The ninja placed his right hand on his chest and bowed to Shimizu.
“Lord Water, you may call me Rattlesnake.”
Shimizu glanced at the tattoo on the ninja's arm, which depicted a viper wrapped around a sword blade, its tongue flicking, along with some intricate patterns representing the League of Assassins.
Different levels of members in the League of Assassins have different code names. Ordinary members are generally divided into two levels. The first level has tattoos of swords, while the second level of elite assassins combines animals such as dragons, snakes, and scorpions with swords. The patterns include the demon head symbol representing Ra's al Ghul, and the code names also include dragon and snake.
Further up, it's more arbitrary. Reaching that level means being a high-ranking member of the League of Assassins, without strict restrictions. For example, Black Arrow's title in the League of Assassins is Magician, while Sandra Wu-San's title is Shiva, meaning the Hindu god of destruction, Shiva.
Some still use animals in their titles, such as Shiva's senior brother, Bronze Tiger. He is a martial arts master on the same level as Shiva, Batman, and Deathstroke, and his use of tiger is related to his early experiences.
Even Talia and Nyssa, the two sisters, don't have these code names, using their names to represent their identities.
“Give me an overview. What's here, and what assistance can you provide for my operations?”
Shimizu asked casually.
“Yes! Which aspect would you like to start with?”
Rattlesnake asked.
Shimizu replied, “Power, wealth, connections.”
Rattlesnake: “The great Ra's al Ghul has a base in Gotham with a total of twenty people. Six are trainees still in training. Among the official members, besides myself, Poison Scorpion, and Chameleon, the others are ordinary members.”
“What about Poison Scorpion and Chameleon?”
“They are not here. Poison Scorpion is the leader of the Poison Scorpion Gang, and Chameleon is an official in Gotham City Hall. They are respectively collecting all information about Gotham's underworld and government for the great Ninja Master.”
Shimizu quickly remembered that Gotham did indeed have a second-rate gang called the Poison Scorpion Gang, which was quite far from his territory. They usually kept a low profile, but their strength was not bad, so no other gangs had any fierce conflicts with them.
In that case, the so-called Poison Scorpion Gang is actually an outer force of the League of Assassins.
Rattlesnake paused, and seeing that Shimizu didn't speak, he continued:
“The great Ra's al Ghul has accumulated endless wealth. He left behind a ton of gold in Gotham, and other assets worth about two hundred million dollars as our operating funds, as well as some valuable weapons and equipment.”
Shimizu nodded slightly: “Weapons and equipment… Then there should also be channels here to obtain some controlled valuable materials, right? Do you have Promethium?”
“This… there is a dagger that Ra's al Ghul once used, which is made of Promethium. If you want more Promethium, I will apply to headquarters for you, but this metal is too rare, I'm afraid…”
“It's okay, it's best if you have it, it doesn't matter if you don't. Show me that dagger first.”
“Yes!”
Rattlesnake lowered his head and led Shimizu to the warehouse of this League of Assassins base, took out a box, and presented the Promethium dagger with both hands to Shimizu.
This was a small dagger, about fifteen centimeters long including the handle, looking cold and gleaming, shining brightly under the white light.
Shimizu picked up the dagger and weighed it a few times, then twirled it around.
The weight of the dagger was slightly heavier than iron of the same volume. This Promethium dagger weighed about two and a half pounds.
“Can I melt it?”
Shimizu wanted to know if he could melt the Promethium into his puppet.
With such a small amount, he could either integrate it into the blade of White Warrior's high-voltage electric sword to increase its sturdiness and sharpness, or draw it into silk to serve as an energy transmission device inside the puppet.
However, if it was the latter, he would also need to test the chakra conductivity of this metal.
“I'm sorry, Lord Water, I don't mean to stop you, but… I'm afraid it's almost impossible to melt Promethium.
This metal is a man-made new metal element invented by Dr. Dayton more than forty years ago. Its quality is so strong that it is almost impossible to destroy, and it can absorb and store all energy. Therefore, whether using physical processing or high-temperature smelting, it is impossible to reprocess the already shaped metal. It can only be fixed in shape with a mold at the beginning of production.”
Rattlesnake replied.
“Then do you know where Promethium can be produced? Does the League of Assassins have a channel?”
Shimizu asked again.
However, Rattlesnake just shook his head.
To his disappointment, chakra was like a mud cow entering the sea, and the Promethium dagger did not react at all.
The biggest feature of this thing besides being hard is its ability to absorb and store energy.
This makes energy-based attacks such as magic, electricity, and heat rays almost ineffective against Promethium alloy, giving it super high magic resistance, but it also means that Shimizu cannot currently use it as a chakra transmission wire.
However, nothing is absolute. Batman and Cyborg's father both have technology that can utilize the energy properties of Promethium, injecting a large amount of energy into Promethium for storage, and then activating it with specific methods when needed, using it as a super battery or high-tech weapon.
The former has the ability to inject the energy generated by a large power plant for a long time into Promethium, while Cyborg relies on the power of the Mother Box.
Shimizu certainly doesn't have that kind of technology. For him, this Promethium dagger can only be used as an extremely sharp and extremely strong dagger.
After putting away the dagger, Shimizu listened to Rattlesnake's introduction for a while.
For example, various resources and industries related to the League of Assassins in Gotham City, and how they initially used these resources to help Dr. Hugo Strange push Sharp to the mayor's seat.
Now that Shimizu has taken over these resources, he can also use these resources to exert influence on the Gotham Police Department and Gotham City Hall, and strengthen his own power.
However, these still need to be planned slowly according to the actual situation.
In comparison, Shimizu now has a more important task at hand.
After coming out of the League of Assassins' base, and buying a few bags of snacks to put in the car to cover his tracks, Shimizu returned to Hogg Motors.
“You're finally back…”
In a room filled with ice, Mr. Freeze took off his glasses and looked at Shimizu with an anxious expression.
“Enough coolant to sustain my life signs has been prepared. Now we should take Nora and head to Central City.”
