American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

Bruce, who had been relaxed and ready to watch the show, paused very slightly in mid-air the moment he saw the true form of the fluffy ball.

For the older residents of Gotham, especially the Wayne family, the word "owl" is not exactly auspicious.

It usually represents the claws hidden in the shadows in nursery rhymes, or some ancient and deadly urban legend.

Shum clearly didn't have as many psychological traumas as Bruce.

He simply opened a side window for ventilation and reached in to pull the wet, still twitching thing inside.

"This is good stuff, boss."

Xiu En picked up one of the dizzy owls by the wing and shook it. The system screen popped up a window in front of him in perfect coordination.

[Wild birds of prey, which can be domesticated].

"Where we come from, when a night owl enters a house, it usually means... well, although it usually means someone is going to die or something really bad is going to happen, but as a proper successor of a pantheon, I have the right to ultimately interpret it as an auspicious omen."

Xiu En made up a story off the cuff, but secretly began to circulate the meager amount of Geng-Xin metal energy in his hands.

That was the chilling aura of the Autumn God and the Lord of Slaughter; the White Emperor's aura was a natural kingly aura for birds.

It has a primal suppression that makes it want to worship.

The owl, which had been fluttering about, preparing to scratch Xiu En's hands, suddenly froze.

Its animalistic instincts told it that if it resisted the two-legged creature before it, the consequences would be far more serious than simply being eaten.

Then it did something that surprised everyone present: it buried its head in Xiu En's palm and made a cooing sound that sounded very much like a domestic cat whining.

"Look. It has converted."

Shuen turned his head smugly, watching the fleeting, ghost-like expression on Bruce's face.

"Besides, this little guy has extraordinary bone structure and a kind of worldly wisdom in his eyes. Since he was knocked unconscious at the gate of this orphanage named after your mother... Bruce, isn't this fate? I'll reluctantly take him on as an unofficial mascot. I think you certainly won't mind spending an extra bit on special bird food."

"As long as it doesn't peck your eyeballs out while you're sleeping."

Bruce took a sip of coffee, forcibly suppressing his professional urge to immediately take the bird to the Bat Cave for a full-body scan to check for listening devices.

"Whatever you want. As long as you're not afraid of getting bird flu."

Ivy walked over and gave the wet, living creature a disgusted look.

"Keep it away from my plants. If I see any excrement on the leaves, I'll turn it into compost."

"Did you hear that, Gugu? These are the rules here. Don't mess with that red-haired woman, don't mess with that man in the suit who always has a stern face, and of course, don't mess with that big, dumb guy who looks a bit dim-witted."

Xiu En nodded in satisfaction.

The food standards at Martha Wayne Home were clearly based on the standards of some nouveau riche who would eat as much as they could to the point of death, as long as they wouldn't die.

While all the children were wolfing down their food, trying to fill their stomachs that had been empty for who knows how long.

A thin little girl sitting in the corner didn't touch her fork.

She had a pair of big, grayish eyes, and she was clutching a small bread roll tightly in her hand. However, her gaze was not on the food at all, but rather she looked straight past the group of noisy boys and stared at Joestar standing behind Shuen.

To be precise, he was staring at the mass of air behind Joestar that even Bruce hadn't noticed.

"Jenny?"

Ivy noticed something was wrong. She put down the salad she had only taken two bites of and her voice became very soft.

"Is it not to your liking? Or are you feeling unwell?"

The little girl named Jenny shuddered, as if she had been awakened from some deep dream.

She glanced at Ivy with some fear, then stretched out a dirty finger and pointed tremblingly at Joestar's back.

There's someone there.

Her voice was barely audible, but it could be clearly heard at the relatively quiet table.

"A very tall... white-glowing older brother was floating on the back of that big uncle."

Bruce Wayne, sitting opposite him, visibly froze.

His pupils contracted slightly, and he glanced once again discreetly behind Joestar.

There was nothing there; even a dust particle felt more real than that.

He quickly looked at Xiu En, his eyes clearly asking, "What new hallucinogen is this now?"

"Oh, you have potential."

Xiu En swallowed the fried fish in his mouth, and his expression changed to that of a compassionate charlatan.

He wiped his mouth with a napkin in an extremely affected manner, then stood up and walked over to the little girl whose face was filled with terror.

A small notification popped up in front of his eyes on the system screen at just the right moment: [Potential believer aptitude detected: High Intuition/Lesser Yin Meridian (Incomplete Version). Consume 5 days of lifespan to baptize him and solidify his spiritual vision?]

[Payment.]

"Don't be afraid, Jenny."

Xiu En reached out his hand, a faint golden light emanating from his palm, and gently placed it on the little girl's messy head.

The owl that had been playing dead seemed to sense something and let out a low hoot in response.

"You can see it because it is a real protection. It is the embodiment of courage, the strength that will stand behind you even in the darkest rainy night."

As Xiu En's warm life force flowed into her, the little girl felt her eyes, which had always been cold and painful, suddenly become warm and comfortable.

She opened her eyes wide again, and this time, the world looked completely different to her.

The tall, glowing figure standing behind her uncle seemed to smile slightly at her.

The smiling older brother in front of us had a small golden sun hanging above his head.

"..."

Jenny blinked, replaced by a childlike curiosity.

"This bird has a rope attached to it, a black rope, that goes all the way to...over there."

She raised her finger and pointed to the large north-facing window in the dining hall, piercing through the heavy rain and pointing directly towards Gotham's Old Town.

Bruce's face darkened completely.

He didn't understand any of the charlatan talk about light and shadow, but he knew the geography of his hometown like the back of his hand.

That direction... leads to the courthouse, and below it, to that abandoned maze that's supposedly over a hundred years old.

"Look, boss. I told you it was an auspicious omen."

Xiu En withdrew his hand, looking with great satisfaction at the trust and dependence that surged to its maximum when the little girl looked at him.

The "Faith Value +50" sign on the system interface put him in a great mood.

"Children speak without thinking. They often see things that adults overlook. Like this line that might actually exist."

He gave Bruce, who was deep in thought, a meaningful look.

"What? Did some terrible memory come to mind? If I were you, I'd call Afu right now and have him check if any of these feather decorations in the house come with a string."

Joestar was now in a state of frenzy. He stood up, and his Stand, which only Jenny and Shuen could see, roared silently, its aura astonishing.

"Praise be to the sun! Praise be to our Lord!!"

The sudden roar startled a little boy who was drinking soup nearby, causing him to spit all the soup from his spoon onto Jeremy's face.

"Shut up, Joestar."

Xiu En rolled his eyes, sat down again, and forked a piece of steak.

"If you don't want to be kicked out, sit down and finish your food. You should know that wasting food is a very serious sin in this world."