Chapter 4415: Prelude to Darkness (Part 7)

After Christmas, the temperature warmed up. But for Cat Getan, this wasn't a good thing. The snow that should have drifted down turned into cold rain overnight, raging miserably in the dark city. The streets were empty. Suddenly, two dazzling beams of light appeared at the end of the street. The Batmobile crossed the bridge between the two towers and drove toward the outskirts of the city.

In the equally pitch-black cemetery, only the small church in the center flickered with faint light. Raindrops fell on the distant sea, raising patches of mist that attacked the shore, as if to swallow this place completely. The cemetery had never been so filled with a heavy deathly aura as it was today. When Bruce, wearing the Hellbat armor, stepped here, he only felt a heart full of sorrow and heaviness.

One grave had been disturbed. Bruce knew that it was Damian's grave. He seemed not to intend to cover up all of this, or rather, he was using such traces to tell Batman clearly that he was the one who had resurrected from the dead. His resurrection had absolutely nothing to do with Batman. He had relied on himself to crawl out of the grave, defeating the God of Death as he had in the past, returning from hell.

Bruce looked toward the church. He stepped forward. Just as he walked onto the steps, he had already seen, set off by the faint candlelight, a small figure standing in front of the cross, while Jesus's face was completely submerged in shadows, the blurred features revealing a bit of sorrow.

"Damian." This name was almost squeezed out from his throat; his vocal cords were very unfamiliar with it, so the pronunciation carried a bit of dryness.

"I thought you wouldn't dare to come." The teenager's voice was very clear. Damian's voice change had come very late; Bruce had even once thought he wouldn't possess the same low voice as himself.

Damian turned around. Bruce saw his face clearly; it was still as childish and fresh, somewhat like his own. He was still wearing the Robin uniform, the one Bruce had put on him when he was buried. He had used the best fabric, so even after many years, it was still as bright as new.

"Why don't you speak? Don't know how to face me?"

"No." Bruce replied. "I'm just thinking about what happened, and how exactly you came back."

"Is this important?" Damian walked over. He circled around Batman, as if clicking his tongue in wonder. "This armor is really cool; did you make it new?"

"No." Bruce said again. "Who resurrected you?"

"I don't know," Damian said. "I just suddenly woke up and found myself lying in a coffin. I opened the coffin lid and crawled out, then dialed the home phone."

Bruce didn't expose him. He just said, "Then what do you plan to do next?"

"What?"

"Do you have any plans?"

"Come on, you're my dad, and also my legal guardian. You're asking me what to do now?"

Bruce shook his head and said, "Sorry. But Damian Wei En is dead. The death report is in the drawer in the study. Your social identity and school registration have already been canceled. The law won't recognize the fact of resurrection from the dead either. So you have no way to go back as Damian Wei En."

"God! You're a Wei En! Is it hard to get me a new identity?"

"That's not hard. But it just can't be Damian Wei En. Because although I am a Wei En, the president of this term is Clark Kent."

"What?"

"That's Superman. Perhaps you haven't heard of him, and you haven't heard of his secretary, Schiller. I can tell you very certainly that I have no way to pull strings under their noses. So you can stay as my adopted son, or you can leave."

"Bruce, why aren't you welcoming my return? So you don't hold any regrets for my death back then?" Damian looked into his eyes and asked. "That was all your fault."

"I admit this point." Bruce nodded and said. "If I hadn't been overwhelmed by anger at that time, wanting to push the Joker down, he wouldn't have let go and let you fall."

"Don't you feel guilty?"

"I once did. But now there is no room for that." Bruce said. "Before you returned, this world had also been resurrected, born from a pile of dead bones into new seedlings. And we who walk at the forefront must do everything possible to protect the newly born sparks, seizing this opportunity that might only come once."

"For this, all of our pasts, those things worth hesitating, sighing, and feeling ashamed of, can only be in the past. We have too many important things to do; there isn't that much time for long sighs and laments."

"I welcome you back. You can contribute to this world and the universe in your own way. But if you're just here to reminisce, then forgive me for not having the time to accompany you."

"Damian, I have always thought you were much more mature than your peers, and always had your own opinions. One of the most wrong things I did back then was letting you be trapped in Cat Getan with me. It was precisely because I didn't want to repeat the same mistakes that I accepted your departure. Because now there is a bigger stage, and it is a good time to show your skills. I know you are also looking forward to it, aren't you?"

Damian's expression seemed somewhat blank, but soon he shook his head and said, "No, I won't leave. I'm going to find that bastard to take revenge; I'm going to kill the Joker!"

After saying this, he stared at Bruce, as if wanting to see his reaction. But the faceplate of the Hellbat armor was covered very tightly, and no one could see Bruce's expression.

"If this is your goal for returning, I can understand, and I won't stop you. But I had thought you would have more ambition."

Bruce's tone contained a hint of disappointment. Damian revealed a blank expression again. Seeing Bruce retreat, he hurriedly chased after him and said, "Wait! I..."

Damian wanted to say something, but seemed not to know what to say. He just watched Bruce's figure disappear into the darkness, the rain wetting his cape, while he clenched his fists tightly.

Seeing Bruce walk back into Wei En Manor, Schiller said somewhat surprised, "You came back so soon? Where's your son?"

"He didn't come back with me," Bruce said. "He said he wanted revenge; I estimate it won't be long before he goes to find the Joker."

"You look like you aren't worried."

"Because he can't find him."

"Where did you put him?"

"The Joker no longer exists," Bruce said. "When I gave up being Batman, he was no longer the Joker."

Bruce spoke somewhat vaguely. Schiller guessed that Bruce might have given up using Batman's methods to deal with the Joker and instead directly used the Wei En heavy punch.

After all, he had given up the identity of Batman and was no longer a superhero, so what he could use to deal with the Joker was nothing more than his money power. The Joker liked Batman, not a wealthy man who only knew how to talk about money, so naturally, he disappeared.

But Schiller felt it wasn't that simple. Unbinding from the Joker wasn't an easy thing. After all, the Bruce in the universe where Pride was located also didn't act as Batman, but the Joker was still the Joker; even Jack wasn't obsessed with playing games with Bruce, but he was still the Joker and hadn't given up this identity.

Then, what made the Joker in this universe give up his identity was worth exploring. But Schiller actually didn't care. Since Bruce said there was no problem, then there should really be no problem.

"I spent so much effort to transform the pattern of the current society just to outrun this mysterious dark force," Bruce said, sitting on the sofa. "The darkness from the future is far less terrifying than that from the past. I must give everyone an excuse so that they can put down the shadows of the past and have no time to indulge in those dark memories; only in this way can we completely shut out the disaster."

"The plan is quite good," Schiller said. "What do you plan to do next?"

"I have to figure out what the source of this dark energy is," Bruce said, pursing his lips. "Currently, these unique data don't show anything. I need to collect enough power samples. Of course, you have to help me keep an eye on them."

"Keep an eye on whom?"

"Of course, the Justice League. If nothing unexpected happens, they will all be found by this power. If they delay too long, you find a way to remind them."

"No problem," Schiller nodded and said. "I also quite want to see, if the plan to resurrect the dead isn't successful, what other tricks he can play."

In the east of the Martian city, in a house that looked unremarkable. Martian Manhunter J'onn stood dumbfounded in front of the door, while his wife and daughter stood in the house looking at him.

"Oh my god," J'onn said. "Am I hallucinating?"

"Dad!" his daughter shouted, throwing herself into his arms. While his wife stood there smiling at him, as if all the disasters in his memory had never happened. This was just an ordinary weekday afternoon; he had returned home early and received a warm welcome from his family.

Feeling the warm touch of his daughter in his arms, J'onn looked down in disbelief. He squatted down, looked at his daughter, and asked, "The brainwave I felt is yours?"

"Yeah, I wanted to find you, so I contacted you through the old contact channel. Dad, where did you go? Why didn't you come back for so long?"

J'onn opened his mouth; he was pulled into the house by his daughter. He somewhat wanted to retreat, but couldn't shake off that soft and warm little hand, and just like that, he followed along to the dining table.

"Don't worry, Mom is already cooking," his daughter smiled and said. "We haven't eaten together for a long time."

"You... how did you come back?"

"I don't know, we just woke up and were in the cemetery. I thought you didn't want me anymore; Mom told us we might have resurrected from the dead..."

"Then do you remember..."

"J'onn!" his wife's voice came from the kitchen. "Come over and help!"

J'onn hurried over as if suddenly awakened. Their kitchen wasn't big; after both of them stood inside, it was a bit crowded. Looking at his wife's face close at hand, J'onn fell into a state of confusion.

"Don't talk to her about these," his wife said somewhat complainingly. "The process of death is very terrifying. If she lost those memories, it's also good, isn't it?"

"I just... I just don't know why you came back... this is too incredible..."

And his wife took his hand and said, "This isn't important; what's important is that we are together again now, isn't it?"

J'onn wanted to say something else, but his wife said again, "We are all still very young, and I can still give birth. Perhaps, the Martian civilization still has a day of revival?"

J'onn was completely speechless. He hugged his wife, as if not wanting this beautiful dream to slip away. He gently stroked her back and said, "Thank you. I will love you forever." ===== CHAPTER 4416 =====