DOTM: Chapter 537/539

Chapter 537: As Long as You’re Not Dead

It was not surprising that Tony would have such thoughts. In a way, these two are often compared.

Iron Man and Batman are both rich kids with astonishing wealth and superior intelligence. They are also self-sufficient types, basically crafting all their gear themselves.

Additionally, their roles within superhero teams overlap to some extent. Both are responsible for the logistics of the entire team to a certain degree.

The slight difference is that in the Avengers, the team commander is usually Captain America, Steve Rogers. While Tony is highly intelligent, he is not considered top-tier in combat. In the Justice League, Batman is mostly responsible for devising strategies.

Furthermore, Batman is the only superhero in the DC world who stands at the pinnacle as a mortal, while Tony, for a long time, was also an ordinary person relying on equipment. In the movie universe, he remains a normal human, in the comics, he used the Extremis virus for enhancement.

It is just that due to Ethan's involvement, Iron Man's development trajectory has undergone significant changes. The current Tony is vastly different from the original Tony, but this has not diminished his curiosity about Batman, especially Batman's long-standing insistence on being a superhero as a mortal.

Batman is a figure at the upper echelon of superheroes, having participated in countless major events. In the process of resolving so many crises, Bruce encountered opportunities to change himself multiple times, yet he never chose those methods to make himself stronger.

He steadfastly remains an ordinary person, walking in the darkness with an ordinary body doing various dangerous jobs. Tony is very curious whether this Bruce in front of him will have such persistence. Will he still calmly give up when faced with an opportunity to make himself better?

If it were just a comic, perhaps one would consider it Batman's selling point. But now this is a living person, living in a real world without those commercial factors. Will Bruce still stick to this point?

Tony asked himself, he certainly would not refuse, just as he would actively learn magic from Ethan and use enhancement serums to make himself stronger.

As of now, Bruce is not overly fixated on those things. He is still diligently learning everything that can improve himself, asking Tony about everything he is curious about.

Ethan did not participate in their teaching sessions, nor did he participate in Bruce's nighttime activities.

After building a new Batsuit and optimizing it to a certain extent, Bruce has already begun the first step of his plan, targeting Falcone, Gotham's most notorious gang boss. As the first action since Batman's birth, it can effectively establish Batman's reputation and intimidate all the villains in Gotham.

Tony also did not get involved in these matters. He does not think much of the evil forces of local gangs. In the Marvel universe, he targets much larger threats, such as Hydra's attempt to control humanity or alien invasions of Earth. Occasionally, if a major villain commits particularly violent acts, he might lend a hand if he is in a good or bad mood.

As for the gangs entrenched in various cities, let the local police deal with that headache.

However, considering the situation in Gotham City...

Watching Bruce return to the Batcave, start organizing his gear, and examine the bumps and bruises on his body, Tony noticed that the minor injuries were becoming fewer and fewer.

"Your progress is truly amazing."

Bruce still has an ordinary human body, and coupled with a lack of sufficient experience, even with a full set of equipment and some targeted optimization based on Tony's guidance, it does not mean he will not make mistakes.

Especially when descending from high altitudes, bumps and scrapes are perfectly normal. He grew through repeated collisions, and of course, Tony collected all these valuable video records.

By now, the injuries on Bruce's body are already less than half of what they were at the beginning. Perhaps before long, he can become the Batman who can put on his gear at any time, solve problems without losing a single hair, and then put on a suit to pose as a playboy millionaire.

Tony also thoroughly enjoyed being a mentor, even personally guiding Bruce in creating the first new Batsuit equipped with various high-tech features.

This set of equipment looks basically the same as the first Batsuit, but it has a small computer on the forearm that can perform multiple functions such as communication, audio recording, thermal imaging, recording and displaying maps, password cracking, and more. Additionally, due to the use of special materials, this small computer is very sturdy and can be used as a shield for defense when necessary.

At the same time, small jet devices are hidden in the gauntlets. Although limited by energy and space, these jets can only last for a very short time, if used at full power, the fuel will be depleted in a few seconds. But a burst at a crucial moment can change many things, such as emergency adjustments when using a gliding cape or slowing down during a fall.

There are also similar devices on the feet, plus sonic weapons, small electric shock devices, and a whole bunch of other equipment. Combined with Bruce's stealth skills, with the cover of darkness, the current Bruce is no longer someone ordinary people can deal with.

However, Bruce insists on not using lethal weapons. Not killing is still the bottom line he adheres to. Since the current Bruce has not yet grasped the supreme principle of it does not matter if they are paralyzed, as long as they are not dead, he is still a bit unsure how much force is appropriate to use.

This led to him suffering some setbacks in his next few actions. Although Ethan did not say anything about this situation, Tony could not help but start complaining.

"Why can't you hit harder?"

"I'm worried I'll accidentally kill them."

"So what? If you go easy, are they going to be grateful to you? Look at these wounds on your body, these are the gifts they give back."

Tony shook his head. When he fought, he never considered whether to hold back or not, especially against Hydra soldiers. Blasting them with a barrage of missiles and palm energy cannons left no possibility of holding back.

At the same time, he did not think there was anything wrong with killing those guys. What else could be done with these lunatics if they were not killed? Could they be talked into surrendering?

Of course, Bruce was not that naive. There was a reason for his insistence on not using heavy force.

"Because I don't want to become someone without a bottom line."

Not killing is the warning line he drew for himself, and he tried hard to control himself from crossing that line.

But now he faced an awkward situation. Batman was indeed starting to gain some notoriety, but the villains still did not take him seriously.

"Because you have not made them truly feel fear. Right now, they just see you as a lunatic in weird clothes, a crazy person, a nuisance, but that is it."

Bruce turned to look at Ethan. He felt that this young man, who had always been quiet, could answer the question in his heart.

"Then how should I make them feel fear?"

"There are many ways to make people feel fear. The simplest is to make them personally feel pain."

Even if Ethan did not say it, Bruce would understand this later. It would just take some time.

"Many small-time thugs have nothing but themselves. To make them fear, you have to make them understand one thing, being caught by Batman will result in tremendous pain."

"Violence?"

Bruce does not advocate violence, but sometimes violence is indeed the most effective method, especially against these people who have nothing. Other methods will not scare them at all unless you directly harm their bodies with violence.

"Why do many villains readily back down when facing another villain, but act tough when facing a good person?"

Ethan shrugged.

"If you want to use fear to deter villains, you must first understand this point, and then resolutely act like a villain."

Batman may be righteous, and in some ways, he is a good person.

But in the eyes of criminals, he must transform into a devil, using the most brutal methods to punish those people, otherwise Batman will never have deterrence in the hearts of the wicked.

Doing this will inevitably attract criticism from some people, which is one reason why Batman is called the Dark Knight. Besides often appearing in darkness, in the eyes of these people, Batman's actions are too evil, simply unforgivable.

However, Bruce did not care about these things. When he decided to become Batman, he had already anticipated this day.

In the following days, the injuries on Bruce when he returned were significantly fewer, and at the same time, there were some changes in the rumors about Batman outside.

The cause of this was that compared to the criminals who were previously just beaten down and left at the crime scene, this time they were all severely injured and thrown in front of the police station, with even the least injured having several bone fractures.

Furthermore, Falcone, who in the original plot should have been tied to a spotlight, suffering at most minor injuries and fright, was this time severely injured all over, with hardly a single intact spot. He is now lying in a hospital bed, unable to move.

While brutally beating Falcone and using Falcone's fate to warn other villains in Gotham, Batman unexpectedly obtained some new information.

Falcone was serving a mysterious and powerful force, secretly transporting some special things into Gotham. Dr. Jonathan Crane was the liaison between him and that force, and it seems there is a secret hidden within Arkham Asylum, which this doctor operates.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 538: Having Fun

When Bruce brought back the news, Ethan knew that the plot of the first Dark Knight movie had reached a critical stage.

Bruce thought he had blown up the League of Shadows' base and that Ra's al Ghul had died in the Himalayas, thus eliminating the threat the League posed to Gotham.

However, the Ra's al Ghul who died was merely a puppet placed at the forefront. The true Ra's al Ghul was actually Henri Ducard, the man he had saved.

Furthermore, most members of the League had not died, so the plan to destroy Gotham naturally would not stop.

What Falcone had been secretly transporting was the special drug that Bruce had once experienced. Inhaling it into the lungs would make people see their greatest fears.

The League's plan was to mix these drugs into Gotham's water supply, then use a special device owned by Wayne Enterprises to evaporate the entire city's tap water into gas at full power, causing the entire city to be enveloped in the terrifying drug.

Then Gotham's residents who inhaled large amounts of the hallucinogenic gas would fall into madness, perceiving everything as the object of their fear. Some might run around aimlessly, while others might take more drastic actions, such as eliminating the terrifying monsters.

Leaving aside that the entire city would descend into chaos, the gas itself would be fatal after heavy inhalation, and the entire city would fall into complete disarray. No one would be sober, so they would not know to escape or call for help from outside.

By the time others discovered that something was wrong with Gotham, the entire city would have become a ghost town.

This was also the goal the League wanted to achieve, to completely destroy this city of sin and then rebuild a new city from the ruins.

In the plot of the first movie, what Bruce had to do was prevent this from happening and save all of Gotham.

If Bruce were left to investigate slowly on his own, by the time he uncovered the truth, the League would already have invaded Gotham, turning the entire city into a city of fog.

Ethan had not left yet. Although he was not afraid of that drug, it did not mean he was willing to be in a toxic fog.

Moreover, as a spoiler enthusiast, he did not feel there was anything wrong with revealing the subsequent plot.

So he spoiled it very straightforwardly.

Ethan did not even need to explain where he got this information. The intelligent Bruce could figure it out completely.

As for how much he trusted Ethan's words, that did not matter, because Ethan provided very detailed information, and he could personally verify it.

It did not take much effort. Half a day was enough for Bruce to find all the information he wanted and confirm that everything Ethan said was correct.

"So what are you going to do next?"

After understanding the specific situation, Bruce began to ponder his next plan. He did not ask Ethan and the others for help, because this was Gotham, his hometown, and the place he was determined to protect.

In a sense, this place had nothing to do with Ethan and the others. They were not people from this world and had no obligation to help solve these problems.

"First, destroy that machine."

Bruce naturally found the key point in the opponent's plan. Compared to the drugs that were still being continuously added to the water supply, the device that could evaporate the water was the most crucial point. Mixing it into the tap water and drinking it would not cause harm to the human body. As long as the threat that could destroy the entire city was resolved, it would not be too late to deal with the water pollution problem later.

With the advantage of intelligence and the first-mover advantage, Bruce did not spend much effort finding the device that Wayne Enterprises had lost, and then decisively blew it up to a degree that made it absolutely impossible to repair.

During this time, he also defeated several League members who were hidden in Gotham. Since Bruce had put on a lot of new equipment, and these people were caught off guard by his stealthy attack, even though they were not weak, they still did not cause him any trouble.

Instead, Bruce was able to track them back and discover that Henri Ducard had actually come to Gotham.

The subsequent plot became more interesting. Bruce discovered that the guest list for his birthday party included Ra's al Ghul's name, and immediately realized that the opponent had listed him as the primary obstacle to destroying Gotham.

"Obviously, they want to deal with you first too."

Tony watched Bruce repairing his equipment. The Batcave already had a dedicated area for repairing and making new equipment, and it was piled high with various parts. In addition to replacement components, many items were materials Bruce used for practice.

His manufacturing skills were improving rapidly. Tony even taught him some black technology knowledge that did not exist in this world. If Bruce could fully digest this knowledge, he could create a new Batsuit that was lighter, more convenient for movement, and far better in defense than his current protective suit, capable of defending against most firearms, ensuring he would not be riddled with holes by a few thugs with automatic fire.

However, Tony felt that this time he might not see Bruce actually create that suit. He had stayed in this world for several months on and off and felt that the time was just about right.

Although he was a newly born Batman, many of his ideas were still naive and immature, and Tony could not share some experiences and insights with him. But he had a good time playing the role of a teacher. Tony felt that this trip was not in vain. Maybe he could take on a disciple after returning.

"Had enough fun?"

He watched Bruce continue to make preparations to welcome the great battle with the League. Even if that device had been destroyed, as long as the League still existed, Gotham would always be shrouded in the shadow of destruction.

To completely resolve this crisis, he had to directly confront the League.

Neither Ethan nor Tony planned to help, letting Bruce face this crisis on his own. For either of them, the League was just a bunch of mooks who could be dealt with with a wave of the hand.

Bruce's silence throughout had already shown his attitude. This was his battle, and he did not want them to participate.

For Batman, this was also a test. Only by crossing this threshold could Bruce truly become Batman.

He had to perfectly resolve the crisis while maintaining his principles and bottom line to be qualified to continue being Batman, otherwise everything would just be a joke.

Moreover, Ethan and Tony had already helped him a lot during this time. They had actually been teaching him all along. He had not only learned a lot of knowledge, but his combat skills and experience had also improved significantly.

Tony had also upgraded his equipment by more than one level in a very short time. Now Bruce always had new toys to play with. Tony's speed of manufacturing new equipment was almost catching up to his speed of getting familiar with it.

Fortunately, Tony had not continued recently, and Bruce also started to try to modify these pieces of equipment himself to make them more suitable for his usage habits.

In addition, Ethan also gave him a few other things.

"These few vials of potion can be used when you are severely injured. They can, in a very short time, probably a few seconds to ten seconds or so, restore you back to a normal state. Of course, only physically, mental recovery is not that fast."

Besides the recovery potions, Ethan also gave Bruce an amulet. When he needed help, he could directly crush the amulet, and then no matter which universe he was in, Ethan would receive the signal.

Because Alfred had treated them well during this time, providing good food and drink, Ethan also gave the old butler a bottle of potion. It was not a very powerful enhancement potion. Alfred's elderly body could not withstand such strong effects.

What he gave him was a very ordinary potion, very ordinary in Ethan's eyes, which could ensure Alfred's physical energy was relatively good and that he would not easily get sick, and it could extend his lifespan to a certain extent.

This meant that as long as no accidents happened, Alfred could live a healthy life until his natural death, and at least exceed ninety years old.

Ethan also left an amulet for Alfred. He believed that Bruce would not easily use the talisman he gave him, but Alfred would not have this problem. He would ask for help when he needed it.

When Ethan was making these arrangements, Bruce knew they were preparing to leave.

"When are you planning to leave?"

"Soon, maybe we will not even wait to see your performance this time."

Tony was not planning to keep watching either. In his opinion, it was a foregone conclusion that Bruce would solve this problem.

And the reason he had not given Bruce new toys these past few days was that he had been secretly tinkering with a big guy.

With Alfred also helping to conceal it, Bruce had no idea at all until the moment Tony actively brought it out. Only then did he see this completely black, heavy suit of armor.

"How about it, is it not very suitable for you?"

Tony tapped the hard, thick metal shell.

"I have left detailed design blueprints, but this is only a semi-finished product and cannot be used directly for the time being. You need to solve some problems before you can use this set of equipment."

Bruce looked at the heavy armor in front of him and found that it had no power system. Such a heavy suit of armor could not be moved by human strength alone.

"So, you need me to figure out the power problem myself?"

Tony, uncharacteristically, did not give an answer but returned a smile that was hard to describe, which made Bruce a little suspicious that there was something wrong with this armor.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 539: Really a Learning Machine

Bruce sat at his workbench, repairing a large pile of equipment and gadgets.

The fight with the League of Shadows was tough. Although he defeated them and thwarted their plot, he still did not kill anyone. This allowed Henri Ducard to ultimately escape. Because Bruce had destroyed the water vaporization device beforehand, Henri Ducard did not have a final showdown with Batman on the train and die when it crashed.

This time, after seeing that the situation was unsalvageable, Henri Ducard decisively chose to retreat, taking most of the League's elites with him.

This meant that the League could return at any time, and Gotham was still constantly facing the possibility of destruction.

Bruce thought quietly, his tools untouched for half an hour. He wondered if his consistent adherence to the no-kill principle, which left Gotham under the long shadow of destruction, was right or wrong.

When he faced off against Henri Ducard, if he had carried lethal weapons, perhaps most of the League would have escaped, but Henri Ducard, as the true leader, would definitely have died by his hand.

After much deliberation, he still had no answer. He suspected he might never get a clear answer in his lifetime.

Turning his head, he immediately saw the suit of armor Tony had given him.

The heavy, dark metal armor was placed there, unsupported by tools. It was so heavy that it could not be moved without equipment.

Because it was too heavy and Tony had told him it was a semi-finished product, he had put the armor aside, intending to study it slowly after dealing with the League.

Now that Ethan and Tony had been gone for a while, and the League's plot had been thwarted, he had time to study this thing.

"Finding something to distract myself is also an option."

He genuinely did not have much to do lately. The preparations for Wayne Enterprises' public listing were proceeding steadily. He was indirectly acquiring the company's shares through multiple institutions from the outside. These matters were all progressing as planned and did not require much of his personal attention.

With the League defeated and Falcone severely weakened, which deterred many criminals, Gotham was currently experiencing a rare period of tranquility. He had not needed to put on the Batsuit and roam the city fighting crime for the past two days.

When idle, he tended to overthink, so he decided to keep himself busy.

Given Tony's personality, he probably would not leave behind a problem that was easily solved.

Standing up, he circled the black armor. He still could not find anything special about it. Its appearance was similar to his Batsuit, but much heavier, and he did not see any energy source.

After several months of interaction, Bruce knew that although Tony understood magic and could use mystical energy, the energy source for his nanotech armor was actually the Arc Reactor, usually hidden under his clothes. When using the armor, the glowing spot on his chest was the energy source.

But this black armor had no such thing, nor did he see a suitable place to mount an energy source.

He did not believe Tony would intentionally forget to leave a space for installing an energy source. Since it was not visible on the outside, was it inside. Perhaps he should open it up and take a look.

Reaching out and touching the armor, he merely wanted to see where the detachable connection points were. Unexpectedly, the moment his hand touched the black armor, glowing patterns suddenly appeared on it, spreading from the point of his touch across the entire suit. After these glowing patterns covered the whole armor, it automatically unfolded.

He watched all of this quietly. He knew that Tony and Ethan possessed extraordinary abilities and had personally witnessed Ethan casting magic. The mage used magic even in his daily life. After seeing it for so long, Bruce and Alfred were no longer surprised by such things.

Looking at the unfolded armor, he noticed that in this state, it resembled a bat with its maw wide open, as if ready to swallow him whole.

Without a doubt, this was definitely Tony's doing.

"What an exasperatingly bad sense of humor."

He gave a helpless, wry smile, then fumbled his way to the center of the unfolded armor.

As soon as he was in position, without needing to do anything extra, the entire suit began to close on its own, and the parts that had spread out returned to their previous form.

He made no extra movements, quietly waiting for the armor to close.

The heavy faceplate came down, plunging his vision into darkness. The armor's eye slits were not transparent. It seemed that without activating the display, he was effectively blind.

The armor was quickly donned again, but the startup sequence he expected was slow to appear. He tried to move slightly and found himself completely immobilized within the heavy armor.

"Oh, this is just... great..."

He mumbled helplessly, trying hard to get out of the armor. He also tried using voice commands, but the armor did not react at all. Just like when he had been looking at it from the outside, it was just a very heavy piece of metal equipment, impossible to move with human strength.

"This joke isn't funny at all, Tony..."

After repeatedly trying every method he could think of, he gave up on trying to get out. Alfred would come down to find him when he realized something was wrong, and then he could help him out of this predicament.

Having given up on the idea of getting out, he began to ponder the deeper meaning behind Tony's actions.

He did not believe Tony was just playing a joke on him, creating this giant thing just to trap him inside.

Since he made it possible to open the armor with a touch, allowing him in easily, yet provided no prompts and prevented him from leaving, it proved that Tony wanted him to stay inside.

Perhaps the way out was very simple, he had just been using the wrong methods before. And using this method of trapping him might be to get him to focus on something else.

"What could it be?"

It was pitch black before his eyes, and he realized he could not hear any sounds from outside either. The Batcave was not a quiet place, yet no sound reached his ears. At the same time, he could not smell anything. The Batcave was not a clean place, and various equipment and facilities would more or less emit some smells.

He could not perceive any of these things. If his body had not been able to feel the hard armor, he would have even suspected that he had lost all his senses, with only his brain left to think.

"Think?"

He thought of a possibility, but he did not understand what simple thinking could do. That is, until he remembered what the mages called meditation.

This concept had been mentioned in countless novels and games.

At the same time, many religions and some martial arts practices also mentioned meditation. Bruce had learned many things, and of course, he understood meditation. But at that time it was a method of mental cultivation used to clear distracting thoughts and strengthen one's inner self. Could Tony want him to learn the mage's meditation here?

Since there was no other choice, he began to try and clear his mind, staying quietly inside this armor.

After an unknown amount of time, he, whose eyes had been in constant darkness, seemed to see many colors in a trance. He found that he seemed able to use his thoughts to move closer to the points of light emitting various colors.

What he did not know was that at this moment, glowing patterns appeared on the black armor again, but they suddenly changed from the initial purple to golden yellow, and finally transformed into pitch-black lines that seemed capable of swallowing everything...

"So, you gave Bruce a learning machine just to see if he would choose the path of the supernatural?"

"How about it, is it not interesting, and are you not curious about what the result will be?"

Tony, with a smug look, explained in detail to Ethan about his special armor specifically designed for cultivating energy affinity, control, and usage.

When he said it was a semi-finished product before, of course, he was just fooling Bruce. What he gave him was a complete finished product.

The appearance and such were meaningless, and the opening and closing were just to trap Bruce, not for any special deep meaning.

The armor's greatest function was to allow talented people to better come into contact with energy, to come into contact with and become familiar with those energies at a lower difficulty. To a certain extent, it could also determine if someone had the talent to learn and use energy.

Furthermore, the energy attributes that this set of armor could come into contact with were not infinite. Even Ethan could not do that, let alone Tony.

The energy the armor could access was mainly Arcane, Holy Light, Shadow, as well as elemental power and natural power that could be sensed in most worlds. Of course, if the world itself possessed a certain energy, it would also be detected by the armor and presented to the user, to see if they could or were willing to master it.

The principle of this thing was not complicated. Many of the principles were used in modern technological equipment, and Tony integrated these principles into magical applications, eventually creating this thing.

As for the combat power of this set of armor, initially, this thing was just a display. If Bruce was willing to come into contact with and learn to master a certain energy, this set of armor would gain power from it and then become a convenient tool for the user to cast spells. The effect was similar to a staff.

"The armor also contains some basic magical knowledge, but it will only be triggered if the user themselves has mastered the corresponding energy."

After speaking, Tony made a gesture of that is it, no big deal, but the smug look on his face was obvious to anyone with normal vision.

(To be continued.)