Shiller heard from Cobblepot all about his rise to a small gang leader in the North District.
Admittedly, Cobblepot was a genius, especially in the art of power and manipulation. His plans were detailed, his mind clear, and his execution powerful. His acting skills were excellent, always able to present the right image at the right time, and then deceive everyone.
When he was with Fish, he acted as if he was at war with the invading mob bosses, like a native defender of his own territory.
But when he switched to Kevin, he started talking about Fish's inhumanities, claiming the mob bosses' turf war was supremely justified and aimed to rescue the citizens of Living Hell from extreme hardship.
Fish, of course, was very angry when she learned of his betrayal, but Cobblepot provided these mob bosses with a justifiable excuse for their looting. These bosses had to protect him and even make him a model, promoting him as much as possible. This showed that under their rule, even a weak cigarette peddler could obtain status and power, showing Fish's rule over Living Hell left no room for change.
Cobblepot made himself the exemplar these mob bosses needed to establish, not only getting his chance to step forward but also aggravating the tension between Fish and these bosses, bringing them nearly to the brink of war.
"Then what? What did you do to make Kevin start to fear you?" Shiller asked Cobblepot. Before Cobblepot could answer, Shiller added, "In your previous story, you said that Kevin was worried that you might take his place, but there is a plot hole…"
"These single-minded mob bosses rarely fret over a civilian staff. Most of them think that only a man with a gun can pose a threat, and you? Physically weak and unarmed, how could a traditional fist size-respecting mob boss like Kevin fear you for no reason?"
Cobblepot opened his mouth, but instead of answering Shiller's question, he inquired, "Why do you understand them so well?"
"Oh, I forgot to tell you…" Shiller turned around, picked up a notebook from the desk behind him as he said, "Let me see..."
"Among the current mob bosses in Living Hell, only one has no hospital records. The other five have all been patients here, including that Kevin. I saw him in the hallway…"
"Isn't this a mental hospital?" Cobblepot exclaimed.
"Do you think they don't have mental illnesses?"
Cobblepot took a deep breath; he was speechless. What Shiller said made sense. In Gotham, how could you be a mob boss without a touch of madness?
"Alright, let me keep going…"
"My goal from the beginning was to accumulate capital because even if I escaped the Godfather's control, I couldn't return to vagrancy. I can't build a mob from scratch, so I have to steal an existing one..."
"I started to win people's hearts in Kevin's gang. I used my computing ability to collect more water fee than other places without being noticed. I bought off the lower-level staff with small benefits, getting convenience, earning more money, and then bribed quite a few middle and high tiers with larger sums..."
"I didn't expect to make a move so soon, but an idiot was careless when reporting to Kevin and accidentally revealed that I had pocketed a lot of extra water fee."
"Just like you said, these mob bosses don't care about a man without a gun, but they care about money."
"Learning that I had embezzled the water fee, Kevin was very angry. He threatened to kill me. It was just due to the diversion by several high-rank members that I had bribed, that he didn't explode right away."
"But I knew I had to take action ahead of time. Kevin wouldn't tolerate me for long."
"It seems like your experience isn't rich enough." Shiller concluded, "In Gotham, don't rely on others. They can't get anything done and only bring trouble."
"I realize that now." Cobblepot responded with a cold snort.
"Still, there's no need for you to return to Fish. Couldn't you have killed Kevin yourself? You should have had plenty of chances."
"But that doesn't solve the problem."
Cobblepot's tone became slightly helpless, he said, "It's a quagmire there. Once I kill Kevin and take his place, the massive change will destabilize the gang."
"There are several other wolves waiting around. The moment there is a problem within the gang, they will swarm in and divide the turf."
"I can kill one Kevin with my wit, but I can't kill everyone. If I want to take over and stabilize the gang while intimidating them, I need external power."
"So, you went back to Fish?"
"Yes, at that time Fish was still communicable, she hadn't gone mad yet. I apologized to her and offered that I could help her liaise outside."
"At this point, Fish was still very aggressive, but her brain was clear enough. She was moved by the potential benefits. So, we started to collaborate."
The initial light in this scene came from the mirror, reflecting Cobblepot putting on a brand new suit, tying the tie, looking more and more like the mob bosses in Gotham.
His figure moved back and forth between the Munni Gang and other mobs, one moment he was passionately presenting various advice and plans to Fish, and the next, he was being friendly with Kevin.
Over the Living Hell, the slightly immature face of the Penguin Man has appeared. He stretched out his hand with several puppets hanging on a thin line from his fingers. The movement of his spirit-filled fingers made the puppets dance in this peculiar and eerie architecture, very much like a terrifying party.
"Later, I made up an excuse and lured Kevin out of the Living Hell. Fish killed him in an alley not far from there," the voice of Cobblepot again resounded.
"As we agreed, Fish stirred up the scene, tying up the bosses of other mobs, while I took advantage of this gap to take over Kevin's turf."
"What happened then?" Shiller adjusted his glasses and said to Cobblepot, "Kevin is dead, you took over his turf, everything went smoothly..."
Cobblepot shook his head, "Nothing could be further from the truth."
"I can't handle the recoil of any high-powered firearms, I can only use a handgun. I have no special talents in fighting, I can't survive by force alone."
"But the mobs in Gotham have always survived by force, especially these lower level gangs. Too many people refuse to acknowledge my position, so I have to put up with Fish. I need her to get rid of those troublemakers."
"But she became crazier and crazier, she went mad, do you understand?" Cobblepot looked at Shiller, "This woman completely lost her mind and became a monster who only knows how to inflict torture and beat others!"
"So you just have to put up with her abuse?"
"Of course not..." Cobblepot's facial muscles trembled slightly, making him look extremely sinister. "Her madness is even better. Without brains, she can only be manipulated by me."
"She keeps on beating me, but it's fine. Once she has released her madness, she will be engulfed by paranoia that everyone wants to harm her. I am the only one she can communicate with."
"I can make her kill anyone. All I have to do is quietly tell her that person betrayed her." Cobblepot sneered continuously.
In the center of the stage, Fish sat on a wooden crate, her eyes full of bloodshot veins, lips cracked, her whole person like a rigid puppet.
Cobblepot's face was full of wounds, but there was no fear in his expression. He approached Fish's ear with a cold smile and whispered name after name. Fish's arm began to tremble continuously. This madwoman had been driven mad by the paranoia in her head. She vowed to kill everyone who betrayed her.
The sound of gunfire continued, one after another. Shadows fell at Cobblepot's feet, blood flowing to his soles. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, lifted his head, his eyes filled with crazy satisfaction.
"But why did you change your strategy afterwards?"
"I didn't lie." Cobblepot looked into Shiller's eyes, "Maroni found me, even though I didn't know who he was at the time."
"He told me that before this, he had attacked a few of the godfather's properties and made an enemy of the Falcone Family; he didn't want to see the Falcone Family reform Gotham, so he wanted to sabotage the first step of the reform."
"He knew that I was controlling the tap water system in the North District, so he found me and hoped that I would poison the water source in Living Hell."
Cobblepot's tone became colder and colder, "At that time, Fish had already started to go crazy, she was running out of usefulness."
"We made a plan together: kill Fish and frame it on young Falcone."
"That doesn't make sense." Shiller asked Cobblepot, "Your goal is to be free from the control of the godfather, not to provoke him. Don't tell me you thought you could overthrow the godfather and gain freedom by doing this."
"Of course not, I'm not that stupid."
"Maroni?" Cobblepot snorted coldly from his nose. He continued, "Did he think I'd really cooperate with him? Of course not, I saw through him - he's nothing but a shameless hyena."
"We made a plan, but beyond that, I had my own set of plans."
"I guess, next, it's time to talk about you and your mother's matters, right?"
"Yes."
The curtain lifts again, and with Cobblepot's narration, the view returns to the old mansion of the Cobblepot family.
A skinny Cobblepot is panting heavily, slumped in the center of the living room, facing a scene of utter chaos.
Madam Cobblepot is holding a chair, wildly smashing it into the floor while muttering unintelligibly.
Cobblepot tries to tie up his suddenly ill mother with a rope, but Madam Cobblepot easily pushes him to the ground. Cobblepot crashes into a table, releasing a painful scream. Immediately after, Madam Cobblepot swings the chair and hits his right arm.
Cobblepot rolls around on the ground, knocking over a cabinet and scattering its contents.
Nevertheless, he struggles to his feet and thinks for a moment while half-kneeling. He stumbles into the room, fetches some sleeping pills, dodges his mother who is continuing her rampage, walks over to the living room coffee table, drops the medicine into the water, and then hides in a corner to wait.
The entire night passes until Madam Cobblepot finally recovers from her frenzied state. The exhaustion and thirst brought on by the subsiding excitement cause her to instinctively seek water, and she consumes the entire jug of water laced with sleeping pills.
After several more minutes pass and the medicine takes effect, Madam Cobblepot collapses asleep on the sofa. Only then does Cobblepot approach and drag her off the sofa.
Shiller covers his forehead and interrupts Cobblepot's account, saying, "Clearly, your mother, like you, suffers from paranoid schizophrenia… Never mind. I can't expect you to understand this."
"I can only say that what you did was essentially pointless. Even without sleeping pills, a patient will pass out due to exhaustion after their manic episode is over."
Cobblepot suddenly becomes neurotic and strains to prop himself up on the pillows, leveling his gaze with Shiller and asking, "Can this disease really be cured?"
"I said it can be," Shiller replies, pausing for a moment before adding, "But that's for you. Due to your young age, if it's your mother…"
He shakes his head and continues, "A full recovery is unlikely. She can only hope to maintain a normal life most of the time, but she still has to be hospitalized during episodes."
Looking like a weight has been lifted, Cobblepot doesn't wait for Shiller to continue and says, "As you guessed, that wasn't a kidnapping scene. Or rather, it was—I kidnapped my own mother."
"This was part of my plan. My intention was to send my mother somewhere myself and pin the blame on Maroni."
"I saved quite a bit of money and rented a new apartment. We didn't need to take anything from the old house, but my mother refused to leave…"
"A fight broke out between us, getting her increasingly agitated and eventually she spiraled into madness. I was left without any options…"
Cobblepot tightly clenches his teeth and says, "I had no idea what was wrong with her. She used to have bouts of confusion occasionally, but it never got as severe as this."
"She completely lost control and even tried to stab herself with a kitchen knife. I feared she would hurt herself, so I had no choice but to drug her into sleep and forcefully move her to the new apartment."
"Why didn't you take her to the hospital?"
"I didn't have the time," Cobblepot says, his expression grim. "My mother and I argued for an entire day, and she was in a manic state all night. I was supposed to have used this time to prepare the scene."
"The agreed time with Maroni came, so I had to execute my plan. I didn't have time to tidy up at home or treat my arm. I had to rush off…"
"Alright, so why exactly did you fabricate the lie that Maroni kidnapped your mother?"
"That was precisely my plan. I never intended to really cooperate with that weasel. Don't forget my ultimate goal—I wanted to gain freedom."
"So what was your plan?"
Suddenly, Cobblepot's tone changes and he says, "Just a few days ago, I noticed an unusual figure operating in Living Hell. Of course, I'd heard of him before. He's called… Batman."