American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

The metal door slid open silently to one side.

Bruce stood in the doorway.

His gaze fell on Xiu En, sweeping from the halo above his head, which had returned to normal, down to his bare feet.

"The energy fluctuations have subsided. It seems your indigestion is over."

"Your metabolism is 70% faster than I predicted. Tell me, how are you feeling right now?"

"This feels great!"

Xiu En leaped up from the ground.

He gave Bruce a bright, almost blinding smile.

"It's better than ever before! Even my toenails seem to be glowing!"

To prove his condition, Xiu En performed two jumping jacks.

"Look, there are absolutely no side effects! It's safe, harmless, and environmentally friendly!"

Shum leaned close to Bruce and pointed to the top of his head.

"It could even be developed to have some minor functions, like... serving as a portable ambient light or something."

"I saw it."

Bruce glanced at him, his eyes revealing neither joy nor anger.

"Like those bunny ears. If you're interested, Wayne Enterprises' children's playgrounds are hiring mascots."

"The mascot's salary is too low, so it's better to just make it the boss's personal accessory."

Xiu En immediately seized the opportunity, rubbing his hands together.

"Boss, look, I've tested the extreme reactions to the new drug for you, and even included such a wonderful live performance. Shouldn't we now fulfill our promise of humanitarian care?"

He took a deep breath, as if he could really smell that ethereal fragrance.

"Steak, Kobe, no garlic. I'm so hungry I could eat a whole cow. If I don't eat something soon, I'm afraid I'll lose control and melt your thermos."

Bruce stared at his vividly roguish appearance and remained silent for two seconds.

He finally realized that while the danger level of this guy in front of him might need to be reassessed, his shamelessness was definitely among the highest in Gotham.

"Afu is already preparing lunch."

He stepped aside, making way for him.

"Keep up. Also, stay away from my thermos until I figure out if the light on your head is going to suddenly explode."

……

The following morning, although the sky was still overcast, a rare glimmer of light appeared in Gotham.

Xiu En stood in front of a newly completed building, his mouth slightly open, remaining agape for a full half minute.

If it weren't for the bronze plaque at the entrance that read "Martha Wayne Memorial Home," he would have definitely thought it was a newly opened upscale private school district property.

The huge floor-to-ceiling windows were polished to a shine, the lawn was trimmed as smooth as a carpet, and behind them you could even see a brand-new synthetic running track and brightly colored playground equipment.

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

Shuen couldn't help but make a sound of naiveté, glancing back at Bruce Wayne beside him.

"Boss, are you sure this is for orphans? And not a branch of some elite private elementary school?"

Bruce changed into a light gray casual suit today, which made him look a little more approachable.

He ignored Xiu En's exaggerated reaction and calmly pointed to the east side of the building.

"That's an all-weather, constant-temperature botanical garden, equipped with the latest spectral lighting system, and the soil inside is specially formulated organic soil."

Xiu En looked in that direction and saw a huge glass greenhouse, where the lush greenery could be seen even from the outside.

"In addition, there are two pediatric specialists, three psychological counselors, and a professional team of nutritionists here."

Bruce turned his head, his steel-blue eyes looking at Hugh.

"I think this is more suitable for human infants to live in than those abandoned greenhouses and bridge holes full of mold and rats."

"Of course, even a fool would know which one to choose."

Xiu En shrugged and put his hands in his trench coat pockets.

"But the difficulty never lies with the children, but with the parent."

Thinking of Pamela Ivy's temper, Shum felt his lungs starting to ache again.

"That's why I brought you here."

"You and Ms. Ivy seem to have developed a... unique relationship of trust? Few people can communicate well with her. She can even control her murderous intent in front of you, and perhaps she can listen to your advice."

"You're clearly more suitable, or maybe you're just afraid of getting your butt whipped by her vines."

Xiu En muttered something under his breath.

He began to make demands.

"I think the conditions could be that all children enroll unconditionally, without any form of background check by the government or corporations, and that they retain some of their freedom of movement."

"You know, those wild kids are used to running wild in that muddy area."

"Also, Ivy must own at least half of the right to use that botanical garden."

Bruce raised an eyebrow.

"That botanical garden was originally intended for her. I needed someone to manage those rare plants, and there was no gardener in all of Gotham more suitable than her."

"Wow, what a clever scheme."

Xiu En had to admire the capitalist's shrewdness; he was directly recruiting the biggest destabilizing factor into an employee.

"They solved the orphan problem, hired a top expert for free, and even conveniently kept an eye on dangerous individuals. Boss, is your heart as black as coal?"

"This is called resource integration."

Bruce corrected him casually.

"It's a win-win situation. I want this city to be better. I couldn't do anything about it when I wasn't here for the past few years, but now that I'm back, I naturally want to change Gotham."

Xiu En sighed. He knew that even if this job was a trap, he had to jump in.

After all, it's so that those children don't have to sleep in the sewers in winter.

"Alright, I'll take this order."

"But before that, as your negotiator, I feel my lunch needs to be upgraded; at least I need some dessert to cheer myself up before facing that angry lady."

Bruce didn't say anything, but simply took out a brand new black card from his pocket, held it between two fingers, and handed it over.

"At the attached restaurant, you can order whatever you want by paying. Remember, I want to see the results."

"Alright! Just you wait and see!" Xiu En's expression changed instantly. He snatched the black card with such speed that it left a blur in his fingertips.

Several tens of minutes later, with half an expensive cake in his mouth and a large bag of takeout fried chicken in his hand—a gift for the children—he set off for the abandoned greenhouse.

As he walked, he pondered in his mind how to bring it up with Ivy.

This is practically like asking you to persuade a mountain king to come down from the mountain and accept amnesty; if you're not careful, you'll get a brutal beating with the cry of "Give me back my land!"

Although the sunlight overhead was obscured by clouds, leaving only a pale white layer, preventing Xiu En from completing his daily task of basking in the real sun, he was in a good mood.

He touched the black card in his pocket, then looked at the gray buildings of Gotham's West Side in the distance, and suddenly felt that the city was not so hopeless after all.

At least here, there are still people willing to spend a lot of money just to give a canary a nest.