Even after Penguin arranged a meeting with the underworld figures, the problems in front of Karl hadn't diminished in the slightest.
Take the matter of the leverage being held over him, for example.
Bullock passed along information from his own sources: Harvey Dent had indeed obtained evidence proving that Loeb had stored the secrets of Gotham's upper ranks inside a safe hidden in his private room.
One of those files belonged to Karl.
That was probably why the police chiefs from Gotham's various districts had shown an unusual degree of silence regarding Harvey's promotion over them. Their reaction indirectly confirmed everyone's suspicions.
According to Bullock's sources, however, the evidence against Karl was barely worth mentioning.
It consisted of nothing more than a cheap notebook from some third-rate print shop with a single stained fifty-dollar bill tucked inside.
Even if someone tried to classify it as evidence of bribery, it probably wasn't enough to secure a conviction.
Neither Karl, despite his knowledge as an outsider to this world, nor the seasoned Bullock had expected Loeb to have treated Karl's file with so little importance.
When Loeb originally received it, the money inside had apparently spilled onto the floor. Loeb couldn't even be bothered to deal with it himself and simply had his secretary pick it up and pocket it.
After all, Karl's status had still been extremely low at the time. The tribute he'd offered had been insignificant, and Loeb had barely bothered recording anything about him in a cheap notebook.
As a result, when the evidence was finally uncovered, all that remained was a single fifty-dollar bill.
Nothing else.
That made it extremely difficult for Harvey Dent to use the file against Karl. Even if Harvey wanted to make a move, he couldn't risk going after him with evidence that flimsy.
As far as Karl was concerned, the position of Gotham Police Commissioner was practically a poisoned chalice.
The people who sat in that chair rarely came to a good end.
Even Gordon's life had been miserable in the stories Karl knew: his wife died, his daughter was crippled, and in the end, Gordon could only retire alone.
Karl's priority now was to thoroughly clean up the assets under his control.
Once that was done, even if Harvey threatened him with supposed evidence of bribery, Karl wouldn't have to worry about the matter turning into a major problem.
Glancing at his watch, Karl instructed Mr. Snow, who had recently been discharged from the hospital after recovering from his injuries, to personally drive him into the city.
He was going to visit Gordon, who had been removed from office and was now staying at home.
The veteran policeman had been saddled with some of the busiest and most dangerous work during the period of martial law.
He had been caught directly in the middle of major conflicts involving Falcone, Bane, and even Karl himself.
With forces like those tearing Gotham apart, no single police chief could realistically have prevented the Gotham City Police Department from descending into chaos.
The upheaval had become so severe that even the upcoming election had been postponed.
The Gordon family was surprised by Karl's sudden visit.
After all, a new Police Commissioner had just taken office, and everyone was busy rushing over to show their support and flatter the new man in charge.
Who would remember an old man who had already been suspended?
To put it less politely, most people were probably afraid that simply being seen visiting Gordon would bring them trouble.
They couldn't avoid him quickly enough.
"Karl?! My father's inside. Come with me!"
For the first time, Barbara Gordon greeted Karl with genuine friendliness.
Although she was very close to Jason Todd, she had always looked at Karl with a certain amount of disdain.
This time, however, his unexpected visit clearly moved her.
Gordon himself no longer looked as disheveled as before.
After being suspended, he seemed almost relieved, as though an enormous burden had finally been lifted from his shoulders.
If anything, he looked considerably better than he had before.
"Seeing you like this puts me at ease."
Karl spoke warmly.
"I was worried you might take the suspension too hard and do something rash."
Karl hadn't brought Gordon anything.
He knew Gordon's personality too well.
The man was upright and impartial, and bringing gifts could easily irritate him.
So Karl had simply arrived empty-handed.
He hadn't even bothered picking a few wildflowers from the roadside.
"You were worried I'd do something rash?"
Gordon laughed.
"Come on. I made a mess of things during martial law. Suspension is already a pretty light punishment."
Then he even began teasing Karl.
"You should be thinking about yourself instead. You did so much behind the scenes and ended up getting practically nothing."
"That's rough."
"You might've been the person who did the most work out of everyone involved, and yet you barely received any reward for it."
Gordon's meaning was simple.
Other people might not know the truth behind Loeb and Falcone's downfall, but Gordon had seen enough documents to know that nearly every trail eventually pointed back to Karl.
Karl had been deeply involved in practically all of it.
Yet after everything finally settled down, what Karl received was nowhere near proportional to the effort he'd put in.
"You probably won't believe me when I say this, but I'm really not that interested in those things."
Karl spoke bluntly.
"Arkham might look like a backwater, but for me, it's actually the perfect position."
"Go ahead and laugh, but right now, my main objective is making money."
"Obviously, I don't mean abusing my authority or taking bribes."
"I mean building legitimate businesses from the ground up."
"That's still better than surviving on the pennies they call a fixed government salary."
Gordon stared at Karl, barely suppressing his disbelief.
He knew this guy now had around a hundred loyal men working under him.
If Karl truly had nothing to do with Gotham's underworld anymore, where exactly was the money to support all of them supposed to come from?
Still, this guy really was frighteningly straightforward.
Even when trying to clean up the way he described himself, Karl practically admitted everything outright.
At least leave a little plausible deniability.
Gordon decided it would be better to pretend he hadn't heard anything.
While the two of them were talking, an emergency news bulletin on the television suddenly caught everyone's attention.
Gotham produced plenty of ordinary stories every day, but reports important enough to interrupt regular programming were another matter entirely.
Those usually meant genuinely major news.
"Breaking news. Gotham City's wealthiest man, Bruce Wayne, has just announced that he will be stepping away indefinitely from the management of Wayne Enterprises."
"According to available information, Gotham's famous playboy was traveling aboard a luxury yacht with several companions near Greenland when the vessel capsized during a violent storm."
"Although Wayne was rescued shortly afterward, he suffered severe physical trauma. His spine was broken, and doctors believe a full recovery may be extremely difficult..."
Listening to the female news anchor's report, Gordon sighed and shook his head helplessly.
"Looks like when disaster strikes, even all the money in the world can't save you."
"Such a good life ruined like that. What a shame."
Karl didn't pay much attention to Gordon's remark.
Instead, he frowned and silently began thinking.
There were plenty of precedents for something like this in Batman's history.
The most obvious example was the third film in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises.
Years of vigilante work had left Batman physically and mentally exhausted. Countless battles had taken an enormous toll on his body, ultimately forcing him into retirement.
Did that mean Bruce Wayne was planning to withdraw from the superhero world this time as well?
(End of Chapter)
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