A Deal

"If the coin lands heads, you're still my good subordinate. If it lands tails..."

Harvey Dent slowly moved his left hand away.

"What a shame. It landed tails."

Harvey Dent shook his head.

"Mr. Puppet Master, consider this man an apology for my presumptuous visit. Now then, would you be willing to have a talk with me?"

"What did you want to talk about?"

Shimizu asked Harvey Dent.

The latter elegantly opened the luxury car door and gestured for Shimizu to enter.

"Shall we talk in private?"

Harvey Dent said.

Shimizu pondered for two seconds, then tucked his left hand behind his back and flicked out several Chakra Threads. Only after ensuring he could summon Black Gold's modified pneumatic arm at any time did he get into the car.

The windows were open, allowing the Chakra Threads to pass through without issue.

Harvey Dent sat beside Shimizu and waved a hand.

The car slowly drove some distance away from the crowd. The driver soon got out and left as well, ensuring no third party could overhear their conversation.

"Originally, I only had one matter to discuss. But the moment I saw you in person, it became two. The additional question is this: what is your relationship with Ra's?"

Ra's was the Ninja Master. His name meant Demon Head, and his Chinese name was Ra's al Ghul.

Shimizu's display of certain ninja techniques had likely led Two-Face to mistake him for a member of the League of Assassins.

"I have no relationship with that man. My skills just happen to resemble those of League of Assassins members."

Shimizu said as he looked at Harvey Dent's awkward face.

It was impossible to tell whether Two-Face truly believed him. He merely nodded, then took a newspaper from the front seat and handed it to Shimizu.

"As someone who witnessed this firsthand, I want to know whether there is any of that substance left that can turn people into this."

The newspaper's front page showed the scene atop Arkham Asylum, where Batman had faced off against Titan Joker.

Shimizu did still have a sample of the improved Titan Venom.

Back then, the Joker had needed powerful cannon fodder to keep Batman occupied, so he had given Shimizu and the other Arkham criminals one tube of Titan II Venom each.

To escape Arkham, Shimizu had injected a guard with that Titan II Venom to divert Nightwing's attention, allowing him to flee. However, a little less than half a tube remained, perhaps only ten or twenty milliliters.

"The Joker already proved for us that this stuff can't deal with Batman and his little bat brats."

Shimizu leaned against the leather seatback and picked up the newspaper.

"But that doesn't make it any less useful, does it? At the very least, the monsters it creates can definitely tie down Batman. That alone makes it a pretty good card to play."

Two-Face toyed with his coin and watched Shimizu's eyes.

If Shimizu said nothing, he could not be sure whether Shimizu had any stock left.

But all the improved Titan Venom had been destroyed by Batman that day. The only people who might possibly still possess it were those who had escaped Arkham that day.

His investigation had been thorough. On that day, Puppet Master had used Titan Venom to draw Nightwing's and the guards' attention, then escaped Arkham during the gap while Batman and the Joker were fighting their final battle. Therefore, he was the most likely person to have Titan Venom on hand.

Yet Shimizu's strength made him wary. It was not merely the power of that black metal robot he had heard about before; Shimizu's own abilities were equally inscrutable to Harvey Dent.

Otherwise, he would certainly have chosen force.

Shimizu was weighing things as well.

Titan Venom was of little use to him in the short term.

Only someone with a certain level of expertise in biology and chemistry could try to crack the sample. Shimizu had no such connections, nor did he have enough energy or time to study it himself.

But Harvey Dent might.

As Gotham's former district attorney and current underworld boss plus supervillain, Harvey Dent's connections and methods were far beyond what Shimizu, whose foundation was still shallow, could match.

Still, Shimizu did not have to choose Harvey Dent—unless the latter showed enough sincerity, which meant offering more than anyone else.

And Harvey Dent clearly understood that as well.

"I don't know whether you truly have this thing, but I can tell you my terms."

Two-Face took out another map of Gotham City and laid it before Shimizu.

"I know you currently have two streets, but that's too small. From here to here—two streets and a small neighborhood—can all be yours. Your territory can become one connected stretch. But how you manage it afterward will be your own problem."

Shimizu remained silent.

Given enough time, taking those territories would not be difficult for him at all.

"I'm confident I can get Victor to research this thing for us. Once it succeeds, the results will belong to the three of us. And during that time, I'll draw the attention away."

Victor?

Shimizu quickly searched his memories and soon matched the name with a well-known Gotham criminal.

Victor Fries—the famous Mr. Freeze, a renowned low-temperature physicist and biochemist in the DC World, who also possessed a certain degree of engineering knowledge.

Being able to create a suit of cryogenic armor and freeze weapons was enough to prove his scientific prowess.

If it was him, then there was indeed a chance.

"Not enough."

The moment he heard Mr. Freeze's name, Shimizu had already made his choice.

Not only because of the terms Harvey Dent had offered, but also because Mr. Freeze was considered a top-tier scientist even in the DC World.

Harvey Dent's half-light, half-dark face twisted into an ugly smile.

Not enough, rather than impossible. That meant the other side truly had a sample of Titan Venom—and that there was still room for negotiation.

"One million dollars in cash. But it's what was left over from yesterday's bank robbery, so you'll have to handle the laundering yourself. Plus a batch of secondhand firearms retired from the Gotham City Police Department, and two modified armored vehicles. With those, you'll be able to absorb your new territory quickly."

Shimizu still shook his head. Just as Two-Face's expression darkened, he spoke.

"I need you to do me a favor and introduce me to Mr. Victor."

"It's impossible to get around me and contact Victor directly. I provided him with massive funding for his experiments to revive his wife before he agreed to work with me.

"As for you, I'm afraid you don't have that kind of capital."

Harvey Dent toyed with his coin as he watched Shimizu and spoke in a low voice.

"No, no, Mr. Harvey Dent. I'm not all that interested in the Titan Serum, because that thing is nowhere near as powerful as my creation."

Shimizu's five fingers clenched sharply around his left hand hidden behind his back.

Two seconds later, with a thunderous boom, Black Gold smashed through the wall with one punch and stepped out amid the swirling dust.

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