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Chapter 493: Farewell
"You're a righteous bastard, Tony," Batman said with the utmost seriousness.
"What a coincidence, I see you the same way."
Tony took a hard drag, smoking more than half the cigarette in one go before tossing it on the ground and stamping it out. At his level of existence, he no longer needed something like tobacco for a pick-me-up; it was purely to satisfy a craving.
It was the same with drinking tea.
"I'm leaving. Before I go, I wanted to come see you. Although your personality has changed a lot, and you're not as naive as you were a few years ago, I still don't think it's enough," Tony said, sizing up Batman's increasingly formidable physique.
"I will never become like you. You like to fight violence with violence; I prefer to let the law handle it," Batman said hoarsely.
"Is that so? But in my view, the law is just another form of violence."
Tony spoke casually, as if chatting with an old friend. Although he and Bruce had a rather unpleasant past, it didn't really matter now.
"The law uses words to regulate the behavior of aggressors, with courts, the police, the military, and the government as its enforcement arms. It uses violent means to capture those aggressors. From my perspective, the law is nothing more than a larger apparatus of violence."
"But what happens when an enemy appears who is beyond the limits of legal restraint? Dormammu, Mephisto, Trigon, Doomsday... how do you use the law to control enemies like them?" Tony watched him quietly.
"I don't hold back against demons, but I do against humans," Batman said.
Tony moved his foot, revealing the cigarette butt crushed to pulp beneath it. He stared at it for a moment, then let out a low chuckle. "What about me, then? If I were to one day try and destroy the world, and you defeated me, would you hold back? Would you let the law pass judgment on me? You know, Bruce, even if I were thrown into prison, I could easily break out."
The wind howled and dark clouds churned, revealing a sliver of bright moonlight that peeked down at the land below.
"I would," Batman uttered a single word.
The clouds once again obscured the moon, just as they had a moment before.
Tony gave Batman a deep look. *Mhm, still so... respectable, yet so infuriating.* With someone like Batman, sometimes you just didn't know how to communicate.
When people describe Batman, they like to use phrases like "a mortal body to rival a deity."
But in Tony's eyes, Batman was clearly "a mortal body wielding divinity."
Batman walked the line between light and darkness, stubbornly holding onto something. He was reliable, yet one couldn't help but feel a sense of doubt.
Tony turned and left, walking slowly, step by step, into the shadows.
"Bruce, listen to me. Those Doomsday cells you've researched have numerous flaws. It's best you never use that stuff. I'm leaving you a trump card for a desperate fight, not for you to use as a conventional weapon. You should stick to fighting with your armor and your intellect."
With those parting words, Tony's figure completely vanished into the darkness.
Batman watched with a cold expression, his hand slowly moving away from his utility belt. He cocked his head, listening to the sudden wail of police sirens in the distance, piercingly loud in the quiet night. He took out a Batarang, aimed at a tall building, and leaped, spreading his cape to glide like a giant bat.
The knight of the Gotham night.
Wayne Manor, the underground Batcave. Batman's ghostly shadow flickered inside, his silhouette wavering in the dim light.
Batman removed his cowl, revealing a face more weathered by time and eyes far deeper and more steadfast than before.
He pulled a test tube filled with a red liquid from his utility belt and observed it. The bizarre, enormous cells within were almost visible to the naked eye, seemingly alive as they contracted and expanded, breathing, lying in wait.
Doomsday cells. This was what Batman had developed after obtaining Lex Luthor's brain and some of his basic research.
An incomplete killing machine. This was the trump card he had prepared for a desperate fight, and he was well aware of the serum's danger.
But it was also the greatest weapon he had prepared for himself—the ultimate weapon against Tony.
The second-generation Anti-Tony armor.
Batman was prepared to inject the serum into his own body at a moment's notice, to turn himself into a monster and fight on the day Tony lost control.
"I hope the time never comes when I have to use this."
Batman murmured, sinking wearily into his chair.
He had been secretly preparing all sorts of contingencies. For every individual on Earth with exceptional combat abilities, he had been quietly gathering data, analyzing their personalities, and preparing countermeasures.
And Tony, naturally, was at the top of the list. His ability to animate machinery rendered Batman's armor completely useless.
In that case, Batman's own body of flesh and blood was the best weapon, and the only weapon that could counter Tony.
The incomplete Doomsday cells—it would be more accurate to call it the Doomsday virus.
A powerful virus that allowed a mortal to challenge a deity.
"How ironic..."
Batman shook his head, carefully storing the item away and keeping it on his person. He opened his computer and continued to browse through the vast amount of data on the screen.
...
Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion. A.R.G.U.S. was already mass-producing the genetic serum. As soon as Tony relocated the mutants who wished to leave Earth, they would begin injecting ordinary humans with the genetic serum.
They would even introduce the serum into daily food supplies, drinking water, and rainwater.
The core technology of the genetic serum was selective genetics, which removed the X-Gene from the human genetic sequence. This way, even a newly formed fertilized egg would no longer carry the X-Gene.
The offspring of two mutants would also no longer possess the X-Gene.
After leaving Earth, Tony would immediately inject his followers with an immunity vaccine, allowing them to ignore the effects of the genetic serum and eliminating a weakness.
Everything was being prepared.
Many people came to see him off.
"Buddy, remember to let me know next time you come back. I'll prepare a feast for you." Tony drove up to the manor in a sports car and presented a bottle of fine brandy as a gift.
"I knew it was you who stole my brandy last time. I even modified Jarvis's judgment protocols because of it," Tony joked.
"It wasn't me, you've got the wrong person." Saying this, he pointed to the honest-looking Wong. "He did it. Look at his build; he's clearly a glutton."
Wong had a look of utter confusion as he stared at them blankly.
"Hey, buddy, long time no see!" Tony walked over, acting very familiar.
"Do we know each other?" Wong was even more bewildered.
He was just here to say farewell, how did he get dragged into all this?
Stephen approached with his long-time assistant, Nicodemus, and gave Tony a firm nod.
"After you leave, we will protect this planet," Stephen said seriously.
"Mhm, I've already stepped down anyway, Your Excellency, the Sorcerer Supreme." Tony put his hand on Stephen's shoulder and led him to a place away from the crowd, speaking in a low voice.
"There's one more thing I have to remind you about... about the Earth's core."
(end of chapter)
"You're a righteous bastard, Tony," Batman said with the utmost seriousness.
"What a coincidence, I see you the same way."
Tony took a hard drag, smoking more than half the cigarette in one go before tossing it on the ground and stamping it out. At his level of existence, he no longer needed something like tobacco for a pick-me-up; it was purely to satisfy a craving.
It was the same with drinking tea.
"I'm leaving. Before I go, I wanted to come see you. Although your personality has changed a lot, and you're not as naive as you were a few years ago, I still don't think it's enough," Tony said, sizing up Batman's increasingly formidable physique.
"I will never become like you. You like to fight violence with violence; I prefer to let the law handle it," Batman said hoarsely.
"Is that so? But in my view, the law is just another form of violence."
Tony spoke casually, as if chatting with an old friend. Although he and Bruce had a rather unpleasant past, it didn't really matter now.
"The law uses words to regulate the behavior of aggressors, with courts, the police, the military, and the government as its enforcement arms. It uses violent means to capture those aggressors. From my perspective, the law is nothing more than a larger apparatus of violence."
"But what happens when an enemy appears who is beyond the limits of legal restraint? Dormammu, Mephisto, Trigon, Doomsday... how do you use the law to control enemies like them?" Tony watched him quietly.
"I don't hold back against demons, but I do against humans," Batman said.
Tony moved his foot, revealing the cigarette butt crushed to pulp beneath it. He stared at it for a moment, then let out a low chuckle. "What about me, then? If I were to one day try and destroy the world, and you defeated me, would you hold back? Would you let the law pass judgment on me? You know, Bruce, even if I were thrown into prison, I could easily break out."
The wind howled and dark clouds churned, revealing a sliver of bright moonlight that peeked down at the land below.
"I would," Batman uttered a single word.
The clouds once again obscured the moon, just as they had a moment before.
Tony gave Batman a deep look. *Mhm, still so... respectable, yet so infuriating.* With someone like Batman, sometimes you just didn't know how to communicate.
When people describe Batman, they like to use phrases like "a mortal body to rival a deity."
But in Tony's eyes, Batman was clearly "a mortal body wielding divinity."
Batman walked the line between light and darkness, stubbornly holding onto something. He was reliable, yet one couldn't help but feel a sense of doubt.
Tony turned and left, walking slowly, step by step, into the shadows.
"Bruce, listen to me. Those Doomsday cells you've researched have numerous flaws. It's best you never use that stuff. I'm leaving you a trump card for a desperate fight, not for you to use as a conventional weapon. You should stick to fighting with your armor and your intellect."
With those parting words, Tony's figure completely vanished into the darkness.
Batman watched with a cold expression, his hand slowly moving away from his utility belt. He cocked his head, listening to the sudden wail of police sirens in the distance, piercingly loud in the quiet night. He took out a Batarang, aimed at a tall building, and leaped, spreading his cape to glide like a giant bat.
The knight of the Gotham night.
Wayne Manor, the underground Batcave. Batman's ghostly shadow flickered inside, his silhouette wavering in the dim light.
Batman removed his cowl, revealing a face more weathered by time and eyes far deeper and more steadfast than before.
He pulled a test tube filled with a red liquid from his utility belt and observed it. The bizarre, enormous cells within were almost visible to the naked eye, seemingly alive as they contracted and expanded, breathing, lying in wait.
Doomsday cells. This was what Batman had developed after obtaining Lex Luthor's brain and some of his basic research.
An incomplete killing machine. This was the trump card he had prepared for a desperate fight, and he was well aware of the serum's danger.
But it was also the greatest weapon he had prepared for himself—the ultimate weapon against Tony.
The second-generation Anti-Tony armor.
Batman was prepared to inject the serum into his own body at a moment's notice, to turn himself into a monster and fight on the day Tony lost control.
"I hope the time never comes when I have to use this."
Batman murmured, sinking wearily into his chair.
He had been secretly preparing all sorts of contingencies. For every individual on Earth with exceptional combat abilities, he had been quietly gathering data, analyzing their personalities, and preparing countermeasures.
And Tony, naturally, was at the top of the list. His ability to animate machinery rendered Batman's armor completely useless.
In that case, Batman's own body of flesh and blood was the best weapon, and the only weapon that could counter Tony.
The incomplete Doomsday cells—it would be more accurate to call it the Doomsday virus.
A powerful virus that allowed a mortal to challenge a deity.
"How ironic..."
Batman shook his head, carefully storing the item away and keeping it on his person. He opened his computer and continued to browse through the vast amount of data on the screen.
...
Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion. A.R.G.U.S. was already mass-producing the genetic serum. As soon as Tony relocated the mutants who wished to leave Earth, they would begin injecting ordinary humans with the genetic serum.
They would even introduce the serum into daily food supplies, drinking water, and rainwater.
The core technology of the genetic serum was selective genetics, which removed the X-Gene from the human genetic sequence. This way, even a newly formed fertilized egg would no longer carry the X-Gene.
The offspring of two mutants would also no longer possess the X-Gene.
After leaving Earth, Tony would immediately inject his followers with an immunity vaccine, allowing them to ignore the effects of the genetic serum and eliminating a weakness.
Everything was being prepared.
Many people came to see him off.
"Buddy, remember to let me know next time you come back. I'll prepare a feast for you." Tony drove up to the manor in a sports car and presented a bottle of fine brandy as a gift.
"I knew it was you who stole my brandy last time. I even modified Jarvis's judgment protocols because of it," Tony joked.
"It wasn't me, you've got the wrong person." Saying this, he pointed to the honest-looking Wong. "He did it. Look at his build; he's clearly a glutton."
Wong had a look of utter confusion as he stared at them blankly.
"Hey, buddy, long time no see!" Tony walked over, acting very familiar.
"Do we know each other?" Wong was even more bewildered.
He was just here to say farewell, how did he get dragged into all this?
Stephen approached with his long-time assistant, Nicodemus, and gave Tony a firm nod.
"After you leave, we will protect this planet," Stephen said seriously.
"Mhm, I've already stepped down anyway, Your Excellency, the Sorcerer Supreme." Tony put his hand on Stephen's shoulder and led him to a place away from the crowd, speaking in a low voice.
"There's one more thing I have to remind you about... about the Earth's core."
(end of chapter)
