Chapter 41: Dating with Superman, but with Batman's whole family.
Bruce Wayne is gone, Batman enters. Batman, clad in all black, exudes an imposing aura; his dark presence clashes sharply with the brightly lit Batcave. He pauses, then steps into this Batcave unlike any he's ever been before.
It gave off a feeling of a little bat being dragged out into the sun to bake in the scorching heat, and Wen Yue chuckled to herself.
"Looks like you slept well." Wen Yue sat in the computer chair with wheels, and smoothly glided to Batman by pushing off the ground with her toes.
"I just got back from the Justice League." Batman pushed Wen Yue, chair and all, back to the computer.
Sleep is an external thing; Batman could only lie in bed for a short time before he had to get up again to handle affairs, such as arranging and dealing with the Justice League's battle.
Wen Yue felt a pang of sympathy; being the official Batman was truly a nightmare. Luckily, the player was using a pirated version, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to experience the joy of slacking off.
Everyone else went to get the afternoon tea snacks that Ah Fu had prepared. Only Batman and Wen Yue remained in the Batcave. Batman didn't try to hide his melancholy. He stood in front of the computer with his head down for a long time, finally raising his hand to pinch his brow and letting out a heavy sigh: "Hal committed suicide."
The air seemed to freeze, as if a thick curtain was pressing down heavily, and the Bat Cave was shrouded in a repressive silence.
Wen Yue lowered her gaze, unusually quiet. It was understandable, after all, Hal had killed so many people with his own hands, even his best friend, the Flash. Green Lantern possessed the virtues of a hero; neither his morality nor his emotions could forgive or pardon his own actions.
“I’m going to check on Dick.” Batman was referring to his Dick, Nightwing, who was currently locked in a special cell in the Batcave.
With his black cape billowing, Batman's figure disappeared from Wen Yue's sight.
The plan to turn vampires back into vampires is on the agenda. Wen Yue is working on combining the halo of holy light with the life equation, but she is not yet proficient in using this newly acquired high-level energy.
Closing their eyes, they connect with heaven and earth, transcending the dimensions of reality. Invisible waves ripple and surge, spreading and undulating around the player, calling for communication with the world's origin. A strange feeling washes over them; their soul resonates with the world, a gentle warmth sensing the omnipresent world consciousness, seemingly imprisoned in the void by invisible shackles. Above the world's foundation, a swirling black mist shrouds the origin, clinging to it like a persistent, intractable disease…
The footsteps approached with cheerful steps, forcing Wen Yue to interrupt the resonance and exit the state of higher-dimensional communication.
Jason returned with milk tea, followed by Red Hood and Tim carrying cake and cookies.
"I think I just saw Batman come back, but where is he?" Jason looked around.
"I went to see Dick." Wen Yue raised her eyes and gestured in the direction of Nightwing's cell.
"By the way, why are you all so keen on dressing up as bats?" Jason placed the milk tea in front of each of them and tapped Wen Yue's table. "If you don't want to drink it, just leave it there. Don't spill it on my feet again." He was referring to the incident when Wen Yue drank black fungus tea last time.
"How could that be..." The social death incident once again invaded the player's mind. Ignoring Tim and Red Hood's enthusiastic background voice, "Bruce doesn't want to drink, so he'll spill it on your feet?" "Stop talking!" Wen Yue's crumbling sense of shame forcibly pulled the topic back: "Because Bruce is afraid of bats."
"So he brought his fear of bats to all of Gotham? What kind of spirit of sharing weal and woe is that?" Jason glanced at the player with interest, his words carrying a pointed meaning.
“I think he grew through his fears, transforming himself from a rich guy into a superhero,” Wen Yue offered a different perspective, her resolute attitude suggesting she was about to join the Party. It was crucial to maintain the current serious atmosphere of the conversation; Jason absolutely could not be given a chance to bring up the past.
“Alright, you’re Bruce, so you call the shots.” Jason nodded slightly, glancing towards the entrance of the Batcave. “Dick really loves Superman, huh? It’s been almost a day and he still hasn’t come back. I wonder what they’re up to together?”
"Didn't Superman make plans to have dinner online tonight? We can ask him then." With the matter of the wood ear tea finally over, Wen Yue unconsciously relaxed her straight back, picked up the ice cream Red Hood had given her, took a big bite, and squinted her eyes happily.
Tim's eyebrows twitched slightly, his all-knowing gaze sweeping over them before he shook his head slightly. "That's not true."
Enjoying the warmth of ice cream: "Hmm?"
"When did you make this appointment? How come I didn't know?" Jason carefully scrolled through the group chat history. "That's not right."
The two people gave negative answers, and Wen Yue opened her chat, only to find that it seemed to be a private message.
Jason leaned closer, glanced at the long, seemingly endless private chat history between the two, and raised a thick eyebrow: "Oh." Something's going on.
"So it was a private invitation." Tim, the "King of Knowledge," understood.
"Tsk tsk tsk." The man in the red hood cast an ambiguous glance at her.
"That's where my good interpersonal skills come into play," Wen Yue said proudly, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head. No one dislikes a player who is loved by everyone.
Upon learning that Wen Yue had a date that evening, under the manual intervention of the butler, Wen Yue dressed up in the same style of clothing as before: a loose white shirt with a collar and pleats. The lazy outfit did not match the serious temperament that the player believed he had.
"Ah Fu, I'm a serious person. Isn't this too sloppy?" Wen Yue blew a breath, and the white, wrinkled front of the dress trembled slightly like a flower.
Faced with Wen Yue's objection, Afu let out a drawn-out "ah" and put on a polite smile: "I think you have some misunderstanding about yourself. The European retro style suits you very well."
Wen Yue blinked her bright eyes and said, forgetting her roots, "Actually, I'm a reformer."
Just a casual joke, and the player quickly slipped away.
With light and quick steps, the player disembarks from the vehicle, displaying remarkable skill by stealing a disguised Batmobile from Batman. The smooth handling and exquisite experience are truly unforgettable.
Recalling the Batmobile 2, which shattered into pieces along with the broken stone gate, Wen Yue felt a pang of pain in her heart. It wasn't the price that bothered her, but the unrequited love between the player and the car. Since its release, the player had barely driven the Batmobile 2, with Jason constantly sneaking it around, leaving the player only able to yearn for it. It was utterly ironic; was Jason Batman, or was the player? The player was more familiar with driving the Batmobile in real life than Jason was.
Across from the Western restaurant where we were to meet was a fast food restaurant. I felt a surge of excitement and thought I should have a late-night snack after dinner.
Upon entering the lobby on the first floor, Wen Yue spotted her target near the window. The location wasn't conspicuous, but the target was too obvious.
"Clark, you're here early. Where's Dick?" The first thing Wen Yue did after sitting down was to ask about Dick's whereabouts, as she was always worried about Claw, who had grown up in a simple and isolated environment.
“Dick is at Teen Titans, where he made a group of new friends.” Clark’s untroubled blue eyes were hidden behind his stiff glasses, but even disguised as an ordinary person, Superman still stood out among the crowd.
“It seems I’ll have to start building Titan Tower when I get back. At least the young heroes need a base.” Having seen the young Titans here, Wen Yue didn’t believe Dick wouldn’t be itching to get one. Base construction also takes time and needs to be decided in advance. She thought about it seriously: “As for the location, let’s have one near Gotham and one in San Francisco.”
“I think they’d be happy to,” Clark said, flashing a bright and infectious smile.
"I have a request, and I hope you can help me." Wen Yue took out a nano armor bracelet with a damage rate of over 90%. "This is the armor I wore when I traveled here. It was severely damaged during the time travel. I wonder if your Kryptonian technology can repair this nano armor?"
Clark took the bracelet, examined it carefully for a moment, and said, "You can try it."
"Thank you so much, Clark is a god!" Wen Yue handed over the bracelet with both hands.
Their eyes met, and Clark took the bracelet, his earlobes gradually turning red.
Clark is really easily flattered, Wen Yue thought to herself, shaking her head. Maybe that's just the charm of an innocent young man.
"By the way, is there some secret you wanted to share with me?" Wen Yue asked. Online interactions carry the risk of being monitored; one-on-one in-person communication offers the best level of confidentiality.
"It's not classified. The time-space teleportation device has been located, and you can return to your original world at any time."
"Great! Thank you Justice League, thank you Superheroes, thank you!" Wen Yue exclaimed excitedly. "I'll go back tonight and ask Jason and Dick when they want to leave."
“Well, but that’s not the main reason I asked you out today,” Clark said hesitantly. “It’s some personal stuff, about myself and about you. I was afraid I wouldn’t have time to tell you after you left. It’s about me…”
"I know," Wen Yue said, stopping herself with one hand and looking serious.
"You know?" Clark's slightly open eyes showed a hint of shock.
“Yes, I only found out recently.” Wen Yue patted Clark’s shoulder with a heavy expression, looking at him tenderly. “Brother, I understand your sadness. I know about Hal’s situation, and I understand your worries. Don’t worry too much. We can go to the watchtower tonight. I’ve pretty much figured out how to turn a vampire back into a human. Oh, and let the autistic bat know.”
Wen Yue was extremely efficient; she lowered her head and began sending messages in the Bat Family's internal channel.
Clark opened his mouth, but then hesitated and didn't say anything.
After finishing her business, Wen Yue keenly noticed Clark glancing out the window.
"What, you want to go to the fast food place across the street for some fries too?" Wen Yue thought she had met a kindred spirit, so she pulled back the curtains and enthusiastically wanted to share with Clark the fast food place she had just seen. The tempting signs made her mouth water.
The subtle shifts in light and shadow alerted Wen Yue to something amiss. Turning around, she was startled to see Jason's large face so close to hers. His cheek was pressed against the glass, creating a strong sense of pressure, while behind him, the bats and birds squeezed together like a sandwich. Above her, two small figures hung upside down, Damian and Dick peeking out, appearing and disappearing in perfect harmony.
Wen Yue: "?!?!" I've really seen something amazing today. What kind of performance is this?
So the solo date turned into a family dinner, with Superman and some members of the Bat-family meeting at a fast-food restaurant.
Order a kids' burger combo, Dick and Damian's. They also have special collaboration combos that come with a free superhero blind box. The most anticipated part of the combo isn't the food, but opening the blind box.
Gamblers can finally go all in again. Wen Yue closed her eyes and sincerely prayed to Jesus, God, Buddha, Guanyin, and other deities, hoping that the players could win the grand prize, the Bat Family Portrait.
When Wen Yue opened her eyes again, the mountain of blind boxes in front of her was now empty except for one lonely box. The world spun and the sky seemed to collapse. The player couldn't believe it: "Where's my blind box?"
The others chuckled to themselves, finding the joy of ganging up on the old bat unimaginable. They had already snapped open the blind boxes with lightning speed, and some were even exchanging the heroes they wanted.
Wen Yue was on the verge of tears. At least she had kept one for herself. The player opened the blind box with high expectations and found Nightwing?
Okay, Nightwing is handsome too, that little perky butt is so lifelike.
Dick leaned over and shook the player's blind box. "Bruce, there are more inside." He took out a figurine that Wen Yue hadn't noticed.
It's Robin Damian. The short-armed, short-legged, chibi-style Robin, gripping his sword tightly, stares sharply ahead, like a little hedgehog charging towards the world.
Wen Yue laughed so hard she couldn't stand up straight. Damian, is he trying to kill us with cuteness? He's so aggressive, players love him.
"TT, give it to me!" Damian lunged forward to snatch it.
Wen Yue quickly raised her arm to avoid Damian, who was standing on tiptoe, and hugged the little hedgehog with a smile. "Damian is so cute, hahaha..."
Last time, when a player impersonating Red Robin hugged him, Damian blushed with anger. This time, the player's identity was exposed, and they retaliated twice. Damian blushed again, but he didn't seem angry...
No one present unearthed the "Family Photo of Bats," leading players to reasonably suspect that the so-called grand prize was merely a ruse by the boss. Regardless, if they didn't get it, they'd pretend it didn't exist; there was definitely something fishy going on.
Wen Yue stared at the pile of empty blind boxes, her hands itching with desire: "Otherwise, I'll treat the All-Round Alliance to a hamburger combo..."
Jason held down Wen Yue's restless hand and earnestly reminded her, "Wake up, you have no assets in this world."
Oh ho, I almost forgot.
The lively food and drink party finally came to an end. Wen Yue parted ways with everyone and went with Superman to the Kryptonian spaceship to repair the nanotech armor.
Finally, it was time for the two of them to be alone again, waiting for the nanotech armor to be repaired. Wen Yue and Clark stood side by side.
Wen Yue: "What did you want to say just now? Hurry up and say it, there's no one here now."
Clark paused for a moment, then turned to look at Wen Yue: "It was a dream I had before. I can still clearly remember the contents of the dream after I woke up. It was you in the dream... Um, I don't mean anything by it. I just wanted to express what I saw and felt."
"I understand, tell me what you saw." Wen Yue raised her hand to stop the other person from giving a sensitive explanation.
Clark's thoughts drifted back to his dream. "I dreamt you were bound to a cross in a dark void, with a vast, multifaceted world beneath your feet. I looked down at you; from that perspective, I could only see the top of your head, not your face. Your state was blurry; I mean, I didn't know how you were bound to the cross. There were no ropes binding you, and no blood on your body. More striking than you was the endless abyss beneath your feet, floating with shattered remnants of the world, divided into oceans, mountains, forests, grasslands, and deserts, with a few crumbling walls being the only traces of human existence."
"Are you sure it's me, and not Jesus?" Wen Yue's eyes revealed confusion and doubt. The scene description felt more like Jesus than Batman, especially the cross, which was too symbolic.
"From your perspective, you can't clearly see the face of the person on the cross, so why are you so sure it's me?"
Clark frowned, "I don't know... I feel it's you."
Wen Yue pondered for a moment, then said, "Okay, I'll keep that in mind."
The nanotech armor was repaired, and Wen Yue immediately put it on. She then headed to the Justice League, where she would be posing as a Batman clone.
"Clark, thanks, whatever it is."
Clark smiled broadly, "And thank you for your help, Batman."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
