"To corroborate my theory, it would be best to find that guy who was conducting a secret operation in the Adirondack Mountains at the same time as me."
Batman would not forget who his true opponent was.
It wasn't the Gamma monsters, nor was it Harry and the others who had run into trouble after he left New York; it was Hydra.
From S.H.I.E.L.D. Level 8 Agent Garrett to a certain member of the World Security Council, Batman believed that Hydra had long since infiltrated powers both large and small.
Considering the long term, as Parker Industries grew larger, it was highly likely that, like Oscorp and Stark Industries, the shadow of Hydra would be present, both openly and secretly.
Hydra's existence could make waves for Parker Industries, adding obstacles to Batman's process of returning to Gotham.
Whether for the purpose of fighting crime or for personal reasons, Hydra was one of Batman's greatest opponents in this world.
However, Batman did not immediately act on his speculation.
He would have to visit the Cube sooner or later, but not now.
The current Batman still had many things to do in New York; establishing a charitable foundation and an insurance company was one of them.
According to Batman's plan, establishing these two institutions was something to be done at least a month later.
But Morbius had killed thirty-one prisoners from Ryker's Island. Only a few were involved in serious criminal cases; most had sentences of only two or three years, and three were even about to appeal and be released.
From a security perspective, Batman could not hand Morbius over to the NYPD, which was why he had brought Morbius to South Brother Island.
Batman would not ignore the thirty-one lives that died miserably at Morbius's hands. Before the law judged Morbius's crimes, Batman would use his own methods to compensate the victims' families.
"Alice, meet me at the Parker Building in five minutes," Batman said, turning on his comms to speak to Alice, the current CEO of Parker Industries whom he had single-handedly promoted.
On the other end of the line, Alice's voice sounded somewhat pleasantly surprised:
"Mr. Parker?"
"It's me," Batman said, adopting a youthful tone.
Alice let out an inexplicable sigh of relief.
Since the day Harry Osborn came to the Parker Building wanting to see Peter Parker, up until just now, Alice—and indeed all of Parker Industries—had been out of contact with their boss, Peter Parker.
Fortunately, although no one could be found at Empire State University, Peter Parker's attendance records showed he was in class; otherwise, Alice would have suspected her immediate boss had vanished from the face of the earth.
Five minutes later, Peter Parker, dressed in a formal dark blue suit, arrived at the Parker Building on time.
Alice's eyes lit up the moment she saw Batman. Even though she was no longer that naive little girl—as the CEO of Parker Industries, Alice had interacted with too many so-called successful people and business elites.
Almost every day, different Wall Street financial magnates or executives from various New York companies sent her invitations for dinner.
But Alice had witnessed with her own eyes how Peter Parker bought a factory on the verge of bankruptcy, established Parker Industries, and relied on the memory fiber technology he invented to become an indispensable presence in the materials sector in less than two months.
Not to mention that a week ago, Peter Parker had added another extremely weighty chip to the growth of Parker Industries: clean energy.
Even Alice didn't know the specific core technology; she suspected her young boss had secretly invented something new again.
Meanwhile, she herself had previously struggled daily in the factory just to feed herself, facing the risk of unemployment at any moment.
Along with Parker Industries, she had transformed from a girl with no special skills into one of New York's top young female entrepreneurs.
Under the superimposition of these senses and experiences, Peter Parker was simply as dazzling as the sun in Alice's eyes.
"Alice, set up a new project for the company. A type of prosthetic limb different from those currently on the market. You need to acquire the following types of production lines for this..."
Batman went straight to the point the moment he saw Alice.
"Okay, I've noted it down." Alice nodded repeatedly. She knew that once Peter Parker spoke like this, it meant a new technology was about to be introduced to the world.
Batman was very satisfied with a subordinate like Alice, who immediately recorded and executed plans once he stated them, requiring no repetition.
"Additionally, I need to officially rename Parker Industries to 'Parker Group' and establish two separate subsidiaries: Parker Charity and Parker Insurance."
A business genius, pulling out new technology every so often, young, steady, handsome but not flashy...
Alice's evaluation of Peter Parker was already high enough, but even so, hearing Peter say he wanted to establish charity and insurance subsidiaries, she couldn't help but raise her estimation of him another notch.
"What is the business scope for the charity and insurance?" Alice asked.
"Everything."
"Huh?"
Alice was a bit dumbfounded.
Whether it was poverty alleviation, aiding the distressed, helping the elderly and orphans, disaster relief, medical aid, educational assistance, or environmental protection for the charity; or life, property, and various other insurance types for the insurance agency.
Ordinary companies might operate within a single scope; larger ones might involve multiple aspects.
But the term "everything" made even Alice, who had seen some of the world, feel a wave of confusion.
The money Parker Industries would have to invest for this would likely be in the billions, and the company's total scale hadn't even reached that level yet.
Alice was one of the few people Batman knew in this world who had no connection to supernatural powers but could still be considered one of his own. Seeing her look blank, Batman knew this spokesperson of his still needed experience.
"The company's volume of clean energy is infinite. Go ahead and manage it boldly, but the specific source of the energy cannot be revealed to the outside world."
Infinite clean energy?
Alice's eyes widened. In that instant, she thought of a person Peter Parker had once mentioned: Dr. Otto.
At the time, she didn't know much about Dr. Otto, but since Peter had mentioned him, Alice had looked up some information on Dr. Otto afterward.
If there was anyone in this world capable of achieving infinite clean energy, Alice believed it was Dr. Otto and Dr. Otto alone.
Connecting this to the news that Dr. Otto had been imprisoned for murder and then heard from no more after being released due to mental health issues, Alice realized she seemed to have discovered some incredible secret. She blinked, looking at Peter Parker, hesitating to speak.
"I know you've guessed some things, but please keep it a secret for me."
Appropriately revealing some ambiguous secrets was a necessary means of winning hearts. He couldn't do this in Gotham; due to the Court of Owls and a series of other factors, Wayne Enterprises had long since slipped from Batman's control and was even nominally bankrupt.
But this was New York. After a period of comprehensive understanding, Batman believed that Alice, like the four scientists on South Brother Island, could gradually develop into an indispensable force for him.