Chapter 647 - Batman's Rivals
Stark didn’t notice that the more shortcomings he pointed out, the more displeased Pepper got. As he spoke, he became more and more engrossed.
He was at the top of the trade when it came to technology. “This cape is the only interesting part, but gliding is still too old-fashioned for this age. Huh, I could totally use a plasma thruster to make the suit fly instead of glide…”
Should I make a big toy for myself too? An idea suddenly popped into his head as he spoke. Along with it, designs and inspiration flooded his brain like a tide!
Who was he? He was Tony Stark!
He was a super genius who could invent something groundbreaking once he was inspired!
He didn’t notice the dark expression on his PA’s face at all.
He just said that he was going to come up with a security plan for high falls and told her to take care of the earthquake donations that the company would make, before he disappeared into the elevator. A helpless expression on her face, Pepper slowly got up. She sighed and turned to look at the TV.
On TV, a man in a black suit had just broken through a wall on the fifth floor. Holding a family of three in his hands, he glided over the flames before landing on the ground.
The whole family couldn’t believe what happened. The man hugged his wife and daughter and cried in disbelief. “We’re all alive! That’s great! That’s really great!”
The man in black, however, ran off into the flames again. When will you grow up a little and be like him?! Feeling bitter, Pepper finally said, “Turn off the TV.”
“Very well, Miss Potts. Your mental state is not very good today. You need to get some rest.” A gentle male voice rang out.
Pepper smiled bitterly. “Thank you, Jarvis. You’re much more considerate than Tony is.”
Jarvis: “Mr. Stark just isn’t good at expressing his feelings…”
Pepper raised her hand. “Alright, enough. Goodbye, Jarvis.”
“Goodbye, Miss Potts.”
In a wrecked bar, a frustrated bartender was cleaning up the mess.
There were broken bottles everywhere. Part of the ceiling had collapsed as well, and dirty water covered the floor.
He shouted angrily, “Wade, how about lending me a hand?”
Wade was sitting in front of the TV with his legs up on the counter to avoid the filthy water on the floor. He sipped leisurely on his beer. “I’m a customer. I paid for this beer and all the other drinks I had.”
The bartender gave him the finger. Resigned to cleaning up on his own, he mumbled, “It’s useless to watch TV. You can only kill people for money. Want to become Batman? In your next life!”
Wade snorted. “Don’t think you can talk me out of making money. What makes you think Batman’s poor? Just look at his equipment. I bet you a hundred bucks that it isn’t cheaper than 100,000 dollars.”
The bartender: “Do you think I’m an idiot? His equipment is worth 100,000 dollars for the bulletproofing alone, not to mention the fact that it can fly.”
Wade shrugged regretfully. He had planned to win back the money he had just spent on drinks.
On the TV at that moment, a dark shadow flew over to grab a woman who was falling. He then glided around in a half-circle and landed. Putting the woman down, he flew off again. Wade was a little envious; this guy was really rich!
That cape alone that could glide was more expensive than anyone could imagine. It was much harder to make than the bulletproof armor.
But why did this guy cover his face? Nobody would cover their face unless they were hideous. Or maybe this guy’s face was disfigured?
I would never wear a helmet or mask to cover my handsome face! How demeaning! Wade couldn’t have felt any more superior. I may not be as rich as you, but I’m more handsome!
At the same time, in a rundown apartment unit somewhere in L.A., a bunch of people were also watching TV.
Seeing the black giant kick away a criminal who was fighting a police officer, a bald man swallowed and mumbled, “Don’t tell me we’ll run into this guy during our operation?” “Idiot, can’t you see that he’s mainly saving people? Those criminals were beaten up only because they were in his way!” a middle-aged Latino man scolded him.
The bald man touched his head. “Ah, that does seem to be the case.”
But the other people in the room weren’t as dumb as he was, and thoughtful expressions flashed across their faces.
Looking at their expressions, the middle-aged man could only continue, “This Batman never appeared before this. He probably only took action because of the earthquake. Besides, he didn’t kill anyone, and only injured them at most. Also, that’s L.A.’s central district; our target is in the east in L.A. county dozens of kilometers away.”
When everybody heard that, they finally stirred as they voiced their approval.
The middle-aged man didn’t pay any mind to the noise and continued to boost morale. “Don’t forget that we’re after the hundred-million-dollar reward. If you’re afraid of death and don’t want to make a fortune, you should quit now; that’ll mean more money for the rest of us.”
Everybody was silent.
It was an eternal truth that people died for money the way birds died for food.
They couldn’t abort the operation just because of some mysterious man in black.
Speaking of which, this man indeed hadn’t killed anyone, so even if they ran into him, he wasn’t necessarily more dangerous than regular patrol officers.
The patrol officers might shoot them dead, while they probably wouldn’t die from a beating by this guy.
Convincing themselves with this thought, they continued to make preparations for the prison break, unwilling to give up on a hundred million dollars.
Luke didn’t know that a certain tycoon had been inspired to develop an iron suit because of the lousy Batman suit, and that he had already started working on it. Neither did he know how the man had ridiculed everything about the Batman suit. Even if he did, Luke would only react with a smile.
Tony wasn’t wrong. Luke wouldn’t argue with him.
He had a large portion of Tony’s skills and abilities, and was well aware of the shortcomings.
But that couldn’t be helped.
Compared with Tony Stark, who was worth hundreds of billions, Luke hadn’t nearly invested enough in equipment and research.
That was the first point.
Secondly, Luke and Tony had different physiques.
The poor counted on mutations and the rich counted on technology; this American comic saying was utterly true.
A mutation was a power obtained by the human body, and what the poor dreamed of.
While Luke didn’t have a mutation, his strong physique was also very economical.
Tony might have to invest a hundred million dollars into developing technology to protect himself while Luke didn’t need to when it came to ensuring his own safety.
