"Yeah, you're right. I do have that troublesome business... and as you've already noticed, the damn thing keeps eating my money."
Lincoln hesitated for a moment.
"If you're willing to buy it, then I can sell you the rest of my shares in the broadcasting company."
"A perfectly fair trade."
"But I want the entire payment upfront. No installments, no bank transfers. Everything has to be paid in cash."
Karl mentally ran through the timing, then nodded.
"You're certainly not modest with your demands, but fine. I won't haggle over the details."
"Consider it a gesture of respect and friendship toward your organization. Those conditions aren't a problem."
Once the two men had settled the main terms over dinner, everything else became much easier to handle.
The gathering eventually ended amid a lively atmosphere.
After seeing Lincoln off, Penguin followed Karl and quietly said,
"Hey, if you end up short on cash, you can always borrow some from me! I'm always happy to help, and we can even negotiate the interest rate."
Karl lit a cigarette and replied casually,
"Borrow money from you? Thanks, but who knows how much that would end up costing me?"
"I've got my own way of raising funds. No need to trouble you."
Seeing that Karl had no intention of explaining further, Penguin didn't press the issue.
They were both businessmen.
Who didn't have a few secrets of their own?
Instead, Penguin changed the subject.
"But why are you buying that football team?"
"That thing is insanely expensive to maintain. Without a real superstar, you can't even sell tickets."
"Don't tell me you're seriously planning to run a team now."
Hearing this, Karl blew out a ring of smoke.
A sly smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"Of course."
"I already have a suitable candidate in mind."
As he spoke, he pulled out his phone and called Ed.
"Hey, Ed. I need you to find someone for me."
"No, not the mob this time."
"Someone from Washington County. Just graduated from high school. His father is a government expert in alien technology—someone along the lines of Silas Stone."
"Look into him. His son might be very useful to me."
Penguin watched Karl make the call and briefly wondered whether this guy had suddenly developed an obsession with recruiting young people.
Still, he kept the thought to himself.
While Karl was spending the evening at the Iceberg Lounge with Penguin, Selina Kyle was moving across Gotham's rooftops beneath the night sky.
"Yawn... what a pain."
"He can't even handle something this small by himself, so he has to send me to do it."
"Men really are hopeless."
Catwoman stretched lazily.
Her beautiful face and curvaceous figure looked particularly striking beneath the moonlight.
After waking up that afternoon, Jason had come to tell her that Karl needed another favor and hoped Catwoman could handle the problem for him.
Since it was adorable little Jason asking for help, and Selina had always had a soft spot for kids coming to her for favors, she'd agreed almost without thinking.
So now all she could do was curse Karl for being useless.
He couldn't even take care of such a minor problem himself, and he had the nerve to make a kid deliver the request instead of showing up personally!
At the same time, however, Selina had put on her specialized nighttime gear for the first time in quite a while.
Breaking into Harvey Dent's office was effortless.
She quickly stole exactly what Karl wanted.
"Hmph! This filthy little notebook has everyone so terrified..."
"I really don't understand what they're afraid of."
Selina flipped through it.
"Oh? There's fifty dollars in here?"
"That's it?"
"If Holly knew I did all this for fifty bucks, she'd laugh herself sick."
Selina shook her head helplessly and tossed the entire thing into the sewer.
It wouldn't take long before the filthy water below reduced the notebook and everything inside it to pulp.
After finishing the job, Catwoman looked up at the sky.
Bright moonlight spilled across Gotham.
For once, it wasn't raining.
A faint night breeze brushed through her hair, awakening a feeling she hadn't experienced in a very long time.
Standing on that rooftop, she suddenly felt as though she had returned to the old days.
Back then, she hadn't been afraid of anything.
All of Gotham City had seemed like a taut string beneath her feet.
With the slightest touch, she could make it play a song of freedom.
No strings attached.
No worries.
Under this dark sky, she had been free to savor anything she wanted.
It was a feeling that even all the money she'd earned from the Moon Rabbit business could never give her.
"Hmm..."
"Now that I think about it, that annoying Bat who always got in my way has already been beaten half to death."
"It's been a long time since I've gone out and really cut loose..."
"I might as well make a night of it!"
A mischievous gleam appeared in Selina's eyes.
With that thought, Catwoman lightly pushed off from the rooftop.
Her body effortlessly swept across the edges of Gotham's skyline.
Before long, she arrived at the Gotham Art Museum near Uptown.
Every week, artists from around the world came here to hold exhibitions.
After all, Gotham City was filled with influential and wealthy people, many of whom had an interest in art.
There were always people willing to pay enormous sums to have their work exhibited in Gotham, and the resulting exhibitions could generate staggering profits.
Meanwhile, inside Harvey Dent's office, Constantine stood smoking as he silently stared at the open safe.
"At least say something!"
Harvey Dent looked thoroughly irritated.
Constantine calmly examined the contents.
"I've counted everything."
"All the evidence is still here except Karl's copy."
"That one's gone."
"And none of the alarms in this office were triggered."
"Neither were the cameras."
"Even the safe itself shows no sign that anyone tampered with it."
"Not even the most basic security measure reacted."
Constantine exhaled smoke.
"Looks like Karl still has another card hidden up his sleeve."
"For all we know, he has ten master thieves working for him."
Ignoring Constantine's sarcasm, Harvey pressed his hands against his head.
A trace of panic appeared on his face.
"Damn it! This is all your fault!"
"I told you from the beginning that we should've just returned the evidence to Karl!"
"It was nothing but a cheap notebook and fifty dollars. That isn't enough to convict him of anything!"
"We should've just let it go!"
"But you insisted on stopping me."
"And now look at us."
"There's no turning back anymore!"
(End of Chapter)
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