Parker Industries had already acquired heavy industrial factories sufficient to form assembly lines and produce a series of equipment Batman needed.
But now there was a very realistic problem: it had been less than two weeks since they possessed the assembly line to self-produce the Arkham Suit, yet the suit could no longer meet Batman's combat needs.
In Gotham, the Arkham Suit could provide sufficient defense and functionality, but in New York, in the face of individuals wielding strength in the tens or even hundreds of tons, the Arkham Suit was facing a mandatory retirement plan.
Not to mention anything else, Batman's own increasingly powerful strength alone was pushing the Arkham Suit to its breaking point.
Last night, the Batwing hadn't even entered full speed. While Batman could withstand the immense tensile force generated by hanging from the Batwing with spider-webs in mid-air, the Arkham Suit was the first to give way; worse, during the subsequent battle against the Lizard, more than half the armor had shattered.
Batman had to redesign a new suit, one that could provide a certain degree of protection for Peter Parker's body while also being capable of engaging with guys like the Hulk.
———Up until now, the Hulk had never displayed his full strength in front of Batman, but he was still undoubtedly the most powerful creature Batman had encountered in this world.
"I once utilized 'Project Battering Ram' at the Gamma Base in New Mexico."
Driving the Batmobile all the way through the sewers, Batman returned to the Batcave and sat in his chair, thinking.
Venom Robin wasn't on the first level of the Batcave; instead, he had run to the second level to personally watch over the comatose Harry and the others. The first level of the Batcave had returned to its usual quiet.
"Current tasks: Construct my own satellite launch base as soon as possible, and equip the satellite with a redesigned Project Battering Ram."
This matter required an astronomical amount of funding. The current Parker Group did not possess the capacity to execute this plan; it would take time to complete.
In the short term, Batman still needed to use S.H.I.E.L.D.'s satellites to assist him in executing certain missions.
"Need to investigate the truth of the shattered tablet at the Metropolitan Museum. There is an eighty percent probability it involves supernatural forces, and I currently know very little about it."
Hawkeye had already taken the samurai suit and katana Batman made for him, adopting the persona of Ronin, and headed to Yokohama, Japan, to investigate the Dark Wind Group.
"Need to find Black Widow within fifteen days." This was the condition promised to Hawkeye.
"Need to resolve the issue of Norman Osborn's crimes." Batman didn't trust S.H.I.E.L.D.'s prisons, nor New York's, and they didn't have the conditions to hold the Green Goblin. The containment sector on Bat-Island was not yet completed.
Under these circumstances, having Norman Osborn strive toward becoming the Governor of New York, and transforming for that purpose, became the relatively better choice.
"Need to manufacture a new suit."
Batman thought of Vibranium, but his relationship with Wakanda wasn't good enough for them to open their Vibranium mines to him.
If he wanted to build a suit with Vibranium, Batman would need to use some extraordinary measures. Batman did not mind this; he was even simultaneously thinking through subsequent plans.
"Need to solve the Lizard's mutation, or rather, his evolution problem." Dr. Banner was currently in charge of this, but that didn't mean Batman would wash his hands of it completely.
"Need to train Venom Robin." This was something that needed to be done every day.
"Need to ensure the safety of Professor Warren Miles." After the accident on the twentieth floor of Osborn Tower, the other three had mutated; Batman was extremely vigilant about Professor Warren's condition.
"Need to reinvestigate Dr. Helen Cho. According to my previous deductions, she may have already encountered some supernatural force unknown to me, which is why she immediately associated Professor Warren's injuries with vampires upon seeing them."
The person who destroyed the bug and micro-tracker Batman placed on Dr. Helen Cho was already known to Batman: it was that guy, Hawkeye.
That day, Hawkeye had gone to Metropolis Hospital right after Batman left. The reason, naturally, was that Professor Warren, one of the victims of the Osborn Group accident, was lying in a hospital bed there.
Although there was no trace of Batman throughout the accident on the twentieth floor, Hawkeye still didn't want to let go of any possible clues.
"Need to follow the trail, using the Hydra spy Garrett, who is still lurking within S.H.I.E.L.D., to root out the other Hydra members behind him."
The Stark Industries weapon leak incident had ended, but Garrett remained inside S.H.I.E.L.D.
Nick Fury said this was his pawn, but to this day, Batman still suspected that Nick Fury was the biggest Hydra agent inside S.H.I.E.L.D.
"The Adirondack Mountains base has become a Hydra base, yet it holds one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s greatest secrets, the Tesseract—a supernatural item that might provide a way for me to return to Gotham. This is also one of the matters that needs to be handled."
"Conversely, I can only confirm the security of the Cube prison if I verify that the Hydra agent who acted as a human courier for the Tesseract data is imprisoned there. But Hawkeye, who came out of there, was unaware of this."
Batman took off his cowl and rubbed his temples.
He was thinking about several things simultaneously. Although it was purely mental activity, the difficulty was no less than his previous fight with the Abomination at the Gamma Base.
———Come to think of it, Batman's battle against the Abomination could even be considered easy; everything had been under control.
"The missing Kingpin, the Alfred AI, the construction of Bat-Island, and Ant-Man and the Wasp in Manhattan, whom I still haven't made any contact with...
"And Tony Stark. He continues to publicly claim Iron Man is his private bodyguard. I'm not sure if he'll develop identity issues or similar psychological problems because of this, but I need to prepare plans in advance.
"After Electro, Max Dillon, was taken away by Tony, I still haven't personally recorded Dillon's condition.
"A blood substitute solution for Professor Morbius has still not been found."
Venom Robin's voice interrupted Batman's train of thought:
"Old Bat, you seem a bit tired?"
Batman turned his head to look at Venom Robin returning from the second level of the Batcave. His mind recalled the two other forms that appeared when he tested Venom Robin: the purely violent Venom, and the cold-blooded assassin, the Lunar Eclipse Knight.
"Robin, come with me to pay someone a visit." Batman shook his head and put the cowl back on.
"Who?" Venom Robin reached out for a chocolate, peeled off the wrapper, and stuffed it into Batman's mouth. "You look like you really need a rest, Dad."
Batman didn't refuse the chocolate Venom Robin stuffed in his mouth, allowing the traces of sweetness to dissolve, but his face remained expressionless as he coldly spat out the words:
"Iron Man."
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my pa-treon:
pat reon .c-om/windkaze