DOTM: Chapter 534/536

Chapter 534: The Birth of Batman

At the moment of raising his glass, Ethan had the impulse to take out the enhancement potion and place it in front of Bruce, but he ultimately resisted, lest things develop in an even stranger direction.

"Alright, I think we should just be straightforward. This kind of conversation is troublesome for me."

Tony hated trouble. Bruce's constant probing during these conversations had already made him feel bored.

So, he simply laid everything out.

He explained that neither he nor Ethan were from this world. He knew what Bruce would do in the future, and he was curious about some of Bruce's thoughts, so he had specifically come to this world to find him.

When Tony finished saying all this in one breath, the two across from him were stunned. This reaction was not what Tony had expected.

"Was that my reaction when you told me all this back then?"

Ethan hadn't interrupted, just quietly eating. Only when Tony asked did he look up at the two across from him.

"Pretty much, but the sarcasm on your face was even stronger back then."

"I'm really grateful you didn't just attack me back then."

The looks of "idiot" and "lunatic" from the two across the table made Tony furious. He almost couldn't resist raising his hand to throw an Arcane Missile at them.

"Sorry, I find it hard to believe what you're saying."

"Parallel universe theory, you should know it."

"Of course I know... it's just..."

Bruce certainly knew about the parallel universe theory, but it was only conjecture with no evidence to support it.

Now, two strangers appeared and claimed they were from another world. A normal person's reaction would be to treat them as lunatics, right?

"Just what? Because there's no evidence?" Tony spread his hands and pointed to himself. "Now there is, right in front of you."

Bruce didn't know how to respond. He could only look at the other party with an awkward but polite smile and casually ask a question.

"So, how did you get here from another world?"

Tony could answer this, but Ethan saw that such a ridiculous thing couldn't be believed by words alone, so he decided to answer himself.

"With this!"

A blue light suddenly flashed between the four of them. As Ethan gently moved his fingers, the beautiful ball of light kept changing, evolving into mysterious symbols, and forming a magic circle in the center.

Magic, on Earth, had wide recognition. The magic circle in particular was extremely well-known. Even people who knew nothing about legends or origins of magic could recognize that it was a magic circle.

At this point, even without Ethan saying "It's magic," Bruce already understood what the other party meant.

But whether he believed it or not was another matter.

Alfred still looked at the magical scene before him with eyes full of astonishment, wonder, and also a hint of suspicion.

He had actually seen similar scenes many times in Wayne Manor over the past two months. From initial absolute doubt, to gradually beginning to wonder if magic truly existed, he had now started to somewhat believe it.

But Bruce was different. He still didn't believe in mystical powers. His first thought was that Ethan was using some kind of technology. This light and shadow could be a holographic projection released by special equipment. Compared to magic, a hologram, which at least existed in theory, seemed more acceptable.

Bruce reached out his hand, wanting to confirm whether these lights and shadows were just projections, but was surprised to find that his hand could actually touch them.

"How is this possible?"

Normally, when magical energy appeared in this dissipated form, it seemed illusory, and touching it wouldn't create a real sensation.

But Ethan had specifically enhanced the "density" of the magical energy, knowing Bruce would definitely try to test it with his own hands.

As Bruce reached out, Ethan slightly moved his hands. The magical energy floating in front of them suddenly twisted and wrapped around Bruce's arm. It turned into blue chains, tightly binding his hand so he couldn't move at all.

After years of training and trials, Bruce's strength was already beyond ordinary people, though not at the level of a true powerhouse.

Yet under the binding of these chains of energy, he couldn't move at all. The tactile sensation was as if he were really bound by chains.

"So you used magic to get here?"

Ethan gently hooked his finger. The chains wrapped around Bruce transformed back into symbols, then condensed into a clear image in the center of the light.

Two spheres floated there. Looking closely, one could see within them countless galaxies, like miniature universes.

"You can think of these two as your universe and our universe, like two houses." Tony glanced at Ethan with a half-smile, but Ethan ignored him. "I can use magic to break the barrier between these universes, just like building a door between two houses."

The analogy was simple and easy to understand. With the accompanying images, anyone of normal intelligence could grasp it.

Bruce's intelligence far surpassed most people. He immediately asked, "Can your magic only travel to certain fixed worlds, or can it go to any world you want?"

Ethan thought for a moment. He wasn't completely sure, but so far there hadn't been a world he couldn't enter.

"Currently, it seems I can go anywhere I want."

"You mentioned my destiny earlier. How many worlds have you been to where 'I' exist?"

Tony gave Bruce a few extra glances. His reaction was quick.

"This is the second one."

"Is that so... So that's why you said it was my destiny."

Bruce realized from Ethan's words that the world they had visited before must have been very different, otherwise they wouldn't have come here again.

"Parallel universes, huh."

Bruce had the impulse to ask what his counterparts in other worlds had done, what Gotham became in the future. But after thinking, he suppressed the urge.

Since they were parallel universes, those things had no real meaning for him, and might even interfere with his judgment.

From the fact that they had been to another world where "Bruce Wayne" existed, it was clear that even the same person could be very different. Trying to determine his own future from another world's version of himself was pointless.

Bruce lowered his head, lost in thought. Neither Tony nor Ethan disturbed him. Instead, Alfred asked more questions.

Ethan withdrew his magic and answered.

There was nothing to hide from this loyal old butler. Alfred had always been Bruce's strongest support and assistant.

"So Master Bruce will become a vigilante wearing strange clothes, living a double life every day for the rest of his life!"

"You've summarized it very well."

Although blunt, this was indeed Bruce's future.

Bruce, who had been silent, had been listening. After hearing Ethan describe the clothing, he suddenly felt that this was indeed his choice.

"A bat?"

Facing the thing he feared most, and turning that fear into terror for criminals, wasn't this exactly what he wanted to do?

If there had been doubts before, Bruce was now gradually starting to believe Ethan and Tony. It seemed they really were from other worlds, and knew about him in advance. Otherwise, how could they know about the things hidden deep in his heart?

"I really hope none of this happens."

Alfred looked at Bruce with a serious expression. Having finally found the last member of the Wayne family, he only hoped Bruce would return home, reclaim everything the Wayne family owned, and manage Wayne Enterprises.

If Bruce wished, he could use Wayne Enterprises to benefit Gotham and its people.

During this time, he could marry, have children, and let the Wayne family prosper again.

In Alfred's mind, walking in darkness in strange clothes to fight crime should absolutely not be Bruce's future.

When he learned of this, the thing he wanted most was to make Bruce give up the idea.

But Bruce had already affirmed his inner thoughts. After returning to Gotham, he would observe the city's current state while building his battle suit and equipment. Even if much of the equipment was rare and expensive, with Wayne Enterprises as a cover, there was nothing he couldn't acquire.

Having made his decision, Bruce looked up again at the old butler full of worry. He raised his wine glass, imitating Ethan's earlier posture.

"Just as these two gentlemen said, Alfred, this is my destiny."

(To be continued.)

Chapter 535 Get to Know Each Other Again

Bruce's return to Gotham was initially very low-key, so it didn't cause much of a stir.

Since he planned to observe Gotham's situation discreetly, he asked Alfred not to announce his return for the time being. He would only do so after a few days, once he had completed his investigation.

At the same time, he could also use this period to restore his identity.

Having been missing for seven years, most people now believed Bruce was dead, and legal proceedings had already begun. Some within Wayne Enterprises were eager to declare him deceased, as he still held a significant number of shares in his name.

Now that Bruce was back, in addition to observing Gotham, he could also examine Wayne Enterprises' internal affairs to determine who should not remain on the board, as the company was crucial to his upcoming plans.

Without Wayne Enterprises, a large conglomerate spanning multiple industries, especially military manufacturing, as a cover, he would not be able to acquire much of the equipment or resources he needed. Even if he could, purchasing them under his personal name would easily draw attention, which was not conducive to keeping his identity hidden.

While Bruce refined his plan, Tony followed him the entire time, personally witnessing how Batman was born.

The issue of hiding his identity was the first thing Tony wanted to ask about.

"This mask isn't for protecting me."

Within the first week of returning to Gotham, Bruce had already created a prototype of the Batsuit. However, this version wasn't practical. He had only finalized the overall design of the suit and thought about where weapons and gear should be placed. Once the targeted design was complete, he could then search for the necessary components.

Like this mask…

"It's for protecting them."

Alfred immediately understood the most important reason Bruce wanted to hide his identity: to prevent criminals from targeting the people he cared about.

Tony had no opinion on this, but Ethan knew this method would only fool ordinary criminals. For enemies with real intelligence, Batman's identity was never truly a secret.

However, Ethan had no intention of interfering, and Bruce was not someone who would easily change his mind.

After finalizing the basic layout of the Batsuit, Bruce continued his preparation.

As the loyal butler of the Wayne family, even though Alfred strongly opposed Bruce going down this path, once Bruce made his decision, he still faithfully assisted him with various tasks.

The appearance of Ethan and Tony, while informing Bruce of some things, also strengthened his conviction and led him to decide on matters earlier. For instance, he prematurely set the location of his secret base in the cave beneath Wayne Manor, which would later become the famous Batcave.

However, compared to the fully equipped Batcave with advanced defenses it would become in the future, it was currently just an ordinary underground cave.

"The concealment is good, but there are many problems to solve. You need a self-sufficient power generator. Considering the nature of this place, surveillance and security systems will also need to be installed…"

Contrary to Bruce's expectations, after the location of the Batcave was determined, Tony, who had been silent for a while, suddenly became enthusiastic, offering suggestions on its structure and how to modify various areas.

Most importantly, Bruce found that his opinions were correct. After quietly listening for a while, he began to actively discuss them with Tony.

Compared to Tony, the current Bruce was still very green. Although his principles were firm, his intelligence high, his execution strong, and his knowledge broad, that didn't mean he didn't need to learn.

Compared to the mature Batman, the current Bruce was just starting out, a rookie who hadn't even begun. There were many problems he hadn't thought of, and many of Tony's suggestions were things he had inadvertently overlooked at this stage.

Ethan didn't participate much, mostly watching from the side and occasionally lending a hand. Bruce did find opportunities to chat with him a few times, seemingly trying to extract information about Tony.

"Actually, you don't need to do that. Just ask him directly. He'll be happy to tell you all kinds of details about himself."

Bruce had already noticed that Tony had extensive experience in building secret bases, possessed vast knowledge, and had a wide range of interests.

If that wasn't enough, Tony also seemed to have a "premonition" about the troubles superheroes might face, offering many useful suggestions for the Batcave's design.

For example, comprehensive medical facilities, various antitoxins, backup weapons and equipment, and rapid emergency response measures.

These weren't things a scholar would know. Plus, Tony had gone through so much trouble just to find him and talk. Bruce was curious about why. Now, he vaguely suspected that perhaps Tony was someone like him.

Maybe he had even been a superhero for years? Perhaps he was encountering problems and feeling lost, which was why he wanted to talk to him?

Being able to guess this, in addition to Bruce's talent and high intelligence, was also due to Tony not deliberately hiding it.

But Bruce assumed that the other party might not want to discuss it, so he tried to extract information from Ethan instead.

Yet Ethan told him Tony didn't actually mind.

Shouldn't a superhero instinctively hide his dual identity? Was this really okay?

If Ethan knew what Bruce was thinking, he would have patted his shoulder and said: You're overthinking it. This guy is probably more afraid that people don't know he's a superhero. Would someone who publicly announced his identity in front of reporters really care about that?

Bruce still didn't ask directly and continued with his preparations step by step.

After the basic setup of the Batcave was completed, Bruce also finished his investigation into Gotham and Wayne Enterprises, restored his identity, and officially announced his return to the world.

Bruce Wayne, the last member of the Wayne family, had returned to Gotham.

This news spread through Gotham and caused ripples across North America. As for Wayne Enterprises… since Bruce currently held no position and only had shares, it didn't cause too much of a stir.

However, he still managed to get into the Applied Sciences division, the department headed by Lucius Fox.

In short, it was the department where Bruce could acquire weapons and resources.

Almost the day after visiting Wayne Enterprises, Bruce brought back a large number of resources. At the same time, the mask components ordered from overseas had arrived, and modifications could begin.

Since he had determined the Batsuit's appearance early and considered the effects of each component, Bruce didn't need to refine it gradually through operations. He directly created the first Batsuit, including the special cape that could serve as a gliding parachute.

When Bruce was fully suited up, Alfred, Ethan, and Tony circled around him, examining him nonstop.

Their behavior made Bruce feel uncomfortable, as if he were an animal in a cage. But the three ignored him and continued their inspection.

Although all three were observing, their thoughts were different.

Alfred focused on Bruce's personal safety, examining the protective suit to see if its defensive capabilities were sufficient.

Tony shook his head as he looked. He wasn't satisfied with the suit. Though advanced in this world, it was very ordinary in his eyes. In fact, he even looked down on it.

If the Batman in the comics had all sorts of high-tech equipment not inferior to Tony's Iron Man suits, then the person in front of him was essentially just an ordinary man cosplaying as Batman, only with better quality props.

Ethan also looked down on it. This Batsuit, modified from protective gear, wasn't even comparable to the suits worn by his team members. Its defensive power couldn't even match the innermost layer of their bodysuits without armor plating. His team's suits not only had decent defense but also energy shielding.

However, regardless, the Batsuit was officially born and would continue to be upgraded as Bruce's knowledge grew. Batman's learning ability was cheat-level. Through relentless self-study, he became a polymath and constantly developed black-tech equipment. For now, he relied on existing gear.

And the beginning of this cheat started today.

The three stopped simultaneously and stood together in front of Bruce. Ethan gestured for him to test the voice changer, which had been added earlier based on their suggestion. When designing the suit initially, Bruce had overlooked this detail. In the original story, he had to manually lower his voice to conceal his identity.

Now, with Tony and Ethan's reminder, Bruce didn't make that mistake. He just had to speak normally, and the familiar deep voice came out.

"I'm Batman!"

Unexpectedly for Ethan and Alfred, Tony suddenly walked over to Bruce and activated his nanotech armor.

"Let's reintroduce ourselves. I'm Iron Man!"

(To be continued.)

Chapter 536: Great Mentor Tony?

Ethan covered his face. He suspected Tony had wanted to run up to Bruce and say that from the very moment he arrived in this world.

"I can't believe you held back until now."

Ignoring Ethan's muttered complaint, Tony, clad in his Iron Man suit, stood before Bruce.

Bruce, standing opposite, looked at the strange suit with a hint of surprise.

"Magic?"

There was no way the Iron Man suit could just appear out of thin air. Considering the magic mentioned earlier, Bruce's first thought was that Tony had used mystical means to store his equipment.

"It's nanotechnology."

"Purely a product of technology?"

Bruce was a little surprised. He had initially thought Tony, like Ethan, was skilled in mystical arts. Although Tony had shown extensive knowledge, proving a deep understanding of modern technology, Bruce hadn't thought about it more deeply.

And just now, he had said he wanted to reintroduce himself... Iron Man? Was that his hero name?

"Want to spar?"

Tony made a slight "bring it on" gesture. Although the amplified voice from the Iron Man suit didn't sound provocative, everyone felt like he was practically begging Bruce to charge at him.

Bruce didn't hesitate for too long. In fact, he had a similar thought. He also wanted to test his current abilities.

"But if we fight here, won't there be too little space?"

"You don't need to worry about that," Tony said without turning around, giving Ethan a small wave. "It's up to you, Ethan."

Ethan didn't argue. It was impossible to stop Tony at this point. Sometimes he was like a willful child, and with Ethan watching, he wouldn't cause too much trouble.

Besides, Ethan could see Bruce was itching for a fight too, so why spoil the fun?

With a slight lift of his hand, transparent, glass-like walls appeared out of thin air. As he waved his left hand, the walls swept from one side of the Batcave to the other.

Alfred stood quietly to the side, watching in awe. The transparent walls swept straight through Tony and Bruce as if they were illusions, not touching them at all.

He then realized the area they stood in seemed enclosed by uneven glass.

Bruce was also observing. Compared to Alfred looking around, he noticed that although the ground looked the same as before, it also gave him the feeling of being "behind a layer of glass."

"This is a Mirror Dimension."

Tony, standing opposite, gave a brief introduction.

"It's like a world inside a mirror, a small pocket dimension. Any destruction here won't affect the real world."

Bruce nodded. He understood the purpose of this space. It was very suitable for combat or carrying out dangerous experiments. For mages, it could probably also be used to practice riskier spells.

"Come on, let me see what you've got!"

Tony felt quite superior standing before the young Batman. He had been a superhero for several years already and had far more combat experience than Bruce.

Although he lacked the life-or-death battles of his original cinematic storyline, his strength was already much greater than the original Iron Man's.

Even without considering his increasingly powerful arcane magic, the Iron Man suit itself was stronger.

In the original story, the nano-suit had only been used in combat against Ebony Maw. But the current Tony had used the nano-suit many times and had been continuously improving and upgrading it.

Especially the weapons. The firepower equipped on this suit was enough for Tony to easily wipe out an army.

In comparison, Bruce was only wearing a Batsuit modified from protective gear. His weapons were just a grapnel gun, homemade Batarangs, and blades on his gauntlets.

These couldn't even scratch Tony's armor. Even without the energy shield, ordinary metal weapons couldn't pierce the hardened shell.

Bruce had trained in many martial arts, stealth, and assassination techniques. But unless he mastered energy and could bypass the armor's protection to inflict internal damage, ordinary punches and kicks were useless against Tony.

What was even more unfortunate was that The Dark Knight Trilogy world was ordinary, with no energy-based power systems.

And so, the sparring became one-sided. This was less a fight than Tony Stark showing off his arsenal. Even without magic, the gadgets on his suit left Bruce struggling.

Alfred, watching from the side, grew displeased. He felt Tony was simply cheating. A shield taller than a man appearing with just a wave of his hand left Bruce, who lacked comparable gear, completely helpless.

Then came small missiles (though they didn't explode), a machine gun glowing blue (using electromagnetic propulsion to fire metal particles, adjusted so as not to seriously harm Bruce but still painful if hit), and even a sonic disruptor that severely threw off Bruce's balance.

Under these conditions, the sparring ended quickly.

Tony had naturally held back. He didn't use magic, and many functions of his hybrid suit weren't activated. But this suit was no longer purely technological. Its machine gun core was powered by magical energy, not technology, so completely avoiding magic was impossible.

And Jarvis's program to analyze Bruce's fighting style and calculate counter-moves wasn't even needed.

Tony, in his suit, didn't need any special moves. Any casual punch was something Bruce couldn't parry. In the original storyline, the Winter Soldier and Captain America were super soldiers with enhanced physiques.

Tony, having disengaged the nano-suit, now stood before a disheveled Bruce. But instead of looking smug, he frowned, examining the badly damaged Batsuit.

Even while holding back, the suit couldn't withstand his attacks and was wrecked. The large cape was shredded into rags, the mask and cowl shattered, losing all concealment. Even the voice changer was broken, forcing Bruce to remove it.

"Your gear is even worse than I expected."

Bruce could only smile bitterly. When he saw the heavy Iron Man suit, he had known he stood little chance, especially in direct combat.

But he didn't complain. He knew if he wanted to carry out his plan, head-on confrontations like this were inevitable. He wouldn't blame an opponent for being too strong. He only thought about how to deal with such powerful enemies.

"Indeed, there are quite a few issues to address."

Bruce had seen that Tony wasn't going all out. He didn't believe those toy-like missiles were what Tony would use in a real battle, or bullets that only caused pain but weren't lethal.

After reflecting, he realized that aside from avoiding direct fights with heavily armed opponents, he needed better equipment to at least protect himself against such firepower.

The sonic weapon also made him wary. He needed better defenses against it.

In fact, he even thought about acquiring one himself. The weapon's disruptive ability was excellent, making it useful for crowd control. Against a large group of enemies, tossing out a sonic emitter could throw them into chaos and create openings.

After this simple sparring session, or rather one-sided beating, Bruce realized many of his shortcomings. He gradually understood that if he wanted to grow stronger, relying only on existing equipment was far from enough.

Tony seemed to notice his thoughts and offered advice.

"I have dozens of Iron Man suits. Do you know where they all came from?"

Bruce stayed quiet, watching Tony, waiting for him to continue.

"I built them all myself."

Although Bruce didn't react strongly, the flash of surprise on his face still gave Tony a sense of satisfaction.

"I think you can do that too."

At this point, Ethan deactivated the Mirror Dimension, and Alfred brought out a first-aid kit to tend to Bruce's injuries. No matter how much Tony held back, scrapes and bruises were unavoidable.

But Ethan directly handed Bruce a small glass vial. Looking at the red liquid inside, Bruce didn't hesitate. He drank it, then casually pocketed the vial, which still had a single drop left.

As his wounds and bruises vanished before their eyes, Alfred was no longer surprised. He calmly put the first-aid kit away.

"It seems I still have a lot to learn."

Hearing this, Tony suddenly grew excited and clapped Bruce on the shoulder.

"If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have."

Ethan glanced at Tony, grinning mischievously, and suddenly suspected that this guy hadn't come here to chat with Batman at all, but had really come to be his teacher.

(To be continued.)