After leaving the police station, Reid did not immediately return to Wayne Manor.
It was inevitable that Gordon would suspect a connection between him and the Joker's gang. The actions of the Joker and the formation of the gang were essentially Reid's strategy to deal with the upper echelons of Wayne Enterprises, using them as a means to control Gotham City.
Even though Gordon didn't realize it now, over time, the Joker's gang's steady actions to stabilize Wayne Enterprises would eventually draw his suspicion.
During the long Halloween story, Gordon even had the audacity to storm into the Wayne family cemetery, dragging Bruce Wayne into jail. His suspicions about a connection between himself and the Joker were not entirely unfathomable.
However, suspicions aside, tonight's story was far from over.
Reid had indeed been delayed at the police station, but he had other allies. Tonight, the destabilizing factors within Wayne Enterprises would certainly be dealt with.
...
Inside Earle's villa, 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 come near me, go guard the villa, and don't let anyone in!"
The bodyguards naturally didn't dare disobey their employer's orders. Since they weren't needed to follow him, they simply carried out their task as instructed.
The bodyguards then spread out across the villa, each armed with the latest individual weaponry developed by Wayne Enterprises.
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 vigilantly 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 connection 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 mention the future Riddler.
"Mr. Earle, it's very likely that everything was planned 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 connection 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 subordinate through special training. No matter how capable Alfred was, it was impossible for him to create a follower as unpredictable and insane as the Joker.
However, Edward presented 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 knew that madness and high intelligence were just part of the Joker's abilities. When it came to hand-to-hand combat, even the gangsters with their specially trained, muscular enforcers were no match for the Joker.
"Mr. Earle, is it really so unbelievable that a 70-year-old could maintain excellent physical condition? After all, this world gave birth to Captain America."
Upon hearing Edward's words, Earle fell silent.
If Reid had been present, he too would have been shocked. He never expected Edward to use a Marvel character to convince someone from the DC universe.
The system had indeed merged Gotham and the Marvel world thoroughly.
"You have a point." Earle finally said. "We need to 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 documents from his jacket and placed them on the table.
"Whether or not Alfred is connected to the Joker's gang is no longer important. What matters now is that he invited me out for dinner to discuss matters, but the Joker attacked me with a clear target."
"As long as this news gets out, and Alfred is under investigation, 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 plan is efficient, with almost no chance of failure." Nodding his head slightly, Edward stated his agreement.
He himself also believed there was nothing wrong with the plan. 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 villa drew their attention, making them alert.
Edward quietly moved toward the window and looked outside.
To his surprise, a large group of Joker gang members had already surrounded the villa and had begun charging in.
"Open fire!!"
The bodyguards, of course, showed no mercy. The illegal intrusion of their employer's property gave them the right to shoot, especially since they were facing the notorious, trouble-causing members of the Joker gang.
The sound of gunfire immediately echoed throughout the entire villa area, but strangely, the security of the area showed no response. They allowed the bodyguards of Earle's to engage in a fight with the members of the Joker gang.
The gang members threw gas canisters containing laughing gas toward the villa, and the bodyguards quickly pulled out their gas masks to block the deadly fumes.
Since the Joker's appearance and the widespread use of laughing gas, everyone important in Gotham had equipped their bodyguards with this essential gear.
With the gas masks designed to counter the laughing gas and the weapons provided by Wayne Enterprises, the bodyguards, despite being outnumbered, were still able to resist the Joker gang's attack. This allowed Earle inside the villa to breathe a slight sigh of relief.
"Come on, we still—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the situation took a turn for the worse. Solomon Grundy, the monstrous creature who had existed in Gotham's sewers for over a century, charged forward like a bulldozer.
Bullets hit his body, causing blood to spill, but they couldn't inflict any significant damage.
In this way, the bodyguards could only watch helplessly as Solomon crashed into the villa, tearing apart their defenses.
"Mr. Earle, we need to escape!"
Edward knew that with Solomon now in the fight, the ordinary bodyguards would be of no use. They had to leave immediately.
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