Gotham in Progress (Part 1)

In the magnificent banquet hall, a huge Chandelier made of hundreds of candles shone with dazzling light, silver cutlery and Crystal plates gleamed, the champagne tower looked like a small golden mountain, silk tablecloths cascaded down smoothly, men's leather shoes were polished to a shine, and women's high heels were inlaid with gems and pearls.

The gorgeous skirt was like a curtain hanging from the Milky Way. As her steps glided to the light dance music, hazy light spots swirled between the tie and the hem of the skirt. The tall Bruce gently put his arm around Selene's waist and twirled with her on the dance floor.

On the surface, they were the most well-matched couple on the dance floor. The handsome Bruce was dressed in a suit and tie, and his tall figure exuded masculine charm at all times. Although Catwoman was petite, her figure was very curvaceous. Years of exercise gave her more streamlined muscle lines than other women. Her fishtail dress, studded with diamonds, perfectly hugged her sexy figure. On her exposed neck, she wore a necklace composed of pink diamonds, emeralds, and sapphires. The dazzling diamond light made Selene the most dazzling presence on the entire dance floor.

Of course, it only appeared harmonious on the surface. As Catwoman stepping into such a social occasion for the first time, it was impossible for her to dance quietly and obediently.

"Take your eyes away..." Bruce whispered in her ear, "It's very impolite to stare at people like that."

"I love the pearl bracelet on her wrist, especially the biggest one; its luster is truly captivating." Catwoman blinked her big eyes, her gaze fixed on the pearl bracelet on another woman's wrist on the dance floor.

Bruce was about to speak again to dissuade her when Catwoman withdrew her gaze and stared at Bruce. Selene had very beautiful green eyes, a green even more intense and pure than the emeralds around her neck. Under that gaze, Bruce's mind went blank, and he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue, saying instead, "... If you like pearls, I can give you a string of them."

Catwoman said, "I know, you just want to stop me from stealing it. Okay, even though I didn't listen to any of the banquet rules you told me before, I do know that you can't steal things here..."

Bruce was deeply moved; his struggle with the cat was nothing short of brutal.

First of all, Catwoman is a girl from the Slums, and she is not very old. Her thefts are basically limited to Gotham City, and she has never attended any decent high-class parties.

No cat would like to wear high heels that are extremely inconvenient for walking and a mermaid dress that restricts leg movement. Bruce almost used all his persuasive skills just to convince her to wear this dress. As a result, the first mermaid dress she wore was torn because Selene took too big a step.

Finally, Bruce had to tell Selene that the dress was worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and that all the gems on it were expensive natural gems, which stopped the cat from using her dazzling acrobatic skills to destroy anything resembling clothing.

Then, less than ten minutes after she put on the necklace, one of the gems on it disappeared. Bruce didn't even see how Catwoman pried the gem off. In the end, it took him, the jewelry designer, and the costume consultant several tens of minutes of persuasion before Selene finally managed to put a complete necklace on her neck.

Catwoman has very beautiful and sexy black hair. In the past, when she was stealing, she would gather her hair up and wrap it in her headdress. She rarely took care of her hair, which made it always a bit messy. When she was getting her hair done, she could stand up from the chair seven times in ten minutes, and Bruce had to sit next to her and keep an eye on her at all times.

After finally getting everything sorted out, Catwoman was on her way to the venue in the luxury car when she became completely impatient and couldn't sit still. Bruce, who was originally sitting in the passenger seat, had to move to the back seat with her to stop her from her crazy behavior of emptying all the alcohol in the car's the Fridge due to her anxiety and excitement.

Once at the venue, it was even more unbearable. Catwoman kept staring intently at the various jewelry and ornaments worn by the other ladies and wives. Bruce was on tenterhooks, afraid that if he didn't keep an eye on them for even a second, all the jewelry and ornaments would disappear.

Bruce then realized that Catwoman's problem might not just be kleptomania; she definitely had other mental issues. She really was too much like a cat, both in her behavior and her psychological state.

However, Catwoman is quite interested in becoming a star, because in her opinion, if she becomes a star, she can hang all those jewels on her body and show their beauty to the whole world.

Nevertheless, Catwoman's path to maturity is still very long.

While Catwoman and Bruce were arguing, the mob was also busy. After a period of construction boom throughout Gotham City, hundreds of warehouses sprang up. While this was a good thing, it also brought some problems.

Originally, Gotham City's urban planning was done by the original builders, the first Court of Owls. After Falcone the city, the Old Godfather further transformed Gotham City according to the planning of Rome. The Wayne Enterprises had always had an understanding with Falcone, and they were also responsible for planning the outer perimeter of Gotham City.

The problem now is that so many warehouses have appeared out of nowhere, along with new service facilities for all walks of life, such as rest stops for truck drivers, temporary roadside restaurants, loading and unloading points at the docks, and newly opened gas stations. These buildings were suddenly erected, and because they were built in such a hurry, they are not only unsightly, but more importantly, the lack of planning has caused Gotham City's urban planning to become somewhat irrational.

Gang leaders often build a warehouse and its supporting facilities on the land they acquire. Another gang leader did the same. This resulted in many supporting facilities being duplicated even though they were not far apart. However, some smaller warehouses in more distant locations lacked these facilities, forcing drivers and other personnel to drive even further to find them, further increasing traffic congestion.

This means that Gotham City's entire logistics planning system is unable to calculate the most perfect route because the infrastructure is not set up properly. Victor's hair has almost turned white from staying up all night, but he still can't come up with a standard answer.

After operating for some time, the accuracy and efficiency of logistics remained a mess. Moreover, the relatively well-organized urban environment that the Falcone and Wayne Family had painstakingly planned was ruined by the numerous warehouses and related facilities, as well as the night markets that sprang up like mushrooms after rain.

The main problem in Gotham City right now is that the demands on infrastructure brought about by rapid economic development cannot be met by the city's outdated urban structure.

To adapt to this capitalist revival, Gotham City urgently needs a major reconstruction.

You might ask, does Gotham City have the power to rebuild? Of course it does. Falcone has ruled Gotham City for so many years, it's impossible that he hasn't even accumulated this much capital, not to mention the Wayne Enterprises. Even if the Twelve Families pooled their resources, it would be enough to rebuild the city from scratch.

The problem is that they are now short of money. The urban planning experts they hired all shook their heads. Even with the gang pointing guns at them, they could only say that there was nothing they could do. The difficulty lies in planning that exceeds the calculations of ordinary people.

Some experts could come up with a solution, but it just couldn't satisfy everyone. Either it lacked aesthetic appeal or it was inadequate in terms of functionality. Neither Falcone nor Wayne Enterprises were willing to completely abandon aesthetics in favor of functionality because they had a longer-term vision. They believed that one day, Gotham's industries would need to transform and upgrade, and the aesthetics of the city's structure would eventually come in handy.

Ultimately, after all the back and forth, the question still comes back to Schiller.

Schiller has been busy with something else lately. He had anticipated that when Claws approached him, the Court of Owls would eventually cause trouble.

But what puzzled him was that he couldn't find any trace of the Court of Owls since then. The organization seemed to have vanished into thin air. Schiller used his connections and methods to search the city thoroughly for several days, but he couldn't find any suspicious people who resembled Claws.

Don't forget, once Schiller's Gray Mist dissipates, it can gather intelligence down to the microscopic level. In the past few days, he has scanned a large part of Gotham City but has not found anything.

This, however, aroused Schiller's suspicion. He was not afraid of the enemy revealing their true colors, but rather of the enemy completely hiding themselves and plotting something unknown.

Logically speaking, since the Court of Owls has already been mobilized, there's no reason for them to back down halfway. He believes that Claws are not only targeting him, but also anyone who might have played a role in this Gotham reform.

Before launching the plan, Schiller had prepared for the possibility that these people might face a wave of assassinations from the Court of Owls.

But what puzzles him now is that the people at the Court of Owls are gone!

Forget about claws, we haven't even seen an owl feather. What's wrong with this Court of Owls? Did they abandon Gotham and go on a collective vacation?

With the Court of Owls' problems not fully resolved, Schiller remained hesitant about Gotham's redevelopment because he knew that in some comic book versions, the Court of Owls had added a metal with mysterious powers to Gotham's buildings.

This metal is causing Gotham City to become increasingly dark and insane. Although Schiller had taken samples from some buildings in Gotham City and had not made any special discoveries, he was not sure if he could identify this mysterious substance.

However, once the major redevelopment of Gotham City begins, it will definitely touch the core interests of the Court of Owls and provoke a fierce backlash from them. If thorough preparations are not made in advance, these key figures in the reform may suffer heavy losses.

However, the other family heads, including Bruce and Falcone, felt that Schiller was not the kind of person who hesitated to take a step back, given that he had come up with such a decisive and effective reform plan.

This time, however, he hesitated, perhaps because there were some things they hadn't noticed, and thus the originally rapid pace of renovation gradually slowed down.

On the other hand, Catwoman wanted to be a big star, but she was really impatient with those classes. Bruce kept a close eye on her, afraid that she would go out and steal something and offend someone again.

Catwoman was going crazy with boredom, and finally one day, she seized an opportunity and secretly slipped out.

However, her sneaking away did not escape the eyes of the old butler Alfred. Bruce learned of the news immediately and quickly sent people to find her. Catwoman had not had enough fun and did not want to go back with Bruce. She was chased and jumped around, and had no choice but to run into the sewers.