Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Nightwing's attention drifted for a moment, and the items in his hands clattered to the ground as he hastily bent over to pick them up, resulting in everything dropping to the floor.

At this time, Batman had already walked down the stairs. He picked up a hat that had rolled to his feet, noticing Superman's autograph on it, as well as the smiling face Clark often drew.

Batman looked at Nightwing somewhat oddly. Was he planning to become Superman's assistant?

An awkward smile tugged at the corners of Nightwing's lips as he quickly gathered the scattered items from the ground before saying, "Uh... my colleagues want your autograph. Could you..."

Mid-sentence, he felt his request was rather ludicrous, so he rubbed his nose and fell silent.

Batman turned the hat over in his hands, quickly realizing it was small in size, seemingly not meant for an adult; the style was rather cartoonish, appearing more suitable for a seven or eight-year-old child.

Noticing Batman's interest in the hat, Nightwing instinctively began to explain: "This belongs to the youngest colleague in our team. He has heard of your deeds since he was a child and has always looked up to you, and of course, to Superman as well. He thinks both of you are heroes."

"This autograph was something he got after falling into the enclosure of a Beast at the Metropolis zoo when he was little. Superman rescued him and he asked for the autograph. He... perhaps you've saved him too, so he wanted an autograph from you as well..."

The last two sentences were made up by Nightwing on the spot; he didn't recall seeing Batman rescuing any children.

But Batman seemed to be lost in memories, and this uniquely styled hat did seem familiar, lurking in the corners of his Memory Fragments.

Suddenly, he remembered. Once, Joker had set up a big surprise for him in an amusement park. He ran into the haunted house to disarm a bomb, only to find a child stuck in a prop's cracks, unable to evacuate in time.

Although he was in a hurry to disarm the bomb, there was still time to save the child, and he effortlessly pulled the boy out. The child, crying and fussing, insisted on having his hat, claiming it was very important to him.

At that time, Batman had just upgraded the claw hook on his Arm Armor. He fired the claw hook into the gap and retrieved the hat.

Due to the long delay, he rushed into action without paying further attention to the child, but the unique shape of the hat left some impression on him.

"You don't actually know him, do you?" Nightwing said with a hint of shock. "Is he also on your list for potential assistants?"

Batman shook his head, passing the hat back to Nightwing, who was again puzzled by his attitude.

"So... could you sign it?" Nightwing asked again, persistence coloring his tone as Batman seemed to continue wading through his memories.

Nightwing didn't know where those memories had taken Batman, but he had only taken an afternoon off and needed to return to training in the evening. Sighing, he said, "I misunderstood you before, and I'm sorry. My colleague asked me to check if it's true that you funded GTO to help overcome their dissolution crisis?"

Batman was instantly yanked back from his memories, alarms sounding in his mind.

"Who told you that?"

But when he looked down, he met Nightwing's complex gaze; within it, a disappointed acknowledgment of 'I knew it', mingled with a resigned relief.

"It's nothing, maybe Gordon got it wrong," Nightwing murmured, lowering his head to gather his belongings before adding, "I've got training tonight; I should go. See you."

Watching Nightwing's dejected departure, Batman slowly clenched his fist and said quietly to himself, "Well done, Shiller. You win."

"I did contribute some money," Batman admitted, "but not as a bribe to the State Council. I used other methods to make them keep quiet."

Nightwing stopped in his tracks and took a deep breath, as if mustering the courage before turning back to Batman. "Really? Was it you?"

Batman nodded and thought to himself, "If you hadn't come back, it wouldn't have been me."

While Nightwing's expression didn't change much, he visibly brightened up. He spread out a bunch of items on the table, introduced each of them, and brought over a pen for Batman to sign them with.

Batman just listened silently, then signed "Batman" on each item. The collection was eclectic, with everything included, even a tube of lipstick and a Christmas stocking. Adding the name "Batman" to these items felt very odd.

But Nightwing was elated. He went to a cupboard and rummaged out a bag, then used paper to separate each item to prevent the ink from smudging everywhere.

Talking about the origins of the items took some extra time, and by now the sky had grown dark. Hesitant, Nightwing still asked, "Have you eaten?"

Batman shook his head.

"Then why not join me at the base for a meal?" Nightwing suggested. Before Batman could respond, he added, "You can't always survive on nutrient solutions or those compressed foods. If Alfred were still here, he'd surely scold you."

Batman dismissed the first part of the statement but the last part sent another tremor through his heart. He involuntarily looked towards the kitchen, where there should have been a figure bustling in the evening sunlight.

But this time Batman's reminiscences were interrupted. Nightwing pulled him up and said, "You better go change; we're leaving now. Everyone will be thrilled to see you!"

Batman had no clue what was going on. By the time he came back to his senses, he felt like he was surrounded by a thousand ducks. A legion of young men and women were crowding around him, chattering away. Had they not all been dressed in GTO uniforms, he would have thought he'd mistakenly walked into the Iceberg Bar.

Everyone was excited; this was their first close-up encounter with Batman.

They had seen Batman before, of course, but only in passing, as he flew over Gotham or sitting in the Batmobile, and at most witnessing him fight criminals.

But this was different. This time, they could practically touch his cape, even take a photo with him. He even autographed everything for them, even the tops of their lipsticks.

The crowd was euphoric, and Gordon also felt happy about the series of good events that had happened to the GTO lately. He thought this would certainly improve Batman's spirits—so with a grand gesture, he called off the evening training and took everyone to the backyard of the police station for some late-night snacks.

Americans also enjoy barbecues, but it's American-style barbecues: set up the grill in the backyard of your house, slather the fresh beef with sauce, and either grill it whole or cut it up and skewer it with bell peppers.

Bruce, who was never to be seen when there was work to be done, showed up right on mealtime, dragging along the Pale Knight who had been burying himself in paperwork. Judging from the Pale Knight's expression, Bruce's act of "bringing him along" bordered on kidnapping.

Gordon watched the two men enter, amazed. Who would have thought he'd live to see the day when Batman kidnaps the Joker?

Most people didn't think much of Bruce Wayne's arrival since most didn't know Batman and Bruce were the same person. They thought Batman and the wealthy Mr. Wayne had appeared together.

As for why Wayne would come, that was simple. Wasn't the mayor also here? The mayor and their chief were good friends, which was common knowledge. The mayor being friends with Mr. Wayne was pretty normal. After all, everyone was friends, and having a barbecue together was as normal as it gets.

Only the Pale Knight was left speechless by this spectacle. Seeing Bruce's skilled barbecuing technique, no one would believe he wasn't timing his arrival.

But Bruce's presence was indeed beneficial; now, Batman had no way to reveal his true identity. After all, so many people had seen Bruce and Batman appear at the same time.

Bruce's face was unmistakable, and Batman was also confirmed to be real by the many who had come into close contact with him. This solidified the fact that Bruce Wayne and Batman were two different people.

If Batman later wanted to disclose his identity, he would have to come up with an explanation for Bruce's existence, but Bruce's origin couldn't be revealed—that whole thing about a parallel universe would be a bit too stimulating for ordinary folks.

The Pale Knight was sure this was all Bruce's doing on purpose, but he quickly dismissed the thought when Shiller arrived just as the meat was ready to be served.

He greeted Gordon and everyone else with a smile, and they all responded to him. Clearly, he had been visiting the police station frequently in the past few days to get acquainted.

This might not have been Bruce's doing, but it definitely was Shiller's intention. He wanted to cement the idea of Bruce Wayne and Batman being two different people, to make Batman drop the notion of disclosing his identity.

Watching Shiller's elegant yet brisk way of eating, the Pale Knight knew that he, too, had been busy with this.

After everyone had eaten their fill, Shiller stealthily took Batman aside, and the Pale Knight faintly overheard them mentioning something about money, which gave him a bad feeling.

If you had to summarize it, it was probably like "I am ready to fight to the death, why did Your Majesty surrender first?"

Why is Batman already in cahoots with Shiller when I haven't even had the chance to investigate thoroughly?

As soon as it's the 15th, we have to cast our votes right on time, right?

If Shiller could hear the Pale Knight's thoughts, he would certainly deny them, because he came this time with a genuine intention to offer strategies and advice to Batman.

As previously agreed, the plan was to siphon money from the high society to build an ordinary Gotham. However, the fortune that had been dug up was just the Charabang Family, and they'd even managed to drain Batman's pocket—this was only the beginning.

Shiller didn't necessarily need to do it step by step, but operations do require seed money. Previously, being penniless, good plans needed money to be implemented. Without money, even a clever wife can't cook without rice.

But things were looking up now. With the whole Charabang Family's liquid assets, and with the funds Batman had prepared to backup, Shiller could finally do some real big moves.

And to explain the principle behind this plan, one has to borrow a phrase from the upper class: "In Gotham, crime is the best investment."

"What are you up to now?" Batman glanced at the crowd indulging in their drinks and lowered his voice, "I will only help you get Balk out. Don't expect me to spend another penny on anything else."

"Don't worry, I won't make you spend any more money," Shiller also lowered his voice, "At least it definitely won't be your money."

"I have a plan that can fleece them substantially."

"Nobody willingly vomits up the meat that has reached their mouths," Batman hinted.

"True, unless they get food poisoning," Shiller replied.