Venom wore a vicious expression, baring sharp fangs.
"Damn you, Iron Man! You think those words can defeat me, Venom?"
"How about this, then?"
Bzzzt!!
Lynn raised his hand and fired a Sonic Cannon straight at him.
The sonic blast sent ripples through Venom's entire body, steadily peeling him away from Alfred.
"Holy shit! How the fuck did you know my weakness?"
Venom screamed wildly, as though he had encountered something utterly terrifying.
"Why would I fight a boss without knowing your weakness?"
Bzzzt!!
Another Sonic Cannon blasted Venom clean off. The black slime left Alfred's body and scurried away across the ground.
Lynn wasn't about to let such a perfect opportunity slip away.
Using the Mark 3 armor's flight capabilities, he immediately swooped down in front of the fleeing black slime. His palm cannon unleashed a stream of scorching flames.
The searing flames relentlessly burned away Venom's bodily tissue.
"No... you can't..." Venom's terrified voice rang out.
"Spare me... I'll be your living fleshlight!"
Lynn: "..."
Only after watching Venom burn away completely did Lynn shake his head.
"With Harley and Catwoman around, what would I need you as a fleshlight for?"
Not far away, Batman held Alfred in his arms, staring blankly at the scene before him.
That was it?
That monster looked even stronger and scarier than Bane, and he'd been taken down that easily?
[You have successfully defeated the boss "Venom Wolverine."] [Performance rating: A] [Rewards obtained: 50 EXP, 50 Gotham reputation, Blood Pack, Master Ball, Kun Kun's Basketball, Flameflow Blade, Transformation Stick, Resurrection Card ×1]
"Huh?"
One especially conspicuous item on the reward list immediately caught Lynn's attention.
[Kun Kun's Basketball: From "Escape from Duckov." Once equipped, it can forcibly play the song "You Are So Beautiful," disrupting other people's minds. When using Iron Mountain Lean, a Martial Soul True Body will manifest, doubling damage and granting immunity to crowd control. It can be stacked with other Martial Soul True Bodies.]
System, tell me, is this item even legit?
Lynn wore a strange expression, his eyes fixed on the blue panel in front of him.
"Maybe it's just a coincidence. And this Martial Soul True Body seems like it can be used together with Boss's Martial Soul True Body?"
Holy crap, Chicken Bro's Martial Soul and Boss's Martial Soul... terrifying beyond belief!
His gaze moved down to the other items.
[Master Ball: From "Pokémon." Can capture supernatural creatures, but only one, and there is a chance of failure.] [Flameflow Blade: From "League of Legends." The weapon of Kayle, the Righteous. Swinging the blade can unleash holy fire, dealing bonus damage to evil creatures. Killing evil creatures allows the weapon to evolve, granting it more powerful effects.] [Transformation Stick: From "Overcooked! 2." When used, randomly transforms an ally or enemy into an ingredient (steak, tomato, bread, etc.). The transformed character cannot move.]
"Cough, cough..."
Alfred coughed violently. His eyes snapped open, and he felt as though he had slept for a century.
He hurriedly looked around, his voice panicked. "Master Bruce, are you all right?"
Batman held Alfred, his eyes fixed on the elderly man's face, his voice trembling.
"I'm fine, Alfred. What's wrong?"
Seeing Batman before him, still alive and full of vigor, Alfred immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"As long as you're all right... as long as you're all right. That's all that matters."
"Alfred, don't step in front of me next time. I can handle all this," Batman said in a low voice.
Alfred nodded, his weakened face utterly bloodless.
His gaze gradually lost focus, and his mind returned to the night he had prepared to hand Thomas Wayne his resignation letter.
"Master Bruce, you've grown up.
At first... your parents died in that alley, leaving you all alone.
I couldn't bear to let an orphan like you live a lonely life without hope, so I decided to raise you before leaving.
But then you became Batman. Gotham needed you, and you... needed me to look after you. That made leaving even harder.
Master Bruce, you cling to the past and worry too much about the future... ah, what I mean is, we must focus on the present. You need to treat yourself better."
"Alfred... I know. You're going to be all right. We'll both be all right."
Batman knelt on the ground with Alfred in his arms, his blue eyes bloodshot.
"Master Bruce..."
Alfred raised his right hand and rested his aged, bony palm on Batman's head, remembering that Father's Day.
Looking at Batman-Bruce Wayne-and his trembling face, Alfred gave a weak smile of acceptance.
"I used to dream of the day this city would give me back the real Master Bruce.
But now, I've made my peace with it. Gotham is so vast, and you have such a long future ahead of you. I can't stay by your side forever.
Master Bruce, promise me that even when you're alone, you'll...
Eat properly."
As his words faded, Alfred seemed to lose all strength and slumped heavily into Batman's arms.
"No... Alfred, no!!"
Batman knelt on the cold street. Clear droplets welled at the corners of his eyes, ran down his cheeks, and fell to the ground.
The distant neon lights gradually went out, and the black night engulfed him like a rapidly rising tide.
Cold and suffocating.
"Why are you crying? He's not dead."
Lynn's voice interrupted Batman as he sank into grief.
Not dead?
"How do you know he's not dead?" Batman asked in a low voice.
[System camera mode disabled. New file named: "Countermeasures Against Final Boss Bat-Haki, Method Two."]
Lynn turned off the system's recording mode, walked straight up to Batman, and patted Alfred's shoulder.
"Quit pretending to sleep, Alfred. Metropolis next door is holding a Candy Challenge. If you run into a gorgeous babe in a bikini who gives you candy, you'll win free candy for life."
"What
?" Alfred's eyes snapped open, and he stood up out of Batman's arms.
Awareness gradually returned to his face, and even his ballsack chin returned to its original shape, making him look exactly like a certain utterly irredeemable bastard.
"Oh, wonderful! Master Bruce, let's hurry to Metropolis. Free candy for life...
I'll use all that candy to build an enormous villa, then invite some pretty ladies over for beer parties-the kind where we drink one bottle and pour another out!"
Seeing Alfred's excited face and that exceptionally "intelligent" look in his eyes, Batman couldn't take it anymore.
"Alfred, just now, you were..."
"Oh, I was just messing with you," Peter-ified Alfred explained, scratching his head.
Batman: "..."
Who changed my Alfred's settings to this?
A few days later.
Jason and his resurrected parents boarded a high-speed train bound for Metropolis.
Meanwhile, a shocking scandal involving Bruce Wayne broke out of Metropolis.
"Bruce Wayne is a pervert who likes men. I have enough evidence to prove he's gay.
He's stringing me along, playing hard to get. He wants me to come crawling to him so he can take control!"
With just one scandal, Logan Howlett turned Bruce Wayne, the man at the pinnacle of Wayne Enterprises, into a topic of casual conversation across the United States.
Naturally, Lynn, who was sitting in the Freaky Outfit Bar, also heard the people around him heatedly discussing the matter.
But people didn't share the same joys and sorrows. He only found them noisy.
Because-
Another system quest notification had popped up before his eyes.
[Main quest: Investigate the recent invasion of evil creatures in Gotham.] [Quest description: A large number of people have recently gone missing in Gotham City. Although this seems insignificant in this city, evil creatures appear to be involved. Please investigate the matter thoroughly.] [Quest rewards: 20 EXP, Gotham reputation +20, random skill ×1] [Note: Gotham seems to have been invaded recently...]