"Next year is the next presidential election."

Moses came out of Perry's office with a bunch of printed papers. Louise was beside him, flipping through her notebook and saying, "Luther must be worried."

Clark Kent, with his physique, had to jog to keep up with her: "But, well, what does the election have to do with Superman? Superman isn't going to run for president."

The female reporter paused, turned around and looked at the junior who almost bumped into her and was frantically holding miscellaneous items and pushing his glasses with one hand. She looked surprised and asked, "Do you really not understand or are you pretending not to understand?"

"…What?"

"God, Clark. Sometimes I feel like you're an alien who has never been exposed to human sociology." She didn't notice the staggering steps of the people beside her, and thought, "But this is not your problem. Some people just lack political sensitivity, and Kansas is not a place to cultivate a keen sense of current affairs. But since you're at the Daily Planet, you have to strengthen yourself in this area."

"Lex Luther is going to campaign for his own presidential campaign, but look, who are we talking about these days?"

"Oh." The young reporter next to her, whose face was buried in a pile of papers, suddenly realized, "Superman. So that's why Luther targeted him?"

"Maybe that's just one reason. But after all, we are not the worms in Luther's stomach. Who knows what he thinks when he is not pretending to be sincere in front of the media?"

Maybe I'll know.

Moses thought.

After all, Luthor was targeting Superman, while Batman had already started to focus on LexCorp.

Superman flew to Gotham in the evening.

When he walked into the Batcave, countless Chiroptera rushed towards him with their wings flapping. For a moment, his vision was filled with pitch-black, squeaking shadows. He raised his arms to block his sight, and recalled the time when Batman used a transmitter to summon these little creatures to help him escape, and he couldn't help but smile.

The next second, a P90 submachine gun was pressed against his back.

"Don't move." A familiar old voice said slowly, "Who are...Superman?"

"It's me." Superman stood there with his hands raised in a good-natured manner, "I'm here to see Bruce. Is he here?"

The old butler immediately raised his eyebrows at the title.

"That's a very insightful term." He put down the P90, because it obviously didn't work on Superman. "I heard from Master Dick that you knew the old man, and I thought it was just a rumor or an excuse."

"No, we are indeed friends. Didn't Bruce say that?"

"I guess the old man has been busy lately and doesn't have much time to chat with us."

"Ah..." Superman showed a look of realization, "I remember that a few days ago, the Sky Eye decided to challenge SHIELD to form Task Force X, and Amanda Waller kidnapped some prisoners from Arkham and Blackgate prisons. Is Batman busy with this?"

Alfred bent down and poured him a glass of water, his expression indifferent: "Partly, the master has been very busy."

Superman tilted his head and thought about it.

"Is it because of Red Hood? I heard that he has been getting closer to Green Arrow's assistant recently. But if Amanda Waller discovers Green Arrow's true identity, will it bring him danger?"

"..." Alfred straightened up, his expression unfathomable, "You do know a lot, is it because of your super powers?"

The Kryptonian grinned at him, similar to the photo in the Metropolitan newspaper, which was somewhat inconsistent with the style of the Batcave: "Some of this is what I heard, and some of it is what Batman told me. So when can he come back? I'm going out to help now..."

"Don't bother." A deep voice came from the entrance on the other side of the Batcave. "I'll come to you when I need you."

The two pairs of blue eyes of different colors looked at each other for a moment.

Robin popped his head out from behind Batman: "Good evening, Superman."

"Hello. Why are you back so early today?"

"A suicide squad formed for A.O.R. They found Rick Flegg to be the captain." Batman walked to the computer gloomily and sat down without taking off his uniform. Robin followed him carefully, obviously not wanting to attract the Boss's attention when he was in a bad mood. "You may not have heard of this man, but his father is also called Rick Flegg. He was a comrade-in-arms with Captain America in World War II and later went to the Soviet Union. As for the young Rick Flegg now..."

Superman: "Is he a good guy?"

"You can't say that."

"So, he's a pretty good bad guy?"

Batman turned his head, a question mark appeared on his head: "Is that true? In any case, he has outstanding leadership skills and is absolutely loyal to the US government. Whether he likes it or not, he gets along well with the criminals under his command."

Superman made a face at Robin, and Tim turned his head and pursed his lips to suppress his smile. Before Batman noticed, the superhero of Metropolis said seriously:

"I thought you'd be glad they left Gotham."

Batman looked up at the screen that was glowing with a faint light and leaned back in his chair: "If they don't come back."

"Well, the point is that you think the Sky Eye Society cannot guarantee that they will keep these people in their hands forever. So, when did the Sky Eye Society start to take action?"

"Lex Luther." Robin answered. "We were initially investigating the Lex Group, and then we found that they were secretly cooperating with many organizations."

Superman muttered, "I'm not surprised at all."

Tim said, "The Eye is one of them. Luther has been in contact with Amanda Waller, and it was he who used Captain America's current reputation to convince Rick Flegg, the leader of the Suicide Squad. If handled properly, this would become his bargaining chip for running for president, but Batman suspects that he is actually planning a bigger conspiracy. Because, uh, he has been targeting you recently, Superman."

"Actually, the order is the opposite. At the beginning, Batman only investigated Luther, and through him he discovered the dispute between A.R.E.L.D. and S.H.I.E.L.D., and then found out about the Suicide Squad..."

That makes sense.

But Tim still can't figure out why Batman wants to investigate Lex Luthor. Wayne Enterprises has a good relationship with Lex Group, and Luthor doesn't seem like a bad guy most of the time. Although his public remarks are sometimes a bit fierce, these have won him some enthusiastic supporters.

Most onlookers think that this is Luther's trick. After all, politicians are a group of fence-sitters who can change their positions at any time.

Only Batman thinks he's actually ready to do something.

Batman responded with a disapproving look: "That's because you don't know that Luther has also cooperated with the Assassin's League. From then on, I knew that I should never overestimate his bottom line."

Superman nodded in agreement: "You are right."

Tim looked left and right, then shrugged: "Nightwing still doesn't talk enough."

Batman: "Robin."

Superman: "What did Nightwing say?"

Tim didn't say anything. Alfred, who was standing quietly next to him, said, "He described to us a wonderful friendship and said that the old man left Gotham to meet you."

"Indeed," said Superman.

Batman next to him didn't say anything but didn't refute either.

The old housekeeper's expression gradually relaxed: "This is really rare." He reached out to replace the cold tea in front of Superman and added a small snack. During this time, Superman waved his hands and directly heated the cup of tea with his thermal vision. Holding the steaming cup, he thanked the housekeeper: "Don't bother, I'm used to this. Thank you for your snack, I can bake some fruit pies next time."

This is almost a reference to his own personal life.

Tim's mind raced, scanning from the curls on Superman's head to his boots, Kryptonian clothing did not reveal the standard of living, but from his words and deeds, it was impossible for a Metropolitan youth to come from an upper-class family like Bruce Wayne.

He is very independent, not used to being served by others, knows how to cook for himself, and perhaps his life is a bit restrained but not too poor.

Just like most ordinary people living in this world.

The only thing is that he doesn't look like a superhero who is like the sun.

Because people always think that Superman deserves the good things in the world, such as the sky, rain, and roses. He has nothing to do with running around and dust, and he shouldn't have experienced those bad shadows.

A city like Gotham would give birth to Batman.

Superman is a person from another world.

But thinking of the interview with the Daily Planet - since Batman is suspected to know Superman, and Nightwing has become a fan of Superman, they have almost memorized those pages of information - they were born on Earth, without a father or a mother. When not facing villains, they are kind and sometimes seem a little tepid. For the sake of the Earth, they can reject the goodwill of their compatriots. Even if Batman threw a kryptonite, they didn't get angry. They just lingered in the universe for a little longer (the data comes from the length of Superman's disappearance summarized by the people of Metropolis). They solved a major incident in the morning, and saved the little girl who accidentally fell off the window sill with a normal look in the evening...

Only then did I realize that the light was not pure white.

He gives kindness back to the world, not because he has only seen justice.

Tim's thoughts started to go astray again: Could it be a slight tendency towards a people-pleasing personality?

This is an unhealthy behavior pattern, often shaped by experiences at a young age.

Superman's growth experience is a mystery in everyone's eyes.

Just like Bruce... Just like Bruce? ?

He sat up straight and watched the exchange between Batman and Superman carefully.

There is a silent understanding between them.

It was a bit like old friends who had been together for many years. They had their quarrels and misunderstandings, and it wasn't all smooth sailing from the beginning, but it was like two stones colliding together: when the indestructible force meets the unshakable object, they truce and compromise with each other*.

However, half a month ago Batman still wanted to take ruthless action against Superman.

——He may have known that Superman would come. It represented a crisis, danger, and an unbeatable enemy. But in the end he gave up because things were different from what he expected.

If Batman's early anticipation is anything to go by, Superman's compromise seems a bit abrupt.

Maybe humans all have their own ideas... Iron Man thought that maybe Superman was forcing Batman, and almost told Batman to blink if he was kidnapped. Tim believed in his teacher more, and for a moment he suspected that the Kryptonian was being PUA or mind-controlled by Batman.

A few seconds later, Robin threw his immature thoughts into the mental trash can.

Wake up Tim! Think of something reasonable!

What if Superman already knew Batman?