Chapter 175: Black Mask
"The prettiest smiles hide the deepest secrets. The prettiest eyes have cried the most tears and the kindest hearts have felt the most pain."
- Unknown
...
Late at night, Wayne Manor
The Batcave.
When Dick returned from patrol on the Batbike, his suit was torn, which showed that he had been through a tough fight.
Getting off the bike, Dick immediately noticed Bruce absorbed in front of the Batcomputer.
"It's time for a shift change, Bruce. Are you still keeping an eye on Phantom Thief's virtual account? I don't think he's stupid enough to use that money recklessly."
Dick removed his mask as he approached Bruce.
"..."
Bruce didn't say anything and kept his back to the computer screen.
"Well, I know you wouldn't do that."
Dick waved his hand, not being surprised that Bruce didn't answer.
He knew that Bruce couldn't spend his entire day monitoring an uncertain virtual account. He was just joking earlier.
There were too many things in Gotham that needed Batman's attention.
The Phantom Thief himself barely deserved a few days of Bruce's surveillance, and a mere virtual account certainly didn't deserve his constant attention.
Bruce had set up an alert program to monitor the Phantom Thief's virtual account. If any funds were withdrawn or transferred, the batcomputer would automatically track down the flow of money.
"Let me see, you're still investigating the mysterious funds related to Janus Cosmetics? We now know that the Penguin is helping Roman Sionis launder his money, right?"
"But Janus Cosmetics' books are clean. Roman's money is not only from a legitimate source, but he has also paid taxes."
Bruce replied solemnly.
"So, the Penguin must have another complete money laundering operation, even deeper than the one at the Ethan Shipping Company. Hmm... Why am I not surprised? The Penguin always has hidden tricks up his sleeve."
Dick stroked his chin in thought.
"As long as we can trace the real source of funds for Janus Cosmetics, we can uncover another money-laundering factory operated by the Penguin. But we don't know if he has any other factories, and they might be even more hidden."
"So we shouldn't rush to destroy this money laundering factory. We should gather more clues and investigate further before taking action."
Bruce explained.
...
Nancy is from Gotham and is an ordinary office worker.
Just like most women who want to have good skin, Nancy also pays great attention to her skincare routine.
She doesn't necessarily choose the most expensive cosmetics, but they have to be from reputable companies.
She believes that only then can she be assured of their quality.
Without a doubt, for most of Nancy's life, there was only one famous skincare company in Gotham, the family business of the Sionis family, Janus Cosmetics.
A large part of Nancy's skin care routine came from Janus, and the company's products were indeed of high quality, which she greatly appreciated.
However, things changed when Janus Corporation started producing strange and weird designs that were different from their usual style.
This caused backlash from loyal customers, and Nancy stopped buying Janus cosmetics for months.
Since Janus has built a good image over the years and most of their design problems were with how things looked, the quality hasn't changed much.
Right now, Janus Cosmetics is going through a dark time with declining revenue and falling stock prices.
However, they have boldly released a new face mask product that seems to have good results, and most importantly, it looks normal.
There are volunteers who have personally tested the safety of the product, and there seemed to be no issues.
So, Nancy decided to trust Janus' one last time and bought the liquid face mask at the expensive price, which wasn't cheap.
After using it for about half a month, she didn't experience any discomfort, and the mask had good effects, so she felt relieved and continued using it.
One day, Nancy applied the liquid face mask before bed as usual.
After a while, she started feeling a slight warm sensation on her face, and the temperature kept rising and quickly becoming extremely hot.
It felt like she had applied boiling water instead of a face mask.
In panic, Nancy ran to the bathroom to use water to remove the mask.
However, she made the worst possible choice at that moment.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
When the tap water touched her face, a sharp pain exploded instantly across her face. She instinctively covered her face with both hands.
She slowly opened her hands while shaking and was shocked to see a torn, bloody piece of skin in her palm, and her arm was red from new blood all over.
Nancy had a hard time lifting her head and looking in the mirror, as she was in so much pain.
A stranger's face appeared before her eyes, a face that had only flesh and no skin...
At the same time, similar scenes were happening countless times in Gotham.
The liquid face mask had terrible side effects that went from disfiguring to killing everyone who bought and used it.
The company that started this mess, Janus Cosmetics, went from being appreciated to being the target of the public in an instant.
A lot of people who were hurt sued Janus and Roman Sionis, which made Roman very busy and unable to reply to all the notices in time.
"Why? How did things turn out like this!"
Roman slammed the table over and over and yelled angrily.
"Your anger won't help the current situation, Mr. Sionis."
On the other side of the table, Lucius Fox remained calm.
"We can help Janus Cosmetic get through this difficult time. Wayne Enterprises will take responsibility for all the lawsuit settlements. However, unfortunately, we will have to restructure the board of directors of Janus' Cosmetics, and Mr. Sionis, you..."
"I know I will be kicked off the board. Janus will have nothing to do with me from now on."
Roman coldly laughed.
"There's no other option. If you continue to stay in the company, the negative publicity will never die down, leaving Janus' with a dead end."
Lucius shook his head helplessly.
Roman kept quiet while he signed the paper that transferred his shares and then left the company that he had once considered his own with a cold expression on his face.
"Wayne Enterprises... Bruce... You've brought me to this situation. Did you really think I would willingly give the company to you?"
Even at this moment, Roman still denied that the company's failure was his own doing. He believed that everything was Wayne's doing behind the scenes.
His arrogance, pride, and stubbornness prevented him from ever doubting himself.
"Just wait! Wait and see, I'll make all of you pay!"
Roman's eyes were bloodshot, and he had a weird grin on his face. He walked around like he wasn't aware of anything, like a walking corpse.
When Roman finally snapped back to reality, he found himself in the backyard of his mansion.
It was the location of the family cemetery.
Roman looked at the tombstone with his father's name on it, and his mouth curled into a crazed smile.
He took out a shovel and dug up his father's grave as if possessed by madness.
Then, Roman removed the coffin lid and used the wood from it to carve a skull-like, pitch-black mask...
"HAHAHAHA"
Roman put on the carved skull mask on his face and burst into maniacal laughter.
For some reason, when he put on the mask, he suddenly felt a sense of relief.
It was as if the shackles that had been holding him down were suddenly released, and he felt a surge of satisfaction and peace in his soul.
In this moment, Roman suddenly felt like he had spent the first half of his life living a lie. The Sionis family, the Janus Cosmetics company—none of it mattered.
Only in the moment of wearing the mask did he become his true self, his complete self.
Perhaps it was supernatural, but Roman could feel an indescribable, mysterious power flowing from deep within his body.
"So, it's the mask... only the mask, HAHAHAHA ! My entire life has been nothing but masks. HAHAHA!"
Roman had a realization, and suddenly he stopped laughing.
From being completely mad to being completely calm.
"Roman Sionis is dead."
Roman calmly said.
"Now, I am... the Black Mask."
...
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