DC: Rise of the Kryptonian Tyrant

It was now the second day since Bardi revealed his identity.

All day long, chaos spread across every sector. Whether it was Wayne Enterprises' stock price, the city government, the police department, or the Daily Planet, the news of Batman's identity had begun to spread worldwide, making headlines in every major paper and sparking widespread controversy.

Debates raged on television over human rights, authority, and Batman's private use of force and punishment. With Alfred monitoring government agencies, they discovered that the FBI had already begun preparing to arrest Bruce. At this point, all they needed was solid evidence, a legal pretext, or a credible witness. After all, taking down a capitalist giant came with serious consequences.

Killing the Joker publicly might seem like decisive evidence, but Wayne Enterprises' legal team had already sprung into action. Even without Bruce making a public appearance, they had been arguing all day to the point of exhaustion.

That night, Gotham remained shrouded in clouds.

In Gotham's dark cityscape, a legend circulated.

It was said that in the night of Gotham, there were shadowy figures who moved in silence. They controlled the darkness. In this city, anyone who went against their will would be eliminated by the claws of owls, even the ruling Wayne family.

"Beware the Court of Owls that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadow perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth. They watch you in your bed. Speak not a whispered word of them, or they'll send the talon for your head"

"Have you heard that nursery rhyme?"

In the dead of night, Bardi and Nightwing were walking through Wayne Tower. The floor-to-ceiling windows were blurred by thick clouds, allowing only a faint glimmer of moonlight to shine through.

"Of course I've heard it. Come on, Bruce, it's just a nursery rhyme. Are you saying you believe it's real?" Nightwing walked beside him, the dim moonlight reflecting off his black suit, highlighting his strong, youthful physique.

Bardi glanced at Nightwing beside him. Though still inexperienced in many ways, he handled things far better than Bruce had at the beginning.

In the near future, barring any accidents, the name Batman would likely be passed on to Nightwing.

That was one of Bruce's many quiet wishes.

He was also Bardi's ally in Gotham's reform.

"Some inherited traditions are worth examining."

"A black cat crosses your path, and it means bad luck."

"If thirteen people sit at a table, someone will die by midnight."

"Alan Wayne, my great-grandfather, understood the power of superstition. That's why he was one of the first to eliminate the thirteenth floor in his mansion."

Nightwing paused, watching Bardi walk ahead. The pale moonlight cast an eerie glow around him.

"So you're telling me it's true?"

Nightwing's expression turned serious, focusing on Bardi's words.

"The strange thing is, to properly satisfy superstition, you have to leave a space between the twelfth and fourteenth floors—a fake floor—to contain the bad luck of the number thirteen."

"That's why there's no thirteenth floor in Wayne Tower."

Bardi stepped up to the elevator. They were now on the twelfth floor.

"Alfred, stop the elevator."

"Yes, sir."

After giving Alfred the order to stop the elevator, Bardi rolled up the sleeves of his suit. He wasn't wearing the Batsuit because this wasn't going to be a fight. Not anymore. After gathering all the intel he needed, if the Court of Owls still had to be dealt with through direct combat, it would have been too simplistic.

Reality wasn't a novel. Only a novelist would purposely stage a climactic final battle. Bardi had already handled the Court of Owls personnel inside Wayne Tower.

Yesterday, under Bardi's mental suggestion, they were compelled to initiate a Court of Owls gathering at Wayne Tower. That was the end of it.

"Hmm!"

Bardi tensed his jaw, muscles surging through his arms as he pried open the elevator doors.

He leaned in and peered down the shaft. In the shadows between the twelfth and fourteenth floors, there was another elevator door. The thirteenth floor.

Even inside the elevator, there was no button labeled thirteen.

The thirteenth floor wasn't accessible by ordinary means.

Bardi stepped into the shaft, leapt across the empty space, and grabbed the metal ladder with both arms, beginning his ascent. Nightwing followed close behind.

"Owls are among the few birds that don't build their own nests.

Instead, they search for abandoned nests, or nests of hostile birds, and take them over.

In other words, they invade enemy territory and build nests in the homes of others."

As Bardi spoke, he reached the thirteenth floor and forced open the elevator doors.

As the doors parted, Nightwing's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked inside.

There was a massive office, lit with warm orange lights from above. Inside were more than sixty individuals, dressed in tailored suits and elegant gowns, each wearing a white owl mask, as if attending a masquerade.

But now, they lay unconscious—on the ground, at the tables, slumped across furniture.

Originally, there wouldn't have been so many people, but under Bardi's suggestion, the members of the Court of Owls had gathered here for a meeting. Of course, this wasn't the entire organization, but it was enough to cause widespread alarm.

"Felix Fulton, Gotham's famous philanthropist."

"Andre Froude, billionaire…"

"Cathy Ibanescu, a high-society courtesan, daughter of the former mayor…"

"Euphemia Sullivan, heiress of the Sullivans…"

"Albert Moxon, the new matriarch of the Moxon family…"

Nightwing recognized several people whose masks had fallen off. They were some of Gotham's most prominent socialites, philanthropists, and high-ranking figures from two of the city's four major families.

There were also representatives from Gotham's crime syndicates—the Falcone family, the Maroni family, the Sabbatino family, the Sullivan family, the Riley family, the Ibanescu family, the Dimitrov family, the Moxon family, the Odessa family, the Yakuza, the Elliott family, and more. Both the criminal underworld and the elite class were represented here.

This was a group capable of controlling and reshaping Gotham's entire power structure.

"They… are the Court of Owls?"

Nightwing stared in disbelief. It was staggering. He had never thought the nursery rhyme could be real.

"Yes."

(To be continued.)