Laughing American comics, I am becoming more and more like a clown

There is mahogany furniture and a bookshelf behind it, but the books on it don't show many signs of being read.

Omosen sat at the desk, rubbing his brows, feeling a little uneasy... He was worried that the assassins would go crazy and attack him, but due to the Soviet Union's covetous eyes, the supply of claws was not enough. He wanted to apply for one for himself, but the earliest would be next week.

"Okay, three days."

Omoson sighed again and opened his computer. He wanted to continue applying...For some reason, the Owl Court's control over the grassroots had declined.

He was very worried that if things continued to develop, this place would be the first to be conquered by the Assassin's League.

[The situation in Gotham is dire. We urgently need the dispatch of specialized personnel for support and protection. Expedited approval is requested...]

There was a crisp sound of keyboard tapping, and Omoson suddenly paused. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt the sound of a second breath.

...The second breath.

Omosen forced himself to calm down and continued what he was doing, but what he typed on the computer was incoherent garbled text... He heard the breathing sound again.

It was light and shallow, and there seemed to be the sound of fabric rubbing against each other.

……

Omosen felt a chill and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

He began to regret why he asked people not to disturb him in the first place.

Omosen's gun was in a drawer, not close to him.

He paused and was about to open the drawer quietly.

But at this moment, he saw the knife across his neck.

"..." Omosen trembled, suppressed his inner fear, swallowed his saliva, and whispered calmly: "What do you want?"

He was still wondering how the person behind him got in - the security was foolproof and there were no blind spots in the patrol, unless it was an internal rebellion, could it be another traitor from the Assassin's League?

"Omoson Lloyd Lillard, our respected mayor."

Omosen had never heard such a voice before. It was slow and leisurely enough, and contained a hint of smile.

"I'm not who you think I am. I'm just a poor person, but I'm afraid you don't know me. After all, how could the mayor see the suffering of the lower class... As for what I want."

The cold blade patted his cheek: "I want you to cooperate with me in a play."

"Wha...what."

Omosen asked cautiously.

Chapter 188 Arrogance and Hypocrisy

It is eight o'clock in the morning. Gotham is an economically developed city. The morning rush hour lasts from seven to nine o'clock. Eight o'clock is the time when the crowds are the largest and the most crowded, especially in the commercial district.

People squeezed out of the subway like worker ants and hurried onto the streets.

"Hoohoo... Friends, now—good morning."

Suddenly, a sound was heard on the street. After a brief commotion, everyone turned their attention to the screens that usually praised the mayor's achievements or won various votes.

The screen lit up, and the person inside was indeed the mayor who often talked about his glorious and great deeds on the screen... but he was tied to a chair.

"Although I really want to remind you not to sleep in, it seems that if people in this city don't want to end up living on the streets, they probably wake up much earlier than I do. Anyway, look here."

"Hmmmm, honestly, if this is his new way of getting votes this year," an adult man looked up, his face expressionless. "Then I'll vote for him. At least this speech method... the style is quite innovative."

When passersby waiting at the red light heard this, they couldn't help but ask: "What if he was really kidnapped?"

"Then I'll vote for the one who kidnaps him."

It took a while for the screen to change, and then a face came close. He didn't seem to notice the distance from the radio device, causing a shrill buzzing sound.

"Fuck." Someone covered his ears, looked up at him and cursed.

"I'm not very good at this. Anyway, look up." The man, his face covered in paint, looked like mold on a spilled salad. He took a few steps back and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket.

"...Well, let me first recite this mayor's crimes—since taking office, he's colluded with businessmen, exploiting his position to commit corruption. This includes falsifying construction costs and charitable funds, selling official positions, reselling public goods, and trafficking human organs. Since taking office, he's caused the deaths of 7 people from various causes and over families to declare bankruptcy. The amount involved...how many zeros are there?"

The woman's face was expressionless, showing the fatigue caused by long periods of sleep deprivation. "He wouldn't think we don't know about this, would he?"

They knew, and not only did they know, they had also organized a march, and then after the march, they were blackmailed by gangsters who had deals with the mayor, and then they had to buy food and cook at merchants who colluded with officials, and lived in dangerous buildings that were crumbling due to corruption, and in order to avoid living on the streets and becoming homeless without a penny of relief, they had to go out to work the next day... just like now...

"There's all sorts of excuses, no actual insurance compensation; high mortgages and car loans, and a 40% risk of unfinished construction; high overtime pay but low office expenses, all combined to meet living expenses; rainwater treatment fees, environmental fees, garbage disposal fees, and a whole bunch of other expenses are deducted from my bank account on payday..."

"This is what makes up your life, of course, and there are also - the rampant spread of STDs and drugs, the control of online communication, and they are even unwilling to sell you fake, cheap happiness brought by electronic products..."

"Is this the fault of our mayor alone? No, a few years ago, there was a demonstration targeting the mayor."

A leather-gloved hand patted the mayor's shoulder, startling him. But he also realized from the shock that this was a live broadcast: "You murderer who broke into a house! You! You! You criminal! You defy the law! Someone will come to save me! Someone will send you to jail!"

When the mayor heard what he said, his political sixth sense gave him a bad feeling, so he tried to attribute it all to personal grudges.

"You bastard! You criminal! You're an abandoned scum! You didn't work hard, so you put all your misfortunes on my head! You're slandering me with no evidence! No one will believe you!"

The following words were interrupted:

"Okay, my friend, we all know what's going on. If it was just a grudge between you and me, you would have become a work of art by now. But you're still alive, so obviously not."

He was too stingy to even glance at the mayor. He licked his lips and stared at the camera:

"This gentleman is truly guilty of a grave crime... But if you want to see the mayor die, I can tell you that killing him won't change anything."

"But he can tell us who to kill to change all this."

The man shook the small spray bottle in his hand and said, "I have a bottle of truth serum here." Then he sprayed it on the face of the mayor who was tied up there.

Pupils constricted, cold sweat broke out, teeth chattered, and the whole body trembled...

Like an epileptic patient.

The traffic light changed, but only a few people were still moving around. They looked up at the screen with interest, waiting for what would happen next.

……

"The Court of Owls... a hidden organization led by the upper class. We will make an agreement... to exchange benefits, and then rule from the bottom up."

"We are the ones who... raised you. President Lincoln is our..."

……

The mayor, whose face was sprayed with fear gas, reacted strongly, and only needed simple guidance to expose the existence of the Court of Owls.

At least for this city, no one can be trusted more than the negative information he spreads.

"...the Court of Owls? The one from the nursery rhyme? He can't possibly take that—"

"What a joke!"

People were whispering.

Lucien picked up the camera, pointed it upward, and recited a trivial piece of information: "In late 1924, the world's top light bulb manufacturers formed the Apollo Monopoly Alliance. To control the lifespan of their bulbs, increase sales, and achieve higher profits, even though light bulb technology at the time could achieve a lifespan of 2500 hours, they controlled it to less than 1000 hours."

"Later, some other industries, such as mobile phones, printer cartridges, refrigerators, air conditioners, televisions, and cars... would deliberately use some cheap, easily damaged parts to assemble them, and then sell them to us." The leather glove pointed at himself:

"We enjoy expensive convenience and entertainment, and so-called modern life, but after a few years, those things are scrapped one by one. So, we buy them all again and pay for them all again... Friends, this sounds completely unrelated to the previous topic."

"But it's irrelevant?"

"Perhaps I should give another example: The Industrial Revolution began in Britain in the 1760s and lasted until the mid-19th century. During this period, Britain continued to grow and expand, expanding its colonies and becoming the empire on which the sun never set... But my friends, do you know the price of this glory? The only thing that never sets is capital."

"During that time, the average life expectancy of workers in Manchester was only 17 years old. Textile factory workers in the Netherlands generally did not live more than five years, and in the UK less than three years. They slept on ropes and worked an average of hours a day..."

"What about now? From what I've heard, the so-called 'white-collar workers' in Gotham have a death rate of over 15% from overtime work. You sleep in dangerous buildings, and the average workday is hours... Your mortality rate isn't as high as it was back then, but that can't hide one fact—Gotham's GPT is rising year by year, and the number of people on the rich list is increasing year by year. This city is thriving, and those who are thriving are like capital during the Industrial Revolution, sucking the blood out of you! These workers!"

"These capitals are organized into the Apollo Monopoly, of course! Now it's called... the Court of Owls!"

There was a gunshot.

There was a bloody hole between the mayor's eyebrows, and fear still remained on his face. He died with his head tilted.

The gun emitted wisps of green smoke in front of the camera, and the gun was held in a strange position, as if the audience on the other side of the screen had picked up the gun and shot him.

……

Dark things will become visible when exposed to sunlight, and ice and snow will melt.

Lucian stood in the crowd with his hat on his head. He looked up at everything on the screen - this was a recorded broadcast. He couldn't find as many people as the Joker Gang, and he couldn't raise guns in a short time, so it could only be a recorded broadcast.

But the effect difference is not big.

He heard the whispers of the people around him, which then turned into a buzzing sound and finally became a jumbled mess without any words.

They were like worker bees whose hive had been destroyed, extending their stingers and pointing them at their imaginary enemies, even though their compound eyes could not see clearly that it was the queen bee herself who was being destroyed.

Before the crowd rioted, Lucian walked through each person and left the place through the alley.

Because the electronic screen attracted so much attention, the alley was empty and there was no one in sight, but when he turned into a place.

"boom--"

A hand stretched out from the darkness and grabbed Lucien's neck, but as if he had a sixth sense, he took a step back and dodged the attack.

It's the Silent Bat.

"Long time no see." Lucian was in a good mood. "But you seem to have arrived a little late. Even if you kill me now, it won't undo anything. Why not kill a prosecutor while there's still time to entertain these poor people? Perhaps then they'll still have the patience to listen to what you have to say."

"You already knew what the outcome would be." Silent Bat stopped and looked at him.

Silent Bat is tall enough, but Lucian is not short either. With two big guys about two meters tall, it is hard to say who is oppressing whom, but the heels of the bat armor are a little high, so he is looking down slightly.

"What's the result? I don't understand what you mean." Lucian gave an innocent smile.

Then the Silent Bat reached out and grabbed his collar, lifting it slightly: "You know what I'm talking about."

"They're pouring into the streets because of what you said! It'll bring disaster to the entire city!"

Lucian felt the hot breath on his face, and he could smell blood. He casually placed his left arm on the hand of the Silent Bat. "Bat, have you been invisible for so long that you've forgotten the right of citizens to know the truth and to have freedom of speech?"

The Silent Bat stared intently at the pair of mocking eyes: "Do you think I will believe your nonsense?"

"The facts are here."

"You're right. Whether it's the Apollo Monopoly or the British Industrial Revolution, the dates are so accurate that there's no mistake. But your summary of Gotham is wrong! They were indeed oppressed, but it wasn't nearly as brutal as you describe. They had basic sleep and housing subsidies, and the taxes they paid varied by region, so it wasn't nearly as complex as this."

"So? A slight pressure isn't pressure?" Lucian moved the hand on his arm. "I didn't use any force, but can you say you didn't feel the weight?"

"They will continue to be in chaos, not trusting the next government, or even the electronic equipment in the supermarket..." Silent Bat's eyes are red. They have always been red, including the whites of his eyes, like a glowing red armor.

"You're a piece of trash from another world... You're pretending to be smart, dreaming of being the savior, completely unconcerned about whether or not you're needed. I tolerated you only because you were harmless at first... But now, this is my Gotham! I have my own actions! I won't allow you!"