American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

a new day.

The morning in Gotham arrives in the light.

Over such a long time, the double-solar eclipse has transformed from a spectacle capable of triggering widespread panic into an everyday weather phenomenon that makes curtain manufacturers incredibly wealthy.

Three to five days a week, when Gotham's Black Flag members draw back their newly installed curtains, which are three times thicker, they see two suns hanging in the sky.

One is an old sun that honestly emits standard sunlight. This old sun, which was not always visible throughout the year, has become very frequently seen since the emergence of the new sun.

The other one was much larger and more intense, like a golden pupil that reigned supreme, casting a warm, hazy yellow hue over the entire city.

The city’s crime rate, especially during the day, has dropped to a low point that would make Gordon wonder if he was still half asleep.

Perhaps it's because not many sane thugs would be willing to pick a lock or steal a wallet under the all-around, unobstructed surveillance of two suns.

It could also be because when they commit crimes, the sun shines a red light on them like a highlight.

A peculiar industry was even born as a result.

A sunny trip.

Tourists from all over the world flock to Gotham like medieval pilgrims, hoping to bask in its pure light, hailed as divine grace, and perhaps find a cure for their ailments or good fortune.

And the sun does indeed select some people it finds pleasing or that it pities after observing them, and bestow miracles upon them.

The atmosphere at the luxurious dining table in Wayne Manor was far less harmonious than the sunlight streaming through the window.

"Gentlemen, today's breakfast includes a full English meal, American pancakes, and Alford oatmeal."

Alfred introduced the new members of the family to the table in an elegant and composed tone.

As he spoke, he skillfully served coffee to everyone present.

Adrian, who had just finished washing up, picked up his coffee cup, took a small sip, frowned slightly, and felt like he had won.

The coffee beans were of impeccable quality, but the brewing water temperature was 0.7 degrees Celsius too high. Is this the kind of coffee that Xiu En was referring to, the kind made by someone whose culinary skills far surpass his own? Well, that's about it.

Sitting opposite him was Rorschach.

The plate in front of him remained untouched; he simply unwrapped the sugar cubes handed to him by the servant, one by one, and neatly arranged them beside him.

Bruce sat in the main seat, his eyes looking tired.

He didn't sleep a wink last night. Xiu En and Ivy gave him a huge amount of information about the Watchers world, and the sheer volume of information almost overloaded his server.

The way he was looking at Adrian now was like he was looking at a walking super nuclear bomb.

Meanwhile, Shuen, the instigator of this breakfast meeting, is having a tough struggle with his own breakfast.

"Afu!"

He poked at the golden scrambled eggs on the plate with his fork.

"This stuff is so soft and has no chewiness at all. Let's have some baguette to improve the texture."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Xiu En."

Alfred bowed slightly.

"Considering Bruce's digestive system, he's been eating too many chewable things lately, following your main body."

Xiu En sighed and forced down the scrambled eggs.

Xiu En wiped his mouth with a napkin and decided to finish the important business first.

"Alright, stop eating."

"Let's have a brief morning meeting. It'll be about the onboarding arrangements for the new company."

Adrian put down his coffee cup, leaned forward slightly, and made a gesture of listening attentively.

He has accepted his new identity and is ready to assess the value of this job.

Rorschach stopped stacking the sugar cubes and turned to Shuen.

Bruce rubbed his temples. He knew the real headache was about to begin. Hugh had stopped complaining about the food and was now continuing to talk about these things.

"first."

Shuen pointed at Bruce.

"This is Bruce Wayne. He's in charge of the finances. From now on, all your salaries, bonuses, and anything related to money will be handled by him. Starting today, he is our company's CEO and CFO."

Bruce sighed.

When did he agree to become CEO?

"Secondly, the Golden Retriever!"

Shuen turned to Adrian.

"Considering your sharp mind, you'll be in charge of all the company's planning, technology research and development, logistics management, project evaluation, KPI setting... all those miscellaneous things that require brainpower. Your position is Chief Operating Officer, or COO."

Adrian gave a polite smile and nodded slightly.

The position itself isn't important; what matters is the scope of authority. It sounds like he has almost complete management power except for finances.

This is good.

"Finally, the masked man."

Xiu En looked at the silent figure in that corner.

"You are responsible for carrying out all field missions assigned by the COO. This includes, but is not limited to, intelligence gathering and target elimination—basically, fighting and doing dirty and tiring work. Your position is, um… Chief Discipline Officer, let's call you CDO."

Rorschach's eyes flickered.

Discipline officer? Sounds good.

Regarding salary.

Xiu En paid no attention to the details and waved his hand dismissively.

"Bruce is very rich, just take what you need. If you don't have enough, have him print more."

Bruce felt his head hurt even more.

"Now that we've covered the position and salary, let's talk about the benefits."

Xiu En continued his speech.

"Considering that you two are newcomers, homeless, and need mental adjustment, we are giving you an indefinite paid leave before the project officially starts."

He pulled the shimmering glass ball—a compressed version of the Pharaoh's Antarctic base—from his trench coat pocket and casually tossed it to Adrian.

"This is your dorm room. I'll have Bruce find you a plot of land in the back hills and put it there. If you need any equipment or want internet access, just ask him."

Adrian caught the glass ball and looked at the crystallization of his life's work in his hand, his feelings were very complicated.

"Alright, the meeting is over."

Xiu En clapped his hands, feeling very successful.

"Now it's free time. If there's anything you two want to do or need, just tell your CEO."

He then pointed at Bruce.

"He'll handle it anyway."

After saying that, Xiu En stood up as if he had gotten rid of a big burden, and strolled over to the kitchen with Sunflower. He was going to see if Afu had secretly hidden any cookies.

In the spacious restaurant, for a moment only three silent people and a quiet butler remained.

Adrian fiddled with the glass ball in his hand, then looked out the window.

He was calculating the energy output behind the twin suns in the sky and thinking about how to utilize this enormous energy source.

Rorschach remained seated in the corner, his mask facing the direction of downtown Gotham City.

He wondered what ugly face this city, which looked so peaceful under the sunlight, would reveal at night.

Bruce, the CEO who was forcibly appointed, finally let out a long sigh after a long silence.

"Alfred, inform Lucius that Wayne Enterprises may need to establish a new cross-dimensional project department."

"in addition."

"I think we need to plan and prepare your staff accommodations."

"Let's begin now."

After getting a small bag of specially made metal-shaving flavored cookies from the kitchen, Hugh returned to the dining room satisfied.

He spoke to the three employees and the CEO who were still digesting the spirit of the morning meeting in their own ways.

"Now?"

"Shuen, setting up a large building of unknown origin and with unknown functions isn't like setting up a tent in your backyard. We need to conduct geological surveys, environmental assessments, energy..."

"Isn't he the smartest person in their world? Let him do the math."

Hugh swallowed the cookie in his mouth and had Adrian hand the glass marble to Bruce to look at.

"Hurry up, I don't have the patience to wait for your board meeting."

Bruce stared at the glass sphere in his hand, which contained unimaginable technology, and remained silent for three seconds.

He stood up and whispered to a device on his wrist, "Activate Gardener Protocol, Level: Highest."

"Come with me."

Soon after.

Behind Wayne Manor on the north side lies a primeval forest that has never been opened to the public.

However, when they arrived, it was already an open space.

Dozens of fully automated engineering robots bearing the Wayne Enterprises logo are carrying out the final ground hardening and wiring work with astonishing efficiency.

"Here, within a radius of five kilometers and thirty meters underground, the entire area is supported by reinforced granite foundations. It can be directly connected to the main energy network of the manor and is concealed by an independent physical isolation system and a spatial distortion force field."

Bruce described it simply, as if he were introducing his own backyard.

"That's enough to fit your dorm room."

Adrian glanced at the layout of the construction site and the underground pipelines, and his mind had already constructed a complete 3D model.

"The energy interface is an anti-helical magnetic confinement type, which has high transmission efficiency, but the protocol is too old. I need a separate storage tank as a backup energy source, as well as physical ports for at least twelve quantum communication links to connect to the local network."

Adrian made his demands without any hesitation.

"In addition, after the base is deployed, the external energy shield needs to be synchronized with the optical camouflage field of this mountain. I need your main system to grant me calibration permissions."

"no problem."

Bruce said something to Lucius.

"Meet all his reasonable requests."

After receiving permission, Adrian walked to the center of the flat area.

He raised the glass ball high in his hand, and in his blue eyes, the flame of pride and passion reignited.

The glass ball flew out of my hand, hovered in mid-air, and began to emit a dazzling light before growing larger.

"Activate the Carnac Protocol."

"Structural force field deployed, locking onto axes one through three hundred and sixty!"

"Activate the Carnac Protocol."

"Structural force field deployed, locking onto axes one through three hundred and sixty!"

"Anti-gravity engine activated, 30% power output, main structure levitates!"

"Modular assembly process initiated, executing temple design!"

A magnificent building, like a blooming metal flower, rose from the ground in Gotham.

The main body of the building is a huge silver-white sphere, the surface of which is covered with a material that can absorb and store light energy.

The sphere is surrounded by massive stone pillars resembling those of an ancient Egyptian temple, as well as sky corridors connecting the various functional areas.

At the very top is a giant ring antenna that can collect cosmic rays.

Rorschach watched all of this silently.

This fortress once symbolized intrigue.

Now, however, it has become his home.

A few minutes later, the external lights came on, and Adrian Witt's Big Ben, or rather the Karnak Temple, stood perfectly on the hill behind Wayne Manor.

It blends perfectly with its surroundings, and nothing unusual can be detected from any angle of the manor.

"Initial deployment complete."

Adrian smiled with satisfaction.

"It will take about six hours for the internal ecosystem and main control system to restart."

"Well done, Golden Retriever."

Xiu En clapped his hands and wandered around the base like a curious child.

He reached out and tapped on the smooth, mirror-like silver-white casing.

"This material is good; it's quite sturdy."

He gave his evaluation.

"If the company goes bankrupt in the future, we can dismantle this thing and sell it for scrap metal; we should be able to make a lot of money from it."

Bruce silently turned his head away, pretending not to hear anything, but the slight tremor in his shoulders betrayed him.

"Bruce!"

Xiu En suddenly seemed to remember something.

"Next time you send your female secretary over, remember to tell her to bring some cement and concrete."

"What are you going to do?" Bruce's voice was filled with an ominous premonition.

"How can we not do some unique decorating for such a big new house?"

Xiu En gestured excitedly, indicating the name.

"I want to build them a small, matching house next to the base! The kind where they can sunbathe!"

Rorschach: "..."

Adrian's face was twitching.

Bruce finally couldn't hold back and covered his forehead.