The Iceberg Restaurant was indeed still open for business, and even the owner, Penguin Man, had not yet finished his shift. Seeing Batman come in, he wasn't surprised; after all, Batman visited several times a month, and it seemed he looked into everything other than legitimate issues like tax and sanitation.
However, the three people he brought with him this time were a bit strange; one looked like a miniature version of himself, while the other two seemed to bear great enmity, with expressions so fierce it appeared they were ready to smash up the place at any moment.
Penguin Man thought there might finally be some excitement, but considering he hadn't attended the welcome ceremony that day, it was understandable that Batman had come to give him some trouble. He decided to ignore them and check the day's revenue before leaving.
But, as it turned out, Batman didn't seem too interested in dealing with the three individuals he brought with him either. After those three sat down to the right of the bar, Batman headed to the left side.
Leaning on the bar, Penguin Man said, "Looks like you wish to chat, what's up?"
Batman glanced at him. He actually didn't have much to talk about with Penguin Man. If it had been any other criminal, Batman would have offered a sarcastic remark or two, but Penguin Man was an exception – chatting with him was no different from reviewing a real estate investment report.
So Batman stayed silent, staring at the clock on the bar, which just happened to have a cat pattern. After a moment of silence, he still began, "Do you know Catwoman?"
"That Flying Thief?" asked Penguin Man, holding a glass of liquor. "She's a girl from the Lower city area, quite formidable really. She only steals jewelry from the wealthy, but instead of selling it, sometimes she'd return it after a few days' fun, or keep it for her own collection."
"Has she ever crossed you?"
Penguin Man scoffed, "I don't collect jewelry. Those things can't be eaten or drunk, and they can't be exchanged for money when disaster strikes. I'd rather have some gold or guns—those are real hard assets."
Batman thought, see, this is why I don't want to talk to him—his pragmatism is almost offensive.
Penguin Man squinted his eyes, sensing what Batman was actually asking. He leaned forward, elbow on the bar, and looking into Batman's eyes said, "Information about wooing a woman isn't free..."
"You know that I can find out by investigating," Batman retorted.
"But that's different, buddy. It's one thing to hear from a restaurant owner about where a beautiful lady might be spotted in a bar, but to probe into her life like a stalker, detailing where she appears every night—that's something else entirely."
"What do you want?" Batman asked.
Quickly rubbing his hands together, Penguin Man said, "I hear that the land next to the beach was snagged by Mr. and Mrs. Wayne. Not that I'm eyeing that land; it's a bit too rich for my taste, but the hotel in the neighboring resort..."
Batman narrowed his eyes.
Penguin Man paused for a moment but then smoothly continued, "I was thinking, since Bruce Wayne is, after all, your sponsor, if you could talk to him for me, I think we could possibly make a deal..."
Batman withdrew his gaze, took a piece of paper Penguin Man passed him, wrote a series of numbers on it, handed it back to Penguin Man, and said, "I can offer you a piece of information: there's an old fox eyeing that place, and if you're thinking of taking over the hotel's operations, it's probably not going to be easy."
Penguin Man wanted to ask more but got cut-off by Batman, "Alright, give me more details."
After glancing at the numbers on the paper, Penguin Man said nothing and quietly pocketed it. "That girl, confident in her skills and courage, often frequents the lower bars. Though, she does like to spend her Sundays at the Gold Cup Bar," he shared.
"As a token for the additional information you gave me, I'll share one with you," Penguin Man tapped the table, "Set aside your thoughts of red, ice, and gold liquors. A girl like that loves whiskey, the strong kind. A whisky water cut would be a good choice—I know you're not foolish enough to order some sweet drink."
After that, Penguin Man walked towards the back of the bar, while Batman remained seated, pondering.
He didn't need anyone to teach him how to chase a girl; asking Penguin Man was simply to have a legitimate reason. As Penguin Man said, Batman couldn't just show up at Catwoman's usual bars out of the blue and tell her he had conducted an investigation as thorough as if she were a criminal—that would only net him a resounding slap.
Moreover, having a casual mention of her during a crime investigation at Penguin Man's restaurant sounded much more plausible. Important business leads like these weren't just obtained in exchange for a couple of lines from Penguin Man. This was so that when Catwoman decided to trouble Penguin Man, he could back up Batman by admitting he indeed was the source of the leak.
After receiving this information, Batman could have chosen to take the initiative, but he was faced with an insurmountable chasm between him and Catwoman, the pile of trouble at Wayne Manor.
It was foreseeable that Martha and Thomas would not let him stay uninvolved, even if he wandered like a ghost through Wayne Manor. He was expected to be present at places he needed to be, especially at the dinner table, or his parents would appear behind him as they did when he was a child and drag him back.
Batman couldn't extricate himself from Wayne Manor, naturally making it difficult to seek out Catwoman, yet now his mind was filled with her enchanting silhouette.
He had seen Selina in Shiller's cosmos, but she was entirely different from the Catwoman of their universe, lacking any similarity from head to toe, despite actually looking nearly identical and having a similar aura. Anyway, Batman just felt they were different.
Therefore, relying on any known experiences was unreliable, and he had to prepare thoroughly and give it his all for this battle, but this was clearly impossible with the disruption caused by the plethora of devils and demons around. How on earth could he shake them off?
Batman pondered this problem for a long time, until Charles and Erik parted on bad terms, and even when Green Lantern Batman started mumbling beside him, seemingly trying to convince him.
Eventually, Batman returned to Wayne Manor to rest, and uncharacteristically, he slept through until morning, only to be woken by the noisy sounds inside the manor, when a sudden inspiration flashed through his mind.
Breakfast time at Wayne Manor was still rowdy and lively, with the Robins scurrying about, shouting, and zipping through the living room, kitchen, dining area, and garden, looking for whatever they could find, chaos embodied like three hounds just returned from hell.
Barbara and Gordon had also arrived, obviously interested in these Batmen, hence their visit, but their timing was a bit too early, as Red Hood and Red Robin were noisily arguing about who stole whose pajamas.
"Jason, I'll say it again, if you're not blind, you should realize that there's no way you could fit into my pajamas, just like I can't wear yours. Suspecting I got our clothes mixed up, you might as well suspect Batman..."
Red Hood leaned against the banister, death glaring at Red Robin's back, while Nightwing had initially come out in his pajamas, only to see Barbara and Gordon present, and quickly dashed back to his bedroom to change clothes before reappearing.
Thomas and Martha had already changed into their clothes. They were chatting with Gordon, introducing the situation of these Batmen, and after Batman had changed and come out, they dragged him to talk with Gordon about the situation in Gotham on the ground.
"Thanks to that giant maze, Gotham's underground has become a hot topic in the news, with many tourists visiting by fame, and numerous experts, archaeological teams also setting up camp here; all the hotels are fully booked."
"I think you've noticed too, tourism has great potential, especially recently, for some reason the underground water pollution is gone, ocean pollution is gone, and the beaches are clean again. The beachfront that nobody wanted is now extremely popular."
Batman thought to himself, of course, they're gone, because all the polluted stuff is flying in the sky now.
"I'm going to check on how Alfred is doing." Batman said.
But clearly, he wasn't really going to see Alfred, because with Mechanical Batman around, Alfred didn't need help. Instead, he headed to the garden to find Green Lantern Batman, who was idling about.
Upon learning that the entire Wayne Manor had protective systems, and considering that the Lantern Furnace might not hit the helmet but could very likely be taken down by the protective system, Green Lantern Batman was now looking for exits to escape the manor in the garden.
Of course, the gaps from the walls that were taken down to let the Batmen in could be an excellent breakthrough, provided Batman didn't block them up immediately.
Green Lantern Batman turned to see Batman leaning against the door frame, watching him. He turned his head and cursed under his breath, finding it incredibly difficult to shake off the damned persistent surveillance of this guy.
However, the situation took a turn swiftly when Batman called over one of his adopted sons, seemingly discussing investigating some electromagnetic waves with that weirdo named Charles that evening, instructing Nightwing to watch the upper levels.
Green Lantern Batman immediately realized the opportunity had come. To him, that kid twirling the batons wasn't nearly as tricky to deal with as Batman. If he seized the moment, he could easily escape the confines of the manor. As long as he could summon his Lantern Furnace, Batman wouldn't stand a chance against him.
The hectic day soon passed, and Batman and the Robins were all busy with their roles. Little Bruce's teacher came over for dinner, Red Hood, Red Robin, and Nightwing planned to create a new spare tire for the Batmonster Vehicle, while Doomsday Batman grabbed Clark from Mechanical Batman's cosmos, and the two seemed to discuss what happened to the Superman of Doomsday Batman's universe.
Mechanical Batman was constantly hovering around Alfred, while Lightning Batman was in the Batcave with the Bat Tyrant Dragon studying mysterious electromagnetic waves. Batwoman had made her first phone call, saying she had found a house and settled in.
God of War Batman and Diana were still dating, but this made Martha and Thomas very happy, which actually made Batman realize that if he openly told Thomas and Martha that he wanted to meet Catwoman for a date, he could leave right away, but Batman still didn't do so.
Because regarding Catwoman, he had an uncertain hunch. Batman had never thought that he might lack confidence when it came to romantic relationships, but he truly wasn't sure, not even sure if the emotions stirring in his heart were love or just a momentary passion.
The night arrived quickly, and Batman stood at his bedroom window, watching as Nightwing pretended not to notice and allowed Green Lantern Batman to jump out through the gap, then pretending to suddenly discover him, chased after him all the way until Green Lantern Batman appeared on a street in the Lower city area.
At this moment, standing in front of the suddenly lit window above was a figure with green hair.