as this building is within Gotham, they will inevitably have to deal with Gothamites."
"First, people living inside the hotel have to eat, right? Suppose they pay a hefty amount to airlift food directly from other cities and have helicopters land on the rooftops. But after eating, there'll be tons of kitchen waste, and waste generated by guests and staff. Will they send it back to other cities by taking the same helicopter?"
The Red Hood's expression was hidden beneath the mask, so nobody could see his amazed eyes. Just being able to figure out the location of Sokolov's Grand Hotel defeated 99% of the people in Gotham. And to find the weakness of Sokolov's Grand Hotel in a very short time, he could already be called a strategic genius.
Sokolov's Grand Hotel was originally created by a bunch of wealthy businessmen who wanted to do business in Gotham but were worried about the local security. Because of their business, they had to interact with this city, but at the same time, they despised the chaotic environment here and wanted to escape from it all, creating a safe place for themselves.
So, they came together and created Sokolov's Grand Hotel, boasting it as a "land cruise ship," having no interactions with anything else. This definitely attracted quite a number of wealthy people who wanted to do business in Gotham but were worried about their safety.
The cost of staying in the hotel was extremely expensive, so much so that it reached an outrageous price. This screened out most of those who wanted to fish in troubled waters.
The mob had no interest in spending so much money to live with these rich people. After all, although luxurious, Sokolov's Grand Hotel couldn't compare to Wayne Hotel. If they wanted to enjoy themselves, why not just go to the local Wayne Hotel?
But just like Jason said, "land cruise ship" was just a gimmick. While a real cruise ship could dump waste into the sea, a hotel building ultimately had to dispose of its garbage somewhere. It couldn't just throw away rubbish anywhere, and the hotel had to interact with the outside world when transporting waste.
Perhaps this strategy sounds dirty, but it's actually not. To transport things from inside the hotel to the outside, you will inevitably have to interact with many other links.
If the hotel dispatches its own cars and drivers, when those cars are on the road, they're surrounded by mob drivers. The trash dump is Gotham's garbage dump, surrounded by Gothamites. When paying the garbage disposal fee, you're dealing with Gotham's city government, still Gothamites.
The grand hotel was actually a ruse by the hotel owner to trick outsiders. It claimed to have no dealings with Gotham, but in fact, the interactions were far more than just that.
"When I was working the night shift before, I used to see their transport vehicles on the road. It's about this time they send some kitchen waste to the garbage incinerator, then return to the hotel."
Jason was peeking around a corner, he continued, "We can get into their vehicle on the return trip, then sneak in. Once we confirm that freak is indeed inside, we don't need to do anything to him, just rush back to report it."
At this point, Red Hood asked another question, "If you can figure out he's here, those who are looking for him must be able to figure it out too. Then why does he broadcast the citywide warrant for him? Isn't it more efficient to just catch him here directly?"
Jason rolled his eyes, "Who told you it's a citywide manhunt? If the Godfather really ordered a citywide manhunt, all of Gotham wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. You'd see the streets all lit up, not going out for the entire night, everyone coming out to search, turning over every corner."
"So now it is..."
"The information was only given to the kids, the mob boss specifically emphasised to the kids that they could have a face-to-face with the Falcone Family, meaning this freak wants to slap our face, so we must slap his face in return."
"Have a kid find him, then send someone to capture him and bring him to the manor, let this kid confront him face-to-face, is there a more outrageous humiliation than this?"
Jason was peeking out from a corner, completely unaware that the strange man wearing a hood was staring at him intently.
And beneath the Red Hood's deeply set eye sockets were a pair of deep blue eyes.