Alfred was taken aback for a moment, shook his head, and realized he couldn't manage the superpowered friends of the young lady.
Despite his skeptical expression, he was actually quite pleased. After all, in Gotham, he had seen countless people in tight suits, but apart from Briss, all of them were antisocial maniacs.
These people seemed to pop up endlessly from Gotham's darkness like weeds, each with quirky ideas, all wanting to destroy Gotham or Briss.
There was even one who wanted to be friends with Briss, but that person was definitely a battle-crazy maniac among the maniacs.
However, the person who appeared a month ago was not only strong in justice but also cheerful and friendly. Just looking at him, one would feel his sincerity; he couldn't be a bad person.
Ah Fu thought Briss might have found a companion; this person's performance over the month was even more heroic than the young lady's.
But when he appeared, he also brought some bad news that the world was in danger, with a terrifying force closing in step by step.
Briss finally believed this fact because she witnessed the changes in the world firsthand; some clues were always indicating that something was approaching. To prevent world destruction, they had been busy for a month, while Alfred had it easier, needing only to stay on the island to cook.
Briss had traveled all over the world, but it seemed to no avail.
"The calories that bananas provide are too limited, I feel like I might lose my hair,"
The Cloaked Man quickly finished all the bananas he had prepared, but even so, he still felt drained.
"Eat when we get back to Wayne Manor. I remember we should still have some stuff at home?"
Briss took off her mask and wiped her sweat. Although there was no need to consider wind resistance under Divine Speed, she still felt sea foam all over her face.
Alfred immediately dismissed her idea, taking off his apron and straightening his tuxedo, although he looked quite out of place on the beach.
"I must say, young lady, if there's any food left at home, it's what we had when we left nearly a month ago."
"I'm confident in the fridge at home." Briss put her mask back on, resuming her Batwoman aura.
"Eating food stored for a month is very unhealthy, young lady," Alfred dutifully stated as he extinguished the stove and began tidying up the observatory's belongings.
"But that's a turkey; I was planning to have turkey sandwiches for breakfast the next day." Briss finally remembered what was in her fridge. She had been near Gotham an hour ago, where the weather wasn't as nice as here, and it was okay to eat just about anything.
Yet Ah Fu was undeterred. He meticulously locked the door of the observatory, where a nuclear weapon marked with a radiation symbol was stored, stood upright with his hands behind his back, and refused with a tone full of classic European flair.
"I believe not even a Phoenix could bring themselves to eat it anymore; perhaps we could stop by a supermarket on the way."
"Sigh... we'll see, but right now, I don't know how much time we have," Briss reluctantly gave up the thought of eating turkey, realizing it wasn't the best time for shopping.
The Cloaked Man then interjected, waving his hand as if trying to get both of their attention: "Ahem, is anyone noticing here that I'm quite good at making up for lost time?"
...........
Five minutes later, they had returned to Wayne Manor.
More than four of those minutes were spent by Ah Fu shopping for groceries.
Once back in the city, Briss immediately noticed a blackout in Gotham. Even she couldn't fix it because no one knew where the problem was, and in this weather, it couldn't be repaired.
The city's water level had risen above knee height, and the torrential rain showed no sign of stopping. Fortunately, in the Bullet Time Domain, they could dodge the raindrops completely.
In this weather, no supermarket or convenience store would be open, so Briss straightforwardly pried open a store's lock, took what she needed, and left twice the amount in US Dollars on the counter.
Back at the mansion, it had its own power system from a geothermal generation device under the Bat Cave. The house welcomed its owner back, and the lights in every room were on.
Alfred went to the kitchen to prepare food, while Briss placed her helmet by her side, lounged lazily on the sofa in the sitting room, watching the fireplace flames dance, and relaxed. She even took out her treasured good wine to entertain the Cloaked Man.
The two usually met at Vayne Mansion; it was the Cloaked Man's first visit to Briss's home.
"Actually, you don't need to wear a large cape; nobody knows you in this world."
The Cloaked Man, of course, knew this, but he just wanted to experience the feeling of doing things in a black uniform, feeling very bat-like.
"Am I considered a member of the Bat Clan now? Can I have a bat codename in this world? Lightning Bat, Bat Express, something like that..."
"......" Briss stared at him expressionlessly.
"Alright, just saying," he shrugged in disappointment, and with a flash, the tightly wrapped cloak was gone, revealing a young, shy-looking man in his early twenties.
His light brown hair hung curled on his head, his skin was fair, he didn't appear robust, and he wore a bashful smile like a big boy. He wore a red and white t-shirt printed with 'STAR lab' and a pair of ordinary jeans, but he was barefoot.
"Uh, I found your guest slippers, still in the same place as in our world... but I figured I should at least ask if I can wear them?"
Briss's lips twitched, and she nodded, answering with a soft 'mm.'
With a flash of electric light, Barry was already sitting beside her, wearing dark satin slippers, ready to toast with his glass.
"Thank you, the material is very comfortable."
Briss was a bit numb; fortunately, the person in front of her posed no threat for the moment, showing no signs of madness, or else she wouldn't know how to handle such a power user.
But Briss didn't say it aloud; she simply smiled as she clinked her glass with his.
"You can use the bathroom in the guest room on the second floor, and however you and that Batman get along in your world, you can do the same here."
"Actually... I don't have many chances to be at Wayne Manor, and most of the time, it's underground, you know what I mean?"
Barry scratched his head and took a tiny sip of wine, but the spicy flavor made him shake his head repeatedly. As a scientist, he always felt that strong liquor was more harmful to the brain than Divine Speed.
Briss certainly knew what was beneath her house; probably, the other Batman did too: "So, are you interested in touring my base to compare whose is better?"
As they drank and chatted, Alfred walked in through the door.
"Sorry, young lady, it seems our house had an unwelcome guest in our absence over the past month."
"Oh? Didn't the home's alarm system work?" It was Briss's first experience being stolen from, a sensation of bitterness and anger welled up.
"None of the security equipment worked; I suspect it was a military-grade EMP that fried everything," Alfred nodded, maintaining graceful composure.
Briss touched her neck, as if in thought: "What's our loss then?"
"I've checked all the rooms; so far, we lost a roast turkey, about two kilograms of carrots and potatoes, lettuce, 200 grams of various spices, including your favorite Southeast Asian nutmeg for coffee," Alfred listed without needing notes; he had every item in the mansion memorized by heart. "Oh, and we're missing a large pot, a ladle, five plates, and matching cutlery."
Barry, once a forensic scientist, frequently running around identifying crime scenes, felt a question mark pop over his head upon hearing this list of missing items.
"Sounds like someone organized a camping trip at your place? Have you sponsored Gotham's Boy Scouts? Robin?"
"We have no Boy Scouts here..."
Briss understood something, squinting her eyes and striking the Bat's classic skeptical pose.