Adrian Toomes, a man who yearned for the blue sky, longing to soar through the heavens like a true bird, an electrical engineer with a hooked nose.
This was the information Batman had obtained from Max Dillon, a senior electrical engineer on the thirteenth floor of Oscorp.
After touring Oscorp Tower with Harry Osborn—even though Harry Osborn had mentioned something about the Ravencroft Institute—Batman still revealed nothing to Harry about Norman Osborn's whereabouts.
Batman had been delayed these past days by Tony Stark's affairs, as well as the matters involving Venom and Anti-Venom, leaving him no time to search for Norman Osborn.
Moreover, when he infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base in the Adirondack Mountains, the data that was highly suspected to have been taken by a Hydra agent still showed no activity.
Batman trusted his own technology; he knew no one could access the data without triggering the tracking virus he had implanted.
With no movement up to now, there was only one explanation:
That Hydra agent was using physical transportation, not network transmission.
In plain terms, the Hydra agent was carrying the hard drive containing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "Pegasus Project" on their person, heading to Hydra's base along with that drive.
"Harry isn't currently conducting any super soldier serum or weapons equipment research projects at Oscorp. I can relax about this place for a while."
Batman bid farewell to Harry Osborn, and as he left, he habitually implanted a program solely for monitoring sensitive keywords—like "serum"—into Oscorp's internal systems.
Besides Oscorp, Batman had similarly implanted listening programs in Stark Industries; it was thanks to that program that he could hear the conversations between Tony Stark and Obadiah.
Returning to the City Hall subway station, Batman removed his neat dark suit and changed into the Arkham batsuit.
After this place had been transformed into the Batcave—and with the sixty-six-story skyscraper, now purchased and renamed the Parker Industries Tower, undergoing construction and renovation—the Batcave was changing almost day by day.
The internal core area was being constructed by machines controlled by the Oracle AI, while the periphery used ordinary workers under the guise of renovating sewer pipes.
At this point, the Batcave only faintly resembled the subway station it once was.
The original cut amethyst glass skylight had been completely sealed, but the original brass chandeliers had been preserved.
It was now divided into several areas: the central zone housing the Oracle AI processors, lined up in transparent pods along the Batcave walls; the area for storing batsuits, where the anti-anti-Venom suit was currently kept.
The last remnant of the unconscious white Anti-Venom symbiote was stored opposite the batsuit area, in the wall on the other side.
The Batmobile was parked in a spot convenient for quick entry and exit via the subway lines. Additionally, the medical area was nearby the central zone, allowing Batman to perform surgery on himself at any time.
Below the current Batcave, Batman had dug an even larger cavern, originally intended to house the servers and cooling systems for the upcoming Alfred AI.
But with all the viruses and toxins on North Brother Island purified by Anti-Venom, Batman temporarily changed his plans.
He decided to wait until the geological survey equipment ordered by Oracle AI arrived before making a decision.
If suitable, Batman preferred to store the Alfred AI core on that island.
Now inside the Batcave, Batman held a silver-white metal fragment no larger than a finger, examining it with the naked eye.
This was a metal material Batman had discovered on the black market when he first ordered materials for his bat cape—a substance that didn't exist in his original world.
Even a piece the size of a finger was beyond Batman's financial means at the time.
It wasn't until his first Batmobile was destroyed, and he ordered parts to build the Arkham Batmobile—when Parker Industries was frantically accepting orders—that Batman finally had enough money to purchase it.
But even now, Batman hadn't had time to study this material. He only knew from the black market that it was a metal nicknamed "sound-absorbing steel," with extreme hardness.
Placing the expensive vibranium he had bought above Venom's ecological tank, Batman turned his attention to gathering information on the electrical engineer named Adrian Toomes.
"Adrian Toomes, fifty-five years old, a world-renowned electrical engineer with a well-known 'dream of flying,' but unfulfilled."
"He attempted to imitate Icarus from Greek mythology, crafting wings from feathers to fly into the sky, and like Icarus, he fell from the air."
"Though not disabled, Toomes grew disheartened and gradually faded from public view... Currently residing in Brooklyn."
Adrian Toomes's personal information was extremely comprehensive online; Batman locked onto his current residence with virtually no effort.
"Money, technology, dreams, and features matching the hooked nose in the video."
Batman was ninety percent certain that the guy in the green flight suit was Toomes.
This day had been exceedingly long. Batman spent half the morning on North Brother Island eliminating Anti-Venom, then conducted a full examination of Eddie Brock on South Brother Island.
He then met separately with Tony Stark and Harry Osborn, taking up another good chunk of his time.
As the sky gradually darkened, Batman prepared to head to Brooklyn, to Adrian Toomes's residence.
But for now, Batman wasn't in a hurry to set out. Instead, he began collecting information on the criminals who had escaped during the morning's chaos when Shocker and Toomes destroyed Rikers Prison.
"Dad, the TV says humans need plenty of sleep, but in your memories—and these past few days—you haven't rested even for a moment."
Venom raised its head from the ecological tank and looked at Batman as it spoke.
With Anti-Venom no longer a threat, Venom didn't need to hide in the tank constantly. Batman had now opened the ecological tank, allowing Venom to pop its head out at any time.
But whenever Batman left the Batcave, he would still seal the tank completely for safety.
"I don't have time to rest, Robin," Batman replied.
"If I grow up faster and become your sidekick, could you relax a bit then?" Venom pressed.
"Robin, 'relax' isn't in my dictionary."
Batman's voice was low as he spoke, and at that moment, the sky outside fully darkened. Lights flickered on one by one, turning New York into a city of the night.
The platform holding the Batmobile slowly rose, rotating half a circle in place so the Batmobile's front faced outward.
Batman stood up to leave, but Venom suddenly leaped onto his arm, clinging to it and refusing to let go:
"I want to go too. I can help!"
Batman looked down at Venom hugging his arm without refusing, then got into the Batmobile and sped into the subway lines, racing toward Brooklyn.
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