Black Gold Takes Action

The truck rumbled.

Shimizu, clad in Black Gold, stood in the cargo bed, squinting as he recalled the intelligence Penguin had given him.

The Sparletta Family was a small-to-medium criminal family that had risen to prominence in Gotham a year ago. Its core members were the father-and-son pair Simmons Sparletta and John Sparletta, along with several of their relatives and capable criminals who formed the backbone of the Sparletta Family.

Simmons Sparletta was cunning and deceitful, serving as the Sparletta Family's commander and criminal strategist. John Sparletta was fierce and combative, acting as the family's primary enforcer.

Their legitimate businesses included a private freight company and a bar.

In reality, they smuggled weapons and trafficked human organs under the freight company's name, while using the bar as a front for money laundering. They had around fifty members, most of them armed peripheral personnel. Some were retired soldiers. They possessed a certain number of firearms and had relatively high overall combat proficiency, though they lacked heavy firepower. A month ago, they had allegedly joined forces with another organization and secretly hijacked one of Penguin's shipments.

In Shimizu's eyes, the Sparletta Family was nowhere near large enough to stand on equal footing with Penguin's Iceberg Lounge.

So why had this family crossed paths with Penguin?

There were many possible explanations. Perhaps Penguin's shipment contained an immensely valuable treasure, enough to make these people willing to risk offending him. Or perhaps the organization working with them possessed the strength to contend with Penguin—or even surpass him—and the Sparletta Family was merely that organization's downstream affiliate, a disposable white glove to be discarded once used.

"But what does that have to do with me?"

Shimizu grinned as he looked out through the glass window.

"I'm only avenging Chidi Cole, the former boss who died at the hands of the Sparletta Family. While I'm at it, I'll expand our territory a little. The fight between Hogg United and the Sparletta Family is just a normal gang war."

In the cab up front, the truck driver flicked his cigarette butt out the window and reached over to press a button beside the door.

"The signal jammer has been activated. For the time being, no calls from anywhere on Decker Street can get through to the outside. The Sparletta Family won't be able to call for reinforcements, and the police won't intervene right away either."

The driver's lazy voice drifted back.

Shimizu nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. Fifty dollars an hour and thirty thousand for the truck isn't a bad deal."

"My apologies, Mr. Wade, but the signal jammer on the roof isn't included with the truck. The usage fee is sixty dollars per minute..."

Shimizu's face darkened.

He should have known Penguin's bargains were never easy to take advantage of.

The truck was nearing its destination. After turning a street corner, it led more than thirty armed biker gang members in a drifting stop before the entrance to a bar.

"What are you doing?! This is Sparletta territory—"

The suited guards outside the bar shouted.

But the next moment, Accountant raised his AR-15 and opened fire.

One of the two suited men went down. The other stood there in stunned disbelief, clutching his bloody ear before scrambling back into the bar in panic.

"Attack!!!!"

Accountant stared at the rifle in his hands with a puzzled expression.

At this distance, he had fired a rifle and only hit an ear?

"Accountant, let me take the lead next time."

A tattooed, muscular man named Aman shouted at Accountant. Then, holding a riot shield in one hand and an M4 in the other, he kicked open the door and charged inside.

"Revenge for Boss Chidi!"

The thugs cheered and rushed in after him.

"Fine."

Accountant looked over his somewhat slender arms, pushed up his glasses, slung his rifle over his shoulder, and followed.

Aman was the best fighter in the former Cole Gang. He had once dropped out of the police academy, was tall and powerfully built, and had received some professional training.

John Sparletta, who was drinking with an arm around a dancer in a private room on the second floor, and Simmons Sparletta, who was doing the books on the third floor, both heard the gunfire downstairs.

They were under attack!

The Sparletta Family reacted quickly. Under the organization of John Sparletta and several core members, they swiftly began to fight back.

Hogg United had the advantage of surprise. At the moment, not every member of the Sparletta Family was at this bar, and they had been caught completely off guard, so quite a few of them died.

But the latter was, after all, a gang with deeper roots and greater strength than Hogg United. Under the command of several retired soldiers, they quickly established an effective defense and held Hogg United's people at the first floor.

Intense gunfire, shattered neon lights, screaming dancers, and customers hiding beneath tables in terror.

Gotham's citizens, especially those from the slums, were no strangers to shootings and gang wars. They knew how to protect themselves during such incidents, but that did not mean the customers were not afraid.

Soon, people hiding behind sofas, tables, and other objects pulled out their phones and began calling the Gotham City Police Department.

The calls would not go through.

The signal jammer atop the truck parked outside the bar disrupted every electromagnetic signal in the area.

"Damn it! Geno and Keane are hurt too! And Carls!"

Frank, a blond thug, crouched behind a riot shield, gripping his gun with a tense expression. Whenever he found an opening, he only poked out half his body and sprayed bullets wildly, not caring whether he hit anyone.

A considerable portion of Hogg United's thugs had only ever done jobs like extortion and racketeering. Some, like Aman, had fired guns before, but only a small minority had taken part in actual robberies or gunfights. Their overall strength was two levels below that of the Sparletta Family.

"You think you can come make trouble on Sparletta territory with just this much ability? Fuck, these Cole Gang bastards must have a death wish. What does Chidi Cole's death have to do with us? Today, I'm going to kill every last one of these little bastards!"

John Sparletta licked his lips excitedly as he loaded ammunition into his submachine gun.

"Be careful, John. If they dared to come here, they might have something else to rely on."

Simmons Sparletta held a pistol and warned him cautiously.

Something felt wrong to him.

It was obvious that the other side was just a motley crew, so why had they not collapsed even now?

They definitely had something else to rely on!

"Brother Aman, I'm so scared. What if I want to run?"

A green-haired thug with a mohawk cried miserably, clutching his bullet-wounded calf.

"Boss should be about done training the troops. You've all seen blood now, so it should be time for you to make a move, right?"

The muscular Aman leaned against a pillar, panting heavily.

If Boss Wade did not come soon, they really were all going to die here!

Just then, the wall of the bar's main hall exploded with a thunderous blast, and a black steel giant over two meters tall stepped through.