Chapter 4807

This year, New York's snow came unusually early. With Christmas still a month away, the temperature hadn't even fully dropped, yet a sleet storm had already fallen, followed by a heavy snow. The streets turned somewhat muddy, but precisely because of these two snows, this year's Christmas atmosphere was especially strong.

In the commercial street, shop windows had already been filled with Christmas decorations early on, winter clothing lines were launched ahead of schedule, Christmas-themed pop music echoed through the alleys, and various malls had already kicked off their Christmas preheating activities.

Although the Christmas holiday hadn't been moved up, many people, upon seeing Christmas discount events, rushed en masse to the malls, hoping to buy Christmas clothes and gifts in advance.

As Arrogance and Greed stepped out of the car, they heard a classic Christmas-style pop song. Walking toward the mall, Arrogance sighed: "Back home, we're still playing hymns."

"Gotham's religious atmosphere is much stronger than New York's," Greed said. "I know you guys still eat Christmas wafers and share the Holy Blood there. Maybe we could have a traditional Christmas too?"

"No thanks," Arrogance shook his head. "I don't think many people here would know that prayer. You probably don't even have the patience to listen to it all the way through."

"Yeah, especially when my signature dish is on the table," Greed said proudly. "I dare say you wouldn't even finish the first verse before they started tearing into the roast duck like hyenas."

The two entered the mall. Today's main activity was buying clothes. Besides the fact that this year's cold came too early and Greed's winter wardrobe preparations were insufficient, it was also because Arrogance's outfit was simply too much like Gotham's atmosphere generator. Wearing that outfit on the street made New York's snow feel gloomy by a third.

New York's large malls are designed to be spacious and bright, mainly in white and gold, with a touch of ancient Greek elegance. The hanging red-and-green Christmas decorations add a few more touches of modern festive atmosphere. After entering, Arrogance felt as if he had stepped into another world.

Gotham is simply too classical and gloomy. Even the large ice mountain mall built by Cobblepot is completely different in style—it carries a strong Gothic quality. The lighting is dim, the atmosphere mysterious. Arrogance has visited a few times, and it feels no different from going to church. Let alone places like universities and opera houses.

Suddenly arriving at this 21st-century aesthetic large mall, he indeed felt a sense of time travel. At that moment, he heard Greed say: "This mall has investments from Stark Industries and mutants. My everyday clothes are basically bought here. A few stores are pretty good..."

"You came here yourself to buy?" Arrogance asked.

Greed gave him a questioning look: "If I don't come buy, who else would? Do you expect me to trust Stark's fashion sense? You haven't even seen his mecha, have you?"

"I mean, isn't it supposed to be delivered to you?"

"Can you sound less like a Bourbon noble?" Greed snapped. "Don't you still have three private tailors, with your seasonal clothing budget around twelve thousand francs?"

"By the way," Arrogance said with a smile, "I watched La Traviata last week."

They walked into a store. This wasn't just Amen's clothing store, but a specialized shop for men's cashmere sweaters. However, when they entered, the staff were still rushing about, with some restocking shelves.

"Oh, Mr. Rodriguez," a manager in a suit came out and said, "Sorry, the season change is really rushed. We're short-staffed. This is..."

"My brother," Greed said calmly.

"Oh, I didn't expect you to still be twins. Shall we go by your size?"

"Yes, don't make it too heavy. Besides the long-sleeve shirts, get me a few vests too. Trouble bringing out the cashmere category price list for me to look at..."

Arrogance was of course also wearing a cashmere sweater. After all, Gotham isn't exactly warm, and having endured several harsh winters, the heating in Gotham University classrooms is still hit or miss. To dress decently in suits or overcoats, cashmere garments are essential.

But after seeing the price list, Arrogance gained a whole new understanding of this clothing category. Gotham's classical nature also has its advantages—at least the purchasing power of the dollar is still somewhat classical. Unlike New York, where the dollar's value seems to have already become somewhat postmodern.

Still, Arrogance went to try on clothes. Obviously, their two body sizes are identical, so Greed's size fits him just fine. Arrogance picked two high-necked cashmere sweaters, two ordinary long-sleeve shirts, and three vests.

Greed also bought two clothes for himself, recommended by the manager—a new item made from the wool of Chinese cashmere goats, said to be quite good. One is off-white, the other a Christmas sweater.

"Seriously, you really need to get this," Greed told Arrogance. "If you don't wear this, you won't be able to show up at the Christmas party."

Arrogance frowned, looking at the red-and-green Christmas sweater. The Christmas color scheme isn't ugly, since red and green aren't very bright. But this sweater is a very classic Christmas design: besides the red-and-green stripes as the base, there's a white reindeer pattern on the chest.

"I give this to Captain America every year," Greed said while checking the bill. "He's always liked it. So I think it should also suit your taste."

"We're not from the same era."

"Yeah, you're much older than him, La Traviata."

Arrogance ultimately didn't buy the Christmas-patterned sweater. But Greed didn't mind—after all, they're the same size, so he can wear Arrogance's piece too.

Arrogance bought two cashmere sweaters for Billy, one of which is the same style as Captain America's uniform. Billy also likes Captain America, so he can wear this shirt to go ask Steve for an autograph.

Then Greed led Arrogance to the outerwear store. Most of the items here are casual windbreakers, with some more formal wool coats. As expected, Arrogance picked two coats—one black, one gray. Meanwhile, Greed bought two camel-colored windcoats.

"You look a bit like Constantine," Arrogance said bluntly. "He loves wearing this kind of coat, and the color is exactly the same."

"Totally different," Greed said. "His belted windcoat has long been phased out. Now this streamlined style is what's in fashion."

After paying, Greed planned to go downstairs, and Arrogance asked: "Not buying suits?"

Greed, walking toward the elevator, turned back and asked: "In your impression, is the Christmas party supposed to be that kind where everyone in suits and dress shoes sits down at a long table, then starts toasting and giving speeches?"

"... Isn't it?"

"Of course not," Greed said, somewhat speechless. "Last year's Christmas party was held at Stark's estate—already quite decent and formal—but no one wore formal wear. Adults were in sweaters with casual pants, kids were a bit more flashy. We barbecued in the Stark estate's backyard, grilling meat while drinking, and the kids played in the sunset..."

"I see," Arrogance said. "Sounds warm and cozy."

"If you had shown up then in a full suit, you'd look like a fool. More importantly, within two minutes, your clothes would be covered in a bunch of little handprints made from coal ash, mud, snack crumbs, and watercolor paint."

Arrogance seemed to think of something, he laughed and said: "I should have brought Elsa over—she'd definitely love this setting."

"So they're planning to spend Christmas at the Origin Wall?"

"Of course not. Bruce and Selina should take Elsa to visit their grandparents, then host a banquet in the Battle Realm."

"Another bat banquet?"

"Not exactly. The Batmen should be going to spend the holidays with their own Robins."

"What about Bruce's Robin?"

"Jason and Tim are studying abroad, so they probably won't be back for this Christmas. Dick will go back to his parents in Bludhaven. The others are all going back to their own homes."

As they chatted, they arrived at the gift shop. Greed had prepared extra gifts for his friends; coming here was mainly to buy things kids like.

This gift shop is huge, nearly carrying all major IP figurines, models, and derivative toys. Especially Captain America—just walking in, there's a lifelike statue, a row of shields hanging on the wall, and shelves full of small figurines and flashcards. A crowd of kids chattered there, picking out their favorite gifts.

Obviously, among kids, Captain America is still the absolute popularity king. But it might also be because, aside from him, most superheroes don't grant licensing, so he naturally dominates the market.

Spider-Man, although open to photo and video licensing—meaning if you snap him in New York airspace, you can share it—doesn't grant his image licensing to any company for merchandise. Iron Man is the same—he doesn't allow any company to produce toys resembling his mecha image, and has already sued several.

This actually makes sense. Once their images become overly commercialized, licensed companies, driven by commercial needs, tend to redefine them—and such redefinition can easily be distorted. Take Captain America: he's often used as a mascot by a certain party. Some people even print politically charged phrases on his trading cards to influence children who like that image.

Steve has indeed tried to stop it. But by now, he realizes he can no longer fully control this image. Not to mention, the copyright itself lies with the military, and they'll never let go. After all these years, the public's understanding and deconstruction of this image has long surpassed what he can change. So he only warns the more extreme cases, and leaves the rest to fate.

However, Stark Industries has also made some achievements in the toy business. Howard's floating car, although it hasn't performed well in the automotive sector, has already dominated the children's toy market.

With current technology, making a real car fly isn't difficult, but the actual investment is still too high. Or perhaps, when humans designed cars, they never considered making them fly—so their shape and structure aren't suited for aircraft.

But making a toy car fly? That's much simpler—even effortless. You can even pull off all kinds of tricks: stunt flying cars, racing flying cars, display flying cars, etc. As a result, his floating car toys are hugely popular among kids, recently even co-hosted with FIA a children's flying car race, with skyrocketing viewership, and has become one of Stark Industries' highest-revenue departments.