CHAPTER 535: CHAPTER 535 GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER AGAIN

Bruce’s return to Gotham was initially very low-key, so it didn’t cause much of a stir.

Since he planned to observe Gotham’s situation discreetly, he asked Alfred not to announce his return for the time being. He would only do so after a few days, once he had completed his investigation.

At the same time, he could also use this period to restore his identity.

Having been missing for seven years, most people now believed Bruce was dead, and legal proceedings had already begun. Some within Wayne Enterprises were eager to declare him deceased, as he still held a significant number of shares in his name.

Now that Bruce was back, in addition to observing Gotham, he could also examine Wayne Enterprises’ internal affairs to determine who should not remain on the board, as the company was crucial to his upcoming plans.

Without Wayne Enterprises, a large conglomerate spanning multiple industries, especially military manufacturing, as a cover, he would not be able to acquire much of the equipment or resources he needed. Even if he could, purchasing them under his personal name would easily draw attention, which was not conducive to keeping his identity hidden.

While Bruce refined his plan, Tony followed him the entire time, personally witnessing how Batman was born.

The issue of hiding his identity was the first thing Tony wanted to ask about.

"This mask isn’t for protecting me."

Within the first week of returning to Gotham, Bruce had already created a prototype of the Batsuit. However, this version wasn’t practical. He had only finalized the overall design of the suit and thought about where weapons and gear should be placed. Once the targeted design was complete, he could then search for the necessary components.

Like this mask...

"It’s for protecting them."

Alfred immediately understood the most important reason Bruce wanted to hide his identity: to prevent criminals from targeting the people he cared about.

Tony had no opinion on this, but Ethan knew this method would only fool ordinary criminals. For enemies with real intelligence, Batman’s identity was never truly a secret.

However, Ethan had no intention of interfering, and Bruce was not someone who would easily change his mind.

After finalizing the basic layout of the Batsuit, Bruce continued his preparation.

As the loyal butler of the Wayne family, even though Alfred strongly opposed Bruce going down this path, once Bruce made his decision, he still faithfully assisted him with various tasks.

The appearance of Ethan and Tony, while informing Bruce of some things, also strengthened his conviction and led him to decide on matters earlier. For instance, he prematurely set the location of his secret base in the cave beneath Wayne Manor, which would later become the famous Batcave.

However, compared to the fully equipped Batcave with advanced defenses it would become in the future, it was currently just an ordinary underground cave.

"The concealment is good, but there are many problems to solve. You need a self-sufficient power generator. Considering the nature of this place, surveillance and security systems will also need to be installed..."

Contrary to Bruce’s expectations, after the location of the Batcave was determined, Tony, who had been silent for a while, suddenly became enthusiastic, offering suggestions on its structure and how to modify various areas.

Most importantly, Bruce found that his opinions were correct. After quietly listening for a while, he began to actively discuss them with Tony.

Compared to Tony, the current Bruce was still very green. Although his principles were firm, his intelligence high, his execution strong, and his knowledge broad, that didn’t mean he didn’t need to learn.

Compared to the mature Batman, the current Bruce was just starting out, a rookie who hadn’t even begun. There were many problems he hadn’t thought of, and many of Tony’s suggestions were things he had inadvertently overlooked at this stage.

Ethan didn’t participate much, mostly watching from the side and occasionally lending a hand. Bruce did find opportunities to chat with him a few times, seemingly trying to extract information about Tony.

"Actually, you don’t need to do that. Just ask him directly. He’ll be happy to tell you all kinds of details about himself."

Bruce had already noticed that Tony had extensive experience in building secret bases, possessed vast knowledge, and had a wide range of interests.

If that wasn’t enough, Tony also seemed to have a "premonition" about the troubles superheroes might face, offering many useful suggestions for the Batcave’s design.

For example, comprehensive medical facilities, various antitoxins, backup weapons and equipment, and rapid emergency response measures.

These weren’t things a scholar would know. Plus, Tony had gone through so much trouble just to find him and talk. Bruce was curious about why. Now, he vaguely suspected that perhaps Tony was someone like him.

Maybe he had even been a superhero for years? Perhaps he was encountering problems and feeling lost, which was why he wanted to talk to him?

Being able to guess this, in addition to Bruce’s talent and high intelligence, was also due to Tony not deliberately hiding it.

But Bruce assumed that the other party might not want to discuss it, so he tried to extract information from Ethan instead.

Yet Ethan told him Tony didn’t actually mind.

Shouldn’t a superhero instinctively hide his dual identity? Was this really okay?

If Ethan knew what Bruce was thinking, he would have patted his shoulder and said: You’re overthinking it. This guy is probably more afraid that people don’t know he’s a superhero. Would someone who publicly announced his identity in front of reporters really care about that?

Bruce still didn’t ask directly and continued with his preparations step by step.

After the basic setup of the Batcave was completed, Bruce also finished his investigation into Gotham and Wayne Enterprises, restored his identity, and officially announced his return to the world.

Bruce Wayne, the last member of the Wayne family, had returned to Gotham.

This news spread through Gotham and caused ripples across North America. As for Wayne Enterprises... since Bruce currently held no position and only had shares, it didn’t cause too much of a stir.

However, he still managed to get into the Applied Sciences division, the department headed by Lucius Fox.

In short, it was the department where Bruce could acquire weapons and resources.

Almost the day after visiting Wayne Enterprises, Bruce brought back a large number of resources. At the same time, the mask components ordered from overseas had arrived, and modifications could begin.

Since he had determined the Batsuit’s appearance early and considered the effects of each component, Bruce didn’t need to refine it gradually through operations. He directly created the first Batsuit, including the special cape that could serve as a gliding parachute.

When Bruce was fully suited up, Alfred, Ethan, and Tony circled around him, examining him nonstop.

Their behavior made Bruce feel uncomfortable, as if he were an animal in a cage. But the three ignored him and continued their inspection.

Although all three were observing, their thoughts were different.

Alfred focused on Bruce’s personal safety, examining the protective suit to see if its defensive capabilities were sufficient.

Tony shook his head as he looked. He wasn’t satisfied with the suit. Though advanced in this world, it was very ordinary in his eyes. In fact, he even looked down on it.

If the Batman in the comics had all sorts of high-tech equipment not inferior to Tony’s Iron Man suits, then the person in front of him was essentially just an ordinary man cosplaying as Batman, only with better quality props.

Ethan also looked down on it. This Batsuit, modified from protective gear, wasn’t even comparable to the suits worn by his team members. Its defensive power couldn’t even match the innermost layer of their bodysuits without armor plating. His team’s suits not only had decent defense but also energy shielding.

However, regardless, the Batsuit was officially born and would continue to be upgraded as Bruce’s knowledge grew. Batman’s learning ability was cheat-level. Through relentless self-study, he became a polymath and constantly developed black-tech equipment. For now, he relied on existing gear.

And the beginning of this cheat started today.

The three stopped simultaneously and stood together in front of Bruce. Ethan gestured for him to test the voice changer, which had been added earlier based on their suggestion. When designing the suit initially, Bruce had overlooked this detail. In the original story, he had to manually lower his voice to conceal his identity.

Now, with Tony and Ethan’s reminder, Bruce didn’t make that mistake. He just had to speak normally, and the familiar deep voice came out.

"I’m Batman!"

Unexpectedly for Ethan and Alfred, Tony suddenly walked over to Bruce and activated his nanotech armor.

"Let’s reintroduce ourselves. I’m Iron Man!"

(To be continued.)