Three days had passed since Batman visited Wolverine. Over those three days, Batman had remained on South Brother Island, working alongside the four scientists to conduct genetic research on various skin tissues and cell debris.
The four scientists took turns acting as assistants, but Batman was the only one who hadn't closed his eyes once, barely moving from his spot, let alone taking a rest.
Three days later, Professor Connors lay exhaustedly in a chair, contemplating whether he should knock Batman out to force him to rest, when Batman's voice called out from the workbench:
"Doctors, come over here for a moment."
Professor Connors let out a yawn and slapped his forehead hard with his palm. By the time he walked over to Batman's side, he found that the other scientists had already gathered.
"Dr. Octavius, I now understand the condition causing the changes in your brain—or rather, your body," Batman said, getting straight to the point, his voice sounding raspy.
Beyond just Professor Connors, Otto, Banner, and Morbius were all utterly exhausted as well, with crust even lingering at the corners of their eyes.
"What is it?" Professor Connors asked.
"Over the past three days, I conducted genetic-level comparisons and exclusions between the samples collected from Wolverine and Otto's samples. Ultimately, I confirmed that Otto and Wolverine belong to the same category of human," Batman said.
"Huh?" Dr. Octavius uttered a sound of confusion, though he didn't press further, knowing Batman certainly had more to say.
Sure enough, Batman quickly explained:
"I discovered a specific set of genes inside their bodies that isn't present in other people, including mine. I have named it the 'X-Factor Gene,' or 'X-Gene' for short."
"Doctor, perhaps you didn't even know it yourself, but you are actually a mutant, just like Wolverine."
"X-Factor" signified something beyond conventional understanding. Wolverine's ability, like Dr. Octavius's, belonged to the realm of extraordinary transformations.
Dr. Octavius blinked forcefully to relieve his eyes, which had grown dry from long hours of work. "The X-Gene?"
"Yes. This set of genes never appeared in Dr. Banner, Professor Connors, Morbius, or even myself. It hasn't appeared in anyone else we've come into contact with so far," Batman said.
He possessed not only Wolverine's tissue samples, but also those of everyone else—with the sole exception of Thor, the God of Thunder.
Even the genetic fragments of someone like Jack the Werewolf, who mutated through internal means rather than relying on external objects, lacked the X-Gene. This was something present exclusively in Wolverine and Dr. Octavius.
"During the Battle of Manhattan, I heard Wolverine mention mutants," Dr. Banner asked. "Do you know what that's all about?"
"I don't. But after decoding Otto's and Logan's genes, I believe this gene exists within a specific portion of the world's population. Aside from a very select few born with dominant expressions, it remains recessive in most others," Batman explained.
"Does a dominant expression mean the person gains various powers?" Professor Morbius asked.
"Correct, but there is still one thing I cannot comprehend," Batman remarked, a trace of doubt creeping into his voice. "Wolverine said an elderly mutant has the ability to manipulate metal... I cannot explain that from a scientific standpoint, and I don't believe the X-Gene grants magic out of thin air."
Saying this, Batman glanced at the four scientists, only to see them all shrug with palms turned out—clearly equally unable to explain it through science.
After all, even when Khonshu, the Moon God, arrived on the island, this group of scientists had been able to analyze the divine moonlight using science. The result of that research was combining the intangible moonlight with a symbiote, thereby giving birth to Venom Robin.
"Relying on guesswork alone won't give us answers right now. We'll talk about it if we ever encounter it," Batman decided, not getting bogged down in dead ends. After archiving the information on the X-Gene and mutants, he turned and left South Brother Island.
On one hand, the past three days of high-intensity work had thoroughly exhausted the four scientists; on the other hand, Batman had other matters to attend to.
For instance, three days ago, Thor had gone drinking with Iron Man and drank him right into a hospital bed with alcohol poisoning.
Fearing Thor wouldn't be able to drink to his heart's content, Batman had summoned Wolverine over the second Tony passed out.
Now that three days had passed, those two who couldn't get drunk—Wolverine and the God of Thunder—were still knocking them back together.
For another instance, Luke Cage had finally awakened from his coma and spent the past two days in Hell's Kitchen with Daredevil and his group.
Batman needed to check on Tony, who had managed to drink himself into a bed, and also make a trip to Hell's Kitchen.
Half an hour later, inside Stark Tower.
Iron Man, Tony Stark, lying on his bed in pajamas, immediately raised a hand to cover his face the moment Batman stepped into the room, as if doing so would prevent Batman from noticing him.
"I thought you could drink Thor under the table," Batman said. He was visiting in his identity as Peter Parker. Walking over to Tony's hospital bed, he drew open the window, letting the sunlight stream in, and looked at Tony with a touch of teasing.
"Ah, that guy's a freak," Tony sighed, offering a bitter smile as he felt the cozy warmth of the sun on his body.
"You need to quit drinking, Tony," Batman urged with genuine concern.
Tony had noticeably reduced his drinking after returning from the Middle East, but Thor's arrival had plunged him back into heavy alcohol abuse.
Batman didn't object to people drinking, but Tony was a different case.
He worried that one day, Tony would be in a foul mood over various troubles, get dead drunk, step into a Mark suit, and fly out to wreak havoc in the middle of a bustling downtown.
An ordinary person throwing a drunken tantrum had limited destructive capacity, but Tony's Mark series armors had already been upgraded to the Mark VIII. Although Batman hadn't yet seen the destructive force of the Mark VIII, he knew it certainly wouldn't be small.
Batman felt compelled to solemnly warn Tony.
"You're worried I'll drunk-drive the Mark suit?" Tony was no fool; he knew Batman wouldn't drop by for no reason to visit someone whose life wasn't in danger.
"Precisely, Tony," Batman didn't shy away from the topic. "I need you to add a module to all future armor suits."
"A sobering agent injector, right? The second it detects my blood alcohol level exceeding the limit, it gives me a shot." Tony rolled his eyes, got up from the bed, and walked over to stand by the window alongside Batman.
"Yes," Batman nodded.
"The weather's so nice. I wonder if the world will stay this clear and bright now that even gods like Thor have appeared," Tony observed, gazing out at the bright, clear world.
"It will. I promise," Batman replied. "You drinking with Thor wasn't just about the alcohol, was it? Tony, you have something on your mind."
The moment Batman's words fell, a flicker of anxiety flashed across Tony's face.
He didn't choose to hide it from Batman. Instead, he spoke his thoughts directly:
"Loki the God of Mischief, the Frost Giants, the Enchantress, the Executioner..."
"I can rely on my face to deal with the Enchantress, but what about the others—what about the countless ones we don't even know about? I have a feeling that more and more of these beings are going to appear in our world from now on."
"I want to use iron armor to equip the Avengers... no, to arm the entirety of Manhattan, even all of New York."
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my pa-treon:
pat reon .c-om/windkaze
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Pa-treon normally.)