Hong Kong

The atmosphere in the basement was extremely tense.

A long moment passed.

"Your left arm seems injured? Tsk, the stitching is pretty rough—or is Batman actually a klutz with his hands?"

Batman was slightly startled. He quickly glanced at the wound. "You have X-ray vision?"

Aeo smiled without answering.

Just as Aeo wouldn't pry too much into his privacy, Bruce knew when to stop. He paused, forced a smile, and said, "Alright, that really is an amazing ability!"

After a moment of silence, Gotham's golden boy suddenly asked, "So, ladies in front of you..."

Aeo was embarrassed.

"Hahaha~~" Bruce had his moment of levity.

"Anyway." After the humor, Bruce turned serious again. "I'm planning to go to Hong Kong and bring Mr. Liu back. Are you interested in coming with me?"

Aeo's heart stirred, not for any other reason, but because... China. He thought for a moment, then hesitated, "But I don't have a passport..."

Batman smiled.

"I wasn't planning to fly either. Not through official channels..."

"Then?"

"Just follow me!"

...,...

Staring at the sea and the luxurious yacht before him, Aeo was a bit speechless. "This is your plan? Taking a boat to Hong Kong?"

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

As he stepped onto the yacht, Aeo realized Alfred was also there. He also began to guess Bruce's plan—he was probably going to take some unorthodox route to Hong Kong. After all, his official identity was too conspicuous. Whether he actually went to Hong Kong for sightseeing or shopping, he'd be mobbed by a crowd immediately. So he was using these models as cover while finding another way to get to Hong Kong.

A whole boatload of blonde foreign women, big and small, were sunbathing on the yacht in bikinis, enjoying the sea breeze. When they saw the billionaire Bruce board the ship, they swarmed over, clinging to him and acting cute. After finally extricating himself from that pile of pink skeletons, he immediately complained to Alfred, who was dressed in a flowery old-man outfit.

"Master Bruce, young master, you two were way too slow. Old Alfred nearly drowned in that pile of flesh. Don't ask me to do this again next time. My old bones can't take many more of these jolts."

"That wasn't my idea." Aeo shifted the blame. "Blame Bruce if you want."

"Well—" Old Alfred started to speak.

Bruce quickly cut in, "Al, has the plane I arranged arrived?"

Even knowing he was changing the subject, the old butler paused as expected and replied, "In twenty minutes, Master Bruce!"

Aeo felt a twinge of envy for Batman. Even if everyone else eventually left him, this venerable old man would probably stay by his side forever. Bruce looked at Aeo, then at the boat full of pink skeletons, and laughed. "In that case, Zod, how about we relax a bit first, like men?"

Aeo flipped him off.

Twenty minutes later, Aeo lazily opened his eyes.

"What's up?" asked Bruce, stripped down to just his shorts. The two were sunbathing at the bow.

"Your plane is here."

"How do you—huh?" Bruce stared in surprise at the horizon, where a small dot grew larger and larger, buzzing as it flew toward them.

"You have super-hearing too?" Bruce whispered in shock.

Aeo shrugged.

"..."

Watching the seaplane approach, Bruce said, "Honestly, I'm starting to regret it now."

"What?"

"Agreeing to let you stay. Your abilities are too dangerous..."

The young man stood up, his gray eyes gleaming brightly in the sunlight.

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

Since Batman had everything arranged, Aeo didn't mind taking a trip to Asia. After all, he was curious just how different this world was from the one in his past life.

Tossing aside a bag, ignoring the complicated look in the older man's eyes behind him, the young man leaped into the sea.

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

Watching the young man's handsome, sunny face in the blue seawater, Batman—shaken by the youth's abilities—was silent for a moment before diving into the sea himself.

...,...

Hong Kong.

Aeo and Bruce, having entered illegally, climbed ashore at a secluded spot, carrying their bags.

"Where is this?"

Bruce pulled out a device that looked like a GPS, pinpointed their location, and said, "This is a place called Tuen Mun Island."

Aeo had never been to Hong Kong in his past life. "I see. Then you lead the way. I'm not familiar with Hong Kong!"

Bruce was at a loss for words. Rolling his eyes, he put on his clothes, looked around, and said, "This way!"

... Looking at the familiar skin tones, listening to the once-familiar language, Aeo remained silent the entire way.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Bruce, sharp-eyed and keen-eared as ever, immediately noticed something off and couldn't help whispering to him. "Feels like you've lost your spirit since we got to Hong Kong..."

Aeo shook his head.

After a pause, he couldn't hold back and asked the taxi driver, "Excuse me, who's the most famous movie star around here?"

In this world, the Pearl of the Orient had also been ruled by some Western country for a time, just like in his past life, so this Chinese man around forty easily understood Aeo's English. Don't ask why he didn't use Chinese—Batman was right there, and if he suddenly blurted out a language Bruce had never heard before, the Bat would only worry more.

Sure enough, seeing him ask an unexpected question, Bruce narrowed his eyes.

"Allen.su, that's Su Shichen—a really impressive star! Made it into Hollywood, and as a Chinese person..." The driver didn't think much of it, chattering on excitedly.

"Su Shichen?!"

"What, you've heard of him?" The old man looked at him. "Have you been to Hong Kong before?"

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

Bruce stared at him for a few seconds, found nothing, and turned away. "Suit yourself."

After getting out of the car. "This is our target—the Liu Group building. The man who holds the black money for Gotham City's underground gangs, Mr. Liu, is in 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 floors before him.

"I see him."

Fortier, showing off. "He's on the 44th floor, in a private director's office..."

"Maybe, when you're not an enemy, your ability is pretty great!" Bruce couldn't help saying.

At night, the two returned to the vicinity of the target building. Bruce first scoped out the surroundings, then pulled Aeo over to another building.

"Sorry..." Posing as tourists, they successfully fooled the security guard at the entrance.

"Don't tell me you plan to take the stairs all the way to the roof?" Staring at the endless staircase ahead, Aeo's brow twitched.

"Afraid of getting tired?" Batman taunted.

Aeo smiled.