American comic book: After mastering resurrection, I became incredibly popular.

"You've always known? When did you start knowing?"

“I knew from the first day I arrived in Gotham,” Wang Baixi shrugged. “To be honest, in Gotham, Batman’s true identity isn’t exactly a top secret. I think the Joker knows, Bane knows, and the Riddler probably knows too. Since so many villains know, what’s so strange about a passing sorcerer like me knowing?”

Dick frowned. "Most of those guys are just speculating; they don't have any solid evidence."

“But they guessed right.” Wang Baixi spread his hands, a gesture that made his tone sound particularly sincere. “Batman’s disguise was indeed very good, but the problem is that it’s all too coincidental: how could Batman appear after Bruce Wayne returned from his round-the-world trip; and how could Batman disappear without a trace after Bruce Wayne died not long ago?”

"Come on, folks. There's a fair amount of publicly available information about Batman. If we exclude the smokescreens Bruce Wayne himself releases and the urban legends fabricated by those stupid marketing accounts, his height and weight are easy to figure out. Add to that all his random gadgets... Well, assuming Batman really exists, I reckon that in the entire United States, besides Bruce Wayne, only Elon Musk would be that bored."

"That's it? You must have found out through some channel!" Tim's tone was tinged with resentment. "Could it be that you have access to Wayne Enterprises' internal documents?"

“You’re right, I do have another channel: as you can see, I am a mage.” Wang Baixi’s expression turned serious. “And my ability is called Death Words, which can detect the residual consciousness of non-human, inanimate objects.”

"Over the years, countless rats, pigeons, and stray cats have died on the streets of Gotham."

"When they are alive, they crawl around in every corner of the city, and can crawl into sewers, ventilation ducts and building mezzanines."

"The last thing they saw and the last thing they heard before they died would remain in their consciousness as fragments. All I had to do was piece those fragments together."

"Don't underestimate my intelligence network!"

Hearing this from the doorway, Alfred's expression finally softened slightly; the explanation did indeed make sense.

Rats are indeed everywhere in Gotham, and bats swarm in the underground caves of Wayne Manor. The images that those small animals saw before they died were gathered into a person's mind through the necromancer's abilities, making that person's knowledge of the existence of the Batcave as natural as breathing.

The Bat Cave has strong security, with barriers even prepared for superpowered individuals and mages like Wang Baixi, but small animals... to be honest, that's something they overlooked.

“It makes perfect sense,” Alfred said softly.

"In short, I just know Bruce Wayne is Batman, and you don't need to ask anymore."

“I’m sorry, Mr. Joshua, I’ve been keeping this from you. I think it would be better if the Wayne family told you about this.”

"And Dick Grayson, you must be Nightwing. Tim Drake, you are the current Robin. As for that... excuse me, who are you?"

"..."

Paul's face darkened, and he didn't know what to say for a moment.

Joshua Wayne had been listening to the conversation the whole time, and his expression changed from confusion to understanding, and then from understanding to an unspeakable pride.

He pulled out the tablet computer that Alfred had given him from somewhere, and then awkwardly swiped the screen a few times to bring up Batman's news page.

“I saw these reports while I was waiting for my clothes at the hotel.” Joshua held up his tablet, the light from the screen reflecting off his trimmed beard. “Batman, the Dark Knight of Gotham, has solved more than two thousand major crimes in the past decade and prevented at least five terrorist attacks that could have destroyed the entire city. Before he appeared, the Gotham Police Department’s annual crime-solving rate was less than thirty percent; after he appeared, the crime rate dropped by nearly half.”

His voice was particularly excited as he read these figures aloud.

“I always thought Solomon’s descendant was just a playboy who didn’t care about the company, but I never imagined he would be out there every night wearing a cape and getting shot.” ​​Joshua put down his tablet and looked at everyone present. “I take back what I said earlier. Bruce Wayne is a true hero.”

"I thought I was heroic enough for helping the Southern slaves escape, but I never imagined he was ten times more heroic than me!!"

At times like these, it's best not to brag!

Tim and Dick, standing to the side, never imagined they would hear such high praise for Bruce from an ancestor who lived more than a hundred years ago.

Joshua continued, “I completely agree with him not having children. Having children would only distract him when he’s on a mission, and they would become his weakness. Now I understand why he’s still unmarried at thirty-six; this kind of work is really not suitable for starting a family.”

Alfred felt somewhat saddened when he heard these words.

"As for the Wayne Enterprises, I'll take over from now on," Joshua said passionately. "Bruce wants to continue being Batman, so I'll protect the Wayne family's business empire for him. I did this two hundred years ago. Although business wasn't as complicated back then, the essence of business hasn't changed. It's nothing more than buying low and selling high, avoiding risks, and suppressing competitors. I can do all of this with my eyes closed."

Dick Grayson looked at his imposing ancestor and wondered what Bruce would say if he really came back and saw his ancestor managing the company for him.

Ancestor, you're not dead?

Finally, Alfred coughed lightly, interrupting Joshua's grand plan. "Mr. Joshua, it's a good thing that you've accepted Bruce's identity. However, we now face a few very real problems that we need to figure out in advance."

"You said."

“First, how do you get into Wayne Group’s shareholders’ meeting?” Alfred said. “Currently, in Wayne Group’s shareholding structure, Mr. Bruce holds an absolute controlling stake of 51 percent, while the remaining 49 percent is distributed among institutional investors and retail investors.”

"You are now appearing in public as Joshua Wayne, claiming to be a family ancestor who was resurrected more than a hundred years ago?"

"Forgive me for speaking frankly, but this matter itself is beyond the comprehension of modern business society, or rather, beyond everyone's cognitive framework."

"Shareholders aren't fools. They won't hand over a company worth tens of billions to someone who crawled out of a coffin just because of a DNA test report."

Joshua wanted to say something, but Alfred raised his hand to stop him.

"Secondly, and more complicatedly, if Mr. Wang really does resurrect Mr. Bruce, how do we explain all this to the public?" Alfred said, turning his gaze to Wang Baixi. "A company simultaneously having two Wayne family members with legitimate inheritance rights—one a resurrected current patriarch, and the other a family ancestor pulled from the dustbin of history. There's no precedent for this in business history, and the legal framework is completely blank."

After thinking for a moment, Joshua finally sighed, "Pennyworth, you're right, these things will take time to resolve."

Then, he walked to the door of the reception room and turned around.

That standing posture was exactly the same as when Wang Baixi first saw him in the cemetery.

"But none of these are the most important."

Alfred tilted his head slightly, making a questioning gesture.

A glint flashed in Joshua Wayne's eyes; just moments before, they had ignited a curiosity he had suppressed for over a century.

"Because right now, I need to go check out that bat cave first!!"

What's in the Bat Cave in Chapter Nine?

After hearing Joshua's request to go to the Bat Cave, Alfred finally stopped hesitating and turned to lead everyone away.

In his view, since this family ancestor had already passed the identity verification and knew Bruce's secret, it was only natural to bring him into the underground base.

As for Wang Baixi... he seems to really be able to bring the dead back to life, so why not trust him this once?

The group walked through the long corridor and arrived at the main hall of the manor.

The enormous grandfather clock stood quietly beside the stairs, like a silent night watchman. Alfred reached out and opened the glass door of the clock, preparing to set the hour hand to ten. Joshua stood beside him, staring at the antique-looking clock with a puzzled expression, completely unable to understand the connection between entering the underground cave and setting the time.

“Pennyworth, why are we moving this clock?” Joshua asked, wanting to understand the mechanism behind it.

Alfred stopped what he was doing and explained to him, “Mr. Joshua, the time this clock points to has special significance: 10:48 is the time when Mr. Thomas and Mrs. Martha, who are also Mr. Bruce’s parents, were murdered.”

Joshua's expression froze for a moment.

Alfred continued, "Back then, after Mr. Thomas and Mrs. Martha finished watching a movie in Crime Alley, they were robbed. The robber took a fancy to Mrs. Martha's pearl necklace, and during the ensuing struggle, he shot and killed them..."

After hearing this, Joshua's expression became completely serious.

He finally realized the tragedy Bruce Wayne had endured before donning the Dark Guard. After a few seconds of silence, he sighed heavily, heartbroken by the misfortune that befell his descendants.

Wang Baixi was not surprised by this.

"Sigh... what's meant to happen will happen..."

“I understand, let’s go in,” Joshua continued.

Alfred then moved the minute hand to the 48-minute mark.

The sound of gears turning came from inside the walls, and the bookshelves on the side of the hall slowly moved to both sides, revealing the hidden entrance to the underground.

A rush of damp air surged out of the passageway.

Joshua followed Alfred into the tunnel, eager to see what the underground railway transfer station would look like more than a hundred years later.

Wang Baixi followed closely behind Joshua, his curiosity about the interior of the Batcave now fully aroused.

The group descended the stone steps to a height of about two floors; the entrance was designed to be quite hidden.

When they stepped off the last step, the sight before them made Joshua stop in his tracks.

He was utterly overwhelmed by the sheer size of the space.

The Batcave was dozens of times larger than the rudimentary underground hideout he remembered; Bruce had clearly expanded it in a madman-like manner.

Numerous lighting fixtures are suspended from the cave ceiling, making the entire space as bright as day.

Standing at the very center is a supercomputer occupying an entire wall, which Batman uses to process massive amounts of intelligence data. Next to the screen are dozens of surveillance cameras, connected in real time to cameras in every corner of Gotham City, making it a veritable panoramic city surveillance center.

Even Michel Foucault would have to exclaim in astonishment: "No way, you guys actually created this?"

In the corner, a huge generator was roaring and running, providing a continuous power supply for the entire base.

On the left side of the cave, the forensic laboratory and the medical clinic are located side by side.

On the right side are the training dojo and armory, which occupy most of the space.

The armory displays all kinds of equipment, from smoke bombs to batarangs, while the deepest part of the cave contains hangars and garages for storing bat wings and bat cars, making it look like a private air force base.

“My God!” Joshua had never seen such a magnificent underground facility. “The descendants of Solomon have turned this into a military fortress.”

“Just some minor modifications.” Alfred led them deeper into the cave, wanting to show Joshua more of the area.

The group eventually arrived at a place displaying multiple suits of armor; this was the memorial hall for the Batcave. Hanging on the central shelf was a black bat armor suit, Bruce's most frequently worn uniform.

Next to the armor, in a cabinet, are three Robin suits of different colors, each representing an assistant who fights alongside him.

Dick stopped in his tracks when he saw the black armor.

The familiar equipment stirred up too many memories for him. Tim also stood motionless, recalling the days when he fought alongside Bruce.

Wang Baixi examined the bat armor up close, thinking to himself that it was indeed incredibly cool, but he wondered how much it would cost!

Alfred walked to the front of the armor and gazed at it with a calm and restrained look.

“If the master knew you had come to see him, he would be comforted,” the old steward said to the armored figure, believing that the soul of the deceased could sense the longing of the living.

Although it was only the seventh day after his death, to everyone else it seemed as if he had been dead for a century or two.

“He’s a good warrior.” Joshua walked over to the armor and examined the equipment up close. “Although I don’t approve of him getting himself all wounded, I respect his choice.”

Wang Baixi, who had been admiring the Batsuit up close, noticed everyone's somber mood and felt that prolonged mourning would be oppressive. So he broke the silence:

"That's enough, everyone. Who knows if Bruce can hear us or not?"

“Yes, this is what they call being separated by life and death.” Dick turned to look at Wang Baixi, somewhat amused and exasperated by his words. “But Wang, are you confident you can resurrect him?”

"Of course!"

Tim sighed. He knew Wang Baixi was right, but his way of expressing it was as carefree as ever.

Joshua lowered his eyes; he could tell that each of these guys possessed unique skills!

"Nightwing the necromancer, Robin, the butler... and the mysterious blond man. Ahem, excuse me, but Pennyworth actually let you into the cave, which means you also know Batman's true identity, right?"