Penguin Man spotted a few familiar faces amongst the crowd. They were the ones who had greeted him at the hospital door, and there was also a security guard who had escorted his transportation.
Penguin Man quickly learned that these were essentially all locals. The street where Andrewkin had his accident was not far from here and many of them had witnessed the tragic event.
Penguin Man welcomed their arrival because he understood his biggest problem at the moment: he had no gang.
This Penguin Man of Earth No.1 had no mob left. Otherwise, he wouldn't have kept just one assassin, Birthday Boy, to eliminate his political enemies. Although the safe houses from years ago were untouched, the surrounding residents have changed so much that no one recognized him.
The Penguin Man of the Prime Universe had replaced the Penguin Man of Earth No.1. Yet, he couldn't shift his gang down from Sky Island. Regardless of how troublesome it was to move so many people, his subordinates would be completely bewildered by the different environment of the new fusion city. It's better to use the local tough guys.
Building his way up from the bottom of the mob wasn't an easy feat. Penguin Man's current position didn't afford him that luxury. Instead, it was better to form a team with these people. After establishing a solid base, he could gradually enhance his influence. One month was more than enough for him to return to the political field and join the election.
Penguin Man thought his plan was impeccable, and so did Peter. He really couldn't see how Penguin Man was going to be unlucky.
At the beginning, everything went smoothly. Everyone was continuously praising Penguin Man and offered to provide all the help they could. Quite a few people stayed behind to help Penguin Man and Gonzalez reconstruct their base, while some, with their local duties, patrolled the surroundings, preventing any potential threats from approaching.
About six or seven people stayed in Gonzalez's hut. Peter knew it was somewhat impolite to nickname people before knowing their names, so, until then, he called them Short-Hair Girl, Tattooed Man, Big Waves, African-American Sister, Duck-Billed Cap, and Gamer Boy.
All these people had very distinctive personalities. Short-Hair Girl was a vegetarian who advocated for environmental and animal protection, Tattooed Man was obsessed with Gothic culture and his body was covered in Gothic tattoos, Big Waves was transgender, African-American Sister weighed roughly 250 pounds, Duck-Billed Cap performed community services in the nearby community, and Gamer Boy was a hardcore fan of shooting games.
Peter always had a feeling that something was off, but he couldn't pinpoint what it was. After all, their ideologies and hobbies had nothing to do with him.
He knew similar individuals in his school. Whether it was the animal rights activists, who spent their weekends catching stray animals for neutering or went with the survey team into the mountains to protect wildlife, or the vegetarians who abstained from eating meat for religious or other reasons, Peter got along well with all of them.
There was nothing wrong with tattoos or transgenderism. After all, New Jersey State was a blue state and relatively liberal. Peter had seen plenty of such people and being judgy or discriminatory because of others' appearance and hobbies was intolerable. He certainly wouldn't be prejudiced against others just because of these traits.
Penguin Man, eager to get things started, didn't say anything. He immediately began to assign tasks: "The location of this cabin in Hell's Kitchen is pretty good. It's close to the central areas with convenient transportation but far away from the turf of the Big Mafia."
"However, considering my current situation, we still need to take some defense measures. Gonzales got us two scrapped cars. We can use them to block the back door and then hang some cans as rudimentary alarms on the door."
"I need some of you to work with me while others go and connect with my supporters. We need more manpower to get these things done."
"Wait, I have a question." Big Waves raises her index and thumb, making a sweeping gesture in front of her. "Mr. Mayor, do you plan to participate in your next election here?"
Just as Penguin Man was about to answer, Peter heard Bruce's instructions through his earpiece. He stepped forward and said, "Yes, our mayor has decided to stand with us. He won't go to those hypocritical politicians to play politics and curry favor. They should come to us."
"Wow! That's really cool!"
"That's exactly what we should do! I knew I backed the right person!"
"You're absolutely awesome, Mr. Mayor! Woohoo!"
The group burst into cheers. Short-Hair Girl swung her fists vigorously and declared, "That's right; it should be this way. They should come and listen to us. We are the ones who run this country, aren't we?"
Tattooed Man held his hands together, swinging them back and forth to the beat of the rap, pointing at himself and Short-Hair Girl in agreement.
"Well, I mean…" Penguin Man tried to speak, but the others simply ignored him. He thought, how could this be possible? City Hall wasn't his private property. All candidates must go to a designated place to wait for the election results. How could he possibly participate in the election here?
"We should blast all those damn rules away, blow their brains out, and show them what we've got. I've had enough. They stand on the stage like clowns, oh, oh…"
Gamer Boy was talking into his headset, spewing some incomprehensible rap lines, while Duck-Billed Cap lowered his cap brim, crossed his arms over his chest, and stayed silent.
"Hey, dude, why don't you talk?" Big Waves turned to look at Duck-Billed Cap, "You should agree with our mayor's grand vision, right? What we said makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Why shouldn't they come and listen to us?"
Duck-Billed Cap raised his eyes to give Big Waves a gloomy look and Big Waves jumped out of his skin. Big Waves then, seemingly offended, raised his voice to the point it took on a somewhat masculine tone.
"I'll sue you for sexual harassment! You damn bastard! What right do you have to look at me like that?! Are you checking out my breasts or my ass? You can't have either! Moron!"
"Alright! Enough! Quieten down!!"
Penguin Man sighed and said, "Those who will stay and work, stand on the left side. Those going out to connect with others, stand on the right side. You all can decide."
People began to scatter around. Almost equal numbers were on both sides. Just as Penguin Man was feeling slightly pleased, Short-Hair Girl, the first on the left, raised a finger and said.
"Oh, sorry, standing here doesn't mean that I will stay to work. I simply prefer the left-hand side. I think those people with better social skills should go out to inform our friends about this good news, right?"
As she spoke, she kept casting her eyes towards Duck-Billed Cap. The person next to her, Big Waves, nodded vigorously and took a step to the left, saying, "That's right; our team will go out and others stay. It's decided."