Shaking Down

Gotham City, Wayne Tower.

A Porsche Cayenne slowly pulled up in front of the building. Jude and Batgirl Stephanie Brown stepped out.

Stephanie was clearly a regular here. The receptionist greeted her with a smile as soon as she saw her.

"Miss Brown, it's been a while. What brings you here today?"

Stephanie offered a friendly smile. "I need to speak with Lucius about something. Is he in the company?"

"Director Lucius just went upstairs. I think he should be on the seventeenth floor now. You can go straight up and find him."

"Thanks, Ginny. Get back to work."

The Lucius Stephanie referred to was Lucius Fox. He was the person Bruce trusted most in the entire Wayne Group, the man who quietly supported him from behind the scenes, developing all kinds of high-tech equipment for him. He was also Wayne Group's technical director and executive president.

The elevator was fast, taking them directly to the seventeenth floor. After walking down a long corridor, the two arrived outside an office.

Knock, knock, knock...

"It's me, Lucius."

The electronic door gave a creak and opened at once. A middle-aged Black man with glasses and graying hair stood in the doorway.

"Good to see you, Stephanie. Have you been well these past few days?"

Stephanie shrugged. "No need to be nervous, Lucius. The gentleman behind me is one of us."

Jude stepped forward and held out his hand. "Hello, Jude Herbert. Nice to meet you."

Lucius suddenly understood. "Hello, sir. Bruce mentioned you. You were a tremendous help in this incident."

Jude waved dismissively. "It was nothing. Besides, it was mutually beneficial. I came today to collect my reward. He told you about it, didn't he?"

Lucius looked a little awkward. "Of course. You can come to the warehouse with me in a moment and take whatever you need."

"The warehouse? Don't try to fob me off with defective goods. These eyes of mine are the sharpest and wisest in the world. They can see through anything."

"Uh... perhaps you could also take a look in my storage room."

"Now that's more like it. You have to know how to share the good stuff."

Stephanie gave Jude a smack. "That's enough. Mr. Lucius is an honest man, so don't squeeze him. And about the competition—if you lose because you were busy researching something else, don't you dare refuse to honor the bet."

"Me, lose? Oh... Stephanie, it seems you don't understand what a true genius is. Though with your pitiful IQ, I suppose it really is hard for you to grasp."

"You can go pick your people right now. Even if you summon Wayne Group's entire research team, I couldn't care less, because the outcome was decided long ago."

"Hmph, we'll see. Lucius, gather everyone from the biological research department. I'm going to study the mutation serum. No one goes home for the next three days. Naturally, handle their bonuses as you see fit."

Lucius stared blankly as Jude and Stephanie traded barbs. Though he had no idea what was going on, supporting Stephanie was the right call. She was one of their own, after all.

Battle intent flashed in Stephanie's eyes. After issuing her orders, she hurried off, leaving Jude and Lucius staring at each other.

"Then, Mr. Herbert, please follow me. Those items are underground, since quite a few of them are radioactive."

"Radioactive? Great. I like dangerous toys."

"Uh..."

They had just reached the seventeenth floor, only to take the elevator down to the eleventh basement level. After passing through three airtight iron doors, they arrived in a space the size of a plaza, filled with countless crates.

"There's quite a lot here. Do you need an introduction?"

"No need. I'll just walk around and take a look."

Humming a tune, Jude strode cheerfully between the crates. Even through the seals, he could smell their intoxicating scent.

After a few steps, one crate caught his attention. "Memory nickel alloy. Not bad material. It should work pretty well for making armor or weapons."

Lucius frowned and reminded him, "Mr. Herbert, nickel alloy is harmful to the human body. If you make armor out of it, I'm afraid the first person it hurts will be its owner."

Jude glanced at him and lightly wagged a finger. "Primitive technology. Pure nickel alloy naturally won't work, but if you mix in a small amount of neodymium and indium, it will not only neutralize the toxicity, but greatly increase the alloy's strength and hardness."

After Jude said that, Lucius wore the expression of an old man staring at a phone on the subway.

"Mr. Herbert, are you joking? Neodymium can't fuse with nickel. It would cause an explosion. And indium is even worse—its toxicity is stronger than nickel alloy's."

Jude suddenly laughed. "Mr. Lucius, if you'll pardon the question, have you ever had your IQ tested?"

"What do you mean?" Lucius could hear the implication in Jude's words.

"I heard Damian say that Stephanie's IQ is 142, which makes her what people call a genius. Compared to ordinary people, anyway. It seems yours is a little lower than hers."

All right, now Lucius understood. Jude looked down on even Stephanie, so he certainly despised him even more.

Jude raised a finger, pointing diagonally upward. "Lucius, some methods only seem impossible because your sight is limited. You need to look farther ahead. For example... the future."

Jude spoke so mysteriously that Lucius became even more confused. He secretly decided to keep a close eye on him over the next few days and see what tricks Jude had up his sleeve.

"Hehe, Brother Lucius, I'll take this crate of memory nickel alloy. Mark it down."

Lucius frowned. "You want all of it? No!"

"Hm? Bruce's word doesn't count?"

"Mr. Bruce doesn't know much about the behind-the-scenes matters. This memory nickel alloy is extremely rare. It isn't a matter of price—the forging process is still immature, so production is incredibly low. This crate is all Wayne Group has, and I have other uses for it."

Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk...

With a wicked grin, Jude gently shook his finger. "Lucius, Stephanie just said you were an honest man. I don't think that's true."

A bead of cold sweat appeared on Lucius's forehead.

"With Wayne Group's current technology, you probably have no way to process this memory nickel alloy, do you? Don't deny it. Our conversation just now already exposed your ignorance."

Feeling the pressure radiating from Jude, Lucius could not help taking a step back.

"One-fifth, Mr. Herbert. That's already a very large amount."

"I want all of it!"

"One-quarter. No more than that."

"Two-thirds. Any less and there's no point taking it."

"One-third. That's my bottom line."

"Half and half. Split it down the middle, or I'll call Bruce."

Lucius choked. He knew his boss's tsundere personality too well. Bruce would only say one thing: "Give him all of it."

"Fine... fine, half."

"Thank you for your cooperation. Stephanie was right—you really are a good man. Come on, let's keep looking."

"Uh... you still want more? This should be enough, shouldn't it?" Lucius wiped away his sweat, overcome by a very bad feeling.

"Hehe... what nonsense are you talking about? We're only getting started."

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