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

Yes, owls and penguins are both birds.

“Emperor Penguin, please get in the car.” Lark poked half his head out of the car window.

Wang Baixi opened the car door and let Cassandra get in first, then went around to the other side and got into the back seat.

The moment the car door closed, Kelvin handed a manila envelope from the passenger seat.

“Mr. Wang, this is internal information from the Harry's Circus. I’ve sifted through all the records related to the court.”

"In the heart of the circus..."

These are the words Harry said before he died.

Wang Baixi opened the file folder and quickly flipped through the documents. These materials recorded the complete list of people Harry's Circus had supplied claws to the Court of Owls over the past few decades, with each page including a photo, alias, training period, and final destination.

Among them were the names of Kelvin Ross and even Dick Grayson, though his name was marked with "defected" in red next to it.

He turned to the last page but still couldn't find Lincoln March's name.

Have you seen it?

“I’ve read it three times from beginning to end,” Kelvin said. “I know who you want to ask, but Lincoln March isn’t on the list.”

“But that doesn’t mean he has absolutely no connection to the organization we’re investigating,” Wang Baixi said with a smile. “Perhaps he’s using an alias.”

Lark glanced at Wang Baixi in the rearview mirror. "Emperor Penguin, where are we going now?"

Wang Baixi rolled up the file folder again and placed it on his lap, rubbing his temples. "Sigh, let's go to the ribbon-cutting ceremony first."

Chapter 108 A City Will Die

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the intersection of a main road that was to be renovated and a newly planned drainage network in the old town. Joshua Wayne was already standing on a temporary podium.

Behind him was a banner that had been unfurled, displaying the Wayne Group's corporate logo and a slogan:

"Let this city be reborn from the ground up!"

Reporters had already set up their cameras and microphones, and Sheriff Gordon had also sent over several officers to maintain order.

They laid out the barriers neatly, but twice as many people came as expected.

Of course, "those who came" refers to the onlookers.

This group of people were dressed in uniform overalls and held up signs that had been prepared in advance. The signs all read the same thing: accusing Wayne Enterprises of colluding with gangsters and driving out the poor.

Some rednecks even believe that Wang Baixi is an illegal immigrant!

Just kidding, he's already a true New Gotham native, certified by the local Gotham veterans!

When did he become a member of the underworld? He has absolutely no connection with the underworld.

When the limousine stopped outside the ribbon-cutting area, all the cameras and eyes turned to it at the same time.

The car door opened, and Wang Baixi stepped out. He wasn't wearing a tie, and the top button of his suit jacket was undone.

He glanced at the protest sign and, as he walked toward the podium, stopped in front of the group of protesters.

"Everyone, I understand your feelings, but right now, we need a quiet environment to..."

"Who are you? What gives you the right to speak to the people of Gotham on behalf of Wayne Enterprises!" Before he could finish speaking, the leader shouted at the top of his lungs.

“My identity is not important, but I know who you are. Your name is Bernie Coller, right?” Wang Baixi said, looking at his face.

In reality, he was using transparent glasses to look up criminal information based on the other person's face. You should know that Batman may be the person who has access to the most criminal information in Gotham, so checking this kind of small thing is a piece of cake for him.

And the result was as he expected: the other party was clearly more in line with the so-called definition of organized crime than he was.

The man named Bernie paused for a moment.

“Last March, you robbed a pawn shop in the East District and your face was captured on surveillance footage. Later, you took the initiative to find the Penguin Gang to settle things for you. The guy next to you,” Wang Baixi’s gaze shifted to another young man holding a sign, “you, just got released from prison on bail two weeks ago.”

"Excuse me, are you two members of a criminal gang?"

The shouts and curses from the crowd suddenly subsided.

How did he know?

Did he come prepared?

Wang Baixi said nothing more, and after dismantling this subtle offensive, he turned and walked onto the podium. Joshua handed him the microphone, and Wang Baixi took it and scanned the crowd below.

"Ladies and gentlemen, before the ribbon-cutting ceremony, I would like to say a few words."

Big shots always love to give speeches, that's nothing wrong with that.

“Someone just asked me, ‘What gives you the right to represent Wayne Enterprises to cut this ribbon? What gives you the right to oversee Gotham’s underground pipework renovation project?’ To be honest, that’s a very good question.” He raised his hand and pointed in the direction of the protester named Bernie, then turned his finger back to himself.

“Yes, I’m neither an engineer nor an urban planning expert, nor even a native of Gotham. I come from across the ocean, and I have no roots here, no background, and none of the labels you would associate with ‘one of us.’”

He released the microphone, letting his words sink into the crowd for a few seconds before speaking again.

"But isn't that my greatest strength?"

A sudden uproar ensued.

"That's why Bruce Wayne gave me this job. I don't owe any family any favors. Because I have no connections, I don't need to cater to any interest group. Because I'm not one of them, I don't have to be responsible for any old debts. I won't be bought off by you, nor will I be bound by you."

He took a step forward.

"Do you know how many years it's been since Gotham's sewers were repaired?" My assistant answered me: "Forty years. What does forty years mean? Many of you were born when the city's underground pipe network was already operating beyond capacity."

“The East District floods every time there is a heavy rain, the septic tank in Crime Alley overflows every few days, the underground cables and sewage pipes in the old city are tangled together, and there are countless cases of cable repair workers being overwhelmed by methane gas.”

"These problems have existed for forty years, why has no one done anything about them?"

He stopped, letting silence answer his question.

"Because repairing sewers doesn't make money, we can't let the mayor give a thumbs-up to the camera in a campaign ad. The only thing repairing sewers can do is prevent people living in this city from having to wade through sewage on rainy days. But for the past forty years, not a single pair of hands that have been in charge of this city has wanted to get their hands filthy."

"So when Bruce came to me, I only asked him one question."

All eyes in the audience were on him.

I said, "Are you serious?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you prepared to offend everyone?" He said, "When have I ever been afraid of offending anyone?"

Who dares to offend him? Who can offend him?

A few scattered laughs came from the group of reporters.

“Since he’s willing to invest, then I’m willing to swallow my pride. In the past week, Wayne Enterprises has acquired eleven abandoned industrial sites and signed more than three hundred easement agreements, offending almost every landowner in Gotham. The ribbon-cutting ceremony you’re witnessing today isn’t just about cutting a red ribbon; its significance is far greater than that.”

Wang Baixi turned to look at Joshua. Joshua, standing to the side and behind the podium, nodded at him.

"Of course, some people will criticize us. They'll criticize us for hiring gangsters to do the construction."

"I just pointed out two of them from the audience, Bernie Coller and his friend. The signs they were holding were printed by someone else, and the slogans they were shouting were written down and handed to them by someone else."

“They accused me of colluding with gangsters, and I just want to ask them: If I don’t recruit these people, do you expect them to distort the truth and become mouthpieces for others like you?”

Bernie blushed when he was pointed at.

“I’m not defending anyone’s past. What they’ve done will be judged by law, and Sheriff Gordon is standing here today. He won’t let anyone who deserves to go to jail get away with it. So I don’t need to apologize to anyone for those unfounded accusations.”

A reporter in the back row started clapping, but when he realized no one else was following suit, he awkwardly put his hand down.

Wang Baixi ignored him and took two more steps forward.

"What kind of city is Gotham? The media outside say that Gotham is the crime capital, the most dangerous city in the United States, and a place that even Superman would not fly to. All of you here are Gotham residents, and you know better than me how much of these statements are true and how much is exaggerated."

"I was on a business trip to the Metropolitan Area and only stayed for half a day. The streets were wide and the roads were very clean. To be honest, I was envious. But I'm not the kind of person who just admires and then goes home sighing. We have a responsibility and a mission to make this city a better place."

“A person may die, but a city can live a long time. Gotham has died once, and now we are going to ‘resurrect’ it.”

The crowd fell completely silent. The protesters looked at each other, and no one held up any more signs.

"By the end of this year, the main sewage pipe under this main road will be fully connected. At that time, the East District will no longer experience backflow, and Crime Alley will no longer overflow with excrement." Wang Baixi slowed down his speech. "We don't need your thanks. We just need you not to block the road and curse when you see the excavator coming."

"This city deserves all of this, doesn't it?"

When those words were spoken, the audience was silent for a full two seconds. Then a crisp slap came from the back of the crowd, followed by a second, and a third.

The applause gradually grew louder, like a belated downpour finally hitting the asphalt road.

Joshua stepped forward and handed a pair of scissors tied with a red ribbon to Wang Baixi. They stood side by side at the starting point of the renovation pipeline that was about to begin, holding the handles of the scissors at the same time.

Click.

Flashes went off all at once, and red ribbons fell at their feet.

Wang Baixi returned the scissors to Joshua and shook hands with him.

The excavator was already waiting inside the fence, and the operator gave him a thumbs-up through the cab window. Wang Baixi smiled and was about to turn and leave the podium when he suddenly felt a gaze fixed on him from a certain direction above.

He looked up and gazed at the building under construction across the street.

The man's head was wrapped in tight bandages. He stood on the edge of the rooftop, seemingly tossing a metal coin up and down in his hand.

As the coin rose to its highest point, sunlight reflected off its surface, casting a blinding white light that slightly illuminated Wang Baixi.

Then, it fell back into the bandaged palm.

Then, the bandaged man disappeared from the edge of the rooftop.

Chapter 109 Where is Jason Todd?

Wang Baixi's gaze was fixed on the edge of the building's rooftop. The instant the bandaged man disappeared, he immediately turned around, strode through the still-lingering crowd, and rushed towards the car, completely ignoring Joshua's shouts from behind. Wang Baixi decisively opened the car door and sat in the back seat.

"What happened?" Cassandra and Kelvin asked at the same time, one in sign language and the other in spoken language.

“Nothing much, just found someone we’ve been looking for,” Wang Baixi sneered, then pointed to the building. “Lack, go around to the back of this building.”

At the same time, a map of the surrounding area immediately appeared in Wang Baixi's mind. The person must have come down from the rooftop, and no matter whether he took the stairs or the elevator, the exit would only lead to two alleys.

“Understood, Emperor Penguin.” Lack slammed the steering wheel all the way to the left, and the limousine swerved across the slippery asphalt road. Reporters and onlookers along the way scrambled to get out of the way, and several protest signs that hadn’t been put away yet were splashed with mud by the wheels.

As the car rounded the street corner, Wang Baixi saw the figure through the car window.