It had to be said,
Ian was incredibly good at regulating his own emotions.
He felt like he had already gained a deep understanding of Darwin's survival theory. But compared to the boy who had fully accepted his fate, the other three people present were nowhere near as capable of empathizing with his adjustment.
"You..."
Hearing Ian correct the TV host's wording, Bruce nearly lost control of his expression. He looked at Ian strangely, not entirely sure why he had suddenly developed a vague sense of caution.
Smack!
The sound of Clark slapping his forehead was loud and heavy. A steel forehead made for a very distinctive impact. Lois, meanwhile, silently returned to the kitchen, forcefully restraining the urge to comment as a sharp-tongued reporter.
No question.
That was incredibly difficult.
So Lois chose to pour herself a glass of red wine.
Then a second.
Then three or four more in quick succession.
After drinking them all down, she was mildly buzzed, and in that state, she actually started to feel like "Stocking Superman" was not such a bad name after all.
She was absolutely drunk.
"Ian went on TV with his family. I don't see why that would be a big deal." Clark was still wary of Bruce. After regaining his composure, he picked up the remote and turned off the television.
"Uh, my close-up hadn't even happened yet." Ian still looked unsatisfied. Seeing himself on the news made him understand a little better why Homelander liked the spotlight so much.
Clark ignored him.
He just kept staring at Bruce across from him.
"After seeing the report, I did a little investigating. Stopping by tonight was really just a matter of satisfying my curiosity. Don't overthink it." Bruce looked perfectly sincere.
Clark shook his head.
"Bruce, after knowing you all these years, I've learned one thing. Whenever it comes to you, no matter how much I think about it, it still isn't enough."
Clark's gaze was deep and steady.
Bruce lowered his head and let out a light laugh, rubbing his lower lip with his fingers without denying it.
"Maybe that's because your super-brain isn't being used to its full potential?"
He even slipped in a teasing remark.
"Heh."
Clark frowned at first when he heard that, but then, for some reason, he suddenly smiled.
"I may not be as smart as you, Bruce, but... every now and then, I do get a flash of inspiration."
As he said that, the old father walked toward the stairs under Bruce's puzzled gaze.
"Your father really has a strong prejudice against me." When Bruce saw Clark disappear into the second-floor hallway, he turned to Ian and put on a very helpless expression.
"Mr. Wayne, please forgive my old father. He's getting up there in age and doesn't really understand how people work. He's not like me. I'm someone with a real gift for social finesse."
Ian began providing emotional value.
And slipped in a compliment to himself while he was at it.
"Oh?"
Bruce raised an interested brow at Ian.
His narrowed eyes looked like they were evaluating something.
"Ian, once you receive your first royalty check, what do you plan to do with it?" Batman disguised as a human suddenly asked the question without warning.
It was an unmistakable probe.
Ian rubbed his chin and thought about it seriously. He did not feel any need to hide anything.
"I'm going to start a tech company, consolidate the food delivery market, squeeze restaurants and delivery drivers for massive cuts, then use all the money to fund perfectly legal loan-sharking."
Ian had no intention of taking even the slightest detour in life.
He was going to recreate other people's proven path to success. Honestly, he was not worried about the rich man in front of him stealing his idea. Bruce Wayne, while in civilian mode, was still the kind of person who cared about appearances and had at least some bottom line.
"..."
See?
Bruce was stunned.
He looked back and forth between Ian's face and Lois, who was leaning against the wall nearby with a helpless expression, several times in a row.
The living room sank into a strange silence.
The only sound was Lois gulping down more wine.
After a moment,
Bruce slowly spoke.
"That's a very mature plan. You should become a qualified capitalist."
In truth, Bruce felt Ian belonged to the category of people who should be hanged from a streetlamp.
Still,
his social intelligence was excellent.
"Yes, I'd definitely be great at it. But the people of America deserve me too." Ian was not someone who enjoyed being modest. Most of the time, he preferred simple honesty.
"..."
Bruce fell into another long silence.
"If you need investment, you can contact me."
After considering it for a moment, he still took out a private business card from his clothes and politely handed it to Ian with both hands.
That was obviously not treatment an ordinary writer would ever receive.
Mostly because Bruce felt he should increase the level of attention he paid to Ian.
"I actually have another idea..." Ian took the card and had just been about to start pitching his version of The Boys, when Clark came downstairs.
The sound of Clark returning interrupted him.
Because Bruce's attention immediately shifted to Clark.
"Since you appreciate Ian's talent so much." Clark was holding several sheets of paper. Ian found them suspiciously familiar and tried to snatch them, but Clark deftly avoided him.
"Then publish this one too. Otherwise, I'll assume your investment in him has some other motive."
Clark slapped the pages down in front of Bruce.
"Of course, no problem."
Bruce nodded without even thinking about it.
It was only publishing a few books. Even with all the related IP development in film, comics, and merchandise added on top, that was pocket change to a company as massive as Wayne Enterprises.
"Ian's work will receive full support from me, in film and comics alike..." Bruce kept his perfect smile in place as he elegantly picked up the manuscript, clearly preparing to flex his financial power.
However,
after a single glance,
the voice of this money-powered, unbeatable Batman abruptly cut off.
The reason was simple.
The Tragic Love Story of Batman.
The title on the half-finished manuscript Ian had written hit Bruce right in the face.
His expression and his train of thought seemed to completely freeze in that instant. Just from seeing that explosive title alone, alarm bells were already going off in the mind of Wayne Enterprises' supreme boss.
And the facts quickly proved Bruce's instincts were correct.
He only read a few lines from the first page before he stopped.
He truly did not dare continue.
He was afraid he might lose control and hit a child.
[Batman stood on the balcony of his luxurious nine-hundred-story mansion, admiring the scenery outside while running a hand over his twenty-four perfectly sculpted bat abs.]
[Not only that, but at night, his teeth could glow in seven colors, sparkling brilliantly. They were so dazzling that not even the vintage wine he sipped could hide the radiance of his teeth.]
[Thirty billion! Find her!]
[Batman swirled his wineglass and savored the taste, as though he had returned to the night before. Twenty kilometers down the red carpet, that was when he first met that special woman.]
[Even now, he still remembered that woman's eerie "hehehe" laugh.]
...
Even with Bruce's self-control and composure, his hand started trembling.
His whole body had gone stiff.
And seeing the expression on the face of this great corporate titan, Ian felt a little guilty.
He had not even gotten to the part where that special woman was actually the Joker in disguise, role-playing in order to defeat Batman.
So really,
the slow opening just did not have enough punch yet.
It was hard to hook readers of true taste with such an understated beginning.
And sure enough, from the look on Wayne's face, he clearly was not satisfied by such a plain and unremarkable story.
(End of Chapter)
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