The once-resplendent Iceberg Lounge had been one of Gotham high society's favorite gathering spots.
Aside from businesses owned by the major families, there were practically no people in Gotham capable of running a restaurant successfully.
For ordinary people without connections to open a small shop in Gotham, it did not matter how good their cooking was. They had to be skilled in at least one thing: martial arts, tactics, or shooting.
Though this was no longer the era of the eight major mafia families, there were no fewer street gangs than before. The new-style gangs had even fewer rules and acted without restraint.
The old-school gangs at least provided protection after collecting protection money. But now, with no leader in the underworld and every faction claiming its own territory, the dark order had become exceptionally chaotic.
Some territories changed hands so often that doing business there might mean paying protection money more than ten times a month, without receiving any protection at all.
Though the police department was somewhat more useful than before, its manpower still limited how much it could handle.
Eight million people, one police department. Nothing more needed to be said.
It was not that they lacked money. Bruce had donated plenty to the Gotham Police Department, even giving them police cars and weapons for free.
The problem was that too few people in Gotham were willing to become police officers.
Gordon had once formed a SWAT team, selecting a group of reliable young people to join. He had wanted to use them as the backbone for expanding the police force.
But before a week had passed, every stubbornly upright member of the SWAT team had been slaughtered by Talons. The rest either resigned or were bought off and became crooked cops, while Bruce's donations "mysteriously disappeared"