Chapter Summaries

Bruce Wayne investigated a lead aboard a luxury cruise ship while maintaining his playboy cover, then spotted a mysterious girl in the water. The girl emerged with a shimmering blue-violet fish tail and was caught by Bruce as he asked who she was.

• Bruce Wayne admired the starry sea and received mission intelligence from Alfred.
• Bruce flirted with a woman at the party to support his playboy alibi for the seven-day cruise.
• Bruce noticed movement in the water but dismissed it and left to pursue his investigation.
• A girl with a shimmering blue-violet fish tail surfaced after the deck emptied and stared at Bruce.
• Bruce caught the girl's gaze and asked who she was.

Bruce Wayne saw Miaomiao, a girl with a fish tail, near the cruise ship and suspected she was the result of the illegal experiments he was investigating. He stayed aboard the ship to find the organization’s missing data and mastermind, now intent on uncovering what had happened to her.

• Bruce returned to the ship’s hull, spotted Miaomiao in the sea, and asked who she was.
• Miaomiao failed to understand Bruce, then fled into the depths when she sensed danger.
• Bruce confirmed that Miaomiao had a fish tail and told Alfred they needed to finish the investigation quickly.
• At dawn, Bruce posed as a leisurely guest while recalling the organization’s experiments and his search for its hidden records and leader.
• Bruce concluded that the organization might have created Miaomiao through its experiments.

Miaomiao met Bruce Wayne in daylight, told him her name, and traded a freshly caught bluefin tuna for a cake. As she promised to visit him again that night, Batman’s allies continued gathering information to dismantle the organization responsible for tragedies like hers.

• Miaomiao approached Bruce’s ship through a mist, and Bruce spoke to her in Chinese until she introduced herself.
• Bruce offered Miaomiao a cake, and she accepted it before warning him she could catch him another fish in return.
• Miaomiao caught a large bluefin tuna and tossed it onto the deck, astonishing Bruce with her strength.
• Miaomiao promised to visit Bruce that night and dove back into the sea.
• Bruce’s ship served the tuna at lunch, while Bruce boasted about catching it himself and concealed how it had really happened.
• Red Robin and Alfred processed Batman’s gathered information in Gotham to help dismantle the organization behind the mermaid’s tragedy.

After Bruce sank beneath the sea, Miaomiao rescued him and brought him to a nearby island. Bruce awoke at sunset, accepted her pearl, and learned she had discarded his Batsuit, leaving Miaomiao worried about its cost.

• Bruce sank with his Batsuit weighing him down after giving his oxygen tank to a child, while a Wayne Enterprises rescue helicopter searched for him.
• Miaomiao found Bruce, enclosed his head in a bubble, removed his heavy Batsuit, and carried him to an island.
• Miaomiao used her spiritual energy to restore Bruce as he lay unconscious on the beach.
• Bruce woke at dusk and watched Miaomiao sing before concealing his alertness.
• Miaomiao gave Bruce a blue pearl, and Bruce asked what had happened to his outfit.
• Miaomiao admitted she had torn apart and discarded the Batsuit, then nervously asked Bruce whether it had been expensive.

Bruce reassured Miaomiao that she did not owe him compensation for destroying his Batsuit, then learned more about her powerful, sharp, potentially poisonous claws. On the island, Bruce made a fire for the night and stopped Miaomiao just as she reached toward the flames.

• Bruce told Miaomiao that her gift and friendship mattered more than replacing his Batsuit, and asked how she had dismantled it.
• Miaomiao demonstrated her strength by crushing a rock and warned Bruce that her sharp nails might be poisonous to humans.
• As night approached, Bruce gathered tinder and branches and started a campfire using sticks.
• Miaomiao reached toward the flames, but Bruce returned and warned her to stop.
• Miaomiao apologized sweetly and asked Bruce to forgive her.

Bruce tried to teach Miaomiao about fire and keeping safe, but his lesson left her focused on tasty food. After she burned her paw on the roasted fish, Bruce realized he had slipped into his usual Batman-style scolding.

• Bruce agreed to teach Miaomiao how to protect herself and asked whether she remembered her family or human society.
• Miaomiao explained that she had been raised communally by merfolk elders and had never lived among humans, while Bruce wrongly concluded she had been raised in an illegal laboratory.
• Bruce used a burning branch to teach Miaomiao about fire, but she heard only his mention of tasty food and brought him two fish.
• Bruce demonstrated the danger of fire by burning one fish black, then cleaned and roasted the other for Miaomiao.
• Miaomiao burned her paw by grabbing the hot fish, and Bruce scolded her before regretting that he had used his Batman-style lecture on her.

Bruce and Miaomiao shared a meal and their first night together on a deserted island, while the search for Bruce continued in Gotham. The chapter ended with Timothy and Alfred confronting evidence that the Batsuit had been torn apart.

• Miaomiao apologized for burning her fingertips, and Bruce prepared grilled fish for her to eat.
• Miaomiao enjoyed the cooked fish, then realized Bruce had eaten nothing and dived into the sea to get food for him.
• Bruce and Miaomiao settled down for the night on the deserted island and wished each other good night.
• In Gotham, Timothy Drake and Alfred continued searching for Bruce after rescue teams found no sign of him.
• Timothy examined the Batsuit recovered from the seabed and saw that it had been ripped into more than a dozen pieces.

Bruce gathered materials to build a shelter on the island while Miaomiao searched a shipwreck for useful and attractive finds. She returned with a chest of treasure, seafood, and a cooking pot, and Bruce agreed to make soup with her.

• Bruce collected palm leaves, branches, grass, vines, and bark to build a shelter and seek a way to contact the outside world.
• Miaomiao used her claws to prepare the grass and bark, then dove underwater to find decorations for Bruce’s shelter.
• With dolphins’ help, Miaomiao found a shipwreck and gathered treasure, seafood, and a large pot.
• Miaomiao showed Bruce the chest and asked him to cook soup, and Bruce confirmed that the pot was for cooking.

Bruce made soup for Miaomiao, whose first taste left her frozen and then listless for the afternoon. He explained that he had little experience cooking and promised to let her try Alfred’s food once they reached the outside world, but Miaomiao’s questions about human life left him with much to explain.

• Miaomiao asked Bruce to make soup, then froze after tasting it and drained the bowl when she refused to believe it tasted bad.
• Miaomiao spent the afternoon listless on a rock, and Bruce felt guilty about his terrible soup.
• Miaomiao asked why Bruce’s grilled fish tasted good when his soup was so awful, and Bruce admitted he was inexperienced at cooking.
• Bruce told Miaomiao about his wealthy family, his time traveling alone, and his plan to let her try Alfred’s cooking.
• Miaomiao asked Bruce what odd jobs, earning money, and shops were, leaving him to explain human life as the sun began to set.

Bruce asked Miaomiao to come home with him to Gotham, and she accepted through tears that turned into pearls. When Bruce asked about her fellow Merfolk, Miaomiao said they were no longer in this world.

• Bruce taught Miaomiao common English words while considering how to contact the outside world and protect her from people who might exploit her.
• Bruce asked Miaomiao to return with him to Wayne Manor, and she eagerly agreed.
• Miaomiao cried, and her tears transformed into pearls that she gave to Bruce.
• Bruce asked whether Miaomiao’s fellow Merfolk could also make pearls from their tears, and she confirmed it was an innate ability.
• Bruce asked where the other Merfolk were, and Miaomiao said they were no longer in this world.

After learning that Miaomiao’s siblings had died, Bruce wrestled with his fears about what powerful, mistreated beings might become, then tried to make her happy. Miaomiao took him on a moonlit swim with dolphins, where Bruce discovered that she could give him a bubble that let him breathe underwater.

• Bruce reflected on the danger of the other laboratory-grown mermaids and felt ashamed of doubting Miaomiao.
• Bruce prepared dinner for Miaomiao, who suggested he stick to grilling fish.
• Miaomiao sang by the shore, and dolphins came to join her song.
• Miaomiao explained that she could communicate with intelligent marine animals and invited Bruce to swim with the dolphins.
• Miaomiao created a bubble around Bruce’s head so he could breathe underwater, then led him through the ocean beside the dolphins.

Bruce and Miaomiao explored the underwater world with the dolphins, then returned to shore, where Miaomiao realized Bruce was cold in his wet clothes. Worried that he might die from the chill, she wove a robe from seawater and made it for him.

• Miaomiao explained that Tiaotiao was happy, and Bruce tentatively petted the curious dolphin after its mother scolded it.
• The dolphins escorted Miaomiao and Bruce to shore and bade them farewell.
• Bruce sneezed in the cold night breeze, and he and Miaomiao noticed that he was soaked while she remained completely dry.
• Miaomiao concluded that wet clothes could make Bruce sick and rushed into the sea to protect him.
• Miaomiao wove shimmering mermaid silk from seawater, cut it into pieces, and stitched them into a robe for Bruce.

Bruce and Miaomiao lived peacefully on the island, but Bruce grew anxious about his family and Gotham after nearly two weeks away. Miaomiao proposed finding a ship to bring him home, and Bruce warned her that humans might discover and endanger her.

• Miaomiao gave Bruce clothes she had woven from seawater, and Bruce praised her craftsmanship after changing into them.
• Bruce worried that he could not determine the island's location and that Gotham's criminals might realize Batman was missing.
• Miaomiao noticed Bruce missed home and suggested finding a ship to take him there.
• Bruce stopped Miaomiao from leaping into the sea to search for a ship and explained that people might capture or harm her if they discovered her.
• Miaomiao asked whether she could find a ship as long as she stayed hidden from people.

Old Morrison told Peter a tale about a Siren, then the ship encountered fog, singing, and a compass disturbance that seemed to echo the story. The fog cleared to reveal an island and a person on the beach, while a blue-purple shape slipped past the stern.

• Old Morrison told Peter how a Siren's song had once lured his crewmates toward the sea, and how he saved them by tying them to the mast.
• Peter spotted real fog, and the sailors heard faint singing that left them frightened and unsure of their course.
• The first mate said the compass had been affected by an unstable magnetic field, and the fog soon cleared.
• Peter and the sailors spotted an island, smoke, and someone on the beach, so they prepared to lower a boat.
• A blue-purple shape flashed past the ship's stern and disappeared.

Bruce Wayne returned to Gotham after being rescued from a deserted island, while worrying about Miaomiao and the pearls she had left him. Alfred, Tim, and Damian waited with the press at Gotham Harbor to welcome him home.

• Bruce thanked the ship’s crew for rescuing him, revealed his identity, and paid for the vessel to divert to Gotham Harbor.
• The captain contacted Wayne Manor and agreed to bring Bruce to Gotham after Bruce promised to cover the ship’s losses five times over.
• Bruce learned that the crew had encountered fog and found his island, and he concealed his worry about Miaomiao as he held the pearls she had given him.
• Alfred, Tim, and Damian waited at Gotham Harbor while Damian complained about the press and traded insults with Tim.
• Bruce’s ship arrived at Gotham Harbor, where the waiting Wayne family and news outlets prepared to greet him.

Bruce returned to Gotham and reunited with Damian, Tim, and Alfred, while learning how his family had coped with his disappearance. On the way to Wayne Manor, Tim questioned Bruce about the mysterious water-made outfit, Damian asked about Miaomiao, and Bruce turned his attention to Arkham's unusual quiet.

• Bruce arrived in Gotham, declined the captain's suit, and used clothes delivered by drone before greeting reporters and reuniting with Damian, Tim, and Alfred.
• Bruce announced that Wayne Enterprises would hold a press conference the next morning, then left with his family for Wayne Island.
• In the car, Tim told Bruce that tests showed his shimmering outfit was made entirely of water, and Damian asked whether he could keep Miaomiao.
• Bruce corrected Damian by explaining that Miaomiao was an intelligent person, then asked about Arkham Asylum.
• Tim said Arkham had been unusually quiet, as Bruce considered the dangerous criminals held there.

Bruce returned safely to Wayne Manor, where Dick revealed that he had encountered Jason and the family pressed Bruce to tell them what had happened. Meanwhile, Miaomiao followed Bruce’s boat to Gotham Harbor but lost track of him when he left in a car.

• Dick rushed back from Blüdhaven, hugged Bruce, and told him he had run into Jason on the way.
• The family discussed Jason’s strained relationship with Bruce as Red Hood and went inside Wayne Manor for tea and cookies.
• Alfred stopped Bruce from going to the Batcave and insisted that he rest and recount his disappearance.
• Bruce told Dick, Tim, and Damian that he had met Miaomiao, a pretty little mermaid.
• Miaomiao swam behind Bruce’s boat to Gotham Harbor, then watched in confusion as he left with his family in a car.

Miaomiao swam through Gotham’s waterways and reached the Batcave, where her arrival bypassed every defense and alarmed the Wayne Family. After they recognized her, Damian asked Bruce if he could keep her, while the chapter revealed Damian’s secret origins and Bruce’s past with Talia.

• Miaomiao followed the pearls’ aura through Gotham’s underground waterways, overcoming barriers and detours until she reached Wayne Island.
• Miaomiao explored the Batcave, avoided damaging its equipment, and passed its defenses without triggering them.
• The Wayne Family received an intruder alert and saw Miaomiao on the Batcave security feed, realizing she was the mermaid Bruce had described.
• Dick admired Miaomiao, Tim wanted to examine her, and Damian asked Bruce if he could keep her.
• Bruce reminded Damian that Miaomiao was an intelligent girl with her own mind, as the narration explained Bruce’s past with Talia and revealed that Damian was their son.

Damian and Bruce met Miaomiao in the Batcave after she followed the pearl Bruce carried and bypassed its defenses. Bruce and his sons introduced themselves, checked that she was comfortable out of the water, and prepared to take her up to Wayne Manor.

• Bruce reminded Damian that Miaomiao would be his older sister if they adopted her, and Damian agreed.
• Miaomiao greeted Bruce and met Dick, Tim, and Damian in the Batcave.
• Bruce asked how Miaomiao had reached the Batcave, and she explained that she followed the scent of her pearl and avoided the bat-symbol devices.
• Bruce checked whether being out of the water hurt Miaomiao, and she said she needed to soak in water from time to time.
• Dick volunteered to carry Miaomiao upstairs, while Damian was ruled out because he was too short to keep her tail off the floor.

Dick carried Miaomiao upstairs to Wayne Manor, where Alfred welcomed her with juice and cookies. Miaomiao’s tears turned into blue-violet pearls, astonishing Dick and Tim while Damian took the phenomenon in stride.

• Dick carried Miaomiao upstairs and noticed how powerfully her tail struck his legs.
• Alfred prepared Miaomiao a cozy seat and refreshments, and she happily tried orange juice and cookies.
• Miaomiao cried while eating a cookie, and Bruce caught her tears as they transformed into blue-violet pearls.
• Dick asked Damian to pinch him, while Tim struggled to reconcile the pearl-making tears with science.
• Damian said such unexplained wonders were nothing unusual, and Bruce asked Alfred to handle Miaomiao as her tears filled the tray.