Batman's original intention was to return to the Batcave to tackle his vast mountain of work, for even with Alfred's assistance now, Batman would never truly wash his hands of everything.
However, right after disconnecting the encrypted call with Iron Man Tony Stark, Batman received a piece of good news.
The news came from South Brother Island: Dr. Otto had spent half a month accomplishing a task that S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra hadn't managed to complete in decades—
He had fully cracked the Adamantium formula within Wolverine Logan's body.
Not only that, but Dr. Otto had also cracked the Adamantium formula within Kingpin's body alongside it. A comparison of the two yielded the conclusion that the hardness of the Adamantium in Kingpin was far inferior to Wolverine's, and worse yet, the Adamantium was slowly leeching toxicity into his body after being implanted.
The ambitious underground lord and currently legitimate businessman was not far from the day he would end up back in a wheelchair.
Batman immediately passed Kingpin's condition along to the Defenders, while he himself promptly returned to South Brother Island.
The scientists—including the two Professor Warrens—nodded in greeting when they saw Batman. Dr. Otto even propelled himself over on his mechanical tentacles, his expression visibly hyped up:
"Even I didn't expect the progress to move this fast! The legendary Adamantium, the hardest metal in the world—even Vibranium pales in comparison to it!"
Looking at Dr. Otto's excited state, Batman understood what cracking the Adamantium formula meant for a physicist.
Leaving aside the potential wars the alloy might spark, the achievement of perfectly replicating a long-lost alloy was more than enough to earn him a heavy-weight prize in the scientific community.
"Doctor, you are even more impressive than I imagined," Batman offered a word of praise.
"Truth be told, the difficulty of this thing was far lower than that of my artificial sun," Dr. Otto said with a smile on his face. "However, the artificial sun is my dream; while it might be of help to you, it's certainly not to this extent. Adamantium is the true thing I've done to help you."
So that was the source of Dr. Otto's joy.
"No, your artificial sun is just as useful to me as Adamantium—perhaps even more important," Batman said.
Without the infinite energy provided by the artificial sun, Batman would never have dared to cut loose and build an artificial intelligence even more refined than the Alfred AI back in his Gotham days.
Venom Robin had now practically abandoned his brain, focusing solely on combat; if things had continued like that, Batman wouldn't have known how long he'd have to keep his nerves strained.
Now with Alfred here, Batman even smiled far more frequently than before.
He had long since moved past that intense phase of deep-seated vendettas and no longer kept a perpetually grim face. Following Alfred's arrival after crossing over into this world, Batman had also ended that stage where once his heart was strung tight, he could never let it down.
"I am delighted to hear you say that," Dr. Otto let out a hearty laugh. Batman saying this was equivalent to indirectly validating his achievement.
"With the formula successfully cracked, Doctor, it's time you took a proper rest for a while as well," Batman passed along the very words Alfred had used to persuade him.
"It does seem I have a bit of leisure time now," Dr. Otto looked at Batman. "I plan to go back and visit my wife."
Batman nodded. Dr. Otto had mentioned having a wife before, and now that he had become a superhero, he didn't need to worry about his wife looking at him with strange eyes upon his return.
Seeing that Batman didn't reject his idea, Dr. Otto was visibly overjoyed. He couldn't help rubbing his hands together, though his arm was quickly held down from the side by Dr. Banner:
"Doctor, that gesture isn't quite dignified."
Professor Connors looked over from not far away upon hearing the conversation, rolling his eyes when he saw Dr. Banner holding down Dr. Otto's arm.
He remembered the night Khonshu, the Moon God, was brought back by Batman, when Dr. Banner had rubbed his hands like that only to be stopped by Dr. Otto.
Who would have thought that the honest and mild-mannered Banner would actually exact his revenge several months down the line?
After lingering on South Brother Island for ten-odd minutes, Batman primarily engaged in a brief communication with the two Professor Warrens. Once he confirmed that they had plunged into their work state, he returned to the Batcave.
Though the Adamantium formula had been cracked, Batman did not let Dr. Otto record it by any physical means, choosing instead to memorize it directly in his own mind via oral transmission.
"Alfie, bring up the schematics for my Batmobile," Batman said to Alfred as he stepped into the Batcave.
The old butler was currently sitting upright in Batman's usual chair, legs crossed, holding a teacup in his hand.
He couldn't actually drink tea, of course; the tea in his hand was merely a virtual projection, and the movement was simply a habit he had maintained for a long time.
Nor was he slacking off; as an AI, he was already processing a series of tasks in parallel. The seemingly relaxed projection was, after all, just a projection.
"When do you plan to initiate the self-destruct protocol on this new Batmobile?" Alfred asked.
"Probably a very long time from now; this Batmobile is extremely sturdy," Batman half-jokingly said to Alfred.
"Mm, you say that every time, Master Wayne," Alfred bantered as he casually swiped a hand, bringing up the blueprints Batman had previously designed.
Looking at the item on the schematics that bore only the faintest resemblance to the concept of a "car," Alfred's mustache twitched upward:
"Master Wayne, there is enough room inside this new Batmobile to build another Batcave."
"It isn't that exaggerated, Alfie," Batman smiled as he glanced at Alfred. "I take it you have much to say to me—whether about what occurred after I arrived in this world or the affairs you handled last night."
"You are correct, Master," Alfred smiled as well. "The question I am most concerned with right now is: how did you sleep last night?"
"Since crossing over to this world, I have never slept so soundly," Batman didn't smile this time, but a trace of softness flashed through his eyes, his tone of voice turning gentle as well.
This caused Alfred to look at Batman thoughtfully for several full seconds before he opened his mouth to ask:
"Master Wayne, won't you tell me? About the lady who brought that look to your eyes. I presume she is an elder."
Batman had nothing to hide from Alfred. He had sufficient confidence in the system he had spent so long building, which was backed by a terrifyingly thorough mechanism to prevent data leaks.
This allowed Batman to shed the need to be cautious even when facing Alfred:
"You guessed right, Alfie. She is my aunt."
As he said this, Batman even took off his Gargoyle Suit, revealing a thin sweater worn close to his body.
The sweater was by no means a trendy style, nor was it in the dark tones Batman habitually wore. The craftsmanship wasn't even particularly fine, with mistaken stitches appearing in a few spots.
Yet Batman still wore this thin sweater right against his skin, looking almost as though he were showing it off:
"This is the sweater she knitted for me."
Even though he was a virtual projection, Alfred's hand still trembled uncontrollably for a moment, though it was quickly suppressed by the old butler:
"Master, I have served you for nearly thirty years. I watched you grow from that little boy crouching in Crime Alley with blood on his knees into this man sitting in the dark, carrying the weight of an entire city on his shoulders.
"I thought I had seen every facet of you."
Alfred clearly had much to say, yet he remained ever so restrained, much like Batman. Only after a long pause did he ask:
"How are your aunt's fried eggs?"
"A bit overcooked," Batman said, having guessed what Alfred was going to say next.
Sure enough, upon hearing this, the smile returned to Alfred's face:
"It appears she is no fictitious aunt after all. Give her my regards."
--
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