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

"Are you sure Bruce Wayne won't suspect anything?" Maria looked down and poked at the now-cold lava cake on her plate with her dessert spoon.

"That young man surnamed Wang is at most a watchdog for the Wayne Group. Hmph, magic? I don't believe in any magic that can really bring the dead back to life."

“Joseph, it sounds like you want to kill all three of them? Isn’t that a bit too radical?” Maria’s voice lowered.

Joseph sneered, "As long as Wang Baixi is alive, Batman has a chance to be resurrected? Once tonight is over, when the news of Watchdog's death appears in the corner of the social news section of the Gotham Gazette, let Batman come to him personally. I've already set up a trap for him."

Maria remained silent for a long time, then placed her spoon on the edge of the plate with a crisp sound.

“Then let’s get started,” she said.

Joseph stood up, walked to the restaurant's counter, picked up the internal phone, and dialed the security department's number.

Has the 'malfunction' in the elevator been fixed?

“Reporting to Mr. Bowers, the elevator is stopped between the eleventh and twelfth floors. The internal ventilation was completely stopped five minutes ago. No vital signs have been detected at present.”

"Open the door."

……

A few minutes later, the elevator door was pried open.

The Bowles stood behind a group of security personnel, watching the whole thing with glee.

Three lifeless figures lay silently on the floor.

Zatana remained as elegant as before, only her chest no longer rose and fell; the special advisor, who seemed so young to them, had also collapsed, his expression serene, as if he had no regrets about his life; the young woman in the suit at the far end was curled up in the corner, also lifeless.

"No vital signs confirmed." The security captain withdrew his hands from the three men's carotid arteries, straightened up, and reported to Joseph in a reporting tone.

“Very good,” Joseph nodded in satisfaction. “Move them to the underground garage, load them into that unlicensed van, and transport them to the abandoned docks in the East Side. Give them a few more stabs later, then throw them into Gotham Bay. Be careful with the force and direction of the stabs, so as not to give them any ammunition.”

"Don't worry, when the tide comes in tomorrow morning, the body will be washed downstream, and the police will be very happy to announce that this is a gang kidnapping and murder case."

These things are better left to the gangsters to "do".

Several security guards in black uniforms hurriedly dragged the three people up from the ground, put them on pre-prepared stretchers, and pushed them into the freight elevator, which descended directly to the second basement level.

A white van was parked in the underground garage. The cargo bed was covered with plastic sheeting, and several shotguns and two rolls of industrial tape were lying in the corner.

"Throw it in," the security captain ordered.

Zatana's body was thrown in first, landing heavily on the plastic sheet, followed by Wang Baixi, and finally Cassandra.

Immediately afterward, a young security guard paused as he pushed Cassandra's stretcher inside. "Captain, this woman just moved."

"Nonsense, someone who has been deprived of oxygen to the brain for more than six minutes is absolutely unable to move." The security captain threw his cigarette butt on the ground and crushed it out.

A light suddenly came on in the carriage.

The security captain turned to look inside the carriage. Zatana was sitting on a plastic sheet, rubbing the back of her neck, with a half-smile on her face.

“People who are deprived of oxygen for more than six minutes really can’t move,” she said. “The problem is that we weren’t deprived of oxygen in the first place.”

What they just witnessed was nothing more than Zatana's magic.

"Entangled".

Zatana snapped her fingers, and several magical chains shimmering with golden light bound him, rendering him unable to move.

Cassandra's body passed between the two security guards, striking the left guard in the Adam's apple with her elbow, then spinning and kicking the right guard in the temple.

boom!

Two burly men, each over six feet tall, fell to the ground almost simultaneously.

Without pausing after landing, she rushed to the corner where the cars were stored in the underground parking garage.

Two bewildered figures were hiding in the shadows of the shelves there.

"What, what happened?" Joseph Powers' back was pressed tightly against the concrete pillar, his face deathly pale. Maria's hand gripped his arm tightly, the sapphire necklace tilting to one side.

They came down to check the situation in person to make sure nothing went wrong, but who knew something would actually go wrong?

"You, you all! The court will not let you get away with this..."

Cassandra placed one hand on Joseph's shoulder and pushed him backward, while simultaneously hooking Maria's heel with her ankle, causing the always dignified and elegant lady to fall heavily onto her husband.

As the two men collapsed to the ground like a human pyramid, Cassandra had already drawn their personal weapons.

"Stand still, don't move."

"you"

Just then, the situation took an unexpected turn. Joseph's pupils suddenly contracted into two thin vertical lines, and the nails on his ten fingers grew several inches in the blink of an eye, curving into grayish-white claws, hissing as they lunged at Cassandra's face.

At that time, Cassandra wasn't wearing any protective gear. As soon as she felt a gust of cold wind sweep past her back, she quickly took two steps back.

Just as Joseph was about to deliver the fatal blow, a purple beam of light pierced through his chest, instantly dissipating his attack and leaving him immobilized and frozen in place.

His beast-like pupils instinctively looked up, only to see Wang Baixi smiling at him from a short distance away.

He was then knocked to the ground again by Cassandra with a sweeping leg kick.

After taking down the security guards, Zatana walked to Wang Baixi's side and cast the irony spell on the Bowers couple again, entangled them as well. Seeing the couple struggling, she smiled with relief and gently nudged Wang Baixi with her elbow.

"What was that move called?"

“Call it ‘The Soul of Elegy’.”

"..."

Chapter 81 Evil Cannot Be Exterminated

“Alright, you two,” Wang Baixi squatted down in front of Joseph and Maria, “you saw it yourselves, your security guards didn’t even last three minutes, and your Claws didn’t even get a chance to show up. Now can you tell me where the court’s headquarters is? And who are the people in your so-called council?”

Joseph raised his head, his vertical pupils, not yet fully returned to human eyes, staring intently at Wang Baixi. "You think you can make us talk like this? Someone like you, who knows which sewer crawled out of..."

"Zatana." Wang Baixi snapped his fingers without turning his head.

“I get it,” Zatana said, one hand on her hip. “Not again? Fine. 'Speak the truth!'”

Joseph and Maria's faces turned bright red at the same time, as if a fierce tug-of-war was taking place in their throats.

“I, Joseph Powers, have sworn allegiance to the Court of Owls in the name of my family for twenty-three years. I am the most powerful man in Gotham’s underworld. A mere minor shareholder of Wayne Enterprises is not worthy to make me bow my head.”

Joseph suddenly started babbling uncontrollably. After he finished speaking, he seemed to realize what he had said and quickly covered his mouth with his hand.

But this is just burying one's head in the sand.

Because Maria also began to speak immediately afterward:

“I married into the Bowles family thirty years ago, and after that, my husband and I joined the Court of Owls. I even kept a diary in my bedroom safe filled with dirt on the court members, just in case.”

"Hmm, Maria!" Joseph turned around abruptly, looking at his wife in disbelief. "You actually remembered our dirty secrets?!"

“I, I didn’t! It was her!” Maria’s face contorted as she suddenly turned her anger toward Zatana.

But a second later, Maria began to uncontrollably spill the truth again, “In fact, Joseph and I are the leaders of the court, and also the leaders of the council. We passed the test to lead the entire Gotham branch, but to be honest, Joseph is not worthy of the title of leader at all. If it weren’t for him, we would not be in this situation.”

Wang Baixi smiled and nodded, "So the brains of the court are right here. Looks like you two leaders aren't all that great after all."

It really came to me without any effort.

"Hmph, the first thing I'll do after becoming the leader is kick your gigolo brother out of his key position in the company." Cold sweat beaded on Joseph's forehead, but he still couldn't help but utter the words, "You don't know this, do you? He always thought he was laid off because of poor performance."

"Husbands and wives are like owls, they fly away separately when disaster strikes, right?" Wang Baixi said with a smile as he took out his phone from his pocket and pressed the record button.

Cold sweat dripped down Joseph's forehead, yet he continued to utter words: "You guys have no idea what kind of existence you've messed with. The Court of Justice has existed in Gotham longer than this country. We have every secret file in every inch of this city. You think you can bring us down like this? Claws can never be killed, because the Court of Justice will always exist!"

"Alright, alright, I thought you were some kind of revolutionary martyrs after all." Wang Baixi turned off the recording. "Now tell me where your new headquarters is."

“I…I…” Maria’s lips trembled. She tried desperately to shut her mouth but couldn’t. “The court’s new headquarters has moved. It’s no longer in Blackgate Prison. It’s…”

At the last moment, Maria stuck her tongue between her upper and lower teeth and bit down.

Blood spilled from the corner of her mouth, interrupting the effect of the irony spell.

Wow, this guy is ruthless!

"What a pity." Wang Baixi shrugged.

Joseph, panting heavily, tilted his head back and said, "Let me tell you, even if you know the address of headquarters, you can't get in. It's heavily fortified, and if anyone tries to break in, the bombs will detonate. As for Batman, humph! We're just letting him roam free for a while longer. One day, we'll sacrifice him to Barbados, to the court!"

"Thanks for the reminder. I didn't expect you to be a religious organization," Wang Baixi said coldly.

After saying that, he turned his head and winked at Cassandra. Cassandra raised her hand and delivered a precise chop to the back of Joseph's neck, then knocked Maria unconscious as well.

"Not bad, Cassandra." Wang Baixi nodded approvingly, then fell into thought.

First and foremost, the most important thing now is to get them away. We absolutely cannot let them stay here any longer. But wouldn't it be too conspicuous for the CEO and his wife of the prestigious Powers Group to just disappear into thin air like this?

They are not lawbreakers.

So he dialed the Penguin Gang's private number.

These things are better left to gangsters to "do".

"Hello, Lark? This is Emperor Penguin. Could you please bring a few people to the underground parking garage of the Powers International Hotel? I have a shipment that I need your help to transport."

Soon, Lark arrived on time in the underground parking garage with five or six henchmen dressed in black overalls. When they saw the unconscious Joseph and Maria Bowles, they almost simultaneously gasped in shock.

"Emperor Penguin, these two are Powers..."

“I know who they are, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that they are delivered to the locations I specify, as I request.”

Lak's expression shifted from shock to embarrassment, then from embarrassment to helplessness, and finally settled into a kind of apocalyptic calm.

“…Okay, at least it’s better than helping the Penguins smuggle rubber tires from the docks,” she said to herself in a low voice.

Wang Baixi nodded in satisfaction, then turned around and straightened the wrinkles on his suit.

When gangsters kidnap a tycoon, it's called a "public security issue"; when Batman kidnaps a tycoon, it's called "vigilante justice"; when a Wayne Enterprises consultant kidnaps a tycoon, it's called "business warfare."

In Gotham, the first option is obviously more convincing to the public and will not damage Batman's credibility.

Zatana stood to the side with her arms crossed, watching as Lark's men skillfully taped the Bowers' mouths shut and stuffed them into the back of a van. She couldn't help but murmur to herself.

"So now you're not just a shareholder of Wayne Enterprises, but also the head of the Gotham underworld. Looks like I'll have to deduct another point from your performance review."

What other unknown identities does this guy have? He's got Mr. Freeze and a penguin affiliations—is he planning an Antarctic theme park?