Chapter 2167: Battle of the Twin Cities! (Part 7) _1

Penguin Man hung up the phone with a bewildered look on his face.

He glanced down at himself, then over at his cell phone, then he turned around to look at the mobsters waiting at the door, not knowing who had gone mad for a moment.

There were few people in Gotham Police Department that he hadn't won over, James Gordon was one of them, so Penguin Man paid special attention to him. He knew Gordon was like a dinosaur egg, seemingly fragile like a chicken egg on the outside, but if he found an opportunity, Penguin Man would bite off more than he could chew.

Luckily, he had a weakness. Penguin Man thought as he felt around the edge of his cell phone, people with weaknesses are always easily manipulated, so Gordon's uprightness can actually be used to his advantage. After all, Gotham's political circle isn't dead water; many people have their eyes on his position.

To make Gordon a good old firearm to use, he must hold tightly to the trigger named Barbara. Penguin Man was about to blurt out the name of a hitman.

But he suddenly thought, what did the last call Gordon made to him mean? It sounded like a provocation. There are only two months left before the election, and you still have a lot of messes to clean up.

But this provocation doesn't benefit anyone. Gordon would want to solve the problems at the port and on the main street more than anyone else since there are normal civilian facilities there.

And Gordon is a good cop, so even if these territories are under Penguin Man's control, he will do his best to protect them.

On this point, their interests are consistent. Gordon isn't the type of person who just calls to chat when he's idle, so what does he mean by saying this?

Penguin Man was pondering this when Gordon's call came in again, Penguin Man picked it up and hummed twice, his eagle hook nose raised even higher. If this damn detective dared to speak to him in that mocking tone again, he would make Gordon's daughter pay.

But what he heard Gordon saying was.

"Listen, Oswald, I don't have time to bullshit with you, the current situation is indeed a bit too complicated, but I believe you have a point, you're a businessman, not a politician."

"If I had to choose which one is worse, I wouldn't be able to choose at all, but no matter what, you would maintain your territory for your own business, and a politician would do nothing after getting elected."

The more Penguin Man listened, the more it didn't sound right.

"Prepare a batch of weapons to be sent to the warehouse on Ger Street. In addition, I need about 20 sturdy guys, the stronger the better. If the New York Police Department doesn't act, then this city should be named Gotham."

The call was hung up again.

Penguin Man was taken aback.

Of course, Penguin Man knew about the issue of insufficient police force in Gotham Police Department. But as Gordon said, he's a businessman. As long as there's a hard bone in Gotham Police Department resisting him, he wouldn't easily make a bet, let alone make a big investment.

Even if he has countless weapons rusting away in the warehouse, he wouldn't add fuel to an organization that might resist him.

Gordon also never deigns to seek his help. Even if this premature aging police chief is about to drown in Gotham's wave of crime, he still bites the bullet and stands firm. He can even muster the composure to mock him.

Penguin Man hates this kind of contempt, but also fears and envies it. He's never been a daring person. He couldn't figure out why a person in desperation would refuse to kneel and even laugh at the cold and unjust fate.

Penguin Man had never imagined that he would be approved by such a person, so he was genuinely startled.

But he's suspicious after all, and at this moment, he began to think about what exactly he had done to make Gordon change his mind. Or did this hardheaded detective finally switch his brain and start scheming to set traps?

Little did he know, when he looked into the incident report, he was in for a surprise. Penguin Man checked and wondered who this subordinate possibly was?

He knew about the port accident a long time ago, but he didn't expect it to be so dramatic. Even if you searched the whole of Gotham, you probably wouldn't be able to find such a large mound of sand. Has Gotham's broom finally become haunted?

The electrical network accident on the main street is even more significant. In the few seconds when the accident happened, the electricity usage was more than Penguin Man's total usage in the previous year. This amount of electricity could power half of Gotham for a week.

That's not all. Penguin Man soon received a report from the sugar factory on Northern Island, stating that a large swarm of mutant bees had attacked their factory. They are stronger than any mutant brown bears or wolverines they have encountered before; the factory's security couldn't handle them.

Following that, a beetle kidnapped the butler who was on his way to work at the mayor's residence and hijacked the TV channel to demand a ransom.

Before Penguin Man could respond, the editor of the Gotham Daily's political news announced a video to the public. In it, Penguin Man was spitting and arranging for a hitman to assassinate political opponents, his ugly side completely exposed.

Penguin Man was somewhat dazed by this series of punches. Are these inexplicable criminals the fuse for Gordon's final defection to him?

This isn't some coincidence. Penguin Man keenly realized that although it appears on the surface to be accidents caused by some criminals taking advantage of the chaos caused by the merging of two cities, if you look closely at the underlying logic, it's clearly directed at him.

First of all, he invested heavily in Ger Street, a recent investment project. Apart from bars, nightclubs and other entertainment industries, there are also opium factories underground. Most importantly, he spent a lot of money on a electronic system for manipulating votes which might not be able to be used due to potential electrical faults, missing the upcoming election.

The importance of Deepwater Port hardly needs mention; all the quality goods Penguin Man could get his hands on, which no one else could, were shipped in through this port.

At least 60% of the reason why Penguin Man took the mayoral seat was to legally reconstruct the port according to his own will. Now, it's nearly half complete. However, the Deepwater Port has been filled with sand, making it unusable in the short term. It is akin to a knife strike to Penguin Man's main artery.

The sugar factory on Northern Island is actually a front for a drug factory, primarily used to manufacture some new types of synthetic drugs. The sugar assembly line was its one and only, how could it attract bees? Could these mutated bees be addicts too?

The factory on Northern Island is Penguin Man's piggy bank. Although traditional drugs are steady and high-end goods are popular, in terms of making money, chemical drugs are more cost-effective.

The butler at the mayor's mansion has been helping Penguin Man manipulate public sentiment. He is one of the few insiders in Penguin Man's party who has sharp insights and acts timely, truly serving as Penguin Man's right-hand man.

As for that video, Penguin Man just couldn't make any sense of it. Although he indeed had assassinated political adversaries, it's a common occurrence in Gotham. There's no need for a detailed discussion in a big room; it's usually just a wave of a hand or a glance.

It's apparent that someone specifically fabricated this in order to damage his reputation, but the footage seemed too real, and many people would undoubtedly exaggerate it to guide public opinion.

Penguin Man immediately realized how harmful the current situation could be for him. The first thing he needed to do was to figure out who was behind all this.

Penguin Man hesitated for a moment, wanting to phone the chief of the Gotham Police Department. However, he knew his pet dog, albeit loyal, was simply not fierce enough. The best detective he could turn to right now was James Gordon.

"James, I think you've realized how unfavorable the situation is for us." Holding the phone in one hand, he lightly tapped the armrest with the other and said, "Someone wants to take advantage of the chaos of the city's merger to target me, not caring about the city's order in the slightest."

"Just like you once said, I am a businessman. For the sake of protecting my enterprises, I will make my utmost effort. Even if I can't offer justice, I can offer enough job opportunities. But those real madmen are trying to harm everyone."

"Investigate who's manipulating it all from behind the scenes. Give me a name, and I'll make him realize what a painful price he will pay for his foolish actions."

After hanging up the phone, Gordon sighed deeply. An alliance with Penguin Man was no good feeling, but compared to Penguin Man, he connected the series of incidents that occurred in the city more quickly than he did.

The other party was evidently someone who cared little about casualties as long as they achieved their goal. Gordon thought he should first deal with this more brutal person before the Penguin Man.

However, the moment he hung up the phone, a call from an unknown number came in. Hesitating slightly, he decided to pick up.

"Hello, Chief Gordon, I'm glad to be able to speak with you."

The voice on the other end was low, filled with a vague resonance that one couldn't help but empathize with. But some small sounds in the background instantly put Gordon on edge.

"Sorry, James, your daughter's been crying too much. I wouldn't want her to interrupt our conversation. You can talk to her for a bit, but remember, this is my kindness."

"Barbara, Barbara!!" Gordon roared: "You kidnapped my daughter, you sick bastard..."

A shriek came from the background instantly, causing Gordon to swallow his words. He didn't even dare to breathe. The hand holding the phone was shaking uncontrollably, and the muscles on his face started to twitch.

"Please, spare Barbara, I beg you." Gordon gritted his teeth, "If something happens to her, you won't get anything."

"I don't really want anything from you, chief. You have nothing to offer me. I'm not like that fool Cobblepot, need police help to rule this city."

"God has given me a much wider stage, I must seize this opportunity. I just need to teach you all a lesson."

Gordon was just about to say something, but the phone was snatched away by Peter in the backseat. Peter roared into the phone.

"Kingpin! Don't think that just because you've used a voice changer, I won't recognize your tone of voice. You're dead meat!"

"Oh? Spider Man? I thought you were dead."

After a cold laugh, Kingpin said, "That useless Electro couldn't even make the collider go out of service. You're still alive."

Peter's eyes widened in surprise. Turns out, the High Energy Collider mishap was not caused by the mysterious black sun, it was a trap Kingpin had set for him by hiring the Sinister Six!

"I won't let you succeed." Peter clenched his fist, "If you don't release the hostages immediately, I swear you'd rot in jail for the rest of your life!"

"No matter what you say, Spider Man, this new city is mine, and no one can stop me."

"Ah!!!!!"

As the female scream rang out, Gordon stepped hard on the gas pedal in panic.