American comics: Praising the sun, starting from Gotham!

The group arrived at Wayne Manor.

The broken door collapsed not because of the automatic sensors, but because it was smashed open by the Batmobile's uncompromising front end.

The car headlights pierced the thick fog that shrouded Bristol Hill, illuminating the once magnificent but now eerie building.

Weeds have swallowed up the meticulously manicured lawn, and ivy has climbed all over the exterior walls of the main house. The windows that used to emit warm yellow light are now just dark, empty sockets, whistling in the night wind.

"Wow, boss, is this the wasteland-style decor you rich people use? Or are you trying to express your inner emptiness and loneliness with this?"

Xiu En sat in the passenger seat, still arguing rudely.

But he wisely refrained from further provoking Bruce, because even a carefree guy like him could sense the suffocatingly low atmosphere in the carriage.

The car stopped next to the fountain.

The statues there had long since been decapitated, and the pool was filled with foul-smelling black water.

Bruce got out of the car, his black cloak fluttering in the night wind.

Instead of heading towards the main house, he went straight to the family cemetery on the side.

Jason hesitated for a moment and then followed, but kept a distance of two steps.

Beside rows of neat Wayne family tombstones, there stands a solitary new grave.

There was no luxurious marble, only a rough stone slab with a line of words crookedly carved on it, clearly carved by a finger or some blunt object.

Alfred Pennyworth – Family, Last Conscience

Bruce stood in front of the tombstone.

"I see……"

His voice was so deep it sounded like he was talking to a ghost.

"That's why he lost."

"Hey, you over there with the red bucket, don't just stand there, lend a hand."

Xiu's voice broke the deathly silence of the cemetery.

He was crouching in front of a hidden crevice in the rocks, which was a backup entrance to the bat cave.

"Since we're here, we should go in and see if there's anything left. I mean, to pay our respects to the fallen heroes."

With Jason's help, the two pried open the rusted mechanism.

Sliding down the slide, a huge garbage dump came into view.

The giant dinosaur coin was smashed to pieces, Robin's uniform display case was riddled with bullet holes, and the central computer's large screen was covered in frenzied graffiti written in blood: "[I killed him]", "[No home]", "[Only revenge]".

"Tsk tsk tsk, this guy's mental fortitude is lacking."

Shuen kicked away a batarang at his feet.

"They collapsed after such a small setback? If it were me... well, I probably would have blown Gotham to smithereens by now."

As he spoke, he rummaged through the electronic components that looked usable.

"Found it!"

Beneath a pile of smashed server wreckage, Shuen pulled out a small lead box.

This thing was hidden very well, and it even had a faint energy reaction on it, clearly indicating that it was being deliberately protected by Batman of this world.

"What is this? It looks like where Afu hides his secret stash of money."

Xiu En didn't stand on ceremony and forcefully pried open the lid of the lead box.

Inside was only a yellowed photograph—a family portrait of Bruce, Jason, Dick, Barbara, and Alfred—and a small, fingernail-sized crystal that emitted a faint green light.

"Kryptonite?"

Jason leaned over for a look, then shook his head.

"No, the color is wrong, and this feeling... is more like some kind of pure life energy."

Bruce also came down at some point.

He took the photo, gently stroking Afu's face with his fingers, and remained silent for a long time.

"Let's go."

He turned away, not glancing once more at this place filled with Batman's desperate memories of this world.

"There's nothing worth staying here for, except the lessons learned."

Xiu En shrugged and casually stuffed the green crystal into his pocket. Since the boss didn't want it, it was his.

Goodbye, you unlucky fellow from another world.

He waved to the empty bat cave, and the sunflower on his shoulder swayed its leaves as if saying a final goodbye.

[Host contact detected as high-energy spiritual energy (a crystallization of life force formed from the distortion of the laws of this world).]

The system dashboard expands again.

[After some calculation, I've determined that this is excellent! It's a highly nourishing substance!]

[Will you merge? If you do, your progress in cultivating the Shaohao Golden Body will jump from 20% to nearly 50%, saving you years of arduous training. Note: The process may be somewhat painful; please bear with it.]

Xiu En looked at the bright red-purple "Fusion" button, and the sly smile that had been playing on his lips to ease the tension suddenly became more genuine.

"Ha, old man, it has to be you. You know I don't like leveling up slowly."

Xiu En crushed the crystal in his hand.

The green light didn't explode outwards; instead, it rushed into his veins along his arm.

"Ugh...!"

Xiu En suddenly arched his back, and the Ivy brand windbreaker creaked as his muscles tensed instantly.

Pain? No, it's not just pain.

It's a bizarre illusion that you'll have to remove bones and replace them with steel bars, or pull out blood vessels and replace them with oil pipes.

The cold, metallic feeling in my lungs now felt as if it had been thrown into a furnace and heated up, with each breath exhaling a visible white heat wave.

As if burned, Sunflower Ivy shrank back to the deepest part of her collar, but still used a few thin vines to tightly wrap around Xiu En's collarbone, trying to help him share some of the energy that was about to explode.

In fact, the whole process only lasted a few seconds.

When Xiu En straightened up again, the lingering dark brown in his eyes had completely faded, replaced by a silvery-white halo like flowing mercury. Deep in his pupils, the shadow of a golden bird even flashed by.

He clenched his fist, and the air in his palm made a faint popping sound.

"It feels like I just swallowed a ton of pig iron and then was forced to run a marathon."

Xiu En exhaled a long breath with a metallic whistling sound, his voice sounding even deeper than before.

Bruce noticed the faint metallic sheen beneath Shuen's skin, but he didn't ask anything, silently assessing his teammate's suddenly increased danger level.

"You're leaving already?"

In the alternate world, Jason leaned against the long-crashed main computer in the Batcave, watching the group prepare to evacuate.

He tossed the cans of venom that Hugh had thrown to him.

After being detoxified by Ivy, it is now a rare battlefield stimulant.

"I've seen everything I needed to see, and taken everything I needed to take... cough, I mean, I've remembered everything I needed to remember."

"Take this."

Bruce pulled an unencrypted communicator from his belt and tossed it to Jason.

"We will stay in this world for a few more days, and if there is even a one in ten thousand chance that we might need...our help, although I don't want that day to come."

Save your breath, Batman.

Jason caught the communicator, but instead tucked it inside his tactical vest.

"Take care of yourselves. The force that embedded Bane into the wall was satisfying, but it was also quite troublesome."

Even when facing their counterparts from another world, the way these bat family members said goodbye was still full of awkwardness and arrogance.

Xiu rolled his eyes, hoisted the still-playing-dead Sunflower onto his shoulder, and strode into the Batmobile, whose door was already open.

"Goodbye, you poor rebels! Remember to treat me to some non-glowing mushrooms next time we meet!"

With a roar from the ghost tires, the black chariot transformed into a streak of light and disappeared at the end of the abandoned tunnel.