Chapter 1725: Bruce Wayne and the Prisoner of the Batcave (Part 7) _1

Washington, 6:30am, the temporary gathering spot of the superheroes.

This is one of Batman's safehouses scattered around the world. Officially, it's the headquarters of a company selling yachts and providing maritime routes for luxury vacations. The superheroes have been operating here for a while now, and so has Batman.

None of Batman's safehouses is a dark, cramped, dilapidated cellar. Batman has plenty of ways to get proper approval and brazenly build his bases.

The vacation company arranging routes and providing services for the rich would, of course, build its headquarters big and luxurious. There's a vacation hotel here, by appointment only, not open to the public. It consists of an activities building and a conference building, which ostensibly protect the privacy of the wealthy who come for consultation, but actually serves to cover up the activities of the superheroes.

When Superman walked out of his room, he wasn't even wearing his uniform. That well-combed hair, always neatly tied back, now had several strands draped over his forehead and several springing out from behind his head. Superman didn't even bother using his superpower to straighten them out.

He instinctively reached into the kangaroo-like pocket on the front of his sweatshirt, took out his black-framed glasses, and was about to put them on his face when he remembered that he was at the superhero base, not his journalist apartment in Metropolis.

He sighed lightly, casually moved his hair around, put his glasses back in his pocket, walked towards the bathroom, only to bump into a messy-haired Wonder Woman.

"God, this is the ten thousandth time this year I've sworn we shouldn't drink so much." Wonder Woman took a deep breath, tapped her temples with the base of her palm, and said, "Allowing ourselves to get drunk is a very bad habit, really very very ..."

"Good morning, Diana." Superman greeted her very politely. Straining his eyes, he said: "Not to say that alcohol is harmful to us, but are you sure our drunken state isn't due to Batman spiking our drinks?"

Wonder Woman waved her hand vigorously and said: "Don't tell ghost stories first thing in the morning. Wasn't he strange enough lately?"

"It can't be weirder than you two blocking the bathroom door."

A dark shadow appeared silently, as Batman should, of course. Superman, somewhat puzzled, looked back at him. And of course, Batman should be dressed in his bat suit cloak, without a wrinkle, even every Batman dart polished to a shine at 5:30 in the morning.

"Seriously, Batman, on what basis do you think we would interpret your drinks invitation as having another purpose? Do you think we have only a seven-second memory?" Superman squinted and said with some dissatisfaction.

"I just hope you stop your ridiculous guessing. Even if it means passing out drunk."

Wonder Woman raises her hands in exasperation then lets them fall again, "How can we not guess? Your home, your darling, the normal people who tread close to you will roar at them like rock stars. Gotham, is now nearly in ruins. And you, you've been at our base for a week!"

"I've said many times, Batman, if there are any problems you can't solve, I can…"

"There are no insurmountable problems."

"Oh, of course." Superman shook his head, not wanting to continue the discussion. As he walked into the bathroom, he said, "I think the fact that Batman left Gotham is more important than investigating Darkseid."

"You should keep drinking."

Wonder Woman fluffed her hair, walked a few steps back away from the bathroom door to show her gentlemanly demeanor of giving place, then leaned against the wall with her arms crossed, "What's going on? Did you substitute whiskey for ginger juice yesterday, Batman?"

Batman corners his mouth down, revealing a very classic "seems like I don't want to explain but actually I can't" expression.

Obviously, no one in the world but Batman can read such a complex expression from one's face, so Wonder Woman shakes her head, turns to go towards the stair entrance, and says, "Alright, that's it. If you don't want to say it, forget it."

She didn't have any hope that Batman would explain, and she never considered that there would be something tough for Batman to explain in this world — his parents are running around Gotham throwing missiles at each other's heads, his children are running around Gotham throwing missiles at everyone else's heads, and the main reason he can't throw missiles at their heads is that his arch-nemesis is sitting at his house waiting to see him fail.

Batman does care about Gotham, but he cares more about the Joker.

After some consideration, Batman decided to leave his city temporarily, but it wasn't just because he was overwhelmed with troubles and needed some time to come to terms with the fact that his future life might be a bit too full. Part of it was also due to the looming threat of Darkseid.

Batman was sure that Darkseid must have a special method to probe the equation in his hands, and Green Lantern Hal had given him frequent updates recently saying the Green Lantern Corps had sensed a disturbance in the cosmos, which was likely a malignant entity targeting Earth again. And Batman knew that was Darkseid.

Shiller provided some information about Darkseid, but mostly seemed like his own speculation. Still, it was useful, at least letting Batman know that his next opponent is likely to be an alien king and like every tyrant, he won't give up until he gets what he wants.

So, Batman has stayed in the base for a week now, trying to decode some enigmatic cosmic signals provided by the Green Lantern Corps, which are thought to herald Darkseid's mobilization of his troops to besiege Earth.

Naturally, Wonder Woman and Superman are confused, as they too have seen the current state of Gotham from the news. The spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Investigation claimed that they will no longer ignore the city. Both of them understand that this type of statement can be interpreted as a provocation to Batman, something he won't tolerate.

But Batman endured it.

This made both of them unbearably curious. Despite knowing that Batman wouldn't offer any more explanations, they couldn't help but subtly probe, wanting to know what had caused such a change in Batman.

Of course, their frequent probing and questioning did not yield a real answer, but instead garnered them generous amounts of Batman's alcohol—a crate full of high-quality Scottish malt whisky, which led to a night of drunken merriment.

Having come out of the restroom, Superman, having sorted out his somewhat jumbled thoughts, enters the common room and throws himself onto the couch. "Oh, I'm sorry, but thank you for the alcohol, regardless of whatever you might have added to it," he said, looking at Batman standing in the corner.

"I didn't add anything."

"Then it must have been our recent stress that got us drunk," Wonder Woman says, flipping her long hair back and leaning casually against the windowsill. "Ever since you found us and warned us about some crazy Alien king, I've felt extraordinarily tired."

"Because we were originally actively fighting crime in our individual territories, but now we have to stay together and passively guard against an alien invasion of Earth," Superman adds, rubbing his forehead. "We don't know when the catastrophe will strike, so all we can do is decode the signs over and over. This tense waiting is far more exhausting than physical fights."

Superman then recalls the moment when Batman approached him. Of course, they already knew each other, but when Batman suggested that they should find more assistance, Superman realized the situation was serious.

An intuition from his super brain tells him that there must be another purpose to Darkseid's Earth invasion besides simply destroying the human race, but he doesn't dwell on this. Regardless of Darkseid's intentions, he must stop them.

It wasn't Wonder Woman who joined them next, but the Green Lantern. Superman guesses that this must be Batman's targeted move. After all, the Green Lantern Corps is very active in the cosmos. If they want to keep tabs on an Alien king, Green Lantern Hal would be the best choice.

Then, of course, there was The Flash who was already an old friend of Batman, followed by Wonder Woman and finally Aquaman, who didn't reside here because no fancy hotel bathtub could compare to the sea.

Despite the fact that they had already garnered so much support, the matter hasn't made notable headway. Even though Darkseid is indeed mobilizing his troops, even the Green Lantern Corps cannot do anything about him until he strikes, which is applying significant pressure on these superheroes.

Hal continues to receive signals from the Green Lantern Corps indicating Darkseid is rallying his forces. Some dangerous movements have even entered the Green Lantern Corps' assessment process. But Batman doesn't harbor any hope for these hazardous elements flashing green light.

"Let's talk about your work." At this point, Wonder Woman decisively changed the subject, not dwelling on Batman's reasons for staying here, she asks, "You said you tried to hack into Apocalypse Star's signal terminal earlier, any progress?"

"I've intercepted part of their communication channels, but I haven't heard Darkseid's voice. What's confirmed is that his generals are amassing forces from peripheral star zones. If they really come, it will be a real slugfest."

"Don't tell me you intend to stay here and not make any preparations."

"Me being here is me preparing."

Superman frowned, and Wonder Woman staring at Batman said, "Stop beating around the bush. You don't have to detail your entire plan to us, but you should at least give us a direction to work in.

"We lack the necessary firepower to stop Darkseid's massive army outside Earth, and if we try, we might lose the Green Lantern Corps' support. Only when they actually descend upon Earth are we justified victims."

"But we can't sacrifice Earth…"

"We can't sacrifice Earth."

Batman gratifyingly nodded, both Wonder Woman and Superman stared at him, unable to grasp what he meant with his contradictory statements. Batman, after a sigh in his heart, said,

"But we can sacrifice Gotham."

And then added in his heart,

"... if there's anything left in Gotham that can be sacrificed."