"I know you're in that storage cabinet. A storage cabinet can't block my eyes."
Bruce still made no move.
But Norin could "see" Bruce’s hand tightly gripping the cabinet door, seemingly ready to open it at any moment.
Norin didn’t notice any weapons on Bruce’s person.
He trusted his eyes.
So, Norin wasn’t in a hurry. Instead, he moved to one side, lifted the lid off the pot that was starting to boil, letting steam rise.
He pced the noodles inside, stirred them to prevent them from clumping together.
Then, he pulled out a tall wooden stool, sat down, and spoke casually to himself.
"Bruce Wayne, the mysterious Batman of Gotham. I mean you no harm."
"Let me introduce myself simply. I’m not from your universe. I come from a different parallel universe and possess some superpowers. Hmm, I think you understand what superpowers are... It’s exactly what you think."
"If you don’t believe me, you can look me up online ter. It won’t be hard for you."
"Maybe you still won’t believe me, but I know some things about your universe, especially what will happen in the next year. Your universe will be destroyed due to an accident."
"You heard me right!"
"Not just Gotham, but Earth, and the entire universe will be destroyed after a period of time."
"If you believe me, you can come out now."
"If you don’t, I’ll leave in one minute!"
"I won’t interfere with the miserable future of your universe anymore."
After speaking, Norin gnced at the clock on the wall and started counting down.
Norin wasn’t sure if Bruce would believe him. He knew Bruce’s personality very well.
Bruce Wayne was a naturally suspicious person. He had a lot in common with Tony Stark.
Whether it was their enemies or allies, neither of them fully trusted anyone.
They would always research others' weaknesses behind the scenes and create backup pns.
Just in case anyone betrayed humanity, they would be ready to respond.
Even Superman had his contingency pn.
For someone like that, it was almost impossible to earn their trust upon first meeting.
Even if he appeared very sincere.
Norin wasn’t lying, not at all. He even mentioned things from other universes openly.
However, there was still a chance Bruce would believe part of it. If Bruce came out, Norin would be able to discover Kara Zor-El the moment she arrived on Earth and take her out.
He would also be able to prepare multiple strategies to deal with Zod.
Once Norin replicated Supergirl’s powers permanently, everything would be fine.
If Bruce didn’t come out, Norin wouldn’t abandon this world completely.
He could seek out other computer experts, use some tricks to make them work for him.
Either with money, poison, or even mind-control drugs.
Though this would involve risks. Most computer experts didn’t have the technology and devices to hack into the Russian networks.
Only someone like Bruce, with immense wealth and his own satellites, could monitor the world at any time.
Compared to defeating Zod, without Bruce’s help, Norin would probably focus on extracting Kara Zor-El’s genes and blood to see if he could research something useful.
Though if it were just blood or something simir, it would be less valuable to Norin. However, Kryptonian blood was priceless everywhere.
Currently, Norin couldn’t bring people across universes, and the portal could only allow him to travel alone.
So, taking Kara to Marvel to avoid the Fsh’s meddling was impossible.
As time passed, with the st three seconds of the countdown ticking away...
The storage cabinet creaked open, and an elderly Bruce, wearing a gray coat, long hair down to his shoulders, and a messy beard, jumped to the floor.
He gnced at the boiling water and the noodles, then looked at Norin.
"Are you hungry?"
"No, thank you!"
"......"
A few minutes ter, the elderly Bruce had prepared the noodles and tasted them. It seemed like they were pretty good.
"So, what you're saying is that in the near future, some fool who tries to reverse time and change the past will come to our universe, mess everything up, and then walk away, causing the universe to be reset, or rather, destroyed?"
"That's quite a story. I think it would make it to the test sci-fi magazine. Perhaps a lot of people would like it. With some luck, it might get picked up by some rich fool who’d invest heavily to turn it into a sci-fi blockbuster. Let's call it The Fsh."
"However, I won’t be investing. The story is far too flimsy, too much of a joke. As a superhero of the universe, he should be mature enough, but instead, he goes and changes history on his own, leading the universe into an unknown and uncontrolble fate. In the end, he has to go back in time to reset it."
"And he still doesn’t learn, continuing to change the known history!"
"Is the Fsh the fool, or is the scriptwriter the fool?"
"It’s clearly a losing deal. I don’t think any fool would do such a thing."
Bruce looked at Norin, paused, and then spoke again.
"Seems like there are fools after all... Unbelievable!"
"Is this how they define superheroes? An immature superhero? Even if he needs to grow, the cost of that growth is too high! He’s ying the groundwork for growth in dozens of universes... Has his head gone bad?"
"What's the point of his character development? Who's got so much money to just waste it? Looks like he's richer than I am..."
Bruce continued eating his noodles without responding, but then said, “To be honest, if what you’re saying is true, I’d definitely have to think about what to do next. I don’t want some fool running wild in my universe. He can run off whenever he likes, but our universe can’t just run away!”
“Alright, tell me what you want me to do?”
“But just know this: if you’re lying to me, you’ll find out just how dangerous the Dark Knight really is.”
Hearing that, Norin smiled slightly.
“I need you to keep an eye on Russia, especially the Siberian region. If I’m not mistaken, there’s a spacecraft, one from outer space, that’s either already fallen or is about to fall.”
“If you find it, I need to know the exact location immediately, and I’ll need you to take me there.”
“A Kryptonian superhuman? I’m looking forward to seeing the look in her eyes when she fires ser beams or freezes everything in her path.”
Bruce nodded in agreement.
He finished his noodles in a few more bites, then threw the bowl into the sink.
"Let’s go then, let’s go find this invulnerable super girl."
Norin looked around the messy room and shrugged, not saying anything.
It was clear that Alfred, the butler in this universe, had long since passed away.
It seemed that after Alfred’s death, Bruce hadn’t found a repcement. After all, not just anyone could earn the trust that Alfred had from Bruce.
Since he couldn't be sure of anyone’s loyalty, it was better to be alone in the manor.
This was Batman...