Chapter Summaries

Zuo Ci captured the last conscious henchman at the hideout and learned that Bane’s other hideouts had been alerted, though no prisoners were there. He forced Poison Ivy to join him and Penguin on a humiliating high-speed tricycle ride, leaving her wishing the world would end.

• Zuo Ci caught Bane’s henchman pretending to be unconscious, tied him up, and subjected him to an electric treatment after learning the remote had alerted the other hideouts.
• Penguin reported that the other prisoners had likely been taken elsewhere, so Zuo Ci set off with the unconscious Poison Ivy.
• Zuo Ci woke Poison Ivy and made her join the group, then traveled with her and Penguin on a bright red three-person bicycle.
• Poison Ivy complained about the tricycle and the journey, while Penguin admitted he was comfortable because his short legs could not reach the pedals.

Zuo Ci and Poison Ivy fought the Experiments blocking their way to Penguin’s base, with Zuo Ci boosting Poison Ivy using fertilizer before spraying her with herbicide. Their progress was interrupted when Batman called to report that the Dam had been blown up.

• Zuo Ci stopped the vehicle short of the Iceberg Lounge after roadblocks and Experiments appeared ahead, and Penguin ran off to gather his men.
• Poison Ivy insisted on fighting the Experiments herself, but her vines barely hurt the creatures and they began tearing the vines apart.
• Zuo Ci found no civilians nearby and mocked Poison Ivy as she struggled against the Experiments.
• Zuo Ci dumped Dave’s fertilizer over Poison Ivy, strengthening her vines enough to bind the Experiments, then sprayed her with herbicide when she turned toward him.
• Zuo Ci answered Batman’s call and learned that the Dam had been blown up.

Zuo Ci and Poison Ivy rushed toward Gotham Dam after Batman reported that Bane was blowing it up, while Zuo Ci redirected Penguin’s crew to exploit the citywide chaos. As they flew toward the dam, Poison Ivy was knocked unconscious in a collision with a seagull.

• Batman told Zuo Ci that Bane had released the Experiments and was setting explosives at Gotham Dam, though the sturdy dam was still holding.
• Zuo Ci hurried Poison Ivy into burying the Experiments, promising her Fertilizer in exchange for cooperating.
• Zuo Ci flew toward the dam with Poison Ivy, who panicked and made a vine cage around herself.
• Zuo Ci ordered Penguin to use the chaos to target the Falcone and Maroni families’ senior members and divide the proceeds with him.
• Zuo Ci looked down and found Poison Ivy unconscious in her cage after she collided with a seagull.

Jack encountered Solomon Grundy while helping the police and eagerly challenged him after Grundy sent him flying with a powerful punch. Jack drank all his remaining Super Strength Serum [RED] and advanced toward Grundy for a second round.

• Jack destroyed another Experiment hideout and collected materials for improving his drugs.
• Solomon Grundy emerged in the streets, and Commissioner Gordon's police force struggled to stop him with gunfire.
• Jack arrived, ordered the police to cease fire, and recognized Grundy as a powerful opponent.
• Grundy punched Jack through the police cordon and into a crater, but Jack rose, pleased by his strength.
• Jack swallowed all his remaining Super Strength Serum [RED] and walked back toward Grundy for round two.

Jack Hanma fought Solomon Grundy with increasing ferocity, testing the immortal zombie’s strength before the drugs powering Jack’s body wore off. Solomon survived the beating but was left frightened and hungry, while Jack walked away and asked Gordon to order thirty large pizzas.

• Solomon Grundy charged Jack Hanma, but Jack redirected him and knocked him into a utility pole.
• Jack struck Solomon Grundy with a series of powerful punches, breaking his own hand as well as Solomon’s jaw and driving him into the ground.
• Jack grabbed Solomon Grundy and bit into his neck, then continued attacking him when Solomon tried to flee.
• Jack battered Solomon Grundy into a parked bus, ending the fight as the drugs wore off and Jack’s body began to collapse.
• Solomon Grundy curled up, trembling and crying that he was hurt, hungry, and scared.
• Jack left Solomon Grundy alone, walked over to Jim Gordon and the others, and asked Gordon to order thirty large pizzas.

Batman and Zuo Ci stopped Gotham's damaged dam from collapsing with Poison Ivy's waterweed, then discovered Bane was raiding Zuo Ci's shop. Zuo Ci flew off to confront Bane after punishing one of his henchmen with Disco Maggots.

• Batman stabilized the breached dam, but warned it would collapse within about an hour and flood Gotham.
• Zuo Ci dropped Poison Ivy at the dam, where she grew a Sprout into waterweed that sealed the leaks.
• Poison Ivy collapsed into fertilizer, while Batman told Zuo Ci that Bane had escaped his surveillance.
• Zuo Ci used a Crystal Ball and a henchman to locate Bane raiding his shop, then flew off toward it.
• Before leaving, Zuo Ci forced Disco Maggots into the henchman's mouth and described their horrifying effects.

Zuo Ci returned to Old Dad's General Store and fought through Bane's armed henchmen, then confronted Bane, who demanded a barehanded duel under threat of detonating explosives beneath the block. Zuo Ci accepted and began a Christmas-themed surprise, leaving their showdown about to start.

• Zuo Ci rushed toward his shop, dodged Bane's rocket attack, and used his drones to defeat the armed henchmen hidden along the block.
• Bane emerged from Old Dad's General Store, enlarged by Venom, and warned Zuo Ci that explosives were planted beneath the block.
• Bane explained that he wanted a one-on-one fight to overcome his fear of Zuo Ci and demanded they fight without weapons.
• Zuo Ci accepted the challenge, pulled out a small speaker, and asked Bane what day it was.
• Zuo Ci invoked Santa Claus and ripped off his robe as the fight was about to begin.

Zuo Ci used the Santa Claus bloodline to overpower Bane, cut off his Venom supply, and disable the signal controlling Bane’s explosives. As Zuo Ci prepared to kill him, Bane summoned a dark-green monster that burst from the ground and caught Zuo Ci in its jaws.

• Zuo Ci revealed his Santa Claus bloodline and transformed into a powerful Santa Claus.
• Zuo Ci and Bane fought through several buildings, trading blows and grapples.
• Zuo Ci used his sled runners to slash Bane and sever the tube supplying his Venom.
• Zuo Ci revealed that his drones had jammed signals across a ten-mile radius and prepared to kill Bane.
• Bane called for his pet, and a dark-green monster burst through the ground and caught Zuo Ci in its jaws.

Zuo Ci fought Bane and his enormous, Venom-enhanced Killer Croc, who initially overwhelmed him. Zuo Ci played a Rage card to enter Wrath and turned the fight around, leaving Bane stunned.

• Bane revealed Killer Croc, a gigantic creature enhanced by New X Venom, and had him pin Zuo Ci down.
• Killer Croc was knocked off balance by an explosion beneath his feet, allowing Zuo Ci to escape and kick Bane away.
• Zuo Ci's sleigh barely scratched Killer Croc's scales, and Killer Croc struck Zuo Ci through a shop with his tail.
• Zuo Ci played a Rage card, entering Wrath as Bane ordered Killer Croc to attack.
• Zuo Ci stopped Killer Croc's charge, lifted him, and slammed him into the ground with a powerbomb.
• Bane stared in disbelief as Zuo Ci glowed red and displayed his newfound strength.

Zuo Ci defeated Killer Croc and Bane, then learned that Batman had already cleared the remaining hideouts and Experiments. Batman called him to Gotham Square to treat the injured, and Zuo Ci headed there carrying both villains.

• Zuo Ci spun Killer Croc until he lost consciousness, then pierced him with a Christmas tree and left him to recover.
• Zuo Ci caught Bane as he tried to flee and broke his back, leaving him paralyzed.
• Batman contacted Zuo Ci and asked him to bring his Bandage to Gotham Square to treat the injured.
• Zuo Ci learned that Batman had cleared all the hideouts and captured the escaped Experiments.
• Zuo Ci carried Bane and Killer Croc on his sleigh toward Gotham Square.

Zuo Ci arrived at Gotham Square after the battle and used a powerful healing spell to restore the critically injured, including Jack Hanma. Batman paid him twenty million dollars and left the patients in his care.

• Poison Ivy struggled to keep the critically injured alive while waiting for Zuo Ci to arrive.
• Zuo Ci rushed into Gotham Square on his sleigh, revealed his transformed appearance, and dumped two large bundles onto the ground.
• Zuo Ci found Jack Hanma badly injured from taking all the Super Strength Serum pills at once.
• Zuo Ci cast Bathing in Spring, healing the patients nearby and restoring Jack's old injury as well.
• Batman gave Zuo Ci a bank card with twenty million dollars and left him to care for the citizens.

After helping Commissioner Gordon handle the unconscious civilians, Zuo Ci handed out Christmas presents across Gotham under the influence of his Santa Claus bloodline. That night, he received a mysterious gift from the real Santa Claus: a hat that increased his charm with children and granted a Christmas luck blessing.

• Zuo Ci helped Gordon transport the healed civilians and agreed to split money from blackmailing The Roman's gang.
• Zuo Ci received his mission points and gave Poison Ivy a Magic Watering Can as a Christmas present.
• Zuo Ci handed out presents to children and some impoverished adults across Gotham, then returned to his shop exhausted by the expense.
• A package drifted down the shop's fireplace, and Zuo Ci opened it to find Santa Claus's genuine red hat.

Zuo Ci told Jack about his chaotic childhood, from his dangerous inventions and school pranks to the fire that destroyed his home and his revenge on the bullies responsible. Back in Gotham, Jack's arm burst during training, and Zuo Ci proposed they profit from underground fights the next night.

• Zuo Ci recounted how his eccentric relative raised him and how his dangerous homemade toys got him in trouble at elementary school.
• Zuo Ci described targeting three bullies in middle school with pranks and scams, including disguising himself as the middleman they hired.
• After the bullies burned down Zuo Ci's home, he kidnapped them and left each with a severe injury or mental impairment, then turned himself in and served a year in custody.
• Zuo Ci said he later reformed, graduated from college, and was brought to Gotham by a thief.
• Jack's arm burst during a workout, and Zuo Ci offered to patch him up before proposing they earn money at underground fights the following night.

Zuo Ci left Bane paralyzed in prison and challenged Harvey Dent to confront Gotham’s unjust laws. After Batman revealed that the Elliot Family owned Gotham Prison, Zuo Ci suspected the family had secretly funded Bane’s operation.

• Zuo Ci taunted the helpless Bane, who was serving a 2,500-year sentence for the destruction he caused.
• Zuo Ci argued to Harvey that Gotham’s laws failed to protect good people or punish criminals, and asked what Harvey wanted to do about it.
• Harvey reflected on his desire to change Gotham’s laws, and Zuo Ci took him away in a suit of king’s armor.
• Batman told Zuo Ci that Gotham Prison belonged to the Elliot Family when Zuo Ci suggested buying it to punish criminals.
• Zuo Ci connected the Elliot Family’s ownership of the prison to Bane’s resources and suspected they had funded his operation.

Zuo Ci stopped Batman from using divination to investigate the Elliot Family, then met with Penguin to collect his share of the profits from their operation against Falcone and Maroni. Zuo Ci proposed that Penguin replace The Roman and said he would bring Gordon, Harvey Dent, and Batman into a group chat to help.

• Batman stopped Zuo Ci from using a Crystal Ball to investigate the Elliot Family, claiming he wanted to handle the matter himself.
• Zuo Ci returned to reading after recalling that the street’s shops were nearly deserted and that he had bought them.
• Penguin welcomed Zuo Ci to the Iceberg Lounge with an elaborate Chinese meal and gave him a check for twenty million US dollars.
• Zuo Ci asked Penguin whether he wanted to replace The Roman, and Penguin warned that taking over would not be easy.
• Zuo Ci said he would create a group chat with Commissioner Gordon, Prosecutor Harvey Dent, and Batman to help remove The Roman’s mob.
• Penguin worried that working with them would look like collusion, and Zuo Ci called them a group of like-minded people working for Gotham’s brighter future.

Zuo Ci dealt with a corrupt tax officer who tried to extort him, then declared he would blow up City Hall. The Riddler watched and challenged Zuo Ci with a riddle, questioning whether he counted as a hero.

• Zuo Ci welcomed Token, a Federation tax officer who demanded $130,000 in taxes.
• Zuo Ci fired phlegm into Token’s mouth and trapped him in a sealed mask that forced him to swallow and regurgitate it.
• Token stepped on Floor Spike, and Zuo Ci stripped him and dumped him in a drainage ditch.
• Zuo Ci complained that Gotham had tried to tax him and announced he would blow up City Hall.
• Edward Nygma watched Zuo Ci and asked whether he counted as a hero before posing his classic four-legs, two-legs, three-legs riddle.

Zuo Ci forced Riddler to sign a contract promising to abandon crime, then stripped him of his valuables as a joining fee. Riddler left believing he had tricked Zuo Ci with a false name, but Zuo Ci revealed the contract bound him regardless of what he wrote.

• Zuo Ci startled Riddler with a riddle and threatened him with a beating before ushering him into the shop.
• Riddler claimed he sought justice and wanted to turn over a new leaf, using riddles to explain his supposed loneliness.
• Zuo Ci threatened Riddler with a massive book and presented him with a contract promising eight hundred years of torment if he returned to crime.
• Riddler signed the contract, then handed over his valuables as a joining fee demanded by Zuo Ci.
• Riddler left thinking he had escaped the contract by changing his name, but Zuo Ci watched through a Crystal Ball and explained that any signature made the contract binding.

Riddler realized the mysterious merchant’s Contract had punished him for trying to rob a bank, and he resolved to reform. Meanwhile, Zuo Ci dealt with a costumed intruder at his shop, then noticed another strange figure on a billboard.

• Riddler woke in a holding cell after the Contract inflicted unbearable pain on him, and he found a note reminding him of its terms.
• A police officer passed Riddler a business card from the mysterious merchant’s boss.
• Zuo Ci wondered whether Riddler had triggered the Contract, then rushed outside after hearing a disturbance at his shop.
• A costumed man calling himself “King” mistook Zuo Ci for a would-be robber, and Zuo Ci knocked him unconscious with a kick.
• Zuo Ci stripped King, found that his crown and cane were cheap, and spotted a strange bald figure on a billboard.

Zuo Ci captured Mirror Master and learned that a mysterious invitation scheme was recruiting Gotham villains for what seemed to be an Injustice League. When Zuo Ci tried using his Crystal Ball to investigate, it showed only static, leaving the source of the scheme unknown.

• Zuo Ci beat Mirror Master until he revealed his plan to cover Gotham’s billboards with mirrors and cause traffic chaos, and Zuo Ci found a black invitation on him.
• Zuo Ci left Mirror Master and his crew stuck in a billboard, and they called for Batman to rescue them.
• Zuo Ci returned to his shop with money and a stack of invitations after encountering several inept villains, including Signalman, an unseen robber, and the Amazing Faceless Doctor.
• Cobblepot contacted Zuo Ci about a strange business card, and Zuo Ci gathered Jack, Batman, Commissioner Gordon, Harvey Dent, Penguin, and Riddler to discuss the invitations and a possible Injustice League.
• Cobblepot described the masked figure who had approached him, but the group found no useful clues.
• Zuo Ci tried to use his Crystal Ball to identify the person behind the scheme, but it displayed static twice.

After Zuo Ci’s divination failed, the group sent the Riddler undercover to investigate their mysterious enemies. In a secret underground room, a scarred man revealed his plan to recruit a team to expose Batman and take revenge on Bruce Wayne.

• Zuo Ci failed to use divination, and Harvey suggested that another magician might be interfering.
• Zuo Ci admitted he had no solution, while Batman remained silent, apparently keeping his own discovery to himself.
• Jack proposed sending someone undercover, and Zuo Ci appointed the Riddler to investigate the people who had sent invitations.
• The group ended its meeting, with Zuo Ci emerging as its leader because his work against villains could earn him money.
• A scarred man in a fortified underground room vowed to gather a team to strip away Batman’s disguise and kill Bruce Wayne himself.