Chapter 1657: Bruce Wayne and the Magic Stone (I) (Patreon)

In DC World With Marvel Chat Group : Table of Content/Chapter List

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After several years of municipal transformation, the problem of dense ice flooding in Gotham's underground has been greatly improved. The majority of the high-quality dense ice layers have been transformed into commercial cold storage facilities. One of the main characteristics of the building materials used for these cold storage facilities is their excellent insulation properties, ensuring that the cold air is contained within the storage and does not leak out. As a result, the overall temperature of Gotham City has shown signs of improvement.

Since Lex Luthor's Gotham Sun Plan has made good progress, Gotham now enjoys an average of two hours of sunlight every day, usually once in the morning at 10 o'clock and once in the afternoon at 3 o'clock.

The method used to bring sunlight to Gotham is rather forceful, as it involves expanding the Angelportal with a large amount of energy, temporarily dispersing the dark clouds that gather above the city. After doing this many times, many of the dark clouds have been pushed to the outer edges, and the thickness and gathering speed of the cloud layer have slowed down significantly.

As a result, Gotham now receives at least three to four hours of direct sunlight every day, and the direct consequence of this is that Gotham has begun to experience distinct seasons, just like Metropolis.

In the past, due to the lack of direct sunlight and the constant rain, Gotham was cold and damp all year round. If a comparison had to be made, its climate was more similar to that of the Scottish Highlands.

The first summer after Gotham welcomed the sun again, the city experienced a true hot summer, with the highest temperatures breaking records from the past twenty years, and the average daily temperature finally reaching the average summer temperature of East Coast City.

This was a difficult time for the people of Gotham, who were no different from vampires.

The cold mist that used to linger on the corners of clothes and hair transformed into rising hot steam, and with the slightest sweat, it became one of the culprits that made clothes stick to the skin. The residual heat from the direct sunlight not only caused the roads and walls to heat up, but also made everyone feel like they were wrapped in a scorching cocoon, unable to escape the oppressive heat no matter where they went.

Even the fearless people of Gotham struggled to endure the hot summer. The remaining air conditioners in the city sold out overnight, and there were long queues for air conditioner installations. With their homes unbearably hot, the people of Gotham came up with all sorts of creative solutions. Some went to large shopping malls to enjoy the air conditioning, while others gathered on the floors of large cold storage facilities to experience the few areas where the cold air leaked out.

Some even dug tunnels in their basements to connect to the nearby cold storage facilities, creating natural, electricity-free cooling rooms for themselves. Others took advantage of their positions to ask cold storage maintenance staff for pieces of dense ice with damaged structures to place in their homes, allowing it to melt and absorb heat to cool themselves down.

However, no matter how many ways there were to beat the heat, most of them required staying in a designated location without moving. If one were to go out onto the streets, it would still be very hot. The people of Gotham, who had never experienced this kind of climate before, became like wilted eggplants, choosing to stay at home and avoid going out unless absolutely necessary.

In an extremely rare occurrence, the gangs involved in the Gotham Shootout almost completely stopped their activities overnight. Everyone returned to their homes and sought ways to cool down, as getting shot a couple of times was not a big deal, but if they were to suffer from heatstroke, the Gotham hospital, with its lack of experience in dealing with such cases, might not be able to save them.

In this summer, which could be described as bright and sunny, Gotham became unusually quiet. And as the saying goes, when humans leave, the wonders of countless species naturally revive.

Unconsciously, weak insect sounds began to emerge from the steel forest, and the waters of the Gotham River became more turbulent and surging with the arrival of the flood season. Even the mud and sand at the river's mouth began to show signs of crabs and crustaceans.

After the adults retreated to their homes to escape the heat, the city became a playground for children. Teenagers, who were never bothered by the cold or heat, played to their hearts' content. With the gangs' activities halted, there were fewer tasks to do and no more gunfire to worry about, and children could be seen playing and frolicking on the riverbanks and in the river.

Besides the children, the happiest people were the local tourists. While the temperature was almost unbearable for the people of Gotham, for others, Gotham remained a rare and valuable summer resort.

The gangs hid themselves away, making it possible to visit many streets that were previously inaccessible. More importantly, under the coordination of Mayor Roy, the beaches in Gotham's prime locations began to gradually open up to tourists.

The people of Gotham found it hard to understand why anyone would want to go to a specific place just to sunbathe, and the beaches in Gotham were not suitable for sunbathing in the past.

Without strong sunlight, going to the beach would only result in experiencing colder and damper sea breezes and the not-so-pleasant smell of the sea. Even the gang families who controlled these beaches only considered them as assets to guard, and no one would willingly go to the beach to endure the cold wind.

However, to outsiders, this was a treasure—a golden coastline with excellent sand quality and very few footprints, providing a satisfyingly pristine environment.

Because Gotham has a river estuary, the shape of its bay is more rugged than that of Metropolis, making it unsuitable for swimming and aquaculture. However, it has given rise to another more suitable sport—surfing.

In the eyes of surfing enthusiasts, the bay environment and wind strength are the perfect conditions they have always dreamed of. The strong sea breezes, which were despised and hated by countless locals and mob bosses, also empowered many sailing sports experts.

Along the East Coast, the majority of beaches in all cities that are even remotely connected to the sea have been fully developed.

The constant tourism and commercial activities inevitably make these places crowded and chaotic, with most visitors being families with children, each with a swimming tube floating in the sea. The space for these professional sports enthusiasts to practice has been shrinking, and Gotham has become the last piece of pure land on the East Coast that they have discovered in recent years.

Most of the tourists who dare to come to Gotham are young people. It is rare to see tour groups with elderly people or children, as young people create a more vibrant cultural atmosphere, are more inclusive, and are more accepting of various niche cultural enthusiasts.

In addition to the authentic gang rap, Gotham quickly gained the favor of various niche cultural groups, such as street graffiti enthusiasts, extreme water sports enthusiasts, sand and beach art enthusiasts, and public domain structure creators.

As the gangs melted away under the sun, these niche groups naturally took to the streets, and the cultural atmosphere they brought began to influence some of the local youth. Gotham has a high probability of producing genius artists, and gradually, the city's street culture began to thrive.

Furthermore, the economic growth brought about by the gangs' logistics, cold chain transportation, and various small vendors and hawkers under their control has put some spare money in people's pockets. With more free time, people have come up with all sorts of quirky creations.

The crazy minds of the people of Gotham, once soaked by the rain, have indeed come up with some unique and wonderful ideas, aside from crime. However, due to the previous security environment and economic situation, these ideas could not be realized. Now that both of these issues have been addressed, Gotham has produced numerous public domain works that have amazed the world.

During the filming of Batman in Gotham, Clark casually took a few photos of the quirky sculptures created by the people of Gotham and became an internet sensation once again. Many art media outlets that focus on this aspect began to turn their attention to Gotham.

Gotham became a hot topic once again, and with the enthusiastic recommendations of many niche art enthusiasts, the popularity grew even more. With the rise of popularity comes traffic, and many journalists, enthusiasts, and innocent netizens looking to ride the trend began to flock to Gotham under the banner of exploring this quirky city.

However, this created another problem—Gotham was already crowded, and the influx of tourists put a tremendous strain on transportation and commerce. As the influence of these netizens grew stronger, Gotham experienced an unprecedented and terrifying traffic jam.

In the past, Gotham's traffic jams were caused by chaotic traffic rules and lax enforcement. However, this time, the blame cannot be placed on the infrastructure or management, as the number of vehicles on the roads completely exceeded the capacity of the city's transportation facilities.

Mayor Roy quickly called a meeting with all relevant professionals, including professors, teachers, and even outstanding students from Gotham University, as well as related professionals from the Wayne Group, mob bosses, and even sorcerers who had recently arrived in Gotham.

In summary, Mayor Roy expressed that the Gotham City Hall would fully cooperate with anyone who could address the current paralysis of the city's transportation system.

However, after much discussion, the conclusion was unanimous—the rotten public transportation system, which was like a pile of dog poop, was solely to blame.

What does it mean for a city with a population of nearly ten million to have almost no bus routes? What does it mean for one of the largest modern cities on the East Coast to have only two subway lines? And these two lines were built by Europeans.

The environment in Gotham's subway stations is so bad that when Joker forced Batman to make a choice with explosives, he chose to go on a boat instead of the subway, which should be a densely populated area. This shows that the situation has reached a point where even the Ninja Turtles would carry the train tracks at night to escape, and the sewer mermaids would spit in disgust.

Therefore, the focus of Gotham's development once again shifted to the transportation issue. To further develop tourism, accommodate more people, and make the city's various industries more efficient in serving tourists, the people of Gotham had to unite and strive to establish an efficient public transportation system for the city.

However, it was clear that this was not a problem that could be solved quickly. For such a large city to completely overhaul its public transportation system, it would likely take at least eight to ten years.

With tourists continuing to pour in and gangs also having transportation needs, if this issue was not addressed quickly, the tourists and gangs would once again become opposing sides, undoing the win-win situation that the people had worked hard to create. This was something Mayor Roy could not accept.

To address this issue quickly, it seemed that some extraordinary measures would have to be taken, and Mayor Roy turned his attention to the power of magic.

Or, to be more precise, he turned his attention to the mysterious green power that the sorcerers wanted to use to build an Earth magic defense network.

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

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Next Chapter ->Chapter 1658: Bruce Wayne and the Magic Stone (Part 2)