Gotham.
The silent, dark night was, as always, accompanied by the sounds of gunfire and police sirens.
The familiar industrial chimneys spewed plumes of industrial waste into the sky.
Anyone who stayed here for a few years without effective protection would end up with a host of ailments.
Simply put, this was a city that made environmentalists explode with rage.
The filthy city was overrun with rats.
However, if you looked towards the city center, both the security and the environment were slightly better. After all, the areas where the rich lived were much better than the slums of Gotham.
Inside a conference hall at the moment, Bruce Wayne was on high alert, dressed in a suit.
He adjusted his bow tie with both hands, his deep blue eyes filled with exhaustion.
Alfred's voice came through the earpiece in his right ear: "Master Bruce, I doubt anyone could attend a gala filled with celebrities and dignitaries after going without rest for a day and a night."
"I understand, Alfred, but this gala is important." Bruce closed his eyes, clenching his fists and using the meditation techniques he learned from the League of Assassins to recover his energy.
Batman is Batman, and Bruce is Bruce.
He could use his identity as Batman to fight the dark side of Gotham City. Similarly, if he wanted Gotham City to improve, the identity of Bruce Wayne, the billionaire, was just as important.
"Very well, I know I can't wake someone who's pretending to sleep, but you need to prepare, sir. It will be your turn to take the stage soon."
Bruce opened his eyes, his gaze falling on the gala filled with guests outside the gap in the red cloth.
After the Court of Owls incident, a large number of incompetent officials in Gotham City had died.
And this gave Bruce an opportunity. He leveraged his connections and wealth to install a large number of idealistic officials in new positions.
This was also the purpose of the banquet Bruce was hosting tonight.
He planned to use these people, along with the Wayne family's fortune, to completely turn Gotham around.
Bruce had studied economics, and he understood that the essence of urban crime was economic decline and resource scarcity.
If people had a decent job to support themselves, then no one would willingly become a criminal.
What Bruce wanted to do was use some economic techniques to help the poor of Gotham find work.
With the host's voice ringing out, "Next, let us invite Gotham's wealthiest man, the initiator of this banquet, Mr. Bruce Wayne."
Thunderous applause erupted in the banquet hall.
People might look down on the poor, but no one disrespects the rich.
Bruce took a deep breath, straightened his shoulders, and after muttering "Gotham" again, walked towards the hall.
"Terrible city."
In the bushes behind a bench in Gotham, a young man with a red and blue hood was squatting on the ground, complaining about Gotham's awful weather.
Clark waved his hand, trying to disperse the ubiquitous smog, but it was useless.
"Forget it."
Clark sighed and turned his gaze back to the tall building in front of him.
He squatted in the bushes, mimicking the methods of a robber, his big eyes fixed on the Gotham Wayne Bank, which was separated by a whole street.
After falling from the plane late at night, Clark had already gathered the information he needed through newspapers and by beating up street thugs.
If you were to ask who was the richest in Gotham, the Wayne family would undoubtedly be at the top.
"It's about time I lived the life of the rich." Clark picked up the newspaper he had brought from the small town.
He no longer needed it, now that he was hiding outside the bank.
Clark tore it to shreds.
Then, a strange red light flashed in his eyes, and he sprinted towards the bank.
His speed was incredibly fast, like a whirlwind, and he slammed straight into the revolving glass door of the bank at a speed that was difficult to see with the naked eye.
"Over the years, I've often asked myself, 'Gotham is…'"
In the glittering banquet hall, Bruce stood on the podium, with a small miniature model of Gotham City displayed below.
And behind him was a large photograph of his parents, Thomas Wayne and Martha, holding him.
The guests had all put down whatever they were doing, each one looking at Bruce Wayne, listening to every word he said.
"For me, for Bruce Wayne, how can I describe Gotham City in a single word?"
"Home, family?"
The guests chuckled kindly.
No one would consider Gotham City a home; even the locals loathed the city.
"Or is she a target?" Bruce looked around at the guests: "But in fact, the real truth is, I can't answer this question."
"But I've also thought of some things, friends. I believe the words my father sometimes used to lull me to sleep."
"I was just a child back then. If something went wrong that day, like if I fell in a hole, or scraped my knee…"
"Then he would say to me, 'Bruce, tomorrow is but a dream away.' That was his motto, a bit sentimental, but it worked for me."
Bruce said, "As everyone here knows, I lost my parents in my childhood. They lost their lives in Crime Alley."
"You can imagine how much pain I went through afterward. Anger, fear, and sadness surrounded me, and my father's motto echoed in my mind."
"Of course, I've told you all this." Bruce's gaze swept across the crowd, Commissioner Gordon, Thomas Elliot. Bruce's gaze became gradually resolute: "The point is, I want to tell you: when we are in or surrounded by challenging, daunting environments, it is meaningless to ask ourselves what our city 'is'."
"What if we stop focusing on today, stop looking back at the past, and instead look to the future?"
Bruce walked around the podium and stood in front of the Gotham model, spreading his arms and opening his palms: "What if we ask ourselves what tomorrow can become? Then we are asking the right question."
"Because embracing hope, holding dreams, and envisioning the future is to shape the city with our own hands, rather than being shaped by the city."
"So I've decided that next month, Wayne Enterprises will begin investing boldly and rapidly in Gotham's future."
Bruce's words immediately caused an uproar.
The crowd was noisy, but Bruce ignored them, raising his voice to ensure everyone could hear.
He continued, "We have partnered with several local design firms to develop a reconstruction plan, aimed at rebuilding Gotham's most dilapidated industrial and residential areas. Based on this, we will reform Gotham's public transportation system to modernize it."
Bruce raised his hands, and several large city projections appeared on the original city model.
Bruce looked at the crowd. "So, back to the original question, I would say, 'Gotham is the future.'"
With that, the hall erupted in a storm of applause and cheers.
Regardless of whether this plan would succeed or fail, at the very least, this young heir to the Wayne family was filled with courage and belief. That alone was enough to move people.
-----------------------
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