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Chapter 145: Copperpots Happy Life (2)

Recently, Copperpot has been having a tough time, or you could say he's been doing well from another perspective.

Oswald Copperpot was born into the Copperpot family, one of the four major Gang families in the East District. His family was relatively affluent during his early childhood.

However, when he was young, his father, who was the pillar of the family, died of pneumonia, and the family's fortunes declined from then on.

Now, the era of the four major Gang families in the East District has passed, and he and his mother live in an old mansion near a street in Living Hell.

His father had earned some money when he was young, and Mrs. Copperpot relied on these savings to make ends meet.

As he grew older, the family's expenses gradually increased, and Mrs. Copperpot used her husband's previous connections to find a job for young Copperpot in Mooney's gang.

Mooney's gang used to be the largest gang in Living Hell. However, now their leader, Fish Mooney, is a hot-tempered woman who does not tolerate any disobedience. Copperpot is short in stature and timid in character, which does not endear him to Fish.

As a result, Copperpot is often sent out to work as a doorman or an umbrella boy in the industries of other streets.

This is not a good job. Being scolded and mocked by guests is commonplace, and the money he earns not only has to be handed over to the gang in the area where the industry is located, but also an additional portion has to be given to Mooney's gang, leaving very little for Copperpot himself.

At work, Copperpot is often humiliated and ridiculed by others. He can only hide to the side with a gloomy face, trying not to attract attention from those people. However, he often angers some customers due to his small stature and lack of strength, and gets scolded by his boss. When he returns home, he always looks like a wet chicken.

Originally, Copperpot thought he would have to endure such days for a long time, but what he didn't expect was that Gotham would change almost overnight.

Construction began everywhere, and the whole city was hiring workers. Every industry was short of people. From this change on, Copperpot had done various jobs such as bartender, janitor, counter clerk, and waiter. He walked on the streets of Living Hell, and people would often ask him if he had a job.

Before this, he worked as a waiter in the largest night market around Living Hell. Although he was called a waiter, he was actually just a helper at the roadside barbecue stall, assisting in washing the barbecue plates or opening beer bottles for customers.

Although the work was not easy, it was much better than being a doorman. For one, he earned more money, and secondly, he often got to eat the leftover meat scraps from the barbecue.

Furthermore, customers were usually drivers who were often in a hurry. They wanted a portion of barbecue, paired with a beer, and would quickly eat and leave without causing trouble for the waiter. Occasionally, he even received some tips.

Originally, Copperpot was satisfied with this kind of life. At least, he had taken a big step forward. However, the following changes were even more unexpected.

Later, the transformation of Living Hell began. Although Copperpot did not live inside Living Hell, he lived nearby and witnessed this overcrowded and rundown city change completely.

However, his lifestyle was completely disrupted as a result of the changes.

Due to the transformation of Living Hell, many gangs targeted this area. Although Mooney's gang was strong, they were outnumbered by the influx of gang power. The new gangs seized and divided the area, leaving only a small territory for Mooney's gang in the south.

After the transformation was complete, the gangs began to establish a management system, but a problem arose: where could they find enough people to manage Living Hell? Although the area had been renovated, it was still complicated and confusing, and the new gang leaders were not familiar with the terrain, let alone collecting protection fees.

Copperpot was considered a local and often went to Living Hell to buy things. In addition, he used to be a member of Mooney's gang, so the gang leaders noticed him and recruited him to work for them.

At the beginning, he was responsible for counting goods at the entrance of the shipping channel. As it turned out, the small leader in charge of the cargo found out that he was good at math. Even if he counted manually all day, he wouldn't make a mistake. So he was introduced to collect protection fees in the commercial area of ​​Living Hell.

Because he had worked in the Night Market's stall before, Copperpot quickly became acquainted with the owner of a restaurant in the commercial area and was responsible for delivering ingredients to this restaurant.

Originally, Copperpot's life was already much better here. He was at least a small leader.

Even though Copperpot was not yet an adult, he was responsible for purchasing raw materials for a restaurant by himself. You can imagine that there was a lot of profit to be made, which was uncommon in Gotham.

But that's not all. Copperpot received a good education when he was young and even lived in the wealthy area of ​​the South. Therefore, he could write English in a standard font and had a talent for mathematics and statistics. He even knew how to do mental arithmetic, which was rare talent in Gotham!

Before long, he was noticed by the leader of a big gang and transferred to the water management department of Living Hell.

The so-called water management department was responsible for connecting and maintaining tap water and collecting water fees.

Although it was called water fees, it was actually protection fees. After a gang took control of a district in Living Hell, residents would pay their water fees to them, and these gangs were responsible for maintaining the tap water system.

However, the reconstructed water source in Living Hell was not like the several wells before. The modern water supply system was very complex, with various pipes and valves, and several different-sized water meters. These gangs didn't have a clue how to operate them.

Once, during the process of collecting water fees, a conflict broke out between the gang and local residents. It was Copperpot who looked at the reading on the water meter and stopped the potential shootout.

Yes, the entire water management department only had one person who knew how to read the water meter, and that was Copperpot.

So he was promoted to be in charge of the tap water system in the North 2 district of Living Hell.

Although it sounds absurd, the fact is that Copperpot's promotion was so smooth not because this underage little penguin was so powerful now, but mainly because everyone else was too rotten.

Once he became a department supervisor, Copperpot's life became much easier. He didn't even have to wander around in Living Hell himself. He just needed someone to record the readings on the water meter, and he could accurately determine how much water a household had used and how much protection fee should be charged.

However, this kind of life didn't last long. The gangs soon realized that relying on geniuses like Copperpot, who could not be found among a hundred people, to maintain the operation of the entire system was not enough.

So they started preparing for a vocational school.

According to the second law of Gotham, when the venue and personnel for the school were ready, and even the teachers had been found, the gang leaders realized that they had no students.

The gang leaders themselves were too busy to learn these things, and they had enough things to manage already.

And the middle-level members of the gangs were generally ignorant, couldn't even spell their own names correctly, and smoked, drank, and gambled. Their brains had not been functioning for many years, so sending them to school would be a waste.

So, these gang leaders could only choose from the second generation of the black society, either the children of some young leaders, preferably in their teens and with some strange hobbies, as long as they hadn't damaged their brains by drinking or taking drugs.

Even with such lenient conditions, they couldn't gather enough students, even after searching far and wide.

Therefore, Copperpot, who was excellent in both academics and conduct, became the first batch of students in the vocational school. And once Copperpot entered this class, he became the top student.

He had received a good education since he was a child. Not only did he have good handwriting and was good at math, but he could also play a little violin. In this environment of prenatal education for everyone, he was outstanding.

But it is true that his life was not easy.

Although he came to school, he still had to maintain the water supply system in his area. During the day, Copperpot studied, and at night he had to work overtime. These days, he even lived in his office and didn't have a chance to go home.

Although he was no longer as destitute as a drowned rat, he had become a heartless workaholic.

Lately, the main theme of Copperpot's life was one word: busy.

Because he did a good job maintaining the water supply system in his area and earned higher income compared to other places, the boss of the gang decided to assign him the No. 3 district as well.

Although this gang was big, it was far inferior to the Twelve Families and didn't have the ability to hire professionals. The whole system relied solely on Copperpot to maintain.

Copperpot also realized for the first time that office work was not necessarily easier than working outside in the wind and sun.

But it could be said that he was living well now.

Copperpot now fully understood the saying "knowledge changes destiny".

Because he was good at math, he was promoted all the way up. Gone were the days when he was bullied as a doorman, now he managed over 20 gang members.

Since Copperpot didn't need others to calculate for him, others could at most run errands, and they also received a commission from the water fees they collected. Many people enjoyed doing this job, and they naturally praised Copperpot for making money.

Copperpot now had his own small territory, and with some savings, he and Mrs. Copperpot could move out of their dark old mansion and find a nice apartment to live in.

Moreover, most of the teachers invited by the gang found the situation here quite troublesome. They did not expect that the students they would be teaching would be like this in this environment. In contrast, Copperpot, who studied fast and diligently in such an environment, appeared particularly adorable.

Appearance gloomy? What does that matter? Look at these bunch of idiots, if they have less than ten metal rings on their head, they're considered conservative.

Hooked nose? He didn't even pierce a chain of nose rings on himself, he's already paying attention to his appearance.

Short stature? That's still stronger than sitting in the classroom all day and jumping up and down.

The student image that teachers like mostly has the same kind of temperament, and Copperpot just happens to have that temperament.

He seems somewhat timid and silent, which is seen as unsociable among his peers, but to the teachers and professors, it is the behavior of a good, obedient student.

As it turns out, in the future Gotham stage, Penguin, who can compete with crazy geniuses like Joker, is of course outstanding. These professional school courses not only cannot stop him but also give him a considerable room for development.

Even Victor looks at him with some admiration, calling Copperpot "lettuce in a carrot patch."

Hearing Victor's evaluation, Schiller was somewhat helpless. He found it difficult to describe the strange feeling of someone who had read the original comic, when he heard Mr. Freeze's appraisal of the Penguin as a genius.

He also didn't know if it was fate or villains' mutual appreciation, but Victor and Copperpot gradually began to appreciate each other.

In Victor's eyes, Copperpot became a good learning genius who rose from the mud without being stained, while in Copperpot's eyes, Victor became a good teacher who treated all students equally and did not discriminate against him.

As for Schiller, after he finished that class, he threw all the activities of organizing classroom discipline to Victor, while he himself drank coffee and slacked off in the office of Gotham University every day, making Victor angry and call him an old hand.

And Copperpot, of course, didn't forget that Schiller was the special guest he met at the time.

At that time, Schiller's speech and behavior made him quite fond of the profession of professor, and now Victor has also proved that reading books does make a difference.

Copperpot even entertained the idea of going to college, and when this idea occurred to him, he felt somewhat absurd.

Go to college? This is a very distant thing for every person in the lower class of Gotham.

But the future Penguin, the thing he lacks the least, is ambition.