"Bruce, are you sure you can maintain the normal operation of Wayne Enterprises while the project is underway?" Diana asked.
Clark also looked at Bruce's face worriedly, he sighed, and then said: "From my own perspective, I would be willing to sacrifice myself to help those in need, but if it's my friends who would have to make that sacrifice, I would persuade them to do as much as they feasibly can."
"In fact, if you look at the costs and the construction progress so far, the wealth of Wayne Enterprises is not enough to transform the entire Gotham, let alone half of it. After all, it is a gigantic modern city, and what I want to construct is an even more progressive city of the future."
Bruce frowned and shook his head, Clark and Diana both looked at him concernedly, Bruce turned and began to wash dishes, while he continued to speak:
"Actually, all along, I have been on a journey of constant self-improvement, including enhancing my own combat skills, finding ways to earn more wealth, discovering my own mindset, and so on. I also realize that I have been getting stronger."
"But recent matters made me realize one issue, if I do everything, then all future matters will have to be handled by me, other people won't have the opportunity or the capability to do them."
"I think, this is a problem many parents face." Bruce shook his head and said: "If you constantly control your child, then they can't develop the ability to deal with difficulties; but if you give them total freedom, then they might encounter dangers or go down a wrong path."
"For thousands of years, many choices have been made between these two aspects, this is also the case for a nation, absolute control implies rigidity, but total freedom leads to chaos, human society has been delicately balancing between these two extremes, trying to find the perfect answer."
Diana was fascinated by his speech, realizing Bruce had fallen silent, she instinctively asked: "Did you find it then?"
Bruce slightly narrowed his eyes, Diana quickly realized her mistake and corrected: "I mean, have we found it?"
Bruce shook his head and said: "You can say we've found it or not, up until now, all the answers people have discovered boils down to one: compromise."
"Once rigidity emerges through excessive control, slightly loosen the chains; and once chaos occurs from freedom, tighten the control again, maintaining a balance can prevent extremes."
Bruce sighed softly, looking at his reflection on the clean dish, he said: "In the plan to transform Gotham, I covered almost everything. The dissatisfaction of the mobs was pacified by me, the difficulty of government enforcement was supervised by me, conflicts between the government and the mob were mediated by me."
"The money was earned by me, the buildings were built by me, the security system was installed by me, the residents were arranged by me, everything was done by me, all they did was cheer from the side."
Diana frowned deeply, saying: "That sounds unhealthy, what if something happens to you, wouldn't everything go to pieces?"
"That's the problem, previously, due to certain matters, I temporarily couldn't focus all my attention on Gotham, they've made quite a mess, these are matters they should've been able to handle."
"Previously, me taking on everything gave them the impression that they could ask me about anything, since they could always get an answer from me, whatever they lacked, they could ask for from me, since I always had it."
"The result is, I just moved my focus for a moment, things made no progress, on top of that, there were issues everywhere." Bruce casually shrugged as he said this.
"I am just one person, I only have 24 hours in a day, I still have to go to school, write papers, attend meetings, after finishing my school tasks, I have to navigate through the world of business, using Wayne Enterprises to earn money. After the money is earned, I have to think about how to spend it. I can't just be spending money, I have to ensure all departments are operating efficiently."
"During construction, I have to keep a close eye on the progress, to ensure the quality. After the building is completed, I also have to coordinate the arrangement of the residents. After they move in, I also have to build supporting facilities."
"Even after all the construction is finished, I still have to rush back to the lab, resolve technical problems in the construction process, and when a solution has been invented, I am responsible for its execution. Once the finished product is made, I have to find a suitable location for it, put it into use, record usage data and timely corrections..."
Diana covered her forehead and said: "Does Gotham only have you left?"
Clark also shook his head, commenting with a tone of amazement: "Now I'm very certain, you're indeed a madman."
Then he looked at Bruce with a puzzled expression and asked: "Aren't you tired?"
Bruce was silent for a moment and said, "For a long period of time, not only did I not feel tired, I even felt very energetic. I even felt like this is the necessary step to fulfill my dreams."
Diana sighed and said, "That's a typical case of teenage boys' agitation and arrogance, thinking they can handle everything in the world and feeling very proud and excited about their own judgment."
Clark touched his chin and said, "If I was the one doing it, I'd prefer to find a group of like-minded friends. You know, 'saving the most sinful city in the world,' that goal sounds cool, it's bound to attract a lot of people."
"Seeing as you've been thinking like this before, why didn't you insist on staying on the front line until you're severely injured? Why did you come here to rest?" Diana asked with some confusion.
"Because my adolescence is over," Bruce put the clean plate away with a stretch of his arm.
"Of course, it's because I forcibly brought him here." Clark rolled his eyes slightly and said, "Otherwise, he would rather die in Gotham than take a step out of that city."
To their surprise, Bruce nodded his head and said: "Your forcing me out here is indeed one reason, there can't be a better nurse in this world than you, I couldn't escape even if I wanted."
Clark was about to laugh, but he felt something was off. His smile got choked on the way, but then he heard Bruce continue to speak:
"However, there's another reason, just as I said earlier. Both extremes have already had counterexamples, so the only choice is to take the middle path, which has the highest chance of success. So, if I previously controlled too much, I now need to relax a bit."
"If I do everything, then no one will take initiative; and if I don't do anything, then naturally others will step up," Bruce murmured while washing the dishes.
Bruce left some words unsaid, but he knew in his heart that his inspiration came from Shiller's approach. Shiller had created a personality trait called "sloth", which could also be described as mediocrity.
In theory, this mediocre trait should not be as strong as arrogance. Not to mention its intellectual ability and therapeutic skills, which are far inferior to arrogance.
But surprisingly, this personality trait coincided with the busiest time at Arkham Mental Hospital. Logically, the situation should have been a mess.
The influx of mentally disturbed citizens brought about by the disaster was overwhelming every hospital, including Arkham Mental Hospital. When there was a shortage of staff everywhere, Shiller deliberately performed poorly, even misspelling prescriptions. There should have been several medical accidents, right?
But in fact, everything went smoothly. The patients were treated and returned to normal life. The disaster gradually passed and everyone's life returned to normal.
This brought two insights to Bruce. First, obsessive-compulsive syndrome is useless, making a mistake in prescription symbols does not affect the nurse dispensing drugs. Second, if you slack off, naturally someone else will step up. It's not like the world stops turning if one person is gone.
Bruce guessed that Shiller might have taken a long time to figure this out. Luckily, the professor walked this path before him and Bruce could borrow his ready-made approach.
Under team collaboration, it is not good to evade responsibility by doing nothing, but Bruce belongs to the other extreme where he takes care of everything. Learning to effectively slack off when necessary is beneficial for the team.
Some people might think that having a person on the team capable and willing to take on everything is a good thing.
But in the long run, apart from other members not getting the chance to practice, the more things you do, the more responsibility you bear. But everyone's capacity to bear responsibility is limited.
If a person takes on all the work, but messes up, others wouldn't want to be responsible for his work. And if he can't bear the responsibility, the only solution is to break up the team.
Diana nodded, indicating she understood Bruce's point. But then she asked: "But what about managing Wayne Enterprises? Even if you are willing to delegate authority to others, they might not be able to do business. Managing such a large corporation is not easy."
"It's because there's someone who can perfectly replace me that I dare to leave." Bruce's tone slowed down, even Clark could hear a hint of teasing in his voice.
"Perfectly replace you?" Clark looked at Bruce in confusion: "Who else in this world can replace Batman?"
"Another Batman."
Two days later, the front-page headline of every major newspaper around the world published explosive news— Thomas Wayne, the previous leader of Wayne Enterprises, has returned from the dead.
No matter what the outside world was saying, Thomas returned to his office at the top of the long-abandoned Wayne Building. His hands were on the arms of his desk chair, he sighed and said:
"The part about public opinion is all taken care of; financial reports and invoices from all departments should be ready by now, right?"
The red-haired secretary, Moray, standing behind him, nodded. He picked up the phone hanging on the wall and dialed a number. After whispering a few words to the person on the other end, people carrying financial documents started to stream in.
Moray pulled out a very brief report summary from his bag. But when he handed it to Thomas, he seemed hesitant. Thomas glanced at his expression and said, "What's wrong? Are the results very bad?"
Moray pursed his lips without a word, but Thomas just chuckled and said, "I know, once a person is gone, they're soon forgotten. Nothing lasts forever. After my accident, there's bound to be some people looking to take a piece of Wayne Enterprises, despite having claimed to be my best partners just the day before."
"With a change in leadership, some old members trying to leech off Wayne Enterprises due to their seniority isn't anything new… Alright, give it to me. I'm prepared."
Moray murmured a response but instead of directly handing the file to Thomas, he placed it on the table, saying, "Mr. Wayne, please brace yourself. You must not..."
"Rest assured, I've been in the business world for so many years, my mental strength isn't that weak…" As Thomas spoke, he reached out to grab the file and opened the first page.
The first thing that caught his eye was the piece of data labeled "Total Expenditure". The number there made Thomas freeze on the spot.
The elderly man, his temples greyed with age, clutched his heart and began to pant heavily. Within seconds his face turned pale, and the last thing Thomas heard were desperate calls.
"Mr. Wayne! Mr. Wayne! Wake up!… Call a doctor, quick! Call a doctor!!! Mr. Wayne passed out!!!"