"Norman Osborn's hair showed signs of being flattened, but in all his public appearances, he never had a habit of wearing hats."
Batman followed Harry Osborn into Osborn Manor, taking in the entire first-floor drawing room at a glance.
"Before opening the manor's main door, he was wearing a white work shirt, not pajamas. Based on the wrinkles in the white shirt, it can be determined that he was curled up on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket."
"This posture couldn't flatten Norman Osborn's hair in a way that suggests he was wearing a hat or helmet."
Batman himself often operated in his battle suit, and for a snug fit, the helmet part had to cling tightly to his head. Therefore, after taking off his suit, he always needed to fix his hair.
He absolutely could not allow anyone with ill intentions to discover that "Bruce is Batman," so he was exceptionally cautious about details.
Norman Osborn evidently hadn't noticed this. His hair was even pressed tightly against his scalp. To an ordinary person, this might just seem like Norman was under immense pressure and didn't pay attention to details.
But in Batman's eyes, this was no different from Norman dancing naked and shouting, "I have a problem."
However, this at most added another piece of evidence to Batman's suspicions; it couldn't prove that Norman Osborn was the killer of the researchers on the third underground floor.
Walking along the corridor inside the manor with Harry Osborn, Batman discreetly tossed sticky listening devices into various corners.
The calming gas didn't last long, but even after it wore off, Harry Osborn's emotions remained relatively stable, which was somewhat related to having "Peter Parker" by his side.
Batman didn't brush Harry off either, listening attentively as he recounted things that Harry himself might not even know what he was saying, occasionally offering comfort.
"Thank you, Peter." Before leaving, Harry Osborn escorted Batman to the manor's entrance. "I'm much better now. You should go to school too, or Aunt May will surely worry."
"I will."
Batman said, then turned and left after declining Harry's offer to personally see him off.
"The listening devices have formed a surveillance network in Osborn Manor... Harry is currently in his study."
After walking a distance, Batman pulled out a miniature earpiece from his pocket and put it on, making judgments based on the sounds he was monitoring.
He didn't continue to leave Osborn Manor. Instead, he circled back, found the Batarang that had already released all its calming gas, and then truly left.
"There's no need to go to school, but I must attend exams or assessments to avoid..." Batman paused silently in his mind, "to avoid Aunt May's worry."
"She is a key figure in maintaining Peter Parker's identity; I cannot let her have any suspicions."
Hailing a taxi, Batman leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes:
"Brooklyn, Stark Tower."
Tony Stark bought Batman's semi-finished AI model for one hundred million U.S. dollars, a large portion of which was for the model's groundbreaking ideas and knowledge.
In addition to the one hundred million U.S. dollar payment, Tony Stark, as per their previous verbal wager, hired Batman and his newly established shell company as technical consultants.
Until Batman's business empire was truly established, the identity of Peter Parker needed a convincing source of income, and the role of technical consultant for Stark Industries was temporarily reliable.
"Peter!"
As soon as his foot stepped out of the elevator, Tony Stark's greeting echoed in Batman's ears:
"Thanks to your AI model, Jarvis's learning ability is astonishing... I'm now willing to admit that you are a bit more of a genius than I am. Just a tiny bit."
"Tony." Batman looked at Tony Stark, who seemed to always have a drink in his hand.
"Want a drink?" Tony Stark raised his glass.
Batman refused:
"I don't drink."
Tony Stark drained his drink and then poured another glass:
"Then you're missing out on a lot of fun... But perhaps it's precisely because you always stay sober that you were able to develop such a groundbreaking artificial intelligence before me."
"War is often the cradle of technological progress, but there's no war now, so how did you 'boom' and get so far ahead of the world in technology?"
Batman looked at Tony Stark's noticeably heavier dark circles under his eyes than before:
"I've studied some technologies from World War II, and many techniques within them gave me certain inspirations."
"This includes some inventions by your father, Howard Stark."
"From a purely technical perspective, some of his design concepts... were incredibly advanced. Especially some of his pioneering work in the field of energy."
Tony Stark shook his head indifferently; he was unwilling to discuss his father with outsiders, but Batman's mention of "energy" struck a chord with him:
"Are you interested in the energy field?"
Batman remained silent, which was taken as an affirmation.
At this, Tony Stark seemed somewhat excited. Having been outdone by Batman in the field of artificial intelligence, he eagerly pulled Batman to the first basement level of Stark Tower.
Here, there was a massive, horizontally placed circular device, composed of huge electromagnetic coils and a complex energy core, currently emitting a bright blue-white light.
"This cold fusion reactor is called 'Ark.' I improved and built it based on blueprints left by my father. It can provide almost infinite power for the entire tower, with no pollution whatsoever."
Tony Stark said to Batman with a hint of boastfulness.
"Stable, but easily destroyed." Batman remarked, looking at the Ark Reactor. "I'd prefer to develop a small, portable energy source... like that square object the newspapers once mentioned, which Howard salvaged from the North Pole."
"Unfortunately, there's only that one record. Afterward, I've seen almost no mention of that blue cube in any other records."
At this point, Batman revealed his true intentions. From the moment he entered Stark Tower, almost every word Tony Stark spoke was part of Batman's plan.
Batman successfully steered the conversation to the Tesseract, which was part of his plan to return to Gotham.
Batman wasn't planning to hack the CIA again in the short term; instead, he wanted to try to get information about the Tesseract from Tony Stark.
"Are you talking about the 'Tesseract'? My father's material had a description of that thing... It was being researched by an organization my father helped found, called... what was it again?"
Tony Stark pinched his brow, thinking for a long time:
"It seems to be called... Homeland Strategic Defense, Counterattack... what Bureau? Anyway, it's a multinational oversight organization that operates independently."
"I am Agent Phil Coulson from the Homeland Strategic Defense, Counterattack and Logistics Support Bureau."
In a detention room at a police station in Manhattan, New York, a man in a gray suit stood before Dr. Otto:
"Otto Gunther Octavius. Can we talk?"