Batman rarely showed emotion. Most of the time, he was completely expressionless—including his exposed cleft chin.
Yet right now on South Brother Island, everyone—including the Incredible Hulk—could tell that Batman was tempted by the Adamantium.
"Sounds like an excellent material for making a Batsuit?" Dr. Otto added tentatively.
Batman shook his head. He would use Adamantium to make a suit, but not just Adamantium alone.
Judging by how Kingpin's weight had nearly doubled after his skeleton was replaced with Adamantium, the metal's density was clearly immense. A higher density meant that a Batsuit forged from it would only be heavier for the same volume. While this would afford Batman a certain degree of stability when facing enemies with tens of tons of raw strength, he had to consider a critical variable: what if he lost Peter Parker's powers again in the middle of a battle while wearing an Adamantium suit?
At that point, all his physical strength would be spent just supporting the sheer weight of the Adamantium armor, leaving him with little energy left to fight off his foes.
From Batman's perspective, Vibranium was the ideal material for a suit.
As for Adamantium... Batman had other uses for it, such as forging the Batmobile. That would capitalize on the material's indestructible nature far better than a suit ever could, allowing the vehicle to withstand even opponents on the level of the Hulk.
"Why not have Robin pay Kingpin a visit and strip out his bones? Then we'd have all the Adamantium we need," the Lizard suggested.
Batman stared at the Lizard, his voice low and grim. "Don't corrupt Robin."
The Lizard grinned. "I was only joking."
Batman sighed, ignoring him. Fortunately, Venom Robin wasn't around right now, or the kid would definitely have given it some serious thought.
Reaching out to close all the files regarding the Dark Wind Corporation on Dr. Otto's workbench, Batman straightened up and looked toward Professor Morbius.
"Professor Morbius, a while back I encountered a half-human, half-vampire individual. According to him, he relies on sheer willpower to suppress his bloodlust. I believe you could attempt this under the supervision of others."
"I'll try," Professor Morbius said, "but don't get your hopes too high."
Batman then turned his gaze to the Hulk. "Hulk, I need to speak with you alone."
"Speak with Hulk alone?" The Hulk blinked in disbelief. "Hulk doesn't chat."
"That's fine," Batman said.
"Should we give you two some space?" the Lizard asked, looking at Batman. He had a faint inkling of what Batman wanted to discuss.
"No, Hulk and I will step outside. You all stay in the lab," Batman replied.
Outside the South Brother Island laboratory, on the grassy bank along the East River, Batman and Hulk sat on the ground, staring out at the pitch-black water.
"I've spoken with Dr. Banner about this, but I felt it was important to respect your opinion as well." Batman's very first sentence made Hulk grin foolishly.
Most of the time, people viewed Hulk as a monster. Even though the scientists on South Brother Island managed to treat him as a companion, having someone actually say they wanted to "respect Hulk's opinion" was a first since the day he was born.
"Hulk agrees!" Grinning like an idiot, Hulk blurted out his agreement without even asking what Batman actually wanted to talk about.
"Don't be so quick to agree. You need to think about it, Hulk," Batman said.
Hulk nodded with a goofy grin.
"Remember what I've told you many times before? To me, you are like a nation's nuclear deterrent—a strategic weapon that isn't deployed unless it is an absolute last resort. Right?" Batman asked.
"Hulk remembers, of course!" Hulk proudly puffed out his chest, sitting up straight on the grass.
Looking at Hulk's smug expression after being praised, Batman said in a low tone, "But in the future, if I ever need you, I expect you to control your power. Do your absolute best to protect others while keeping yourself safe, rather than leveling everything in sight like a real nuclear bomb, indiscriminate of friend or foe."
Batman's words didn't come out of nowhere. During the dinosaur invasion, if Hulk had better control over his strength, he should have caused much less destruction, rather than smashing and crashing around to the point of causing more panic than the dinosaurs themselves.
The previously triumphant Hulk deflated instantly. He knew Batman was talking about his actions during the dinosaur invasion.
"I need you to follow my commands, and I give you my word that my orders will never lead you into harm's way. That is my promise," Batman said.
Hulk hung his head gloomily, offering no reply.
"I'm not blaming you for what happened," Batman's words instantly made Hulk look back up. "I plan to form an alliance, and I want you to join it to become my ultimate trump card."
The Hulk tilted his head, glanced at Batman, and mimicked his deep tone: "Hulk said Hulk agrees."
"Good," Batman nodded.
Facing this giant whose mental age was clearly quite young—lagging even behind Venom Robin—Batman extended his fist. Hulk extended his massive green fist in return, and the two bumped knuckles.
Batman didn't stay on South Brother Island the whole night. After settling everything there, he returned to the Batcave.
"Peter, I reverse-engineered the glasses you gave me, focusing primarily on the Bluetooth functionality. I believe this technology holds immense commercial value... How about we find a restaurant and chat over dinner?"
Having just sat down, before Batman could even speak to Venom Robin, an encrypted transmission from Tony Stark came through.
"Sorry, Tony," Batman declined Tony's dinner invitation. "I still have some matters to attend to."
"Russian or Italian?" Tony asked.
"An Italian-Russian mix."
"And about the Bluetooth...?"
"Alice, the CEO of Parker Industries, will coordinate with you on this venture," Batman said.
"Never mind then. I really just wanted to grab a private dinner with you. When it comes to business, Parker Industries probably needs the distribution channels more than Stark Industries anyway, so I won't interfere with the Bluetooth project. Just remember to contact me if you run into any trouble," Tony said, his interest waning.
"I will."
Batman disconnected the encrypted line and gestured for Venom Robin to come over. "Come out with me, Robin."
"Where to?" Venom Robin set down the metal block he was using as makeshift exercise equipment, walked over to Batman, and held out his hand.
Placing a piece of chocolate into Venom Robin's palm, Batman brought up a digital map and pointed to the upper-left quadrant of Manhattan.
"To Hell's Kitchen. I need to meet with Luke Cage and Jessica Jones... as well as assemble an Antarctic expedition team."
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my pa-treon:
pat reon .c-om/windkaze