Chapter 41: Gang Expansion

"My dear friend, I don't believe my creation is any less impressive than those monsters. So, you don't need to worry about me bypassing you to work directly with Victor."

Two-Face visibly froze when he saw Black Gold.

"How about… I invest in you too? You build me a hundred of those robots?"

Harvey Dent suddenly found Black Gold far more appealing than Titan.

He understood that Shimizu was using Black Gold to demonstrate his strength.

"I'm sorry, but Penguin already made me that offer. In reality, I'm the only one in the world capable of controlling this machine."

Shimizu glanced outside at the group of Two-Face's men, who were now eyeing Black Gold and raising their weapons in alarm.

"I see. It's like Pamela—your unique gift."

Pamela was Poison Ivy's real name.

Noticing the situation outside, Harvey Dent opened the car door and gestured for his men to lower their weapons.

"Victor's currently living in a central warehouse in the Burnley district. I bought a cold storage facility there and set it up as his lab. Go to the adjacent Swore Street, and my men will guide you to him."

"As for what you hope to achieve through Victor, I have no idea. But I can tell you this: Victor is different from us. Unlike criminals chasing power and wealth, almost nothing in this world can move him—except reviving his wife."

Harvey Dent said this as Shimizu stepped out of the car.

"Thanks for the warning. I'll be cautious. But… can you tell me what exactly Victor's wife is suffering from?"

In this world, her disease is incurable by conventional medicine—but perhaps medical ninjutsu from the Naruto world might work.

"Some kind of rare, chronic neurodegenerative disorder. I don't know the specifics."

Harvey Dent continued:

"Alright. I'll have my men vacate those territories today. You arrange for your crew to take over. The $1 million in cash, along with the weapons and vehicles, will arrive before tomorrow night. I expect a clean exchange—cash for product—at Victor's cold storage facility, agreed?"

"Deal."

Two-Face's crew quickly got in their vehicles and left, leaving behind Kerman Cole, who was bound and gagged, cradling his injured hand.

"Boss, what do we do with this guy?"

Aman dragged Kerman over and asked Shimizu.

"Put him in a sack, fill it with cement, and dump it under Gotham Bridge."

Shimizu didn't even look at Kerman. He just nodded coldly, then turned to his accountant.

"This afternoon, take some men and take over Rosanya Street, Shockwave Street, and Aylesbury Community. Tomorrow, Two-Face's guys will deliver weapons and vehicles—you handle that handover."

The accountant was stunned.

"Boss, how did you even manage this? Not only did they hand over Kerman Cole, but they also gave us turf and guns. You didn't..."

"It was just a deal. Don't look at me like that—it was a legitimate deal. As for Kerman, Dent just used us to clean house and get rid of his internal problem."

Shimizu flicked the accountant on the forehead, then returned to the abandoned factory to continue upgrading Black Gold.

This time, he was installing synthetic muscles—multiple internal bladders made of composite rubber, reinforced with external woven fibers—to replace the previously primitive pneumatic cylinders.

This would increase power output, give the body more flexibility, and allow better control of the puppet.

However, this material was produced by Wayne Enterprises, and rarely seen on the open market—since it was military-grade exclusive.

Only Penguin had the means to obtain leftovers through his backdoor channels with military logistics personnel.

Of course, Penguin charged a hefty price—and warned Shimizu that without Wayne's internal supply chain, he was likely holding the only batch available.

Working with composite rubber was delicate and time-consuming.

Even with all kinds of tools assisting him, Shimizu spent most of the day working on it.

By evening, the upgrade was finally complete, leaving behind only some leftover scraps.

"I could use this to build some new components for Black Gold—or maybe use it for the next puppet."

Shimizu snapped his fingers and sat back in his swivel chair, satisfied as he admired his masterpiece.

[Puppet Name]: Black Gold

[Overall Parameters]:

Height: 2.04 meters

Weight: 201.2 kilograms

Materials: Industrial alloy, ceramic composite fibers, synthetic rubber, silver, copper, etc.

Power Source: None

Control Method: Chakra threads

[Puppet Rating]: B (B+)

[Overall Evaluation]: A heavily armored combat puppet, the result of merging traditional puppet techniques with modern engineering and materials science. Excellent performance, exceptional in close-quarters combat, and capable of limited ranged attacks. When combined with its puppeteer, its combat strength increases even further.

Though its compatibility with puppet jutsu wasn't as good as Fatty's, thanks to the high-tech materials of the DC universe, Black Gold's overall combat power might already match or exceed Fatty's.

What thrilled Shimizu even more than Black Gold's power was the surge in his Fate Progress Bar.

His main body's promotion to Chūnin had previously given the bar a huge boost, and it had been steadily growing since then.

By the time he met with Two-Face, the bar had reached 49.7%.

Now that Hogg Union had suddenly taken over two extra streets and one community, more than doubling its territory, the bar had jumped to 54.6%—possibly because the accountant and Aman had already begun taking over the turf.

"Perfect. Once Two-Face's supplies arrive, I'll have money, guns, and territory—it's time to recruit."

That part would be easy.

Poor neighborhoods, bars, and nightclubs were all excellent places to find new gang members—full of the unemployed, delinquent youths, and immigrants.

Still, Shimizu hoped to attract more capable recruits, since Hogg Union now controlled four streets and one community—a territory size comparable to a mid-sized gang in Gotham's slums.

To get real talent, he'd have to offer better pay and benefits.

Which meant: he desperately needed more money.

The $1 million from Harvey Dent would likely lose half its value if laundered through Penguin's channels.

Fortunately, Hogg Union had some internal laundering capacity—thanks to the rich legacy left behind by the Spalletta family.

Bars, nightclubs, and freight companies—all prime businesses for large-scale money laundering.

(End of Chapter)