Gotham in Progress (Part Two)

Gotham City’s sewers had a long history, and no matter how many urban renovations took place, they had basically never reached this place. This was Gotham’s darkest underground kingdom.

No Gotham citizen would wander down here with nothing better to do. If Marvel’s New York sewers still had strange evil scientists and friendly neighborhood heroes, then Gotham’s sewers in this era were completely silent. Not even vagrants or beggars came down here, because they had heard the legend that anyone who appeared in the sewers would vanish without reason.

But Catwoman was skilled and fearless; she could squeeze into any nook or cranny. To escape Bruce’s watchful eye, she ducked into the sewers in no time.

Catwoman truly had an exceptional talent for this sort of thing. She had not gone far before discovering signs of human activity near the eastern reservoir.

At first, she was merely curious, so she followed the traces deeper and deeper. But what she found next exceeded her expectations: Catwoman discovered an enormous conference room in the sewers.

No matter how much Catwoman liked courting death, she knew this was serious. She hurriedly called Bruce.

After receiving the news, Falcone, Bruce, and Schiller arrived together. The three stood in the enormous conference room. Bruce looked up at the dome draped in ribbons and said, "This isn’t something some gang or street punks could have built…"

Indeed, the ceiling here was over ten meters high, and the entire conference room used massive stone support structures. Setting aside the ingenuity of the architectural design, the sheer scale of the project was not something one or two people could have completed.

Falcone stood at the head of the enormous conference table, looking somewhat silent. The Old Godfather’s gaze traveled down the table to its far end, where Schiller stood lost in thought. He asked, "You don’t seem surprised."

"Neither do you," Schiller said.

The three fell silent for a moment. In the end, Bruce broke the deadlock. "It seems we’ve all guessed that a mysterious force has been controlling Gotham from the shadows, and this is the proof."

"We have all paid a painful price for it." Falcone said, "I know you never stopped questioning your parents’ deaths. Neither did I."

The Old Godfather closed his eyes, seemingly sinking into thought once more. "My eldest son died in an equally bizarre shooting. It was also one night many years ago, but I chose to remain silent until today."

"You think these people were the killers?" Bruce tapped the table, then looked at Schiller. "Professor, you should have had no reason to investigate this matter. And when you faced that Assassin that day, you called out his name."

"You’d better not jump to conclusions. Why do you think I’ve been investigating serial murder cases across the world?" Schiller said.

Bruce frowned. "You already knew about the existence of this organization?"

"Not only that. I know more, but I cannot reveal it. And even if you knew, I’m afraid it wouldn’t change anything."

"What is it called?" Falcone asked.

"The Court of Owls. Their assassins are called Talons."

"That nursery rhyme…" Bruce suddenly remembered. An eerie, horrifying nursery rhyme had always circulated through Gotham City: Beware the Court of Owls, watching your comings and goings. They watch Gotham City from the shadows, hidden in low walls and attic spaces. They dwell within your home, they lurk beside your bed. Never speak their name, or the Talon will come for your head.

Falcone fell silent and did not press further. Bruce wanted to ask more, but Schiller interrupted him. "What we need to consider now is why this organization suddenly abandoned this place. That doesn’t seem like a good sign."

Schiller was genuinely confused. How had the Court of Owls vanished overnight?

Among all those comics, he had never seen a Court of Owls leave Gotham. Judging by this conference room, it seemed to have been used not long ago. So how had they all disappeared in an instant?

Bruce rubbed his chin. "Maybe they merely relocated their base?"

"Then why would they suddenly relocate?"

Bruce and Falcone both shook their heads. From the perspective of these three men, this behavior was indeed strange. Nothing major had happened in Gotham lately, so why was this organization moving in such a panic?

And this conference room was truly well hidden. If they had not moved so hastily that they left traces behind, then even if every building aboveground in Gotham were rebuilt, this underground base probably would never have been discovered.

They had invested so much and built it so meticulously, yet they had simply abandoned it. What had happened that they did not know about?

"But now we have confirmed that such an organization does exist. Gotham did not develop into what it is today by accident," Falcone said.

"We must unite." Schiller tapped the table.

"Whatever you may think, I have to warn you: this organization is far more terrifying than you imagine. It not only manipulates Gotham, but also seeks to manipulate the entire world in the same way."

"If we cannot muster the strength to oppose it, then Gotham and the entire world will inevitably be shrouded in the darkness beneath owl wings."

"I will make them pay," Falcone said. "I have waited far too long for this day. My silence did not mean I had forgotten. I was merely waiting for them to leave behind a single feather, and today, I have finally found one."

"It seems we all have a grudge against the Court of Owls." Bruce folded his arms.

He could not be completely certain that his parents’ deaths were connected to this mysterious organization, but he was absolutely certain that if this dark organization truly controlled Gotham and had made it what it was today, then they were surely among those responsible for killing his parents.

Bruce stood on one side of the long table, while Falcone and Schiller stood at opposite ends. In the pitch-black conference room, only the candlelight swayed gently.

At last, Falcone said, "To take revenge on them, I am willing to form an alliance with you. But this alliance must remain sufficiently secret. Any member who joins must be vetted by the other members, and we have only one purpose…"

Bruce continued, "To destroy every mysterious force that seeks to control Gotham…"

"…and bring a new order to this city," Schiller said.

After returning to the surface, the three said nothing. There were no written documents for this pact, not even any clearly stated rules, but all three knew that this secret meeting beneath Gotham had determined the city’s future fate.

Before long, the trustworthy detective Gordon and lawyer Harvey, both men of character, ability, and conviction, joined the pact as well. Thus, the earliest version of the "Gotham Secret Council" was born.

This was an organization even more mysterious than the Court of Owls. It had no goals, no manifesto for action, and none of its members ever used their affiliation with it to contact one another. They maintained only their public social identities, displaying merely a little more tacit understanding than usual when doing certain things.

This organization’s ultimate purpose was only one thing: if Gotham was born into chaos, then let it remain forever chaotic and free. Anyone who sought to control this place would ultimately fail. Gotham would forever be only Gotham.

After confirming the Court of Owls’ movements, Schiller cast aside his reservations and began preparing for Gotham City’s first reconstruction. The first thing he needed to do was produce a perfect urban planning proposal for Gotham City.

Of course, Schiller himself had no knowledge in this area, but that did not matter. He had an exceptionally useful cheat.

"Stark, use that genius brain of yours and figure something out!"

In Marvel’s New York, inside Stark Tower’s laboratory, Schiller handed Stark a box of blueprints. Stark looked baffled. After reading two pages, he said, "What is this? Urban planning maps? Why are you giving this to me?"

"Right now, I need a perfect urban planning proposal for this city. You’d better finish it quickly. I need it urgently."

Stark looked at the blueprints, then at him. The two stared at each other. Stark said, "Why do you think I know urban planning?"

"You don’t, but you can learn. You have to learn eventually anyway, so why can’t it be today?"

"Even if you can’t learn it, Jarvis can. He’s a super artificial intelligence. Planning a city should be easy for him, right?"

Stark opened his mouth, a curse nearly reaching his lips. He lowered his head and glanced at the blueprints again. "You want me to handle urban planning for an entire metropolis by myself?"

"Fine," Schiller said. "Actually, another super genius about as brilliant as you has already produced the first version of the plan. It’s just that… you know, his supercomputer doesn’t have enough processing power, so I could only come here to borrow some technical support."

Stark did not hear another word. He only heard the phrase "a super genius about as brilliant as you." Just as he was about to argue, Schiller tossed another bundle of blueprints at him. Stark widened his eyes and scanned them skeptically for a moment, then froze.

"Wait." Stark lowered his head and pulled out several documents from the box, comparing them on the spot. As he read, he pulled out more blueprints. "Is this some kind of test question? This city doesn’t exist anywhere in the world. You made it up. What’s the point?"

"The point is to see which of you is more of a genius."

"I’ll say it again: there is absolutely no one in this world smarter than Stark." Stark raised one finger. "If you think such a person exists, then you’re mistaken. I’ll prove it to you right now."

As he spoke, he picked up a pen and began sketching over the map. "Fine, I admit he’s a genius. His understanding of logistics systems is unique, and it looks nearly perfect…"

"But it still isn’t the best. I have a better idea… Look here, this central hub is the problem. You must think this hub is important…"

Whenever it involved a problem like this, Stark became extremely serious and exceptionally methodical. "I admit this person you mentioned is impressive. It looks like he didn’t even use computer tools, but calculated everything by hand. He’s practically reached the limits of human ability…"

"But he lacks creativity. Like I said, his vision is a little outdated. A city doesn’t necessarily have to be flat. It can also be three-dimensional…"

"A vertical city. Yes, a vertical city. I know this concept has been proposed for years, and no city has ever successfully put it into practice. But if—I’m saying if—the city you gave me actually exists in this world, then a vertical city would definitely be the perfect solution!"

Stark’s tone was utterly decisive. "Look at this city’s structure… Look here! This is the prototype. What’s this called? Living Hell? Who names a district something like that?"

"Forget it, that isn’t important. What’s important is that the ecosystem they formed spontaneously has already come infinitely close to the concept of a vertical city. This is actually already part of the standard answer. This model is perfectly suited to this city’s current state, especially since it has a port…"

"Look at this person’s plan. He uses the central hub as the main nexus. The idea isn’t wrong, but like I said, he lacks creativity. The central hub doesn’t have to be circular at all. It can be spherical…"

"Let’s take our eyes off the two-dimensional plane. That’s old and outdated, too rigid. Now Stark will show you what a real genius is…"