Gotham in Progress (Part Two)

Gotham City's sewers have a long history, and no matter which city renovation project it has undergone, it has basically never been affected. This is Gotham's darkest underground kingdom.

Basically, no Gotham citizen would wander around here for no reason. If the sewers of Marvel New York might have some strange evil scientists and good neighbors, then the Gotham sewers at this time were practically dead. Even homeless people and beggars wouldn't come down here because they had heard the legend that everyone who appeared in the sewers would disappear without a trace.

But Catwoman was skilled and daring, able to squeeze into any nook or cranny. To avoid Bruce's gaze, she quickly slipped into the sewer.

Catwoman was indeed exceptionally gifted in this regard; she hadn't gone far before she discovered signs of human activity near the reservoir on the east side.

She was initially just curious, so she followed the clues and kept searching. But soon, her next discovery exceeded her expectations: Catwoman found a huge conference room in the sewers.

Even though Catwoman was being reckless, she knew this was a serious matter, so she quickly called Bruce.

Upon receiving the news, Falcone, Bruce, and Schiller arrived together. The three stood in the enormous conference room. Bruce looked up at the dome draped with ribbons and said, "This isn't something some gangsters or thugs could build..."

Indeed, the ceiling here is over ten meters high, and the entire conference room utilizes a massive stone support structure. Putting aside the ingenuity of this architectural design, the sheer scale of the project alone would require more than one or two people to complete.

Falcone stood at the very front of the enormous conference table, somewhat silent. The Old Godfather's gaze slid down the table to the far end, landing on Schiller, who was deep in thought. He asked, "You don't seem surprised."

"You are the same," Schiller said.

The three remained silent for a while before Bruce finally broke the silence, saying, "It seems we've all guessed that there's a mysterious force secretly manipulating Gotham, and this is the evidence."

"We have all paid a heavy price for this." It was Falcone who said, "I know you haven't stopped questioning your parents' deaths, and neither have I."

The Old Godfather closed his eyes, seemingly lost in thought again. He said, "My eldest son died in a similarly bizarre shooting, also many years ago, but I chose to remain silent until today."

"You think these people are the murderers?" Bruce tapped the table, then looked at Schiller and said, "Professor, you have no reason to investigate this matter, and you called out the Assassin's name when you faced him that day."

"You'd better not be so dogmatic. Then what do you think I'm doing tracking down serial killers all over the world?" Schiller said.

Bruce frowned and said, "You knew about the secrets of this organization all along?"

"Not only that, I know more, but I cannot reveal it, and even if you knew, it probably wouldn't change anything."

"What's its name?" Falcone asked.

"The Court of Owls, their Assassin are called Claws."

"That nursery rhyme..." Bruce suddenly remembered that a strange and terrifying nursery rhyme DC in Gotham City: Beware the Court of Owls, always watching your every move, lurking in the shadows of Gotham City, hiding in low walls and attics, in your home, in your bed, never mention his name, for his claws will come for your head.

Falcone fell silent and did not press the matter further. Bruce wanted to ask more, but Schiller interrupted him, saying, "What we need to think about now is why this organization suddenly withdrew from here? It doesn't seem like a good sign."

Schiller was genuinely puzzled; how could the Court of Owls have vanished overnight?

In all these comics, he had never seen a Court of Owls escape from Gotham. Judging from the appearance of this conference room, it seemed to have been used not long ago. How could they all disappear in an instant?

Bruce Moss, stroking his chin, said, "Maybe they just moved their base?"

"Then why did they suddenly want to move their base?"

Bruce and Falcone shook their heads. From the perspective of the three of them, this behavior was indeed strange. Nothing major had happened in Gotham recently, so why was this organization in such a hurry to move?

Moreover, this conference room is indeed very well hidden. If they hadn't moved in such a hurry and left traces, even if all the buildings on the surface of Gotham were rebuilt, this underground base would probably never have been discovered.

With such a huge investment and such exquisite construction, how could they just abandon it like that? What happened that they don't know about?

"But now we have confirmed that such an organization does exist, Gotham's current state is not an accident," Falcone said.

"We must unite," Schiller said, tapping the table.

"Regardless of what you think, I must warn you that this organization is far more terrifying than you imagine. It not only manipulates Gotham, but also wants to manipulate the entire world in the same way."

"If we cannot muster the strength to fight it, then Gotham and the entire world will be shrouded in the darkness of the owl's wings."

"I will make them pay the price," Falcone said. "I have been waiting for this day for too long. My silence does not mean I have forgotten about it. I have been waiting for them to leave a trace, and today, I have finally waited for it."

"It looks like we all have a grudge against the Court of Owls," Bruce said, arms crossed.

He couldn't be 100% certain that his parents' deaths were related to this mysterious organization, but he was absolutely certain that if this dark organization was manipulating Gotham and turning it into what it is today, then they must also be one of the culprits who killed his parents.

Bruce stood on one side of the long table, Falcone and Schiller stood at opposite ends. The only light in the dark conference room was the slowly flickering candlelight.

Finally, Falcone said, "To avenge them, I am willing to form an alliance with you, but this alliance must be secretive enough that any member joining must be vetted by the others, and we have only one goal..."

Bruce continued, "Break down all the mysterious forces that try to manipulate Gotham..."

"... to bring a new order to the city," Schiller said.

The three men, now back on the surface, said nothing. This covenant had no written document, not even a single clear provision, but all three knew that this secret meeting beneath Gotham would determine the city's Destiny.

Soon, Detective Gordon and lawyer Harvey, whose character, abilities, and beliefs were all trustworthy, also joined the covenant, and the first version of the "Gotham Meeting" was born.

This is an organization even more mysterious than the Court of Owls. It has no goals, no action plan, and no one even uses any identity within the organization to communicate. They only maintain superficial social identities and only develop a slightly more tacit understanding than usual when doing certain things.

This organization has only one ultimate goal: if Gotham was born chaotic, then let it remain chaotic and free forever. Anyone who tries to manipulate it will ultimately fail, and Gotham will always be Gotham.

After confirming the Court of Owls' movements, Schiller set aside his concerns and began preparing for Gotham City's first major redevelopment. His first task was to come up with a perfect urban planning scheme for Gotham City.

Of course, Schiller himself didn't have this knowledge, but that didn't matter; he had a rather useful cheat code.

"Stark, use your genius brain to think of a solution!"

In the Stark Tower lab in Marvel New York, Schiller hands Stark a box of blueprints. Stark is puzzled. After looking at two pages, he says, "What is this? City planning maps? Why are you giving this to me?"

"I need a perfect urban planning scheme for this city. You'd better get it done quickly, I need it urgently."

Stark glanced at the blueprints, then at him. The two stared at each other, and Stark said, "Why do you think I'm good at urban planning?"

"You may not know how, but you can learn. You'll have to learn eventually anyway, so why not today?"

"Even if you can't learn, Jarvis can. He's a super AI; planning a city should be a piece of cake for him, right?"

Stark opened his mouth, a curse almost escaping his lips, but then he glanced down at the blueprints and said, "You're planning to let me handle the urban planning of such a megacity all by myself?"

"Alright," Schiller said, "Actually, there's a super genius who's about your level and has already come up with the first version of the plan, but because... you know, his supercomputer doesn't have enough computing power, so I can only come to you to borrow some technical support."

Stark didn't hear a word of what else was said; he only heard the phrase "a super genius similar to you." Just as he was about to retort, Schiller threw another set of blueprints at him. Stark stared at them with wide eyes, half-believing and half-doubting, and then froze.

"Wait a minute." Stark bent down and pulled out some documents from the box, then began comparing them on the spot. As he looked, he took out more blueprints. He said, "Is this some kind of exam question? This city doesn't even exist in the world; you made it up. What's the point?"

"The point is to see who is more talented between the two of you."

"I'll say it again, there is absolutely no one in this world smarter than Stark." Stark held up One Hand and said, "If you think there is such a person, you must be mistaken. I'll prove it to you right now."

As he spoke, he also began to write and draw on the map with a pen. He said, "Okay, I admit he's a genius. His understanding of the logistics system is unique and seems perfect..."

"But it's certainly not the best. I have a better idea... Look here, this central rotating disc is the problem. You all must think this disc is very important..."

When it comes to this kind of issue, Stark becomes very serious and extremely methodical. He said, "This guy you're talking about, I admit he's very strong. It seems like he's not even using computer tools, but doing manual calculations, and he's almost reached the limits of human capability..."

"But he lacked creativity. Like I said, his vision was a bit outdated. Cities don't necessarily have to be two-dimensional; they can also be three-dimensional..."

"Vertical city, that's right, a vertical city. I know this concept has been proposed for many years, but no city has successfully implemented it. But assuming, I mean assuming, that the city you're giving me really exists in this world, then a vertical city would definitely be the most perfect solution!"

Stark's tone was quite decisive. He said, "Look at the structure of this city... Look here! This is the beginning. What's this called? Living Hell? How could anyone name a neighborhood like that?"

"Never mind, that's not important. What's important is that their spontaneously formed ecosystem is almost indistinguishable from the concept of a three-dimensional city. This is actually part of the standard answer. This model is very suitable for the current situation of this city, especially since it also has a port..."

"Look at this person's plan. He uses a central turntable as the main hub, which is the right idea, but as I said, he lacks creativity. The central turntable doesn't have to be a circle; it could be a sphere..."

"Let's shift our focus away from the 2D plane, that's outdated and rigid. Now Stark will show you what true genius is..."