Hong Kong

The atmosphere in the basement was stifling.

A while later.

"Your left arm seems to be injured. Tsk, that's some pretty clumsy stitching. Or is Batman actually all thumbs?"

Batman was slightly startled. He quickly glanced at the injured spot. "You can see through things?"

Aeo smiled without answering.

Just as Aeo wouldn't pry too much into his private affairs, Bruce knew when to leave well enough alone. After a pause, he forced a smile. "Well, that really is an amazing ability!"

After a moment of silence, Gotham City's golden boy suddenly said, "So, when ladies are in front of you..."

Aeo was mortified.

"Hahaha~~" Bruce had finally let his improper side show.

"Anyway." After joking around, Bruce grew serious again. "I'm planning to go to Hong Kong and bring Mr. Liu back. Would you be interested in coming with me?"

Aeo's heart stirred too. Not for any other reason, but because... China. After thinking it over for a moment, he hesitated. "But I don't have a passport..."

Batman smiled.

"I never planned to take a plane! Not under my official identity..."

"Then?"

"Just come with me!"

............

Looking at the ocean and the luxury yacht before him, Aeo was a little speechless. "This is your plan? Taking a boat to Hong Kong?"

"Of course not!" said Bruce Wayne, the playboy dressed in a flowery T-shirt and shorts. "This is just a cover. Come on."

As he boarded the yacht, Aeo realized Alfred was there too. He also began to guess what Bruce had in mind. Bruce was probably planning to take an unconventional route to Hong Kong. After all, his official identity drew too much attention. Whether or not he was really going to Hong Kong for a vacation or shopping, he'd be mobbed by a crowd of people as soon as he arrived. So he'd decided to use these models as cover and find another way to get to Hong Kong.

A whole boatload of blond foreign women, young and old, were sunbathing in bikinis and enjoying the sea breeze. When they saw the billionaire Bruce board, they swarmed around him, fawning and flirting. After finally extricating himself from this heap of beautiful women, Aeo heard Alfred, dressed in a floral outfit for old men, complain to them.

"Master, young master, you're both far too late. Old Al nearly drowned in this sea of beautiful bodies. Don't ask me to come along for this sort of thing again. These old arms and legs of mine can't take too many more rough rides!"

"This wasn't my idea," Aeo said, shifting the blame. "If you want to blame someone, blame Bruce."

"Then..." Old Al began.

"Al, has the plane I called arrived yet?" Bruce hurriedly asked.

Though the old butler knew Bruce was changing the subject, he paused before answering as requested. "It'll be here in twenty minutes, master."

Aeo envied Batman a little. Even if everyone else eventually left him, this kind old man would probably always stay by his side. Bruce glanced at Aeo, then at the boatload of pink skulls, and smiled. "In that case, Zod, how about we relax first, like men?"

Aeo gave him the finger.

Twenty minutes later, Aeo lazily opened his eyes.

"What is it?" asked Bruce, who had stripped down to his underwear. The two of them were sunbathing at the bow.

"Your plane's here."

"How do you kno... Hm?" Bruce stared in surprise at the horizon. A tiny speck was growing larger, buzzing as it flew toward them.

"You have Super-hearing too?" Bruce whispered in surprise.

Aeo shrugged.

"..."

Watching the seaplane draw nearer, Bruce said, "Honestly, I'm starting to regret this."

"What?"

"I shouldn't have agreed to let you come along. Your abilities are too dangerous..."

The boy stood up, his gray eyes shining in the sunlight.

"But you can't stop me, Bruce."

Since Batman had already arranged everything, Aeo didn't mind making a trip to Asia. After all, he was curious about how different this world was from the one he'd known in his previous life.

He tossed down a package and ignored the complicated look in the master's eyes behind him. Then the boy leaped into the sea.

"Hey, Bruce, aren't you coming? I'm not waiting for you!"

Looking at the boy's handsome, sunlit face in the blue water, Batman—still shaken by the boy's abilities—fell silent for a moment before diving into the sea after him.

............

Hong Kong.

Aeo and Bruce had smuggled themselves into the country and come ashore at a secluded spot, packages in hand.

"Where are we?"

Bruce took out a device like a GPS and checked their position. "This is a place called Tuen Mun Island."

Aeo hadn't been to Hong Kong in his previous life. "I see. Then you lead the way. I'm not familiar with Hong Kong!"

Bruce was at a loss for words. After grumpily finding some clothes and putting them on, the master looked around. "This way!"

...Looking at the familiar skin tones and listening to a language he'd once known by heart, Aeo remained silent along the way.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Bruce was sharp-eyed and quick to notice something was off. He couldn't help asking in a low voice, "You've seemed a lot less lively since we got to Hong Kong..."

Aeo shook his head.

After a pause, he couldn't resist asking the taxi driver, "Excuse me, who's the most famous movie star around here?"

The Pearl of the Orient, like in Aeo's previous life, had once been ruled by a Western country for a time, so the Chinese man, who looked to be around forty, understood Aeo's English without difficulty. Don't ask why he didn't use Chinese. Batman was right there, and if Aeo suddenly spoke a language he'd never used before, Batman would probably be even more suspicious.

Sure enough, when Aeo asked such an unexpected question, Bruce's eyes narrowed too.

"Allen Su—Su Shichen. He's a very impressive star! He made it in Hollywood, as an Asian..." The driver hadn't thought much of it, and instead launched into an excited stream of praise.

"Su Shichen?!"

"What, have you heard of him?" The master looked at him. "Have you been to Hong Kong?"

Aeo shook his head. "I've never been to Hong Kong. I was just curious whether they have any good movies here... Their martial arts films are pretty impressive. Hong Kong films..."

Bruce stared at him for several seconds. When he couldn't find anything suspicious, he gave up and turned away. "Suit yourself."

After getting out, Bruce said, "This is our target: the Liu Group headquarters. It's where the underground gangs of Gotham City keep their dirty money. Mr. Liu is inside this building."

Bruce looked at him. "Can you see him?"

Aeo glanced at him, thought for a moment, then looked up at the dozens-of-stories-tall building before them.

"I see him."

Fortier, the walking cheat. "He's on the 44th floor, in a private boardroom..."

"Maybe your ability isn't so bad when you're not an enemy," Bruce couldn't help saying.

............

That night, the two of them returned to the vicinity of the target building. Bruce first surveyed the area, then pulled Aeo toward another building.

"Sorry..." Pretending to be tourists, the two successfully fooled the guards at the entrance.

"Don't tell me you plan to take the stairs all the way to the roof?" Aeo's eyebrow twitched as he looked at the seemingly endless stairwell.

"Afraid you'll get tired?" Batman taunted.

Aeo smiled.

.