Party and Umbrella (V)

Schiller heard from Cobblepot the whole story of how he climbed to become a minor boss in the North District.

It must be admitted that Cobblepot is a genius, especially in the area of political maneuvering. His plans are meticulous, his thinking is clear, his execution is strong, and his acting skills are also excellent. He can always play the right role at the right time and then deceive everyone.

Back in Fish, he acted as if he were an insurgent, sworn enemy of the invading gang leaders, just like a native steadfastly defending his territory.

But after switching sides to Kevin, he began to recount Fish's inhumanity, claiming that the gang leaders' turf grabbing was incredibly righteous and a way to Living Hell from their suffering.

Fish was furious when he learned of his betrayal, but Cobblepot provided the gang leaders with an excuse for righteous plunder. The gang leaders had to protect him and make him a role model, praising him as high as possible to show that even a weak cigarette vendor could gain status and power under their rule, proving that Fish's rule over this Living Hell left no way out.

Cobblepot made himself a role model for these mob bosses, which not only gave him a chance to rise in the ranks, but also strained the relationship between Fish and these bosses to the point of near confrontation.

"And then? What did you do to make Kevin start to fear you?" Schiller asked Cobblepot. Before Cobblepot could answer, Schiller added, "In your previous version of the story, you said Kevin was worried that you would take his place, but there's a loophole here..."

"These single-minded gang leaders rarely fear an office worker. Most of them believe that only those with guns pose a threat. And you? You're not strong enough and don't have any armed forces. Kevin, a traditional gang leader who only cares about the size of his fist, won't fear you for no reason."

Cobblepot opened his mouth, but instead of answering Schiller's question directly, he asked him, "More importantly, why do you know so much about them?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you..." Schiller turned around, picked up a notebook from the table behind him, and said as he flipped through it, "Let me see..."

"Among the current gang leaders in this Living Hell, only one has no hospitalization record. The other five were all patients here, including Kevin. I saw him in the corridor..."

"Isn't this a mental hospital?" Cobblepot asked, his eyes wide.

"So you don't think they have mental illnesses?"

Cobblepot took a breath and found himself speechless. Schiller was right. In Gotham, you can't become a mob boss without a bit of a mental illness.

"Okay, I'll continue..."

"From the very beginning, my goal was to accumulate capital, because even if I broke free from the Godfather's control, I couldn't just go back to being a homeless person on the streets, could I? I couldn't build a gang from scratch, so I had to steal one that was already there..."

"I started winning people over in Kevin's gang. Using my calculation skills, I always collected more water fees than others, but without anyone noticing. I bribed the lower-level members with small favors to get convenience and make more money, and then bribed many middle and upper-level members with even bigger sums..."

"I didn't plan to act so soon, but there was an idiot who wasn't careful and let it slip when he was reporting to Kevin that I had embezzled a lot of extra water fees."

"Like you said, these gang leaders don't care about people without guns, but they care about money."

"When Kevin found out I had embezzled the water bill, Kevin was furious. He threatened to kill me, but it was only thanks to the intervention of several high-ranking officials I had bribed that he didn't immediately explode."

"But I know I have to act now, Kevin won't tolerate me for long."

"It seems you're not experienced enough," Schiller concluded. "In Gotham, don't count on anyone else; they can't get anything done, they'll only cause trouble."

"I understand now," Cobblepot said with a snort.

"Even so, you don't need to go back to Fish's command. Can't you kill Kevin yourself? You should have plenty of opportunities."

"But that doesn't solve the problem."

Cobblepot's tone turned somewhat helpless as he said, "It's a quagmire there. If I kill Kevin and take over, such a big change in leadership would make the gang very unstable."

"There are also a few wolves watching around. If something happens within the gang, they will swarm in and take over the gang's territory."

"I can use my wits to kill Kevin, but I can't kill everyone. If I want to rise to power while consolidating the gang and deterring them, I have to rely on external forces."

"So you went back to Fish?"

"That's right. Back then, Fish was communicable and not as crazy as she was. I confessed to her and offered to help her by coordinating with external forces."

"At this point, Fish was still very irritable, but her mind was still relatively clear. She was tempted by the potential benefits, so we started to cooperate."

In this scene, the initial light comes from a mirror, in which Cobblepot is dressed in a brand-new suit and tie, looking more like Gotham boss.

His figure moved among the Munich gang and other gangs. One second he was giving Fish all sorts of advice and plans, and the next second he was being insincere with Kevin.

Above the Living Hell, the Penguin's still somewhat childish face appeared. He stretched out his hand, with several dolls hanging from his fingers by thin threads. With the movement of his soul's fingers, he made the dolls dance in this strange and eerie building, like a Shocker party.

"After that, I made up an excuse to lure Kevin out of Living Hell, Fish killed him in an alley not far from Living Hell," Cobblepot's voice rang out again.

"As we agreed, Fish caused a commotion and held back the other gang leaders, while I took advantage of the situation to take over Kevin's territory."

"And then?" Schiller pushed up his glasses and said to Cobblepot, "Kevin died, you took over the territory, and everything went smoothly..."

Cobblepot shook his head and said, "That's not true at all."

"I can't withstand the recoil of any high-powered firearm, so I can only use a pistol. I have no special skills in fighting, and I can't make a living by using force."

"But Gotham's gangs rely on violence to survive, especially the lower-level gangs. Too many people are not convinced of my position. I have to put up with Fish. I need to use her to get rid of those troublemakers."

"But she's getting more and more insane, she's gone mad, you understand?" Cobblepot looked at Schiller and said, "This woman has completely lost her mind, she's become a monster who only knows how to abuse and beat people!"

"So you're just going to put up with her abuse like this?"

"Of course not..." Cobblepot's facial muscles trembled slightly, making his expression look extremely fierce. He said, "It's better if she's crazy. Without a brain, she can only be controlled by me."

"She kept hitting me, but it was okay. After she went crazy, she would be gripped by fear that everyone would want to harm her, and only I could communicate with her."

"I can make her kill anyone, all I have to do is quietly tell her that person betrayed her," Cobblepot chuckled.

In the center of the stage, Fish sat on a crate, her eyes bloodshot, her lips cracked, and she looked like a stiff puppet.

Cobblepot's face was covered in wounds, but he showed no fear. Instead, he approached Fish's ear with a cold smile and whispered one name after another. Fish's arms began to tremble uncontrollably. This crazy woman had been driven insane by the paranoia of being victimized. She vowed to kill everyone who had betrayed her.

Gunshots rang out one after another, and one dark figure after another fell at Cobblepot's feet, blood flowing down to the soles of his feet. He reached up to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, raised his head, and his eyes were filled with a crazy sense of triumph.

"But why did you change your strategy later?"

"I'm not lying," Cobblepot said, looking Schiller in the eye. "Maroney approached me, even though I didn't know who he was at the time."

"He told me that he had previously attacked several of the Godfather's properties and had become mortal enemies with the Falcone family. He didn't want to see the Falcone family reform Gotham, so he wanted to sabotage the first step of reform."

"He knew that I controlled the water system in the North District, so he came to me hoping that I would poison the water source of the Living Hell."

Cobblepot's tone grew increasingly cold. "By then, Fish had already started to go crazy, and she was almost useless."

"We devised a plan together to kill Fish and frame Little Falcone."

"That doesn't make sense," Schiller asked Cobblepot. "Your goal is to be free from the Godfather's control, not to offend him. Don't tell me you think you can defeat the Godfather and gain your freedom this way."

"Of course not, how could I be so stupid?"

"Maroney?" Cobblepot snorted. "Does he think I'd genuinely cooperate with him? Of course not. I see him as a shameless hyena."

"We have a plan, but in addition to that, I have my own plan."

"I suppose we're about to talk about you and your mother?"

"That's right."

The curtain rises again, and as Cobblepot narrates, the perspective returns to the Cobblepot family's old house.

The thin Cobblepot was panting heavily, slumped in the middle of the living room, facing a mess.

Mrs. Cobblepot was slamming a chair to the ground while muttering incoherently.

Cobblepot took the rope and tried to tie up his mother, who had suddenly fallen ill, but Mrs. Cobblepot pushed him to the ground. Cobblepot hit the table and screamed. Then, Mrs. Cobblepot swung a chair and hit him on the right arm.

Cobblepot rolled on the floor and knocked over the cabinet, scattering items all over the floor.

But he still struggled to his feet, knelt on the spot for a while to think, then staggered into the room, took out the sleeping pills, walked around Mrs. Cobblepot who was smashing things on the spot, went to the coffee table in the living room, threw the pills into the water, and then hid in the corner to wait.

After about a whole night, Mrs. Cobblepot finally calmed down from that state of excitement. As the excitement subsided, fatigue and thirst overwhelmed her. She followed her instincts and went to get water, drinking down the whole jug of water laced with sleeping pills.

Several tens of minutes later, when the medication took effect and Mrs. Cobblepot collapsed onto the sofa and fell asleep, Cobblepot went up to her and dragged her off the sofa.

Schiller covered his forehead and interrupted Cobblepot, saying, "Obviously, your mother, like you, has catatonic schizophrenia... Never mind, I can't expect you to know anything about this."

"I can only say that you have done almost nothing. Even if you don't use sleeping pills, the patient will fall asleep due to exhaustion after the state of excitement has passed."

Suddenly, Cobblepot became a little neurotic, struggling to lift his upper body, leaning against the pillow, and looking Schiller in the eye, then asked him, "Can this disease really be cured?"

"I said yes." Schiller paused, then added, "However, that was for you, because you're younger. If it were your mother..."

He shook his head and continued, "A complete cure is unlikely. It can only guarantee a normal life most of the time. If the disease recurs, hospitalization will still be necessary."

Cobblepot seemed relieved and, before Schiller could ask any more questions, said, "As you guessed, it wasn't a kidnapping scene, or rather, I kidnapped my mother myself."

"This is part of my plan. I intend to send my mother away myself and then frame Maroney."

"I've saved up a lot of money and rented a new apartment. I don't need to take anything from the old house anymore, but my mother just won't leave..."

"We had an argument, she got more and more agitated, and then she started going crazy, I couldn't do anything about it..."

Cobblepot gritted his teeth and said, "I have no idea what's wrong with her. She's been occasionally confused before, but never this badly."

"She went completely insane and was out of control. She even picked up a fruit knife and stabbed herself. I was afraid she would hurt herself, so I could only make her fall asleep and then forcibly take her into the new apartment."

Why not take him to the hospital?

"I don't have time," Cobblepot said with a grim face. "I've been arguing with my mother all day, and she went crazy all night. This time was supposed to be used for setting up the event."

"It's time for my appointment with Maroney. I have to go and carry out the plan. I haven't had time to tidy up the house, and I haven't had time to treat my arm. I can only rush over..."

"Okay, so why did you make up the lie that Maroney kidnapped your mother?"

"This is exactly my plan. I'm not really going to cooperate with that hyena. Don't forget what my ultimate goal is: to gain freedom."

So what exactly is your plan?

Suddenly, Cobblepot changed the subject, saying, "Just a few days ago, I discovered that there's a strange man operating in the Living Hell. Of course, I'd heard his name before; it's Batman..."