A family reunion

The moment the ship docked, reporters and photographers swarmed toward it, frantically snapping pictures of the ship and the Wayne family. Fortunately, they still remembered the Wayne Family's standing in Gotham and kept their distance.

It was only an ordinary small-to-medium private merchant ship, mainly carrying goods like tea. Naturally, it had no luxurious clothes for Bruce to change into.

The captain offered his private washroom and even eagerly lent Bruce a suit he usually couldn't bear to wear himself.

But Bruce took one look at it and politely declined. "I'm afraid this size might not fit me. Thank you for the kind offer."

The captain looked at the man's full six-foot-two height and solid muscles, then down at himself-barely five-foot-seven even with lifts in his shoes-and tried hard to suck in his little belly.

Still, Wayne Enterprises' capabilities and efficiency opened everyone's eyes. A drone pinpointed the ship's location and delivered toiletries and a complete change of clothes.

And so, when Bruce Wayne reappeared under the lights of Gotham's media, he was once again Gotham's dazzling sweetheart, overflowing with charm: Bruce Baby.

Bruce waved to the newspaper reporters, drawing a flurry of shutter clicks. Then he stepped off the ship and embraced his family.

"Father!" The youngest, Damian, couldn't hold back any longer and rushed forward first. "Father, you're finally back!"

Bruce patted his youngest son's shoulder, his voice unusually gentle. "Sorry for making you worry."

"Bruce, you've had enough rest this time, haven't you?" Once Damian let go, Tim stepped up and hugged his guardian too. "Don't even think about running off again. I'm taking a vacation!"

Looking at Tim's pale face and the dark circles he couldn't hide, Bruce felt a brief pang of guilt. "All right, Tim. You call the shots."

Last came the gray-haired old butler.

Alfred shuffled forward and shakily embraced the young master he had watched grow up. "Master Bruce, I'm getting old. I simply cannot endure another 'surprise' like this."

"There won't be another, Alfred." Bruce winked playfully. "I still want to eat your cookies."

The family briefly caught up after their separation, letting the reporters gather plenty of material before waving to them.

"All right, ladies and gentlemen. At eight tomorrow morning, Wayne Enterprises will hold a press conference to formally announce the return of its head. You'll be welcome to ask all your questions then. For now, please understand that we haven't seen one another in days and give us a little time together in private. Thank you."

With that, they climbed into a luxury car and headed for Wayne Island.

The reporters were naturally reluctant to give up, but they didn't dare refuse him that courtesy. Anyone else would have been another matter, but this was Wayne! Wayne, who could buy all of Gotham!

That made tomorrow's press conference crucial. For now, they would get the photos they already had published first!

Meanwhile, inside the luxury car, Bruce dropped his playboy expression, his face growing much more somber.

"Where's Dick?"

"Dick headed back from Blüdhaven as soon as he heard you'd returned. He should be nearly there by the time we get to Wayne Manor."

"...Jason..."

"Same as always. When he heard you were missing, he came home to mock us, fought Damian, and smashed quite a few things. Then... well, Black Mask, Penguin, and Killer Croc haven't been having a particularly good time these past few days."

Thinking of his defiant second son, Bruce felt both helpless and guilty. He didn't know what to do with this child who had suffered so much.

"Let him be for now. I trust Jason to know where to draw the line."

"Bruce."

This time, Tim spoke first. The brilliant teenage CEO looked at Bruce and brought up his journey.

"What was the deal with that outfit you had the drone bring back ahead of you? I tested it with the equipment in the Batcave, and the results were... extraordinary."

He had only run the most basic tests because he was in a hurry to bring Bruce home, but... an outfit that shimmered like starlight was one thing. Tests showing that it consisted of nothing but water? That was so absurd that even the valuable antiques beside it seemed unremarkable by comparison.

At this, Damian perked up too. "Father, Pennyworth told me you met a little mermaid? Where is she? Can I keep her?"

Damian was a devoted animal lover. Since leaving his mother and grandfather's League of Assassins to learn under his father, he had turned Wayne Manor's backyard into something approaching a zoo in just over a year.

Besides common pets like cats and dogs, there were ducks, turkeys, cows, peacocks... even a crocodile and an enormous bat. He did everything himself, from walks and feeding to scooping poop, showing far more patience with them than he did with people.

"She's a person, Damian. Miaomiao is an intelligent girl with a mind of her own, not one of those animals."

Bruce corrected Damian's wording.

Damian readily accepted the correction. "All right, a person. Then, Father, can I keep her?"

His own son's reply left Bruce speechless for a moment. He did intend to adopt Miaomiao, but telling Damian either "you can keep her" or "you can't keep her" felt wrong.

"We'll discuss that later. How are the people in Arkham? Any unusual activity?"

At that, Tim frowned as well. "It's been very quiet these past few days."

Arkham Asylum had originally been a psychiatric hospital funded and built by a doctor named Arkham. Later, given Gotham City's fine tradition of being "a cradle of exceptional talent," most of its severely mentally ill criminals had been confined there. Wayne Enterprises and Batman had also contributed effort-and money-to upgrading Arkham Asylum's containment systems.

Among the mentally ill criminals inside were Scarecrow, Jonathan Crane, who tried to terrorize the world with fear toxin, and Mad Hatter, Jervis Tetch, who was obsessed with making innocent blonde girls play role-playing games with him...

There was Catwoman, Selina Kyle, a master thief with astonishing flexibility and feline agility, and Poison Ivy, Pamela Lillian Isley, who could control plants and was the ultimate champion of plant protection...

There was Riddler, Edward Nygma, who believed himself the smartest person in the world and taunted the police with riddles after committing crimes, and Bane, a muscle-bound man born in prison who enhanced his body with steroids and whose intellect was as terrifying as his strength...

There was Killer Croc, covered in scales because of a genetic throwback and skilled at swimming and tearing into his prey, and Clayface, Basil Karlo, whose drug abuse had disfigured him but also given him a body as malleable as clay...

And, of course, there was Gotham's king of crime, who had no superpowers yet caused Batman the most trouble through sheer madness and chaos-

Joker.