I became light in American comics

“Maybe so, but you can’t just do it out of trust. I mean, insist on meeting with him during a time like this? That’ll get you in trouble, Jim.” Harvey frowned.

"I don't care, as long as the case can be resolved as soon as possible."

Gordon handed the document to Shen You.

“It’s all here. Information on all the victims, and the locations where they claimed to have encountered those bat-like creatures,” Gordon said. “We can’t rule out the possibility of false alarms. You know, the killer is somewhat similar to you. So it’s not impossible that some of your actions were included in the file statistics.”

"Don't worry, Director, I know what I'm doing," Shen You said in a calm voice.

However, he knew in his heart that this was unlikely. After all, he had only borrowed Batman's identity when necessary, and had not gone out on routine nighttime patrols to fight crime like the real Batman, so it was unlikely that passersby would have witnessed Batman's whereabouts during this period.

In other words, the file should record the locations where Parademons are found.

"So, what are your thoughts? Where are you planning to start your investigation?" Gordon asked.

Shen You thought for a moment.

"I haven't decided yet. But first, let's ask Penguin again, maybe."

Chapter 244 Gotham People's Daily Life

Iceberg Casino, Office.

“It’s a pleasure to have you here, Mr. Black.”

Coppert waved his umbrella and said in a light and cheerful tone.

"Ladies, why aren't you going to pour drinks for our distinguished guest?"

The beautiful women dressed as maids and bunny girls immediately went their separate ways. Someone took the umbrella and briefcase from the man in the suit who had just entered, and someone else pulled out a chair for him to sit down.

"I'm glad you finally came to your senses."

Cobbler said happily, sweeping a large stack of fish bones and fins he had left behind from eating raw fish off the desk. Two bunny girl waitresses hurriedly bent down to clean them up.

"As I said, Iceberg Casino represents the future direction of Gotham. This investment is absolutely worthwhile, and your company will definitely thrive under my leadership."

As he spoke, he stretched out his greasy, fat hand, his face beaming with a smile.

The man called Black sat down and said gently, “You may have misunderstood, Mr. Cobblestone. I didn’t come here to discuss cooperation.”

Last night, my wife and I discussed it carefully, and we both came to a consensus. My company is more than just a business. My family has been running this company for generations. Perhaps we're just breaking even, and I don't have the talent to make it bigger or better, but to me, this company is like a family.

Therefore, I cannot sell it to you, Mr. Cobblestone. Thank you for your kind offer.

Copeport's smile vanished instantly, and he withdrew his hand.

"Oh, so you've already discussed it?"

"Yes, we are flattered by your interest, but we are really not a good fit."

“Good, very good.” Cobblestone smiled faintly, waving his umbrella. “Tell me, Black, do you know anything about Gotham?”

"No, I'm from Chicago. My family has been for generations."

"Good, very good. I guessed it. You know nothing about Gotham, right? You were born into the privileged class, you've never seen a place like this before. Unlike me, I grew up in Gotham."

From as far back as I can remember, someone has died every day. Drugs, shootings, robberies, or just being beaten to death in the street while walking at night. I bet you think these things are far removed from your life, right? Because you've never truly lived in this city.

Black looked bewildered: "I...I don't quite understand what you mean."

"The point is that accidents always happen. In a place like Gotham, no one is indispensable. It's not unusual for anyone, anywhere, to disappear or die suddenly one day."

Black's expression changed slightly: "Are you threatening me?"

“Threaten you? Ha, what are you talking about? Please don’t misunderstand, I’m threatening your whole family.” Cobblestone grinned. “Think about what will happen to your daughter and your wife after you die?”

Perhaps she'll become addicted to drugs? Perhaps she'll meet some people she shouldn't have, and one wrong investment will wipe out her entire fortune and leave her with enormous debt. They will have no choice, especially your daughter. Her pampered life makes it impossible for her to survive in this city; her only option will be to sell her body.

"You," Black stared wide-eyed, his face filled with disbelief.

"And your company. Imagine if, after you die, people discover you were a hypocrite. You cheated on your wife, evidence of your smuggling is found in your company, and the tax authorities discover evidence of your long-term tax evasion."

“I didn’t, you can’t,” Black’s voice began to tremble.

“I can, of course I can,” Cobblestone grinned darkly. “Looks like you still don’t understand who’s in charge in this city. If I say it’s there, it’s there; if I say it’s not, it’s not. It’s all just a matter of my word. I suggest you think about it carefully.”

Snapped.

At this point, the lights suddenly went out.

The entire room was plunged into darkness in an instant.

Black, who was standing in front of him, and the maids and thugs inside and outside the room were still looking bewildered, but Cobb had already realized what had happened.

But he gave no orders or resistance. He just sighed deeply, gave a resigned look, and said to the darkness above him, "No way, not again?"

"Can we make a deal? Can you wait just one minute? I'm discussing something important at work."

Before he could finish speaking, he felt a strong hand grab him by the back of his collar, yanking him up from the ground without warning. The penguin-man kicked his short legs wildly in mid-air, shouting, "Gently! Gently! Bespoke suits are expensive!"

The lights came on, and the penguin had vanished into thin air. Black was completely bewildered, staring blankly at the suddenly empty table in front of him, at a loss for what to do.

The maids and henchmen around him seemed completely unfazed, showing no signs of panic whatsoever. One of the bunny girls even dutifully approached Black and calmly poured wine into his glass.

Black looked puzzled: "You... how come you're all so calm?"

“Oh, it happens once or twice a week. You can sit here and wait a moment; Mr. Cobblestone should be back soon.” The bunny girl gave him a sweet smile, then lowered her voice and whispered, “I’ll let you in on a little secret: you’ve hit the jackpot.”

Whenever Mr. Copperpott was 'asked' to leave midway through a conversation like this, he would usually become very easy to talk to when he returned.

Black: "???"

The Chicago businessman's worldview was shattered for the second time today.

Is daily life in Gotham City always this exciting?

On the top floor of a building, Coppa was held upside down by his short legs, facing the strong wind, with his head hundreds of meters above the ground.

"Alright, alright, you're in charge! You call this city! I wasn't just bragging at the negotiating table."

Copeport was bewildered in the wind, shouting at the top of his lungs.

As soon as Shen You let go, Cobblestone screamed and plummeted downwards, looking like a fat little bird that couldn't fly. After freefalling for over a hundred meters, just as his forehead was about to hit the ground, suddenly everything blurred before his eyes and he heard a whirlwind rushing past his ears. In the blink of an eye, he had been mysteriously teleported back to the rooftop and was once again being held upside down in Shen You's hand.

“Okay, okay, I shouldn’t have threatened that guy! But I was just trying to scare him! I’m not buying his company anymore, okay?” Cobblestone shouted.

Shen You ignored him and let go again. The little fat bird screamed and fell into freefall again. Just before hitting the ground, the scene flashed before its eyes, and it instantly teleported back to the roof.

"No, what the hell do you want? If you want to know something, just ask me!" Cobblestone was almost crying.

Without asking a single question, this stupid bat is just repeatedly free-falling. Could it be that it's been having a rough time lately and is taking it out on itself?

Is there any more royal method?

As for what to ask, Shen You really hadn't thought of a question yet.

But he certainly wasn't just taking his anger out on Cope. Although it seemed like fun, he was a very busy man and didn't have time to come all the way here to play such a boring game.

The reason he did this was because he was looking for Parademons.

He was inspired by Batman in the opening scene of the Justice League movie. Batman was also searching for Parademons in Gotham, and he used a similar method to lure them out.

Parademons, mass-produced cannon fodder on Apokolips, are the planet's main cannon fodder force. They are modified from captured creatures of various civilizations, possessing low intelligence and no emotions, and feeding on fear. Like sharks that are drawn to the smell of blood, Parademons instinctively approach any scent of fear they detect.

In the movie, Batman hangs a criminal on the edge of a rooftop, using his fear to lure out a Parademon.

Now, Shen You has followed suit. He found the area near which the Parademons had been spotted in the documents Gordon gave him, and used Cobblepot's fear to lure the Parademons into a trap.

Sure enough, that thing arrived.

Its silhouette, like a bat, spread its wings under the cover of darkness and swooped down from the other side of the night with a sharp, eerie cry.

Chapter 245 French Military Salute

Parademons are the primary weapons of Apokolips. They were created from prisoners captured from various planets conquered by Apokolips.

Because its raw materials are sourced from all conquered galaxies in the multiverse, they are virtually inexhaustible in the literal sense. In addition, Apokolips's production line for mass-producing Parademon is already extremely mature, and the cost is almost negligible.

Aside from a few rare instances where interstellar weapons were used to blast an entire planet away, Darkseid's primary tactic for invading and conquering any world was always to overwhelm it with a vast, demonic ocean.

It is precisely because of this combination of affordability and inexhaustibility, coupled with their armament of Apocalyptic technology weapons, that in the DC Universe villain threat assessment, although the individual villains are weak, if the Parademons from all the universes are considered as a whole, their threat level is no less than that of Doomsday.

But it was from this so-called "extremely dangerous" weapon that Shen You came up with a brilliant idea.

The Parademons excel in sheer quantity over quality, but their significant flaw is their lack of intelligence.

Parademons can faithfully execute their master's commands, but their abilities are only comparable to those of a lowly, unintelligent beast. This is often the part that heroes target once they become familiar with them.

For example, Shen You's current plan is also inspired by Batman. However, this time it's not a live-action movie, but rather the content of "War," a major event in the N52 series where the Justice League assembles to fight Apokolips.

In the comics, Superman is captured and modified by Apocalypse's army. Batman, taking advantage of the Parademons' poor intelligence, disguises himself as a civilian on the street and is captured by a flying Parademon. He hitches a ride with the Parademon, successfully bypassing security and flying into Apocalypse's stronghold to rescue Superman.

Shen You also paid tribute in this move. He used a super-fast Flash to send the penguin away, then rushed back to the Parademon at super-fast speed, disarming himself completely.

He flashed forward and immediately accepted a French military salute, raising his hands in surrender, showing perfect cooperation.

So from the Parademon's perspective, it flew towards the rooftop, smelling the scent of fear. But as soon as it arrived, it saw a blur before its eyes. When it came to its senses and looked closely, it saw that the person was neither crying nor making a fuss, nor threatening to hang himself, but was obediently surrendering and waiting for it.

The Parademon paused for a moment.

It wondered if there had been two people on the roof just now.

Forget it, it doesn't matter.

The limited brain capacity remaining after being biologically modified doesn't allow the Parademons to think about such complex problems; performing addition and subtraction above ten might burn out their CPUs. It was naturally pleased that its prey didn't resist, and happily picked up Shen You, turning and flying towards the stronghold.

Before the official Apocalypse War, Parademons are always sent to operate covertly in various regions of the world they are about to invade. Their purposes are twofold: to gather intelligence and to capture biological samples from that planet for modification.

During the war, a large number of cannon fodder were converted from enemy prisoners of war. Before the official start of the war, it was natural to capture a few local samples to make some targeted adjustments to the Parademon production line.

Thus, Shen You was carried to its lair by this kind of demon without firing a single shot or lifting a finger.

They first flew underground, proceeding along Gotham's intricate network of pipes. After countless turns, a hidden door suddenly activated in the wall. As the Parademons landed, cracks appeared in the seemingly solid pipe walls, and a concealed door rumbled open with a heavy thud, revealing a hollow space within.

As soon as you enter, a damp, musty smell hits you.

The space was cold and damp, filled with a suffocating stench. Despite its spaciousness, it couldn't mask the oppressive atmosphere.

Shen You quickly discovered that there were quite a few people here. They were all people who had gone missing in the past few days, dressed in rags and with disheveled hair, their faces numb with fear and despair in the darkness.

And what rules this place is undoubtedly the Parademons that fly around everywhere.

Shen You glanced at them briefly; there were about twenty or thirty, probably a small squad. When the Parademons that had been holding Shen You flew back, many Parademons came to greet them.