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Chapter 29: The Bloodied Gang Leader

It has been proven that the initial villains in any story are often ridiculously foolish, such as the current headmaster of Gotham University and the police station chief, Victor. They wouldn't have even garnered a second glance had it not been for the fledgling Batman of today. If it were the heyday of the old masters, they wouldn't have merited a moment's consideration.

Fortunately, Maroni, the antagonist introduced in the middle of the story, proved to be a formidable adversary. Even before Batman could raid his hideout, the production line for fear gas was already in full swing, churning out copious amounts.

Schiller did not immediately target this batch of fear gas, as he knew that seizing it prematurely would only heighten their vigilance.

Although a substantial amount of fear gas was being produced, it was temporarily stored in warehouses. Maroni understood that this type of biochemical weapon had to be used in large quantities, ideally enveloping an entire city block, to maximize its effectiveness.

Unfortunately for him, this played right into Schiller's hands.

When the three warehouses at the small chemical plant were nearly brimming with fear gas, Schiller activated Grey Mist. In a matter of moments, he flew into the warehouses and consumed all the fear gas concentrate.

Schiller dared to take this risk because Grey Mist had assured him that as a symbiote, it could consume and store the fear gas without any issues.

However, Schiller remained skeptical. It was akin to a heavy drinker claiming that storing alcohol with them would be trouble-free.

Thankfully, the symbiote was relatively obedient. After dispersing into Grey Mist, it promptly devoured all the fear gas in the warehouse without getting intoxicated.

The bottles containing the fear gas showed no signs of change. The symbiote factors infiltrated the molecular structure of the bottles, leaving no trace of the fear gas.

The following day, when Maroni came to inspect the warehouse, he was left dumbfounded.

The boxes and bottles were neatly arranged, and there was no evidence of anyone entering or exiting the warehouse. Yet, the fear gas had vanished.

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Maroni knew the catastrophic consequences if this bio-weapon were discovered by certain individuals. Although the chemical plant was relatively small, its security was stringent, especially in the warehouses storing a substantial quantity of fear gas. It was practically impenetrable.

However, one couldn't expect security guards in the dead of night to be vigilant against a sudden waft of mist. Maroni was thoroughly defeated in this regard.

He had invested millions of dollars, countless hours, and incurred numerous debts. The results of his extensive efforts had been stolen from right under his nose.

If this failure had occurred at the beginning, it might have been somewhat acceptable. But now, he had invested a significant amount of manpower and resources. He had installed new equipment costing millions of dollars, hired high-paid chemists, and even had a shootout with the Red Crow Gang, resulting in the deaths of dozens of skilled individuals. All the funeral expenses had been covered. And now, you tell me that the finished product had been stolen???

Anyone in his shoes would be spitting blood!

What's even more crucial is that Maroni was aware that the police and some peculiar Batman had their sights set on him. In order to deal with these threats, he had mobilized several informants who had never been activated before. His intelligence network had been thoroughly exposed, leading to the deaths of many informants. His decades of hard work had led to the downfall of a significant portion of his information network.

Just when Maroni was contemplating increasing his investment to produce another batch of fear gas due to sunk costs, he visited the production line again, only to find that all the equipment, bottles, and jars had been turned into dust.

Maroni's heartbreak was audible throughout all of Gotham.

The symbiote's capabilities greatly surprised Schiller. The symbiote explained that it could break down not only fear gas but also other objects, as long as they had a molecular structure. It could disassemble them and incorporate them into its symbiotic factors, storing them for future use and reassembling them into complete objects when necessary.

This effectively meant that Schiller had a portable storage space where he could store most common items, whether they were made of metal, plastic, or fibers. The symbiote could effortlessly consume and store them, and when needed, restore them to their original state.

Schiller pondered that while low-level criminals either harmed others while causing chaos or harmed others while seeking personal gain, he was different. His greatest skill lay in profiting immensely for himself while also doing some good.

Who would want to be a bad guy when you could be a hero? In Schiller's view, those who only sought to harm others for personal gain were simply lacking in intelligence.

Since he could choose to gain fame and fortune without bearing any moral burden, why not do it this way?

What he had accomplished this time not only obliterated the Red Crow Gang but also caused significant losses to the Maroni family. It also shattered the trust relationship between the gangs, the police, and Gotham City Hall. Their first-ever close cooperation ended in such a disastrous manner. Even Sal, as foolish as he might be, was unlikely to cooperate with these politicians and the police again.

Moreover, considering the current circumstances, the heavily damaged Sal had no intention of letting these people off the hook. Unable to identify the thieves, he could easily squeeze more out of Victor.

Before Victor could even face trial, he disappeared, and nobody knew where he had gone. Maroni now had no time to concern himself with Gordon's position, so Gordon naturally became the leader of the Gotham City Police Department's field operations task force and gained real power for the first time.

The President of Gotham University, who had been involved in this matter, also ran into trouble because Batman didn't have a private prison yet. After obtaining the evidence, he tossed the unconscious president back into his office. However, on that fateful night, he was struck by a truck. Despite being saved at the hospital, he was left with a lifelong disability. His aspirations of climbing the ranks seemed unlikely to be realized.

The situation in the East District Gang grew even more complex. The Red Crow Gang had been wiped out, breaking the stalemate between the two sides. However, the Maroni family no longer had the power to dominate the East District.

Several small-scale gangs joined forces, attempting to take a piece of the pie from the Maroni family. Maroni, of course, wouldn't allow his family's interests to be devoured.

In no time, the entire East District became a battleground for gangs. After a bloody skirmish where both sides suffered losses, the Maroni family had no choice but to reach an agreement with the emerging gang families. They would temporarily refrain from hostilities. However, this was a significant loss for the Maroni family, and some of the smaller gangs in their territory started to defy their authority.

Jonathan was ultimately not thrown into prison because he did indeed have a mental illness. This wasn't a result of anyone trying to clear his name but rather an authoritative conclusion reached by the psychiatrists at Arkham Asylum.

Whether Jonathan ended up in Gotham Prison or Arkham Asylum didn't matter, as he wasn't yet the Scarecrow and lacked the ability to escape from either place.

Furthermore, the Wayne Family exposed the pest that was the owner of Wayne Chemical Factory. Batman gained some notoriety in Gotham for the first time. Miss Christine was saved without suffering substantial injuries, and Schiller obtained a large amount of fear gas as weapons.

Only the world of gangs and criminals was wounded.

Although neither the Gotham University president nor Commissioner Victor, nor Maroni could be considered great leaders in the Batman world's script, at most, they were just a few cannon fodder characters at the beginning of the story. So, they all appeared somewhat foolish to varying degrees. However, Schiller knew that the curtains of the Batman world had not yet been drawn, and the truly dangerous and insane criminals had not yet taken the stage.

It was just with his intervention that Batman would grow faster. Perhaps when facing his old adversaries, he would gain a greater advantage.

With hopes for the DC world, Schiller once again sank into dreamland. When he woke up, he was back in the bustling streets of New York.

Unfortunately, the first person he met that morning was the one he least wanted to see.

"Please have a seat, Miss Natasha. I won't bother with pleasantries," he said.

On the other side, Natasha was dressed casually, looking more like a housewife who had gone for a morning jog than a female agent. She had applied light makeup, appearing to be in good health. Her hair was not tied back but rather styled up, making her look nothing like Black Widow.

However, this seemed more logical. After all, showing up in Hell's Kitchen in a tight black leather outfit with guns and various tools strapped to her waist would only attract various threats, possibly even rocket launchers.

Natasha took a sip of her coffee and said, "Mr. Schiller, first, I want to apologize on behalf of Coulson. Our initial contact with you was purely because you were Stark's psychological counselor, and we wanted to gather more information about Stark's mental issues. You understand the impact it would have if a conglomerate like Stark Industries were to collapse."

"But now, we're here to seek your help because we truly can't find a better psychologist than you."

One had to admit that this female agent was quite versatile. Dressed casually, sipping coffee at the table, and with her beautiful face, it was hard to feel any animosity toward her.

It seemed that Black Widow was not just intimidating; she was indeed an outstanding agent who could adapt her style according to the situation.

Schiller replied, "You don't need to beat around the bush. I'm well aware of why I left Presbyterian Hospital. But you didn't find anything useful there, did you?"

"The only thing at Presbyterian Hospital that interested you is of no use to you, I was there solely for my research. However, you decided to terminate me based on baseless speculation. We should settle this score."

"We don't have information about the personnel decisions at Presbyterian Hospital, but we do have a better job offer here." Natasha said.

She then pulled out a set of documents from her bag and handed them to Schiller. Natasha continued, "We officially invite you, Mr. Schiller Rodriguez, to become a senior psychological counselor, specially invited by the Bureau of Land Strategic Defense and Logistics Support. You will provide psychological counseling services to one or more specific Bureau members."

Schiller hesitated, saying, "I don't..."

"Just like your discussions with Mr. Stark, the compensation is one million dollars per hour."

"Thank you. Let's cooperate," Schiller smiled and shook hands with Natasha.