Chapter 62 Reality and Inspiration

"Hello, I'm Bruce Wayne."

The proprietress's name-recognition system went offline, and it took her a long time to react and realize who 'Bruce Wayne' was. This was comparable to Bill Gates suddenly showing up downstairs at your apartment building; even if it were true, it felt completely fake. The old lady finally wore a rare expression of shock, looking Bruce up and down from head to toe, and after a long while, she smacked the counter and blurted out, "Good grief!"

Then she rapidly returned to reality, sat back down in front of the cash register, pushed up her reading glasses, and asked calmly, "What are you buying? Checking out?"

Bruce: "..."

After all, even if Bill Gates came to your little neighborhood bodega, you'd know he was at most there to buy a bottle of water, not to purchase your grocery store, so no matter how surprised you were, that was about the extent of it.

True to form, Mr. Wayne produced a bottle of mineral water from behind his back, his planned opening lines thoroughly derailed. He glanced at Eelia and suddenly asked, "Is this Asian supermarket up for sale?"

The proprietress, currently scanning the barcode of the mineral water, suffered a hand tremor: "...???"

Good heavens, Bill Gates wants to buy the bodega downstairs from her apartment!!

She was genuinely startled this time, looking at Bruce with a face full of utter bewilderment. Bruce paused for a second, seemingly finding it a bit absurd himself, so he smiled and said, "Just kidding, ma'am. I'm a friend of Eelia's and came to see him today. It's quite a sudden imposition, but would you mind letting us step outside to talk for a moment? I'll cover any losses."

The proprietress looked at him in astonishment, then turned her gaze to the expressionless Eelia, and after a moment, said with sudden seriousness, "Does my employee owe you money? How much? I'll pay it for him. We're all civilized people in a harmonious society, there's no need to make things too ugly."

Even with Bruce's composure, the corner of his mouth twitched slightly. Eelia covered his forehead, stood up, and said, "You've misunderstood... We really are friends."

The proprietress doubtfully switched to Mandarin and said, "Doesn't look like it. Are you sure you aren't being coerced by a billionaire?"

Bruce, who understood Mandarin: "..."

To be honest, Baby Brusie was showing plenty of initiative, but they still looked more like total strangers than actual acquaintances—it was almost creepy due to Bruce's unilateral enthusiasm. It was entirely Eelia's fault.

"No." Eelia took an unreadable, deep breath, trying to look enthusiastic and failing, so he simply said with a darkened expression, "I just didn't expect him to show up at this hour."

You know what's more annoying than socializing?

Sudden, unprompted, mandatory socializing.

The proprietress opened her mouth to speak, but at that exact moment, Bruce fully embodied his public persona. With a single movement, he slung an arm around Eelia's shoulder and said warmly to the proprietress, "He's always like this. Don't worry, ma'am, I'll only borrow your employee for a little while, and I'll bring him back safe and sound!"

Damn it!

At that moment, countless F-words flashed through Eelia's mind. His build was similar to Bruce's, and the two of them squeezed and bumped against each other like wrestling bears as they made their way out of the supermarket doors, left the courtyard, and stepped into the drizzling outdoors. The moment they were outside, Bruce Wayne released his grip and casually massaged his wrist—Eelia actually possessed greater strength than him; although Bruce had utilized leverage, and Eelia hadn't gone all out against a billionaire, suppressing the other man's attempt to pull away had still been quite difficult.

No wonder the Destiny Lantern could withstand a blow from Superman; it seemed this human body had been enhanced as well.

The Batman persona within Bruce's mind made a cold, analytical assessment.

Yet his face retained its pitch-perfect friendliness as he apologized to Eelia: "Sorry, I got a little impatient. It wasn't convenient to talk inside the shop—Superman mentioned his invitation for you to join the Justice League, which surprised and delighted me, so I rushed over without giving advance notice."

Eelia raised an eyebrow. "Superman told you?"

"I'm an investor," Bruce said with a smile. "Any major changes in the League are usually reported to me, though I don't always keep close tabs on them... After all, I have far too many matters to deal with daily. The main reason I responded so enthusiastically this time is because you're my friend. Speaking of which, how are Alfred's recipes?"

Eelia replied flatly, "Superman thought they were good."

"Super—cough," Bruce choked slightly, his expression turning somewhat bizarre. "That's Superman. Why on earth did you show him the recipes?"

*Why is Superman cooking for you? Why are you two getting together to eat meals together??*

Batman did not understand; Batman was profoundly shocked. Yet aside from the trace of intentional surprise he had displayed earlier, he leaked not a single drop of true emotion, saying instead with an air of sudden realization, "Oh, so you two are friends?"

This time, Eelia merely gave a single nod.

That solitary nod also gave Bruce a rather extraordinary feeling: Eelia was genuinely a difficult person to grow close to; all he could say was, *Superman, as expected of you.*

He gained a fresh perspective on his colleague's social life and was just about to beat around the bush to ask something else when Eelia's phone rang abruptly.

Bruce glanced swiftly at the screen, deciding that phone number looked terribly familiar as well.

A few seconds later, he remembered: *Ah, Black Lightning.*

What was going on? Why hadn't Eelia Esposito joined the Justice League yet, but somehow already possessed a whole roster of superhero contact numbers?

Black Lightning had no idea his colleague was eavesdropping on the other end of the line. The moment the call connected, he said solemnly, "Mr. Esposito, you'd better come down to the school. Your daughter Ophelia had some... trouble during club activities today. The situation isn't terribly urgent, but it's difficult to handle."

He kept his wording somewhat vague, yet trusted that Eelia would grasp the gravity of the problem, because there was only one scenario involving Ophelia that warranted Black Lightning calling a parent: a superpower meltdown.

The last shred of relaxed color vanished from Eelia's face. He agreed without the slightest hesitation, immediately asked the proprietress for leave, and reached his hand into his pocket toward the Yellow Lantern ring. Just then, Bruce caught him by the forearm and spoke in a low voice: "Take me with you. I might be able to help."

This sounded rather unlike something an ordinary wealthy businessman would say. Eelia gave him a contemplative look and offered no refutation.

***

Simultaneously, within the dreamscape, Galla asked in astonishment, "My father... helped you?"

"That was a long time ago, and it's not the main point of our discussion today," the Lord of Dreams shook his head. "Let's talk about something meaningful. Galla, how do you think your father has been doing lately?"

His inquiry sounded like a casual pleasantry, but Galla knew the Lord of Dreams certainly hadn't dropped by just to ask idle questions. He thought for a moment, then answered hesitantly, "I think... he's doing quite well. Regardless of how others might view his lifestyle... he seems to genuinely enjoy his current days."

"Oh?" The Lord of Dreams pursued the topic with interest. "How could you tell?"

Galla blurted out, "He invited Superman over to our house as a guest!!!"

Even though Superman insisted they had serious business to discuss, given Eelia's personality, how would he ever mix work with daily life? They hadn't parted ways after finishing their business; they had even cooked a meal together. No matter how Superman managed it, at the very least, he could now be considered a friend acknowledged by the Lord of Dreams!

Even the Lord of Dreams wore a somewhat surprised expression. Yet the astonishment lasted only for an instant before he smiled slightly and said, "That's good. But of all people, Superman... It seems he has overcome his psychological barriers..."

The final half-sentence was mumbled so softly that Galla barely caught it and didn't have time to ask, as the Lord of Dreams quickly perked up, waved his hand, and 'slid' four playing cards across space toward Galla:

"In that case, we can proceed to the next step of the plan. Which card will you draw today?"

"Uh, I want to read the comic. That Justice Lords Superman we talked about last time has me a bit curious."

As Galla spoke, he reached toward the Spade representing [Plot], but the Lord of Dreams' expression didn't change, nor did he make any visible motion; yet the Spade card suddenly drifted away from Galla's reach. Galla grabbed for it twice and failed to catch it. The playing card fluttered about in mid-air like a butterfly, displaying extraordinary agility, which prompted Galla to look at the Lord of Dreams with a skeptical gaze.

The Lord of Dreams watched him with detached indifference, as if the behavior of the playing card had nothing to do with him at all, and merely repeated his question: "Which card will you draw today?"

Galla: "...Then how about [Evaluation]?"

The moment he raised his hand halfway this time, the [Heart card] representing Evaluation bolted ten meters away in a flash.

"..."

Galla stared at the unperturbed Lord of Dreams and asked, "Is there a specific card you want me to pick?"

The Lord of Dreams denied it, saying, "No, these are all the desires of 'yourself'."

He placed heavy emphasis on the word 'yourself'.

A flash of understanding crossed Galla's mind. He guessed that for some reason, the other party couldn't give him direct hints and could only guide him through this method.

On his third attempt to grab a card, Galla tested the waters: "Then what about [Adapted Works]?"

When he reached toward the Club card, the playing card remained still, hanging quietly in its original spot.

*So this is the content the Lord of Dreams wanted me to see,* Galla thought. Yet during their last meeting, the other party had clearly suggested he check out the comics and animations; why was he forced to play charades this time?

Could it be that [Adapted Works] contained more than just animation? Was the Lord of Dreams trying to make him understand something much more important?

The next moment, the dreamscape shifted.

Instead of the television set previously used to watch *The Destiny Family*, a mirror-like screen materialized before Galla. In the center of the screen, scenes of a three-dimensional Metropolis slowly emerged, yet there was no accompanying background music, no subtitles, and no text labels—only constantly shaking and flickering imagery.

Galla stared at it in a daze for a few seconds before suddenly realizing—this wasn't some fictional audiovisual work filmed according to a script!!

It looked far more like footage, a documentary... or rather, an eye gazing straight into reality!

As this realization dawned on him, Galla caught out of the corner of his eye that the face of the Club card, representing [Adapted Works], seemed to have shifted. It had transformed from black into a deep crimson tinged with an ominous undertone. In the center of the previously blank playing card appeared the image of a 'King' wearing a crown and wielding chains and books. Galla remembered the back of the card used to bear the phrase [Parallel Universe], but now those letters had transformed and recombined into two entirely different words:

[Reality-Inspiration]

These alterations caused him to instinctively turn his head to look more closely. However, the moment he stared fixedly at the playing card, he found it instantly reverting to its previous appearance, as if the symbols and words had merely been a trick of his imagination.