## Chapter 46: Ignoring and Banquet
“For me, for Bruce Wayne, how would I describe…Gotham City in just one word?”
“Home? Family? Goal?”
“But in truth, the real answer is: I can’t answer that question.”
Amidst the melodious music, Bruce Wayne, clad in a tuxedo, stood in the center of the brightly lit hall.
Gotham’s elite gathered together. This charity banquet, orchestrated by the city’s renowned billionaire Bruce Wayne, had been finalized three months ago and originally scheduled for March 29th. Due to Bruce Wayne’s physical condition, it had been postponed for six days and finally commenced.
” …At this moment, most of you present know that I lost my parents in my childhood…”
“…Deep down, I knew that even though the pain was so profound, things would get better…
My point is, when we are in an environment that is either challenging or frightening, there is no point in asking ourselves what our city ‘is’, because when we look around at the streets and buildings we have built, they are all our fears and our frustrations—”
“The demons within us.”
“And if we stop looking at the present, and stop looking back at the past, and instead look to the future—”
“We ask ourselves what we can — will — become tomorrow…then we are asking the right question. Because embracing hope, nurturing dreams, meeting the future is shaping the city with our own hands, not being shaped by the city.”
Bruce’s eyes swept across the crowd. They were judges, congressmen, entrepreneurs, the accumulated Gotham justice force that Bruce had spent years building before he was replaced. Bruce had almost pushed the plan to this point… and Bruce had to continue, to steady their morale.
Damn it.
Bruce thought. To truly bring Gotham back to life, Bruce Wayne had almost single-handedly, through years of time and wealth, constructed a digestive and life-sustaining system from scratch for this aging, moribund city. With the presence of these conscientious judges, congressmen, and entrepreneurs, even if all the corrupt officials of Gotham were to perish…
Cough, Batman wouldn’t be so brutal as to directly kill them.
Sigh. Bruce could fully understand how difficult it was to build such a system, the effort and sacrifices involved were unimaginable. This was the cure that the Bruce Wayne he replaced had prepared for Gotham.
Could he, a transmigrator, really overcome all obstacles and continue Bruce Wayne’s plan?
This responsibility was the most agonizing. But at least, until he found a successor, he had to keep the plate spinning, waiting for Superman or Wonder Woman to take over this city.
Bruce steadied himself and continued reading the speech prepared by Bruce Wayne:
“I know some of you present may be skeptical, because our city has been engulfed by violence. Countless criminals have even developed to the point where it’s necessary to deploy the military to suppress them. The security situation has deteriorated to an unsustainable point, but we know this will all pass…
And what we need to do is to stop such riots and the breeding ground of Gotham’s evil at the root…”
“…I will put my money where my mouth is. After the riots subside, Wayne Enterprises will boldly and rapidly begin investing in Gotham’s future. We have partnered with multiple local design firms to develop a reconstruction plan aimed at rebuilding Gotham’s most dilapidated industrial residential areas…”
“…On this basis, we plan to drastically expand Gotham’s public transportation system, making it more modern. These plans fill me with hope and excitement. I cannot express to you in words how I feel. We will reveal more information in the coming days, but at this moment, I ask you to look beyond what Gotham was and is, to simply spend a moment with me to imagine…”
“The ‘future of’ Gotham City.”
“Thank you. Now, friends, I ask you to join me in investing in the future of Gotham. I promise you that if we work together, if we unite our efforts, then…”
“A better, brighter Gotham…is just one step away.”
“Thank you, thank you…”
Amidst the melodious banquet music, Bruce raised his glass of champagne and blended into the enthusiastic crowd.
“Well done, Bruce, inspiring.”
Bruce didn’t turn around.
“Tim, how’s Solomon Grundy doing?”
Robin, wearing a suit, held a glass of juice. He shrugged.
“It’s done. Our gray-skinned friend is living quite well in the Slaughter Swamp. The tracker is in place, his daily meals are provided by us, and we can deliver enough strong anesthetic whenever necessary, then throw him into any battlefield we need. So now he’s our human bomb.”
He continued, “Poison Ivy and the Suicide Squad are being placed together. As you predicted, Ivy couldn’t resist the opportunity to save her precious plants, plus she and Harley always get along so well—”
“According to Ivy, the Plant Master, Jason Wood, is basically crippled now. Her exact words were, ‘Jason may be powerful, but he’s not a swamp monster. At least for the next half century, he can’t recover to his previous level.’ In other words, the super-tree spirit can only be a real piece of wood now.”
“The other members of the Suicide Squad are maintaining order in Gotham—I have to admit they’re quite skilled.”
Tim frowned slightly, then said, “At least they’re more than capable of dealing with those third-rate villains, especially Deadshot. Poison Ivy’s abilities are easily countered, but as long as she doesn’t encounter particularly powerful characters, there shouldn’t be any major problems. But if it’s Joker, Two-Face, Riddler…”
“We never expected them to deal with those freaks.” Bruce replied. “Continue reporting.”
“Bane is nowhere to be found. We haven’t been able to locate him yet. He’s deliberately avoiding our bat cameras. Buildings are no obstacle to him, so he’s not bound by traditional roads.”
“An expected result.” Bruce said. “Continue.”
“The National Guard has been basically dismantled, the battle situation is dire.” Robin paused. “Joker hijacked Mayor Caro and dropped a super-doubled Joker toxin bomb in the middle of the battlefield.”
“About 1/3 of the soldiers either died in Bane’s attack or under the Joker’s venom. They didn’t even get to the ambulance.”
Robin said, “And the other survivors didn’t fare much better. Mayor Caro—well, the Joker-controlled Mayor Caro issued a deranged order that led to even the cooks in the army going to war.”
“With the bomb exploding, casualties nearly filled all of Gotham’s hospitals. They will endure months of constant laughter and an uncertain recovery. The state government refused to provide any further support…”
Tim paused.
“Meaning, Gotham has been abandoned.”
“And there’s one more thing.”
Tim said, “Are you really going to ignore the challenge Joker sent you?”
(End of chapter)
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