Comics multiverse: Reborn as a special mutant

Following Bruce to the grove in the backyard, Norin saw a well on the ground. It had no cover, just a rusty, dust-covered lid.

"Come give me a hand. I'm old and can't do this alone."

Bruce brushed the dust off with his hand and turned to Norin.

Norin didn't buy Bruce's act. No matter how old Batman was, he was still Batman. He'd seen him take down mercenaries in The Flash and even hold his own against a Kryptonian.

He stepped forward and grabbed the edge of the well cover alongside Bruce. With a loud creak, the two struggled to lift it.

"By the way, your eyes seem to have some special abilities? Go ahead. You know, eyesight isn't what it used to be when you're old."

Bruce held the edge of the well, breathing heavily.

It looked like opening the well cover had taken a lot out of him.

If Norin didn't know Bruce was still the tough, old Batman, he might have believed it.

He knew Bruce was testing his abilities and trying to lower his guard.

But Norin wasn't going to hide anything. Gaining Bruce's trust was already hard enough. If he kept lying, their cooperation would fall apart.

Besides being Batman and a billionaire, Bruce was incredibly intelligent.

He'd mastered microexpressions, psychology, criminology, and more.

As someone who dealt with criminals regularly, he could easily tell when someone was lying by their tone, heartbeat, or subtle expressions.

Norin knew he was just an ordinary guy with a newfound golden finger. He hadn't received any professional spy training and didn't think he could fool experts like Bruce.

Lying would only ruin their already shaky partnership.

It was fine not to answer.

But there was no need to hide.

Norin climbed down the iron ladder first, casually explaining his thermal energy sensing ability as he went.

"You can accurately map the temperature of your surroundings in your mind? Not bad. No wonder you found me so easily in that cluttered room."

"Maybe you're more suited to protect Gotham than I was. The night is easy to navigate."

Bruce couldn't help but admire Norin's ability.

He'd initially suspected Norin was just trying to trick him out of hiding.

But when the countdown hit three seconds, Bruce had decided to show himself.

When it came to the safety of the universe, he wasn't willing to gamble.

More importantly, he could tell from Norin's tone that he wasn't lying.

If what he said was true, then either he was a mental patient, a master manipulator, or he was telling the truth.

Even though it sounded outrageous, Bruce was willing to listen.

Now, with Norin answering honestly, Bruce began to trust him a little more.

But only a little.

He needed more evidence to confirm.

"Dark Knight? You're the most fitting for that title, no matter the universe."

Norin said this with complete sincerity. Being the Dark Knight wasn't easy, and he had no intention of trying to be that kind of hero.

He valued his life too much.

Everything he was doing now was to grow stronger.

"You've been to many worlds?" Bruce caught the underlying meaning.

"Let's just say so." Norin didn't elaborate and walked ahead into Batman's base.

Though the facilities here hadn't been used in a while, that didn't mean the technology was outdated.

Wayne Enterprises' tech was reliable.

Bruce also had his own private satellite, which could bypass other countries' satellites to monitor the world.

"Take a seat. This'll only take a minute."

Bruce wiped a chair nearby and gestured for Norin to sit, then walked to the computer and began a series of dazzling operations.

Norin glanced at the screen but quickly gave up.

This was a professional at work. Even though Norin had learned some coding before his time travel, his typing speed and skill were nowhere near Bruce's.

Compared to Bruce, he was just an amateur.

Much of what was on the screen was beyond his understanding.

It was a waste of time to keep watching.

So he started wandering around the Batcave, exploring the legendary space.

Bruce noticed Norin walking away but didn't stop him.

He opened another window, pulled up the surveillance footage of Norin from the manor, and entered his name into the database for a global search.

To ensure accuracy, he cross-referenced similar images from databases worldwide.

He also accessed surveillance and data for all of Gotham.

Ten minutes later,

Bruce's frown eased slightly.

He'd matched and eliminated hundreds of similar profiles.

In the end, none of the information about Norin matched.

The most recent surveillance footage of Norin in the U.S. was from this morning.

It was in a Gotham alley.

Before that, there was no record of him in this world.

With this in mind, Bruce closed the search interfaces and focused on finding information about alien spacecraft in Siberia—or anywhere in Russia.

Despite Bruce's tech, digging into another country's data wasn't easy.

It took him half an hour to finally find what he needed in an obscure report.

"Asteroid impact... alien life on board..."

"Siberia… Mercenaries…"

"Found it!"

Norin had already walked up behind Bruce, looking at the familiar images on the screen.

He felt a mix of excitement and disappointment.

The excitement came from knowing he'd soon meet Supergirl, Kara, and gain superhuman powers to protect himself early on.

The disappointment was that Supergirl had already arrived on Earth. Did that mean the Flash was coming soon?

Maybe somewhere in Central City, Barry Allen had already met this world's version of himself.

Time was running out.