After nearly two years of hard work by Wayne Engineering Group, less than half of the renovation of Gotham's East Side has been completed. However, the main target of the renovation is residential buildings, and many commercial streets controlled by gang families have not yet started construction.
Nightclubs, casinos, shopping malls, and even crowded markets with intricate personal connections all require time to sort out the interests among them. Besides, except for some old buildings that have not been renovated since Gotham was built, their architectural structures are not the same.
In addition to being too stable, the commercial buildings built later have become the iconic scenery of Gotham's skyline, and are not suitable for being completely demolished and rebuilt like those dilapidated residential buildings.
Although Gotham is chaotic, it is not poor. The East End is the epitome of this phenomenon. Although there are high-density and low-end residential areas where the poor struggle to survive, like the living hell of the past, there are also high-rise buildings and golden beaches that are brightly lit at night.
.
Golden Beach is close to the sea, to the south of the dock area in the East District. It consists of about 20 miles of beach, the Jinbei Square on the only way to the beach, and four streets distributed in a roughly tic-tac-shape. It is the most prosperous business in the East District.
center.
Including the Jinbei Bar, Jinbei Nightclub, Golden Wine Casino established by the Falcone family-controlled Jinbei Group, Gulili Commercial Street controlled by the Spencer family, Chinatown dominated by Chinese gangs, and the center of the tic-tac-toe shape controlled by the Lawrence family.
Golden Beach Market.
The Golden Beach Market is the largest underground market in the world, and it is also the only semi-public black market. Things you can buy here include but are not limited to stolen goods, contraband, prohibited weapons, and contraband drugs from all over the world.
, certain images and human body parts that are against humanitarianism.
Of course, due to the gradual transformation of Gotham gangsters into the traditional refrigerated logistics industry, Gold Beach Market has become less prosperous than before, but it is still the place with the most intensive exchanges of activities among Gotham's lower-class people.
Drive south from Yoseld Street, pass through the right ramp of Gulili Street, and you will find the entrance to the Golden Beach Market in a dark alley with Lawrence family buildings on both sides.
After pushing open the dilapidated iron door, the scene inside suddenly became clear. The lights of the neon signs of various bars were dizzying. The towering buildings were brightly lit. Looking down along the street light poles, there were people wearing jackets and hats.
, the thief with a backpack in front of him put a worn cardboard board in front of his feet, with the names of some items written on it, and the speedsters holding the motorcycle gathered together in twos and threes to select the stolen goods.
At the end of this street, there is a bar called Silver Thorn. After opening the door and walking through a somewhat narrow corridor, the dazzling light of the lamp ball left eye-catching scars on the surface of the black leather jacket.
When a slim figure walked into the bar, everyone looked at her and then looked away within a second.
"Catwoman, good girl, you haven't been here for a long time. Where did you get rich recently? You haven't forgotten us old friends, have you?"
A strange-looking thin man was sitting in front of the stripper's bar drinking. Catwoman walked over and sat down and said, "Tatou, you are still doing it here? I thought you had gone to the Golden Cup Bar a long time ago."
"There's nothing I can do about it. The boss there is too powerful and I can't afford to offend him. It's better here." The man known as Tutou laughed a few times, and when he turned around and showed the other side of his face, you could see
Find out why he is called "Tatou".
The entire right side of his face, from the corner of his forehead to his right eye, was missing a large piece and turned into a pit. The scar on it showed that this mutation was not innate, but caused by acquired injuries. It looked very weird and terrifying.
.
But everyone knows that in Gotham, if you see someone with very obvious serious injuries on their exposed limbs, you must be vigilant.
Even when Batman was hanging around at the bottom of the Eastern District, he would be anxious about losing the ability to work because of a cold. For ordinary people, even if some minor injuries affect their work efficiency, they are likely to fall into a vicious cycle.
Among them, the final result is just to go to those basement doctors to have some fun for the rest of my life.
Anyone who can survive serious injuries in Gotham, or even live well, is the cruelest of the cruel. After all, they don't have the medical resources like Wayne Group. The ones in Gotham alone have
The dark rain is enough for them to drink a pot.
If these people are lucky enough to survive, the ugly scars will become their armor or even weapons. At least in Gotham, when some people see people like Tatou, their instinctive reaction is to take a detour, because it is more serious than getting injured.
There is another terrifying possibility - congenital disability and mental distortion caused by disability. This is the type of villain that can be featured in Batman's regular issues, and no one would think of messing with them.
But fortunately, this guy was not a lunatic. He and Catwoman didn't chat for a while before he started complaining: "The recent market situation is really getting worse and worse. With the progress of the renovation project, Wayne Group has set up shop here."
More and more security equipment."
"Have any thieves ever seen such a high-end thing? Last time, Xiaofei ran into it without knowing why. He thought that his infiltration was perfect, but in fact, it had been locked by the robot. That damn thing is more accurate than the most accurate gunman in the gang. Xiaofei
De was beaten to death on the spot."
"Originally, the market in the East District was the best. There were many people here and it was easy to steal, so we could support the Four Snitches and so many other thieves. But now the situation has become like this. There are fewer targets, but there are still so many thieves. It's impossible to deal with them.
Come on, many thieves in the East District have to go to several other districts to steal things."
"They are not familiar with each other in other districts, and they are easy to fight when seen by their colleagues in those districts. In just a few months, the number of customers who come to me to sell stolen goods has been reduced by half. If this continues, even
I can’t even fill my stomach.”
Tatou sighed deeply and said: "Who made me born with blood-sickness? If I don't really have a hard time, who is a dealer in stolen goods in this damn city, isn't it enough to be bullied by gangs?"
Catwoman also sighed in agreement and said: "The job of the snitch is not easy anymore. Since the bosses started to switch to cold storage business, they can get less high-end jewelry, so the inventory of safes is naturally not much.
I go there once a month and there is nothing new, so I can barely make ends meet by selling old inventory.”
Catwoman ordered a glass of wine and said while drinking: "I came to you actually to ask if you have done any research on some, um, how should I say, some fascinating things?"
Tatou heard something in Catwoman's words. He looked around and waved to her. The two came to the back door of the bar. Tatou squinted at Catwoman and said, "What, do you have connections?"
"Good girl, we have been working together for so many years, you really need to help me! My wife and her sister work part-time at Penny's mother's place, but they are not as talented as you, and they learned it as adults, so they can't make money with their bad skills.
For a few dollars, my daughter is still in primary school in the fifth phase of the renovation project, and the whole family is waiting to make ends meet. If you have any ideas, you must tell me!"
Catwoman shook her head and said: "It's not really a connection. I have a good friend who helps in the church. He heard from the priest Daniel there that there has been trouble in the occult world recently, and those mages and wizards are as anxious as fever.
Ants on the pot..."
Tatou opened his mouth, looked at Catwoman with slightly widened eyes, and said, "There really are mages. I just saw a gypsy witch a few years ago who could make the water in the cup spin."
"Of course. That mother Chen in Chinatown next door can even make a knife fly. I've seen it before."
"But what does it have to do with us if something happens to these nagging people?"
"I heard that they were so anxious because they lost their power, and Gotham has the key to restoring their power. Old Father Daniel said that within the next week, they will come to Gotham one after another."
"My friend was weak, but he was kind-hearted, and at least he had a very devout faith. The priest liked him very much, so he talked to him a little more. He said that the cost of studying magic is very high, and those gems and precious metals are not something ordinary people can afford.
Not to mention things like wands with magical energy."
His eyes became brighter and brighter. He clicked his tongue and asked with some uncertainty: "But they are not easy to deal with, right?"
"Can it be more difficult to deal with than the Gotham gang?" Catwoman leaned forward, stared at the head and said: "Don't forget why they came here. They have no power now and are in a hurry.
!”
His droopy eyes quickly turned twice. As an experienced stolen goods seller, he naturally knew what kind of people were easy to take advantage of. Unsuspecting outsiders, especially those who were in a hurry to catch transportation, were in the eyes of thieves.
It's no different than a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.
"What should I say?" Tuantou asked further.
"It's definitely not possible for us to be spread out like this." Catwoman first laid out the main tone, and then said: "There are a lot of them, and they are also dangerous, and they are coming in large numbers in a short period of time. If everyone rushes up at once,
Stealing, stepping on two hands with one step, isn't it asking for trouble?"
Tatou nodded, feeling that what Catwoman said made sense. The last time Gotham experienced a sudden influx of so many outsiders was when Batman became a little popular in Metropolis.
But at that time, Mayor Roy was cracking down on theft at train stations and airports in order to preserve Gotham's tourism industry, and the gangs were also on tight guard against thieves in order to rip off customers. They couldn't drink much soup.
But this time, this group of people are not here to travel, they are just looking for something, and they may even cause trouble in the city. They will stay for a short time and are unruly. They will definitely not be welcomed by the city government and gangs. Maybe
It's an opportunity for thieves.
Tatou thought this and made an immediate decision in his mind. No fool could survive in Gotham despite being so seriously injured. He immediately said: "I will go to the Gold Cup Bar to find the Golden Hand now. He
He is the leader of all the stolen goods dealers and brokers in the East District, and knows almost all the thieves in the East District."
"That's not enough. You need to find someone who knows all the thieves in Gotham."
Tatou stared at Catwoman with his mouth wide open, and said: "You have such a big appetite? Don't kid me, Catwoman, you have to tell me the truth, who are here this time?"
Catwoman crossed her arms and smiled and said: "Although the mages are rich, they have been out of touch with ordinary society for a long time. The magic props they have can be sold for some money, but not much. Have you heard of vampires?"
Tutou frowned vigorously and said: "Of course I have heard of it. My father told me that a few decades ago they dared to bite people openly on the street, but since the gangs developed, those flying groups
Most of the rats were killed."
"Vampires will come to Gotham with the mages, and the ones who come are not those low-level rats. Have you heard of the Thirteen Clan of the Vampires? Old European nobles who have lived on average for five or six hundred years, and whatever they touch on them is...
How many priceless antiques can these bumpkins from the East District recognize?"
Tatou took a deep breath, but had to admit that what Catwoman said made sense.
Although Catwoman is one of the four major snitches in the East District, that is only because she was born in the East District. Catwoman will mostly move around the wealthy gathering places and museums in the West District and South District. There are all old money there, and thieves must have certain skills.
Only with good eyesight and art appreciation ability can you steal quickly and accurately.
But in contrast, most of the people in the East District are targeting the nouveau riche, gang bosses, relatively wealthy people among the poor, and wealthy businessmen from other places who occasionally come here to do business. You can let them pick up bags and steal money, but identifying antiques is a bit difficult.
It's embarrassing for them.
Tuantou knew that the opportunity was rare, so he gritted his teeth and said.
"I'm going to find the golden hand. He has a way to contact the heads of several other districts. The worst is to ask the children under me to go to Boss Cobot. He is the popular man in front of Falcone. Godfather has spoken, but he can't be found.