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Chapter 200, Section 97: The Little Penguin's Adventure

Chapter 200, Section 97: The Little Penguin's Adventure (Bonus Chapter Tonight)

"So, Mr. Cobblestone, have you made up your mind?"

"Mr. Cobblestone, we're short on time, please sign this document quickly!"

On the other end of the phone was pressure from the court, while at the conference table came the impatient urging of the Jewish consortium in Gotham City. This was not the first time Oswald had felt the pressure.

This reminded him of the predicament he faced six months ago when he took over the family business from his father.

With a cash flow that could break at any moment, loans pieced together from various sources, and a financial statement full of deficits, Os, who had been a gang leader for a while, could hardly believe that his ailing family had actually been able to breathe for a full ten years thanks to his father's efforts.

And look at what those two bastards whose heads he blew up did!

Oss didn't even want to call them family, let alone "brothers".

Even during the family's difficult times, these two scoundrels did not change their extravagant lifestyle. They bought luxury goods and threw lavish parties. They even mortgaged a textile factory that their father had entrusted to them to manage to a Jewish consortium at a low price in order to pay off gambling debts.

It's no wonder that at the family succession meeting, Oswald, who was parachuted in, was able to win the support of the vast majority of his relatives without any prior connections.

It's true that they looked down on Os because of his gang background, but it's also true that they resented William Cobblepot and Jason Cobblepot, those two lumps of mud.

The drama reached its climax when Tucker's private physician announced his death and his lawyer published his will.

"The heir—Oswald Chesterfield Cobblestone!"

Upon hearing the unbelievable answer, the two brothers exploded like a high-explosive grenade with its pin pulled. William smashed the saucer of his teacup, while Jason, his eyes bloodshot, rushed forward, wanting to fight Os to the death.

But they forgot one thing: the current Oswald is no longer the cotton ball that the two of them used to knead at will because of his small stature.

He is the king of gangs in Gotham!

Anyone who dares to challenge him will have to bear the raging fury of the new king.

Oswald sneered, crossed his legs, and looked at his brother Jason, who was rushing towards him menacingly. He didn't even bother to get up from his chair.

Just as the other man's hands were about to grab Jason's face, Oswald suddenly stretched out his leg and kicked Jason in the knee.

Jason instantly lost his balance and fell forward, while Oswald drew his pistol and waited quietly for the other to walk right into the barrel of his gun.

Click!

The gun barrel knocked out Jason's front teeth and went deep into his throat.

"My dear brother, do you remember a game you used to play with me?" Oswald grabbed his brother's hair, letting the other's hands scratch his body.

His dazed gaze contrasted sharply with the terrified expressions around him.

"Back then, you guys used to play a game of stuffing all sorts of hard foreign objects into my mouth while I was wearing braces. You said, 'Let's see what Little Oss's iron teeth can actually crush!'"

"Perhaps you're afraid I'll one day fight you for the family fortune, or perhaps you're just scum who enjoy bullying the weak, but none of that matters anymore."

Goodnight, my dear brother!

Oswald pulled the trigger, the sharp gunshot shattering the silence of the room and splattering blood onto the face of the maid serving coffee beside him.

That high-pitched scream completely opened the prelude to the Os massacre.

The little penguin's next target was William, who was hiding by the door trying to escape. He aimed at his brother's back, knocked him to the ground, and fired two shots into his legs.

And so William became a maggot wriggling in blood.

"Os—Little Os—Dear Os—These things are all in the past—We didn't mean to bully you—Ah!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Oswald stepped on William's calf, which had been shot.

He found it absurd and laughable. The victim hadn't even said the matter was over, so what right did the bully have to say such a thing?

However, he didn't care, since he didn't want to hear any words of apology or remorse from his brother anyway.

In this situation, blood and screams are enough!

"William! My dear brother!"

Oswald raised his voice, smeared the blood on his face, and looked down at his subjects like a king bestowing titles upon them.

"Clench your teeth, death is coming!"

"Please—don't do this—please!"

boom!

Gunshots rang out, and the scumbag shut up.

After William's death, the focus of the purge quickly shifted to his uncle Robert.

He was the one who stole the family's money back then and conspired with his two brothers to frame Oswald.

Robert was likely the first member of the family to be corrupted by the Court of Owls, as his food factory thrived while the family business declined.

Was it because Robert had a good business sense?

Of course not. If this ultimate scumbag who indulged in prostitution, gambling, and drugs had even half of Tucker's abilities, he wouldn't have only received a food processing plant from Theodore Cobblestone.

All of this was thanks to the stingy Jewish consortium, which unprecedentedly provided Robert with nearly ten years of interest-free loans.

It was precisely because of the close relationship with the Jewish consortium that many in the family supported Robert as the heir. In fact, if it weren't for Oswald's sudden visit that night, this will most likely never have left the family meeting room.

"What do you want to do—Oss—what do you want to do!"

Poor Robert was originally sitting in the head seat of the conference room, which made him the furthest from the only exit.

Unable to escape, he could only press himself against the wall, covering his face with his hands, paying a timeless tribute to Edvard Munch's "The Scream" hanging behind him.

"My respected uncle, could you please move a little to the left?"

Oswald held up the gun and flicked his wrist, speaking in a relaxed tone.

Although he didn't understand why Oss was doing this, Robert had no choice but to comply.

Is this the place?

The penguin had barely stood still and hadn't even finished speaking when it suddenly pulled the trigger.

With an unknown number of screams, Robert, his eyes wide with resentment, slowly slid down the wall, a brilliant splash of blood erupting from the charred bullet hole.

Just as Oss had hoped, Munch's paintings were not stained with a single drop of blood.

"Tsk! Trash."

Oswald glared at the corpse and spat on the ground.

He then patted the maid on the shoulder in front of the rest of his relatives, who stood frozen like statues.

"Don't be nervous, open the door and call the servants to clean up."

"Oh, right! The bloodstains on the floor need to be cleaned with a mixture of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide, don't forget."

After cleaning up the mess, Oswald immediately threw himself into revitalizing the family business as the heir. He first used the Romans' working capital to fill the deficit, then used his status as the new king of the gang to promote the family, and finally, as usual, sent his henchmen to "talk" with the Jewish consortium.

Although he could roughly guess that his father had expelled him from the family to protect him from the persecution and corruption of his brothers and the court, how could the hatred he had accumulated over the years easily dissipate?

If it weren't for his mother's insistence, he would never have wanted to take on this mess of a family.

Even if he wanted to take charge, many things couldn't be resolved overnight.

The family's ten-year deficit could not be covered by Roman funds, or perhaps due to too many bad debts and interference from the Owl Court, no bank was willing to lend to the Coppert family.

As for the thugs sent to communicate with the Jewish consortium, their bodies were stuffed into sacks the next day and neatly arranged at the manor's gate.

Today was the final repayment date agreed upon with the Jewish consortium. Early in the morning, two uninvited guests wearing top hats and carrying briefcases barged into the Copperfield family's residence, surrounded by a team of lawyers and an asset appraisal association.

Behind them followed a large group of strong thugs dressed in black.

Once inside the manor, they didn't look for Oswald. The group wandered around, looking at things, with some even using their briefcases as cushions to jot down notes on paper.

At the same time, an undisclosed call came to Os.

The other party claimed to be a barn owl, a representative of the Court of Owls, and that he had found Os for one thing: to bring the lost child back to the court.

After exchanging a few words with the other party, Oswald roughly understood the Copport family's important position in the court.

As one of the founding families, Copperfield, along with the Wayne and Elliott families, forged a blood pact with demons centuries ago, promising never to betray each other. At the time the pact was established, each of the three families accepted their own mission.

The Wayne family guards the secret of "summoning," while the Elliott family takes over the "breeding" ritual, and the Cobblepot family assumes the responsibility of "corruption."

Perhaps certain that Oswald was unable to unravel the mystery, the barn owl made no attempt to conceal the court's deepest and darkest secrets.

Of course, these alone cannot sway the penguins. The barn owl's real strength lies in the powerful consortium outside, which is eyeing the Copperfield family with predatory intent.

Bound by the blood oath, the struggle between families will invite the curse of the demon, but this does not prevent the owl from using roundabout methods to gradually devour and swallow them up.

"Young head of the Copport family, you must know better than I about the family's financial deficit. If you don't want to end up on the streets wrapped in a blanket with your seriously ill mother, you should think carefully about what I just said."

Owl's words enraged Oswald.

He hated being threatened, especially when the threat involved his mother.

Moreover, he believed, he firmly believed, that Qin Wei would definitely win.

Oswald eventually sat down at the negotiating table with the Jewish consortium.

The two representatives of the consortium stared at him like vultures eyeing plump, fresh meat, especially the short, stout Jewish man on his left named Henderson.

Then the scene returned to the beginning.

Henderson, resting his chin on his hand, looked at Oswald with disdain: "Mr. Cobblestone, we don't have much time. Sign this document quickly!"

Oswald gripped the document tightly, his eyes blazing with fury. Having inherited the fortune, he was now burdened with the entire family's debts, and the consortium was now seeking not only to reclaim all of the Copport family's businesses, but also all the assets under the name of the New Roman Empire he and Qin Wei had built.

"52 billion! How could he possibly owe so much money? The loans you gave Robert were all interest-free! Why is the annual interest rate here as high as 50%?!"

"Yes, but only for Mr. Robert! If someone else inherits the family business, he will have to pay exorbitant interest. The terms are all written on the second page; you can take a look. They are fully legally binding!"

Henderson smiled slyly; it was he who had signed the contract with Robert back then.

The consortium is affiliated with the court but not entirely under its control. Henderson was able to draft this outrageous contract because he was looking at the variables that would exist during the long contract period. As for that damned Uncle Robert, he needed such a contract to coerce family members into supporting his rise to power.

The two hit it off immediately.

But Uncle Robert probably never expected that Oswald wouldn't give him a chance to threaten him.

The consortium was naturally pleased with this outcome; the $3 million loan had grown to $52 billion. Even in the history of Jewish plunder, this deal was a prime example of a small investment yielding a huge return.

While the two sides were still negotiating in the conference room, the thugs in black began to take action. They expelled all the servants from the castle and even dragged Oswald's seriously ill mother from her bed.

Actually, the conglomerate representative didn't need to go to such extremes, but it was all the owl's idea.

He knew Oswald was part of Qin Wei's group, and he was certain that his loyal guards would not rebel.

Since it's impossible to work things out openly, let them get flustered in their anger until they completely lose their minds.

At this point, the court could produce the brainwashing drug they used on Thomas, turning Oswald into a walking corpse as well.

Originally, the owl wanted to deal with Qin Wei in the same way, but the clone Thomas that it sent out completely disappeared two days ago, which cast a shadow over the owl's originally confident mind.

He knew he had to speed things up to complete the plan before the unforeseen circumstances arose.

So the barn owl called Oswald a second time.

"So, Mr. Cobblestone, have you made up your mind?"

Beneath his unhurried tone lay a hint of anxiety, but fortunately, the other person was even more anxious than he was.

Oswald rubbed his temples without answering, but his rapid, heavy breathing betrayed his unease.

In the past, he would have already flipped the table in anger, but now, in order not to be the one to start a war, he has to be patient.

"I would never agree to this, even if I signed that damn agreement!"

Oswald responded angrily, hung up the phone, and grabbed a pen from the table.

Honestly, this was perhaps the most difficult decision he had ever made in his life. Once he signed his name, the Copport family's and New Roman's assets would fall into the pockets of the Jewish financial group.

Regardless of whether Qin Wei's war will succeed, even if it does, it cannot erase the legal legitimacy of this clause.

In other words, Oswald was now risking his entire fortune for the sake of so-called "loyalty".

But what's there to hesitate about!

Oswald signed his name without hesitation and then slammed his pen on the table.

"Congratulations, Mr. Cobblestone, you are now a complete pauper."

"Yes, please get up from that chair right now and get out of the conglomerate's castle!"

The two Jews, singing and laughing, stabbed Oswald's already wounded heart again and again.

Just then, the phone in the little penguin's pocket vibrated.

Damn barn owl, are you so eager to humiliate me?!

He cursed inwardly as he pulled out his phone.

Surprisingly, the caller this time was not the owl, but Wei, who had been out of contact for a long time.

"Hey buddy, I think I should give you a call before we take action."

Perhaps because he was too excited, Qin Wei's voice sounded dry and hoarse on the other end of the phone, accompanied by the howling of the wind.

"Where are you? Why is the wind so strong?"

"On the plane! I'm about to jump! Damn, even though it's not my first time gliding, I'm still incredibly nervous—oh right, I almost forgot the important thing! Oss, I need you to immediately mobilize all the gangs in your territory to Wayne Tower!"

"Has the war already begun?"

Oswald rubbed his eyes.

"Yes, the war has already begun."

"I see."

The little penguin hung up the phone, lowered its head and chuckled, then spoke to the representatives of the consortium who were about to open the door and leave: "Gentlemen, it seems you forgot to take something with you."

The gang leader seems to have regained his former power and influence.

"Mr. Cobblestone, please understand, this castle, and everything here, belongs to the corporation and does not need to be taken away!"

He maintained his usual nonchalant and arrogant tone, seemingly fearless, as Jews are accustomed to openly plundering through commercial games.

But they forgot that it's not only art students who failed their exams who dare to flip the table.

"No, I'm not talking about the things in the castle, but the things I carry with me, like—a bullet in the magazine?"

Oswald looked up and gave the two men, whose expressions were gradually changing, a chilling smile.