Iceberg Lounge

To get a little peace and quiet, Damian began his feeding frenzy for the day.

Bread with jam? Buy it!

Cheeseburgers? Buy them!

Burritos? Buy them!

Bear-shaped cookies? Buy them!

Rainbow gummies? Buy them!

Lemon black tea? Buy it!

Chocolate? Buy it!

Buy, buy, buy, buy, buy!

If it could go in a mouth, he bought it all!

Then he dumped everything on the Little Merfolk beside him!

After the Little Merfolk had spent these past few days at Wayne Manor, everyone had a very clear idea of her appetite. Simply put, it depended on how much exercise she got that day: the more energy she burned, the more she ate. This little bit of food wouldn't leave her overstuffed.

And so, of the two who had originally come out shopping, one now bought every bit of food he saw, while the other accepted whatever he fed her with sparkling eyes, cradling it in her arms and happily munching away. Whenever Miaomiao's mouth had a moment free, Damian's next offering arrived a second later.

One kept buying, the other kept eating. There was an odd sort of harmony to it.

Under these circumstances, the two unwittingly strayed from their planned route and headed toward the street food stalls, never looking back.

Damian had trained since childhood and had excellent stamina, while Miaomiao was no ordinary person either. Neither felt tired, so they walked and ate all the way. Occasionally, Damian gave the curious little thing a brief explanation of Gotham's architecture and its variously shaped gargoyles, then handed over his handkerchief with a look of utter disdain, signaling for Miaomiao to wipe the sauce from the corners of her mouth.

By the time Miaomiao had snacked her way to being about seventy percent full, it was noon.

Damian checked their location and decided to find a nearby restaurant for lunch-the Little Merfolk had been eating the entire way, while he'd only had a cup of lemon tea.

The little foodie Miaomiao wasn't familiar with Gotham, so naturally she followed Damian, making her way to a building with a very distinctive exterior on Park Avenue.

"Ice... Ice Slush Lounge?"

"It's the Iceberg Lounge," Damian corrected her.

Miaomiao was certainly clever when it came to languages, and she basically had no trouble listening to or speaking English. Reading and writing, however, weren't things she could quickly master overnight.

Miaomiao looked at the building, which really did resemble an iceberg, and nodded. She had only one question. "Is the food here really good?"

"It's edible enough." Damian curled his lip with a scoff. "This is that bird enthusiast's lair, after all. As someone with a reputation in Gotham, he can't exactly ruin his own establishment's name."

A bird enthusiast?

Miaomiao blinked and followed Damian inside. Just as she reached the entrance, two tall, burly doormen stopped her.

"Sorry, miss. The Iceberg Lounge is an upscale club. Improperly dressed guests are not permitted inside."

Improperly dressed? Miaomiao hurriedly looked down at her clothes.

There was nothing wrong with them, was there? Apart from a few tiny wrinkles from walking around for half the day, her collar was properly folded, her zipper was done up, and the two bows Damian had tied sat neatly on her shoes.

As a good girl, Miaomiao asked when she didn't understand. "What's improper about my clothes? Could you take a look for me?"

The guard raised an eyebrow at that. Was this girl bold enough to try making trouble at the Iceberg Lounge? Well, that was a new one!

The guard's first instinct was to roll up his sleeves and throw her out. But when he looked down, he met a pair of large, round, dewy eyes, as innocent and pure as a baby's. Their owner had her head tilted slightly, her expression utterly earnest.

Wh... where had this well-behaved little country girl come from? She was so serious that she couldn't be deliberately provoking him, right?

The fist the guard had just raised unconsciously unclenched, and even his voice softened a little. "Well, it's nothing much, really. You just need to wear formal attire..."

"Do you not recognize me?" The young boy's voice rang out, carrying an ingrained arrogance and aristocratic air. "Anyone I bring can wear whatever they like."

The guard looked down and found himself facing a cool-looking boy with black hair and green eyes.

Huh. Small kid, big mouth.

The guard was about to say something when his colleague tugged his sleeve. "Of course, young Master Wayne. Please come in."

The guard immediately shut his mouth.

In their line of work, the most important thing was knowing who they were dealing with. In Gotham, you could get away with not knowing who the mayor was, but you absolutely had to know Wayne.

As an old-established family that had been around since Gotham's founding, the Wayne Family had businesses and investments through Wayne Enterprises in every corner of the city.

The bottles babies drank from and the diapers they wore; the schools children attended and the books they read; the clothes women wore and the cosmetics they used; the leather shoes on men's feet and the cigarettes in their mouths. The companies people worked for, the medical care they received when sick, the funerals after they died...

From birth to death, no Gotham resident could get by without Wayne Enterprises.

Some even said that in Gotham, every breath of air bore the Wayne name!

More than twenty years ago, the head of the Wayne Family had unexpectedly been attacked by a mugger in an alley behind a theater. The Wayne couple had died on the spot, leaving behind only an eight-year-old boy.

At the time, everyone had thought this once immensely powerful Wayne Family would begin its decline. Yet many years later, while that little brat had predictably become Gotham's most notorious empty-headed rich playboy, spending his days either chasing beauties or showing off luxury cars, he hadn't the slightest understanding of company affairs and instead spent money like water-the very picture of a wastrel.

Even so, Wayne Enterprises had actually grown bigger and bigger. Not only had it failed to decline as people expected, but it had also made bold advances into the emerging technology industry.

In the past, Gotham's four great families-the Wayne Family, the Kane Family, the Elliot Family, and the Cobblepot Family-had stood on equal footing. Now, thanks to the emerging technology industry, the Wayne Family had left the other three far behind, becoming Gotham's undisputed foremost family.

And the owner of the Iceberg Lounge was none other than the current head of the now-declining Cobblepot Family, Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot.

Also known as the Penguin.

Miaomiao got through the Iceberg Lounge's doors on the strength of Damian's face alone. The moment she entered, the enormous pool in the center of the restaurant caught her eye.

The Iceberg Lounge lived up to its name. Not only was the building's exterior modeled after an iceberg, but its interior decor also followed a polar theme.

The ground-floor hall was an open dining area. The enormous pool in its center held not only a large iceberg-shaped sculpture, but also a flock of real penguins and a group of seals. The platform above the iceberg sculpture often served as a stage for the restaurant's jazz band, and beside it was a ship-themed dance floor, novel and highly distinctive.

Miaomiao didn't care about architectural styles or taste in decor. Right now, all her attention was on that enormous pool. The penguins gliding freely through it waved their stubby little flippers at her, as though calling out to her-

Hey, what are you waiting for? Come play in the water~~~ ε(๑＞ ₃ ＜)っ~