Vauxhall Opera Chamber Music Centre.
Penguin sat in an audience seat, enjoying a classic play—The Count of Monte Cristo.
He was engrossed in the plot, completely immersed.
Despite his corpulent figure, his attire was very proper, like a gentleman. Even if this gentleman was a bit fat, you couldn't deny that.
When the line "If you desire something, you must let it go. If it returns to you, it is yours. If it does not, it never was," rang out on stage, Penguin cheered loudly!
When the line "All human wisdom is contained in these four words: wait and hope," appeared on stage, Penguin was overjoyed.
He was so engrossed in the stage that he was completely unaware of the two shadows that had appeared behind him at some point.
Penguin did not see the Bat-Family's unique entrance, but the people on stage were startled.
The actor playing the protagonist, Edmond Dantès, even shrieked in fright, instantly breaking the ambiance of the entire play and jolting Penguin from his immersion.
He immediately realized that someone had invaded, but before he could grab his umbrella, a pair of large hands gripped Penguin's neck.
Penguin immediately dug his fingers into Red Hood's arm, trying to pry them open.
But unfortunately, he was not fighting human strength, but technology, and nano-technology at that.
Red Hood executed a rear naked choke on Penguin from behind him.
"I'm truly surprised you didn't have more people here to protect you?"
Penguin had a thick neck, which made the choke hold inconvenient, so he still had time to speak, gasping for breath.
"That's… because… *huff*… I don't need to!"
Talon Dick immediately realized something was wrong and quickly said, "Kill him now!"
However, no sooner had he shouted this than he felt dizzy, and his body became heavy.
Not again?
Dick thought helplessly, why was he always the one affected?
His Talon uniform was not a particularly high-tech creation, so it couldn't defend against the ubiquitous poisonous gas.
But Red Hood was different; his nano-suit was fully enclosed. Let alone a toxic environment, it could even operate in space for a short period, so what was mere poisonous gas?
"Do you think that will save your life?"
Red Hood tightened his arm. Penguin's face flushed, and this time he couldn't even speak.
But before Red Hood could strangle Penguin, a voice echoed clearly through the theater.
"Stop, unless you don't care about your companion's life!"
Red Hood's hands paused. He scoffed and threw Penguin aside.
Penguin fell to the ground, coughed violently a few times, and then slowly stood up.
"It seems you're well aware of what the surrounding gas is."
Indeed, the moment Dick collapsed, Red Hood used his suit's analyzer to figure out what the gas was.
It was a special sleep gas, colorless and odorless, but highly flammable and explosive.
Just a tiny spark, and the entire grand theater would blow up.
Red Hood didn't know if he would survive, but he knew Dick certainly wouldn't.
Since Cortana was not in this World, the suit's intelligence was not very high and hadn't informed Red Hood about this before they entered.
"It seems you were well prepared." Red Hood stared at Penguin's face through his mask.
The other party hadn't been knocked out by the gas, clearly either having taken an antidote early on or having some other way to resist the drug's effects.
"This must be Scarecrow's masterpiece, right?"
Penguin's fat face wore a facade of elegance and gentility; he was truly insane, Red Hood thought.
In Jason's World, he had never seen Penguin gamble with his own life; that was usually something Joker would do.
"Don't look at me like that, I'm not crazy," Penguin said with a smile.
"You don't mind if I grab my umbrella, do you? Honestly, facing you empty-handed makes me feel a bit insecure."
Red Hood didn't speak, which was as good as an affirmation.
He knew Penguin's umbrella contained some "little toys," but those things couldn't harm Red Hood's suit.
Penguin picked up the black umbrella that was placed beside the seat, and the dented chair instantly sprang back, indicating the umbrella's considerable weight.
He then put on the top hat that was on another chair, looking like a gentleman from Britain, with a potbelly that completed the look.
With a cigar, he would resemble Churchill, not some gang leader.
"You arrived sooner than I expected, Red Hood." Penguin smiled as always, seemingly wanting to pat Red Hood, but was stopped by the other's Death glare.
"Don't be so serious, I just want to talk to you, no other meaning."
"What is there to talk about between us?" Red Hood had never had any good feelings for Penguin, no matter which World.
Penguin felt a bit regretful; if he had a cigar right now, it would be perfect, but unfortunately, lighting that thing here would cause an explosion.
He perked up and treated Red Hood enthusiastically: "There's a lot we can talk about, like this Talon, like you, like Batman… Red Hood, if I'm not mistaken, you and Batman are not from this World, are you?"
Penguin had this suspicion when Batman confessed he was Bruce Wayne; their Joker Gang had previously dug up his family's private burial plot to mentally strike at Owlman.
So, he was certain that the The Waynes and Bruce Wayne were both in the tomb.
The nanobots on Red Hood's wrist instantly assembled into a wrist blade; he raised his hand and swung it, vertically cutting off Penguin's top hat.
"Watch your words, Oswald." Red Hood's expression was hidden beneath the blood-red mask, making it unclear, "Even though I can't shoot, I can still easily kill you."
Red Hood's wrist blade lightly grazed Penguin's face, but didn't harm him in the slightest, demonstrating excellent control.
It also showed that he was still very calm.
Penguin understood his warning: some things could be known, but not spoken aloud.
Penguin very shrewdly raised his hands in a gesture of surrender: "Relax, buddy, we've worked together before, you should at least give me a chance to defend myself, shouldn't you? Even a court grants criminals the right to defend themselves!"
Hearing this, Red Hood leaned directly into Penguin's large head, his voice as cold as the Siberian permafrost.
"What? Do you think I'm someone who follows rules?"
Penguin shut up, only shrugging at him.
Red Hood retracted the wrist blade: "Speak your mind."
It seemed he wouldn't be able to kill him today, and he was very displeased.
Penguin lowered his hands and pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the cold sweat from his face.
Oh, being fat just makes one sweat a lot.
After wiping himself clean, Penguin regained his composure.
He said to Red Hood: "Given our previous cooperation, I hope to cooperate with you again… strictly speaking, with you, Batman is not included."
Hmm? Excluding Batman?
Red Hood's heart stirred; if you put it that way, I'm not sleepy anymore!
He gestured for Penguin to continue.
Seeing this, Penguin felt reassured and continued: "I hope we can cooperate once to destroy the Cobblepot Family!"
When he mentioned "Cobblepot," Penguin's face contorted into a ferocious expression, every strained muscle seemingly representing a deep hatred.
Red Hood had seen such an expression; he had once seen it on his own face, his hatred for Gotham was as deep as Penguin's.
He didn't ask Penguin what his purpose was in doing this; as long as he could confirm that this matter was true, Red Hood was willing to be used as a gun.
So he readily agreed: "Good!"
It was so decisive that Penguin was almost taken aback, but then he was overjoyed and continued: "Excellent! The Cobblepot Family will host a party in three days, also a banquet to celebrate my becoming the Family Head of this generation.
At that time, not only everyone from the Cobblepot Family, but also important members of other families, big and small, will be present. If you wish, I can help you get into this banquet…"
Red Hood glanced at Dick on the ground out of the corner of his eye. What a coincidence, wasn't the current heir of the Wayne Family lying on the ground?
So he rejected Penguin's offer: "No need, I will be there. Remember your promise, Oswald, I'm watching you."
------------------------
I've posted 70+ chapters in advance on Patreon.
Webnovel updates will still be daily, as usual.
It might not seem tempting right nobut who knows what the future holds?
[email protected]/TripleCrown
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"