Chapter 27: Money and Steroids

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"Money doesn't buy happiness, it buys crazy-ass happiness."

- Eminem

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"So Lucius, how is the future looking for Wayne Solutions? Are we on track for our goals?" Bruce asked while looking at the financial reports handed to him by Lucius Fox, the CEO of Wayne Solutions.

"Most of our annual goals have already been realized and we have also met our revenue targets. Wayne Electronics had significant growth following the release of our commercial drone technology and the Xbox gaming console that you provided us the design with. We have already established ourselves as the leading commercial drone manufacturer in the world while we currently rank second in the gaming console category. At this rate, we are projected to overtake Sony by the end of next year." Lucius stated.

Bruce was happy with the rate his business was growing. He had only introduced three products in his Wayne Electronics subsidiary for now. Since it was defined as a consumer electronics company, he could only introduce consumer electronics as per the contract he had signed with Wayne Enterprises.

But that didn't stop him from introducing products that were decades ahead of the current industry standard. He had used some of the technology from his own drones to make commercially viable and practical drones as well as released some of the games designed by Cortana that she had designed for Bruce and his friends to play alongside the gaming console. The PlayStation had just been released a few years ago and it was nowhere near the popularity level that it would be in the future. So competing with the PlayStation wasn't hard for him at all.

He was sure that no other company would be able to compete with his gaming console or his drones for the next decade. That was how much he had made his products superior compared to its competitors out there.

"Wayne Venture Capital has also invested about ten billion dollars in more than the dozen companies that you recommended. However all of its investments are long-term, so it would be a while before we could start getting returns on our investments.

However, surprisingly the highest profit percentage came from Wayne Entertainment. Who knew that children's animations and space operas could be that famous among people? Even my own wife has become an avid Star Wars fan." Lucas Fox laughed as he mentioned his wife.

"I know right? Space magic and talking animals are unexpectedly quite attractive to moviegoers." Bruce smiled back as he remembered how even Selina and Vicki had become fans of The Lion King and Star Wars respectively.

The employees in his entertainment company had proven their competitiveness by shooting both films in less than four months which was quite an achievement. After that, all the post-production and editing of the two films were completed with the help of Cortana and his new editing software in less than a week. This allowed them to release both of his films in a single year with a one-month gap.

Both films due to smart marketing campaign strategies which were devised by Cortana had brought tremors in Hollywood and had collected more than a billion dollars in global box office collection, solidifying Wayne Entertainment as the newest rising giant of Hollywood.

"What about the computer designs I sent you? Do you think you'll be able to mass produce them by next year?" Bruce asked.

"We should be. The design although much more complicated than the other computers of this time can still be replicated by our factories once we upgrade them with some higher-tiered machinery." Lucius answered him.

"Good. We will be releasing the Wayne range of compact laptops next year along with other PC software and programs that come with it." Bruce said as he put down the financial reports on the table.

"That's a good decision. Capturing the growing computer market will be a good second step to increasing our customer base. I'll be making the preparations for the launch till then." Lucius nodded.

"Okay. By the way, did you find any of the minerals I mentioned to you earlier?" The young billionaire asked.

"No, most of our contacts haven't even heard about the minerals you mentioned. However, there's a chance we might find the metal promethium soon. A dealer in Africa had reportedly been selling certain quantities of the metal in the underworld in exchange for advanced weaponry, so we might be able to acquire some from him if we offer a good value. However, if I may ask, why do you even need those? " He asked Bruce with curiosity evident in his voice.

"For the future of our company Lucius. It's as easy as that." He smiled at Lucius, not revealing any of his real plans to the genius CEO.

"Okay, as you say. Just don't get into any trouble, Bruce." Lucius Fox said as he got ready to take his leave.

"I won't," Bruce simply replied, not saying too much as he too stood up to bid him goodbye.

Bruce was glad that all of his businesses were doing great. He had lots of ways to earn big money. Cortana could just hack into bank servers and start transferring money to him. But his newest business was the most efficient and safest method for that. He could not only earn enough money without rousing any suspicion but also make sure that he could amass some power, influence, and connections along with it as well.

'I guess it's finally time to get my first dose of steroids." Bruce thought as he went towards the Batcave after Lucius left.

After Richard taught him how to use chi, Bruce had been trying to master it as quickly as possible. He had used all measures available to him to do that. He even used his ability to devise a new breathing technique, trying to upgrade the breathing and meditation technique that Richard had taught him.

But almost nothing yielded the result he decided. All the breathing techniques he tried to copy from Wuxia novels seemed to be incompatible with the chi from the DC world. Chi of this multiverse wasn't that strong which basically meant Bruce couldn't turn himself into a cultivator or as he liked to call a murder hobo since they were all basically murderous homeless people.

The only breathing technique that was somewhat compatible with his chi was the Hamon technique from Jojo's Bizzare Adventures since it too depended on the flow of life force like chi. But besides that, nothing.

That's why he had decided to turn to steroids to not only make his body stronger and more durable but also to try to increase the chi inside his body since chi inside the bodies of normal humans in DC verse existed in really small amounts. The small amount of chi could barely be used by humans at all. Even martial arts experts like Richard Dragon liked to use supernatural amulets or other things to concentrate and augment the chi inside them while most experts like Lady Shiva barely used chi in normal battles since it was too draining.

However, he hadn't developed any meta serum or superhuman serum for that but instead made a simple gene enhancer. Its purpose was to enhance his body to the peak state of a flawless human and lock it in that condition. This meant that he wouldn't be as powerful as Captain America or other 'super' soldiers but he would be the strongest normal human.

He would have the same physique as the original Batman would have had one day, only he would have it without putting in the effort which was a big win in his book. Now, one might ask why he wasn't going for a stronger and more powerful serum to make himself as op as he possibly could.

The answer was simple. He couldn't. While developing super serums sounds super easy like making a cup of hot coffee, in reality, it wasn't. He barely had enough knowledge and research data to develop the peak human gene enhancer.

Developing something like the super soldier serum or extremis or a radioactive spider from Marvel or compound V from The Boys or the gene modification formula from the World of Heroes was more than he could handle for now, much less developing the exo-gene Kryptonian serum or the Golden Sentry serum. Bruce had desperately tried to make them using his ability but besides having massive headaches, he didn't receive any other significant knowledge about them.

And truthfully, Bruce actually expected that. Even the Super Soldier serum which he had come the closest to understanding among all the super serums was the most complicated biotechnology in the world, even more than the Sandevistan or Kerenzikov from Cyberpunk. Guys like Erskine and Frederick Vought were mega-geniuses who were probably some of the smartest in their respective multiverses in their fiction. After all, that's why their inventions were so popular and highly sought after.

So, the best Bruce could do for now was a gene enhancer but he was sure that soon, once he had enough data and information about topics like these, he would be able to move on to the next big 'steroid' for his body. it would probably be only a couple of years before he was able to crack and perfect one of the super serums he wanted.

But until then, he would have to make do with his peak human gene-enhancing serum which would give him the physique and mind of a human at the highest possible peak of their respective age without those desirable traits deteriorating with time.

'Now, time to juice up.' He thought to himself giddy with excitement as he injected a vial of green liquid inside his veins while sitting alone at the Batcave, praying that he doesn't get covered with filthy 'impurities' from his own body like in those wuxia novels.

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