If Wayne Tower represents the historical glory of Gotham, then the Iceberg Restaurant in the Diamond District represents the opulence and luxury of Gotham.

For more than a decade, this three-Michelin-starred restaurant has been a symbol of high society with its gimmicks of expensive consumption and top-notch service.

It was late in the evening, and the restaurant manager, who had been meticulously groomed with a mustache, had a cold face, ignoring the protests and questions of customers outside the restaurant, and stood alone in the door frame.

"I've already booked a place, why don't you let me in?" A young man with his female companion in his arms yelled impatiently: "Tell your boss to open the door quickly, do you want to do it?" ”

The restaurant manager didn't squeak, didn't even glance at Kuoshao, just rolled up his sleeves a little and checked the time on his watch.

The young man who had come from Europe to study was even more annoyed, and just as he wanted to say the dirty words that had been brewing for a while, the female companion beside him gently tugged at the placket of his shirt, leaned close to his ear and said, "This is Mr. Copote's restaurant." ”

Copote, this word seems to have magical power, and Kuo Shao, who was still holding his neck just now, immediately died down, his face changed, and he silently retreated into the crowd.

With the sound of brakes, a sports car pulled up on the side of the road, and Oswald Copote, the bloated underworld giant, stepped out of the car.

The penguin man still held the umbrella, but his arms seemed to be slightly uncoordinated, and he could only limp forward with the umbrella as a crutch to support his weight.

The crowd of people parted before him, like the sea that was parted by Moses in the Bible story.

The restaurant manager, who had been waiting for a long time, hurried over to help, bathed in the eyes of everyone, and welcomed the penguin into the restaurant.

The whole process went on in silence, and no one in the crowd dared to laugh or stare at Copote's stumbling steps, they could only stare at the back of the penguin, watching the bloated, fat, short and deformed man walk up to the second floor.

After a long time, the restaurant manager went downstairs and hung the wooden sign "Resting" on the glass door.

He bowed slightly in a gentle and humble manner, and said, "The Iceberg Restaurant is only serving Mr. Copot today, and I ask for your forgiveness." ”

No one protested, not even the arrogant and domineering Kuo Shao, and the crowd dispersed in the blink of an eye.

On the top floor of the restaurant, by the window in the corner, the penguin man leans against the table, slowly tying napkins.

Hokyose shellfish flown in from Shirairo-cho, Hokkaido, are made into sashimi, which is sweet and smooth, crispy to chew, and has a bit of sea breeze.

The penguin eats slowly, and his eyes are not focused on the plate, but on the newspaper behind the plate, with the headline "Bombing attack at Arkham Mental Hospital" and the subtitle "Several patients flee".

This is news on the bright side, and all the citizens of Gotham think that this is another villain who is spreading chaos and concocted a prison escape drama.

However, the penguin, who is in a high position, knows the deeper inside story - Arkham has indeed been attacked.

The attackers did a clean job, first using micro-explosives to cause explosions in various hallways, and while everyone was scrambling, they broke through the cells where the "extremely dangerous" were held and looted the "high-value" targets inside.

Poison ivy, fireflies, frozen people, scarecrows, Dr. Phosphorus..... None of the prisoners with more or less special abilities were taken captive, and by the time Arkham Hospital's security personnel and Gotham Slivers arrived, all that was left was an empty cell on the other side.

Batman is gone, who can stop these fleeing villains?

The penguin man withdrew his gaze from the newspaper and stared at his palm.

Although the palm of the right hand that was slaughtered and cut off on the rooftop was spliced in time, the slightly larger movement would cause an irrepressible itch to stretch out from the bone marrow.

Like thousands of needles piercing the cut of the wrist, like someone poking the skin back and forth with a brush, the penguin people are eager to cut off the palm of their hand with a knife and mash it into minced meat to stop the unbearable itching.

After all, he didn't do that, just indifferently turned over his palm, ripped off his gloves, and examined the scars left by the human slaughter.

Or maybe it's also possible that Arkham wasn't attacked by some long-established criminal, but by the famous man.

There are no impermeable walls in the world, and the penguins have long known about the battle that took place in the snow on the outskirts through various channels.

The killers sent by the Owl Court were all wiped out, and the League of Assassins who infiltrated Gotham was probably wiped out, and the human slaughter was like a giant celestial body hanging high in the sky, illuminating every dark corner of Gotham with a blazing light without a trace of emotion.

Poison ivy and fireflies: Were they killed, or were they taken captive?

The penguin didn't want to think about it, he just wanted to nest in this restaurant, like an ostrich resisting all outside information—he didn't even dare to flee for fear of being slaughtered on the way out of town, and he was never heard from since.

"I want something."

A man's voice suddenly rang out downstairs, and the penguin suddenly rose from his seat, holding the handle of his umbrella and aiming it at the staircase.

"This is something that the poor have, and the rich need."

The man's voice grew closer, and the corners of the penguin's mouth sank downward, stern and indifferent.

"If you eat it, you're going to die."

The talker walked up the stairs, his boots on the floor of the hallroom.

This is a middle-aged man in a green suit, green trousers, and a green hat, he wears red gloves, holds a yellow cane, and the top of his palm is curved into the shape of a question mark.

He is the Riddler, formerly known as Edward Nigma, with a high IQ and an antisocial personality, who has been engaged in terrorist attacks in the Gotham Chamber for many years, a frequent visitor to Arkham Mental Hospital, one of Batman's enemies, and an old acquaintance of the Penguin.

"Now, Copter, tell me, what do I want?"

The Riddler swung his cane and sat briskly on the railing, his legs swinging nervously, like a duck who knows how to float.

The penguin put down his umbrella and said coldly, "The poor have it, the rich need it, and that is naturally nothing." ”

"That's right." The Riddler jumped happily from the railing, sat down in the seat next to the penguin, pulled over the plate, and cooked himself with food, "Oh my God, I'm dying of hunger." ”

Penguin Man sat down slowly, looked at the slightly tattered clothes on the Riddler, and said coldly, "Aren't you in Arkham Mental Hospital?" How it came out. ”

"If I swaggered out of the main door, would you believe me?" The Riddler shrugged his shoulders indifferently and said casually: "That night, while I was lying in bed thinking about the problem, I heard a violent explosion, and a yellow-haired Englishman rushed into the prison and somehow detained the other detained anomalous people, taking them all away, and I took advantage of the chaos to escape. ”

"British?" The penguin frowned and said, "Who is he?" ”

"I don't know," replied the Riddler, "but I can deduce from his stubble, the sauce on his brown trench coat, and the mud on the soles of his shoes that he must have lived on the outskirts of the city, frequented junk food at fast-food restaurants, smoked cigarettes, drank heavily, had a history of drug use but not recently, and lived a stressful life....."

"Stop, stop, stop." The penguin interrupted the Riddler's reasoning and said, "Don't tell me this, I don't want to know." ”

"You can't do it if you don't know." The Riddler rolled his eyes, "Our team needs you. ”

"Team?" The penguin sneered and said disdainfully, "What for? You're going to make a big fuss about Gotham. ”

"Not really," the Riddler said solemnly, fading the smiling expression on his face, "Batman is dead, Poison Ivy and the others have been snatched away, and Gotham has never been so dangerous for us."

The night sky lost the shadow of a bat in exchange for an even more deadly falcon, and I teamed up with a few other companions, not to make a big fuss about Gotham, but to protect myself. ”

"That's your business." Without hesitation, the penguin said, "Don't pull me in." ”

The Riddler lowered his eyes, "I'm afraid it's too late, you know who killed Batman, you're the closest person to the real murderer, right?" ”

As if in response to his words, steady footsteps in high-heeled shoes sounded from downstairs, and a slightly stocky middle-aged black woman walked up.

She was dressed in office attire, with a small head and pearl earrings on her ears, and she looked quite tough, "My name is Amanda Waller, and I belong to the CIA. ”

Penguin's eyes narrowed, his mind raced, the CIA has six offices directly under the director and deputy director, as well as four departments: management, operations, intelligence, and technology, but tens of thousands of employees still have to obey the president and Congress after all.

The black woman in front of her is at most just a big soldier under the US National Security Council, and with her connections and influence in Congress, she can make the other party unable to eat and walk around in minutes.

In this state of mind, Penguin remained reserved as a capitalist, and he switched his gaze back and forth between Amanda and the Riddler, and only after a while did he speak: "The team that the Riddler is talking about, is you the one you formed?" ”

"It's me." Amanda candidly said, "The CIA has a secret program to search for criminals with special abilities from prisons and transform them into elite fighters who can serve the Confederacy. ”

The penguin narrowed his eyes, and he knew a thing or two about this kind of secret secrets within the Federation on the West Coast, and pointed to the Riddler and said, "He also serves you?" ”

"In a way, yes." Amanda nodded, "We reformed Mr. Nygma. ”

"Probation?" Penguin almost laughed, "I'm afraid you have somehow held him hostage, and forced him to serve you under the threat of death." ”

Amanda nodded nondeniably, "My department has been following Gotham for a long time, and immediately after the attack on Arkham Mental Hospital, we sent elite soldiers to capture those dangerous elements who escaped in time, including Mr. Nygma. ”

"Sounds great." The penguin smiled slightly, sat back in his chair, and said indifferently, "Go on, I'm listening." ”

"Gotham is in danger." Amanda continued: "The criminal, codenamed Massacre, was involved in several murders and was identified by our intelligence community as a high-risk criminal who posed a threat to national security, and he cannot be allowed to continue to act recklessly in Gotham. ”

She slammed a stack of photos on the table, stretched out her stubby fingers, and spread out the photos of the crime scene one by one: "The murder of Sapa Manor, the disappearance of Batman, the total extermination of Hydra on the rooftop and its leader, Baron Straker, the missing owl court killer in the snow in the suburbs, the League of Assassins team led by Lars Gul Eyre, and even the Arkham attack..... These things all come together to point the clue to the man, and you can help us find him. ”

The penguin remained silent, he looked at the photos, his eyes under the lenses without a hint of emotion, "First of all, why should I help you?" Secondly, from the current point of view, the enemies targeted by the human slaughter are limited to those criminals who pose a high threat to society, and in the moral concept of the general public, the human slaughter is completely a good person, but the means are slightly extreme. ”

"Hehe," Amanda said with a sneer, "When an independent individual has unconventional force, he is a threat to the country, not to mention that according to the profile assessment results of our department's psychoanalysts, the moral concept of human slaughter is extremely weak, and he does not mind the massacre, and it is a dark box bomb that may explode at any time." ”

"Well, even if he's a threat, what does that have to do with me, I'm a businessman, that's all."

Amanda Waller smiled, she pulled out a photograph presumably taken from the CCTV surveillance system and pressed it on the table, "The man in the photo is called Konstantin, an exorcist, a mystic, who disappeared in Gotham a few months ago, and this time he was involved in the terrorist attack on Arkham Mental Hospital, we speculate that he is somehow related to the human slaughter, and even directly worked for the human slaughter."

I'm afraid that the reason why you only broke one hand, and not lost your head, is precisely because you, like Konstantin, worked out of coercion? Don't you want to get rid of the sword of Damocles hanging around your neck? ”

The penguin man was silent, he pushed the lenses of his glasses, and said in a deep voice, "So you want to catch him?" I always thought this was what S.H.I.E.L.D. was supposed to do. ”

Amanda turned her face and said indifferently: "The National Security Agency (CIA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Homeland Security Agency (DHS), the National Geographic Intelligence Agency (NGA), and the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), these five departments all have their own action plans for the transcendental, and they often cooperate with S.H.I.E.L.D. within their functional scope, and I represent the CIA. ”

Having said that, penguins can't play stupid anymore, Amanda Waller's official position may not be as high as that of the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., but her scope of authority is definitely quite large, and she is even directly responsible for the White House.

It's ridiculous to say that the Penguin's capitalist status is the reason why Amanda Waller puts on a respectful posture, if he has an extraordinary level of force like everyone else, and has no corresponding social status, I am afraid that Amanda would have been dragged into a small black room to torture to extract a confession.

"...."The penguin twitched his face and said indifferently, "Human Tu asked me to dispose of the corpses of those Hydra soldiers on the rooftop, that's all." ”

Amanda skipped the topic and asked bluntly, "So, do you still have his contact information?" ”