In the office on the top floor of the Wayne Building, Thomas looked at the financial report in his hand with a solemn face, and the treasurer standing at the desk looked even worse than Thomas, and it could be said that his hair had turned gray.

"Mr. Wayne, the company's financial situation has been very worrying this quarter, I know that you are actively looking for input, but the shortage of liquidity has caused many of the company's businesses to shrink......"

"Okay, I know, find a way to hold on for another quarter, by the way, send those project materials that are still in the expansion period, and I'll see if there is anything that can be optimized."

At this time, there was a knock on the door, and a middle-aged lady in a professional suit walked in, she nodded to the treasurer, looked at Thomas again and said, "Mr. Wayne, I'm sorry, I have to remind you that your personal doctor called me again to emphasize that you can't work without sleep for three days in a row, which could put your life at risk. ”

Thomas lowered his eyes and said, "I know my physical condition very well, but now there are more important things for me to solve, I have to hurry up all the time, okay, go get the information for me." ”

Thomas got up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, his hands in the pockets of his suit and looked down, the lady stepped forward and walked across from him, looked at him and said, "Thomas, we have known each other for almost twenty years, and Herman and I are very happy to learn that you have returned." ”

"Of course, Melinda, you're the best personal assistant I've ever met, and you've helped the Wayne family a lot since I left, but I didn't expect you to end up with Herman, and I thought the German would be the winner."

Thomas smiled and looked at Melinda teasing, but the serious-faced lady didn't mean to joke at all, she stared into Thomas's eyes and said, "Thomas, look at what you're doing now, you're killing yourself." ”

"The cleaner who came out of your office had a dozen cans of energy drinks in their garbage bags, and you didn't dare let me continue to be your personal assistant because you knew I wouldn't allow you to ask for a dozen cups of coffee in a day, and you thought you were still a lad in your early twenties?"

"I know I'm not young anymore." Thomas tilted his head slightly, and said, "But I have wasted too much time, and I will now make up for it, if not to make up for my own regrets, I will never allow my life's work to end in poverty and ruin." ”

Melinda lowered her head and sighed and said, "It's not that little Wayne isn't good enough, it's just that he wants too much." ”

After speaking, the lady whose face could vaguely see the traces of her youthful beauty turned her head to look at the city outside the floor-to-ceiling window.

It's raining again in Gotham today, just like every day, heavy clouds climb from the skyline and press on everyone's heads, the thin rain lines are like chains that bind the soul, and every pedestrian walking on the road walks on the line of playing sad music, and his steps are heavier than the fingers of a pianist who weigh on the accent.

"Do you think he's doing useless work?" Thomas lowered his eyebrows and asked as he looked at the person across from his eyes.

"I know what he's doing is beneficial, but I can't see the end on this path, and such a big price can only be exchanged for small changes, and maybe these changes will eventually fade away and decay over time, and return to the original point." Melinda shook her head and said.

"If you've been through a more desperate moment, you know how amazing these small changes can be." There was no sadness or despair in Thomas's gaze at the city, and there was a surprise in his slightly old eyes that no one else could understand, like seeing the first sprouts after spring ploughing.

"Could this city be worse?" Melinda said with a wry smile.

"Of course, it's rotten you can't imagine."

"But I still don't agree with you doing this, you should cherish this life you saved by narrowing out of the dead."

"The meaning of life is not about the length of time."

Melinda looked at the quibbling Thomas angrily and helplessly, and just as the two were still arguing about the issue, suddenly the light in the room became bright.

The two of them were stunned for a moment, and their first reaction was to turn their heads to look at the lamp on the ceiling of the office, but the light did not change, or the light seemed dimmer, because the light shining through the window was brighter.

The figure in front of the window turned her head in shock, Melinda instinctively blocked her eyes with her arm, her pupils could not adapt to such a dazzling light, and tears were illuminated in an instant.

Thomas, more like a vampire about to be sunburned, took a few steps back in a bit of a panic, hiding in the shadows of the edge walls, but soon, the shadows were gone.

The sunlight from the large, barely bezel-free floor-to-ceiling windows allowed the darkness to hide, and all the furniture in the room was illuminated with only a striking white.

Facing the strong light, Thomas saw through the cracks of his fingers that blocked the sunlight, in the center of the thick dark clouds, a bright point of light dispersed, and layers of ripples spread out, dispelling the darkness, and the sky was light.

The bright midday sun shone through the circular cloud hole, and at this moment people understood what the shape of the light really was.

Cylindrical pillars of light were projected into the center of the city, then grew larger and larger, swinging across the city like a storm.

In Gotham, where it had just rained, all the buildings were very clean and washed by the rain, and when the sun shone on, they were as bright as diamonds scattered on the earth.

When the humid air is scorched by the sun, the smell of the fresh air after the rain rushes into the nostrils, like a blues saxophone played in the middle of the game.

Everyone's panicked expressions were clearly illuminated in the bright daylight that had never descended on the city, and everyone on the street stood in a daze after the brief blindness caused by the intense light disappeared.

They stared blankly at the puddles glittering in the sunlight, the starlight droplets on the street signs, and the tiny, faintly thick shadows under the shop windows around the corner.

Everyone made a very unified action, that is, to look up at the sky and look directly at the sun.

No one knew if the tears in their eyes came from the bright stars hanging high in the sky, or perhaps from the hot, surging hearts that beat in their chests on this ordinary afternoon when a heavy rain stopped.

Thomas looked out the window in a daze, standing in front of the glass window at the highest point of the city, the streets and alleys that looked like models in the sunlight did not even appear in his dreams.

So, like a little boy who saw the toy of his dreams in the window for the first time, the man who was over half a hundred years old tiptoed on tiptoe, turned around in a panic, pushed away the chair in front of him, and rushed out of the office door.

He couldn't remember the location of the elevator or staircase, and he had long forgotten about his hidden identity, but instinctively rushed to the brightest window in the hallway, and jumped out of it.

The flying hook arced across the clear blue sky, and the heat of the sun shining on Thomas made him clearly feel the presence of the wind above.

Like a bird flying freely, he fell from the top of a tall building, then swung high, and when he stood on the edge of the roof again, Thomas stretched out a hand, thinking that he could reach the sun.

This warm, scorching star had never been so close to him.

How many stars there are in this universe are not as good as man's preference for the sun, nor as man's preference for man's preference for man, and man's most romantic poem in praise of the sun is written about them shining on each other.

Thomas stood quietly on the roof of the building, but he still felt an indescribable emptiness, so he jumped down again and rushed out into the street.

The water splashed on him when the out-of-control car turned, and he didn't hide it, because he saw that the splash of water that had been raised was like a pearl that had been thrown away when it flew into the air.

Suddenly, an urgent emotion filled Thomas's heart, and he began to run down the street, not caring about the muddy water splashing on his trouser legs.

Rushing straight through the street, stopping at the intersection, Thomas turned his head from side to side, and then, as far as he could see, caught what he was looking for, waved his arms quickly, took a step, and rushed to a red phone booth.

Thomas opened the door to the phone booth with some violent movements, picked up the receiver with a trembling hand, and pressed the dial key with an equally trembling fingertip.

At that moment, he stopped there as if he had pressed the pause button, and Thomas swung his fist hard, slamming it on the glass of the phone booth, gritting his teeth and cursing in a low voice.

He looked back at the bright sky above the alley again and whispered, "Bruce, Bruce, where are you?" ”

Thomas stepped out of the phone booth, and when he looked into the distance, he saw the new buildings of the East End on the clear blue skyline.

Suddenly, Thomas's tense arms relaxed, his anxious mood vanished, and he was no longer anxious to let Bruce see it all.

For he saw in the corridors of those buildings, children rushing in droves, laughter and screams mixed together, stronger than exclamations.

These newly-born spring seedlings didn't stay for more than a minute in this sudden good weather, and then laughed and went about their business again.

Because they live in a stable, spacious building with many lights, light is not a rare luxury for them.

Exhausted with all his strength, Thomas leaned against the wet stone brick wall, breathing in the fresh air, nervous and embarrassed, as if he had only realized that he would be gasping for breath today.

Barry leaned on the fence on the roof of the Rodriguez estate, looked at the dark clouds that were slowly closing due to the withdrawal of energy, and said with some regret: "Unfortunately, this is too energy-consuming, not permanent." ”

"Perhaps, for these vampires in Gotham, an hour of sun a day is what they want." Lex also leaned on the guardrail and said, "It has sunshine, it saves energy, and it allows me to write an extra essay chapter on necessity." ”

"But, Professor, aren't you really going to ask Bruce to come back?" Lex turned to look at Schiller, who was standing aside, and asked, "Didn't he dream of seeing the sun in Gotham?" ”

"Then he'll dream."

The last rays of sunlight shone on Schiller's gray pupils, and looked through the layers of patterns, the center of which was a bottomless, rich black.

Bruce climbed up from the black hole, walked to the elevator, pressed the button, waited for the door to open, and walked in.

Soon, with a "ding dong", the elevator doors opened, and Bruce stepped out of the elevator, bypassed a bend in the circular corridor, and turned in from the second intersection to a room door.

"Password." Schiller's slightly indifferent voice came.

"I hate papers."

With a click, the door opened, and Bruce stepped inside, turning and pulling out a book from the bookshelf next to the bed.

When the pages were opened, his figure vanished, and when he reappeared, a bright city appeared in front of him.

In the sky above the village of Vicarra, Mexico, Clark carefully hugged Bruce, turned his head and complained to Diana who was flying aside:

“…… I said that his injuries were not completely healed and that he couldn't stay up all night working, and sure enough, he just rested on the ridge for a while, and just fell asleep. ”

Diana shook her head helplessly, following Clark's gaze to Bruce's face.

The young man's long eyelashes trembled slightly in the wind, and his eyebrows and eyes were lowered, like a baby snoring in the cradle, sleeping soundly.

(End of chapter)