"Managing the business of Wayne Enterprises." Carter sighed, folded his arms, and looked out at the distant sea. "After the two Earths merged, the business landscape expanded as well, and Wayne Enterprises has to compete with more entities. But actually..."
Carter showed a somewhat troubled expression, then lowered his voice and said, "I feel he's not very good at managing business, often ending up in a mess. Wayne Enterprises hasn't really gained much from other giants, only barely maintaining itself."
Shiller recalled briefly that the old man indeed wasn't good at business. Or rather, he wasn't good at doing business honestly, but was quite adept at probing the boundaries between black and white, including but not limited to arms and casino businesses.
The competition Wayne Enterprises faces is strong, aside from the original Luther Group, there's the Stark Group, Osborn Group, Roxon Corporation, and those many Marvel giants who aren't exactly legal; they're probably having headaches right now.
"I thought he would be more focused on the Rebirth Alliance's work," Shiller said.
"It's not that he doesn't value it," Carter explained. "He has indeed provided a lot of support to the Rebirth Alliance, including helping a lot with this wedding undertaking."
Carter sighed lightly, "When we found out Mr. Grayson wanted a traditional Catholic wedding, we were all surprised. You know, Steve grew up in a traditional Catholic parish, during a time when religious atmospheres were strong, yet he couldn't arrange a Catholic wedding. We hosted a modern lawn wedding, hard to imagine young people would want such a traditional wedding."
"We asked around among superheroes, and none had done it. Luckily, Thomas eventually told us that his wedding with Martha was a traditional Catholic wedding, otherwise we wouldn't have dared take on this job."
Shiller recalled, there was a time when he gave psychological counseling to Catwoman Selina. Mainly she was not adapting well after entering high society, especially during interactions with Aisha and those parents; he also asked Selina about her wedding ideas.
This girl from the slums based her wedding ideas on Hollywood dramas; it's like a pretty big lawn where the bride walks up in a white wedding gown, ending with a bouquet toss. Maybe Bruce also wants such a wedding.
However, Shiller guessed Thomas and Martha might want them to take a more formal route; at least they should go to church. It's not about right or wrong, lawn weddings are simple and open, with less sense of ceremony, more like a friend gathering, but church weddings are more solemn, with a stronger sense of ceremony.
As expected, Thomas and Martha had a traditional Catholic wedding back in the day. But it's not surprising, whether it's the Wayne Family or the Kane family, they are considered old money on the East Coast. Generally, the heirs of old money families enjoy the full treatment, all life's key ceremonies must be the most solemn and grand, not to mention the union with the Kane family — that could be considered Gotham's wedding of the century.
Thinking of this, Shiller paused, he said, "Do you have enough budget?"
"What?" Carter hadn't expected him to ask this, and after reacting said, "You're not joking, are you, Professor? We dare take on so many Multiverse visitors, and we're short on budget? Our budget is limitless!"
Shiller flipped through his memories and asked, "Which department is Nick Fury in?"
"He went to the development department," Carter said. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Shiller didn't know how to explain. Actually, not every universe's Nick is skilled at reimbursement; most are quite reliable, plus the Nick from 616 is Caucasian, completely different from the universe of greed, no comparison can be made.
"All I know is, the expenses for a traditional Catholic wedding are as grand as its sense of ceremony; be prepared," Shiller said.
Carter smiled but didn't take it to heart; she had long gotten the message from others that for this Multiverse reception event, they prepared quite ample funds, even set up a special fund management team, seeing the balance on the account could make someone dizzy.
The yacht wobbled into port, and cars had already filled the coast. Since no one drank, everyone was clear-headed, except maybe the Divine King couple from Asgard needed to go to the hospital for a check-up, everyone else returned to the hotel to rest.
By the time they returned to the hotel, it wasn't too late; coincidentally, another batch of superheroes had just arrived, and the two motorcades collided, causing a bit of chaos.
Luckily, it wasn't just Carter's group; Coulson also brought people. His group was different from Carter's, clearly a combat team, almost everyone armed.
Shiller was somewhat puzzled, exactly what kind of people need to be met by such a combat team? After getting out of the car, he didn't walk into the hotel immediately, instead stood by the stairs watching the bustle. Then a long vehicle's door opened, and a "missile" crashed into his arms.
"Professor!!!" Aisha shouted, "See if I've gotten taller!!"
Shiller looked down and noticed Aisha had indeed grown a bit taller, though this seemed to be her own doing. Aisha chattered, "My dad arranged it with them for me to be the flower girl. A flower girl can't be too short, I don't want to roll around like a cabbage in front of the newlyweds. But if I wear high heels, I'll fall, so I just grew a bit taller..."
Aisha kept chattering, and Shiller gave her a playful pat on the head. He then turned his gaze to Bruce and Selina stepping out of the car. Selina rushed over to hug Aisha and said, "Sorry, Professor, we got caught in traffic on the way here, and we were about to go crazy."
"Aisha!" Selina called, "Stop standing by the door and chatting, hurry and come with me to the bathroom. You ate ice cream in the car, and your hair and clothes are a mess, come quickly to clean up..."
With that, she tugged Aisha away, but it was clear she couldn't manage Aisha by herself. Bruce ran up the steps, nodded at Shiller, and went to catch up with Selina.
Shiller watched the family of three walk away thoughtfully: No wonder they sent so much security, it was because of Bruce...
Just as he thought of this, he saw the Fantastic Four getting out of the car behind, led by Reed Richards.
The moment Reed stepped out of the car, the regular agents who weren't armed instinctively reached for their hips, and Carter took a step back to find cover, the tension in the air was palpable.
Shiller quickly walked down the steps and waved to Franklin, who was floating in the air. Then he exchanged pleasantries with Susan, "Long time no see, ma'am, how have you been lately?"
"Not bad, I earned a master's degree in astronomy from the University of California," Susan said with a smile. "It was a bit challenging, but the result was worth it."
Shiller also smiled and said, "Learning is always beneficial, and of course, a doctoral title is even more so."
"Oh, you're overestimating me," Susan laughed, waving a hand, "I think my current education level is enough, but I lack practical experience in the laboratory. My next step is to..."
Shiller had already noticed that these four were from the Greedy Universe, but it was quite strange because the Central Universe shouldn't have the Fantastic Four, and the four of them hadn't formed a team.
It's true that Reed and Susan got together, and the Human Torch Jonathan is Susan's brother, so their relationship is quite close. But Graham, who originally should have been the Thing, although a classmate of theirs, wasn't that close. If it weren't for undergoing a mission-related mutation, they wouldn't have formed a team.
The Fantastic Four are indeed a very loving family. They support and encourage each other, and you could say that the most reluctant to be human among them—Mr. Fantastic and Human Torch—have given their humanity entirely to this family.
In a way, not experiencing that accident is a good thing for the Thing and the Human Torch. There's no need to elaborate on the Thing; he's troubled by his appearance in practically every universe.
Originally, he had a promising career as a pilot, like Green Lantern Hal, who was a test pilot but didn't have space qualifications. Yet, Ben Graham, the Thing, not only was an outstanding pilot but also had extensive experience in space work. He belonged to the highest earning and most impeccably living class in the U.S., someone who should have had a bright and prosperous life.
But after turning into the Thing, on one hand, he couldn't fly a plane anymore because his size wouldn't fit in the cockpit, let alone in the cramped space of rockets and spacecraft. Even if he could fit inside, it wouldn't be suitable for long-term missions, essentially ending his career.
On the other hand, Graham's looks were considered handsome, and with his respected profession, he was the focus wherever he went. But suddenly becoming a rock monster, the drastic change is something anyone would struggle to accept. The Thing at one point became self-destructive; it was only the sense of accomplishment from being a superhero that saved him from possibly turning into a super villain.
In the Central Universe, Graham first worked as a pilot at the Space Agency, later selected for the space station, and now appears to be on a Star ship, possibly competing for a first mate position. Perhaps this has reunited him with his old classmates.
As for the Human Torch, he is a typical young hero, rebellious and difficult, always causing trouble and leaving cleanup for his sister and brother-in-law. Even someone as worldly-wise as Reed seems a bit like a big fool in front of him.
His temper combined with his abilities makes him an automatic troublemaker, who arguably rivals the villains in the scale of destruction he causes, and he is remarkably stubborn. Although some of his impulsiveness is the result of plot contrivances to create conflict, it's still exasperating to watch.
The Central Universe's Human Torch didn't become the Human Torch, but he still made plenty of mischief. Previously, he somehow acquired a rundown spaceship for drag racing in low Earth orbit, causing chain collisions, and he was nearly killed by Polaris, if not for Reed pulling him out.
Fortunately, he doesn't have the Human Torch's abilities anymore, otherwise with the heavy traffic near Earth and Crux, a single misstep from him could make half the insurance companies in the universe shiver in fear.