บท 2942: Chapter 2109: The Knight's Terrifying Night (Complete)_1
An unprecedented, smokeless war broke out on this independent continent, which had been far removed from conflict for many years. This was due to Bruce Wayne choosing to resist, rather than to appease as many had expected. He began his resistance with an intensity that he had not exhibited before.
At first, the masterminds behind this believed that if Bruce's ambition matched his power, then exerting such pressure on him would be the only way to force him to compromise.
Initially, Bruce Wayne also believed he could compromise. Not out of a lack of integrity, but because in business it was inevitable for both parties to make concessions; to maintain order, it was key to nurture goodwill and generate wealth.
But the biggest reason why plans go awry is that while plans can be perfect, no human being is perfect.
While the leaders were content biting off a reasonable chunk to bring about submission, those following behind felt they were entitled to more, and so they bit off a little extra.
Everyone taking just a bit more turns the situation into a prey-predator scenario. The prey decides that escape is unlikely and chooses to stay and fight to death instead.
Initially, they just wanted to show Wayne Enterprises some pressure, to keep Bruce Wayne from being too ambitious and monopolizing both the economic and political spheres. They wanted to curb his desire to keep everything under his control behind the scenes.
However, the creativity and unrestraint human beings exhibit when persecuting one another led to the situation going out of hands. One policymaker adds a little extra revenge, another extracts a bit more blood.
Before those who initiated this aggressive maneuver could react, Wayne Enterprises was already on the brink of disaster.
Hence, Wayne Enterprises was forced to skip the negotiation stage and head straight to Radical measures. Batman had no chance to appease to both sides. Instead, he had to retaliate.
Meanwhile, the shareholders, reluctant to let go of their substantial shares, suddenly found the strength to mobilize. Even the shareholders' meetings, usually held sporadically, became a thrice-daily affair.
In response to the extreme actions from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Congress and the military, Batman and his Wayne Enterprises were unprecedentedly unified.
Batman may not care about money and status, but he understands that under such intense aggression, not only will his downfall result in the scattering of the Batman Family, but nobody within the family would be spared from calamity.
This comprehensive onslaught forced Batman to reevaluate the situation. The pressure became the catalyst for him to draw a line—in the past, he'd been reluctant to use any technology for personal gain. But this was an exception.
The moment the exception was made, a hole seemed to tear open in the sky.
If Batman's technological prowess was to be described in terms of its impact on the American business landscape, there would only be one accurate term—Dimensional Strike.
The spokesperson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation stated during a recent press conference that following their investigation, they discovered that Wayne Enterprises had abused use of surveillance cameras, resulting in over 5 million Gothamites being monitored.
As he spoke, the Sky-eye system could already cover a population exceeding 50 million people, most of whom were important figures like politicians and business tycoons.
A military spokesperson said during their press conference that Wayne Enterprises' private development of super-weapons like Bat Missiles and Bat Bombers could pose a significant threat to the safety of the U.S. and the world at large.
As he spoke, the Bat Spacecraft and the Bat Orbital Cannon had successfully passed the 7th firepower index test, and the Bat global EMP network had been set up.
An anonymous congressman pointed out in a private interview that Wayne Enterprises was in dire straits because of the Bruce Wayne's arrogance and malfeasance. This, he said, was the inevitable cause of the company's decline.
As he spoke, Batman persuaded Superman and Wonder Woman to send the Bat Sky Fortress into the Kuiper Belt. He then grabbed Constantine by the throat, forcing him to channel the energy of the Star Shield Constructor through a magic array to set up a Solar System Defense Network.
A renowned media critic from the Washington Post suggested that the complicity of young heroes in the Batman Family towards Batman's criminal activities was one of the prime causes of the increase in youth-related violations.
As he spoke, the Batman Family left in Gotham City began to reestablish order. A media blackout on Jason's statement about Gotham's underworld made more and more Gotham youth realize that some people had the power to intervene, but didn't. Not only did they do nothing, but they also took more and more without giving anything back. These people silenced opposition but took more themselves.
Meanwhile, Gotham's residents realized that those who still stayed during their difficult times were the ones who truly cared.
As all of Wayne's business partners were being suppressed, with various joint venture factories withdrawing one after the other, it was only when Wayne Enterprises adamantly refused to yield that they realized if there was one tough bone left in this mud, it was the Batman.
Various family businesses in Gotham, mob gangs, Arkham Asylum patients, media commentators, celebrities, and sports stars all became tailors overnight. Gotham experienced a shortage of paper and yellow robes.
In this arms, economic, and popular opinion race between a single man and a nation, Batman emerged as the silent victor.
Yet after the storm had raged for three months, nothing significant happened.
It was only when the first snow of Gotham fell that the engine fire lighting up over the skies of the east coast of New Jersey brought baptism to this newborn country and brought the authentic democratic gospel.
On January 20th that same year, at the presidential inauguration in Washington, Bruce Wayne took the oath to become the U.S. President.
At the foot of Capitol Hill, beneath the Stars and Stripes, with his hand on the Bible, Bruce Wayne spoke after taking the oath.
"During my tenure as a superhero fighting criminals, I believed I had witnessed the depth of evil that mankind could descend into. I swore then that I would do everything to eliminate all evil."
"But at the beginning of this brilliant and legendary adventure, I learned from my child that my view from the mountaintop down into the abyss was narrow and limited."
"Darkness inflicted upon our race by human inadequacies and institutional insufficiencies far exceed those brought about by super villains. Crime is not the cause, but the result."
At the same time, seeing him overcome everything to become a righteous and strong person showed me the resilience and magnificence of mankind. It made me realize that beyond the darkness there lies the light."
The voice of Bruce Wayne echoed in countless squares, in front of screens, and in rooms—an iridescent light shining on one face after another.
"The more darkness I see, the more I feel my responsibility, and the more light I feel, the stronger my motivation.
Today, my duty is no longer to a city or a country, but to extinguish the darkness and injustice of this group, allowing every child in the most barren and remote places to walk towards the vast starry sky.
A supervisor and protector, you come from a nation with one constant and eternal leader."
With a click, the screen went off, and Bruce Wayne's handsome face disappeared. Jason sighed deeply.
Shiller came in and closed the door, and Jason hesitated to ask, "Was the experiment successful?"
"Barely." Shiller took out a test tube and said: "As I expected, the Dionysus factor can really extract and preserve the Joker virus."
"Isn't that a success then?"
Shiller shook his head and said: "Firstly, the extraction isn't complete. Now Henry is not the Joker, but he is still a mental patient. The remaining Joker virus and Dionysus factor are still affecting his mind."
"Secondly, the Joker virus that was extracted can only be preserved for a limited time and is continually losing its activity. If it is injected into the human body again, its effect on the human body will be greatly reduced. All we have now is probably enough to create one-tenth of a Joker."
"You're not thinking of creating Jokers, are you?" Jason's eyebrows were raised, then his eyes slowly widened and said, "Are you?"
"We don't need any more Jokers." Shiller put away the test tube, and then said, the bad news, which might also be good news, is that the concentration of Joker virus inside Henry's body is very subtle."
"In simple terms, if Batman continues to be Batman, the concentration of the Joker virus may continue to increase until it turns Henry back into the Joker."
"But if he stops being Batman, without Batman, the Joker virus may gradually disappear. This theory is not groundless, I have seen similar cases."
"So you're saying the real way for Batman to save the Joker is for him not to be Batman?" Jason asked.
"It's not that simple, don't forget about the creation of the Joker's lethal joke. If the social situation doesn't improve, the Joker will appear sooner or later."
Shiller spread out his hands and said, "Now it's time to test Batman. He must use a way that is not Batman to save the world, and the Joker will always be watching him from above."
"I'm going to check on Henry," Jason said.
"I advise you not to go, I just slightly modified his memory, he probably doesn't remember you, and if you go and beat him up while he still hasn't recovered his strength, Batman would come after you, and I can't stop him."
"Tch." Jason's plot was discovered. He hummed boredly, turned around, and left.
Before leaving, Shiller looked at him and asked, "When is Batman coming back?"
"How should I know? During his absence, he has developed over 160 strange little habits, and I have to watch those idiots to prevent them from tearing down the roof of the Batcave."
Shiller probably met Batman about three hours later, or rather, Bruce Wayne, because he was dressed in a suit, obviously just getting back from a meeting.
He greeted Shiller, then quickly went to his desk to search for something. Shiller leaned against the wall and chuckled, "Such a busy man, Mr. President."
With the documents in hand, Bruce headed out, pointing at Shiller and saying, "Wait until I finish to settle accounts with you."
"Don't rush." Shiller somehow ended up by Bruce's side, halting him with one hand.
Bruce felt something heavy in his hand. He looked down and found Shiller had stuffed something into his hand, a peculiar object, probably a wooden grid filled with wooden beads.
"What is this?"
"An abacus."
"I know it's an abacus."
Shiller snatched the abacus from Bruce's hand, flipping the beads while speaking.
"Peter's internship salary... my labor dispatch fee... cross-universe travel reimbursement... emergency mobilization compensation... Jason Todd's psychotherapy costs... family photo storage fee... photo direct mail delivery fee... Clark Kent's emergency psychotherapy costs... symbiotes rental fee... spider silk usage cost... uniform and equipment wear and tear costs..."
At this point, Bruce was just staring at Shiller. He had anticipated this day, but didn't anticipate what Shiller would continue to say.
"Arkham Knight retirement compensation... Spider-Man Robin entry indemnity... urgent psychotherapy costs... additional expert consultation fee... President's inauguration dividend..."
Bruce's eyes were narrowed.
"That will be a total of 312,576,000,000 US dollars, will that be cash or card?"
The term of the greatest president in American history almost ended after just three days.
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