Chapter 30: Comprehensive Upgrade
Batman's AI technology was worthless to ordinary people.
But Tony Stark was a smart man. In a smart man's eyes, the technology Batman brought could be applied to weaponry, aerospace, automobiles, medicine, industry...
Virtually every field Stark Industries touched.
Facing this guy who was clearly an Empire State University undergraduate yet possessed such technology, Tony Stark chose to pay for knowledge.
"Sir, congratulations on formally meeting a remarkably talented young man."
After Batman left, Jarvis said to Tony Stark.
"Young? He only looks young. Talking to him felt like my father resurrected and possessed his body." Tony Stark showed no mercy criticizing himself.
"Sir, that comparison may not be quite appropriate, but you seem in a good mood." Jarvis said.
Unlike the relaxed, pleasant atmosphere atop Stark Tower, Brooklyn was quite tense right now.
Special Operations Team Captain Kisk worried one electric shock gun couldn't anesthetize and stun Dr. Otto. He specifically arranged four shooters to fire simultaneously from different angles.
The shooters were good shooters. Their weapons were specifically configured for dealing with terrorists. The electric shock bullets truly hit Dr. Otto, making his entire body convulse from current sufficient to stun but not kill.
Snap.
A spark exploded behind Dr. Otto. Kisk's goal of destroying the chip controlling the mechanical tentacles was also achieved.
All actions proceeded smoothly as planned, but the final result left Kisk completely baffled.
One of Dr. Otto's tentacles showed no mercy, piercing Kisk's chest with extreme speed and tremendous force.
"We already used current to destroy his control chip, why..." This was Kisk's last thought before death.
"Fire!"
Someone shouted. Gunfire immediately echoed through the sewers. Bullets mercilessly flew toward Dr. Otto and his experimental equipment.
Sparks flew everywhere—some from bullets hitting tentacles, others from equipment electrical leakage.
The moment before police opened fire, Dr. Otto used two tentacles to tear down an entire brick wall section from the sewer, holding it before him. He glanced at the experimental instruments hit by bullets. One was already crackling.
Boom!
The two idle tentacles grabbed that already-ruined instrument and hurled it out.
Rat-tat-tat!
Gunfire didn't stop. The instrument exploded into flames while still airborne. Remaining bullets continued shooting toward Dr. Otto hiding behind the wall.
The sewer brick wall Dr. Otto held before him didn't last long. After ten-plus seconds, it shattered into a pile of bricks. Smoke obscured the police's view of Dr. Otto's condition.
"Stop!"
With Kisk dead, someone immediately replaced him to command. Police cautiously advanced with raised guns toward Dr. Otto.
From the hazy shadow, Dr. Otto had already fallen to the ground. The tentacles behind him no longer moved.
Since experimental equipment couldn't be placed in water, Dr. Otto's location was a small platform in the sewers. Approaching this platform required crossing a wading area.
Just as officers one by one stepped through knee-high water gradually nearing Dr. Otto, the four tentacles suddenly moved.
Two grabbed the sewer ceiling, pulling Dr. Otto's body tightly against the top. The other two tentacles each grabbed thick cables.
Hiss!
Without hesitation, Dr. Otto directly inserted the cables into the sewer water. With a hum, all officers fell stiffly.
Watching expressionlessly these police who died at his hands, Dr. Otto slowly descended onto the platform, taking protective goggles from remaining experimental equipment and putting them on.
Then without another glance, his four tentacles took turns grasping, carrying him away like a giant octopus.
"Kisk, report situation." Above ground, George Stacy held his radio.
No response from the communication system.
"Can anyone hear? Report what's happening below!" George's heart sank. Things probably weren't going well.
"Billy, go down to investigate. Report what you see..."
Chief Stacy called over an officer. Before he finished giving instructions, the road surface nearby exploded with a boom.
With help from four mechanical tentacles behind him, Dr. Otto escaped the sewers, returning to ground level.
"Medical team! Need rescue below! Everyone else, stop him!" George Stacy couldn't bother with the radio anymore, shouting at the top of his lungs.
Not only did police hear—Dr. Otto nearby also heard. His tentacles grabbed a roadside vehicle and threw it over.
Bang bang bang!
Over ten vehicles large and small were thrown by Dr. Otto. The street instantly transformed into a place of interweaving black smoke and flames.
By the time the armed helicopter George Stacy called and police cars taking detours arrived, Dr. Otto had long vanished.
Abandoned shipyard.
Dinner remained Batman's custom-tailored meal plan. These days of continuous training made him discover his height had shown subtle changes.
With the Batsuit's augmentation, his height had broken through 1.8 meters. Currently, it seemed continued training still had room for progress.
However, Batman wasn't continuing training now. Wearing protective goggles, he was making sweeping modifications to the Batsuit.
First was the bat helmet. Batman disassembled and reassembled the various components purchased during the day, modifying them to meet his requirements in size and shape, then installing them inside the helmet.
These included night vision goggles, thermal imager, sonar device, gas mask, miniature wireless receiver, plus necessary buffer layer modifications to the helmet's interior for adding this equipment.
With this equipment, Batman's nighttime combat capability could dramatically improve.
Those ordinary combat boots were discarded. Batman recombined the armor previously worn on the Spider Slayer with new combat boots, installing bat trackers and pop-out ice skate blades at the shoe bottoms.
The ice skate blades could serve both as tools for rapid movement on smooth surfaces and as weapons for emergencies.
The pop-out blades on the bat bracers and gloves were replaced with sharper, tougher materials, while equipped with electrostatic adhesion and discharge devices.
Though Peter himself could already climb on vertical or smooth surfaces, Batman had to prepare for these abilities to fail at any time.
Additionally, bat-shaped throwing stars, gel explosives, wire saws, painkillers, sedatives, adrenaline, noise tools, hemostatic spray... tools for various scenarios were methodically assembled by Batman one by one.
The bat utility belt was also replaced. The purchased secondhand tactical belt couldn't satisfy Batman's need to carry so many items. Instead, he switched to a brand-new, latest U.S. military tactical belt.
Aside from equipment like the bat cape requiring special memory fiber, and various vehicles requiring special construction at extremely high cost, Batman arranged virtually every armable component.
Even on the bat bracer's inner side, Batman additionally equipped a miniature computer for hacking various systems and software anytime, anywhere as needed.
After triple-confirming these tools were as reliable as before, the time also reached ten PM.
Without a moment's rest, Batman immediately armed himself, then used the Bat-Claws—combining web shooters and grappling gun—to fly toward Oscorp.
While swinging, Batman listened through the miniature wireless receiver integrated into the bat helmet about the afternoon's events in Brooklyn.
"Dr. Otto killed over thirty officers in the sewers before escaping!"
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