Chapter 39: Two-Faced Man

While Shimizu's real body was getting accustomed to his new team, the Hog Union had nearly finished absorbing the territory and assets of the Sbaletta family and had also concluded the first phase of training designed by his avatar.

The training had to be broken into phases—by necessity.

These guys were street thugs, not soldiers. There was no way Shimizu could implement the kind of formal military academy standards Aman had mentioned.

So, the program focused on physical conditioning, strength, flexibility training, basic hand-to-hand combat techniques, and proper firearm usage.

Frankly, just being proficient in those basics was enough to survive in Gotham's underworld. With talent, someone might even rise to a low-level gang leader.

But Shimizu's plan went far beyond that. His training included ninja specialties like stealth, disguise, throwing weapons (shuriken, kunai), blow darts, chain weapons, basic team coordination theory, explosives and trap-making, intelligence gathering, and analysis—skills that only elite assassin groups like the League of Shadows could fully master.

And even that wasn't the full extent.

Since they were running a gang, Shimizu believed they had to act like a real gang—so he added lessons in money laundering, avoiding legal penalties from illicit trades, forging IDs, creating fake documents, understanding Gotham's underground economy and criminal finance networks, exploiting legal loopholes, and dealing with the police.

If such a fully trained and structured force were ever truly formed, Gotham's mayor would never sleep peacefully again.

And with it, Shimizu could crush the city's underworld and max out his fate energy progress bar in no time.

But reality had a way of humbling ambition.

The Hog Union was still just a mid-sized gang of about 50 people. Over 90% of the thugs couldn't even get through the basic fitness regimen.

The only reason they stayed was that Shimizu paid better than other gangs. Otherwise, there would've been deserters by now.

"Boss! Boss! Something bad's happening!"

Inside an abandoned factory, Shimizu was in the middle of stuffing cybernetic muscle into his dismantled Black Gold armor when Yellowhair burst in, flustered.

"Speak."

Shimizu continued carefully layering composite carbon fiber over the rubber musculature as he replied.

"Carman Cole is here! And he brought a bunch of guys—dozens of them—and they're all armed!"

Carman Cole?

Who was that again?

Then Shimizu remembered—the former leader of the Cole Gang and the brother of the current Two-Face Gang lieutenant.

Were they about to clash with Two-Face's organization?

Shimizu frowned.

It wasn't the best timing—Black Gold was still mid-upgrade and currently inconvenient to use.

Not unusable, but deploying it before installing the full biosynthetic muscle layer risked damaging the expensive high-strength components—too big a loss.

Still, Shimizu was a shinobi. His strength didn't rely solely on Black Gold.

On the wall hung several makeshift ninja tools made from metal scraps left over from the Black Gold modding—just a high-carbon steel ninjatō, a few kunai, and some shuriken.

Alongside the pistol on the table, it wasn't much. But combined with his martial prowess and chakra, he could exceed the peak of human combat potential. Plus, his subordinates now had some basic tactical training.

Even against one of Gotham's major gangs, they had a fighting chance.

Shimizu strapped the ninjatō to his back, stuffed the kunai and shuriken into his pockets, and his expression turned icy.

He wasn't the type to let insults go unpunished. If the Two-Face Gang wanted a fight, he didn't mind taking out Harvey Dent—even if it risked drawing the attention of Gotham's caped crusaders.

"Let's go."

He loaded the pistol, holstered it, and headed out the front door with Yellowhair.

"Where is Chidi Cole!?"

"Where's my brother!?"

"Where the hell is your boss!? Where is that bastard hiding!?"

Outside the repurposed factory, dozens of Two-Face Gang members were swarming the concrete lot with over a dozen cars.

At the center stood a man in a trench coat with a gold chain and a submachine gun, shouting furiously.

When he saw Shimizu emerge with Yellowhair and a group of Hog Union members, his eyes locked on Shimizu.

"So you're the new boss of the Cole Gang?"

Shimizu didn't answer. His gaze swept over the surroundings calmly.

"I'm talking to you, damn it!"

Carman Cole raised his gun and pointed it at Shimizu.

Only then did Shimizu shift his gaze to Carman—and then…

Whoosh!

A shuriken flew out and struck Carman in the hand, causing him to cry out and drop the SMG.

In unison, all the Two-Face thugs leveled their guns at Shimizu.

The Hog Union was a beat slower, but they too quickly aimed their weapons.

"I don't like having guns pointed at me."

Shimizu chuckled coldly, glancing around.

"You've all made it this far without firing. That means this guy can't directly order you. But showing up in force like this… I'd wager you came too, didn't you, Harvey Dent?"

A car door from a luxury sedan swung open.

Out stepped a man in a half-black, half-white suit. The right side of his face was handsome and smooth. The left—burnt, exposing parts of his skull and teeth. A truly haunting sight.

One of Gotham's top-tier villains: Two-Face, Harvey Dent.

"The coin came up tails. That means I shouldn't choose conflict with you… Puppeteer."

He flipped a coin in his fingers and smiled at Shimizu.

Shimizu's eyes narrowed slightly.

"You got that name from the Penguin?"

Only the Penguin knew about his "Puppeteer" alias.

"Of course. I paid him a little something. Had to rob a bank just yesterday to afford it."

Then Harvey turned toward Carman Cole.

"My dear Carman. I always believed you were a loyal and capable subordinate. I even let you skim a little off the protection fees we collected—that was your reward. But why… when I told you to talk—talk—to the Watt brothers on my behalf, why did you decide to speak with guns instead?"

Carman clutched his injured hand with his left, gritting through the pain.

"Sorry, Boss… it's my brother, Chidi, he—"

"Didn't he die in the conflict with the Sbaletta family? And didn't my Watt brothers avenge him for you?"

Carman lowered his head, hiding the fury in his eyes.

"You have to understand, Carman, I've given you plenty of chances. Skimming money—fine, as long as it doesn't affect my business. But the condition was obedience and results. Sadly… you failed."

Two-Face flipped the coin again, catching it with his right hand, and covering it with his left.

"Let the coin decide… whether you live or die."

(End of Chapter)