American comics: Only I know the plot

Chapter 36 Ramirez

Li Wei stood at the bar entrance and looked around, noticing Yi's black Ford pickup truck, which looked quite nice.

"Whose black pickup truck is that outside?"

The group of underlings looked at each other, and finally all looked at the guy with the rooster-like haircut.

"Hey, why are you all looking at me... that's because..."

Finding the key on the guy didn't bother Levi at all. He started the car and sped off towards the area where Ramirez's house was located.

...

Brooklyn.

Ramirez's apartment was in an old residential building, with graffiti on the walls extending all the way to the third floor, giving it a dilapidated and chaotic feel.

Li Wei lowered his footsteps as he walked up to the third floor. Upon seeing the scene on the third floor, he immediately held his breath.

The door to Ramirez's house was ajar, and dim light shone through the crack, through which the faint sound of a woman's suppressed sobs could be heard.

Instead of pushing the door open immediately, he took out his sidearm from his pocket.

This was the gun he had asked Gordon to provide for him recently. As a Chinese, Li Wei had a certain obsession with guns.

Holding the gun in his hand, Li Wei felt his courage grow considerably.

He slowly approached the doorway and cautiously peered inside.

Through the crack in the door, Li Wei instantly saw a scene that nearly caused his heart to stop.

Ramirez knelt on the ground, his hands tied behind his back, his face covered in tears and snot, looking utterly disheveled.

Harvey Dent stood in front of her, his back to the door.

He pressed the cold coin firmly against Ramirez's forehead, and perhaps due to nervousness, Ramirez's body trembled uncontrollably.

"Let's have a verdict. If you win, you live; if you lose, you die." Harvey's voice was unusually calm, as if he were recounting a trivial matter that had nothing to do with him.

"When you took Maroney's money, did you ever imagine this day would come? When you helped him deceive Rachel, did you ever think about the serious consequences?"

"No! I just... I just need money for my daughter's medical treatment..."

Ramirez cried as he tried to explain, his voice hoarse and desperate, "Maroni forced me! He said he would kill my daughter if I didn't do as he said!"

"It's all an excuse!" Ramirez's words enraged Xavi, whose veins bulged on his hand as he pressed a coin deep into Ramirez's forehead.

"Everyone has an excuse. Watts has one, Maroney has one, even Gordon has one—he said he'd protect Gotham, but he couldn't even protect Rachel and me!"

After venting his frustration, Harvey raised his hand, and the coin flipped and flew into the air.

"Harvey, Rachel is still waiting for you at the hospital. She's alright!"

Li Wei suddenly pushed the door open and shouted at Harvey, trying to stop him from continuing.

Harvey finally understood what he meant: this guy didn't seem to know that Rachel was still alive?

Li Wei's words made Harvey freeze instantly. He slowly turned his head, his burned profile looking ferocious and terrifying under the light.

"What did you say?"

"I said Rachel isn't dead," Levi said, taking two steps forward. Despite speaking rapidly, he tried to make his voice sound calm and credible.

"When the explosion occurred, rescuers had just arrived at a safe area. She only suffered minor head injuries and fell into a coma."

She is currently receiving treatment, and the doctor says she will wake up soon. I think if she does wake up, she will really want you to visit her.

This was a lie he made up on the spot. In order not to upset Harvey, he deliberately omitted the fact that Rachel had been rescued by Batman.

It's worth noting that Harvey didn't have a good impression of Bruce, that playboy.

Rachel is indeed still alive, but she is in a deep coma.

At first, Li Wei thought he had changed everything, but when the doctor said that the chances of Rachel waking up were extremely slim, Li Wei realized that his influence was probably not that great.

However, at this moment, he could only use this lie to try to pull Harvey back from the brink of collapse.

Harvey turned to look at Levi, his eyes darting around, and his fingers holding the coin began to tremble uncontrollably.

"You're lying to me..." he muttered, his voice filled with uncertainty. "Nobody told me Rachel was alive, that she survived that explosion..."

"The Joker lied to you!" Levi pressed on, his tone becoming even more earnest. "The Joker wanted you to become like this, a madman who replaces justice with killing!"

If Rachel woke up and saw you like this, what would she think?

"Rachel..." Harvey's gaze fell on the coin in his hand, the black side particularly glaring under the light.

He seemed to suddenly remember something, a struggle flashed in his eyes, and his gaze began to clear.

Just when Li Wei thought everything would be alright, he suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside the door.

"Dude, there aren't any boarding schools in that place!"

Batman's voice came through, directly stimulating Harvey, who had just fallen into deep thought.

He snapped back to his senses, like a startled wild beast, grabbed the coin, and tossed it into the air again!

Everyone's eyes were fixed on the coin, and Ramirez, kneeling on the ground, stared intently at the coin in the air.

The coin flipped a few times before Harvey caught it.

As Xavi opened his palm, everyone except Ramirez, who was kneeling on the ground, could see the coin's orientation—heads up.

Harvey stared at the coin for a few seconds, then suddenly chuckled softly, his laughter filled with mockery and sorrow.

"Alright, Harvey, let's end this here. As long as you realize your mistake in time, I guarantee you'll be fine."

Harvey ignored Levi's pleas, released Ramirez, and grabbed the police walkie-talkie on the table.

He pressed the call button and held the microphone to Ramirez's mouth: "Say it, say you took money from Maroney, say you were involved in Rachel's kidnapping."

Ramirez was in tears, but with a gun pointed at his forehead, he could only tell the whole story in fits and starts.

The sound was transmitted through walkie-talkies across the entire Gotham Police Department's communications channels.

"Very good." Harvey released his grip with satisfaction, turned and rushed towards the window. "Prophet, you heard it too. I hope you will uphold justice."

After speaking, Harvey smashed the glass with his fist, and amidst the flying shards, his figure quickly disappeared into the night.

Li Wei immediately rushed over and peered out the window.

Looking down, I saw Harvey land on the trash can downstairs, then limp into an alley and quickly disappear from sight.

Levi turned to look at Ramirez and found her slumped on the ground, her eyes vacant, as if her soul had been ripped away.

"Why did he let me go?" Ramirez murmured, his voice filled with confusion. "He could have killed me..."

Levi did not answer Ramirez's question; he knew perfectly well what was going on.

It wasn't the coin that saved Ramirez, but rather the last vestige of Xavi's conviction in justice.

That obsession, like a slender rope, temporarily held Harvey back from the brink of falling into the abyss.

This allowed him to retain a last shred of sanity amidst his madness.

"It seems he's collecting 'evidence' to use these people's confessions to prove that his 'trial' is justified."

Batman walked to the window, looking in the direction Harvey had disappeared, but showed no intention of continuing the pursuit.