章 3032: Chapter 2188: Battle of the Twin Cities! (29)_1
But it simply doesn't add up. If Mayor Penguin Man is so slow and unintelligent, how did he become mayor in the first place?
It's been said before, Batman drew a line for the Penguin Man. They both have an unspoken agreement. Batman knows that among the many crazies in Gotham, Penguin Man is relatively harmless. As long as he doesn't step out of line, they can even cooperate.
But if Penguin Man crosses that line, trying to touch the real power core of Gotham, Batman would surely strike hard.
Penguin Man has tried before, but who is Batman? Any minor disturbance can't escape Batman's eye. No matter how hard Penguin Man racked his brain to weave convoluted schemes, he could never progress an inch.
And if he couldn't succeed, and another Penguin Man did, it means that this Penguin Man must considerably surpass him. To have the audacity to confront Batman, winning from a mob boss's position, how could he be a fool?
The Prime Universe Penguin Man doesn't believe in the impossible, so he investigated an assassination case involving the mayor once more, and things got even more outrageous.
This time, Penguin Man's target was a female judge and a legal expert from a party opposing Penguin Man's. Her campaign made some measures against Penguin Man, so she was kidnapped and assassinated by him.
Right, kidnapped and then assassinated. Initially, Penguin Man thought he would see a gore execution video, but he found a mysterious link in the comments section of Gotham Daily's website.
Penguin Man already had a bad feeling, but he still clicked on it. He did see a video, just not an execution one, but one with some rather indescribable pornographic content.
The weirdest part was, the female lead in the video was the female judge, and she seemed hardly forced, even enjoying it.
It's not a place to judge; maybe she had some coerced hobbies, and it was fulfilling her wishes.
But the male lead... Penguin Man thought he looked just like Emperor Penguin.
Emperor Penguin was like Penguin Man's Robin, a boy Penguin Man had once helped, and his most loyal and capable subordinate.
Unlike Oswald Kolbott, who was born into the upper class, Emperor Penguin was familiar with the rules of Gotham's lower class. He managed well amongst the populace and had unique strategies, always able to turn the tide for Penguin Man at crucial moments.
Emperor Penguin and Penguin Man have been together for many years, and Penguin Man knew him quite well. Even though his face wasn't shown in the video, by observing some habits, Penguin Man could tell the male lead was probably his reliable assistant Emperor Penguin.
The Prime Universe's Penguin Man called Emperor Penguin back. When Emperor Penguin saw the video, he was dumbfounded. He couldn't not recognize himself, could he?
So, the problem was, Penguin Man's political enemy and his most trusted subordinate fell into bed together, even filmed it, and the video had been leaked. What on earth was Penguin Man doing?
Penguin Man knew he didn't have any unique interests in that area, but such a video could be a devastating blow to his reputation and power, couldn't it?
Your yelling and screaming political enemy sleeping with your closest assistant isn't that an indication that you lack the power to defeat your enemy, control your assistant, and they filmed and released it, isn't that showing your impotence on either of them?
Penguin Man dared not even think about the great harm this would do to his reputation.
Even if he didn't consider it from the perspective of a mayor or mob boss, but just as a man, your best buddy slept with the woman who just stabbed you in the back. They even intentionally filmed it. How could he tolerate it? Why didn't he go become a Ninja Turtle?
Yet, Mayor Penguin made no moves. Even in the following week's reports, Emperor Penguin frequently appeared at his side.
It can't be possible he didn't notice, could it???
Penguin Man was utterly baffled. The video link was in the comment section underneath news reports, not some secret link. Anyone could watch it with a click. Did Mayor Penguin Man just not watch any factual reporting about himself?
Even if he was too busy as a mayor to watch the news, hadn't anyone around him informed him?
So, does it mean that besides Emperor Penguin, no one on his side was communicative, and everyone else was not on his side? They were even gloating.
Penguin Man indeed thought this was too absurd. This kind of speculation could only appear in an illusion if he mistakenly took the wrong pill during his stay at Arkham Asylum.
Because there's an insurmountable problem: If it's true, then how did Penguin Man become mayor despite Batman's interference?
Did Batman not interfere with Penguin Man becoming mayor?
When Penguin Man considered the possibility, he almost laughed. He was more likely to believe that Mayor Penguin Man was Superman in disguise, rather than think Batman would abstain from interfering in the mayoral election.
Batman and his Arkham Fan Club have a subtle understanding built over years of struggle. They all know where their boundaries lie. Gotham is Batman's Gotham, and any interference or encroachment on Batman's jurisdiction over Gotham is crossing a red line.
Of course, Batman would interfere. But if Penguin Man successfully becomes mayor, it means he has defeated Batman. However, the Penguin Man of the Prime Universe looked left and right, up and down, and did not see any spark of brilliance in this counterpart.
The information he then uncovered left him speechless. At this point, the two cities had merged, and Penguin Man was powerless against a super-powered criminal hired by a mob boss named Kingpin.
And Penguin Man's way of dealing with it was to hire - not assign - James Gordon to arrest the super-powered criminal.
The Penguin Man from the Prime Universe felt like he needed oxygen by this point.
You're the mayor!! You're the mayor of Gotham City!! Use your power against the shady mob boss!!
Indeed, all the chaos wrought by his hired super-powered criminals was on your shady assets. But if you don't talk about these shady industries, who can dig up any evidence of your guilt from the ruins?
Since it's all destroyed anyway, if you say it is what it is – like a drug factory – simply argue that it was a responsible local enterprise providing twenty thousand jobs. Who could argue otherwise? Who has evidence against it?
When the time comes, send a few reporters to interview at the ruins. If a jobless mother of three starts crying with her kid in arms and the Governor of New Jersey doesn't step out to hold a press conference demanding punishment for the offender, he might as well resign his governorship.
At this point, Gotham Police Department will welcome with open arms all your men and weapons. The more you supply, the more you'll be seen as a caring mayor. The faster you supply, the more you'll be seen as a steadfast partner against terror.
And as for whether the Gotham Police Department is on your side, you're already the mayor, aren't the mob and police all your subordinates?
I'll say it again, U.S. police are the enforcers of the US upper-class society. They are only responsible to government agencies. Even if Gordon had three heads and six arms, he would still have to answer to the mayor.
Even now, you could hold a press conference to accuse James Gordon of gross dereliction of duty for not maintaining the safety of his jurisdiction, revoke his position on the spot, or even take him to court. Gordon wouldn't dare object because that's his job, and he indeed hasn't done it.
And what was Mayor Penguin Man doing? He was secretly calling Gordon, asking him to investigate in secret. The two acted as if they were guilty of something, with weapons and personnel covertly allocated. One dared to ask in secret and one dared to provide in secret.
Penguin Man couldn't understand: what are they feeling guilty about?
Who is the terrorist who committed six major crimes within three days? And who are the representatives of this city's order and justice – the mayor and the police chief?
Even if you are outmatched in terms of military capability, you have people on your side. Although the Federal Bureau of Investigation can't interfere directly, for the sake of their reputation, they must issue a verbal condemnation. While Congress might not take it seriously, politicians craving votes must come out and cry over the issue.
By that time, Gotham City and its mayor are the bona fide victims. All news programs will clear their airtime to cover Penguin Man leading the city government officials, and Gordon leading the police chiefs to take turns crying. Wouldn't this result in a huge increase in next year's security expenditure and policy tilt?
The Penguin Man from the Prime Universe, sitting in the office of Arkham Insane Asylum, combed through the news from that period over and over again. Not once did he see any message from the mayor, let alone a press conference to explain the situation.
It seemed as if it were a common occurrence for a super criminal to blow up six major city facilities in a single day.
True, for Gotham, this isn't considered a major disaster, but the rest of the world have a standard concept of judgement when it comes to disasters. Isn't this obvious extortion?
As Penguin Man read these investigative documents, his anger rose imperceptibly.
He dared not even imagine, after two weeks of full-fledged media assault, how much congressional funding, donations, and reputation-threatening dark money he could reel in. After gulping down all these resources, he'd be a jovial fat cat.
The most outrageous part was, despite Mayor Penguin Man's incompetent maneuvering, he managed to take it all.
All of his troubles were mysteriously solved. The mob boss named Kingpin was targeted by S.H.I.E.L.D. and dared not show his face, politicians and celebrities who might threaten his election were suddenly tied up with their own problems. It was like a race where nine seeded candidates trip over their own feet and fall right off the track, leaving the slowest straggler to take the championship.
Penguin Man was totally perplexed. What happened to the more you try, the luckier you get? I've been spinning my umbrella like mad every day, and I didn't even manage to become a candidate, let alone the mayor. Why?
With this mindset, Penguin Man began to analyze closely, and as he did so, he discovered even more incredulities.
Never mind the rest, don't you dare tell me that the character who fell into a garbage can from the second floor while chasing a mob minion is Batman. Even less plausible is the idea that the mob minion being chased by Batman was the assassin Penguin Man initially sent to kill Mr. and Mrs. Wayne?!
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