American comic book: After mastering resurrection, I became incredibly popular.

“I am calm… sir, I am calm.”

Jack was panting heavily, far from calm.

“Jack, listen to me, have you ever seen a movie called Speed, starring Keanu Reeves?”

"...What was that movie about?" Jack's voice was still trembling.

"It's about a bus that's been planted with a bomb. It explodes if the bus's speed drops below a certain threshold. I forget what it was, but it's probably similar to our current situation." Wang Baixi tried to keep his tone light. "Most importantly, the movie has a happy ending; everyone survives. And the protagonist's name is the same as yours, Jack. So, promise me, calm down, okay?"

"Really!"

Why would I lie to you?

"Okay, okay..."

Judging from the driver's pale face, he must be a pitiful person.

Then, the speed finally stabilized at around 55 miles per hour and stopped accelerating.

“Now, tell me, where are we going?” Wang Baixi asked slowly.

“Harry…Harry’s Circus,” Jack swallowed, trying to catch his breath before speaking.

"Good luck, Jack."

……

Ten minutes later, the car sped along, finally slowing down and turning into the warehouse district once used by Harry's Circus. The sun above slowly rose, shining even more intensely on his loyal Gotham.

Meanwhile, the iron gates of the warehouse area were wide open, perhaps as a sign of "Welcome," or perhaps as a trap to lure customers in.

"What the hell did that bastard do to me?" Wang Baixi muttered.

"Beep, beep!"

The walkie-talkie rang again.

Wang Baixi answered immediately, and the Penguin's voice came through again: "I see your car, Wang Baixi. You can get out now, but you're still in the blast zone, so I advise you to be careful."

“Ha,” Wang Baixi chuckled coldly, “Thank you for reminding me.”

Wang Baixi opened the car door, but before he could even stand firmly on one foot, several infrared sights were already embedded in his chest.

He still held the walkie-talkie, his expression remaining calm and composed. The Penguin's threat had little effect on him, except for one person.

"Release the driver first, Cobbard." Wang Baixi turned to look at Jack, indicating that he didn't need to be so nervous. Jack still seemed to be forcing a smile, but Wang Baixi had a feeling that he was about to cry.

"Of course, I will get him out of this predicament."

Then, several penguin henchmen carrying guns ran out from the shadows of the warehouse. "But now, you'll have to comply first."

Then, the leader of the henchmen pressed the muzzle of a gun against Wang Baixi's lower back and led him into the warehouse. The man even politely said to Wang Baixi, "Sorry, Emperor Penguin."

Wang Baixi suppressed his urge to punch them and obediently followed them into the warehouse. As soon as he entered, he smelled a foul odor.

Harry's Circus is perhaps the most famous circus in Gotham. At its peak, the whole of America cheered for their tours. But with the arrival of a new era, its former glory has faded. The warehouse has long been emptied, leaving only some rusty tripods and a broken carousel, as if in remembrance of their glorious past.

Now, in the very center of the warehouse, Penguin sat in a velvet armchair, with the incessantly squealing Bobby as a pillow on his lap. At his feet lay a man completely unfamiliar to Wang Baixi, bruised and battered.

When the penguin saw Wang Baixi walk in, he smiled and said, "Sit next to me."

Wang Baixi stood still, unable to resist sarcastically saying, "What exactly do you want to talk to me about, boss? You don't have to go to such lengths to kidnap me. We can sit down and negotiate like legitimate businessmen."

"A businessman?" The penguin sneered, kicking the man's ribs with the tip of his shoe. "Talking to me about being a businessman now? Let me tell you, Wang Baixi, I'm a criminal now, and what criminals are best at is running rampant!"

"Okay, Mr. Overbearing."

"Don't joke with me! I'm talking to you seriously!" The penguin continued kicking the man under his feet. "Do you see this guy? Let me introduce you. This man is Harry, and he's the owner of Harry's Circus."

He's actually the owner of a circus?

"What exactly do you want?" Wang Baixi stared intently at the penguin.

"Ah, no need to be so tense. Let me tell you the whole story: Every Gotham resident knows how popular the Harry Circus is, and recently, the Harry Circus was planning to return to Gotham. In fact, they were all going to come back, but thanks to Bane, everything is a little later than planned. Anyway, I want to take this opportunity to sell some nostalgia and make some money from ticket sales. The most urgent thing right now is for you to help me take back the circus as the Emperor Penguin. That's the first thing I'm assigning you."

The penguin's eyes narrowed into two curved blades. "I want to see what you think of this decision. Now, begin your performance."

Guess what I think about this?

Wang Baixi raised his right hand and held up his middle finger.

"Fuck your mother!"

Is this guy crazy? He called me all this way just for this little thing?

Bobby joined in the shouting: "Fuck your mother, fuck your mother!"

But the penguin just smiled and shook his head. He leaned back in his velvet chair and slowly began to count down: "Ten, seven, six."

"Hey, I'm telling you, that's not how you count down. Ten is followed by nine." Wang Baixi was sweating bullets over the penguin's intelligence.

But the penguin didn't care at all, because he hadn't been counting in order to begin with.

When he counted to five, he couldn't wait to pick up the walkie-talkie.

"Jack, good luck."

boom!

Suddenly, a loud bang came from outside the warehouse.

Wang Baixi stood frozen in place as the shockwave from the explosion struck the warehouse's metal exterior wall, producing a low hum.

Yes, it's that car!

The penguin's smile lines stretched from the corners of his mouth all the way behind his ears. He patted the seat next to him. "Kid, come sit next to me. This is your last chance."

Chapter Sixty-Four: Who is the Real Joker?

The shockwave from the explosion made the rusty steel beams vibrate and hum, but after regaining his senses, Wang Baixi stood motionless in place.

He didn't receive any system notifications, nothing at all!

There is no "detection of the aura of the deceased".

This means that Jack is not dead, or at least not completely dead.

The explosion was either a firework deliberately set off by the Penguin or it exploded somewhere else; in any case, the trembling driver was still alive.

"Do you think you can fool me like this?" Wang Baixi thought to himself.

However, judging from this, the Penguin doesn't seem to want to really break ties with him. This guy is a businessman, and businessmen do the math before they kill; he can't afford to settle this score.

So that bomb was just a scare tactic from the start, its purpose being nothing more than to force him into this dilapidated warehouse and make him sit down and listen to the Penguin ramble on about his gang's grand development plans.

The problem is that Penguin wouldn't go to such lengths for a nightclub. He would only do this if he had some trump card up his sleeve or if someone was instigating him.

who can that be?

“Hey, what are you daydreaming about?” the penguin said impatiently. “My patience is limited.”

Wang Baixi slowly walked to the velvet armchair and sat down. He didn't sit next to the penguin, but deliberately moved the chair half a meter to the side.

Then, he took the Emperor Penguin brooch out of his pocket and pinned it to his chest.

"Oh, you seem to have adapted to being second-in-command."

“A gang leader is just a small part of a long life. You should know that my true identity is a sorcerer.” Wang Baixi crossed his legs, took a small, transparent jar from his pocket, and placed it on his lap. Inside the jar were several dead ticks, their bodies shriveled and blackened. “You’ve clearly witnessed my ability to resurrect the dead, and you know my magic. Why do you still think you can scare me with a few gun-wielding henchmen? Where does this confidence come from?”

The penguin looked at the jar, a mocking smile on his face. "Oh, what other skills does our archmage have? If you could kill me, you would have done it long ago..."

"Shh." Wang Baixi told the penguin to shut up. "If you really had a trump card, you wouldn't be playing these little tricks on me."

After saying that, Wang Baixi held the jar up to his eyes and shook it. "Look, this is a little life-saving trick I specially prepared for myself. These ticks just died two hours ago and they carry the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus. As long as I bring them back to life and then spray them on you like this..."

He flicked the lid lightly.

"Your immune system will receive a warm greeting from the African continent."

The Penguin's smile visibly narrowed, and he instinctively shrank back half an inch into the chair, while Bobby flapped her wings on his lap and shrieked, "Shit! Shit!"

Poppy was grabbed by the penguin.

"Step back, everyone stay away from him."

“Well said,” Wang Baixi turned to look at the Penguin henchmen holding guns. His gaze swept over each of their faces, and his tone suddenly became earnest. “Gentlemen, look at your cowardly boss. He went to great lengths to bring me here. Besides showing you his ability to bully the weak, what other talent has he demonstrated? To be honest, what are you all following the Penguin Man for? Is it because his ugly face can ward off evil? You only make a few thousand dollars a month, why are you risking your lives?”

One of the henchmen couldn't help but interrupt, "Emperor penguins, we're not..."

“I know you’re not the kind of people who are so obsequious. You’re all just trying to make money.” Wang Baixi stood up from his chair, reached out and pulled out a thick wad of banknotes, which he tossed into the air. “But if you’re after money, the Copperfield family is no longer the best option for you.”

"As far as I know, the Wayne family is Gotham's biggest financial backer."

The bright green portrait of Franklin exploded in mid-air, like a mini green blizzard. The Penguin Gang's henchmen stared at the falling banknotes; some swallowed hard, while others lowered their guns to the ground.

“Lack should have told you that I bought the Iceberg Nightclub as a 5% shareholder of Wayne Group, and the Penguin family members agreed. It was just a perfectly normal transaction, but he completely disregarded your lives in his revenge.” Wang Baixi straightened his brooch, his tone full of disdain. “I really want to know, what was the biggest promise the Penguin made to you? Priority ticket purchase rights for the Iceberg Nightclub?”

Penguin suddenly stood up from his armchair, his finger trembling as he pointed at Wang Baixi, "Who told you to give them money!"

How could he so disrespect his own men? They were all hardened criminals, devoid of any refined tastes, willing to engage in gang fights and smuggle weapons with him! How could he possibly bribe them with a little money!

"Why don't we listen to the people's opinions?" Wang Baixi spread his arms wide, his smile as bright as a salesman who had just finished selling a whole year's worth of insurance.

“Boss, I think there must have been some misunderstanding between you and Emperor Penguin,” a henchman suddenly said with a stern face.

"Don't start a fight, boss!"

"That's right, the Penguin Gang can't be broken down!"

"You money-grubbing bastards!" Penguin gritted his teeth as he watched his men put their guns away one by one. He knew his offensive had crumbled.

But he couldn't just give up like that. He was the Penguin, a descendant of the Cobblepot family, and Gotham's shrewdest and most shameless businessman.

It's alright, luckily he still has a backup plan.

“Wang Baixi,” the Penguin lowered his voice and said sincerely, “If you join me, I can give you half of Gotham’s entire underground business. We’ll do business together, make big money together, and rule the city’s sewers and ports together. Think about it, you’re just an employee shareholder at Wayne Enterprises, and your boss will find a reason to kick you out sooner or later.”

"That sounds tempting. But why can't it be: You'll join me? Look around, Cobblestone, you can't control this city, you can't even manage these men,"

“Think it over carefully. If you want to shoot me, you’re welcome to try,” Wang Baixi said, then turned around and walked to the leader of the gang, patting him on the shoulder. “Go and rescue the driver outside. He should still be alive.”

"Yes, Emperor penguins."