After Red Hood finished speaking, he single-handedly lifted the unconscious Dick and, after a few leaps, disappeared from the theater like a flash.
After he left, Penguin's expression instantly vanished; he turned his head expressionlessly to look at the trembling actors on the stage, especially the male actor playing Edmond Dantès.
"You, come here," Penguin said faintly.
The male actor walked tremblingly to him.
Penguin suddenly exploded, his hands clamping tightly around the actor's neck, making the actor's eyes almost pop out.
"How can Edmond Dantès scream like a woman! You cowardly trash! Useless!"
At this moment, Penguin's bloated body suddenly bulged with sharply defined muscle lines, especially the biceps on his arms, tearing his expensive suit with a "rip" sound.
The male actor didn't last long before his body went limp and he lost his life.
The other actors on stage huddled together in terror, and Penguin's cold eyes swept over them; no one dared to meet his gaze.
He sneered, threw the corpse aside, picked up his black umbrella again, and then sauntered out of the theater.
Outside the theater, his other associates were waiting for him.
Seeing him come out, Scarecrow immediately asked: "How did your discussion go?"
Penguin was beaming with joy: "Very successful, unexpectedly successful. He is willing to cooperate with us, but unfortunately, he is unwilling to accept our arrangements."
"That's normal," Two-Face said from the side, "He and Batman are both very cautious people. I imagine he'll find a way to get in."
Penguin and his group did indeed differ in opinion from Bane's faction, but unlike what Red Hood and others thought, they had no intention of controlling Gotham by relying on the power of other families.
Their idea was bolder!
They wanted to kill all the founding families and rule the city themselves!
Bane's anarchy would only turn this place into a new living hell; it wouldn't be helping Gotham, but destroying it.
And only their Penguin Gang could save this city!
Penguin believed this deeply.
Before the Penguin Gang left, Penguin paused. He raised his umbrella, pointing its tip at the opera house.
With a "bang," the umbrella fired a bullet.
The bullet shot into the theater, and with a "boom," it exploded. Blazing Fire engulfed the entire opera house, and fiery serpents writhed and roared as they ascended to the sky.
"I thought you liked this theater," Riddler said, adjusting his glasses; the Firelight was a bit dazzling.
Penguin maintained his gentlemanly fake smile, gazing deeply at the opera house.
"I used to."
The people inside had heard his conversation with Red Hood, and to prevent secrets from leaking, not a single one could be left alive!
...At the old Wayne Tower, Red Hood threw Dick onto the ground.
He went outside the tower and looked out at the opera house, where a huge Fire was now burning.
"Penguin, I told you, I'm watching you."
Jason murmured to himself, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
Those behind-the-scenes families deserved to die, but these lawless scoundrels deserved to die too!
He made up his mind that in three days, Penguin would go to hell with those families!
As for how he would get in? Red Hood glanced at Dick, who was sound asleep on the ground.
"Little Thomas Wayne" would take him in.
Meanwhile, Batman was with Little Thomas Wayne, playing chess.
The battle on the chessboard was exceptionally fierce; every move Owlman made seemed suicidal, yet he always managed to find an unexpected glimmer of hope, as if snatching life from Death.
Batman, on the other hand, played steadily, every move precise, but the killing intent was always hidden in the shadows; seemingly leaving a path at every step, but in reality, every step was a trap.
One was mad, the other cautious, but both sides' meticulous thinking made the outcome of the battle unfathomable.
The game fell into a stalemate again. Bruce suddenly heard the communicator's sound; he stood up.
"Let's stop here for today."
The moment he turned, Little Thomas's voice came: "Why do you do this, Bruce?"
Bruce's footsteps stopped; he turned his head.
Little Thomas lay leisurely against the backrest; ever since he stopped being Owlman, his life was much more relaxed than before, although he couldn't leave this small room or access the internet.
"You should know, this isn't your Gotham City. Why do you care so much about it?"
"I have my reasons." Bruce didn't explain anything.
"Let me guess." Little Thomas pretended to think for a moment and said: "You want to try and transform this city? Set an example for your city?"
Bruce didn't speak, just looked at him.
"Give up on that; it's meaningless."
Wasting time on a city that is fundamentally beyond redemption from its "setting" is less effective than simply letting it be remade.
Little Thomas still hadn't given up on his plan; he knew Batman and his allies must have obtained the Quantum Ontology Bomb, even though he had no source of information.
But Batman actually had the leisure to play chess with him; being so relaxed naturally meant that the biggest problem had been solved.
Owlman himself was already under strict supervision, unable to leave this manor or personally implement his plan.
But if… if Bruce could join his faction, then his plan still had a chance of being implemented.
And what he needed to do was subtly change Bruce's thinking, because they were truly very similar, both men who gazed into the abyss, perhaps it wouldn't be difficult to achieve.
But his intentions were seen through by Bruce at a glance, who said bluntly: "Give up your ideas. Perhaps we are indeed very similar, but there are also differences.
You and I both come from the abyss, but when salvation comes…"
"You blinked."
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