Chapter 11 : Crazy Plan

"Acting pretentiously in front of someone ignorant like you is pointless."

The Penguin was unaware of the Lazarus Pit, and Adrian suddenly felt uninterested.

The pretence just now seemed like a show put on for dogs.

"Hey!"

The Penguin was instantly furious, not many dared to call him ignorant and for those that did—those individuals all ended up meeting God.

Even Batman regarded the Penguin as a knowledgeable person. Just by observing Gotham City's significant and trivial matters, Batman sought out the Penguin to interrogate him and could tell.

"This Lazarus Pit has the ability to revive people from the dead," Adrian said somewhat lifelessly, sounding like a salesperson who despised their customers, "As long as the person isn't completely dead, they can be saved."

"Are you sure you're not joking?" The Penguin's tone became extremely serious.

This was Gotham City. Where was Gotham City? It was in an extremely dangerous world, a world with various monstrous beings intent on destroying the Earth or humanity to display their might.

They were always on the verge of causing destruction.

Of course, there were also various immensely powerful superheroes who readily beat up those monsters to demonstrate their might.

In such a world, the Penguin casually accepted the existence of a magical liquid capable of bringing people back from the dead.

So what if it could revive the dead? What's the big deal?

In the neighbouring Central City, there's someone called the Flash who frequently restarts timelines, time travels, fights himself, and suffers self-inflicted injuries.

"Of course, why else would they search for me all over the world?" Adrian remarked.

"I'll see you soon!" The Penguin said, and with that, the smoothly running car started to accelerate.

Around fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the sea in Gotham City.

However, it wasn't a beach with clear skies and blue waters; it was an abandoned pier. In the distance, on the black ocean, there was a somewhat dilapidated cruise ship that had most likely been decommissioned and couldn't sail anymore.

It was nighttime, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a horror movie.

In the dark churning waters, it seemed as though some terrifying creatures could crawl out at any moment.

Speaking of which, Gotham City indeed had such inhuman creatures.

Of course, it was impossible for any monsters to emerge from the sea right now. The only sounds were the boat engines. The Penguin sat on a speedboat, calling out to Adrian, "Quick, let's get on the ship."

"Why so excited? No composure at all. Where's your sophistication?" Adrian stood on the pier, facing the Penguin, then immediately vomited.

"..." The Penguin looked somewhat speechless, observing Adrian retching against a broken lamppost.

Where's your sophistication?

"Water," Adrian said after vomiting, reaching out. That indifferent tone restored about eighty percent of their sophistication.

The Penguin's subordinate immediately provided it.

After rinsing their mouth and wiping with the tissue handed by the Penguin's subordinate, Adrian looked at the Penguin and said, "I suggest you change your driver; he's not an experienced one. He can't drive at all!"

The driver who brought Adrian was very unhappy. He had been driving for over ten years, definitely an experienced driver.

Only an experienced driver could race like he just did. Once, he even outpaced Batman while driving!

"Alright, alright." The Penguin's mind was clearly not on this matter. He agilely jumped ashore from the stout and sturdy body, "Get on the ship first; let's have a good chat."

"What? Are you planning to buy something?" Adrian was too lazy to go to the Penguin's broken-down ship; his stomach was still upset.

"Of course," the Penguin said, adding, "If you're not trying to deceive me."

"What benefit would I get from deceiving you?" Adrian waved his hand dismissively, "I'm not getting on the boat. I'd rather have a big meal first; my stomach's empty, I'm hungry."

"Fine." The Penguin said helplessly.

He originally intended to take Adrian on board, but Adrian refused.

He couldn't tie Adrian up and take him onto the ship, right?

The Penguin had done such things many times and didn't mind doing it again.

But Adrian was an exception.

The Penguin couldn't read this person. He was wary of him. Although Adrian appeared to be just a slightly slender young man, from the Penguin's interactions with him until now, this young man exuded an inexplicable and eerie feeling.

Moreover, Adrian had retired from the League of Assassins. The Penguin didn't believe that the seemingly harmless Adrian was genuinely as he appeared.

The two arrived at the Iceberg Lounge, the Penguin's restaurant, and sat in a private room.

"After death, if you want to come back to life, you need a large amount of Lazarus Pit's water," Adrian said to the Penguin, "Forget about it; besides that old monster Ra's al Ghul, no one can use the Lazarus Pit like that."

"How much do you have, and what effects can it achieve?" The Penguin immediately asked the crucial question.

"At critical moments, I have enough to save a life," Adrian replied.

"I'll take it," the Penguin said.

Don't be fooled by the Penguin's success in Gotham City; he led a perilous life drenched in blood.

Just because Batman doesn't kill doesn't mean that others in Gotham City don't kill, right?

The gang wars are bloody and brutal. The Penguin, who frequently walks near the river, dares not guarantee that he won't get his feet wet.

Adrian raised five fingers.

"Fifty—five hundred million?" the Penguin said.

"Did you get rich by being stingy?" Adrian retorted.

"I didn't get rich by being stingy," the Penguin said. His wealth accumulation, "capital," was genuinely bloody and cruel. Each step was accompanied by blood and death.

"Then change your stingy habit," Adrian said, lowering his head to cut into the tender steak.

The Penguin loosened his collar and abandoned his poise, "I can't produce fifty million right away unless it's black money—do you want it?"

"Any spendable money will do," Adrian smiled, "I'm not that picky."

The Penguin's eyes flickered, seemingly contemplating something.

"But don't follow Harvey Dent's lead and rob a bank; even if you get that money, you won't be able to spend it," Adrian said.

Harvey Dent, also known as Two-Face, another "famous" criminal in Gotham City, suffered from severe mental illness. Compared to the Penguin, this guy was even more deranged.

His everyday routine was, "I want to commit a crime and rob a bank," or "I'll capture this criminal for trial, hmm, let's decide if he's guilty based on a coin flip."

"It will take time to raise the funds," the Penguin said.

When it came to money laundering, the Penguin was an absolute expert.

"Alright. With this money, help me invest and establish a research laboratory," Adrian said.

"What are you planning?" The Penguin suddenly became wary

. Was the other party, and any potential forces behind them, planning to enter Gotham City? Would this affect his interests?

"I want everyone in Gotham City to be like dragons," Adrian said with a smile.

The last four words were spoken in Chinese, so naturally, the Penguin didn't understand, "What does that mean?"

"Literal meaning, just a simple laboratory to research drugs or something similar. Aren't there fewer people doing this kind of thing in Gotham City?" Adrian said.

"If the scale isn't too big, I can help you set it up. But if you want to establish a large-scale pharmaceutical company, fifty million won't be enough. Do you have more Lazarus Pit water?" the Penguin inquired.

"Let's complete this deal first. By the way, do you know where Bane is?" Adrian asked.

Bane, also a dangerous criminal, remained an enigma with his real name.

Possessing genius intellect comparable to Batman's, he was one of the heavyweight felons on Santa Prisca Island in South America.

From a young age, he entered prison for taking the fall for his father's crimes. It was there that he used all available resources to train himself, learning languages, mathematics, philosophy, strategy, and undergoing brutal physical training to toughen his body for survival.

After escaping from Santa Prisca Island, Bane arrived in Gotham City intending to confront Batman, even having a glorious history of breaking Batman's spine.

"Bane? Let me think; it's been a while since I've heard anything about him," the Penguin said.

"Help me find him. Also, I'm out of bullets in my umbrella; help me reload. Do you have a shooting range or something familiar? I want to practice," Adrian said.

"Every time we do business, you have a bunch of conditions," the Penguin grumbled, but it also meant he agreed, "So, is our deal set this time?"

"Naturally," Adrian said with a smile.

"Okay," the Penguin smiled as well. For some reason, he had absolute trust in these seemingly childish verbal agreements.

"I'll go to the restroom."

Adrian nodded at the Penguin and stood up.

Soon, he came out, placing the syringe containing the Lazarus Pit's water in front of the Penguin.

"Is this it?" The Penguin looked at the oily green liquid, displaying a slightly intoxicated expression.

"Right." Adrian reminded, "This thing has side effects, making people—uh, not quite normal. But for someone like you, just injecting this small dose in a critical moment won't have much effect, at most, it'll make you irritable for a while."

"Irritable? I like being irritable," the Penguin chuckled.

Adrian smiled without speaking, internally asking Black how many Power & Wealth Points he gained from this trade.

Black's answer was 500 points, and currently, Adrian had a total of 1552 Power & Wealth Points.

The Penguin finally caught up to about ninety-five percent of Ra's al Ghul.

In the recent two transactions, compared to the earlier modest trades, he gained many more Power & Wealth Points.

Unfortunately, Adrian was currently a Level 2 Executor. To upgrade to a Level 3 Executor, he needed a whole ten thousand Power & Wealth Points, ten times more than what a Level 2 Executor required.

Adrian's progress wasn't particularly fast.

Despite gaining 500 Power & Wealth Points in this trade, such a scale of transaction was already considerable.

Not every deal could fetch 500 Power & Wealth Points.

"Even in transactions, I need to make some big moves, create big news," Adrian thought to himself, pushing the last piece of steak into his mouth.

***

A/N- Just to clarify, it's not that fifty million USD is equivalent to 500 Power & Wealth Points.

_____________

Read 30 Chapters Ahead!

Patreon.com/SkyImmortal