Chapter 172: Batman's Folder and Iron Man's Call for Help (10,000-word update, please vote with Monthly Tickets!)
Batman sized up the Bruce Ren before him.
On the surface, he looked ordinary, with a common, Sasuke-like face—nothing remarkable.
But this guy's physical durability was enough to send a sharp Batarang flying. That warranted some thought.
"Who are you? What is your purpose? What do you want?"
After Batman posed the three classic questions to Bruce Ren, he thought for a moment and said, "I'm from Earth. My goal is to live, and I want to protect Earth."
Batman pondered for a moment, his face expressionless, then jumped straight off the rooftop.
"He just left like that?"
Pirate Ren Arakawa: "Of course. Even I can't exchange more than a few words with Batman before he takes off. What did you expect, for a stranger like you to have a proper talk with him? Just find another opportunity. There's no rush. He won't believe a single word you say anytime soon."
"That's true."
Not long after, the Batmobile drove out of the suburbs and straight into a lake, entering the underground Batcave beneath Wayne Manor from the lakebed.
"Alfred, run a check on this person for me."
As he spoke, he transferred the photo of Bruce Ren captured by his device to the butler, Alfred, who was holding a cup of coffee.
The old butler first placed the coffee in front of Bruce Wayne, who was taking off his Batsuit, and then asked, "Master Wayne, has this young Chinese man also committed a crime? If so, the crime rate for Gotham's Chinese population will skyrocket to an astonishing level! This is because their population is so small—fewer than five hundred in all of Gotham, making them even rarer than Native Americans."
Bruce Wayne gave a helpless smile. "Alfred, stop joking. Time is of the essence. I need to know everything about this guy."
In just a moment, Bruce Ren's file appeared on the screen.
"Adopted by his kindergarten teacher... adoptive parents died in a robbery..."
Bruce Wayne's expression suddenly grew grim.
Because as he looked at the file, he realized that aside from Bruce Ren not inheriting a vast family fortune and not being their biological child, the rest of their stories were identical.
Especially the dark joke about eight legs going into an alley and only two coming out.
The only reason Bruce Wayne himself hadn't suffered a mental collapse and turned into another one of Gotham's monsters was primarily because he had his old butler, Alfred—a man who was like a father, yet even closer than one.
This Chinese "metahuman," however, had no such guide.
On the contrary, he had no friends and was extremely isolated in his daily life.
A person like that might sooner or later become a villain.
At this thought, Bruce Wayne created a new folder on his desktop and typed in the name—Bruce Ren.
He exited the current subdirectory, and the screen displayed the names and files of other individuals.
Killer Croc, Penguin, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Deathstroke.
Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Hawkman, Zatanna, Firestorm.
In this directory, the number of superheroes was even greater than the number of supervillains.
He backed out to the root directory. The name of this master folder was emblazoned with a title: Contingency Files & Countermeasures.
Having done all this, Bruce Wayne leaned back in his chair, his mind already calculating what measures to take the next time he encountered an opponent impervious to blades and bullets.
---
In the forest, Stephen Fang casually created a shadow clone as usual, splitting his Chakra evenly with it. The two of them brandished kunai, sparring amidst the trees.
He hadn't been fighting for long when his phone rang.
The only people who had his number were Black Widow, Nick Fury, and that flashy guy, Iron Man.
The screen lit up, and sure enough, it was Iron Man's caller ID.
"Vacation's over!"
Tony Stark's voice was frantic, and Stephen Fang could hear a commotion in the background.
"Calm down. Where are you? What happened?"
"I can't calm down! If a monster that smashes everything to pieces broke into your house, you'd be more frantic than me!"
Hearing the key words "green monster," Stephen Fang had already unfurled his wings and taken to the sky.
"Tell me your location."
"Stark Tower! Quick!"
The academy was some distance from Stark Tower. Stephen Fang activated the second stage of his Gene Lock, flapping his wings to fly at full speed. He arrived on the battlefield just as Iron Man was reaching his breaking point.
The first thing that met his eyes was a green-skinned monster.
As well as Emil Blonsky, with whom he had fought side-by-side during the last "hammer incident," now transformed into the Abomination.
Seeing the Hulk and the Abomination wrestling on the rooftop of Stark Tower, Stephen Fang asked the hovering Iron Man in bewilderment.
"What's going on? How did these two big guys end up fighting each other?"
Tony Stark's synthesized voice emanated from his helmet. "Nick Fury asked me to recruit some superheroes to protect Earth. Through my network, I found out about a physics professor who had the ability to transform into a monster..."
"As you can see, it's that big green guy."
Stephen Fang was confused. "Then how did he end up fighting our old friend?"
"Blonsky used the same gamma radiation as this green meathead, which caused him to mutate. I figured they could have a friendly chat, maybe convince the green guy to join the team. But I didn't expect them to start trading insults the moment they met. I went to get a glass of water, and by the time I came back, they'd already demolished my roof."
Stephen Fang gave an awkward laugh. "Make a note for next time: when you arrange a meeting, pick a corner bar."
Tony Stark shrugged. "Considering their destructive capabilities, I think the Gobi Desert would be a safer venue."
On the rooftop, the Abomination punched the Hulk in the face, and the Hulk kicked him away.
BOOM—
The powerful impact caused them to smash through the roof, falling to the floor below.
Rubble tumbled from the edge of the roof, plummeting toward the street hundreds of meters below.
Stephen Fang glanced down and quipped, "Someone's car, probably on a sixty-month payment plan, just got flattened."
Iron Man shot him a look. "Then why didn't you stop the debris?"
"If I stop the debris, who stops them?"
As he spoke, Stephen Fang shot toward the two behemoths at high speed.
Forming hand seals, the blue Earth Grudge Fear Mask on his shoulder emerged from his body!
"Combination Art: Searing Wind Wild Vortex!"
Scorching flames enveloped and roasted the two monsters.
Yet even then, engulfed in the inferno, the two combatants still clung tightly to one another, refusing to let their opponent escape the flames, as if determined not to stop until one of them was dead.
"Hulk! Hulk!"
The Hulk kept muttering the word "Hulk."
Familiar with the green giant, Stephen Fang knew that the Hulk persona had taken full control. Its host, Bruce Banner, was completely unable to offer any help now.
The Hulk's eyes were filled with nothing but venting and fury; he was dead set on destroying the Abomination!
At first, the Abomination was able to overpower the Hulk, but as the fight dragged on, he realized the Hulk's strength was increasing!
Though his base power level was higher, the Abomination's stamina couldn't match the Hulk's ever-increasing strength, and he gradually started to lose the advantage.
"Stephen! A little help here! The research labs are on the floor below this one! If they keep fighting their way down, half a year of my research will be destroyed!"
Stephen Fang's expression turned grim. "I can only... do my best."
As he spoke, he pulled out the Vibranium tail sheath that Iron Man had previously forged for him, preparing to go all out.
Just then, Iron Man suddenly yelled, "On the forty-sixth floor! There's wing armor for you! Put that on before you go!"
(end of chapter)