Nobody can stop me from drawing cards in Gotham!

Chapter 22 Iceberg Club

How much do you know about the Iceberg Club?

Jaeger was sitting in the Batmobile leaving the old town. Ever since he got in, he had been fiddling with the phone Bruce had given him, but after searching the browser for a long time, he couldn't find any information related to the Iceberg Club. Frustrated, he had no choice but to ask Batman for help.

As if waiting for Jaeger's question, Batman immediately gave his answer: "Not much. But at least you know one thing—that you can't find any information about this club on the internet because it's actually a 'non-existent' club."

"It doesn't exist... wait." Jaeger suddenly stopped mid-thought, looking up at Batman in disbelief. "You knew all along that you couldn't find information about the Iceberg Club online?"

"I don't deny that."

"Then why did you just stand there watching me stupidly searching for so long without saying a word???"

"..." Batman paused for a moment, "I'm driving."

The implication was that he hadn't paid attention to Jaeger, but nobody would believe that.

No one was chasing them right now, and the Batmobile had its own autopilot, so Batman didn't need to be fully focused on driving it.

Even a simple reply like, "Actually, I didn't spend half a day looking at it!" would be great!

Jaeger strongly suspected that Batman wanted to see when he would finally realize what was happening. This guy dressed like a giant bat was indeed as dark inside as he looked outside; it was truly heartbreaking.

Perhaps to change the subject, Batman then spoke up: "Before the counterfeit matter, I had occasionally heard of the Iceberg Club, but only among some gang members."

"A few years ago, with the end of the Falcone family's rule in Gotham, Gotham finally got rid of the industry chain closely related to crime and began to develop other industries for the city's development with the help of a group of new companies led by Wayne Enterprises. However, crime still flows in the blood of the city, including those gangs."

"The gangs still exist, but they are no longer as large or blatant as before. They have split into different factions, scattered across different areas of Gotham, and there are still undercurrents between them."

"The Iceberg Club, on the other hand, is a name that has only started circulating among the gangsters in the Diamond District in recent years. It specializes in businesses such as intelligence trading, smuggling, gambling, and bribery. Its founder's identity is unknown, but he is most likely an ambitious person who wants to use this platform to establish his power and expand his influence in the Diamond District."

"I see." Jaeger, who had suddenly been given a crash course in Gotham's mafia history, nodded. "In other words, if we want to investigate this matter further, we still need to find a way to contact the Iceberg Club..."

"Hacher's been arrested, and there won't be another guy like him who can play Batman anytime soon," Batman said. "The person behind the fake will be quiet for a while, but they might use the Iceberg Club's connections to find another person who can get rid of the people on their list."

"By the way, speaking of which, I just remembered something." Jaeger suddenly looked up. "We now know that the person behind the counterfeit is actually hiring counterfeiters to kill people on a certain list..."

"But what's strange is that if the other party just wanted to hire someone to kill someone, they wouldn't have gone to such lengths, preparing to make a replica of the Batsuit and choosing a fake to impersonate Batman... What was their purpose in doing this? Was it simply to ruin Batman's reputation?"

"There are a few possibilities." Batman had already activated the Batmobile's autopilot mode and was discussing the matter with Jaeger with his arms crossed.

"First, if the other party is indeed someone who wants to develop their power and whose kill list includes those who are obstructing them, then having the fake Batman kill people is to transfer the hatred of other forces whose interests have been harmed onto Batman."

"Secondly, their actions might also be an attempt to cause trouble for the real Batman. After all, if they want to expand their influence in Gotham like Falcone did, they will inevitably have to consider the threat posed by Batman... So targeting Batman is advantageous to them."

"Third, the other party is an old gang from the Roman era, intending to achieve some kind of revenge by eliminating Batman." Batman pondered, "But this possibility is very low. The way the person behind the imposter acts now seems very different from the Falcone family. I am more inclined to believe that the other party has nothing to do with the Falcone."

"Fourth, none of the above three are true. The other party has a deeper purpose... This is the worst-case scenario."

"Thank you, Batman." Jaeger nodded seriously, pretending not to see the disapproving look Batman gave him when he heard the title. "Anyway, even if it's just to verify our guesses or find out the true identity of that employee, we have to find a way to contact the Iceberg Club."

"That's the problem," Batman said. "You know the Gotham Penguin, right?"

"I don't know," Jaeger said sincerely. "You know I'm from out of town."

Batman: "..."

Batman eventually explained: "The Gotham Penguin, a newspaper that circulates in the Diamond District and at first glance looks like a boring newspaper that only publishes small-time 'GGs' and bird science."

"But that's not actually the case. The real purpose of the Gotham Penguin is to hide information about admission to the Iceberg Club in the Gotham Penguin."

"The GG category indicates the location, the numerical part indicates the time, and certain special words are the entry code."

"That sounds like something out of some 20th-century gangsters..." Jaeger said. "I mean, hiding contact information in newspapers."

"The owners of the Iceberg Club probably do have a real fondness for certain old-school gangster cultures," Batman agreed. "Anyway, the Iceberg Club's opening hours aren't fixed; we'll just have to wait for it to open again before we can infiltrate and investigate."

"That's all we can do." Jaeger rubbed his temples.

So much had happened that night. As dawn broke, he and Batman were about to work through the night and were forced to stay up all night. Now that he relaxed, Jaeger finally felt the fatigue that was rising in his body.

But Jaeger still tried to stay clear-headed because there was still one thing he hadn't done.

"I almost forgot, this is for you."

Jaeger pulled something out of his pocket—the feather left behind by the messenger.

Batman took it and examined it carefully: "What is this?"

"A token," Jaeger explained simply. "If there's any movement from the Iceberg Club, you can use this to summon a messenger and then contact me through the messenger."

"This method of communication is highly versatile and can ignore the user's location. So even if you go to outer space or cross into another dimension, the messenger can still find you, therefore I will never lose contact..."

"Of course, if you can contact me through other normal means, you won't need this. This is just a backup contact method in case of emergency."

"Understood." Batman didn't ask why Jaeger thought he could appear in outer space or another dimension. He simply put the feather into his belt pocket and decided to give it a thorough check-up when he returned to the Batcave.

But Jaeger seemed to have more to say: "Well, there's one more thing..."

Batman: "Speak."

Jaeger, unusually hesitant, hesitated for a long time before finally speaking under Batman's expressionless gaze: "Actually, I wanted to ask you for a favor."

"What?"

"I'd like to ask you to help me investigate someone."

Jaeger's serious expression made Batman also take a serious look. He began to wonder if he had overlooked some important character tonight that had caught Jaeger's attention and even required the latter to hesitate for a long time before asking Batman for help in investigating.

"And that person..." Jaeger began.

Batman listened attentively.

"...It's myself."

Batman: "..."

……Um?