"Where is this now?"
Norman Osborn opened his eyes and realized that what appeared before him was no longer the pitch-black, gloomy Batcave lit only by the dim glow of electronics, but an island that looked like a primeval forest.
"An island," Batman said.
Crap... Norman Osborn didn't dare glare at Batman, so he could only shoot a disgruntled look at a tree nearby.
Six hours ago, Batman had returned from an outing and said he was taking Norman Osborn to a certain place.
Norman Osborn had readily agreed. The dark, damp Batcave was absolutely not a place for a normal person to stay, and he was eager to leave.
So, on the condition that he be blindfolded and have his ears plugged, Norman Osborn only knew that he had gotten into a car, traveled underwater for a distance, and then endured a winding journey that lasted a full six hours.
During this time, he fell asleep twice, only to be woken up by the sensation of being pushed back against his seat caused by high-speed acceleration.
It took a full six hours for Batman to finally bring Norman Osborn to the destination: "An island."
"If I'm not mistaken, I'm going to be living here alone for a while?" Norman Osborn surveyed the island. "This isn't New York State anymore, right? I feel like you've practically crossed half the United States."
Batman offered no comment, simply tossing a transparent bag onto the ground.
"Inside is enough food for you to live on for five days. After five days, depending on the situation, I will decide whether to continue dropping supplies or to take you away."
"Is this your method of observation and treatment?" Norman Osborn didn't reach for the bag on the ground, but looked at Batman and asked.
" The serum to cure you is currently in production," Batman said, holding Norman Osborn's gaze. "The island is safe, and large enough to allow for better observation of you."
"I hope so," Norman Osborn said.
Seeing Norman pick up the bag from the ground and step, pace by pace, into the jungle of Bat Island, Batman did not linger intentionally. He turned and left Bat Island. With Professor Connors, along with the island's ubiquitous surveillance network and micro-sensors, Batman wasn't worried that Norman Osborn would find the Parker Manor, which was still under construction.
Unlike South Brother Island, which was a bit crowded just accommodating a large laboratory, North Brother Island's total area was more than six times that of South Brother Island.
The Parker Manor, the underground Batcave, and the Batwing takeoff and landing platforms were all located in the most central zone of the island.
As one of the few people Batman trusted in this world, Professor Connors had now transformed into Professor Lizard, sitting guard in the thickets near Parker Manor.
Even if Norman Osborn wanted to enter the underground facilities, Professor Lizard would be perfectly capable of detecting him immediately and intercepting him.
Furthermore, Batman would judge Norman Osborn's location and status based on the sensors, deciding at any moment whether to appear on the island himself.
At this moment, Norman Osborn had just drilled into the jungle of Bat Island; he hadn't even penetrated the outer perimeter yet, merely the edge zone.
Batman didn't rush to observe him. Instead, he doubled back to South Brother Island.
He hadn't forgotten about the broken stone slab. He prepared to consult Professor Morbius about the object; Batman remembered Morbius saying that after becoming a vampire, he had been delving into the myths and legends of various countries.
Venom Robin was also on South Brother Island; he hadn't suffered through the six-hour bumpy ride in the car with Batman and Norman Osborn.
When Batman returned to the laboratory on South Brother Island, they happened to be enjoying dinner—a whole roasted tender lamb, several thick-cut steaks, and a large pile of various fruits and vegetables.
However, unlike lunch at noon, where the scientists chatted happily from time to time, right now Dr. Banner and Professor Morbius were silent, staring down Venom Robin, who was sitting not far away.
Next to Venom Robin, Dr. Otto was holding a large piece of steak with a mechanical claw, holding it up near Venom Robin, but Robin didn't even spare it a glance.
"?" Batman expressed his confusion with a look.
"Old Bat, they're trying to con me into eating that tasteless stuff," Venom Robin said hurriedly upon seeing Batman.
Venom Robin ate chocolate, primarily because chocolate contains phenethylamine, a component also found in the human brain. Everyone in the laboratory was well aware of this.
Dr. Otto's face showed no trace of embarrassment. Chuckling, he explained the bizarre atmosphere in the lab to Batman:
With Venom Robin here, the three scientists didn't dare devote themselves fully to their respective experiments, so they could only sit idly and do things that didn't require intense concentration.
But since idleness is idleness, Dr. Otto and the other scientists hit it off and decided to test if they could get Venom to consume normal human food, to see if they could conduct deeper research into this miraculous alien symbiote.
But Venom had absolutely zero interest in human food. Despite the three scientists pestering and cajoling him, he stubbornly refused to even look at the steak or the roasted lamb.
"The symbiote's energy source is phenethylamine," Batman said. He had secretly researched this issue long ago.
"What about moonlight?" Dr. Banner asked with great interest. "Robin's body composition also includes moonlight from Khonshu. Whether from the perspective of an Avatar or in theory, moonlight should also be able to replenish his energy."
Venom Robin blinked his eyes. "Moonlight? The physical sunlight reflected by the moon?"
Although he had become the Avatar of the Moon God Khonshu, Venom Robin's understanding of Khonshu was even less than Professor Morbius's.
Professor Morbius corrected him:
"After Dr. Banner's research last night, we confirmed that Khonshu's moonlight is not moonlight in the physical sense, but a type of energy that manifests externally as moonlight."
"Theoretically, Venom should indeed be able to replenish energy from moonlight."
Dr. Otto followed up: "I am indeed slightly curious about how Robin absorbs moonlight."
Batman looked at the three scientists expressionlessly. He knew that wasn't just "slightly curious." If not for their wariness of Batman, Robin might have already been subdued by the three monsters and forcibly pinned to the experiment table by now.
Venom Robin jumped off the chair and thump-thump-thump ran to hide behind Batman.
Last night, when he had just become the Moon Eclipse Knight, Venom Robin had faced the four scientists in their full aura without a shred of fear, even itching for a fight.
But when Dr. Banner and the others shed their monster guises and revealed the crazy ideas of their respective scientist personas, Venom Robin actually felt a twinge of fear.
"Old Bat, I don't want to be studied by them," Venom Robin whispered, hiding behind Batman.
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