Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics-Chapter 4455: Revised - 3540 - Research on Cats and Dogs (51)

That evening, Shiller drove to Gotham Airport. It had been renovated three years ago, although the overall layout remained unchanged, at least it didn't look so run-down anymore.

He came to the arrival gate and saw a little boy being led by two flight attendants: short black hair, slightly red skin, small freckles around his nose, uneven sunburn marks on his neck, wearing a red sweater with a fake shirt collar, and much sturdier than most kids his age.

"Hello, are you Billy Batson?"

Shiller handed his driver's license to the flight attendant. After repeatedly verifying it, the flight attendants handed Billy over to Shiller.

Throughout the process, the little boy kept his head up, staring at Shiller, but didn't say a word. He seemed a bit timid but couldn't help glancing around continuously.

After the flight attendants left, Shiller patted his head and guided him closer by holding his shoulder. Then he squatted down in front of him and said, "Are you Batson? From Wisconsin?"

Billy nodded, opened his mouth, then quickly closed it again.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Are you the professor Dick talked about?"

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"Yes, Schiller Rodriguez, nice to meet you." Shiller extended a hand to him.

Billy looked at the hand, licked his lips, then reached out and gently shook it.

"What's wrong?" Shiller asked, "Dick told me you're a lively kid. Why do I feel like you're scared?"

"I... it was my first time on a plane." Billy pinched his pants seam with both hands, eyes glancing to the side, then said, "And it's my first time in a big city."

Shiller sighed and said, "The flight attendant told me you caused a bit of trouble. Didn't you think of flying out mid-flight?"

Billy looked innocently at Shiller. His clear eyes made Shiller realize that he absolutely had thought of it and might even have attempted it.

"The plane window couldn't be opened," Billy said, "I tried, but I couldn't do it."

"Do you know what would happen if you opened the plane window?"

"Uh... maybe I could stick my head out. Or wind might come in."

Shiller didn't refute him. He lowered his head, took Billy's hand, gently touched his knuckles, then looked up at him and asked, "How old are you, Billy?"

"I'm almost 8."

Shiller widened his eyes slightly, then looked him up and down again. Billy didn't look like a seven or eight-year-old; his bones were too sturdy for his age. If someone said he'd graduated from primary school, no one would doubt it.

"Do you do a lot of chores at home?"

Billy shook his head and said, "My foster family runs a store in the town, and I occasionally help with moving goods. But my mom doesn't let me do it much, maybe afraid I'll break something."

Shiller thought of the worst possibility: the magic power given by Old Shazan. Though it allowed him to become an adult temporarily, reverting back afterward, maintaining the adult body might have caused irreversible effects on his growth, making his bone age far exceed his actual age.

However, this needed scientific examination to conclude, and telling Billy wouldn't help much. Although an 8-year-old had some understanding, once Old Shazan was involved, things became complicated. Even if he knew, he might not understand the intricacies involved.

"Alright, Billy. Dick should have told you, you'll be joining a new foster family in Gotham. Haven't found one yet, do you have any suggestions?"

Shiller stood up, leading Billy outside. Billy scratched his head and said, "I don't know. The social worker said I'd live with whoever they arranged. Are you a social worker?"

"I'm not. But I know them, and I'll discuss it to pick a suitable one for you."

"Okay. But I need to tell you, my biological parents died in a car accident without any compensation. Even if they adopt me, they won't get any money."

Shiller slowed his steps, turned his head to look at Billy, and asked, "Did your previous foster family care much about this issue?"

"I can't tell," Billy thought for a moment and said, "Though they said it didn't matter, I felt otherwise."

"How many kids were in your previous foster family?"

"Six."

"How many were their own?"

"Two, the youngest two."

From a few words, Shiller roughly understood the situation.

In America, there's a group of professional foster families who make a living off taking in foster children.

America's annual car accident death rate isn't low. Many tragic accidents create numerous orphans, some very young, holding a large sum of compensation from their parents' deaths, attracting specialized adopters who raise them to adulthood.

On their adulthood day, these adopters often demand the orphans leave home, but a portion of the compensation must be left behind. Most orphans comply. This is their way of making money.

In essence, it's a business. Since it's business, costs need to be minimized. Many foster families just find a boarding school and send the child there.

Although it's convenient, there's still tuition, and remote areas might lack boarding schools. Most children are raised at home, given food, and made to do chores until they are adults and must then leave.

Billy clearly belonged to such a family. They didn't starve him but merely provided food without proper education or even basic knowledge. His airfare was paid by the Young Avengers.

And, probably knowing Billy had no compensation, their attitude worsened, prompting Dick and others to bring him to Gotham.

After all, despite everything, he played the superhero Shazam, who had saved lives, even though he messed up quite a bit too, but you can't expect an 8-year-old from a small town to do better.

To lighten the mood, Shiller talked about something Billy was interested in: the internet. Back then, Shazam was quite popular online, with a personal profile and numerous fans.

But mentioning this made Billy look particularly dejected. He shook his head and said, "A woman had once come to find me. After finding out I was a child, she said nothing more. My website was shut down too."

"A woman? Was she a Black woman? Amanda Waller?"

Billy nodded and said, "Yes, I think she introduced herself as Waller. She wanted me to join some bureau..."

"Federation Shield?"

Billy nodded again.

Shiller sighed lightly. Amanda's nose was still so sharp, but unfortunately, she was just unlucky. Thankfully, she had some humanity left and didn't force a child into labor.

Shiller didn't have a good impression of Amanda, but he felt she might have empathized with Billy, so she shut down Shazam's website to prevent others from discovering Shazam was just a child.

Though Billy could transform into Shazam, this power wasn't omnipotent. When something happened at Mount Olympus, his power became unusable. If someone targeted him, he might not escape unscathed.

Shiller took Billy to the car. Billy, excited, fiddled around and looked outside the window with amazement.

Shiller thought, if it were his old self, he'd have gotten annoyed already. But now, with much experience with children, he merely reminded Billy not to stick his head out and focused on driving.

After some time, tired from the flight, Billy soon fell asleep. He hadn't woken up when the car reached the garage.

Shiller had to open the back door and shake him awake. Groggily, Billy followed him inside. The moment they entered the house, Billy gasped in awe, "Wow—"

"I've never seen a house like this!!" Billy's head was shaking like a rattle. Shiller had to throw some slippers in front of him. While changing shoes, Billy continued looking around.

After passing through the hallway, Billy let out another scream, then rushed to the kitchen, followed by another scream, then opened the door to the backyard, and screamed again.

Fortunately, the houses in the villa area were spaced far apart; otherwise, the neighbors might think a murder had taken place.

"Will I be living here from now on?!" Billy jumped and shouted excitedly, "Really? Such a nice house?!"

Shiller had to press his shoulders to calm him down. He said, "No, this is my house. And I can't adopt you."

"Why not?" Billy immediately seemed a bit deflated.

Shiller could tell all his emotions were genuine. Billy Batson at this moment was just a simple small-town boy, possibly even simpler than Clark was as a child, given his turbulent childhood, which was quite rare.

"Because it's not legal," Shiller said. "I'm not eligible to adopt any child. I appreciate you liking my house, but you probably won't live here."

Surprisingly, Billy only sighed and accepted the reality calmly.

He turned and went to the kitchen, pointing to the refrigerator, "Can I open this? I've never seen such a wide fridge..."

Shiller walked over to help him open it, then looked down at Billy and said, "Don't you feel sad?"

"A little. But it's not the first time," Billy shook his head, "I've visited many foster homes before. Their houses weren't as good as yours, but still nice."

"They were nice to me at first, asking many questions. But apparently, I didn't meet their satisfaction. They just told us to wait for news, but nothing followed."

Shiller opened his mouth, unsure whether to call it fortunate or unfortunate. There was another group in America focused on human and organ trafficking.

"It's not that I'm dissatisfied with you, and honestly, if I worked it out, I could adopt you, or at least raise you even without legal foster status."

Billy turned, staring at Shiller in confusion.

"But, I still can't adopt you," Shiller knelt to face him, "My mental state isn't stable enough. Although it seems fine now, who knows when I might become a horror murderer, which would be no good for your growth at all."

Billy thought he was joking, grinned, showing uneven teeth, and laughed.

"No worries if you don't believe, you'll understand someday." Shiller shook his head.

He meant it. He couldn't lead a normal life of building a family and raising children since his mental state was too advanced compared to the human race.

Often, it seemed fine because of the lack of long-term, intimate contact. Even with Jason, Shiller only occasionally gave advice without living together long-term.

Long-term examples did exist, Bruce being one. Despite the bond between Batman and Joker playing a significant role, Shiller's own mental state also contributed. Thus, there was no need to harm another ordinary person.

Shiller patted Billy's head and said, "Although I can't adopt you, I'll try my best to find you a good foster family."

He mumbled, "Educated, understanding, with a house, a car, a stable income, preferably without other children..."

A light bulb went off in his head. He picked up his phone and dialed a number, then said, "Hey, Victor, I've got a birthday gift for you..."