Chapter 1216

"Bruce, are you really confident that you can guarantee the normal operation of Wayne Enterprises while the project is underway?" Diana asked.

Clark also looked concerned at Bruce's face, he sighed, then said: "From my own perspective, I would be willing to sacrifice myself to help those in need, but if it's my friend doing this, I still have to advise him to do as much as he is capable of."

"In fact, if we look at the current investment cost and project progress, Wayne Enterprises' wealth is insufficient to completely renovate Gotham, probably not even half, after all, this is a huge modernized city, and what I want to build is still a more advanced future city."

Bruce pursed his lips and shook his head, Clark and Diana both frowned at him, Bruce turned around and while washing dishes, he said:

"Actually, all along, I have been walking on a road of constantly improving myself, including enhancing my own strength, finding ways to earn more wealth, discovering my own thoughts, etc., and I also know that I have been constantly getting stronger."

"But recent events have made me realize a problem: if I do everything, then in the future, everything will only be done by me, because others neither have the opportunity to act nor have they developed the ability to act."

"I think this is a problem many parents will face." Bruce shook his head and said: "If you overly control children, then they cannot develop the ability to cope with difficulties, but if you give them complete freedom, then they might encounter danger or go down a wrong path."

"Throughout history, many things have been decided between these two extremes; nations are the same—complete control means rigidity, while complete freedom means chaos, and human society has cautiously tried between these two extremes, attempting to find a perfect answer."

Diana listened intently, noticing Bruce had fallen silent, she instinctively said: "Then have you found it?"

Bruce slightly narrowed his eyes, Diana then realized she had misspoken, she immediately corrected: "I mean, have we found it?"

Bruce shook his head and said: "One could say we found it, but also one could say we haven't; so far, the answers people have explored actually only have one: compromise."

"Once excessive control leads to rigidity, just loosen the reins a little; once freedom brings chaos, just retighten control—only with proper balance can extremes be avoided."

Bruce softly sighed, looking at his reflection on the clean dish, he said: "In Gotham's renovation plan, I have almost taken care of everything—pacifying the gangs' dissatisfaction is my job, urging the government when execution is difficult is my job, mediating conflicts between government and gangs is my job."

"I earn the money, I build the buildings, I install the security systems, I arrange the residents' move-in—everything is done by me, they just stand aside cheering."

Diana deeply furrowed her brows and said: "This sounds very unhealthy—what if something happens to you? Then wouldn't it all be over?"

"The problem lies here: recently, because of some matters, I temporarily couldn't devote all my energy to Gotham, and they caused quite a mess, which, given their abilities, shouldn't have happened at all."

"My previous habit of taking on everything gave them the illusion that no matter what, they could come ask me, and no matter what they lacked, they could ask me for it, since I always had it."

"The result is, I just shifted my gaze for a while, and nothing progressed—there were baskets everywhere." Bruce lightly shrugged.

"I am just one person, a day only has 24 hours, I still go to school, I have to write papers, hold group meetings, complete study tasks, then I still have to navigate the business world, using Wayne Enterprises to make money; after making money, I still have to think about how to spend it—just spending money isn't enough, I also have to ensure every department reaches maximum efficiency."

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"After construction begins, I must closely monitor the project progress, ensure engineering quality; after construction is complete, I still need to coordinate various regions for move-in arrangements; after move-in, I still need to build supporting facilities."

"After the construction part is done, I still need to return to the lab, solve the technical problems arising during the entire construction process; after inventing a solution, I still need to oversee its implementation; after the product is made, I still need to find a suitable location, put it into use, record usage data and correct errors promptly..."

Diana covered her forehead and said: "Is Gotham left with only you?"

Clark also shook his head, saying with a tone of exasperation: "I am now quite certain that you are truly a madman."

Then he looked at Bruce doubtfully and said: "... Aren't you tired?"

Bruce fell silent for a moment and said: "For a long period of time, I not only didn't feel tired, but was even highly excited, and even felt that this was a necessary step to achieve my ideal."

Diana sighed and said: "The unique restlessness and arrogance of adolescence in boys—feeling they can handle everything in this world, and feeling very proud and excited about their own judgment."

Clark stroked his chin and said: "If I were doing this, I would still prefer to find a group of like-minded friends—you know, 'saving this world's most sinful city'—this goal sounds cool, and would surely attract many people."

"Since you previously thought this way, why didn't you persist in 'no retreat for minor wounds' but instead came here to rest?" Diana asked doubtfully.

"Because my adolescence is over." Bruce extended his hand and placed the washed dish aside.

"Of course, it's because I forcibly brought him here." Clark gave a slight eye-roll and said: "Otherwise, he would rather die of exhaustion in Gotham than step out of that city."

Unexpectedly, Bruce nodded and said: "You dragging me out is also one of the reasons—there is no stronger guardian in this world than you; I couldn't run even if I wanted to."

Clark was about to laugh, but then felt something was off, his laughter caught in his throat, but soon he heard Bruce continue:

"However, there is another reason: as I said before, both extremes already have counterexamples, so we can only take the middle path with the highest chance of success; previously I over-controlled, so now I need to relax a bit."

"If I do everything, then no one does anything; but if I don't do it, many things will naturally have someone doing them." Bruce said slowly while washing dishes.

Bruce still had some things unsaid, but he himself knew deep down that the inspiration for this line of thought actually came from Shiler's earlier actions—Shiler had created a personality trait called indolence, which can also be called mediocrity.

According to reason, this mediocre personality trait should not be as strong as arrogance; let alone other aspects, just in terms of academic ability and treatment level, it is far inferior to arrogance.

Yet this personality trait happened to coincide with Arkham Asylum's busiest time; if only logical deduction were considered, things would surely become a mess.

The chaos brought by mad citizens made every hospital face a terrifying patient influx, naturally including Arkham Asylum; when everyone was short-staffed, Shiler abolished his martial arts, even misspelling prescriptions would cause errors—he would at least cause several medical accidents?

But the fact is, everything went smoothly—patients received treatment, returned to normal life, the disaster gradually passed, and everyone's life returned to normal.

This made Bruce realize two things: first, obsessive-compulsive disorder is useless, writing prescription symbols incorrectly doesn't affect nurses dispensing medicine; second, if you slack off, naturally someone will strive for you—Earth doesn't stop turning just because someone is gone.

Bruce speculated that Shiler understood this matter possibly for a long time, but fortunately, this professor walked ahead of him, so Bruce could borrow his existing ideas.

In team collaboration, doing nothing and shifting responsibility is bad, but Bruce belongs to another extreme—he took on everything; at this point, learning to slack off appropriately, to lie down when needed, is actually beneficial to the team.

Some might think: having a person in the team who is capable and willing to take on everything is a good thing.

But actually, in the long run, besides others not getting trained, the more one does, the greater the responsibility one bears, yet each person's capacity to bear responsibility is limited.

If one person takes on all work but problems arise, others won't be willing to take responsibility for his work, and he himself cannot afford this responsibility—ultimately, the only outcome is disbandment.

Diana nodded, indicating she understood Bruce's meaning, but then she asked: "As for other aspects, never mind, but how about Wayne Enterprises' operations? Even if you're willing to delegate authority to others, they might not be able to handle business—such a large group isn't that easy to control."

"Precisely because there is someone who can perfectly take over my work, I dare to leave." Bruce's tone suddenly softened, and even Clark could hear a hint of a smile in his voice.

"A perfect replacement for your work?" Clark looked at Bruce in confusion: "Who in this world could replace Batman's work?"

"Another Batman."

Two days later, the front pages of major newspapers worldwide published an explosive news story—Thomas Wayne, the former controller of Wayne Enterprises, died and came back to life, returning once again.

No matter how the outside world debated, Thomas still sat down in the office on the top floor of Wayne Tower, which he had been away from for a long time, his hands resting on the armrests of the chair, he exhaled deeply and said:

"Public relations matters have been settled; the financial reports and statements submitted by various departments should already be prepared, right?"

The red-haired clerk Morel behind him nodded, picked up the phone hanging on the wall, dialed a number, and spoke softly into the receiver for a few moments; after a while, people holding financial documents walked in one after another.

Morel took out a very brief report summary from his briefcase, but when he handed it to Thomas, he seemed hesitant; Thomas looked up at his expression and said: "What's wrong? Is the result very bad?"

Morel pursed his lips, said nothing, but Thomas let out a cold smile and said: "I know—people leave, tea grows cold, there's no banquet that doesn't end; after my accident, there will definitely be some people wanting to take a bite out of Wayne Enterprises, even though they said yesterday they were my best partners."

"Leadership changes, some elders want to cling to Wayne Enterprises by seniority to suck blood—this isn't anything new... well, give it to me, I've long been prepared."

Morel gave a soft "hmm," but didn't directly hand the file to Thomas, instead placing it on the table and saying: "Mr. Wayne, please make sure you're mentally prepared—don't ever..."

"Rest assured, I've been in the business world for so many years, my psychological resilience isn't that poor..." Thomas said while reaching out to take the file and flipping open the first page.

The first thing that caught his eye was the "Total Expenditure" item, and the number on it left Thomas stunned on the spot.

The old man with white hair at his temples clutched his chest, gasping violently, his face turning blue within two seconds, and all Thomas heard was the frantic shouting.

"Mr. Wayne! Mr. Wayne! Wake up!... Call a doctor, quickly call a doctor!

! Mr. Wayne has fainted!

!"