Boss, Lend Me Some Money

Falcone had ruined his food and drink with a joke, but Downton made it all back at Oswald's place.

After thoroughly enjoying a French meal, he walked out of the Iceberg Lounge beneath Oswald's reluctant gaze.

Before he had taken two steps, a dancer stopped in front of Downton.

"This is from our big sister!"

Chewing gum, she handed Downton a business card stamped with a lipstick kiss.

Downton took the card and glanced at it. It was another one with nothing but a phone number.

"Your big sister is Liv?" Downton asked.

"Of course. Big Sister Liv looks after me."

The dancer replied proudly, planting her hands on her hips as she looked at Downton.

Looking at the hen in front of him, who resembled a rooster, Downton nodded lightly.

"At a time like this, Liv really can't have too much contact with me. The Falcone Family certainly doesn't think highly of me.

But a middleman like her ought to be used to being caught in the middle.

Go tell Liv that when I need her, I'll contact her at an appropriate time."

With that, Downton turned to leave.

Seeing Downton pat his ass and walk away, the hands-on-hips dancer froze for a moment before hurriedly shouting.

"Wait, you... you're not giving me a tip?"

"Huh?" Downton turned back with a baffled look.

"I said a tip, a tip!"

As she explained, the dancer waved her arms about excitedly.

"Back in the lounge, you... swoosh~!"

Her eyes sparkled as she imitated Downton scattering money, then she continued expectantly.

"That move was so cool, and you were so cool too. I thought you'd scatter money in front of me like that too.

I even took off my bra just so I could pick up money in front of you, sir. Please give me a tip, swoosh~~!"

Making sound effects, the dancer bounced expectantly and threw both hands into the air in a dazzling pose.

Looking at her, Downton went blank for a moment before suddenly bursting into laughter.

It was the heartiest laugh he had had all day. Laughing, he raised his travel bag toward the dancer.

"When you asked me for a tip just now, I nearly wanted to shoot you in the head!

But that little... swoosh~, hahahahaha!!!"

Still laughing, Downton tossed the entire travel bag to the dancer.

The dancer caught it in surprise, then immediately staggered under its weight.

Meanwhile, Downton was still clutching his stomach and laughing.

"Liv really understands me. She actually found me such a decent-looking weirdo.

When I come to the Iceberg Lounge next time, tell Liv to keep me company with you.

Take ten thousand or so from that bag for yourself. The rest can count as my advance payment to Liv for being a middleman.

Oh, and when I come to the lounge next time, make sure you and Liv wear stockings that feel good.

Also, squat down. Didn't you practice picking up money and take off your bra?

I can't let you practice for nothing. Take it off!"

As he spoke, Downton drew his pistol and pointed it at the dancer.

Facing the gun, the dancer showed no fear at all. Instead, she decisively looked around.

Seeing that no one was nearby, she immediately cupped her chest with both hands and tugged her dance outfit down.

Duang~~~

With a bouncing display, the dancer covered her mouth and smiled. As she pulled her outfit back into place, she asked Downton generously.

"Is that enough?"

"Enough my ass. Still, this will do for now. Your skin's nice, and your breasts are shaped pretty well. We'll talk next time."

Downton waved at the dancer, then continued down the distant street.

Watching Downton's back, the dancer happily chewed her gum and excitedly returned to the Iceberg Lounge with the bag of money in her arms.

In the warehouse district near the lounge, Bruce stood expressionlessly atop a five-story building bathed in the sunset, watching the dancer's satisfied expression.

"Because it was stolen money, you didn't care about it at all.

Or are people like you simply incapable of caring about money because you already possess the most precious thing?

Or has your mindset always been... Zorro?

Perhaps you've never considered money to belong to anyone. To you, anyone's money is yours!"

With that, Bruce tightened his tattered coat around himself and parkoured from the current rooftop to another.

More than a decade ago, around the time Thomas Wayne died, Gotham had suffered a major accident due to the enormous billboards crowding the rooftops of buildings all over the city.

As a result, the mayor at the time ordered that gigantic obstructions such as large billboards could no longer be installed atop Gotham's buildings.

That order undoubtedly made Bruce's movements easier, allowing him to roam the tops of skyscrapers with greater ease.

As for his surveillance of Downton, that was only natural.

After witnessing Downton's extraordinary abilities at the battlefield between the Sabatino Family and the Dimitrov Family, Bruce had never stopped tracking him.

Although Downton's occasional random teleportations had caused considerable trouble for his pursuit, Bruce had his own methods.

Why track the person himself when tracking someone?

Bruce only needed to keep an eye on the Dimitrov Family and the Sabatino Family that had driven Downton onto the battlefield!

Although Bruce had not yet put on the Batman suit, his tracking skills were still far beyond anything Downton could compare to.

Completely unaware that he was being watched, Downton carried his pistol to a road just over a hundred and thirty meters from the Iceberg Lounge, then randomly pulled the trigger at a Lamborghini clearly headed for the lounge.

Bang!

The sudden gunshot beneath the setting sun startled everyone nearby and made the Lamborghini slam on its brakes.

"Are you fucking looking to die?"

A young man with dyed red hair slicked back stepped out of the car. As he walked toward Downton, he aimed a gun at him.

Bang!

Bang!

They fired at the same time. Downton was not hit, but the young man took a bullet in the thigh.

"I'm not looking to die. I'm looking for money, buddy.

You're driving a Lamborghini at such a young age, so you must be worth quite a bit.

I donated all my money to a female bodhisattva. Boss, lend me some money to spend?"

Downton walked over, kicked the young man's gun away without ceremony, then pulled out his wallet.

He took the three thousand-plus dollars in cash from it and tossed the wallet back to the young man.

Then Downton opened the car door and naturally sat in the driver's seat.

As he awkwardly started the car, Downton pointed his gun at the panicked woman in the passenger seat.

"I only want cash. Now get out and take your boyfriend to the hospital."

"But... but..."

Although she was trembling badly under Downton's gun, the woman still said with great grievance.

"But the car is mine. His... his money is mine too. Even that wallet was a gift from me..."

"Oh, fuck!"

Downton frowned, opened the car door and got out, then shot the young man in the leg again.

"Ah! My leg!! You fucking lunatic!!!"

Amid the young man's scream, Downton snorted irritably.

"Fuck, so he wasn't a simp. He was a 'successful man'!"

With that, Downton got back into the car and drove off.

Seeing herself being taken away by Downton just like that, the woman, who looked barely twenty, was so nervous she nearly curled into herself.

"Can you let me out? I don't want the car anymore. The money is all yours too, okay?"

She asked Downton tremblingly, but he decisively shook his head.

"Not that easy. Don't worry, though. I'm not interested in your car."

"Then what are you interested in?" the woman asked nervously.

Hearing her question, Downton irritably freed one hand and gave her smooth thigh a hard slap.

Seeing Downton's action, the woman stiffened slightly, then strangely became a little excited.

Robbed, then kidnapped, and next she might even get pinned against a wall.

It truly was her first time experiencing something like this, and to her, the thrill was actually far more stimulating than the marijuana she had only recently started experimenting with!

But faced with the woman's gradually expectant expression, Downton boredly withdrew his hand.

"You can see it yourself. My clothes are too shabby, and I need to change into something more suitable.

Three thousand bucks definitely won't be enough. I thought I'd have to pick a few more lucky victims, but who told me to run into such a sucker as you?"

As he spoke, Downton slapped the woman's thigh again.

"If you can spend money on him, then spending a little on me won't hurt.

Pay the bill for me in a moment, then leave me a few tens of thousands in spending cash. Move fast. Get it done before the cops arrive, hear me?"

"Ah!"

The woman froze briefly, then her face reddened.

"My... my father is a Gotham city councilman.

If you're really in a hurry, I can call my father and have the police come later!

Even... even if it means delaying them all night!"

"All night? In your fucking dreams!"

Downton slapped the woman on the head irritably. What the hell was wrong with these people?

Gotham really was not far from being finished!