Chapter 2169

Through the course of their conversation, Penguin and Peter learned that the kid named Gonzalez often did graffiti on the street where the Anderin case occurred; they were a typical group of street kids.

Gonzalez drove Penguin to their stronghold: Hell's Kitchen in Brooklyn.

Looking at the familiar architectural style, Penguin felt a trace of relief. This was a very typical chaotic district occupied by various gangs.

It wasn't exactly a slum, because the vast majority of black-market industries controlled by the tangled gang forces made it far from poor; instead, it had a somewhat bustling appearance, similar to the community Penguin had come from.

"Aren't you going to do something?" Peter asked. "You're letting them chase you like this; you know they won't stop."

Penguin's face darkened. Amidst the jolting of the car, he thought of many things, which eventually coalesced into a single sentence: "I will make them pay the price."

"That doesn't sound easy," Peter said, turning his head back. "If you're going to do something, do it as soon as possible. I can stay here for a while to protect your safety as a reward for you having avoided a lot of trouble for the cities of New York and Gotham, but my time is limited; I still have to go back to work."

Now it was Penguin's turn to turn and look at him. He kept gauging Peter's expression, as if weighing the value of his promise.

Even if Penguin felt Spider-Man was a naive and reckless kid, he had to admit that Spider-Man indeed possessed powerful strength. Moreover, according to his previous investigations, the spider mutation had given him a very keen sense of danger—this was a natural bodyguard skill.

In fact, compared to Spider-Man's combat power, Penguin valued more the fact that this kid was a local snake in New York. From the way he could find Penguin's location and travel all the way through the slums to reach him, it was clear he had grown up in this environment. Even if one couldn't say he was like a fish in water, he was certainly more familiar with the place than Penguin, an outsider.

Now that he had to make a comeback, he could only take the gang route and start from scratch. A local guide was very important. He had to admit that Spider-Man's character was very reassuring; as long as he promised something, he would definitely do it.

Penguin discovered that when he thought of this, a subtle emotion emerged. His heart no longer felt like it was sinking heavily, but rather like it was submerged in some kind of liquid, wrapped and soaked, then floating up, and finally feeling his entire chest cavity opening outward.

This emotion was very strange because Penguin had never experienced it before, so he couldn't describe what it felt like. If he had to analyze where it came from, it was probably because Penguin had never encountered a teammate he could trust before.

Especially when Penguin was climbing up step by step in the gangs, even if there were short-term partners of interest, they would eventually turn against each other, so he never placed his hope in anyone else.

Because he had never experienced the benefits of having help, he didn't feel helpless. Over time, meticulously completing all work himself became the norm.

But now, just thinking about Spider-Man being by his side, Penguin's mind would conjure up extremely bad premonitions, but the very next thought was that he at least wouldn't die.

Following that came a sense of excitement. Penguin's style of doing things his whole life had been cautious and hesitant; he never knew what it meant to let go and act freely, because he feared death more than failure. If someone could guarantee his safety, he could finally experience the thrill of going all out.

Penguin couldn't wait any longer.

While following Gonzalez and Penguin deep into Hell's Kitchen, Peter trailed behind the group and asked Bruce in his earpiece: "I still don't understand, why are we helping Penguin?"

Peter had his own moral compass. He knew Penguin wasn't a good person; regardless of how much childhood trauma he had, the evil deeds he had committed should be judged.

His trust in Batman made him accept this plan, but he still didn't know Bruce's goal. However, Bruce in the earpiece just chuckled softly and said: "I'm letting you watch him fall into deep trouble."

Peter was confused, but Bruce stopped talking, so Peter just kept following behind Penguin.

They encountered a wave of attacks on the very first day they arrived. Peter didn't have his spider-sense, but Bruce inexplicably obtained information about the attackers. Peter pretended his spider-sense had gone off, notified Penguin to dodge, and helped him avoid danger.

Discovering that there was indeed no threat to his life with Spider-Man's help, Penguin knew his chance to let go and act had arrived.

The Penguin who had just arrived in Hell's Kitchen discovered that this was indeed a good place. No wonder Kingpin could rise to power from here.

The most special thing about it was that it wasn't entirely gang territory. It could be said to be a place where all kinds of people gathered—there were gangs, civilians, police, merchants, the rich, and the poor; there were people living normal lives and people looking for fun. Looking out at the skyscrapers of Manhattan, it offered more opportunities for those at the bottom to climb up than there, making it a paradise for speculators as long as their lives weren't threatened.

Penguin was rubbing his hands, planning to make a big splash here, but he didn't expect a group of people to find him very soon.

Penguin saw several familiar faces among this group—they were the people who had welcomed him at the hospital entrance that day, and there was even one of the security guards from the armored car.

Penguin soon learned that these were basically residents from the neighborhood. The street where the Anderin incident occurred wasn't far from here, and many of them had witnessed that tragedy.

Penguin welcomed their arrival because he understood what the biggest predicament he was facing now was: he had no team.

The Penguin of Earth-1 no longer had a gang in his hands; otherwise, he wouldn't have just raised a killer called "Birthday Boy" to assassinate political rivals. Although the safe houses he had left behind years ago remained unchanged, the residents around them had changed, and no one recognized him at all.

The Penguin from the main universe had replaced the Penguin of Earth-1, but he couldn't move his own team down from the sky island. Not to mention how troublesome it was to move so many people, his subordinates would be just as lost in this new integrated city with completely different terrain. It was better to use these local snakes.

Climbing up from the bottom of a gang was never easy, and Penguin's current situation didn't allow him to do that. It was better to just pull this group of people together to form a team, establish a stable base, and then continuously expand his influence. One month was enough for him to return to the political arena and participate in the general election.

Penguin felt his plan had no problems, and Peter thought the same. He really didn't see where Penguin looked like he was about to fall into deep trouble.

It was indeed very smooth at the beginning. Everyone kept praising Penguin, saying they were willing to provide whatever help they could. Quite a few people stayed behind to help Penguin and Gonzalez renovate their stronghold, and some used their positions to patrol the surroundings so that dangerous elements couldn't get close.

About six or seven people stayed in Gonzalez's small shack. Peter knew it was a bit impolite to give people nicknames, but without knowing their names, he could only call them Short-Hair Girl, Tattoo Guy, Wavy-Hair, Big Black Sister, Cap, and Gamer Kid.

These few people were very distinctive. Short-Hair Girl was an environmental and animal protectionist and a vegetarian; Tattoo Guy loved Gothic culture and was covered in Gothic tattoos; Wavy-Hair was a transgender person; Big Black Sister was about 250 pounds; Cap did community service in the nearby neighborhood; and Gamer Kid was a hardcore fan of shooter games.

Peter always felt something was wrong, but he couldn't say what. After all, what kind of -ism they believed in or what hobbies they had had nothing to do with him.

He knew similar people at school. Whether it was animal protectionists who went to catch stray animals for neutering on Saturdays and Sundays or followed research groups into the mountains to protect wildlife, or vegetarians who didn't eat meat for religious or other reasons, Peter got along well with them all.

Tattoos or being transgender didn't matter either. New Jersey was a blue state, relatively open, and Peter had seen many such people. Being picky about others' appearances and hobbies was just lame, and he wouldn't have any prejudice against others because of these attributes.

Penguin was eager to do a big job and didn't say anything, immediately starting to arrange tasks. He said: "The location of this small shack in Hell's Kitchen is quite good. It's close to the center, transportation is convenient, and it's far from the territories of those big gangs."

"However, considering my current situation, we still have to take some defensive measures. Gonzalez got us two scrapped cars. We can use the cars to block the back door, and then get some simple alarms made of soda cans to hang on the door."

"I hope some of you will come to work with me, and the others will go to contact my supporters. We need more manpower to get these things done."

"Wait a minute, I have a question." Wavy-Hair held up her index and thumb, gesturing in front of her, and said: "Mr. Mayor, do you plan to participate in your next general election from here?"

Penguin was about to speak when Peter heard Bruce's instructions in his earpiece, so he stepped forward and said: "Yes, our mayor has decided to stand with us. He won't go to those hypocritical politicians to play word games and offer fake smiles; instead, they should come to find us."

"Whoa! That's so cool!"

"That's how it should be done! I knew I didn't misjudge him!"

"That's fucking awesome, Mayor! Oh-ho!"

Several people cheered immediately. Short-Hair Girl waved her fist vigorously and said: "That's right, that's how it should be. They should come to listen to us. We are the masters of this country, aren't we?"

Tattoo Guy curled his hands inward, pointing at his feet while rocking back and forth, making rap gestures, snapping his fingers at Short-Hair Girl, and then pointing at her, meaning she was right.

"Um, I mean..."

Penguin wanted to speak, but the others didn't listen to him at all. He thought, how is this possible? City Hall wasn't run by his family. All candidates had to go to designated locations to wait for the election results to be announced. How could he participate in the general election here?

"We should shoot those shitty rules to death, blow the brains out of that group of people, and let them see our power. I'm really fed up. They stand on the stage like clowns, oh, oh..."

Gamer Kid pressed his earpiece, his mouth making meaningless rap sounds. Cap lowered his cap, arms crossed, saying nothing.

"Hey, you guy, why aren't you talking?" Wavy-Hair turned to look at Cap and said: "I think you should agree with our Mayor's great vision, don't you? I think we make a lot of sense. Why can't it be them coming to listen to us?"

Cap raised his eyes and gave Wavy-Hair a gloomy look. Wavy-Hair was startled by his gaze, then acted as if she were embarrassed into anger, her voice rising to the point where it even had a bit of a masculine tone.

"I'll sue you for sexual harassment! You fucking asshole! Why are you looking at me like that?! Are you looking at my chest or my ass? That's something you can't have! Idiot!"

"Alright! Alright! Stop arguing!!"

Penguin sighed and said: "Those who stay here to work, stand on the left; those who go out to contact others, stand on the right. You choose for yourselves."

A group of people walked back and forth sporadically, with about half on each side. Penguin had just felt a trace of relief when Short-Hair Girl, who was leading the group on the left, held up a finger and said:

"Oh, sorry, I'm not standing here to say I'm staying to work. I just like the left side better. I think we should let people with better social skills go out to notify other partners of this good news, don't you think?"

After saying that, she kept scanning Cap with her eyes, while Wavy-Hair beside her nodded vigorously, took a step to the left, and said: "That's right, our team goes out, the others stay. It's decided."

After saying this, she kept scanning the peaked cap with her eyes, and the big wavy hair next to her nodded forcefully, took a step to the left and said: "That's right, our team goes out, the others stay, it's decided."