Godfather Owl: Guardian of Batman

Merry Christmas!

---

At this point, the rest of The Seven finally began to see Bruce in a new light.

They were starting to realize that the boy sitting among them wasn't just any ordinary thirteen-year-old.

If Bruce wanted to, he could probably even become a shareholder in Vought International.

After fully understanding the company's operations, Bruce had also come to grasp just how corrupt and inept Vought truly was.

Though it appeared to be a corporate giant, internally it was riddled with dysfunction.

Especially concerning was the creation of Homelander—someone with no countermeasures in place to keep him in check.

If I hadn't arrived in this world, Vought would have inevitably fallen under Homelander's control, Bruce mused. And not just Vought. Even the United States might end up in his hands.

---

The meeting concluded without incident.

As Starlight left the command hall, she couldn't shake the surreal feeling lingering in her chest.

"Bruce, did you just… hold Homelander in check?"

She whispered to him, her tone incredulous. "That's the strongest superhero we're talking about!"

Bruce neither confirmed nor denied it.

Wasn't it just like training a dog?

Homelander's biggest flaw was his overconfidence in his supposed intelligence.

That intelligence, however, was rooted in the flattery of those around him—flattery born of his overwhelming power.

If Homelander ever tried brute-forcing his way through a situation, Bruce would have no way to stop him.

Luckily, the man was too obsessed with his own image.

Bruce didn't bother answering Starlight's question.

This woman's not the sharpest tool in the shed. Homelander's nearby, and you're gossiping about him behind his back? He can hear you!

"Starlight, I know Homelander is your idol, and you're probably unhappy with how I acted just now," Bruce said casually, his voice deliberately calm. "But honestly, Homelander is my idol too. He's the greatest hero in the world."

He fixed her with a pointed look as he said this.

For the love of God, use your brain!

---

As time passed, Bruce's reputation only grew.

Almost every time The Seven went into action, he was there.

Sometimes, A-Train would carry him to the scene.

Other times, Queen Maeve would descend from the sky with him in her arms.

And occasionally, he and Starlight would team up for missions, dispelling rumors of internal discord.

This time, it was The Deep's turn.

"Smuggling operations around here have gotten out of hand. Everyone's been paid off, from top to bottom, and those smugglers are getting bolder by the day," The Deep explained as they arrived in a bustling port city.

He kept his head low and spoke deferentially as he briefed Bruce on their mission objectives.

"They've gotten so brazen it's blown up into a public scandal. The people are outraged."

The Deep's implication was clear: if the public hadn't found out, they wouldn't have bothered addressing it.

But Bruce wasn't paying much attention to The Deep's chatter.

His gaze was fixed on the distant port, a flood of mixed emotions welling up inside him.

Perched on his shoulder, Kathoom—the small but ever-observant companion—voiced his exact thoughts. "It's uncanny, isn't it? Feels so much like Gotham!"

Indeed, this port city bore an eerie resemblance to Gotham.

Bruce couldn't help but reflect. Perhaps Gotham's thriving shipping industry, with its endless stream of profits, had been the breeding ground for its rampant crime.

But in truth, the wealth never stayed in Gotham. It merely passed through, flowing to other places.

The Deep, oblivious to Bruce's train of thought, stared at the containers piled high at the port and sneered.

"Just look at all this cargo. You have to wonder how many parasites it's feeding!"

He ranted, "For the sake of profit, humans have built ports and destroyed countless marine habitats."

"If you ask me, humans should stick to land and leave the oceans to nature!"

"Every port city should just disappear!"

Kathoom was left stunned by The Deep's bold proclamation.

Has this guy always been this gutsy?

Gotham's a port city too!

In cursing port cities, The Deep had unwittingly cursed Gotham as well.

Sure enough, Bruce turned to him with a cold, detached stare.

The Deep, blissfully unaware, smiled back.

"Well, you're not entirely wrong," Bruce said with a sudden sigh. "If people weren't so obsessed with profit, maybe there wouldn't be so much crime."

"Exactly!"

The Deep nodded enthusiastically, completely missing the danger he'd just narrowly escaped.

Their mission was to dismantle a smuggling ring operating out of the port.

Bruce and The Deep were already in position.

The Deep leaned in close and whispered, "Bruce, I've got a plan."

"Forget your plan," Bruce cut him off with a shake of his head. "I've got one."

The Deep immediately shut his mouth, signaling his readiness to listen.

"The smuggling ring's base isn't the real target," Bruce began, pointing toward a large ship anchored in the distance. "See that ship over there?"

The Deep followed Bruce's line of sight and spotted the massive vessel docked at the port.

"That ship," Bruce continued, "is the heart of their operation. The smugglers live and work there. They rarely set foot on land."

The Deep nodded vigorously, as if a light bulb had gone off in his head.

Bruce frowned. "Why are you nodding? I haven't even gotten to the important part yet."

"You're making so much sense!" The Deep exclaimed. "Hearing you explain it like this makes me realize just how reckless I've been in the past."

"Bruce, working with you is transformative! From now on, I'm going to model myself after you—recall your teachings during every mission, and strive to improve!"

His words dripped with flattery, his eyes practically begging Bruce to return the favor.

Bruce could only feel a wave of irritation.

"Enough. Cut that out—it's a waste of time."

He waved The Deep off, signaling him to stop talking.

This guy is terrible at compliments. Listening to him is torture.

At least Voldemort knew how to lay it on thick.

"I'll hit the smugglers' base, and you'll dive underwater to take control of that ship," Bruce instructed, casting The Deep a wary glance.

"Think you can handle that?"

Bruce had no intention of crafting a detailed plan only for his teammate to botch it.

That would truly drive him up the wall.

The Deep puffed out his chest and slapped it confidently. "Don't worry! I've done this sort of thing countless times!"

"Good. Then let's get to it!"

---

Bruce and The Deep split up to carry out their respective parts of the mission. As Kathoom followed close behind Bruce, the little creature let out a hearty laugh.

"The Deep is definitely going to mess this up," Kathoom said smugly. "Bruce, not every teammate is worth relying on, and The Deep? He's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of useless."

How he even got into The Seven was anyone's guess.

"I know The Deep is practically a joke on land," Bruce replied, not disputing Kathoom's assessment. The guy was barely better than an ordinary human outside of the water.

But the ocean was his domain, wasn't it? Even The Deep couldn't screw things up in his element.

"If he really manages to fail today, I might just have to rethink my faith in anyone who claims to be invincible in the water," Bruce added dryly.

"Then you'd better get ready to lose faith!" Kathoom declared with confidence. It wasn't that he doubted The Deep's powers; he doubted The Deep as a person.

This was a man who once managed to rescue a dolphin only for it to get hit by a truck, who tried to save lobsters but ended up getting them shelled, and who somehow got himself knocked unconscious standing on a whale. What expectations could anyone realistically have for him?

"Enough of that! It's time to move!"

By now, Bruce had reached the smuggling hideout.

Honestly, he didn't care if The Deep failed. It wouldn't affect the overall plan.

For now, Bruce needed to focus on his own task.

A quick glance at the hideout was enough for Bruce to spot its weak points.

"I can slip in through that air duct, make my way behind the criminals without them noticing, and then climb up to the ceiling. From there, I could silently take them out one by one."

It was a stealth tactic—a classic move from Batman's playbook.

Highly effective.

Having teammates vanish without warning would instill a profound sense of fear in the criminals.

It was like Batman whispering to them, You're next.

But Bruce wasn't Batman. Not yet.

And as the plan unfolded in his mind, he found himself rejecting the air duct entry.

Crawling through vents is way too much trouble.

He had better options.

Suddenly, Bruce sprang into action.

The armed smugglers, startled by a shadow moving in their peripheral vision, instinctively raised their weapons.

But Bruce was faster.

"Expelliarmus!"

The Elder Wand in his hand flashed, disarming the criminals in rapid succession. Their guns clattered to the ground.

"Stupefy!"

One stunning spell after another struck home, and the smugglers collapsed, incapacitated.

They sprawled at Bruce's feet in various awkward positions, while Bruce casually lowered his wand.

By taking out everyone, he ensured no one would notice his entrance.

This wasn't Batman-style stealth; it was something else entirely.

And I like it, Bruce thought with satisfaction.

After securing the scene, Bruce threw out several ropes enchanted with magic. The ropes coiled around the unconscious smugglers, binding them tightly.

All that remained was for the authorities to arrive and take them away.

In this world, while superheroes often engaged in unspeakable acts behind the scenes, they had to maintain a wholesome image in front of the cameras.

Killing was strictly off-limits.

As Bruce wrapped up his mission, he couldn't help but think about The Deep.

I wonder how he's doing.

Surely, after being briefed so many times, he couldn't possibly screw this up?

Just then, the loud blast of a steam whistle echoed through the air.

Bruce turned, his eyes narrowing in disbelief as he saw a large cargo ship billowing white fog, preparing to leave the port.

The Deep failed?

Bruce made his way to the dock, where he found The Deep crawling out of the water, dripping wet and utterly disheveled.

"What happened?" Bruce asked coldly.

"I got caught in the ship's propeller!" The Deep admitted, his tone apologetic. "I overestimated my speed and thought I could slip through the blades in time."

Bruce didn't need further explanation.

He brought this entirely on himself.

"They're getting away," The Deep sighed, shaking his head. "What a shame. And we even brought reporters to cover this…"

"Getting away?"

Bruce's gaze locked onto the fleeing ship. "I don't think so."

---

Aboard the cargo ship, the smugglers were celebrating their narrow escape.

They couldn't believe it—they had gotten away from The Deep, one of The Seven.

One of the seven strongest superheroes in the world!

Escaping him had to be a stroke of extraordinary luck.

"Do you think he'll chase us?" one of them asked nervously. "He's a fast swimmer!"

Another scoffed. "Even if he does, so what? I saw him get chewed up by the propeller!"

He sneered. "Even if he's still swimming, he's not in any shape to fight."

The group laughed, grateful for their improbable good fortune.

What could an injured Deep possibly do?

Then, they saw something impossible.

A white streak tore across the water's surface, heading straight for them at breakneck speed.

"Is that… The Deep?"

They craned their necks to get a better look, peering over the side of the ship.

It was The Deep, and yet it wasn't.

The Deep was indeed in the water, but he was skimming across its surface, carving waves in his wake.

And standing on The Deep's back, perfectly balanced, was a boy holding a wand.

Bruce.

His cold gaze was fixed on the ship as he closed in relentlessly.

One of The Seven had been reduced to a surfboard.

And Bruce was coming—riding into battle like a surfer cutting through the ocean.

---

I, WiseTL, in my infinite grace and generosity, have bestowed upon you an extra 2 chapters as my holiday gift. 🎁 Consider it a glimpse of my benevolence—cherish it well.

May your festivities be as golden as my treasury and as plentiful as my updates. Farewell, mortals, until the next chapter. 😉

Now, bow in gratitude. 🌟