Inside the spacious cabin of the Boeing 767, the long sixteen-hour journey felt no different from being on the ground to Simon.
Work, meals, sleep.
When he woke up again, the plane had already entered southern Australian airspace. Looking down through the window, Melbourne's urban sprawl and the surrounding waters of Port Phillip Bay were clearly visible.
Late August in Melbourne was winter. Coastal cities usually did not experience extreme seasonal temperature differences, but Los Angeles summer attire was still far from sufficient here.
In the cabin bedroom, Janet dressed Simon as she always did. Watching him pull on a dark wool sweater and black casual trousers, she draped a short black trench coat over his shoulders. Finally, she nodded in satisfaction. "That makes you look more mature."
Simon smiled at the pale pink coat she was wearing. "So, is there anything else I should remember? For example, topics I absolutely shouldn't bring up in front of your family?"
"Tony hates it when people mention how he got beaten up by girls when he was a kid," Janet tilted her head, clearly 'reminding' him on purpose. Then she quickly rummaged through her handbag and took out a wristwatch, handing it to him. "Here, put this on and you'll be fine. You don't mind flattering my old man just a little, right? I've already set it to Melbourne time."
Simon glanced at the watch. It was the stainless-steel Patek Philippe 1518—Janet's father's piece that her eldest brother Anthony Johnston had brought along at Simon's twentieth birthday earlier that year. It was Patek Philippe's first perpetual calendar wristwatch.
As a classic luxury watchmaker, over ninety percent of Patek Philippe's models were made from precious metals. The stainless-steel versions, rumored to exist in single-digit quantities, were therefore among the most valuable collectibles. Even rarer was the fact that this particular watch, produced during World War II, was still in brand-new condition.
He took it without hesitation and put it on, smiling. "You kept it so carefully. I thought you planned to keep it as a collectible."
"My dad likes collecting watches, not me. And honestly, watches don't have that much collectible value. No matter how expensive or luxurious, most of them are still mass-produced, and they're not that old. Brands like Patek Philippe, which specialize in complicated functions, are more worth collecting. Of course, if you like it and you're rich enough, you can collect whatever you want," Janet said, then suddenly laughed. "Oh, Dad really likes that gold watch scene in Pulp Fiction. He just says the way it was preserved was way too vulgar, hehe."
With laughter and a final round of tidying up, the Boeing 767 roared as it landed on the runway at Melbourne Airport.
When Simon stepped off the plane, he glanced at the watch he had just put on. It was 5:23 p.m. With winter days being shorter, the sun was already setting.
After disembarking, Simon immediately spotted Janet's eldest brother, Anthony Johnston, among the people who had come to greet them. After warmly exchanging greetings with everyone, Anthony turned to Simon and said, "Let's head back quickly. Everyone's waiting for you."
After going through a purely procedural set of formalities, the group soon left the airport.
Jennifer and the other staff were arranged to stay at a hotel in the city center, while Simon and Janet headed straight to the Johnston family home. Departing from Melbourne Airport in the western suburbs, the car entered a tree-shaded estate along the Yarra River in the eastern suburbs after a little over half an hour.
When the car stopped in front of the main building, Simon got out and couldn't help pausing to take in the structure before him. It was clearly an English-style castle, with Gothic spires but without the dense arcaded columns of something like Westminster Palace. Bathed in the golden light of the setting sun, it looked solid and imposing.
However, Simon wasn't stopping because of the architecture itself.
Anthony Johnston walked over and stood beside him, also looking at the family estate, smiling. "I've seen some of the Batman concept art you drew. Doesn't this place feel perfect for Wayne Manor? Of course, I can't lend it to you. Still, there are quite a few similar buildings around Melbourne—you can take your time picking one over the next few days."
Simon had no intention of using Janet's family home as a filming location. Even if Melbourne had no suitable alternatives, the UK alone had plenty of castles, many of them abandoned. He just found the coincidence amusing.
Janet came over and hooked her arm through Simon's. "Dad and the others are coming out. Let's go."
A group of people emerged from the castle, and since Janet had already shown him photos of her family, Simon could roughly identify who was who.
Raymond Johnston, who had just turned seventy that year, was tall and lean, with graying hair and sharp eyes. He carried the fierce aura of an old western cowboy and clearly wasn't someone easy to get along with. Janet's mother, Tracy Johnston, stood in contrast far gentler in demeanor. As soon as they approached, Janet flew into her mother's arms affectionately like a little bird.
After introductions, aside from Janet's parents, there were Anthony Johnston's family of four and Norman Johnston's family of three.
Simon did not see Janet's aunt Veronica Johnston, nor her two younger brothers, David Johnston and Patrick Johnston. He also knew that Anthony Johnston's eldest son was absent, which conveniently avoided a bit of awkwardness—Raymond Johnston's eldest grandson, Brandon Johnston, Janet's nephew, was also twenty this year, the same age as Simon.
Night fell, and the Johnston family had already prepared dinner.
Inside the castle, after settling into their rooms, Janet promptly handed Simon over to her father and brothers. Like a little girl, she clung to her mother and followed her into the kitchen, watching the chefs and servants busy with dinner preparations. Without a care for appearances, she pinched a small piece of dessert and took a bite, asking her mother, "Mom, even if David and Pat can't make it back from England, what about Iceberg? Why isn't she here either?"
Tracy Johnston had long given up on correcting her daughter's nickname for her aunt. Helplessly, she said, "Your aunt went to Perth a few days ago. Something about a mining site in Western Australia."
Janet frowned. "But she's in charge of the company's finances. Shouldn't this kind of thing be handled by Dad or my brothers?"
"I don't know about that," Tracy Johnston said, swatting away Janet's hand as it reached for another piece of cake. "But if your father and brothers all left, who would host the guests?"
"Then I'll wait for her to come back. She'll be back in a few days, right?" Janet said. Seeing her mother's puzzled look, she explained, "She's helped Simon and me with a lot of things. Of course I need to thank her. Hehe. Still, it's kind of strange—she's never been this enthusiastic before."
Tracy Johnston replied indulgently, "Your aunt has always been the best to you. What's strange about that? You just don't know how to be grateful."
"All right, all right," Janet said, hugging her mother again before suddenly exclaiming, "Oh! I get it now."
Tracy Johnston frowned at her daughter's sudden outburst and straightened her crooked collar. "What is it now?"
"I've already brought my boyfriend home," Janet said smugly. "Auntie must be avoiding this on purpose so Dad won't start lecturing her again."
Tracy Johnston looked helpless, then gently pushed her daughter. "Enough fooling around. Go keep the guests company."
"Just call him Simon. What 'guest,' 'guest'—" Janet said with a bright smile. Leaning close to her mother's ear, she whispered, "Mom, what do you think of him?"
Tracy Johnston smiled. "Your father thinks he's very good. I think so too."
"Just very good?" Janet pouted.
"Daughters really do side with outsiders," Tracy Johnston said with mock reproach, giving Janet a light smack. Glancing at the chefs and servants nearby, she lowered her voice. "Your father said there's one thing about him that's especially reassuring. If you treat him well, he'll treat you well in return."
Janet hummed twice, then pressed, "Anything else?"
"Why are you chasing your mother to praise your boyfriend?" Tracy Johnston scolded lightly, then added in a softer voice, "When you're together, he… that issue, is it completely resolved now?"
Janet pretended to misunderstand, her cheeks flushing as she mimicked her mother's earlier tone. "Who chases their daughter to ask about her boyfriend that way?" Seeing her mother glare at her, Janet quickly added, "It's fine. He's been completely normal for a long time now. He should be fully recovered."
"I've heard mental illnesses are hard to cure, and they can be hereditary," Tracy Johnston said with lingering concern. "Does he ever break things in private, or… hit you?"
Janet shook her head immediately. "Of course not."
As the mother and daughter whispered to each other, dinner was quietly finished being prepared.
The men chatting in the living room moved into the dining hall. With eleven family members spanning young and old, plus servants standing by, the atmosphere was lively and warm.
Over the next few days, Simon settled into life at the Johnston estate and gained a deeper understanding of the family.
The Johnston family revolved around Johnston Holdings Group. Seventy percent of the family's assets were in mining and smelting, another twenty percent in transportation, and the remaining ten percent in livestock and other peripheral industries.
At seventy years old, Raymond Johnston still served as chairman of the group, overseeing operations from Australia. Janet's aunt, Veronica Johnston, was the group's chief financial officer. Anthony Johnston and Norman Johnston served as CEO and president respectively—Anthony handling European operations, Norman overseeing Asia and Africa. The Johnston Group's presence in North and Latin America was comparatively weak.
Aside from Anthony and Norman, Raymond Johnston's other two sons, David Johnston and Patrick Johnston, had no interest in family affairs. Twenty-five-year-old David and twenty-two-year-old Patrick were both studying in the UK. As Janet put it, David was a classic bookworm, while Patrick was a textbook playboy.
Raymond Johnston had once thought his family line would continue with a single heir like his father and grandfather. When he unexpectedly had two sons, he poured all his energy into raising Anthony and Norman, both of whom turned out exceptionally capable.
By the time it came to Janet and her two younger siblings, Raymond was no longer as strict and did not force them into the family business, leading to the situation as it stood.
As for the main purpose of Simon's trip—Batman—with the strong local influence of the Johnston family in Melbourne, most matters had already been settled before his arrival.
The production was expected to use helicopters, but helicopter flights were prohibited over Melbourne. This was similar to the issues The Matrix had encountered in the original timeline. However, unlike The Matrix, which nearly halted production because of it, Melbourne had already introduced new regulations before Simon arrived, easing restrictions on helicopter flights over the city.
Simon's primary task on this trip was to personally review the selected filming locations. The company had dispatched a dedicated location scouting team months earlier, and over several months Simon had remotely supervised the process via fax, so there were few issues on that front.
In addition, regarding tax rebates, the Melbourne Film Office ultimately agreed to provide a 15% rebate on all expenses incurred in Australia for the Batman project.
This percentage was not particularly high compared to support for domestic Australian films, but for foreign productions, it was already very generous.
More importantly, the rebate agreement with Daenerys Entertainment was extremely flexible, which was what Simon valued most.
Normally, for foreign films to receive tax rebates, filming in Australia alone was not enough. In most cases, local Australian capital participation was required, along with hiring a certain proportion of Australian film professionals. There were even limits on daily spending in Australian cities, with productions required to meet fixed expenditure thresholds to qualify for rebates. A problem in any one of these areas could result in the rebate being reduced or lost entirely.
By contrast, Danerys Entertainment's agreement only required hiring 30% Australian local staff, did not require Australian investment participation, and imposed no limits on local spending. Once filming was complete, Danerys Entertainment simply needed to submit a total expenditure report to receive a 15% cash rebate.