Gotham City Cannot Do Without the Joker

Yang Renshou was once again subjected to a hearing by the Supreme Council, whose inquiry committee was composed of members from multiple departments. Just as before, the committee now simply wanted to know why a heavy artillery piece like the "LT155" had appeared in the "Science City" of Luzhou.

At the same time, they demanded to know why the electromagnetic railgun proposal from the bidding ten years ago had suddenly been outfitted with a complete set of charging equipment, alongside the development of highly sophisticated ammunition designs.

The stock prices of multiple sub-groups and subsidiaries under the sprawling Daxing Consortium plummeted violently and in immediate response.

"Wow, Brother Xie, the stock prices are really crashing!"

Su Mengyao was utterly astonished. With a few taps of her tiny fingers, she shorted four stocks: Renshou Science and Industry, Daxing Industry, Kaihuang Intelligent Manufacturing, and Renshou Insurance. The string of numbers on her account made her feel as though her cup size had practically upgraded from the sheer excitement.

"Pretty impressive, right? I am the God of Stocks, after all."

It was just quick money, and not even that much—a little over two hundred million from each.

While feeling immensely pleased with himself, Boss Li even took a screenshot and posted it on Weibo, tagging Yang Shiren, a director of Renshou Science and Industry: "Boss Yang, thanks a lot~~"

He didn't tag Yang Ying or Daye Pictures Chairman Yang Ying for two reasons. First, "Daye Pictures" was now a subsidiary of "Creative Capacity"; and second, based on the confessions of the kidnapped militant leader he had previously snatched, Boss Li knew that the Second Young Master Yang was no longer on Earth.

The Second Young Master had been packed up by his own father and shipped to the dark side of the moon for research.

Therefore, Boss Li had always liked the Second Young Master immensely, because that son of a bitch was truly capable of reaching the heavens.

Now that the Second Young Master was not on Earth and Boss Li had no idea whether he could even access the internet on the moon, he stopped tagging him and instead tagged Renshou Science and Industry director Yang Shiren.

After all, he was the Second Young Master's uncle.

After pondering for a moment, Boss Li tagged Yang Shiren again: "Boss Yang, why don't you change your online handle to 'Chuen Fat'?"

By this time, the comment section had already exploded.

Let alone the "Crab Fans," the moment the "Celestial Fairy Fans" saw those nine-digit figures, their eyes instantly turned bewitching and sultry, prompting them to spontaneously upgrade "Old Li" from "Brother Li" to "Husband."

Talk of "Li the Dog must die" was completely nonexistent.

"Husband, you're so handsome! I especially love you playing 'Gourd Hero.' Your muscles are so big, and they look so hard..."

"Husband, look at me, look at me, look at me, look at me!!!"

"Husband, I love you so much!!"

"Ever since I was little, my favorite song to listen to has been 'The Vastness of Heaven'!"

A sudden shift in public sentiment was only normal. After all, when poor, one tends to focus on moral integrity; when rich, one enjoys a harem of wives and concubines. Old Li was now experiencing a taste of the public's "female competition" over him.

However, Boss Li, who usually paid no attention to the comment section, decided to stop stirring the pot after biting off another seven or eight billion from the Yang family. He was a good listener; Han Zitong—the old eighth who went by the pseudonym "Zhao Bajiao"—had told him that once the Yang family snapped out of it, they would inevitably move to prop up their stock prices.

Take the money and run—what a thrill.

Now, the entire entertainment industry knew that "Creative Capacity" was sitting on six to seven billion in cash. Quite a few semi-famous celebrity studios immediately instructed their managers to make inquiries at "Creative Capacity" to see if they could also land a role as a "Gourd Hero" or something similar.

If the "Black Cat Hero" wasn't available, a "White Cat Hero" would do just fine.

"Creative Capacity" truly lived up to its name, possessing both genuine capability and formidable financial strength.

This wave of Weibo "flexing wealth" directly propelled *Doomsday Guardian* to a whole new level. Meanwhile, the studio officially announced that "Celestial Fairy Wang" would also join the cast of *Doomsday Guardian*, portraying another "T1000 Doomsday Guardian Robot" and sharing some intensely fierce action sequences with Li Jie.

And those action scenes were action-packed indeed. To lose weight for the role, Ji Shengnan had recently been engaging in intense physical workouts with Li Jie while simultaneously regulating her diet. Once her weight dropped below one hundred and ten pounds, her cup size also reverted to a standard D-cup.

Bang!

"Ah!"

In the training room, Li Jie threw a punch that slammed into Ji Shengnan's blocking forearm. After sliding back a step, she rolled backward to cushion the impact. If the "little white cat" had taken a punch like that, she would have been sent straight to the hospital.

She was an absolute freak...

Li Jie felt that the Ji family was thoroughly eccentric for nurturing such a bizarre anomaly with this level of shock resistance. For a normal adult female, physical strength was roughly sixty percent of a male's.

Ji Shengnan not only reversed that ratio, but she was also "thick-skinned and tough-fleshed." Of course, to the touch, her skin wasn't rough at all; not only was it as slippery as Su Mengyao's, but its elasticity was even better.

Even though her muscle mass appeared roughly similar, Ji Shengnan completely crushed Jing Wanchou and Jin Momo. Her techniques might have been inferior to theirs, but her baseline physical stats were simply in a completely different league.

According to Jing Wanchou, given equivalent muscle mass, her eldest miss's muscular strength was 1.45 times that of an ordinary person—even higher than an ape's.

Therefore, as long as Ji Shengnan gained weight, she looked plump and rounded rather than retaining the chubby feel of Jin Momo.

Truth be told, the Ji family certainly had some impressive tricks up their sleeve. It was just a shame they couldn't mass-produce them; if they could mass-produce various models of Ji Shengnan, the world would be in utter chaos.

No wonder Ji Shengnan was named Ji Shengnan (meaning "Ji Surpasses Men"); her old man had likely pinned immense hopes on her from the start.

Yet, Boss Li also found it quite puzzling: why on earth would they let such an exceptional "prime breeding stock" out into the world?

Surely she ought to be kept in a pen for breeding.

"So fierce, so strong..."

As Ji Shengnan picked herself up, she suddenly dropped into a crawling posture. Her athletic bodysuit securely bound her two papaya-shaped assets, preventing them from bouncing around. Just as the old man of the Ji family had suggested, if one wanted to become a "King of Soldiers," it was best to undergo breast-reduction surgery.

After finishing the workout and weight-loss session with Ji Shengnan, Li Jie started chatting with Jing Wanchou, who had been standing by watching: "Logically speaking, someone in your eldest miss's situation shouldn't be allowed out, right? Wouldn't staying in Beidu for breeding be much more reasonable?"

"That doesn't really matter. The eldest miss has a longer reproductive prime than normal people, and the master believes it's also a good thing for her to attract some high-quality males out in the world. Furthermore, the eldest miss is making very smooth progress in her career right now. The Ji family's sources of income are limited, so opening up a new revenue stream is beneficial for the entire clan."

"..."

What a bunch of lunatics.

This Ji family definitely had something wrong with them.

They really were treating people like livestock on a breeding farm.

"If the eldest miss finds a legitimate husband, that's fine too. We would just need to take one of the offspring back to the Ji family for research and cultivation."

"..."

Boss Li suddenly gave a start. He looked at Jing Wanchou, then raised a finger to point at himself: "Me?"

"For now, the master doesn't know about that yet..."

Blushing slightly, Jing Wanchou fought down the urge to lean in toward Li Jie and take a sniff, saying softly, "I haven't been in touch with the family recently. The last time we communicated, they just told me and Momo to serve the eldest miss well and help her advance her career further. The communication phone I used before was destroyed, and we haven't re-established a private contact channel; we just communicate through regular emails..."

"Then something must have happened."

Just as Boss Li was pondering this, he noticed Jing Wanchou step forward to pick up the towel he had used to wipe away his sweat and place it in the storage basket. She paused for a moment and even murmured a soft "Thank you."

"Don't mention it, Hubby."

"Hubby your mother's head, who's your hubby..."

Though scolded, Jing Wanchou remained completely unfazed, quietly sitting aside to wait for the eldest miss to finish resting.

Then, she stealthily picked up the sweat-drenched towel from the storage basket, used it to wipe away her own sweat, and took a quick sniff...

Meanwhile, back in his study to continue working overtime, Boss Li felt a lingering sense of melancholy. He needed to ensure his confidentiality work was airtight; otherwise, if the old master of the Ji family found out that his daughter had already "mated" with him, Old Li, wouldn't he start plotting to haul a couple of "little Lis" back to serve as "studs"?

"Damn it, why are these aristocratic elite families all more bizarre than the last?"

Boss Li felt as though he was playing whack-a-mole; extra risks kept popping up from time to time.

Still, it didn't matter. Recently, the wool he could shear from the dog system was quite bountiful. Following the leak of the "LT155" railgun prototype design and his murderous rampage that very day under the banner of "What's the Big Deal," an astonishing amount of prestige value had been reaped for the "Black Cat Hero."

Moreover, *Black Cat Vigilante* had surged from behind, outperforming *Masked Gourd Hero* in gaining public acclaim and reaching the "Silver One-Star" milestone ahead of schedule.

【Current public acclaim for *Black Cat Vigilante*: Silver One-Star.】

【Prestige Mall has been unlocked.】

【Available talent skills for display: Advanced Vehicle Stunt Operation, Intermediate Pistol Shooting, Intermediate Obstacle Vaulting...】

【Skill enhancement has been unlocked.】

This upgrade required consuming 4.2 million prestige points, but that wasn't the main point. The crucial detail was that the label "(Advanced)" was something he was seeing for the very first time.

The greatest benefit of raising skill levels was transforming himself into a "stat monster."

Since he hadn't seen any signs of supernatural mutation in the real world yet, as long as the underlying rules remained unchanged, raw stats were absolute king.

Boss Li currently just wanted to pile up his stats. Besides, judging by the growth trajectory of *Black Cat Vigilante*'s reputation, it was directly correlated with the Black Cat Hero's major public operations.

What did that imply?

It implied that Gotham City could not do without its Joker!

Now that the Second Young Master Yang was gone, there was still Fifth Master Yang. Boss Li had always considered himself an "ally of justice," and when dealing with this bunch of clowns, there was no need to stand on ceremony regarding Jianghu codes of honor—"Gourd Hero," "Black Cat Hero," and "Doomsday Guardian," all of them would charge in together!