Phantom Kid in the World of American Comics

Chapter 150: The Villain Alliance Meeting

BONUS Chapter brought to you by, the one and the only, KingSpy25i, enjoy!

“Charlie, do you have any good ideas?”

Mathison asked casually, looking at Gotham’s map while guessing where Bane could have hidden the nuclear bomb. 

“It’s too early to think about where the nuclear bomb is. We should go back to Gotham first and then carefully look for clues.” 

Charlie clasped his little paws on his chest, “I’m actually thinking about something else now.” 

“What?” 

“I’m thinking whether the villain alliance that Bane temporarily formed is really that strong?” 

Charlie’s words gave Mathison a flash of inspiration. 

“Yeah, there’s no real union between Arkham’s lunatics and Bane.” 

“Even if Bane rescues them, don’t expect those people to obey him. Bane can’t command them.” 

“There is also the huge mob power under the Penguin and Black Mask. These two mob bosses want to possess the greatest power in Gotham and become the uncrowned kings. They are actually the most reluctant to see Gotham destroyed.”

“Especially the Penguin…” 

“They are still working together now only because Bane might have deceived them; he would have told them that the nuclear bomb won’t actually detonate and that he just wants Gotham to be independent and so on.” 

The Penguin, Bane, and Black Mask are currently the most powerful three-way forces in Gotham City. The rest are lone wolves. Among them, the Penguin and Bane are relatively close, while Black Mask and the Penguin are competitors. 

But this is only a superficial phenomenon. In fact, the Penguin and the Black Mask must be on guard against Bane at the same time. Since it is Bane who was holding the nuclear bomb’s remote control, he is mostly and gradually going to be the target of public criticism. 

The three forces are all still defensive against each other, and it is impossible for them to work together at peace. 

Mathison’s eyes lit up, “We just need to expose Bane’s true purpose at the right time and place, and then this fragile villain alliance will collapse in an instant, and may even become the decisive factor in defeating Bane!” 

Charlie nodded, he thought so as well. 

Of course, the operation is difficult. The most difficult point to explain is not whether there is evidence or not, but why Bane did not directly destroy Gotham after planting the nuclear bomb. 

Why does he have to wait for two or three months? 

Even Mathison didn’t know the true reason. 

Maybe Bane wanted to make Gotham’s citizens feel more hopeless, or maybe it took him time to transform the fusion reactor into a nuclear bomb. 

In short, the Doctor who probably knew the real reason was dead, and no one but Bane knew what he wanted. 

Mathison watched the movie The Dark Knight Rises a long time ago in his previous life. At that time, his memory was weak, hence, he cannot remember the details of the plot now. 

It would be great if the system could grant him an ability like Deep Memory Retrieval so that all the memories Mathison had seen in his previous life could be recalled. 

“No, there is someone who knows the truth behind it all, and this person is the mastermind behind Bane…” 

As soon as he recalled The Dark Knight Rises’ plot, Mathison thought of the man behind the curtains. 

“Charlie, get ready to go, we’re heading home!” 

Gotham, Knightsdome Sporting Complex. 

This is the city’s largest football stadium, which can accommodate more than 100,000 people at the same time. But now, it has become a temporary base for Bane. 

More than 5,000 Gotham wanderers, orphans, and gangsters swarmed the periphery of the stadium, forming a protective circle. 

They were all Bane’s new recruits in Gotham. 

In addition to them, there were thousands of heavily armed mercenaries patrolling the stadium. 

Every high point and key position in the stadium was guarded by a large number of people; it was such a high security 

No one knows where these mercenaries came from. 

All that is known is that they are not natives of Gotham, but followers of Bane from all over the world. 

It’s hard to imagine what it takes to smuggle thousands of people into Gotham without a word getting out in advance.

These are the trump cards in Bane’s hands, a group of fighters he honed according to the training standards of the League of Shadows.

He wants to form a new league of his own. 

At this moment, in the center of the Knightsdome Sporting Complex, a small group of people gathered together, they looked different and wary of each other.

They were divided into many small groups. 

They gathered in a triangular shape.

Penguin, Oswald Cobblepot. 

Black Mask, Roman Sionis. 

And… Bane! 

Those who can gather around them are naturally all resounding figures, and almost all of the Arkham patients released by Bane are here.

The Scarecrow’s position was obviously closer to the penguin, and Deadshot is standing directly beside the Black Mask. 

The reason is simple. The Penguin and Scarecrow have often collaborated many years ago, and Cobblepot even funded Jonathan’s fear gas research. 

By the way, Scarecrow’s name is Jonathan Crane. 

Deadshot, Floyd Lawton, followed Black Mask, not because of an old relationship, but because Roman Sionis found him first before anyone else and then offered him a high price to be his follower for now. 

Getting paid to do things is Deadshot’s number-one rule. 

As for the Deathstroke, he was completely independent of everyone and as far away from anyone. 

And the being who stood closest to Bane was, surprisingly, that man!

The guy with the green jacket and green top hat who made everyone in Arkham feel sick… 

Not to mention the big question mark on his hat…

The Riddler, Edward Nigma. 

Of course, there were also non-Arkham criminals, like Hannibal and Catwoman… 

“Phantom Kid is eyeing your nuclear bomb, you’d better watch out your pockets, masked man.” 

Black Mask spoke first, leading the topic to Kid’s public announcement letter, as he was mocking Bane. 

“Kid is nothing more than a mere thief who can do magic, and we all know very well who the real threat is.”

Bane’s hoarse voice sounded through the ventilator, camouflaging his emotions. 

“S.H.I.E.L.D. and… the superheroes.” 

The Penguin added with a smirk. 

“Batman!” 

At the mention of superheroes, the eyes of the group of people present turned glowy, and they called out a name in unison. 

S.H.I.E.L.D. was directly ignored by them subconsciously. 

“Hahaha… Dear old friends, you have been in Arkham Asylum for too long, lacking a certain fact about the current situation of the world.”

Penguin laughed. 

Back then so many gangsters fell, countless old friends were put into Arkham Asylum, leaving him and a few criminals outside.

This also makes the information held by the Penguin far more advanced and richer than these “old timers” who have just seen the light of day.

“Batman has long stopped being the world’s only superhero. Now, there is Iron Man in New York, Thor in New Mexico, and I even heard that there is a magical detective in Los Angeles…”

Thank you, KingSpy25i, for your open-handedness.

Because of you, we have reached our goal, 7 dollars, on Ko-Fi. Hereby, I am compelled to nourish your reading enthusiasm and release this bonus chapter for everyone. You are really worthy of being part of the Council of the Dragon Readers, the Dragon Leaders.

PS: a bonus chapter will also be published to the Patrons.