The battle in Gotham had finally ended.
The massive aftermath still lingered.
Compared to the original "The Dark Knight Rises," this felt more like "The Rise of the Death Knight of Batman."
Bane kidnapping a city of 12 million people with a nuclear fusion reactor was already absurd enough, but the subsequent zombification was even more so.
To prevent global panic, the American authorities completely covered up the incident.
It's like saying "sugar-free equals zero calories" or "eating hotpot with ice negates the calories" — as long as no mushroom cloud was seen erupting on American soil, it means no nuke was ever dropped.
Besides, there weren't many people who knew about the ground subsidence here.
No, to be precise, those who knew weren't ordinary people, and they had all fled, which gave the U.S. officials quite a headache.
Atreus wasn't sure if this magical war would prematurely trigger the plot of "Captain America: Civil War." Simply put, the government could no longer tolerate these superheroes doing whatever they pleased and decided to forcibly bring them under control.
At least on the surface, Gotham had returned to calm.
If there was anything significant, it was the change in Wayne Enterprises' stock ownership.
Alfred informed Bruce Wayne, "I'm sorry, Master Wayne. Since there is no solid evidence proving that your stock investment was an illegal act due to fingerprint and password theft, and the stock exchange doesn't acknowledge any flaw in their system... your shares can't be retrieved."
Bruce was equally exasperated. He spread his hands, "So... I'm just a poor man now?"
The old butler corrected him, "Yes! This 'poor man' owns a manor! A dozen luxury cars! And has someone providing him with a million dollars in monthly expenses."
"…" The butler's words left him speechless.
"In fact, Mr. Atreus's offer remains unchanged. If you agree to let him change his surname to Wayne, he will transfer all the voting rights of the shares to your proxy, Mr. Lucius Fox. This way, your 'secret science department' can continue operating. If necessary, Mr. Atreus even agrees to inject capital into Wayne Enterprises."
Batman's face, which always seemed to carry a cold expression, twitched slightly at this moment, "Do I even have a choice?"
"Mr. Atreus has acquired your original shares and has also bought out all the shares from the widow of Mr. Daggett, who was scandalized. He now has absolute control over Wayne Enterprises. In fact, I don't think you have any choice, unless you're willing to give up being Batman forever."
"Bring that kid here."
"Right away, sir!"
A day later, right at the main entrance of the Wayne family mansion, Alfred and all the servants under his command were lined up on both sides of a red carpet. Even though the master of the mansion had not approved such an arrangement, the old butler still waited for Atreus with the specifications for welcoming the next head of the family.
"Hello, Mr. Atreus. On behalf of all the servants of the Wayne family, I salute you." The old butler, dressed in a suit and tie, seemed to have all the deep wrinkles on his face smoothed out, especially when he saw Atreus arrive with Miss Selina Kyle; his satisfaction was unmistakable.
"Hello, Mr. Alfred Pennyworth! I truly admire your loyalty to the Wayne family."
"Thank you very much. That is the greatest compliment of my life."
Smart people never say things explicitly.
"I come from a distant land. Over there, it is customary to give a gift upon meeting someone for the first time. Please don't mind; this is just a small token of my appreciation."
With that, Atreus handed Alfred a... land deed!
It was for a detached villa in the suburbs of Gotham, along with the land title.
The old butler was stunned, "This..."
"Loyalty is priceless. Any reward should pale in comparison to it, so please don't refuse."
Atreus and the old butler turned to look at a window on the second floor, where a man trying hard to maintain a cold demeanor was staring down at them.
Nearby, Atreus's bodyguard, Louis, was handing out red envelopes to each servant. Inside each envelope were 1Million dolar.
Bruce's lips twitched slightly.
Indeed, the only thing that can defeat the power of money is more money.
At the entrance to the Wayne family's ancestral study, Bruce glanced at Selina standing outside, then withdrew his gaze and shut the door.
The estranged father and his illegitimate son sat facing each other across the desk.
"Atreus, what exactly do you want?" Bruce stared intently at Atreus.
"I've told you, my mother needs an apology."
After a few seconds of silence, or perhaps a minute, Bruce Wayne finally softened, "I'm sorry. I always thought my relationship with her was a mistake. And you were an even bigger mistake."
For Atreus, he didn't care much about this estranged father.
When the father uttered the words "I'm sorry," the system accepted it. Feeling the fullness within his soul, Atreus naturally wouldn't hold a grudge against his estranged father. "I accept your apology."
"And then? If one day, Kratos commits an unforgivable crime and requires a righteous trial, what do you think Batman should do?" Bruce, shedding the little bit of warmth from his face, stared seriously into Atreus's eyes.
Atreus rested his elbows on the armrests of the chair, fingers interlaced on his stomach, leaning back comfortably.
"One hundred people have one hundred different ideas of justice. If Batman's sense of justice doesn't accommodate Kratos' way of doing things, then we'll just fight it out. If Batman wins, Kratos goes to jail. If Batman loses, he'll likely hide in his Batcave, painstakingly developing weapons to deal with Kratos, and fight again next time."
The muscles on Bruce's left cheek twitched slightly, "You know Batman well?"
"Maybe."
Fathers or whatever, it doesn't matter. I grew up watching your black history, Grandpa Bats.
Bruce remained silent for a long time before finally stating flatly, "That's that, then."
It wouldn't take half a day for the entire U.S. to know about the power shift within Wayne Enterprises. Of course, this wouldn't cause much of a stir since both bosses share the Wayne surname. Moreover, once Atreus signed the stock voting rights authorization, he would only have the right to dividends and no longer have any influence over Wayne Enterprises' decisions.
On the way back from the Wayne family mansion, Atreus opened a program in the car. In just a few clicks, he demonstrated a "mini program."
Catwoman looked at Atreus in awe as he "hacked" into Gotham City's police system and wiped her record clean.
"You really... did it?" Even now, Selina still seemed a bit incredulous that her long-desired clean slate had been achieved so easily.
"I promised you, didn't I?" Atreus's calm expression only made him appear more unfathomable.
"Well, uh... thank you... So now we're even. Find a place to stop; we'll part ways..." She hadn't finished speaking when Atreus suddenly grabbed her wrist.
"My dear Miss Catwoman, are you misunderstanding something?"
"Are you reneging?"
"Reneging? Of course not!" Atreus's smile grew increasingly wicked. "You've discovered the true identity of the infamous God of War, Kratos. Guess what type of person in this world is best at keeping secrets?"
"The dea— No! Not even the dead can keep secrets," Catwoman, having witnessed zombie heroes, dared not claim that the dead were the best at keeping secrets anymore.
However, having long mingled in the underworld, she was naturally well-versed in its ways.
Atreus now seemed not much different from those bastards.
Faced with this powerful and ungentlemanly rogue, Selina's face was filled with despair, with every cell in her body seemingly screaming rejection.
But what could she do?
Atreus suddenly thought of a very famous joke before he traveled through time.
"Picked up a kitten, She wants to come home with me—"
(End of this chapter)