Chapter 13: Kingpin's Money Laundering Method
Within minutes of Batman finding the genetically mutated spider materials, Black Cat let out a surprised whisper:
"I found it too!"
A copy of Oscorp's Shareholder Agreement, with black ink on white paper clearly stating that Wilson Fisk—Kingpin—owned ten percent of shares.
The document's ink smell was still strong. From the date, Kingpin had invested just days ago.
Black Cat's excited expression was completely undisguised. Rapid deep breaths nearly burst the zipper of her deep-V leather outfit.
"What do you plan to do?" Batman asked quietly.
Black Cat's expression immediately froze awkwardly. Confusion replaced excitement:
"Don't know... Go back and check Google?"
"No." Batman wasn't just Batman—he'd once been head of Wayne Enterprises. "First answer me: how did Kingpin obtain a large sum of money to invest in Oscorp?"
"Swallowing other gangs, drug trafficking, arms dealing..." Black Cat wasn't stupid. Her eyes quickly brightened.
"Correct. These are all 'dirty money.' What Kingpin's doing now is turning 'dirty money' clean through investment." Batman said. "Find a lawyer to sue Kingpin. It's enough to invalidate his investment, even send him directly to prison."
"That simple...?"
Black Cat found it hard to believe. By her thinking, overthrowing Kingpin's gang rule and avenging her father would take a long time. But with Batman's hint, everything suddenly seemed simple.
A sweet smile returned to her face. She wanted to turn and give Batman a hug.
But Norman's office held no one besides her. Batman had already left at some unknown time.
In the sewers, Batman was rapidly traversing via webbing, searching for various traces left by Squid-Man.
Squid-Man's distinctive fishy stench was quite obvious even in the sewers. Batman didn't waste much time finding his hiding place.
Seven or eight briefcases of various sizes were here, all filled with payment from New York gangs hiring Squid-Man. The largest amount totaled five million dollars.
Combined, over seven million six hundred thousand.
"The Batsuit requires bulk ordering various components to avoid drawing attention. This money isn't nearly enough."
In the abandoned shipyard's deepest section, Batman secretly frowned at the piles of cash he'd gathered together.
Creating a Batsuit identical to his previous model required at least ten million dollars—not because a single suit was expensive, but because theoretically the suit was consumable.
Plus small orders would inevitably attract supplier attention. Someone with intention might trace back to him.
Under these two preconditions, Batman needed to order large quantities of components at once.
Batman didn't plan to keep all seven million six hundred thousand for himself. Strictly speaking, this money was blood money for souls killed by Squid-Man.
If the deceased were already blood-stained gang members, Batman didn't mind using the money to arm himself. But he couldn't guarantee no innocents were among them.
"I need to follow Chief Stacy's evidence collection on Squid-Man's crimes. This will definitely include identity data on those killed. Then I'll decide how to use this money."
The sun gradually rose. A new day.
Batman briefly rested less than an hour, removed his disguise, changed into a plaid shirt, reverted his identity to Peter Parker, went out to buy a Daily Bugle, and returned to Peter's rented apartment.
The newspaper contained no reports about Oscorp's human experiments. Only a photo of "Spider-Man" wandering New York City, with the headline "Fleeing Guilt or Reformed? Spider-Man Missing Four Days!"
Batman ignored it.
Excluding Spider-Man content, the front page concentrated on one story: the military would visit Oscorp today. Oscorp would close to the public for one day.
Military...
Batman suspected the video evidence he'd sent to the Daily Bugle's inbox last night wasn't reported precisely because of military connections.
Knock knock knock! After the knocking came a young female voice:
"Peter, your phone."
"My phone?" Batman opened the door. Standing there was an unfamiliar young woman, not particularly pretty, wearing pigtails, slender build.
"Who are you?" Batman asked.
"I'm the landlord's daughter. Don't you remember? I'm Ursula." Ursula smiled somewhat shyly, handing Batman the phone.
Watching Ursula return to her own room across the hall, Batman finally picked up the receiver:
"This is Peter."
"Peter? It's May." On the other end was a kindly old woman. "Today's Saturday. You need to come back."
Batman remained silent. He knew exactly who the old woman was. Precisely because he knew, Batman had delayed contacting her since crossing over.
May Parker, Peter's aunt. After her husband Ben Parker's death, she and Peter were left to depend on each other.
"Peter? Are you still there?" Aunt May's voice sounded somewhat anxious. "I know college life is busy, but today's an important day. You must come back."
"...Okay." Batman finally produced one word after a long pause.
Hearing Peter, whom she regarded as her own son, agree, Aunt May seemed very happy, chattering away on the phone. Batman could only mechanically repeat "okay" and "no problem."
He could feel Aunt May's concern for him through the phone. In Gotham, only the old butler Alfred would act this way, but Alfred wouldn't talk this much.
Aunt May's concern nearly overwhelmed Batman. Fortunately, she finally hung up.
"Peter, want to try my freshly baked pizza?" Ursula, hearing Batman finish his call, quickly opened her door and poked her head out.
"No, Thank you." Batman declined. He couldn't adjust to this inexplicable kindness.
But Ursula seemed to take Batman's refusal as agreement. She happily pulled open the door, holding a plate of pizza, looking expectantly at Batman.
"..."
Three hours later, ten AM.
"Check the surveillance! Find out who ran into my laboratory last night and triggered the alarm!"
"Tell the finance department to pay Silver Sable Security more! We absolutely cannot let them leak any experimental secrets."
In Oscorp Tower, Norman angrily issued a series of orders and entered his sixtieth-floor penthouse office.
The undisguised rummaging traces and scattered documents everywhere made Norman completely lose it. But before his fury could vent, a company employee burst in:
"Mr. Norman, the military has arrived downstairs."
Taking a deep breath, Norman didn't even glance at the employee. Forcibly suppressing his rage, he hurriedly took the elevator downstairs to greet them.
He was quite grateful now that last night's intruder hadn't damaged any experimental equipment. Otherwise today's military visit would definitely fall through.
Without military investment, and with Dr. Otto's fusion energy research showing no progress despite high hopes, Norman would inevitably face the risk of being voted out by the board.
"Good thing I recruited Kingpin as a shareholder in advance, minimizing my risk. My stockholder position is still secure..." Norman took deep breaths to regulate his emotions.
Behind him, Batman's gaze swept over the document-strewn office. Wearing clothes just stripped from an Oscorp researcher, he followed along.
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