Shiller put down his phone and said to Victor and Anna, who were thoroughly enjoying their fishing, "Waylon and the others have arrived, I'm going to pick them up. If you really do catch a fish, which I'm not saying I believe you can, but just in case someone whips out a Freeze Gun or something to cheat, then please put the fish in the ice chest over there."
"I swear I heard someone mention 'freeze'!" Victor shouted at the top of his lungs, "In which case, I must remind him not to give advice to the experienced!"
Shiller shook his head helplessly and saw the minivan after walking past the grass slope, from which a whole bunch of people spilled out like a load of bread.
The Robins came rushing out of the van, hooting and hollering, each of them clutching big and small bundles, with Raven trailing behind them.
She had dressed up carefully today, wearing a pale purple chiffon dress, her red hair tumbling down her back, with only a few strands from the temples and around the ears gathered and tied up with a white headband.
After the mystic glow faded from her eyes, she had a pair of beautiful blue eyes, but unlike Bruce's deep blue eyes, her eyes were a dark blue, like high-quality sapphires or the mysterious deep sea.
Jason and Tim rushed over to Shiller the moment they saw him, while Raven and Dick walked side by side behind them.
"Professor! We've brought you a big gift!" Tim said. Today, he wore a tracksuit and a gray sun-protective coat, while Jason stuck to his usual style—athletic clothes, jeans, and a jacket.
Differently though, Dick was dressed in a black turtleneck sweater and brown wide-leg pants today and even wore a pair of expensive-looking leather Martin boots, making him look sharp and spirited with a hint of a literary youth.
"Look at him," Tim nudged Shiller's elbow and said in a lowered voice, "like a peacock showing off."
"Don't talk nonsense, peacocks aren't as fussy as he is," yawned Jason, "We picked that outfit together. We were trying on clothes until midnight yesterday. Rachel would definitely like it, because she said she likes quiet, gentle people. What do you think?"
Shiller eyed Dick up and down and felt he truly was different. Indeed, true love is a catalyst for progress.
Perhaps due to Bruce's influence, the style of the Robins in Shiller's universe was all about comfort. They wore uniforms to school, sportswear for club activities after classes, and tailored suits for significant occasions.
Many people struggled with this: what to wear for certain occasions wasn't the difficult part for them; the problem was not knowing what to wear on private occasions.
Especially when they wanted to show their best to a specific person in private, not only did they not know which style would suit them best, but they also didn't know what style the other person would like. After much selection, they didn't know what was best and often chose to give up in the end.
Style is a mysterious thing—sometimes a person can astonish everyone by trying a style completely opposite to what they usually wear, but other times it can be a total disaster, making one wish to scream out loud that staying in the comfort zone is better.
Fortunately, the kids at Wayne Manor each had a very unique aesthetic. Tim, on private occasions, preferred a preppy look, typically wearing a shirt, a sweater coat, and a casual tie. Thanks to the good genes from the Drake family, Tim was tall and slim, always reminding people of the coolest and smartest senior in school.
Jason always favored the cool guy look and loved the cultural symbols of Gotham's streets. He could be considered a worthy successor to Bruce's rap career, always sporting a black tee with a protective sleeve, ripped long pants, sneakers, a baseball cap, and a gold chain. Even Tupac himself would have to call him "bro" if he were around.
In contrast, Dick's personal style was never very distinct; he always wore athletic clothes and, as the one who least enjoyed shopping among the three, maybe it was because he had to learn ballet and didn't have much time to hang out on the streets.
So Shiller's impression of Dick's previous dress sense wasn't very strong, but today's outfit really suited him well, as could be seen from the twinkling in Raven's eyes.
Perhaps because Dick in this universe had never been Nightwing, neither Batman's assistant nor an independent hero who had a falling-out with Batman, but was always either studying or dancing, he had a gentle quality that the Dicks in other universes seemed to lack.
In Shiller's view, with Raven's personality, it would be difficult for her to accept a man with an overt aggressiveness, as she had been urged for over a decade to avoid extreme emotional fluctuations, naturally not yearning for a tumultuous love, or perhaps too scared to have one.
In love, more often than not, aggression needs to be met with aggression, an equal match tends to last. A person who is shamed by expressing their emotions all year round can't naturally unleash their nature, and fears the nature released by others, filled with paranoid fears of possibly losing control.
Thus, Raven's ideal mate must be gentle, accommodating, and most importantly, restrained.
"Restraint" was the most significant personality strength Shiller saw in Dick, not only in this universe's Dick but also including all universes' Nightwing. It was an exceptionally rare character trait, one that even Batman did not possess.
Especially the ability to remain composed and restrained even in moments of extreme love or hate, without becoming completely heartless—respecting emotions yet maintaining rationality to make the most balanced decision—is perhaps the most enviable gift in this world.
This meant that with any decision he made, he always had room to backtrack. It is only after experiencing much that one realizes the stubborn pride of youth is but fleeting clouds, and the real treasure in life is always having the chance to eat your regret medicine.
Obviously somewhat shy from Shiller's gazing eyes, Dick and Raven exchanged glances as Raven used telekinesis to bring over a large pile of boxes, but Shiller turned to Tim and asked, "What is this big gift you mentioned? Is it just these ingredients?"
"Of course not," Tim nodded toward the van.
A figure gradually emerged from the slope of the lawn, and Shiller's eyes widened slightly. He stepped forward to greet and said, "Alfred? How did you find the time to come over?"
Shiller, of course, sent Alfred an invitation, but the old butler usually did not leave Wayne Manor, especially when Bruce was not around, as he had the responsibility to safeguard the estate and would seldom step out. Therefore, Shiller didn't hold much hope.
Alfred sighed with a sense of helplessness and said, "If I hadn't come, the manor might not exist anymore."
Aisha hopped and jumped up, rushing into Shiller's arms and said, "If Grandpa Alfred hadn't come, I would have gnawed off the entire roof of the manor, since they wanted to build a new house anyway!"
Shiller patted Aisha on the head and said, "You just wanted to gnaw the roof, right?"
Killer Croc was the last to come over, accompanied by Jack.
After a long time without seeing him, Jack had changed a lot. He was no longer wearing his dirty work clothes; he even wore a clean tracksuit, and although his green hair was still messy, the black roots had grown out a lot, almost half and half with the green.
His hair seemed to have gone a long time uncut, hanging loosely around the sides of his face, softening the contours of his pronounced cheekbones. His eyes were still deeply sunken, with thick dark circles around them, but the clown makeup wasn't applied very carefully—it seemed as if he had slapped on a wide grin before sleeping last night, but it got rubbed off while washing his face in the morning.
Overall, he looked more like a member of an unconventional hippie band than a terrorist, and even by the current trends of Gotham's music scene, it wasn't very unconventional.
After looking him over, Shiller said, "You look like you've not slept for half a month, what's wrong?"
Jack waved his hand and said, "It's all the moving company's fault."
Killer Croc, grinning broadly, said, "Thanks to these little guys, we started cooperating with the truck drivers in advance. Jack is one of the few who can read and do statistical work among them, so he has been quite busy lately."
"Busy?!!" Jack's tone rose as he said, "You dumped all that damned paperwork on me!! I've only slept for five hours in total this week!!"
"Look on the bright side," Shiller obviously knew how to soothe Joker, saying, "Bruce probably hasn't even gotten five hours of sleep this week, and he has to solve the problems of the whole of America and the entire world, while your issue is just truck drivers and a moving company."
Jack immediately laughed, though it was hard to tell if it was genuine happiness or schadenfreude.
He slipped his hands into his pockets and dawdled along with the crowd. Shiller glanced back at him then said, "Do you know another Joker is coming?"
"What? Who? The stand-up comedian?" Jack sneered, saying, "His jokes are really boring; I don't know why Bruce is into him, utterly dull!"
"Not him, another one, he's been harassing me lately."
"You better not tell me you're turning into Batman."
"Far from it, he just seems to have nothing better to do."
Jack quickened his pace to catch up to Shiller, tilted his head back with a twist of his neck, and looked up at Shiller from below, asking, "Sounds like you've got an idea."
"He'll be here later, you'd better steer clear of him."
"I don't think there's a Joker in the world more interesting than me. You might barely make second place, but the rest of those so-called masters of deadpan jokes should just roll back into their beds and sleep."
Shiller chuckled and said, "I've prepared a big joke for him; you'll find out soon enough."
Then Clark and Diana arrived, with Clark having flown over with Lois. Shiller was somewhat surprised that Clark had revealed his identity to Lois so soon.
Though somewhat unscientific, Superman was indeed an anonymous hero; in some comics, he and Lois had even had misunderstandings due to identity issues.
Shiller gave Clark an inquiring look, to which Clark responded with a look of confusion.
So Shiller turned to Lois. She looked back, just as puzzled, then suddenly had a realization and turned to look at Diana.
The matter was related to Diana? Shiller grew even more puzzled.
Then Diana took out a pile of ingredients from her storage space. Various kinds of vegetables and meats, all prepped and wrapped in cling film, awaited selection.
Clark showed a standard eight-toothed smile and said to Shiller, "I'm not sure if you have prepared the ingredients, but I brought the finest. Thank you for your invitation."