Black Mask closed his eyes, silently listening to the recording.

Once the recording finished, it started playing again after a few seconds.

Joseph’s repulsive, fat voice reemerged, sounding numb. “I never expected…” The capture of Joseph last night was lightning-fast; the process from arrest to interrogation was completed in just one afternoon. Black Mask didn’t have time to react. He had sent his men for two assassination attempts, but the former warden had already been sent to Blackgate Prison.

Inside Blackgate, news came from Black Mask’s contacts; the former warden was being interrogated by the current warden and was unreachable. By dawn, the interrogation details were already leaked online.

All these actions had unfolded too quickly. Black Mask, his eyes still closed and smoking a cigar, envisioned the woman, “Bella Bettywen.”

“How arrogant,” he muttered, stroking his face and grinding his teeth in anger.

His face itself was a terrifying black mask, permanently affixed to his skin due to an accident in a battle with Batman.

The power structure of his organization, the Mask Society, involved giving special masks to higher-ups as symbols of their rank. He remembered issuing a mask once.

Named “The Faceless,” this mask was pure white, covered in ugly brown cracks, resembling a face split open and bleeding.

The owner of this mask was named “Shelk Banorlov.”

Born in Crime Alley, just like Millie who went to school with Catwoman’s support and found a way out, what about Shelk? He joined Black Mask’s ranks at a young age. Black Mask saw his ambition and wit. Given the chance, Shelk would ruthlessly climb the ranks. Indeed, had it not been for the Council’s intervention, Shelk would now be the Deputy Mayor.

Even as Shelk seemed wholly dedicated to the Mayor, Black Mask believed it to be a façade. If Black Mask ever lost power, even this unloyal wolf would not hesitate to turn on him.

Shelk had already gained control over the Eastern District, and it was said he was altering many vital documents, leaving the Mayor nearly powerless.

“The Court of Owls…” Black Mask pondered, “It’s said they have the power to resurrect the dead. It looks like that woman was protected by the Court and didn’t die.”

In that case, it was best to let Shelk continue gathering information. Black Mask decided not to move against the Mayor for now.

However, with the Mayor’s inactivity, a troublesome police officer, Bella Bettywen, emerged, even becoming the prison warden in just four days.

Black Mask, who had facilitated Joseph’s rise, was shocked: Was it that easy to become the warden of Blackgate?

“Not now…” For his goals, he couldn’t start a war with the Court just yet. A little more patience was needed. “I won’t touch the female Mayor for now, but she has to pay the price.”

Thinking about the drug THE5 he possessed, Black Mask suppressed his irritation.

Unable to act against the Mayor, he decided to eliminate Bella Bettywen and throw her head into City Hall—

He wondered how the Mayor would react upon seeing the head of her subordinate… perhaps her lover?

He said, “Find Slade. Tell him my target has changed, and—”

Black Mask licked his upper lip, revealing a bloody smile: “Bring back Bettywen’s body!”

Previously, Deadshot, that useless man, hadn’t brought back bodies. This time, although Bettywen’s chances of revival were slim, it was better to be safe and bring back the body.

The “Slade” he referred to was Slade Wilson, commonly known as “Deathstroke.” A former soldier who became a top-tier mercenary after being injected with a special serum, Deathstroke was one of the world’s most elite mercenaries. Black Mask was confident he wouldn’t repeat Deadshot’s failures.

While Black Mask plotted against Bettywen, he was unaware that the warden herself was assessing her assets.

Before Vivi stood Penguin, Deadshot, and Killer Croc.

Of course, she was still in Blackgate, wearing a friendly smile, discussing a collaboration with them.

How did this situation come about?

Initially, Vivi thought about Penguin, who had been imprisoned for ten days. Did he regret… no, how was his life there? The newly appointed warden wanted to take good care of him.

Then she called Penguin to her office for a chat.

Joseph, the former warden, enjoyed a comfortable life. His spacious office connected directly to a small helipad and private helicopter for quick escapes during riots.

Penguin arrived carrying a wrench and a hammer, having just been repairing the sewage system.

Under orders from Mr. C, Penguin had only three directives: confess his crimes, serve as directed, and be a snitch in prison. Controlled by the contract, he had no choice but to comply.

However, due to the second directive, Penguin couldn’t use his intelligence to gather information, as he needed manpower. Even if he managed to gather followers, a guy always called to scrub toilets by guards couldn’t command respect.

Any small-time boss knows how to make others do their work!

Discovering that Penguin neither avoided work nor deviated from his prison sentence, he quickly became the target of bullying. Despite finding other ways to retaliate, he couldn’t establish any respect among prisoners—respect in prison is earned by defying guards!

But Penguin, who climbed from the bottom to a high position, knew how to survive as a small fry. He soon found another way, ingratiating himself with the guards, slightly improving his life.

In these ten days, Penguin finally settled a bit, sending out information about the prison’s power structure despite the difficult circumstances, due to Mr. C’s contract.

Then, as Penguin was about to contact the warden and deputy warden (as per Mr. C’s request), he found out the deputy warden had been ousted

Then, a day later, the new Deputy Warden became the Warden, and the former Warden became a prisoner.

Penguin: “…”

What else could he do? Changing people didn’t change the fact that work needed to be done.

So, when the new Warden called him, Penguin was actually pleased. He had to continue his work of gathering intelligence and then send it to the “Mayor’s Mailbox.”

Coincidentally, the new Warden seemed also interested in the information about both inside and outside the prison.

Penguin intentionally ingratiated himself, and Vivi, the new Warden, purposefully asked questions, creating a harmonious atmosphere between them.

“So, Roman Sionis is quite wealthy…” Black Mask, whose real name is Roman Sionis, was the topic of Vivi’s inquiry to Penguin. She quickly learned from him that Black Mask was not only a gang boss but also controlled Gotham’s steel industry and even owned a bank. After hearing his name, Vivi realized that her own Iceberg Pharmaceuticals had previously purchased materials from Roman’s company, and Shelk was in charge of the chemical work.

Comparing prices, she realized that Shelk had successfully obtained them at cost price.

Vivi was astonished!

However, Penguin had never directly confronted Black Mask; their interactions had been limited to business dealings and minor conflicts. So, she asked Penguin to stay put and had the guards bring in Deadshot.

After all, Deadshot was sent by Black Mask to assassinate the Mayor and must have encountered him in person.

When Deadshot arrived, he was still holding a brush, as he had been cleaning the floor earlier.

He confessed that he was just doing a job for money. Although he had indeed encountered Black Mask, it didn’t mean they had any deep interactions… He was a mercenary and wouldn’t fight Black Mask after getting paid.

“But, my mission failed,” Deadshot said calmly, “and Black Mask won’t let it go. He’ll surely send another assassin, and there aren’t many more skilled than me.”

Despite his reluctance, Deadshot mentioned the name he thought most likely – Deathstroke.

Vivi pondered and told Deadshot to stay put as well; she needed to call another person.

Killer Croc was dragged in by several guards. He had been kept underground and disliked coming to the surface.

After the experiment that turned him into this upright crocodile, Killer Croc had killed many people – both bad and good. Vivi, while checking the records, found out that Killer Croc had also worked for Black Mask, or rather, cooperated with him. His only aim was to confront Batman.

Batman… Are you actually a lady-killer?

Vivi suddenly thought of Shelk’s message from earlier in the day, mentioning that Bruce wanted to buy the dismounted Bat-Signal. Considering how Bruce always posted Batman-hating comments on social media, yet provided financial support to the Justice League and now wanted the Bat-Signal—

Wayne, you’re actually a tsundere, aren’t you!

But considering his latest investment in the Eastern District’s construction, Vivi decided not to expose this.

After all, anyone who pays is a VIP. What does it matter? The Bat-Signal is just a cover for a 1.5 million gold coin charity donation!

The construction of the Eastern District is a money-burning pit. For now, they have sufficient funds, but it will run out eventually. Vivi figured Sionis Industries, owned by Black Mask, wouldn’t mind contributing a little bit… maybe their entire fortune, to the beloved city of Gotham?

The office was now crowded with Penguin, Deadshot, Killer Croc, and Vivi. However, she didn’t want them to leave just yet. Considering the prison environment, they were all living quite comfortably, doing mundane tasks like plumbing and cleaning. It was all too leisurely!

Since she couldn’t execute the criminals right away, she needed to extract other values from them.

“The prison’s budget is tight, so I’ve decided to adjust the cell arrangements,” she said. “Why don’t you three start as a pilot program and share a cell?”

Killer Croc laughed, but the other two couldn’t find the humor.

Penguin chuckled nervously: “You’re not serious, are you?”

Deadshot was more straightforward: “Is this some new form of execution?”

Vivi waved her hand: “Just combining your cells with a fence in between. I hope you get along.”

She wasn’t asking, she was serious.

If they could actually live next to each other with a fence between them, Vivi planned to form a team to counter Black Mask. She already had people in hand, so why get her hands dirty?

Dick, the small policeman, had also gotten involved with Black Mask. Vivi decided to send him a message, telling him not to act rashly and wait to see if this ‘animal killer’ team could be of use.

But Vivi didn’t know that Black Mask had similar thoughts, and Deathstroke had already started his move.

Deathstroke Slade, as one of the world’s strongest assassins, decided to investigate “Bella Bettywen” first, then sneak into Blackgate Prison.

He assumed Bella herself wouldn’t leave the heavily guarded prison for now.

After purchasing a bunch of sensational content about the Warden and the Mayor from a gossip bar, he casually pinned the informant to the wall and then sneaked into the Warden’s house in the old district.

As he habitually climbed through a window, an arrow shot out automatically. Deathstroke split the arrow and, stepping on the carpet, noticed the odd sensation underfoot – a mini-triggered grenade hidden underneath.

Deathstroke thought, “?”

But with his experience, he quickly disposed of the grenade, although it left a big hole in the floor. He then decided to move along the ceiling, skillfully dodging lasers that cut through the wall, revealing dark brown bloodstains.

He began to sense something was off… Was this really the home of the righteous and brave rising star of the police?

Clinging to the ceiling, he scoured the room and soon focused on a suspicious freezer in the kitchen.

The drag marks beneath it indicated it had been recently brought into the house.