"Penguin?"
Bruce turned off the voice analyzer and stood up. "He's always up to no good."
"Yes, Master, but he's also Gotham's only proper villain, isn't he?"
Alfred, holding the coffee pot, showed a rare display of his dry humor.
"Perhaps you will gain something from this banquet."
"Gain?"
Bruce gently picked up the black coffee, took a sip, and the bitterness of the coffee made him frown. "I don't think Penguin and Owl have any connection. Wait…"
A lightning bolt suddenly flashed through his mind, and a detail he had overlooked suddenly emerged.
The black umbrella the other party used!
That was a detail he had overlooked, partly because his vision was blurry in the dark, rainy night, preventing him from focusing on the umbrella.
Thinking of this, Bruce immediately sat down and began operating the supercomputer in front of him.
"Yes, some gain."
Alfred did not notice Bruce's unusual behavior and continued, "Not just the clues you're investigating, but perhaps other things too, such as some fresh air, or a wonderful encounter."
Bruce operated the computer, pulling up information about Penguin, and said to his butler, "Batman needs sunlight to regulate his internal directional system, fresh air to survive, or even wonderful encounters. None of these currently hold any interest for me. Because right now, there's an unstoppable presence running around all over Gotham."
As he spoke, he pulled up Penguin's data and compared the umbrella Eric held in his memory with Penguin's.
Indeed, they were the same style!
"Alfred, prepare for me. I will attend the banquet hosted by Penguin tonight."
Bruce stood up, put on his coat, and instructed the butler.
"Oh? I'm surprised you changed your mind, Master."
Alfred was a little surprised.
"I found some clues, clues closely related to Penguin."
"Is that so?"
Alfred said with a tone of regret, "I thought you were willing to attend the banquet because of the sunlight and fresh air."
At the Gotham Grand Hotel, Eric was sitting on the sofa reading a book.
From the Black Magic book confiscated from the Metropolis Owl Council, he found that it unexpectedly resonated with his spiritual world.
Obscure magic spells and rituals, their rules and methods of execution, were imprinted in his mind like spiritual marks.
Now he even had a feeling that he could unleash astonishingly powerful magic just by raising his hand and opening his mouth.
His spiritual world and the magic book attracted each other, as if this enchanting magic was luring him to possess and use it.
"Is this all there is?"
Closing the magic book, Eric smiled faintly.
If Black Magic was only this level of enchantment, it couldn't even stir his inner world.
To drag him into hell, one would have to create an existence more terrifying than the abyss.
Currently, he merely regarded the so-called magic as a pastime.
Before fully understanding the magical mysteries of this world, or being unable to defeat those high-dimensional beings, he had no mind to invite such trouble.
Casually tossing the magic book onto the sofa, Eric stood by the window and looked out.
His gaze passed through buildings and skyscrapers, crossed the Gotham River and Burnley District, circled Naihe Island, and then settled on the Gotham Tower.
Countless evils occurring in the light or shadows were all captured in his sight.
As he withdrew his gaze, his eyes inadvertently glanced at the third floor of the hotel.
In the corridor on the third floor, a young woman in a black cleaner's uniform was pushing a cleaning cart.
A string of white pearl necklaces around her neck, black stockings on her long legs, a graceful figure, and exquisite facial features at a glance—even in ordinary cleaning attire, her natural beauty and physique could not be concealed.
What was most striking was the wild aura she exuded, elegant like a cat, yet radiating a cunning temperament.
Knock, knock, knock!
The woman knocked on a guest room door, and after a few words, the middle-aged man inside allowed her to enter.
"You look somewhat familiar."
The middle-aged white man in the guest room was about to sit back on the sofa, but after glancing at the woman, he asked suspiciously.
"Is that so? Hold this for me."
The woman handed the black dust cap in her hand to the somewhat bewildered middle-aged man, and then suddenly threw a punch.
With a thud, the fist heavily struck the other party's cheek.
The middle-aged man staggered and retreated, while the woman, displaying her agile movements, jumped behind him, grabbed his arm, and with a yoga-like motion, used the backward momentum to throw him onto the floor.
Thud!
The floor vibrated slightly from the impact.
Although the man, having taken a combo, was in excruciating pain, he didn't pass out. Enduring the pain, he quickly pulled out a pistol from his waist and fired at the woman.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out.
Seeing the unfavorable situation, the woman quickly rolled to dodge.
The middle-aged man, who had temporarily repelled his enemy with the pistol, quickly stood up, aimed the gun towards the bathroom where the woman was, and cautiously walked forward, enduring his body's pain.
"Hmph!"
Accompanied by a shout, the woman flashed out from an angle, kicking the man in the waist.
The middle-aged man lost his balance from the kick, and then the woman agilely turned, her left foot fiercely striking his groin area.
"Sorry, you forced me to use dirty tricks."
Looking at the man slowly collapsing while clutching his groin, the woman shrugged.
After glancing at the middle-aged man, she began searching his suitcase.
After finding a seemingly valuable bag of jewelry, she let out a long sigh of relief.
She walked to the bathroom mirror, tidied her clothes and makeup, and prepared to leave.
Unexpectedly, just as she reached the door, "Bang, bang, bang" gunshots rang out!
The wooden door instantly had several holes.
The woman was startled and immediately ran towards the window.
She leaped onto the window and prepared to jump down.
But she found that the other party's people were also below, so she had no choice but to use her agile body to climb upwards.
Although the outside wall was smooth and there weren't many places to gain leverage, she climbed up quickly like a nimble cat.
And Eric's window was directly above her. A few seconds later, the woman climbed into Eric's room.
The two of them met each other's gaze through the window.
Eric still had a calm expression, but the woman was startled.
"Sir, do you mind if I come in?"
The woman, dressed in a black maid outfit with white cleaning cloths pinned to her chest and collar, smiled slightly and asked Eric.
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