In the room, another person, wearing a blue hood to hide his face, sat with a reserved and shy posture, holding a hot cup of coffee. He seemed a bit embarrassed about intruding on someone else's home and being treated so politely, repeatedly apologizing to the butler, Alfred.
"Who is the other one? Does he also have special abilities?"
While harboring suspicions, Batman quietly returned to his room, changed into casual clothes, and appeared at the doorway of the second-floor reception room.
After witnessing the destruction David caused with a single punch that made him glow with energy, he no longer believed David was hiding some technological means.
If technology had reached such a level, Wayne Enterprises would have been out of business long ago.
"Young master."
Pushing the door open and entering the room, Bruce nodded to Alfred. He was about to speak, intending to make one last attempt to confirm the other's identity.
"You're too slow."
David stood up, frowning. He had noticed Batman peeking through the window earlier but hadn't exposed him.
After all, he had intruded into the other's home, and dragging him in from the window would have been quite impolite.
"Mr. Bruce Wayne, can you tell me where the Lazarus Pit is?"
"What Lazarus Pit?"
Bruce frowned. He had never heard that name before.
"Where is the headquarters of the Assassin's League where you trained located in the Middle East?"
Seeing that Bruce Wayne's confusion didn't seem fake, David quickly changed his line of questioning. Perhaps Batman didn't know about the Lazarus Pit at this time, but it didn't matter; it was located at the Assassin's League headquarters anyway.
"Trained? Assassin's League?"
Bruce's expression shifted slightly.
He had indeed been trained in a certain place, but it wasn't the Assassin's League.
"I've only heard of the League of Shadows."
Sensing that David's mood was off and that he was becoming impatient, Bruce glanced at Alfred standing beside him and tentatively asked in a deep voice.
"League of Shadows? Where did you train under Ra's al Ghul?"
Not the Assassin's League, but David felt the name was somewhat familiar.
Ra's al Ghul was the Ninja Master, also known as the Demon's Head, the founder of the Assassin's League. After discovering the Lazarus Pit in a certain place in the Middle East, he gained immortality by bathing in it for many years. He had lived for over seven hundred years, accumulated vast wealth, and established organizations similar to the Assassin's League globally, with the ambition to purify the human world.
The so-called League of Shadows was likely a similar organization he had established elsewhere.
Clark looked at David, then at Bruce Wayne, who had just entered.
Assassin's League, Ra's al Ghul, League of Shadows – the string of information left him completely bewildered.
How did his brother know these things?
But there was no time for him to ask more questions.
"Please tell us, Mr. Wayne, this is very important to us."
Seeing Clark's earnest and slightly urgent request, Bruce, who had been somewhat surprised by the mention of the Ninja Master, his eyes flickered. He glanced between Clark and David.
"Us?" Bruce thought. This young man wearing a blue hood, blue jeans, and a brown jacket seemed to come from a less affluent background based on the fabric of his clothes. He carried a faint scent of dried grass – perhaps his family ran a farm?
But his tone suggested he was on equal footing with David.
Did he also possess that kind of power?
...
Gotham's cold and damp port. Waves crashed against the rocks like shattered snow.
An ocean-going freighter docked silently.
On the freighter, a tall and straight figure slowly disembarked. He appeared to be middle-aged, with a neat beard on his chin, steel-needle-like short hair, and eyes filled with vibrant energy. He wore an expensive, custom-made suit.
He seemed like a ruler who had lived for countless years, his brow conveying a sense of weathered experience and worldly wisdom. He possessed an undeniable aura of leadership, as if nothing in the world could surprise or astonish him.
Behind him followed dozens of masked, samurai-attired individuals. Each one looked like a killing machine honed through brutal training, silent and exuding a deadly aura.
Everyone followed with bowed heads, but simply being in his presence, their eyes shone with boundless fervor, as if they were on a pilgrimage.
Someone carried a machine weighing several tons from the ship – it was the very war machine that had gone missing from Wayne Enterprises.
"Let's go. Let us destroy it, another festering sore on this world that we will cleanse.
Looking at the corrupt and decadent Gotham, Ra's al Ghul's face was cold as he waved his hand and commanded.
"Just as we once destroyed Rome and London."
...
"In a border region of an ancient Eastern country, a place abundant with snow-capped mountains and monks."
Bruce replied, a thought flashing through his mind without him showing it.
He didn't know how David seemed to understand him so well, even appearing to know things he himself didn't.
At a time when a tiger was desperately seeking something, Bruce felt it was best to avoid provoking him for the moment.
"Where exactly?"
David already knew where it was and planned to find its specific location so he and Clark could rush there immediately.
"If you're looking for Ra's al Ghul... I accidentally killed him there."
Bruce said, a flicker of memory in his eyes.
That bald monk, though skilled with a sword, made it hard for him to gain the upper hand. But when he forced the monk to lead the League of Shadows to destroy Gotham, he caused a large fire. The fire touched gunpowder, creating an explosion, and the man was buried in the sea of flames.
The only survivor was the mentor who taught him martial arts and was both his teacher and friend. He had saved him.
"Ra's al Ghul can't be dead. He has the Lazarus Pit. You just need to tell me where that base is."
Ra's al Ghul was one of Batman's main adversaries. David knew he couldn't have died at the hands of Bruce Wayne, who hadn't even returned to Gotham yet. David said gravely, not needing to think twice. Even if he were dead, his fanatical followers would throw his body into the Lazarus Pit to resurrect him again.
"If he's not dead..."
Bruce's eyes lit up, having recently suspected this very thing. He thought of something. "Then maybe he's in Gotham right now!"
Two days ago, he'd learned that Wayne Enterprises had lost a microwave generator capable of evaporating water sources for warfare. He'd considered tracking it down, but the culprits had been too clean. After stealing the desired weapon, they disappeared into the vast ocean.
And today, he discovered someone was adding an unknown substance to the city's water supply.
"It's hard not to connect these two events."
Bruce recounted his findings one by one. If the League of Shadows was still around, he admitted it would be difficult to defeat so many well-trained warriors on his own. The last time was somewhat fortunate, and now they had a meticulously planned evil scheme.
He couldn't place Gotham's safety on his own simple confidence. He needed a backup plan.
This time, perhaps he could use power not originating from Gotham as insurance to save the city.
"The League of Shadows once tried to destroy Gotham. They definitely haven't given up on that plan."
The substance must be a poison that would become effective after being evaporated. The League of Shadows intended to use this to destroy Gotham.
"They might even launch their plan at any moment. Maybe tomorrow, maybe in the next second."
Bruce's expression was grim.
"In Gotham?"
David raised an eyebrow and murmured, looking at Clark to remind him.
He had thought the clues might run dry with Batman, who knew so little, but unexpectedly, they had connected again. There was no need to wander around the Middle East in a fog.
"As long as we find Ra's al Ghul, we can find the location of the Lazarus Pit."
"But how do I find him?"
Things seemed to become clear again. Clark's eyes lit up, and he really wanted to ask if there was a portrait of this Ninja Master.
"This old guy, who has lived for hundreds of years, is too arrogant. Before launching his plan to destroy Gotham, he wouldn't bother to hide himself. He must have a group of warriors or ninjas with him."
"Hundreds of years?"
Bruce's eyelids twitched. Did this young man truly know more about the Ninja Master and the League of Shadows than he did?
If it were before, he wouldn't have easily believed someone could live for hundreds of years. But after witnessing the power this young man had displayed.
"Living for hundreds of years doesn't seem like an exaggeration."
"Warriors, ninjas? I understand."
Without asking his brother where he got this information, Clark remembered it and immediately set off, a gust of wind accompanying him as his figure vanished from the spot.
"Where did he go?"
The figure suddenly disappeared before his eyes, like a scene from a skipped frame in a movie. Bruce's gaze sharpened.
"Search the city and find Ra's al Ghul."
David squinted and looked outside.
It was only around nine o'clock.
There was still time. As long as they found Ra's al Ghul and forced the location of the Lazarus Pit out of him, the next step would be to retrieve the water from the spring.
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