Chapter 2150: Battle of the Two Cities! (Part 28)

While the Joker was looking for his counterpart, the lunatics in Arkham Asylum weren't idle either, especially the Penguin, who really wanted to meet the other version of himself.

The Penguin's schemes usually didn't have any lofty goals; they were either for power or for money. He himself was clear about this point, so the version of himself in the other universe had struggled for half his life, either having power or money.

Don't misunderstand, the Penguin wasn't that kind-hearted. He didn't want to join forces with the other version of himself; what he always wanted was to win it all. If there could only be one Penguin in the two universes, why couldn't it be himself?

The Penguin was planning to replace him.

However, he wasn't that reckless to immediately find someone to assassinate the version of himself in this universe. Before that, he had to figure out what age range the other version of himself was in, what he had achieved, and what he possessed.

So, after the lunatics from the main universe occupied the Arkham Asylum on Earth-1, the Penguin took action immediately.

The Penguin was, after all, a high-profile crime boss; he couldn't go deep into enemy territory himself. Several of his capable subordinates quickly spread out to various parts of New City, starting to inquire about Oswald Cobblepot in the city.

It didn't matter if they didn't check, but they were truly shocked when they did: the Penguin in this universe had actually become the mayor, had eyes and ears everywhere in the city, and had become the biggest winner in the chaos after the fusion of New City.

The New 52 Penguin setting continued the classic Penguin image, but what was special was that one of the background stories of this Penguin was that he had been bullied in his childhood because of his image.

Although Oswald Cobblepot was still a member of the Cobblepot family, because his appearance was not pleasing from a young age, it could be said that he was abandoned by his father, which led to him having no chance at the Cobblepot family inheritance.

Although the Cobblepot family eventually declined, the contempt, belittlement, and even bullying from his cousins who had the same background as him during his childhood brought him indelible psychological trauma.

Therefore, the Penguin cared very much about the contempt of others. His thirst for respect was endless, and in a gold-standard society, only money and power could allow him to gain everyone's respect. This was the core motivation for the Penguin to commit crimes regardless of the cost to obtain money and power.

But unfortunately, the Penguin in the New 52 wasn't very successful. He didn't have many scenes, and one could only see his inferior yet arrogant, extremely sensitive, and suspicious psychology.

Such a person didn't hope that others would live well; rather, he absolutely wouldn't allow others to live better than himself, and even less would he allow another version of himself to live better than himself.

After discovering the situation in New City, the fire of jealousy burned fiercely in the Penguin's chest.

What was the Batman of this city doing? Actually letting Oswald Cobblepot become the mayor? Didn't he know how much he weighed?

Cobblepot was, after all, from the upper class. He knew that his talent, ability, and appearance were not outstanding in the upper class; it was just that he used the innate crazy talent of Gothamites in the struggle for power and profit to gain an advantage.

Simply put, the not-so-strong Penguin had opened up a new track in madness that others were unwilling to take and disdained to take. While all the other lunatics were competing to create spiritual civilization models and were unable to extricate themselves from the ocean of art, the Penguin took a different path and went to engage in power struggles.

So it wasn't that the Penguin was strong; it was just that those with talent didn't compete with him, and those without talent couldn't compete with him.

But even so, he was in a very awkward position. The moment those chaotic and evil lunatics cast their eyes on him, he would suffer heavy losses, and the same went for Batman's gaze.

The Penguin had felt several times that Batman didn't treat him as harshly as other criminals, and even allowed the existence of the Iceberg Lounge. In fact, it was because Batman wasn't playing with him seriously at all, thinking his destructive power wasn't high, and it didn't matter if he left him alone for now.

The Penguin always felt that there was a faint line across the top of his head. As long as he dared to jump up, Batman would immediately strike with a heavy fist. In fact, he had done so, which led to the Penguin's further conspiracies being thwarted several times, hanging in an awkward position, neither up nor down.

So the question came: how could the Batman of this universe allow the Penguin to become the mayor?

Of course, it was also possible that he wasn't having such an easy time as mayor, or was simply a target pushed up by others to be focused on. But now the Penguin was taking the fake act seriously, taking advantage of the chaos of the New City fusion to obtain substantial power. How could Batman still stand by and watch?

Undoubtedly, the Penguin had crossed the dead line. From any perspective, Batman couldn't sit idly by.

Although the Penguin from the main universe hadn't found Batman's whereabouts for the time being, this didn't prevent him from first instructing his subordinates to secretly collect the criminal evidence of the Earth-1 Penguin, waiting for Batman to appear, and then he would directly welcome the "royal army" with food and drink.

But as soon as he checked, problems arose again.

In fact, during the time when the Earth-1 Batman had just debuted, the Penguin was busy assassinating political opponents. The serial killer who appeared in the comics called "Birthday Boy" was actually raised by the Penguin, specifically used to threaten and assassinate people who dared to oppose him.

The first case the Penguin found was the assassination of Stephen Andmar, the director of the Environmental Protection Agency. Police files showed that this director was first kidnapped and then assassinated. From the release of the missing person report to finding the body, it was less than three days.

Subsequently, the police station received a videotape. When the tape started, a pink room appeared on the screen, with various ribbons and streamers hanging on the walls, and the words "Happy Birthday" spelled out with letter balloons in the middle.

This poor director was gagged with tape and tied to a chair. A tall figure walked in from outside the door, holding a cake with a crooked word written on it, and placed it in front of Stephen.

The following process was relatively bloody. Stephen wailed, unwilling to eat the cake, so the sturdy figure smashed the cake onto his face. More importantly, the candle holder inserted in the cake was actually fixed to the cake base. This killer called "Birthday Boy" forcibly inserted five candle holders into Stephen's face.

The Penguin soon figured out what this director had done. His attitude toward the people protesting against the Penguin's chemical plant's illegal emissions was too gentle, and he didn't settle the matter according to what the Penguin said. Also suffering because of this incident was a police officer who was unwilling to shoot the protesters. Both were subjected to the cruel execution of the Birthday Boy.

And after the Penguin from the main universe finished watching this case, he felt a bit baffled. Did this Mayor Penguin have some unique understanding of kidnapping, assassination, and calming public opinion?

To be honest, the Penguin didn't quite understand this series of operations.

Of course, if it were the Penguin from the main universe doing these things, it wouldn't be considered particularly out of line. After all, he was still a crime boss and a bar owner. Whoever touched his industry, he would definitely fight them to the death.

But wasn't this Penguin a mayor?

The Environmental Protection Agency was a subordinate department of the municipal government, right? This Stephen King should be the Penguin's subordinate. Then you think he is incompetent in his work, so just dismiss him, right?

Taking a step back, he might have promised the Penguin to settle the public opinion influence but failed to do so. This act of deception angered the Penguin, and the Penguin intended to kill him. Then just kill him cleanly, why kidnap him?

Kidnapping was actually several times harder than assassination because you had to take the target away at a time when no one was paying attention, safely bring him to a designated location, and ensure he wouldn't escape.

This method was usually used for targets with significant value. Significant value meant that once he went missing but wasn't confirmed dead, someone would be willing to spend a lot of money for him to live or die. This was the way kidnappers made a profit.

But this Environmental Protection Agency director named Stephen, he was already the director of the Environmental Protection Agency, what significant value could he have? To howl louder at the carbon neutrality conference?

But Mayor Penguin still captured him alive and sent him to the killer called Birthday Boy.

This was the part that the few people from the main universe couldn't understand the most. Mayor Penguin recorded the scene of Birthday Boy executing Stephen and sent it directly to the police station.

The Penguin from the main universe really wanted to ask, who are you threatening?

When the Penguin was a crime boss, he could of course do this. The purpose was to intimidate the police station and let the police station worry less about meddling. The Penguin from the main universe hadn't done this before; compared to Batman, his main mortal enemy was actually Gordon.

The purpose of doing this was to convey a message to all police officers: if you meddle in things you shouldn't meddle in, and offend people you shouldn't offend, your end will be the same as his. And your comrades, the ruling class and upper society you maintain, no one can save you. You should think more about your own life safety and meddle less.

At the same time, the Penguin would also put such videos on the media. The purpose was to show the Cat Getan public and others in the underworld that the government had no power, and even if I hurt you wantonly, you wouldn't get the punishment you deserved, so listening to me was the right thing to do.

But the Penguin was now the mayor; he represented the municipal government.

He got a videotape of a killer wantonly abusing and killing government officials and sent it to the police station and the media, letting everyone know that someone was wantonly abusing and killing government officials and no one could manage it. The government was the softest persimmon that was easiest to bully.

What was this? I kill myself?

The Penguin from the main universe flipped through the newspapers of those few days back and forth in Arkham Asylum and didn't see any reports of Mayor Penguin standing up to emphasize that he would definitely punish the murderer severely, and immediately catching the murderer for trial afterward.

Birthday Boy was still at large, and even committed another case a week later. The victim's family blocked the police station door, and reporters took pictures of their heartbroken expressions.

This showed that this wasn't the Penguin trying to "advance by retreating," directing and acting to establish prestige through this matter. Then what was he aiming for?

The Penguin from the main universe was completely baffled.

It couldn't be that he had been in office for half a year and his thinking hadn't shifted from being a crime boss yet, right? ===== CHAPTER 2151 =====