American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

The gates of the welfare home were open.

The enormous glass greenhouse reflected the light emanating from Xiu En, and green vines occupied almost every inch of the visible space.

This place became a sanctuary for life and a private kingdom for botanists.

As soon as the luxury car came to a stop, Xiu En stumbled out of the car.

"Cough cough cough—!!!"

Another violent coughing fit ensued.

A few hot, golden-red sparks shot out from between Xiu En's fingers and landed on the neatly trimmed clover lawn at his feet.

The tender green grass blades were instantly carbonized by the high temperature, emitting a wisp of smoke.

Immediately afterward, with Xiu En as the center, the flowers and plants within a two-meter radius seemed to sense some kind of terrifying natural enemy and began to shrink back at a visible speed.

Even a vine that had stretched out to feel the sunlight suddenly retracted.

"Looks like... well... nature doesn't really welcome my metallic smell."

Xiu En wiped his mouth, looked at the scorched earth at his feet, and gave a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"Who gave you permission to set fire to my garden?!"

Pamela Ivy stormed out of the main building.

She had originally planned to greet the poor children and, incidentally, mock Bruce, this irresponsible boss who only dumped trouble on her.

But when her gaze fell on Xiu En, her brows immediately furrowed into a tight knot.

Her plant senses told her that the man in front of her was a walking source of high-concentration heavy metal pollution.

The sharp, golden aura made her precious plants scream.

Moreover, this guy's face is even paler than the fertilizer that's been buried in the ground for the past three days, and he looks like he might crumble into a pile of slag at any moment.

Before Xiu En could explain that it was a work injury, Ivy had already rushed to the driver's seat.

Bruce had barely gotten off the bus and hadn't even stood up properly when he was grabbed by the collar of his expensive shirt and violently shaken back and forth like he was shaking some kind of ATM that only dispenses money.

"Bruce! Wayne!"

Ivy's long hair danced wildly like vines in her anger, and her voice was so loud it almost shook the birds off the treetops.

"This is what you call simply assisting with an investigation?!"

"You took a terminally ill patient who was already on the verge of death out there, and what have you brought back? A mobile steel furnace that's spontaneously combusting?!"

"Did you see that nauseating metallic aura radiating from his lungs? You want him to die on my doorstep so you can save on funeral expenses, you damned capitalist bloodsucker!"

As Ivy grew angrier, two thick thorny vines suddenly shot out from the ground behind her, making a threatening crackling sound in the air.

Bruce let Ivy shake him, his expression helpless and filled with a sense of resignation that he had grown accustomed to.

"Pamela, calm down. This was an accident."

Bruce didn't even struggle; he simply watched the enraged woman before him calmly.

"Furthermore, I think you should take a look at what he brought first."

At this moment, Ivy finally noticed the court orphans who were peeking out from behind Xiu En's trench coat.

At the same time, the window on the second floor of the welfare home suddenly opened with a snap.

Jeremy and several other indigenous people, covered in mud, were peering out the window, their eyes wide open, watching the spectacle unfolding below.

Wow!

Jerami was very excited.

"What did the boss bring back this time? A small team dressed as monks for Halloween?"

On one side was a gray-robed child with eyes filled with deathly fear.

On one side was a wild child with eyes as bright as light bulbs.

The two groups stared at each other, separated by Shum and Bruce, who was being brutally beaten.

"Cheer it!!!"

Jerami led four or five wild children, covered in mud and with plant sap on their faces, down the thick ivy vines.

The moment they landed, the mud balls in their hands flew towards the court orphans who were still huddled behind Xiu En.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

Several dark mud flowers suddenly bloomed on the originally clean and tidy gray robe.

A court orphan was stunned.

In court training, one is taught to dodge, block, or retaliate when faced with projectiles, but instructors never teach what to do when faced with a stinky lump of mud.

"What are you standing there for! Fight back!"

After landing, Jeremy rolled over and casually scooped a clump of mud from the flower bed.

"Or are your grey leather outfits freshly painted?"

"Stop! That's my flower bed!"

Ivy screamed, and was about to use the vines to hang Jerami up and spank him when she was interrupted by a violent cough from Hugh.

"Cough cough...cough, pfft!"

Another spark ignited a Venus flytrap at Ivy's feet.

Ivy's green eyes widened instantly, and her anger shifted from the brat to Xiu En.

"You walking industrial waste! Don't move!"

She suddenly waved her hand, and a plant that looked like a giant funnel emerged from the ground, opened its huge mouth, and slammed it directly onto Xiu En's head.

"This is Cleaner Flea Number Three, which I've been specially training these past two days!"

Xiu En felt a sudden darkness before his eyes, and then the scorching, sharp breath in his lungs felt like it had been sucked out by a water pump.

Cool!

Click!Click!

The once supple purple plant suddenly stiffened. Its leaves took on a metallic sheen.

In no time, the plant turned into a hard, steel hedgehog.

"Well."

Xiu En pulled the plant off his head and tapped it.

"Would you say I added a touch of cyberpunk to your garden?"

Just as a medical accident was occurring among the adults, the situation on the other side escalated.

After a brief moment of bewilderment, the court orphans were awakened by Alvin's devilish whisper.

"The messenger is watching. We can't lose."

Alvin gracefully sidestepped a clump of bird droppings flying toward his mask, while giving a cold warning.

So the court orphan, who had previously only trembled in fear, suddenly had a sharp look in his eyes.

They quickly spread out, using flowerbeds, trees, and even Bruce's legs as cover.

They grabbed the mud, their movements synchronized and precise, their strikes ruthless and accurate.

"Snapped!"

As soon as Jeremy poked his head out, a lump of mud was stuffed into his mouth.

"Ugh?!"

"Counterattack! They've been trained!"

The wild children were excited; this was much more interesting than bullying stray dogs.

Mud flew everywhere in the garden in an instant.

Bruce was about to help Xiu En when a stray bullet hit the collar of his expensive suit.

He stared blankly at the lump of mud that smelled of fertilizer, and fell silent.

"Okay, okay."

Bruce sighed and unbuttoned his suit jacket.

"Looks like my schedule will have to be changed today."

"What do you want to do?"

Shuen held the steel plant, watching Bruce warily.

"You don't want to join, do you?"

"We need to maintain order. Otherwise, Ivy will turn us all into fertilizer."

Indeed, Ivy's face was now so dark it looked like ink could drip from it.

She looked at the garden in disarray, and behind her, the vines had begun to weave a gallows.

"stop!!!"

Xiu En roared loudly, accompanied by a string of sparks.

"If anyone throws mud at me again, I'll cough it in their face!"

This tactic is extremely effective.

The children stopped, and although the two groups were still glaring at each other, at least they didn't fight again.

Jeremy wiped the mud off his face and grinned.

"Not bad, newbie."

The court orphan paused for a moment, looked at Xiu En somewhat bewildered, and finally nodded.

Seeing this, Xiu En breathed a sigh of relief, but felt his lungs start to hurt again.

"It seems that, cough... as long as you give them a little mud and a bit of provocation, these little stoic guys can come to life."

Xiu En slumped onto the bench.

"Bruce, I think you could put the losses here on... well, on the Court of Owls' tab."

Bruce was busy wiping the face of a wild child. Although he was being looked down upon, he turned around and glanced at Hugh, then looked at the children that Ivy was carrying one by one to the orphanage staff like chicks, and a smile appeared on his lips.

"Good idea."