What Bad Thoughts Can Batman Have 44

## Chapter 44: Penguin’s Night of Terror

Penguin returned to his office. His expensive hair and monocles were unscathed, just a little dusty. A few drops of blood splattered on his face, but he quickly wiped them away without a trace. He slowly sank back into his office chair.

His secretary pushed the door open and hurried into the room. Her high heels instinctively silenced themselves upon contact with the floor. She quietly walked behind Penguin and gently began massaging his shoulders.

“So…boss?” She said, “What did the Joker…want to tell you?” She originally wanted to say “what did the Joker want you to do,” but her survival instincts quickly stopped her.

“Same old, same old, Marvie,” Penguin rubbed his temples. “Another game where we wait for Batman to get involved. You know, the usual – hostages, bombs, which one to save.”

“The amusement park outside, or maybe the ACE chemical factory, who knows? The Joker always buys some out-of-the-way places. I have to say, nothing new here. I bet there’ll be piranhas there, but the hostages might be a bit heavier this time.”

Penguin sighed, took a sip from his half-finished glass of milk, and said, “Mayor Caro, you know. Just a few hours ago, I received intelligence about him leading 20,000 National Guard troops with great enthusiasm. And then? He just peed himself in front of me.”

He said sarcastically, “Like a dog.”

“But even if Caro is a dog, he’s still the mayor.” Marvie said, “Batman will have a lot to do.”

Penguin said nothing, which was considered an agreement.

He grumbled, “That damn Joker, every time he goes to someone else’s house, he always finds a reason to kill!”

But the anger quickly disappeared from Penguin’s face. Those murdered henchmen were just as worthless to him.

He said, “Go and take care of the garbage corpses the Joker killed in the restaurant. Wipe the blood clean. I don’t want any customers complaining about the red stains on the floor when the restaurant opens tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

After his secretary left, Penguin finally relaxed. To compensate for the fright he received today, he decided to eat five…no, ten more cookies.

But as he stood up to find the cookies, his gentle expression disappeared.

The reason for its disappearance was:

Someone was breathing behind him.

Just a simple inhale and exhale of air.

Penguin could even hear the sound of the air rushing past his ears.

This sudden scare made his heart skip a beat. He instinctively took a sharp breath, then forgot he was still drinking milk.

“Cough…cough…cough!”

He coughed loudly, spraying milk out of his nose, then jumped to his feet. He knew who was behind him.

In Gotham, only one person could use this level of intimidation so skillfully.

Penguin said, “Enough, Clein, whatever you’ve come to tell me, scaring me with your tricks won’t change the outcome of our chat.”

“Well, well, well, all those years and still so sharp, Cobblepot.”

Penguin turned, but there was no one behind him. He turned his forehead back to face the front and saw a tall, thin man like a bamboo pole suddenly appear on a chair in his office.

Penguin simply wiped the milk from his face and put on a familiar expression.

“Clein, my old friend, I thought you would be following the Joker’s lead, like I saw you do.”

“It’s just a temporary collaboration, Cobblepot. I don’t know when you started liking to talk empty words.”

“Ha, does the Joker know you abandoned him and came back alone?”

Scarecrow stared into Penguin’s eyes.

“The Joker and I are just partners, Cobblepot. As long as our interests don’t align, this fragile alliance will be broken at any moment.”

“Yes, you’re right, I completely understand.”

Seeing Penguin’s threat dissipate, Scarecrow got straight to the point, stating his purpose: “I’m here about Bane.”

He said, “He’s a pretty terrifying guy, and we can both see that he’s been the mastermind behind everything lately.”

“I don’t doubt Batman’s ability to stop him, but I think this is a good opportunity to settle everything – as long as we can unite all of Arkham.”

It took Penguin a long time to keep the milk from spraying out of his nose again because of this plan.

He replied, “As a friend, Clein, I think trying to intimidate any of our colleagues will only have the opposite effect.”

“And it’s already hard enough to keep these lunatics in line, and you’re pouring fuel on the fire, taking them on a big job?”

“So then what, just watch Batman defeat that Bane? Let Batman once again do everything he can to control all of Gotham?”

Penguin clicked his tongue.

“Then you should do the work you’ve made for yourself, go stop everyone.”

“Bane, Batman, and those disobedient colleagues, you can try to take them all down by yourself, fulfilling your ambition.”

Penguin said, “If you just want a piece of land in Gotham, I can give you one anytime. But you want the Arkham people to listen to you? What are you going to use to control them?”

Penguin said, “Money, loyalty, or mercy? Or the belief of taking or defending this city, fighting for this city?”

Penguin shook his head.

“My ancestor Nathan Cobblepot protected Gotham during the Civil War. People like him, someone who had nothing compared to you, would never cry like a woman when fighting for his city.”

“But unfortunately, this kind of integrity only exists in books, and running away is the nature of Arkham people. You’re as crazy as the Joker, you Halloween-dressed fool.”

“External force.” Scarecrow, who hadn’t spoken until now, said, “External force. Otherwise, why do you think I hang out with the Joker?”

…

…

…

Bruce Wayne silently withdrew his attention from the Alfred Protocol. The transformation abilities it provided him did not need to be realized immediately. He had plenty of time to study them slowly.

“We should go back,” he said to everyone present.

“…”

“So when did I become your subordinate?” Poison Ivy looked at the Ventriloquist, then at Cheshire Cat, and then at Deadshot, who was helping Harley Quinn up from the ground.

She kicked Deadshot away. “Get out! Only I can help Harley up!”

“That’s why you’re going with us,” Bruce Wayne said.

Then he ignored everyone and called Alfred.

Three minutes later, he and Alfred were sitting in the seats of the invisible plane.

“Alfred, help me contact Lucius,” he said.

The Joker’s Laughing Gas infection and his distorted smile made Bruce Wayne feel the presence of something… something he had already envisioned before… and he had to add it to the manufacturing schedule. He also had plans to continue recruiting usable combat forces…

He had a lot to do, a lot of plans to move forward.

(End of Chapter)

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