When Li Jie stepped into Wayne Manor, the grease had already been wiped from Dick's face. Alfred had given the sleeping Robin a quick cleanup, but the boy still hadn't woken.
"How long has he been asleep?" Li Jie asked quietly.
"Four hours."
Alfred gestured for him to take a seat in the private sitting room on the second floor. "After repairing the last substation, he lost consciousness in the car on the way back to the Manor."
"Oh... poor child laborer..."
Li Jie winced. Alfred didn't turn around as he climbed the stairs, but he agreed nonetheless. "You're right. To some extent, that is precisely what he is."
He opened the door, ushered his guest inside, and went to prepare refreshments. Li Jie walked to the window and watched Gotham's distant lights flicker back on, patch by patch, like shattered stars. Far away, in the direction of the East End Police Department, searchlight beams swept across one another in the night sky-Wilson was directing the final cleanup operation.
"Sheriff, I hope these are to your liking."
Alfred entered with hot tea and small pastries, asking Li Jie, "How are the casualties?"
"According to the preliminary count, fewer than fifty Gotham residents died directly from Starfish control. That includes people who died after mishandling their attempts to break free."
Li Jie exhaled heavily. "But indirect deaths-stampedes, fires, violence arising from robberies-could exceed two thousand. The hospitals are operating beyond capacity."
It had taken Gotham just one day to claw its way back from the brink of an alien invasion, at the cost of over two thousand lives. In another city, that might have been a miracle. In Gotham, it was just another Tuesday that needed to be forgotten.
"What about Master Wayne?" He rubbed his face and asked the old