Honestly, this city is indeed prosperous. A metropolis with a population of 12 million is no small feat. Without a sufficiently prosperous economy and developed transportation, it would be difficult to gather such a large population. Furthermore, the Wayne Group is involved in almost every industry in this city.
Similarly, there are still many poor people in this city, especially in the old city, which can be described as a giant slum, like two different worlds compared to the new city.
Donnie walked onto the street, wandered around, and finally turned into a dark alley. A sneaky figure had already caught up with him, staring at the unfamiliar face with a fierce look.
"Kid, this is a robbery, give me your money!" A red-haired young man skillfully took out a pistol and pulled the safety. He was in a good mood because he had received business early in the morning, and his food money for the next few days was secure.
Robbery is also a business that requires the most basic eyesight. If you offend someone you shouldn't offend, even death would be a happy thing.
Gotham City lacks everything, but the one thing it lacks most is a variety of large-scale gangs. Some of these gangs even the government fears. For example, Falcone, who was previously defeated by Batman, is a gang leader, even more powerful than New York City's underworld king, the Kingpin, and controls all of Gotham's political circles. Another example is the current Falcon crime family, a criminal group formed by a group of underworld bosses. Needless to say, their operations are very shady.
The red-haired young man has been making a living on this street for many years. He was very sure that this well-dressed young man was a stranger, and he had not heard of any new members joining the Falken crime family recently.
"You want to rob me?! Are you sure?" Donny looked curious. This was the first time someone jumped out to rob him.
"Don't worry, kid. I'll rob you today, but I won't rob you tomorrow. We Gothamites are just that simple and honest, and we're famous for that the world over." The red-haired young man felt relieved when he heard Donny's New York accent. He was an outsider, so it would be a shame if I didn't rob you.
Donnie was both amused and confused. From the tone of the young man, it seemed as if he should thank him.
"You picked the wrong person to rob me."
When the red-haired young man realized something was wrong, Donnie had already taken action. He punched the young man in the stomach with ghostly speed, and then snatched the other's pistol.
The young man covered his stomach and knelt on the ground wailing in pain.
"You want to rob me with such a toy?" Donny muttered, and quickly disassembled the gun into parts.
He didn't care who he offended. Optimus Prime had been brought here on the luxury cruise ship and was currently docked at the port. At worst, he could just drive Optimus Prime over for a massive slaughter. If that didn't work, he'd just frantically convert Gotham City's vehicles and overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers.
The red-haired young man's face was gloomy, his eyes hollow. Damn, today had a bad start. His first business deal had already been a ruthless one. He was so unlucky. Why was Anderson so unlucky?
"Tell me, who are you? Which gang do you belong to? How much do you know about this city?" Donnie narrowed his eyes, grabbed the young man's hair, and lifted him up despite his screams of pain.
To deal with these gang members, you have to be ruthless. In this line of work, before you can make someone admire you, you have to make sure they fear you. Fear and panic are the foundation, and admiration is something you focus on later.
"Anderson! My name is Anderson. I'm the 'rat' on this street. Many people know me." Anderson was in so much pain that tears were about to come out. He waved his arms in panic.
"Rat" is a slang term for gang members without any affiliation or faction. Like a rat, they are both insignificant and resourceful. This surprised Donny. How did a small gangster with no backing survive in this dark city?
As if noticing Donnie's confusion, Anderson quickly explained, "I work during the day, unlike everyone else."
Donny suddenly realized that apart from the big guys like the Falken crime family, only those vagrants were keen on activities during the day.
The former is not afraid of official power and acts unscrupulously; the latter runs a small business and will not easily hurt or kill people, and also avoids encountering top criminals at night.
"I, Anderson, have been a Gotham native since I was a child. I'm familiar with every corner of this city! Please let me go! My mother is sick at home, my wife is giving birth in the hospital, and my father's body needs to be burned at the crematorium..."
Bang!
A handful of US dollars fell on Anderson's head and scattered all over the floor. Anderson swore to his deceased mother and non-existent wife that he had never seen so much money in his life. Usually, he could only rob a few hundred dollars at best!
"Listen, I don't care what the situation is at your home, but I want you to do something for me. Since you dare to call yourself a 'rat', I hope you have real skills and you have to help me find out something. But if you fail to do it or dare to lie to me, I will kill you. Not only you, but I will also find out and visit your remaining relatives one by one." Donny threatened him with a gloomy face. He couldn't be nice to such a person. "You don't need to know who I am, and don't ask. I will wait for you here in three days. If you satisfy me by then, I will give you three times the price! You have to help me find out..."
A few minutes later, Donnie emerged from the alleyway nonchalantly, his hands in his pockets, as if he had just taken a tour. As he was leaving, he suddenly looked up, stared at the quietly rotating camera, laughed contemptuously, and then shot it open without hesitation.
More than ten minutes later, Anderson, with his pockets bulging, came out of the alley, pretending nothing had happened, and hurried into the crowd.
Donny's expression was indeed somewhat gloomy, a hint of anger. He was just out for a stroll, and someone was watching him through the street cameras. Did they really think he wouldn't dare kill anyone? Who was it? Bruce? Falcon? The local police?
Tony walked on the street with a gloomy face. Passers-by avoided Tony as if he were the plague god. Was he another dangerous person?
In a dark basement not far from Donnie, a figure was trembling slightly. This trembling had a specific rhythm, and it seemed that it was not caused by fear, but more by some kind of madness.
"Hey, this guy, hehehe... should I kill him or not? No, no, no, that's not right. I should kill Batman! Hehehehahahahahaha... I should kill the most annoying guy... How hypocritical!"
The figure facing the wall kept talking to himself from time to time. He held a pile of playing cards in his hand. The strange thing was that every card had a joker-like joker, with no other numbers.
In the dark basement, the lights flickered, sometimes bright, sometimes dim, and everything in the basement seemed to be dancing in the shadows. Sometimes he was silent, and sometimes he let out a creepy laugh that echoed repeatedly in the basement.
"Hehehehahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha..."