The Court of Owls' existence was deeply hidden. Even though Gotham was full of legends about them, no one actually believed they were real.
Beyond their natural secrecy, they never acted rashly.
After all, except for the Wayne family, basically every other major family in Gotham had Court of Owls members.
They secretly controlled Gotham, and in their eyes, the Wayne family was just a pitiful lamb waiting to be slaughtered at any time.
If Thomas Wayne hadn't been investigating the Court of Owls, perhaps the couple wouldn't have died at all.
Aside from these members and the Talons they deployed, no one else knew about the Court's operations.
Even Dr. Hugo, who worked for them, was kept in the dark. As for the real controllers of Gotham, he—a mere psychologist—couldn't guess their intentions.
But he didn't dig too deeply. He didn't care about these controllers' thoughts. What he really wanted was to study perfect life—a perfect specimen that could continuously grow stronger while maintaining sanity.
"Almost finished. My most perfect work is about to be born!"
Dr. Hugo smiled as he looked at a jar full of toxic gas. The creature inside was a powerful life form that had undergone countless modifications by him and could fully adapt to poison.
Excessive toxins would cause normal subjects' bodies to swell rapidly until they burst, but for the thing in this poison jar, it was just the most natural living environment.
Dr. Hugo gently tapped the toxin jar a few times and stared at it with a smile.
Thud
The glass container vibrated. A muscular man with wild hair leaned against the jar's wall and looked at Dr. Hugo, then greedily inhaled the thick toxins.
"Seems like you've adapted well!"
"Hmph, not enough. I need more toxins!"
The man in the jar sucked the surrounding poisons into his lungs, his green eyes glaring at Hugo as if he'd rush out and kill the doctor if Hugo dared say there were no more toxins.
Dr. Hugo wasn't afraid of this display—instead, he was excited.
"Hahaha, that's right! The more toxins you consume, the stronger you become."
He nodded to several burly men around him. The men walked to the jar's valve and gripped it tightly with both hands. With an unpleasant grinding sound, the toxin container was once again flooded with thick poisons and turned dark green.
"Absorb these toxins properly. I still have high expectations for you. I hope you can continue breaking your limits."
With that, Dr. Hugo left with his assistants, while the man in the poison jar was immersed in countless toxins, his expression seeming almost blissful.
After returning to Wayne Manor through the portal, the group received excellent service from Alfred. He'd already prepared a table of refreshments, waiting for Marcus and the others to return.
Although he was surprised that several people had returned through a portal, he quickly composed himself and handed them towels to clean their faces.
The returning group naturally accepted Alfred's service.
This kind of battle was fine for Marcus. After all, the demons hadn't engaged him for very long. This fight was basically just a warm-up for him.
But for Bruce and Selina, this was the biggest battle they'd ever experienced, and both were exhausted.
"Teacher, how many suits of armor like those do you have?"
Bruce sipped his tea and looked at Marcus with curiosity.
During the battle, he'd seen Marcus's transformations. Those strange-looking armors were the source of Marcus's incredible power.
"You mean my Warframes? There are quite a few, but those frames aren't something you could master."
Marcus smiled and waved his hand. He'd only mastered Warframe manifestation for now and couldn't give any to Bruce, but in the future he might be able to do such a thing—forge a frame specifically for Bruce.
A Batman who becomes a Tenno?
After imagining Bruce transformed into a Warframe, Marcus couldn't help but feel excited. He looked forward to when Bruce, having mastered Warframe power, would be able to unleash even greater strength than in his memories.
Seeing that Marcus didn't elaborate, Bruce didn't press further. He knew that if Marcus was willing to explain, he'd tell him even without being asked.
After stopping his questions, Bruce and Selina began telling Alfred what they'd just experienced.
Although Alfred was well-informed, he was still shocked and broke out in a cold sweat after hearing their account.
It turned out Bruce and Selina had just experienced such dangerous events. Fortunately, Marcus had intervened personally, or the two young people would have been in serious trouble.
"Master Bruce, remember to ensure your own safety. You're the only Wayne left now. It's not easy to find butler work these days..."
Hearing Alfred's warning, Bruce smiled and nodded. He knew the man was worried about him.
After tea, everyone returned to their rooms to rest. They'd been fighting all night, and now it was time for proper sleep.
Once Marcus entered his room, the black-red crystal appeared in his hand. This crystal contained energy that could transform a small environment into hell—the power within was enormous.
But that wasn't what really interested him. He was focused on the crystal itself.
"Come to think of it, Argon Crystals are energy aggregates too, but they don't seem as stable as this thing."
As Argon Crystals containing void energy, they had an amazing decay rate. Unless used in weapons and equipment, they'd dissipate due to breakdown in just one day.
He was thinking that maybe Bruce and Selina could gain void power by handling weapons and equipment fused with Argon Crystals.
But he dismissed this idea halfway through.
He didn't know whether Bruce and Selina could master void power, but he was certain both would be driven insane by void energy.
After all, not everyone was immune to void side effects like him. If the two couldn't withstand void energy and went mad instead, that would be a serious problem.
"It's a bit difficult for them to control Warframes through the void, but they could practice the Vazarin school first and try contacting void energy through Aya Stars."
Aya Stars was relatively gentle, allowing them to use it to channel void energy like the Ancient One.
Although this was somewhat roundabout, under the dual protection of the Vazarin school and Aya Stars, it would be hard for Bruce and Selina to run into problems.
"Looks like they're getting new gifts again."
This time, Marcus chose not to make weapons, instead using the foundry to create two items that looked like badges.