Toward evening, before daylight had fully faded, Gotham City's skyline looked like a row of jagged black teeth against the sunset's lingering glow. Li Jie drove his own Cherokee, with its tally of at least three souls, out of the noisy, chaotic East End and north along a winding mountain road toward the high ground overlooking everyone below.
Wayne Manor's wrought-iron gates slowly opened on their own, like a silent giant opening its mouth. The driveway was almost absurdly long, flanked by carefully trimmed lawns that still retained a natural wildness, along with ancient trees. It was less a garden than a private forest. Li Jie whistled and rolled down the window, letting cool air scented with earth and greenery pour into the car.
"Tsk. Turn this place into a cemetery, and how many people in Gotham City would finally be able to afford to die?" he muttered to himself, parking in front of the palatial mansion's main entrance.
The moment he opened the car door, he found a butler in an immaculate uniform waiting quietly beside it, wearing a warm, kindly smile.
"Welcome, Sheriff. Welcome to Wayne Manor."
So this was how rich people did things...
When he first received Bruce Wayne's dinner invitation, Li Jie had jumped, thinking Batman planned to silence him for good. His first instinct had been to pack up and run. On second thought, though, young Master Wayne didn't seem to have a history of digging holes in his backyard to bury people, so there was no need to panic quite so much.
"Sheriff? I'm Alfred Pennyworth. Please, come inside."
Seeing Li Jie standing there in a daze, the butler bowed slightly and spoke with a smile.
"Oh, right. Alfred."
Li Jie looked the butler-hero up and down. He had a much better opinion