Seeing Batman reach out again, Ignatius thought he was about to get slammed again and quickly closed his eyes.
The imagined pain never came, but instead Batman's creepy and hoarse voice filled his ears.
"Tell me, who is this person?"
Ignatius cautiously opened one eye and saw that Batman was holding a picture.
The photo showed a masked man only revealing the top half of his face, which made it impossible to see his complete appearance.
The photo's unusual angle gave the impression that surveillance had taken it.
Clearly, this was the kidnapper who had threatened Kirk Langstrom at Arkham Asylum.
"Say it again. I need a name!"
Batman's gaze was fierce, and his tone carried a strong sense of threat.
"Alright, I'll tell you! I'll tell you! This person's name is Tom. He's a newcomerwho joined the Iceberg Lounge as a bartender just two months ago. That's all I know. I don't know anything else!"
Ignatius quickly raised his hands to protect his head and spoke hastily.
"You're Penguin's right-hand man. The bartender at the Iceberg Lounge disappeared to Arkham Asylum a month ago, and you expect me to believe that you didn't know about it?"
Batman's voice was cold as he grabbed Ignatius' collar, lifting him off the ground as if he were handling a small bird.
"Wait! Batman, listen to me explain! Some things aren't as simple as you think!"
Ignatius frantically gestured and shouted as if he were expecting a brutal beating from Batman.
"It's true that Tom is just a small bartender, but he's beyond my jurisdiction!"
Batman narrowed his eyes slightly and said coldly, "Go on."
Ignatius sighed and continued, "Batman, you have to understand that while I'm Penguin's secretary and the only right-hand man of the Penguin Gang, I'm not like within the gang. My credentials are too shallow, and many older members don't like me."
"The person who brought Tom into the gang is Mr. Mosaic, and you must be familiar with him. He's one of the people I have the worst relationship with, and he certainly wouldn't report to me about when Tom went where and did what!"
Mr. Mosaic...
Batman was certainly not unfamiliar with this person because he was one of the first supervillains to collaborate with the Penguin and had been one of Batman's early enemies.
Mr. Mosaic, like the Penguin, had no superpowers.
He earned that nickname because his face was so ugly that it looked like it had been covered in mosaic.
It is important to note that the Tom Mr. Mosaic brought into the Iceberg Club is actually the young waiter who Dean knocked out and impersonated.
After the "Pink Fantasy" incident, Gotham International Hotel blamed Tom for the intrusion of the Phantom Thief, so they fired him, and he lost his job completely.
Later, by coincidence, Tom somehow got involved with Mr. Mosaic and went from being a kitchen waiter to a bartender at the Iceberg Club.
"Do you remember Lark and William who were arrested a few months ago? They were also close to Mr. Mosaic and looked down on me when the boss suddenly promoted me."
Batman didn't doubt Ignatius' words. Batman hadn't come back to Gotham yet when Lark and William were imprisoned.
However, while researching the Phantom Thief's past cases, Batman also investigated their backgrounds.
Ignatius's position in the Penguin's gang was indeed low.
If it weren't for the Penguin promoting him, he might have remained an invisible member of the gang.
It was entirely reasonable that he faced discrimination and exclusion from older members like Mr. Mosaic.
Moreover, Ignatius had only temporarily taken control of the Penguin's gang in the last two days.
The kidnapping of Francine Langstrom and Tom's visit to Arkham Asylum happened a month ago when the Penguin was still in charge.
At that time, Ignatius was merely his secretary.
If Mr. Mosaic was the one who ordered Tom to kidnap Francine, Ignatius wouldn't have had the authority to intervene.
These thoughts quickly passed through Batman's mind, and he had made up his mind.
"Ah!"
Batman casually tossed Ignatius to the side, and Ignatius crashed heavily onto the floor, letting out a painful cry.
"I'll be back."
Leaving those words behind, Batman's figure disappeared into the shadows of the room, vanishing like a ghost.
"Ugh..."
Ignatius on the floor shook his head a couple of times, tremblingly stood up, and then cautiously looked around the room.
After making sure that Batman had indeed left, he walked to the window and tightly closed it, letting out a relieved sigh.
However, when Ignatius closed the window and turned around, his expression took a 180-degree turn.
A cold, contemptuous smile appeared on his face in place of all the fear and panic.
Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap...
Just then, another strange voice and footsteps came from outside the door.
"You played your part quite well, Emperor Penguin."
Ignatius turned towards the door, and what appeared in front of him was none other than the man in the Batman photo—Tom!
"I told you not to come to see me so casually, didn't I?"
Seeing Tom, Ignatius' face immediately darkened.
"If Mosaic finds out about our connection, my plan will be ruined! This is a crucial time in our plan, and we can't afford any mistakes."
"Relax; Mosaic won't suspect a thing. I work for the Iceberg Lounge, and there's no problem with me seeing the boss during work hours."
Tom sneered.
"I just came to ask if our deal is still on. You promised to let me kill Phantom Thief myself."
"Of course it is. As long as you continue with my plan, Phantom Thief will definitely die at your hands."
Ignatius said confidently.
"I wanted to kill him inside Wayne Tower last night, but you said the timing wasn't right. I held back, but I won't miss the next chance to kill him!"
Tom stood his ground and stared at Ignatius.
It's hard to imagine a mere bartender and gangster in the Penguin's gang would have the confidence and courage to confront the current leader of the Penguin's gang.
Furthermore, Ignatius showed no sign of annoyance.
He even had confidence in killing the Phantom Thief!
Tom, who used to work as a regular server before joining Penguin's gang, had changed a lot in just a few months.
What had he experienced to bring about such a dramatic change?
At this moment, Phantom Thief, whom Tom was secretly plotting to kill, was looking a clothes in a clothing store.
Dean was disguised as a sexy lady and glanced at Cassandra, who was also disguised, and then looked at the various styles of underwear in front of them.
He couldn't help but think to himself, "I think the children's underwear would be suitable enough..."
...
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