"No need for Thomas; what we have here is enough."
Clark pointed to the experimental flask in front of him.
"Chlorine and hydrogen are both very active, but they don't react at room temperature because their activation energy isn't high enough. The collisions between molecules can't break their chemical bonds. However, when exposed to light, the molecules' movement increases."
Clark said to Pete, "When molecular collisions generate enough energy, an explosion occurs. There was a small amount of residual chlorine in your test tube just now, so it reacted with the hydrogen."
"Hmm, very fascinating chemistry, Clark. Even though what you're saying isn't quite like what Teacher Luther says, I'm still a little sleepy."
Pete glanced at the Black female teacher on the podium. "You're not going to tell me you want to blow up the teaching building, are you? Even though I have some opinions about the school and its rules, I haven't reached the point of wanting to destroy it."
"Not the school."
Clark exhaled. "It's a cave, where there are records about my origins, but I want to destroy it now."
"Sounds a bit strange, like you're completing 'patricide' from an ancient Greek tragedy. You came from another planet, but you want to destroy it. I don't know what you're thinking, Clark."
"You're welcome, that's what brothers are for!"
Pete reached out and thumped Clark's chest, then showed a strange expression.
"I think I just touched something hard, Clark. You didn't…?"
He suspected Clark had done something to his chest.
"No, of course not."
Clark understood what his best friend was trying to say. "It's just that my body was somehow damaged by the spaceship hidden in my cellar."
"That's good."
Pete breathed a sigh of relief. "For a moment just now, I even questioned your sexual orientation."
"My health in that regard is as good as yours, Pete."
Clark reached out and touched the "S" mark burned into his chest, a hint of frustration adding to his face.
"For your health, Master, perhaps you need some rest."
Gotham City, Wayne Manor.
Bruce Wayne was sitting in front of a large electronic screen, operating the computer and retrieving surveillance footage from Gotham last night.
"You've just recovered. If you continue to stay up late like this, I'm afraid your body won't be able to handle it."
Alfred stood to the side, hands clasped low, speaking in a serious tone.
"I know, but sometimes my will causes me to produce some toxins."
Bruce's eyes showed fatigue. "Those toxins will invade my body, making me gradually numb and even forget, forget that I am also a normal human being."
Bruce stood up. "I dealt with those Talons. The masterminds behind the Court of Owls—Joseph of the Powers family, and his wife Maria—they were all members of the Court of Owls. I discovered their true identities. But by the time I arrived, everyone from the Court of Owls, including Maria and Joseph, was already dead."
Bruce told his butler the information he had investigated earlier.
"A deeper power is preventing me from investigating further. I found that they are connected to the League of Assassins."
Stopping his keyboard operation, Bruce turned his head, his gaze profound.
"I also encountered the last Talon assassin sent by the Court of Owls—Lincoln March. He made me experience what it feels like to briefly have a brother."
"Lincoln March, isn't that the mayoral candidate you previously funded, Master?"
Alfred asked in surprise.
"Yes, but he was also sent by the Court of Owls, an assassin lurking among us."
Bruce explained to his butler, "My lumbar spine was almost broken earlier; it was his sneak attack."
"He claimed to be my brother, Thomas Wayne II, and was very certain that my parents' car accident led to his premature birth and injuries, and that my parents hid him in an orphanage. I even started to wonder if I truly had such a brother."
"Master."
Alfred replied, "Your parents did have an accident once, and that accident caused Madam to miscarry. I witnessed it myself. ♦ ♦ ඏ ☆"
"So, Master, you never had a brother, because that child is no longer here. You don't have a brother."
"Is that so?"
Bruce's eyes were a bit unfocused. "I'm not sure if he's a lunatic in bird skin or my brother. But I'm very certain of one thing: he wants to be my fallen brother."
"Never mind, let's put the matter of Lincoln March aside for now."
After a moment of silence, Bruce turned his attention to the electronic display in front of him.
Last night, he had encountered that green strange man again, and behind him were two guys who looked quite formidable.
Using the surveillance system deployed across almost all of Gotham, Bruce finally found photos of the three.
He retrieved the footage captured by surveillance, loaded it into the database, and checked the identities of the three.
But to his surprise, none of the three's identity data had been entered into the system, making it impossible to find any clues.
"Master, did you have a conflict with them last night?"
Alfred looked at the photos on the electronic screen and asked Bruce.
"No, they left very quickly. That woman—"
Bruce recalled Wonder Woman, saying with hesitation, "She seemed very familiar with me. Her gaze was like she was looking at a close friend. That confused me."
"Sometimes people's eyes can deceive, but sometimes they also reveal the truest part of their heart."
Alfred replied, "How to see a person's heart through their eyes, Master Bruce, I think you should be better at that than I am."
"I don't know."
Shaking his head, Bruce, whose chin was covered in green stubble, said, "I've been through so much recently—Eric Kent, the Court of Owls, the League of Assassins. My eyes are filled with exhaustion; they don't seem to be as bright as before."
Upon hearing this, Alfred said with some heartache, "Master, you are trying to build a wall that will crush yourself."
"I know what I'm doing, Alfred."
Bruce turned around. "I just mostly refuse to compromise with myself."
Meanwhile, at a cemetery not far from Wayne Manor.
Green Lantern watched as Wonder Woman and Kara placed a bouquet of flowers in front of a tombstone.
"So this is where you wanted to come? Honestly, I don't quite understand why we left directly last night. Wasn't our goal to find Batman?"
Wonder Woman placed the flowers in front of the tombstone engraved with "Thomas Wayne and Wife" and said, "The timing wasn't right. Yesterday, we were his potential enemies, but today we can speak to him as friends."
"Are you sure that by coming here and bringing a bouquet of flowers, Batman will consider us friends?"
Hal shrugged, raised the Green Lantern Ring in his hand, and projected a Batman symbol into the sky.
"Compared to an act like offering flowers, I think projecting the Batman symbol will attract him more."
As soon as he finished speaking, a hoarse voice came from behind.
"It seems you were waiting for me?"
The few people turned around, and a black shadow of Batman stood in the night.
Batman walked out of the shadow, glanced at the flowers in front of the tombstone, and asked, "Who are you?"
Green Lantern froze for a moment, then extinguished the Green Lantern projection of Batman in the sky.
"Did you come because you saw my Green Lantern projection of Batman, or have you been lurking in the darkness all along?"
Green Lantern asked him in surprise.
"I don't need to lurk in the darkness, because I am the darkness itself."
Batman's hoarse voice came from beneath his mask.
"Sounds cool, but for someone like me who prefers healthy and sunny types, this deep, dark style doesn't appeal to me."
Hal shrugged and grumbled.
"What is this?"
Batman didn't answer him. Instead, he picked up a Green Lantern Ring in his hand and began to examine it.
"?!"
Looking at the Green Lantern Ring in the other party's hand, and then at his own bare finger, Hal was completely dumbfounded.
Huh?!
His own ring had just ended up in the other party's hand?!
As the Green Lantern Ring was peeled from his body, the green light formed by the ring that enveloped his entire body completely dissipated.
Hal, dressed in his flight suit, was exposed in front of Batman without his mask on.
"Hmm, a ring full of energy but emitting a dangerous aura. I've seen similar existences before, but they were completely different. This ring has no buttons; it's driven by willpower or even stronger mental power, isn't it?"
While examining the ring in his hand, Batman asked Hal.
Hal asked him in astonishment, "How… how did you do that?"
This guy could easily take the ring from his hand!
Watching Batman hold the Green Lantern Ring, he even started to fear that the other party would put on the ring.
Fortunately, Batman seemed uninterested in the ring. While examining the ring, he replied, "You were distracted just now!"
Hal reached out his hand towards the ring, and with a "whoosh," the ring flew into his hand.
Putting the ring back on, he restored his Green Lantern gear and angrily threatened Batman, "If you dare to do that again!"
"I dare if I want to!"
Batman no longer tolerated Green Lantern's provocation and retorted directly.
"Then let's have another showdown, just like our first meeting!"
Hal felt that if he couldn't even bully the Justice League's Batman, and couldn't do anything against a newly debuted Batman, it would be too embarrassing!
The Green Lantern Ring emitted green energy, and Hal prepared to attack.
And Batman, who had been repeatedly provoked by him, moved his body backward, also preparing for battle.
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