American comics: Something is wrong with this superhero world

Chapter 276 I should have joined the Avengers
In the office, Bruce sat behind a luxurious desk with a frown on his face. His subordinate was reporting the latest situation. His subordinate's tone was a little helpless and nervous:
"Mr. Wayne, with the death of Mr. Alfred, the kidnapping case has come to a temporary end. The monopoly case has also been basically resolved, but due to Xiao Xian's previous tweets, many female consumers have a bad impression of our company's products. Now the company's stock price is very low, and many shareholders have opinions."

Bruce listened to the report calmly with a deep look in his eyes, and then said, "It's okay. Once the cooperation with Atlantis is reached, the stock price will naturally rise. You should negotiate something as soon as possible to boost the stock price and appease the shareholders."

But his subordinate hesitated and said, "Mr. Bruce, Atlantis doesn't seem to be sincere. The negotiations are progressing slowly, and it may be difficult to achieve substantial results for the time being."

Bruce's face darkened instantly, and a cold light flashed in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure. He stared at his men and said in a deep voice, "I understand. You can go ahead and negotiate. I will personally handle the Atlantis issue."

The subordinate nodded quickly and left the office cautiously. Bruce leaned back in his chair, thinking about the next countermeasures. Atlantis' cooperation is the key to the company at present, and it must be won as soon as possible. He already had a rough plan in his mind, and a determined light gradually flashed in his eyes.

The sun shines through the sea, casting mottled shadows on the coral bed of the Atlantis Palace. Arthur Curry, the ruler of Atlantis known as the Sea King, is lazily lying on the bed, enjoying his rare leisure time. His long golden hair is scattered on the pillow, and his strong body still has bruises left from fighting with the sea monster last night.

Suddenly, a pleasant music broke the silence. Arthur turned his head and looked at the bedside table, where a unique shell communicator was placed, which was flashing a faint blue light. He reached out and picked it up, and frowned when he saw the name on the display - Bruce Wayne.

Arthur took a deep breath and hesitated for a few seconds. Finally, he reluctantly pressed the answer button. In an instant, a holographic projection appeared in the air, showing a man in an expensive suit.

"What's the matter again, Bruce?" Arthur asked in a bad tone, frowning.

Bruce Wayne, Gotham City's billionaire and Batman, is sitting in his luxurious office looking at Aquaman. His expression is serious and his eyes are sharp:
"Arthur, we need to talk. The cooperation between Atlantis and Wayne Group is progressing too slowly. This is inconsistent with what we agreed before."

Arthur snorted disdainfully and sat up: "What does it have to do with me? I have done what I promised. Do you think it is easy to govern an underwater kingdom?"

Bruce was not angered by Arthur's attitude. Instead, he calmly picked up a photo from the table and held it up to the camera: "Really? What do you think of this photo of you playing cards with dolphins in the Underwater World Aquarium? Is it good? Don't force me to publish this photo publicly."

Arthur's face turned pale instantly. In the photo, he was happily playing cards with a group of dolphins. "Don't worry, we can discuss everything." He asked stutteringly.

"Don't you look happy in the photo?" Bruce taunted.

Arthur's momentum suddenly fell. He dropped his shoulders and rubbed his temples:
"No, don't make it public. You don't know how hard it is for me. I am a king, but I don't have that much power. Do you think I like coming to the mainland to develop? I was excluded before and had no choice but to become the Atlantis promotional mascot. Besides, the Atlanteans hate the people on the mainland. I begged my wife Mera and my mother Atlanna for a long time to get this cooperation passed in the parliament."

Arthur sighed and continued: "The officials below pretend to obey but secretly disobey, and there are many ways to trip us up. Some deliberately delay documents, some waste time by speaking endlessly in meetings, and some secretly spread rumors that Wayne Group wants to plunder our resources. I really tried my best. It's hard to be a king." Bruce listened to Arthur's explanation quietly, and then took out another photo: "I understand your difficulties, Arthur. But this cooperation is of great importance. If you don't take action, I'm afraid this photo of you playing cards with Shark will be accidentally leaked."

Arthur is devastated when he sees new photos showing him exchanging philosophy with a group of great white sharks in an aquarium.

"Okay, okay!" Arthur raised his hands in surrender. "I promise you, I will try harder. I will find a way to convince those stubborn people, and I will ask Mera to lobby the Senate. Anyway, don't make these photos public, please, I will do my best."

After the call ended, Arthur fell back on the bed and covered his eyes with his arms. He looked at the magnificent dome of the palace and couldn't help but feel amused and sad about his situation. The King of the Seven Seas was threatened by a rich man in a bat costume and couldn't resist.

"Damn Bruce," Arthur cursed in a low voice, "I should have known I shouldn't have joined the Justice League. I should have joined the Avengers. Compared to Bruce, Tony Stark looks amiable."

On the other side, Bruce Wayne ended his call with Arthur and leaned back on the leather backrest of his luxurious office chair, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised. He turned his chair, facing the beautiful view of Wayne Manor outside the French window, and fell into a brief contemplation.

After a moment, Bruce turned back and tapped his slender fingers quickly on the keyboard. The computer screen lit up, showing a complex security system interface. He entered a long password and then pressed his thumb on the fingerprint recognition area.

"Identity confirmed: Bruce Wayne," the computer said mechanically, "Welcome back, Batman."

Bruce clicked the mouse and opened a hidden folder. Inside was the surveillance video obtained this afternoon through the pinhole camera installed in the massage room in advance.

In the video, Sean was playing cards with Selina, while Bruce closed his eyes as if he was sleeping soundly. Bruce carefully observed every detail in the video, with excitement flashing in his eyes.

Bruce stroked his chin, thinking that this video was not exciting enough for only him to watch, but he couldn't show it to others.

After thinking for a moment, Bruce decided to make an adapted 3D video based on the video content and then put it online. Of course, various plot elements and character appearances had to be modified and adapted to a certain extent, otherwise it would be embarrassing if Selina saw this video.

(End of this chapter)