Falcone's Show of Force

Li Ang had not slept for long before waking up.

His enhanced physique left him without the slightest fatigue; instead, he felt full of energy.

Before this, he would have needed to sleep until four or five in the afternoon before waking up, and even then he would have needed an alarm clock.

And after waking up, he would still go through a period of sluggishness.

Of course, if he had arranged to meet someone beforehand, things would have been different.

There was a huge difference between a man with a partner and one without.

But no matter what, being full of energy was the key to accomplishing great things.

Take Bruce Wayne, for example. He had to play the playboy during the day, then turn into the Dark Knight at night. Li Ang seriously wondered whether he was even human, and whether he needed any rest at all.

Li Ang made little noise. When he reached the living room and looked around, Kara's bedroom door was tightly shut.

Unfortunately, he did not have vision that could see through doors, nor did he have Super Hearing, so he had no idea whether Kara was asleep.

The enhancement to his physique mostly improved his Physical Fitness. His eyesight had indeed improved considerably.

He had been slightly nearsighted before, unable to see clearly at a distance.

But now, it was as if he were wearing magnifying glasses. He could clearly see even a mosquito flying past.

It just was not magical enough to see through everything.

His hearing was the same. It felt as though his ears had been cleared out; he could notice even the faintest sound of wind, but he did not have Mind Reading like Kara.

Those were probably separate "abilities."

After all, Kara had activated hers gradually.

Li Ang then went out to buy dinner.

Gotham was a major city with a population of more than three million, nearly as large as neighboring Metropolis.

That meant food from all over the world could be found in Gotham.

Li Ang deliberately did not take a car and instead broke into a light jog.

He felt as though the wind was beneath his feet. Every step he took seemed to make the ground tremble.

With a light jump in an empty alley, he felt as though he could break free of gravity and fly.

Super Physique gave him Superman-like strength, as if he possessed an incomplete Kryptonian Bloodline and could still absorb Solar Energy.

That was what made Kryptonians so formidable: they could keep becoming stronger, and they also possessed an unbelievably powerful Bio-force Field.

If he did not have a child to look after, Li Ang truly wanted to find somewhere deserted and indulge without restraint in the thrill brought by his extraordinary power.

Before long, Li Ang crossed the Diamond District and arrived in Chinatown.

Even after covering such a long distance, he was not tired in the slightest.

Kara was highly receptive to Chinese food, and children liked strong flavors. She could handle spicier food than Li Ang himself.

So Li Ang found a Chinese Restaurant that had not been altered much and ordered several dishes.

Most of the restaurant workers were Chinese, and Li Ang seemed to see his former self in them.

If he had not been reported, he might still have been washing dishes in some Chinese Restaurant instead of working at the Iceberg Lounge.

After eating at the restaurant, Li Ang packed up the rest for Kara. He then returned home and placed it on the dining table in the living room.

Seeing that her bedroom door was still tightly shut, he figured Kara was probably asleep.

Thinking that although the child was a Kryptonian, she had gone an entire day without sleep, he did not wake her and headed straight to work.

After all, he had only become the Bar Manager yesterday. He needed to be more proactive today.

Nothing like yesterday's robbery happened along the way.

In the Diamond District, Penguin did not allow random robberies or violent crimes.

"Iceberg Lounge."

Before Li Ang arrived, the lounge had already opened, though guests were not being allowed in yet.

It was still early, but several guests were already waiting in line outside.

Throughout Gotham, the Iceberg Lounge was an extremely famous establishment.

As soon as Li Ang arrived, he noticed that there were especially many of Penguin's men standing guard today.

Every one of them wore a suit and tie, carrying weapons of one sort or another. There might even have been guns concealed beneath their jackets.

"What happened?"

Although he was now the Bar Manager, many of the men still paid Li Ang no mind. Only one who had tasted his cocktails before said, "Someone provoked us."

"Don't make a fuss after you go inside."

Li Ang was then let in, full of curiosity.

The lighting inside the lounge was dim. When he entered the main hall, Li Ang immediately saw blood all over the floor.

Perhaps because some time had passed, the blood had turned a dark red.

Looking up, he saw a corpse hanging in front of the iceberg in the main hall. It was an elderly white woman, suspended by white cloth around her neck and arms. Her body bore obvious wounds from a sharp blade, and all her blood had been drained, leaving her as terrifying as a dried corpse.

No one had touched the body; they had merely cordoned off the area. All the employees huddled to one side, staring at it with either fear or shock on their faces. No one had any interest in working.

Li Ang was no different. This was Gotham, but such a gruesome sight was still rare.

And it was enough to make anyone physically sick.

Several of the waitresses were retching off to the side, while others had simply hidden away, too afraid to look.

Li Ang hurried over to the bar area. "All of you, go to the back room. Don't stay here."

Who knew what they had been thinking? Penguin's men had actually let the ordinary employees in as well.

Hearing Li Ang, the regular employees finally snapped out of it and ran toward the back room.

Big Guy Frank walked over when he saw this. "Those idiots are definitely going to get chewed out by Boss Cobblepot later."

Li Ang's expression turned grave. "What happened?"

Frank only answered, "She was Tommy's mother."

At that name, Li Ang immediately understood.

Tommy had betrayed Penguin and been dealt with directly by Victor, but Penguin Cobblepot had also said he would take care of his mother.

Clearly, this wasn't the kind of care he had meant...

Someone had obviously taken advantage of the Iceberg Lounge being closed to come in and do this.

So this was considered a provocation, a Show of Force, and an outright slap in Penguin's face.

That was the mob life. Not only were they prone to getting themselves killed, but their families could get dragged into it too.

Li Ang stopped asking questions. He had no interest in this sort of thing. As long as it didn't affect him or Kara, that was enough.

It could be said that Kara was Li Ang's only attachment in this world. Even if the world ended, he would not care about anything else.

Penguin arrived soon after.

He stepped out of a private car, his umbrella planted against the ground like a cane. Beside him were Bald Head Victor and several other trusted aides.

When Penguin Cobblepot was young, his father had caught pneumonia during a heavy rainstorm and died.

His mother had then insisted that he never be without an umbrella. A dutiful son, Penguin obeyed, even when others mocked him for it.

By now, no one dared mock him so casually anymore.

Thud. Thud.

The sound of the umbrella striking the floor was dull, like the tolling of a death knell.

"BOSS!"

The underlings in the Iceberg Lounge instantly rose to their feet.

Nearly everyone present wore black suits. Anyone seeing them would have taken them for a group of Wall Street elites rather than street gangsters.

Gotham's gangs also had a particular trait: many of them operated as "families."

Like their opponent this time...

"Falcone!"

The moment Penguin saw the scene, his frost-cold face darkened as he spoke.

In Gotham, anyone who heard the name Falcone had to tread carefully.

Once upon a time, the Falcone family had been a massive organization that controlled all of Gotham. Whether legitimate or criminal, everyone had to listen to the Falcone family.