After careful consideration, Alfred decided to invite Ethan and Tony to stay at Wayne Manor.
One reason was that he could use this magical method to know Bruce's situation. Another was that he wanted to keep these two men where he could see them at all times, observe them closely, and find out their true intentions.
The claim that they just wanted to chat with Bruce was simply not convincing.
When Ethan and Tony heard the invitation, they didn't think too much and accepted it directly.
They needed a place to stay, and Wayne Manor was undoubtedly the best choice.
Moreover, they genuinely had no ill will toward Bruce, so they didn't care about Alfred's concerns at all.
For the next period, they stayed at Wayne Manor, their daily routine consisting of eating, sleeping, and watching Bruce undergo various training.
Due to the time difference, it wasn't always possible to constantly watch the situation over there, but how could the detector Tony threw out not have a recording function? Not only could they watch it slowly when they had time, but they could even pause, rewind, and enlarge the screen to carefully observe various details.
It could be said that while Bruce was receiving training from the League of Shadows, these two also clearly saw all the abilities the League possessed.
"Doesn't seem very useful."
Ethan rolled his eyes. Tony had now learned arcane magic, undergone physical enhancement, and possessed strength far beyond ordinary people. These things naturally held no attraction for him.
The only useful aspect was some combat concepts, which allowed Tony, who had relatively little life-and-death combat experience, to gain many insights. However, even he wasn't sure if these theories could be perfectly converted into actual strength.
Ethan's appearance had changed many things in the Marvel Universe. The number of times superheroes were dispatched and faced crises was significantly lower than in the original plot. Tony, in particular, did not have as many near-death experiences. Although his strength was not weak now, his combat experience was inferior to Iron Man in the original story.
However, this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. In Ethan's view, as long as one could steadily improve their strength and ensure their combat power could always handle various situations, less experience would not overly affect the final outcome.
Ensuring one's strength always crushed the opponent meant a guaranteed win as long as one didn't act foolishly.
After staying for over a month, Ethan was surprised to find that Bruce's progress in learning within the League was astonishingly fast. If he continued at this pace, it wouldn't be long before he finished learning everything, which would also mean the League would officially recruit him.
This also meant Bruce would part ways with them, meaning he would be returning soon.
"Much faster than expected."
Tony nodded. Bruce's physical fitness might only be slightly stronger than an ordinary person's, but his learning ability was still astonishing, which matched his impression of Batman.
"That's good. At least we don't have to stay here bored for several months."
In the Batman world they visited before, there were beauties to admire. In this Dark Knight world, they didn't even know whom to look at to pass the time.
Rachel Dawes, who had important roles in the first two films, had good looks and figure, but this woman was Bruce's childhood friend, and her personality was the kind of saintly white lotus type that Ethan least wanted to provoke.
Besides her, the only other beauty worth noting in the entire trilogy was Catwoman, who appeared in the third film, but who knew where this little thief was hanging out now?
Furthermore, Ethan's interest in her was limited, not enough to waste too much energy looking for her, and the remaining extras wouldn't interest him either.
In fact, there was nothing in the entire Dark Knight world that he cared about. Batman had a lot of high-tech equipment, but most of it fit the era's background and there was no black technology to collect.
At the same time, this relatively realistic world had no special powers, so during the time before Bruce returned, Ethan actually didn't know what to do.
Fortunately, his learning ability was strong enough to significantly reduce this boring period.
After watching Bruce fight the fake Ra's al Ghul with Tony and Alfred and blow up the League's base on the snowy mountain, they knew it was time to bring this wealthy man who had been wandering abroad for many years back home.
Alfred, who had long wanted to bring him back, immediately arranged everything. So when Bruce called and heard that his old butler was already waiting at a nearby airport, he seemed a little surprised.
When he met Alfred, he thought his whereabouts had been exposed long ago, and that the old butler had only not contacted him proactively because he knew Bruce wouldn't return directly.
"When did you find me?"
"Not long ago." Alfred finally saw him, and since Ethan and Tony hadn't done anything malicious during this time, he temporarily believed their words. However, he still reminded his young master slightly: "Thanks to the help of these two gentlemen."
Bruce had already noticed Ethan and Tony standing not far away, but he didn't know who they were. Knowing that Alfred would definitely introduce them, he didn't ask.
Now, hearing Alfred's introduction, he understood something from it.
"Hello, I'm Bruce Wayne."
He was wearing ragged and old robes, showing no sign that he was one of the world's top billionaires.
"I'm Ethan."
"Tony."
After shaking hands and introducing themselves, the few people boarded the Wayne family's private jet together.
The private jet had suitable seating arrangements, allowing the four people to sit facing each other and talk. After sitting down, Bruce kept observing the two men in front of him, a middle-aged man and a young man. Both were strangers; he was certain he had never seen them before.
In the brief moment before boarding the plane, Alfred had briefly told him that these two had specifically come to find him and possessed some special abilities, which was why they were able to know his location.
"Strange special abilities?"
Bruce didn't believe in supernatural things. He thought they might have other means, disguised as special abilities.
But he was very curious why they were looking for him.
"Just wanted to see you and chat casually."
The middle-aged man named Tony had been constantly observing him. Bruce was very perceptive and had naturally noticed this long ago, especially since Tony didn't try to hide it at all.
"Chat...?"
Bruce first glanced at Alfred, then at Tony. He realized that Tony was serious; he really just wanted to chat with him.
"Chat about what?"
Tony looked at him. He knew what this young man would do after returning to Gotham.
Batman was about to be born.
"I have some questions that you probably can't answer right now. What I want to know now is, are you going to implement your plan immediately after you go back?"
Bruce's pupils constricted slightly. His reaction was already very small compared to most people, but the two men in front of him were not ordinary, so they both noticed this and confirmed that he was about to become Batman.
In reality, he only had a vague idea in his mind. The idea of Batman came about unexpectedly after returning, and then he was truly born.
However, considering his psychological journey, Ethan felt that no matter what, he would become that Dark Knight with two pointy ears on his head.
Bruce himself couldn't know this. He was still shocked by Tony's words, wondering if it meant what he thought it did.
He only had a vague idea, so why would this person ask this?
"Sorry, I don't quite understand what you mean."
"Using fear to deter criminals, isn't that what you're planning to do?"
"... "
Tony stated it directly. Bruce found that things were developing in the most incredible direction. Who exactly was this person? Why would he know his own vague thoughts?
He had been away from Gotham for too many years. He needed to go back and assess the situation before deciding exactly how to proceed. Before that, he didn't know what he would do.
But this person seemed certain of what he would do.
Bruce and Tony stared at each other for a moment, then he suddenly shifted his gaze to Ethan's face.
He hoped to discern something from this young man, but unfortunately, Ethan just sat there with a smile, calmly drinking his beverage and eating snacks, while chatting about trivial matters with Alfred.
He didn't get any useful information from this person's words, so he had to turn his attention back to Tony.
"Why do you think I would do those things?"
Because that's how it's described in the comics, but Tony didn't answer that way. Instead, he dramatically spread his hands: "This is your destiny, Bruce."
Hearing Tony's words, Ethan almost choked on his snack. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and avoided the ridiculous scene of half-choking on food.
However, it still attracted the attention of the others. Bruce's gaze was searching, wanting to gather more information, while Tony's expression was clearly displeased: Was what I said funny?
Ethan looked at the scene, trying hard to make his expression serious, and raised the drink in front of him towards Bruce: "That's right, Bruce, this is your destiny!"
(To be continued.)