American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

"Afu, prepare a cage. No, the sturdiest kind, preferably the kind you use to keep crocodiles or mudfaces."

When Hugh's voice came through the communicator, Alfred was standing at the entrance of the Batcave elevator, holding a silver tray.

"Mr. Xiu En, if you've brought home any more stray cats or dogs, I suggest you get them dewormed first. Last time, that little gugu tore three of my suits."

"This time is different. How should I put it? Is this a welcome gift for Bruce? After all, he hasn't experienced the joys of raising a child yet."

With a sonic boom, a golden meteor arrived.

Diana followed closely behind, though with far greater grace; this was the first time she had ever visited the Gotham Knight's secret base in this manner.

The lasso of truth in her hand was taut, and the other end was tied to a red and green object that kept twisting and emitting a piercing laugh. She dragged it along the ground, leaving a trail of sparks.

Bruce was wearing a dark gray turtleneck sweater, looking like a wealthy man who had just gotten up.

But when Xiu En kicked the monster, bound like a dumpling, to his feet with a wicked grin, a storm colder than the depths of a bat cave instantly gathered in his eyes.

"Look how welcoming the world is over there."

Shuen pointed to the deformed creature on the ground that was still staring at Bruce and drooling even though it was being suppressed, and spoke as if he were introducing a newly released limited edition figurine.

"Although your world hasn't had time to recruit underage laborers yet, in the next door? Or the next door after that, this little guy is your prized student. Look at this uniform, red and green, such a classic color combination."

The thing let out a series of unintelligible laughs when it saw Bruce.

"F...Father...He...He is ing..."

It was laughing, its mouth splitting to its ears, and its completely black eyes reflected a frenzied appetite that wanted to devour the person in front of it, skin and bones.

Diana looked at Bruce with some concern.

She knew how huge a shock this scene would be to any person with a conscience; on the way here, Xiu En had explained the significance of Robin to him.

A child dressed as an assistant was transformed into this appearance.

But Bruce crouched down, ignoring the monster's attempt to bite off his fingers, and pinched the dog collar engraved with the word Robin.

"Is this what you wanted me to see?"

His voice sounded as if he were speaking to a simple data report.

But the bulging veins on his neck and the sudden contraction of his pupils betrayed him.

In the memory data about another Batman brought back from another world, there was a description of Robin.

That was hope, that was inheritance, that was one of the anchors that prevented him from falling completely into darkness.

And now, that anchor point has become a vicious joke in another world, lying at his feet and baring its teeth at him.

"No matter what world it is."

Bruce stood up, looked at Diana, nodded as a greeting, and then turned to Hugh.

"This is the minor problem you were talking about?"

"This is just an appetizer; the main course is still waiting in line. Want to beat up the culprit who made this stuff? I'll join you!"

Shuen shrugged, expressing his regret at Bruce's uninteresting reaction.

"Once I'm ready, I think I will. Lock him in cell number 4 of the isolation zone, activate the N-metal force field suppression. Afu, activate the Level C contingency plan of the Tower of Babel Protocol. The system has matched you with the Infinite Heavens category. Click to view details. We need to analyze this thing's genetic sequence to see how it was manufactured."

Bruce turned and walked toward the control panel, his back as cold and hard as iron.

"And, Xiu En."

He paused for a moment amidst the blue light emanating from the screen.

"Thank you. This is indeed a useful reminder."

If we don't see what hell looks like, how can we know how to protect humanity?

This is tantamount to Shum directly shoving the most brutal sample of the future into Batman's hands, giving him time to prepare.

"Tch, boring."

Xiu En pursed his lips.

"Let's go, Doctor. It's too oppressive here. Bruce's probably brainstorming a hundred ways to kill the culprit right now. Let's go to the beach. I hope they have a fresh seafood buffet there."

Ivy stretched a leaf over his shoulder; she could feel that as the monster left, the unsettling restlessness in Xiu En subsided considerably.

"Anywhere is fine as long as it doesn't smell like this rotten stuff."

Shuen turned his head and waved to Batman, who was frantically typing on the keyboard at the control panel.

"If you plan to keep it as a pet, remember to get it vaccinated against rabies."

Bruce nodded.

"I'll handle it. Now, get out of my sight and deal with your own business."

Leaving the bat cave didn't make the air much fresher.

Gotham Harbor, Mercy Harbor District.

This place was already one of the dirtiest spots in Gotham, and now, under the intense sunlight, it seemed to be boiling over.

It's like a living, malevolent liquid.

Each bursting bubble releases a foul stench that is a mixture of sulfur and the smell of the sea.

"vomit--"

The sunflower made a gagging sound on Xiu En's shoulder, and its flower head quickly closed, with its two leaves tightly covering the flower stem.

"Shuen! If you dare let me take a single step near that black water, I'll kill myself! I'm serious! That salt and toxins will burn my roots instantly!"

"Shut up, I wasn't planning on going down either."

Xiu En was suspended in mid-air.

He looked at the black liquid that was expanding and seemed to want to devour the land. The true fire of the sun in his body automatically protected him out of disgust, forming a high-temperature absolute domain with a diameter of three meters around him.

Diana stood on the dock, holding the Sword of Vulcan, her expression grave as she gazed at the enormous shadow beneath the water.

"It's down there. That must be stagnant water? An ancient, cursed creature. It's using the water as a portal. If we don't go down and cut off the source, it will turn the entire ocean black."

"Dead water? Hey, I've seen dead water in another world, completely different from this, and going down? In there?"

Xiu En pointed to the sea surface that looked like wriggling sewer sludge, and his smile vanished.

"Absolutely not. I am the sun god, not a toilet cleaner. This kind of wet, sticky work, which smells like dead fish and rotten shrimp, is clearly not within my scope of service."

He took out his phone and dialed a number directly.

"This is a time for professionals to do professional work. What about that guy who's always talking to the fish with a fork? He'd be a perfect professional at dealing with stagnant water, the stuff that disgusts him in his bathtub!"