Chapter 162: Party and Umbrella (End)

Cobblepot looked around. He first looked at the gun on Gordon's waist, then at the cold aura still lingering around Batman, and finally at his own right arm, which was fractured and not yet fully healed, and still tied to the hospital bed armrest. He sighed and said:

"It was indeed me who killed the old umbrella maker Wiggin, but I am not a thief, nor am I a robber. This umbrella should have been mine in the first place."

Accompanied by Cobblepot's voice, the mystery was gradually revealed.

"My father, Old Cobblepot, was once the leader of the Cobblepot family, one of the four major families in the East District. At that time, the East District was still very prosperous. The four major families controlled dozens of streets in the entire East District. Among them, the most central street was Green Street next to the Slab now. Our family's old house was also once spacious and luxurious."

"I've heard Bullock mention this history." Gordon leaned on the table and said, "But what does this have to do with you killing an innocent umbrella maker?"

"Innocent? He's not innocent!"

Cobblepot snorted coldly and said, "Then, you should also know that a few years ago, the old umbrella maker Wiggin was the only handmade umbrella maker in Cat Getan City."

"He still is until now." Gordon looked at Shiler and said, "This kind of profession doesn't need too many people. Not many people will spend a lot of money to buy a handmade umbrella."

*ahzww. *

"But at that time, gang bosses in the East District would all go to Wiggin Umbrella Shop to customize a handmade umbrella."

"You might think this is just chasing handmade products or showing off their status..."

"Isn't it? Because the production cycle of handmade products is long, the speed is slow, and the output is small, so it will be hyped up to a high price. But in fact, its quality is not better than machine-produced products." Batman also landed his gaze on Shiler.

Cobblepot shook his head and said, "You don't understand."

"My father also went to Wiggin Umbrella Shop to customize an umbrella, but that umbrella maker breached the contract. He took my father's money but didn't deliver the umbrella on time, so my father got caught in the rain and died of pneumonia..."

"This is too absurd!" Gordon looked at Cobblepot like he was looking at a madman and said, "Are you going to say that your father was just waiting for this one umbrella?? If he didn't get this umbrella, he would rather get caught in the rain than use an umbrella???"

Cobblepot stared at Gordon gloomily and said, "That's why I said, you don't understand anything."

"Who said my father didn't bring an umbrella when he went out? He did, but those umbrellas were useless."

Gordon looked at Cobblepot with the eyes of a madman, but Cobblepot didn't care at all. He closed his eyes, as if recalling something, and said, "My father knew some things that others didn't know. He had investigated these things. Those were some things I couldn't describe..."

Then he opened his eyes, looking at Gordon's eyes affirmatively, and said, "There is a problem with the rain in Cat Getan."

"He told me this. When you are preparing an umbrella to deal with the rainy days in Cat Getan, you'd better buy one at Wiggin Umbrella Shop, otherwise, it's useless."

Gordon frowned and asked confusedly, "What do you mean? Are you saying... only the umbrellas sold by Wiggin Umbrella Shop can block the rain in Cat Getan?? What kind of theory is this? Where are the umbrellas produced by factories worse than those handmade umbrellas? Aren't they all just enough to block the body?"

Shiler and Batman heard a different meaning. They looked at each other, and Batman asked, "Are you saying that there is a problem with the rain in Cat Getan, and only the umbrellas sold by Wiggin Umbrella Shop can truly block that rain?"

Cobblepot nodded and said, "I don't know if you have heard that Wiggin Umbrella Shop's umbrellas are not something anyone can buy. Some people can buy them, while others cannot."

"This means that someone wants some people to be able to block the rain, and wants others to get caught in the rain."

"But what is the significance of this?" Gordon still didn't understand. The problems they were discussing were completely inconsistent with his worldview, more like some mysterious code.

Shiler held his chin with his fingers and asked, "Then what happened to your father? Why did he buy an umbrella but still get caught in the rain?"

"I don't know." Cobblepot answered very simply, "I only know that on the day he should have received the umbrella, he didn't get the goods, but there was something that made him have to go out. He knew in his heart that this might be dangerous, but he still had to go."

"What was that thing?"

"The Old Godfather's eldest son died. My father was going to attend the funeral."

"Do you think your father's death was because he didn't have an umbrella to truly block that rain?"

"That's right. That's why I said, this umbrella should have been mine in the first place. My father paid the money, but he didn't receive the goods and paid with his life for it."

Shiler frowned. He and Batman looked at each other again. Clearly, both of them thought of the same thing.

"So, you killed the umbrella maker just to avenge your father?" Gordon asked Cobblepot.

Before Cobblepot could answer, Batman said, "No, he isn't. He isn't doing it for revenge."

Gordon turned back to look at Batman. Before he could ask, Shiler poked Gordon with the umbrella in his hand and said, "Don't ask anymore. You just need to know that he is an absolute expert in terms of revenge."

Then he turned to Cobblepot and said, "You are indeed not a personality with the trait of revenge. In your view, things that can bring practical benefits to yourself are more critical."

Cobblepot exhaled from his nose and said, "That's right. I'm not for my father, but for my mother."

"This is why I kept asking you, Doctor, can this disease really be cured?"

"What do you mean?"

Cobblepot said somewhat gloomily, "I suspect that my mother's illness might be... a curse."

"A curse? Tell me in detail."

"Before my mother had her first episode, she asked me for help. I don't remember what she said, but at that time, she was sober and had been calling for help."

"Finally, on the eve of her madness, she said to me, 'Umbrella, get the umbrella back, you must bring an umbrella...'"

"I had long known about my father's research, but it wasn't until then that I realized his death might not just be an accident. He became the one who was abandoned, didn't get the umbrella, didn't block the rain, and thus couldn't survive."

"My mother is crazy. As long as I mention anything related to my father to her, she will start twitching, hiding in fear, and can't say any useful information."

"You suspect that your father and mother might have known something, so one was killed and one was cursed, right?"

"Was it your father who told you that there was a problem with the rain in Cat Getan?" Batman asked Cobblepot.

"He mentioned it, but more importantly, I verified all of this." Cobblepot tried hard to straighten up from the bed and said, "You group of upper-class people and wealthy people won't discover the changes in the Slab."

"Haven't you discovered that the order there has become much better?"

"Of course I discovered it." Gordon said, "The frequency of murders there has decreased a lot because people's living conditions have improved..."

"Stop talking nonsense. Are there few rich bad guys in Cat Getan?" Cobblepot interrupted Gordon and said, "Before, the residents of the Slab drank water from wells. You know, that kind of open-air well."

"But now it's different. After the transformation is completed, their drinking water has to pass through water purifiers buried underground..."

"That is the key to the problem." Cobblepot looked at Shiler and said, "I don't understand any psychological theories, but I know that a person's bad habits are hard to change. If all the residents of the Slab were born bad, then the improvement of living conditions wouldn't be able to change them so thoroughly."

"I have seen with my own eyes how chaotic and crazy the people there were, but since the Slab transformation was completed, they seem to have become different people. Although they still follow the gang set, they are obviously much more normal."

"Do you think it's because the rain in Cat Getan might have mixed into their drinking water before?" Batman asked Cobblepot.

"That's right. Actually, I used Fish's manpower several times to try to investigate the water purifier, but I didn't succeed. That thing is too complicated. Just relying on some descriptions of its appearance, I couldn't figure out how it works."

Shiler looked at Batman. He saw that Batman was thinking. As a transmigrator, he knew that this might be the truth. At least in some comics, it was mentioned that the reason Cat Getan was so chaotic was because there were special substances in the water cycle that would make people go crazy.

But he couldn't say this directly; he had to reason. So he knocked on the table, attracting everyone's attention, and said, "Let's analyze this logical chain."

"Oswald said that there is a problem with the rain in Cat Getan, which will change people's personalities, and the umbrellas sold by the umbrella maker Wiggin are the only tools that can effectively block the rain."

"Assuming this is true, then the umbrella maker Wiggin has the ability to make umbrellas that can block this kind of rainwater, but he sells them to some people and refuses others. What is his purpose?"

"Maybe he just couldn't make enough?" Gordon guessed, "After all, making a handmade umbrella should be quite slow, right?"

"There weren't many people buying umbrellas in the first place." Cobblepot said, "He sold them so expensively, how many people could afford them? Ten years ago, ten thousand dollars, only the top few gang bosses in the East District could afford them. Even if he made one a month, one year would be enough to equip all the gang bosses in the East District with an umbrella."

"So he was screening." Batman's voice came: "This logic forms a closed loop."

"The people behind the scenes used some method to make Cat Getan rain problematic, and then controlled an umbrella maker to sell useful umbrellas to certain people, letting some people hold umbrellas, while others have to get caught in the rain... What will this lead to?"

He muttered to himself, "Some people are trying to maintain order, while others fall into chaos and madness..."

"Or rather..." Shiler sighed and said, "A group of people are creating wealth for them, while another group makes this city never have a day of peace, forever shrouded in darkness."

"Now there is only one question left: who are they?" Cobblepot's tone was very cold. Even if he wasn't a person driven by revenge like Batman, in the Penguin's view, this organization that caused his family to be broken and dead must also pay the price.

At this time, Shiler took the umbrella and walked to the hospital bed, looking at Cobblepot. He revealed a creepy smile and said:

"No wonder they knew I caused all the changes. It turns out they had been eyeing me for a long time."

Cobblepot stared at him silently. Shiler turned the umbrella in his hand, held it in the middle, and handed the handle to Cobblepot, saying: "Mr. Cobblepot..."

"It's called the Court of Owls. Take the umbrella and kill them."

---Author's Note---

10,000 words delivered today!

Aha! Didn't expect it, right! ===== CHAPTER 163 =====

Aha! Didn't expect that, did you!