Yang Ming hurled the electronic pen to the floor and stared at Bruce, breathing hard.
"Bruce Wayne, I admit your intentions are noble. You're a real hero." Yang Ming's voice was ice-cold.
"But have you done the math? Billions, even tens of billions of dollars a year in pure expenses! Without any commercial return! This is a bottomless pit!"
"Yes, you're Gotham's richest man, and yes, Wayne Enterprises is a behemoth. But its revenue has to support hundreds of thousands of employees and keep an enormous R&D department running! At this rate, its cash flow will collapse within three years! You'll lose everything and wind up a penniless bum sleeping under a bridge!"
Beside them, Lucius Fox nodded frantically, nearly in tears.
As the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, he knew the company's financial situation all too well.
When his boss developed things like the Batmobile or the Batsuit, he could usually fudge the books and cover it up.
But free schools covering every expense for hundreds of thousands of students? That was fucking strapping Wayne Enterprises to a rocket and launching it into the sun!
"Bruce, Doctor Yang is right," Lucius pleaded, his voice trembling.
"We can establish scholarships or fund a few public schools, but this all-inclusive utopian plan of yours simply won't work under real-world business principles! The shareholders will band together and vote you out!"
Silence fell over the Batcave again.
Only Ivan Vanko sneered gleefully from the sidelines, watching these capitalists tear into one another over money like a pack of dogs.
Bruce Wayne's expression barely changed in the face of Yang Ming's shouting and Lucius's pleas. He walked up to Yang Ming, a streak of madness and obsession showing in his blue eyes.
"Yang, you just said this would bankrupt me." Bruce's voice was quiet.