Vivi had to admit, Penguin was excellent at maneuvering.

Using one form of cunning to counter another, she successfully had Penguin take over Black Mask’s empire. With Roman Sionis himself gone from the picture, his organization was leaderless, and Penguin, being one of Gotham’s shrewdest businessmen, was the perfect candidate to dismantle it from a business standpoint.

Over the phone, in his usual sycophantic tone, Penguin listed out what Vivi had acquired:

Sionis Steelworks, Sionis Pharmaceuticals, and some of Roman Sionis’ personal assets. The only thing Penguin failed to secure was the bank owned by Sionis, as it had multiple stakeholders, and targeting it would mean clashing with other influential shareholders.

Even so, these acquisitions had drastically increased Vivi’s fixed assets.

After completing this task, Penguin somehow got wind of what had been happening to his “former colleagues” at Blackgate Prison. Reflecting on his predicament—mainly the fact that his soul was no longer his own—he resolved to align himself fully with Vivi.

Born into the Cobblepot family, Penguin had always been an outsider due to his appearance and stature. His lifelong goal was to be respected, and when wealth couldn’t command respect, he turned to fear. A lawful-evil businessman through and through, Penguin’s every action was a step up the ladder, indifferent to how many innocent lives were crushed beneath his feet.

Had Mayor Alek not descended into his world, Penguin’s ultimate ambition would have been to run for office and become Gotham’s mayor through an election.

Now, even maintaining a normal life seemed impossible.

So, he made peace with his situation: becoming Mr. C’s lapdog wasn’t the worst option.

After all, wasn’t the mayor herself also one of C’s loyal pets?

“Cooperation? Hardly,” he mused. “Those with extraordinary power only collaborate with their equals. Alek couldn’t possibly control Mr. C. She’s more likely his puppet than his partner.”

Using his network of birds to gather intelligence, Penguin cross-referenced television footage and reports, confirming the identity of the girl frequently seen beside Alek during key events. The information he’d collected from Violin verified it: Vivi White was Mr. C’s most cherished child.

—And she was a little girl who enjoyed playing hero.

“By the way, I have something else to report directly to you,” Penguin added, his tone dripping with servility. “It concerns Gotham’s safety and comes from your most loyal servant, Oswald.”

Sure enough, on the other end of the call, Vivi listened to his report without any hint of reproach. “All right,” she said. “I’ll come take a look.”

She quickly ensured that her smaller persona had delegated the task of transplanting roses and planting roadside trees to Ivy, advising her to alter her appearance to avoid alarming anyone. She introduced Ivy to the head of logistics, presenting him as an out-of-town botanical expert.

With logistics in Ivy’s capable hands, Vivi’s smaller persona returned to the prison while her mayoral role took center stage.

Penguin wanted to talk? Fine.

…

Sionis Pharmaceuticals.

Shelk was busy overseeing the secretarial team and organizing files. The financial department and secretarial staff at City Hall were swamped, working to clean out the company’s top brass and push out Black Mask’s people using methods that skirted legality. A formal takeover was still a few days away.

Meanwhile, Penguin sipped a glass of red wine, leisurely pouring another for Shelk.

“Mr. Banorlov? Won’t you have a drink to celebrate?”

Shelk glared coldly at him.

“Banorlov?” Penguin picked up a file from the desk. “Funny, one of this company’s shareholders is also named Banorlov, isn’t that right, Mr. Illegitimate Banorlov?”

Shelk, born in Crime Alley, was the product of a prostitute’s liaison with one of Black Mask’s lieutenants. His mother had schemed to extort money from the lieutenant but ended up brutally murdered.

Orphaned, he was raised on the streets and eventually recruited by Black Mask’s gang. His talents were soon recognized, and he climbed the ranks, even surpassing his biological father. In the “Mask Society,” not every member was gifted a mask by Black Mask himself.

Years ago, Shelk couldn’t have imagined himself dismantling Black Mask’s empire, much less handing over the spoils to a woman like Anna Alek.

Anna Alek. Shelk knew her well enough to realize she wouldn’t let him walk away with a happy ending.

But did that even matter?

The office door swung open, and everyone stepped aside. Shadows flickered across the glass as someone pushed the door open and entered. Now, four people were inside the boardroom.

Shelk paused, nodding respectfully toward Mayor Alek. His gaze, however, lingered on the girl she held by the hand.

Anna Alek never explained the girl’s presence, but whenever the child was around, Anna’s favouritism was palpable.

The simplest indication? Physical contact.

Their appearances couldn’t have been more different.

Penguin stood up as well, smiling broadly as he nodded to Vivi, and treated Mayor Alek with the utmost politeness. However, his subtle shift in tone between the two women was telling—this man was a consummate politician.

Vivi scanned the lounge and had her alternate persona take the head seat. “Cobblepot, why don’t you sit in the lounge for a while? Shelk, didn’t you have something to report?”

After giving her instructions, Vivi smiled sweetly and waved her hand before Penguin could object, taking the lead and heading toward the lounge.

Now, Shelk would report to the mayor, while Penguin shared his secrets with Vivi. She was curious to see what he had to say.

In the Lounge

“Miss Vivi…” Penguin began eagerly.

Vivi took a step back, avoiding his overly enthusiastic gestures. Her expression turned cold—managing dual roles left little room for nuance. “Get to the point!”

In the Office

Meanwhile, Shelk lowered his head as he meticulously reported to the mayor how they had strong-armed the shareholders, exploiting their vulnerabilities and using a series of coercive tactics that couldn’t be shared with outsiders. However, as he spoke, he noticed the mayor’s indifferent expression.

It was as if she already knew.

Shelk privately suspected she was omniscient.

The mayor’s growing retinue—most notably the New Council—excluded Shelk entirely, leaving him with a growing sense of unease. He knew he was spared in the past for his talents, much as Black Mask had once valued him. But deep down, he feared the day he would become irrelevant.

“Ms. Alek,” Shelk ventured cautiously, “relying on criminals to work for you is dangerous. We could find a way to transfer them to other cities’ prisons—ones that still enforce the death penalty. It would only require altering their criminal records to make it legal.”

Back in the Lounge

“Miss Vivi,” Penguin said, “I can extract even more value from these criminals. Many of my men are excellent managers, and under my leadership, they’ll be fiercely loyal, serving both you and the esteemed gentleman behind you.”

Vivi listened to Penguin’s pitch with a faint smile. “Anything else to add?”

Penguin hesitated, taken aback by her reaction, but then began to stammer. Before he could continue, Vivi cut him off:

“I own your soul, Cobblepot. If I needed you to work for me, I wouldn’t have sent your people to prison in the first place.” Vivi’s smile was sharp. “If your gang were still intact, I could have extracted even greater wealth. I sent you to prison because you deserve it.”

She stood, closing the distance between them until they were eye to eye. “Oswald Cobblepot, you committed crimes, and so you must serve your sentence. No leniency. No alternatives. Criminals belong in prison. That’s the natural order. Even if you want to work for me now, you must never forget—you are a criminal.”

Once Gotham’s legal system reinstated the death penalty, she intended to deliver each of these criminals a bullet with their name on it.

In the Office

The mayor remained silent as Shelk spoke. Finally, he muttered, “If only Batman could just kill these criminals…”

“Batman doesn’t kill because it would make him one of them,” the mayor replied evenly. “Nor is it the responsibility of other cities to handle Gotham’s problems. It’s mine.”

She stood and dismissed him. “Continue with the work. Collaborate with other departments to ensure my directives are carried out.”

Her tone made it clear the discussion was over.

Back in the Lounge

As Vivi moved to leave, Penguin quickly stepped forward, blocking the door. “Wait, Miss, there’s one more thing I must tell you.”

He closed the door behind him and lowered his voice. “The real source of Black Mask’s wealth wasn’t his legitimate businesses—it was his drug trade!”

Through the Wall

Meanwhile, in the office, Shelk stopped the mayor before she could leave. “Black Mask controlled Gotham’s black market drug trade for years,” he explained.

In the Lounge

“Black Mask’s drug operation was far larger than mine ever was,” Penguin continued, lowering his voice. “His supply lines are deeply hidden, and we couldn’t find them, but he’s always had ties to manufacturing facilities…”

In the Office

Shelk added, “Penguin might know something. After all, he’s worked with Black Mask before. We haven’t found Black Mask’s real drug labs. The pharmaceutical company produced some, but large-scale production must be hidden elsewhere—”

In the Lounge

“Your secretary, Shelk Banorlov, his biological father was one of Black Mask’s men,” Penguin sneered. “He must know more than he lets on. Black Mask also supplied drugs to other cities and even overseas. If we had solid evidence, we could arrange for him to be extradited and executed abroad—”

In the Office

Shelk glared. “I suggest interrogating Penguin.”

Simultaneously

Penguin: “That little bastard Shelk Banorlov is definitely suspicious!”

Vivi & Her Alternate Persona: “…”

How about you two just fight it out first?