Lure the Tiger to Devour the Wolf (Part 2)

"I knew it, I knew it. Ha, who do they think they are? Just because the Godfather is old, they can do whatever they want? I can only say that they don't want to die sooner..."

In a bar in the East End, a Big Beard with a cigar, the second-in-command of the Coca Gang, was holding a glass of whiskey. The Big Beard brought him a sip of whiskey, then a puff of his cigar, exhaling smoke as he said, "They didn't experience that era, they don't understand..."

"All the Godfather wants is sincerity." He tapped the bar counter with his finger and emphasized, "He's telling us that if we want a piece of the pie, we have to do what he says."

"Just like he did many years ago, how he gathered the entire Gotham and then established the Twelve Families, those greenhorns will never understand."

The man opposite him was thin, not as burly as him, and his face was pale and gloomy. He was the manager of this bar and a member of the Comet Gang on Elizabeth Street. He smoked a cigarette and said, "I've heard my boss say that, you know, our big boss was the first boss on Elizabeth Street. He used to work under the Godfather."

"Those bastards from Metropolis think they've provoked the Godfather, and that the Godfather's silence for the time being means he's afraid of them. They're so naive. The Godfather won't take action himself..."

"He didn't need to take matters into his own hands," the Big Beard said. "Gotham is no longer the place where the Leader needed to get out there and fire the shots."

"He's telling these gangsters that even though he's old, as long as he's alive, he'll always be the King of Gotham's Underworld of Gotham," Skinny said.

"The attending Doctor is injured, so the mental hospital has to close down? Only those greenhorns who've just started out would believe that. Damn attending physician!"

"What kind of attending physician is needed there? Go and cure that rooster-haired guy on the next street from his stinky habit of trembling at the sight of eggs?"

The skinny man and those around him burst into laughter. The bartender, wiping the glasses, said, "Where can't you find a doctor? I think I could do it too. It's just a matter of doing the accounting and writing medical records. What patients do you need to treat?"

"That's why I said it's all nonsense. The Godfather deliberately cut off this business so that the gangsters would know that if they wanted to make money with him, they had to obediently help him deal with his enemies, or they could forget about making any money."

The Big Beard took a sip of his drink, grinned, and continued, "The Godfather did just that many years ago. He took two poppy plantations and threatened the gangsters in the downstream industry to take care of the biggest troublemaker at the time, that... Anthony. That was a huge deal. If they could really get their hands on the products from those two plantations, they would definitely make a fortune. As you all know, the Frenchman's head was on the Godfather's desk the very next day."

"They won't live much longer," the skinny man said grimly. "The sissies of Metropolis should go back to their nests and stay out of Gotham's business."

"Go back? They probably won't have a chance to go back. They're doomed."

Meanwhile, Schiller, in the hospital, said on the phone, "Yes, Thank you for your concern. I'm fine... Yes, I just need to rest. I really didn't expect this..."

He had just hung up the phone when the nurse came in with a large bouquet of flowers and said, "It looks like it was sent by the Lauren family."

"Leave it there, Thank you. And could you please take these bouquets with you? They're getting a little stale."

The nurse tidied up the area around the bed, which was covered with flowers and gifts from various Mafia families. She couldn't help but recall what they had said in their chat in the corridor: even if the Godfather were sick, there wouldn't necessarily be such a big fuss.

Schiller was in a good mood. He was on paid leave, and in the past two days he had collected dozens of kilograms of various expensive wines and cigars. He didn't know which little genius had spread the word that he liked to smoke cigars, so now his estate was filled with various expensive cigars worth millions.

The idea of faking illness actually came from a sudden flash of inspiration he had one morning.

In fact, Schiller didn't need anyone to specifically remind him; he knew that the people coming to the Metropolis were definitely there for him.

Deathstroke had previously accepted money from his employer to kill him, but he was persuaded to turn back. The person behind the scenes would certainly not let it go so easily. Perhaps because Deathstroke ran away with the job, he did not choose to hire any well-known solo Assassin, but instead found a gang of thugs from somewhere, wanting to fight as a team.

Logically, Schiller should have started a defensive battle with them at this point. After all, given the nature of Gotham City, calling the police would be a waste of time. The enemy is in the shadows while he is in the open. All Schiller can do is probably spend a lot of money to hire bodyguards or find someone to protect him 24 hours a day.

Even if Schiller could use the Gray Mist to locate them, Schiller would still have to be extremely careful to catch and kill any of the lone individuals among them.

But that would be too stupid, Schiller thought. He didn't want to put himself on the same level as those bandits and be defeated by them with their rich experience.

If the person behind the scenes could afford to hire Deathstroke, then the gang of thugs he recruited must be some kind of small fry; they must have some skill, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to kill the Godfather's men as soon as they arrived in Gotham.

Living in constant fear? Guarding against assassination attempts at any moment? Schiller would never do that.

So, after notifying Falcone, Schiller was immediately "injured," and quite badly so.

The question is, it means I need a long period of rest; the question is, it means I'm in a bad mood and my mind isn't working properly.

It doesn't matter that he is injured, but the mental hospital will also have to close down because it has no attending physician. Then who among these gang leaders will be able to sit still?

The mental hospital has been operating for so long, and the first few people to try it out have made a fortune. Those who followed later are working hard to expand their businesses. They have spent a lot of time and money on this, and they are about to reap the rewards, but then their efforts are cut off. How could they be happy about that?

Those who had already made money were even less willing. They didn't have to risk being shot; they just needed to negotiate a profit-sharing agreement with Schiller and could sit back and collect their money. Who wouldn't want to do something so easy? They had already made a lot of money and wanted to make even more. If they stopped operating now, wouldn't that be a loss?

On the first day the mental hospital announced its closure, all the phone lines were ringing off the hook, including Bruce's.

During the time Schiller returned to Gotham University, Bruce was in charge of the entire hospital. Although Schiller did not discuss his plans with Bruce beforehand, Bruce knew who Batman was and understood Schiller's intentions in less than a few seconds.

So the world's richest man immediately launched into a discussion, and all the gang leaders who called him to subtly inquire about the situation only received Bruce's three idiotic responses, "I don't know," "I'm not sure," and "I don't understand."

I'm just a rich man with nothing to do and an empty head. What's the point of asking me? You might as well ask Evans.

Evans was doing well at the hospital; after all, he was the godfather's son and naturally aligned himself with these mob bosses. So, the leaders had no choice but to call Evans again.

Evans also expressed his predicament, saying that he could only tell the gang leaders that it was his father's decision and he couldn't interfere.

Once this was said, the gang leaders all understood: assassination and injury? It was just another of the Godfather's tricks!

They weren't stupid; they knew this was the Godfather warning them. If the Godfather lost face, no one would be any better off.

Those people from the Metropolis dare to disregard Gotham's rules like this, while everyone else just stands by and watches. Then none of us can expect to make any money.

The gang leaders felt that this was indeed the Godfather warning them: if they still wanted to share the spoils, they had to show some sincerity; wherever he pointed, they had to fight.

After weighing the options, the gang leaders realized that these so -Metropolis guests from the metropolis were clearly just scum from the Metropolis! They ordered everyone to find them immediately, and once found, to chop them up. They didn't need to see them alive, just their corpses.

In order to continue their lucrative business at the mental hospital, the gang leaders were practically digging three feet into the ground to find the group of people from the Metropolis.

There's no need to elaborate on how ruthless the Gotham are, especially when this matter threatens their real interests. Everyone involved is frantically searching for and attacking the outsiders.

Originally, this group of people had already found their target, Schiller, within a few days of entering the Metropolis. They did not take action at that time, but because they were confident in themselves, they wanted to arrange the situation so that it was foolproof before making their move.

Schiller moved out of Gotham University, and they were almost at the end of the operation when Schiller was suddenly injured before they could even make a move!

What? He was attacked by outsiders in Metropolis? Outsiders in Metropolis? Aren't those us? We didn't!

The thug from the Metropolis felt like he'd eaten shit. He'd been in the business for so many years and had encountered all sorts of strange things, but this was the first time he'd ever been scammed!

We haven't even done anything yet!! He collapsed on his own!! What does it have to do with us!!

However, this matter is clearly inexplicable. If you're looking for evidence to prove they laid a hand on someone, that's easy to find. But they have to prove they didn't lay a hand on someone, and now that person is in the hospital, what else can they say?

Whoever the victim says is the one who did it.

Besides, even if they weren't the ones who did it, the Godfather said so, so it is.

They had already found a location to plant the bomb near Schiller's estate and had even found a good spot nearby to stake out the place, intending to lure Schiller there. But now, all the gangs in Gotham were looking for them, and their original stakeout location had been discovered, forcing them to move to a different location.

Although they initially caught the Godfather off guard, it was still a sneak attack. In the past few days, they have witnessed firsthand how the Gotham gangs fought each other with the firepower of a small war. Where in the metropolis Metropolis find such a spectacle? Now these gangs are no longer fighting amongst themselves, but instead have united to fight them.

Look at those armored vehicles with rows of machine guns, Rocket for every soldier, and even some crazy person who brought in several Rocket vehicles. Who wouldn't feel uneasy in that situation? You'd feel numb if you stomped on them!

So now it's these outsiders who are running around everywhere. Gotham's gangs don't seem to want to catch them at all. The places where they were hiding were found by these gangs and they were immediately bombarded with Rocket. They don't want the survivors, they just want the corpses, even if they're not completely intact.

When it comes to the ruthlessness of gangsters, no city in the world can compare to Gotham. And when these ruthless gangsters unite to attack a single target, the resulting tragedy for that target is unimaginable.

The losses caused by frequently changing bases were not only minor troubles such as the inability to replenish supplies and store daily necessities, but more importantly, once they were caught and came looking for them, they had to have someone cover their retreat. After several relocations, they had already lost several good men, and the entire group had been reduced from more than a dozen people to just a few.

They wanted to abandon the mission and run away, but the Gotham gangs wouldn't give them that chance.

No one knows who spread the rumor, but whoever can hand over this pledge of loyalty first will get the biggest slice of the pie. With profit in mind, of course, they dare to be the first. The gangsters are all crazy about getting them to claim credit and rewards.