Chapter 365
"Let me see little Peter, let me taste him..."
The moment they entered the private box, Lydia—so dignified and poised while hosting the auction—released an enticing gasp, bending down urgently mid-sentence.
THWACK!
Batman answered with a perfectly calibrated chop to the neck—enough force to render her unconscious without causing brain damage.
Thud. Eyes rolling back, Lydia in her burgundy silk gown collapsed softly onto the carpet.
Batman lifted Lydia from the floor with both hands and casually deposited her on the box's plush bed.
Without hesitation, he reached beneath his suit jacket to his bat-belt, extracting a vial of pheromone serum.
Originally prepared for Lizard Professor, this particular formulation served as contingency against various possibilities. When applied to biological organisms, Batman's serum induced partial aphrodisiac effects.
It worked equally well on humans, though the side effect was severe physical exhaustion lasting approximately three hours.
SPLASH.
Batman unscrewed the vial cap and poured the contents over Lydia's body, then rumpled her gown a few times until it appeared thoroughly wrinkled.
After locking the box door from inside—ensuring no one would enter while Lydia remained unconscious and debilitated—Batman strode quickly to the window. Gripping the sill, he vaulted outside while simultaneously pulling the window closed behind him.
Since losing Peter Parker's abilities then regaining them, Batman had approached every action with significantly more caution.
He'd grown too dependent on superhuman strength. Even when unnecessary, Batman had found himself instinctively relying on those powers.
But that wouldn't do. Batman knew he couldn't continue that way.
In truth, whether in Gotham or now in New York, Batman desperately craved power. He yearned so intensely to change Gotham, to change New York, to transform everything wrong with the world.
But setting New York's current state aside, Gotham's darkness was something Batman could only maintain at current levels despite maximum effort. This kept his psyche perpetually on the razor's edge.
Which paradoxically meant Batman couldn't possess excessive power. Otherwise he'd inevitably be consumed by it, progressing step by step toward extremism.
That's why when Crime Syndicate forces from Earth-3 invaded his Gotham, Batman had deployed the Yellow Lantern ring he'd prepared in advance to borrow power.
One part craving for the Yellow Lantern's strength, one part abnormally resisting that same force—this contradiction meant a ring with energy reserves sufficient for an entire battle had manifested only a swarm of bats in Batman's hands before depleting completely.
"Unless facing enemies beyond conventional force, I won't use Peter Parker's abilities again," Batman reminded himself silently.
The instant he dropped from the window, he spotted a pair of young women in evening gowns passing along a nearby path.
Batman immediately straightened his clothing, producing glasses from his suit's inner pocket and putting them on, passing the women as though nothing had happened.
"Tony, report." Batman raised his right hand, pressing index and middle fingers against the glasses' temple, his voice extremely low.
Simultaneously, at the charity auction's celebration venue.
Tony Stark, standing face-to-face with Kingpin, touched his glasses temple in an adjusting gesture while tilting his head slightly. He casually placed his champagne on a passing server's tray, voice dropping low: "Stalemate."
Batman immediately grasped what "stalemate" meant. His lips moved slightly, voice transmitting through the miniature communication system integrated into the glasses temple into Tony's ear: "Stall him. I have Plan B."
"OK." Tony glanced around, continuing quietly. "These glasses are impressive. Bluetooth earpieces are everywhere, bone conduction headphones already exist, but combining them to achieve nearly zero-latency short-range communication like this—how'd you do it?"
Batman fell momentarily silent. The glasses he and Tony Stark wore represented Gotham's 5.0 Bluetooth communication standard—not even considered high-end technology there.
But in 2006, constrained by semiconductor fabrication, RF design, and digital signal processing capabilities, current market Bluetooth headsets couldn't achieve the zero-latency communication the two maintained across several hundred meters.
Today's Bluetooth products were practically ignored due to numerous shortcomings—short range, slow transmission speeds, and more.
Tony Stark had grasped in an instant the future prospects of these glasses—particularly the Bluetooth technology.
"Interested?" Batman asked casually while walking toward an empty alley.
"Of course I'm interested!" Tony's voice rose slightly before he quickly suppressed it. "We'll discuss later. I'm still in a standoff with Kingpin. Also, is Norman Osborn your man?"
"Yes." Batman kept it brief.
"OK." Tony said, then closed the Bluetooth communication function on his glasses temple.
"Three corporations? May I presume to ask which three specifically? Stark Industries, Osborn Industries, and who else?"
Kingpin's smile grew increasingly genial as he regarded Norman Osborn in his impeccably tailored gray suit, every hair perfectly in place.
Tony Stark made a show of lowering his hand from his glasses temple, simultaneously taking wine from a passing server's tray. He turned back to Kingpin with a smile. "Perhaps not three. Maybe four, five, or the entirety of Wall Street."
"Trust me, I have the capability to manipulate Wall Street... Mr. Norman."
Tony threatened Kingpin while greeting Norman Osborn simultaneously.
"Is that so?" Kingpin completely ignored Tony's threat, focusing on Norman Osborn who'd suddenly joined the conversation. "What if I claim those two are products of Osborn Industries' human experimentation, dispatched to assassinate me—a legitimate businessman responding to government policy?"
Norman Osborn's finger twitched almost imperceptibly. His voice grew increasingly hoarse. "You'll regret doing this, Kingpin."
Tony Stark laughed cheerfully at the side, clapping. "Oh~ so you're Kingpin, Mr. Fisk?"
Tony had been playing dumb the entire time, repeatedly saying "Mr. Fisk." Only now that Norman Osborn had exposed Kingpin's identity did he chime in.
"You seem quite pleased, Tony Stark." Kingpin redirected his attention to Tony.
"Of course. If you're Kingpin... let me guess—among your current legitimate businesses, how many illegal operations lurk? Should I deploy Jarvis to investigate thoroughly?"
Tony Stark spoke with enthusiasm. "You might not know who Jarvis is. I can only tell you he's omnipotent, super, uh, like Batman—that kind of guy."
Tony Stark concealed the fact that Jarvis was merely artificial intelligence, but Kingpin's eyes immediately widened, his previously benevolent face revealing naked ferocity.
"You're working with Batman?!"