As the Batwing arrived over Crete, there were no signs of battle except for the black embers still drifting from the labyrinth's outline.
Damian's infiltration had been successful. Earlier, he and Swallow had feigned surrender and were taken to two of the Court of Owls' strongholds—one in Gotham and the other in Greece. Compared to the secret meeting point in Gotham, the Court's building on Crete resembled a headquarters. The Court was using Gotham as the epicenter to radiate their influence outward.
Regardless, thanks to Damian's efforts, the Gotham members of the Court had been almost entirely captured, and the Talons frozen in the Batcave had been transferred to Blackgate Prison for low-temperature storage. Batman was unsurprised by their identities, and most of these people, unless something unforeseen happened, would not face real legal consequences. Instead, they would likely return to Gotham's high society after paying hefty bail.
In Greece, where Swallow had been held by the Court of Owls, the situation was harder to define as "good" or "bad." The mysterious appearance of Iron Man had demolished the place before disappearing. Apart from the members of the Bat-family, neither the Court, nor the Greek and American authorities, knew anything about this red-and-gold armored figure.
Most of the Court members on Crete seemed to have escaped through secret passages or escape mechanisms. The rest were caught in the crossfire between Iron Man and the monster, with a few losing their lives as buildings collapsed on them.
Batman crouched in the shadows of the buildings, watching the local police load the remaining Court members into police cars. He had already extracted some information from the surviving Owls.
Lincoln March, the first adversary Batman encountered from the Court, was still alive. The Court itself had mixed opinions about Lincoln March's abilities. He had been promoted as the Court's "White Glove," intended to take over Wayne Enterprises as Bruce Wayne's younger brother, Thomas Wayne Jr., during Bruce's travels. However, Bruce had returned to Gotham, reclaiming control over Wayne Enterprises with strong measures, and Batman had re-emerged.
Therefore, March undoubtedly harbored a deep hatred for Bruce. After their first battle, Lincoln March became a Talon to survive and then vanished. Bruce wasn't surprised that he was still alive, and from the current situation, it seemed Damian had encountered Court members in Gotham who conflicted with and distrusted March.
This incident allowed Batman to eliminate the members who opposed March.
Swallow's actions on Crete were somewhat incidental—largely due to Iron Man's intervention.
The creature Iron Man mockingly called the "Minotaur" was a significant Court member known as the "Orator." After reverting to human form, he died from massive blood loss and cardiac arrest induced by drugs.
Even Bruce couldn't blame Iron Man for this; it was simply his own fault.
In any case, Bruce exhaled lightly. The Court of Owls had suffered an unprecedented blow, making it impossible for them to cause trouble in the short term. Before they could regroup, Batman would find and destroy them.
"I need..." Bruce looked at Swallow.
She had grown quite a bit. Bruce saw shadows of a younger Tim and Barbara in the young girl. Perhaps now, perhaps it was time?
Swallow always needed protection; her nature made it difficult for her to act alone. Yet, at times, she proved she could handle things on her own quite well.
Some kind of miracle worked through her, drawing people to her.
"I need you to give me a mission briefing," Bruce said calmly. "Let's head back to the Batcave. We'll review this operation."
Ding!
The system notification sounded.
"Congratulations, host, for reaching the teammate level of favorability with [Bruce Wayne]. [Batman] has shared a special active talent [Solo Combat] with you."
Baia's eyes widened as she looked at Bruce, belatedly realizing that she had earned Batman's approval. She nodded eagerly, like a little chicken pecking at grain.
However, she did not find Batman's shared skill in her system's talent list. Instead, the Bat symbol had also disappeared.
System: "It's in the store interface."
Baia: "I worked so hard to earn favor, and now you tell me I have to pay to use it?!"
System: "It's a special talent skill because it's too unique..."
Baia opened the store and saw the familiar black Bat symbol.
[Solo Combat]: Summon a random member of the Justice League or Bat-Family with whom Bruce Wayne has a favorable relationship to your side. If the chosen member refuses, the next member will be summoned automatically. Can only be used in combat. After the battle, the summoned member will automatically return. The chances of summoning Superman or the current Robin are 1.5 times higher than other members.
When Superman is summoned, you also gain the "World's Finest Partner" status, increasing Superman's attack power to 200%.
Note: Gotham's Dark Knight has always been a lone wolf. Solo combat is Batman's nature.
...This absurd note and skill name were definitely mocking something!
The price was 100 skill points per use—astronomically high. Baia couldn't afford it.
However, considering the skill's potential for saving her life, it was worth the price.
On the Batplane, Baia took a moment to check the favorability interface and found that Damian's favorability had reached 80%, and Iron Man's was almost full.
As she scrolled down, she noticed a new symbol she hadn't seen before. It looked like an eye-shaped metal container with a green gem inside. Unlike the others, its favorability bar was green and currently very low.
System: "The green one, well, it doesn't represent hatred or animosity, but rather a reluctance to team up or interact with you."
Baia: "...Huh? But I haven't met this... superhero?"
System: "That symbol represents the Eye of Agamotto. You've had a brief encounter with its owner, but you've forgotten about it. Never mind, although he doesn't particularly like you... I swear you won't like him either."
Baia's curiosity took a different direction: "Does maxing out the green bar also give a skill reward?"
System: "What are you thinking? Well, maybe, but you'd better hope it doesn't."
With the Court members' capture, Baia received the skill card [Spirit of Gotham] and additional skill points.
Back in the Batcave, everyone was relieved to know Swallow was safe. Red Robin remained seated at the Batcomputer, his hands hovering over the keyboard, seemingly lost in thought.
"Are you okay, Timmy?" Dick asked.
"I—" Tim snapped out of his trance, withdrew his hands, and calmed down. "I just realized something."
"What is it?"
"Swallow can't be restrained."
"Didn't you tell me this a month ago?" Nightwing said, amused.
"I wasn't as clear about it then as I am now," Tim said. "I've finally understood that if I can't stop her from taking risks, I might as well join her."
Nightwing observed Tim's expression. The young man showed no signs of fanaticism or worry, just a simple statement of fact: "...Are you sure you're okay?"
"Of course." Tim smiled.
This made Dick somewhat anxious.
Returning to Gotham, Baia was in a great mood, but during the mission debriefing, she suffered the most severe setback of her career as Swallow. Initially, it was Damian who bore the brunt of the criticism, but as the debriefing progressed, Batman ruthlessly pointed out all the areas where Baia could have performed better, making her finally understand Damian's frustration.
Nonetheless, she diligently recorded Batman's guidance and resignedly began writing her reflections.
Although Damian was, in a sense, the hero of the mission, he was also punished with three days off from night patrol for acting independently.
"Don't think you're back on top, Drake!" Damian threatened angrily.
Tim, who hadn't reacted initially, exaggeratedly cheered after Damian spoke: "Yay, Bruce and Tim, Batman and Robin!"
"I'm Robin!"
Tim's deliberate provocation led to an attack from Damian, with Batman conveniently leaving the scene, Swallow's attempts at mediation only making things worse, and Nightwing and Jason enjoying the show from the sidelines.
Jason wasn't necessarily staying in the Batcave by choice; it was mainly because Ace wouldn't let him leave. Who could refuse a dog, especially one that had grown up with Jason as the Robin most familiar to Ace?
"Want to get some training in before heading to rest?" Nightwing asked Baia. "Ignore them. Just like Detective Ace, the more you intervene, the more intense their fight gets."
"Sure!" Baia said, casting another continuous heal on Tim and giving him a Goldfinch buff before heading off to train with Dick.
They could still hear Damian loudly accusing Baia of taking sides even as they walked away.
Back in her room, Baia couldn't rest immediately.
"Stark Industries is up and running now. We have over thirty employees, and at least the first month's payroll is covered," Carolyn reported.
"Over thirty?" Baia asked. "Where did they all come from?"
Carolyn replied naturally, "People bring people. The few you initially hired were great, especially Dr. Langston. After talking with Tony, he brought in nearly ten people, including his students, university colleagues, and former coworkers. We even have departments now."
"That's awesome. And Tony, how much money did you get from Crete?"
"Those bird enthusiasts calling themselves Owls are quite wealthy. I only dragged a chest of gold coins from beneath the labyrinth. The rest probably went to the Greek authorities," Tony shrugged. "We haven't liquidated everything yet, but it's probably worth a few million."
"We still need more investment. Carolyn mentioned contacting a factory near Metropolis that could lend us a production line. Which company was that?"
Carolyn rifled through some reports. "Let me see... Ah, it's LexCorp. By the way, Mr. Stark, could you resend me the exoskeleton blueprints?"
"What happened to the last set?"
"About that, I made a new discovery," Carolyn said solemnly. "The horse eats paper."
"…Are you seriously not planning to get rid of that horse-shaped shredder?"