In the office at the top of Wayne Building, a gold bolt flashed and Barry's figure appeared behind Thomas. He took a deep breath and then said:
"So, you really are here? Your voice sounded so hoarse when you gave me a call, I thought you just woke up. I went to Wayne Manor, but Alfred told me you're in the office."
As he finished, Barry took two steps back, looking up and down at Thomas and said: "How many days have you not slept? Why does no one here ever sleep? Is there caffeine in the air in this universe? Why am I still sleepy every day?"
Thomas waved his hand and pressed his forehead with the other hand, saying: "I called you here for a matter of importance. Weren't you the one who said you were going to find a way to leave this universe? Have you found it?"
"I suppose you could say I have," Barry replied hesitantly "I think Professor Shearer might know how, but he hasn't told me yet. Are you in a hurry to leave?"
"No, I want to inform you that if you find a way, go first. I want to stay here for a while."
"Why?" Barry asked in surprise, not thinking Thomas was fond of the comfort of this world. Every Batman in this world has their own Gotham. No matter how messed up their world is, they would not give up.
"I need to understand certain things here, such as how the Gotham reconstruction project was implemented, how the super criminals were dealt with, how the dark clouds cleared, and how Gotham improved…"
Thomas took a deep breath, sat on the sofa, and propped his knee with his hand, saying: "You might think Batman is an extremely arrogant person who doesn't listen to others, but it's just that I don't have time to listen to people's vague descriptions."
"Everyone else says they have a way to make Gotham better, and I don't believe them. If their methods truly worked, Gotham would've been better a long time ago. But if one day Gotham really does get better, I need to know how. Even if it can't be replicated directly, it will surely be of reference."
"Oh, I see." Barry nodded: "You plan to copy the answers? And the answers are your son's?"
"When will you comprehend the phrase 'silence is golden'?" Thomas turned his head to the side.
"Okay, if that's what you want to say, I got it. I'll let you know before I leave. If you want to leave, find a way to contact me, you can think of the way, right?"
"It's not just about that." Thomas turned and looked at Barry who was standing by the window: "Bruce just called me, he wanted to see you. This is his address, you should go there."
Barry took the paper slip from Thomas and glanced at the address: "They are in Mexico? All right, it's not that far, I have to go."
In an instant, a flash of golden lightning disappeared. In a warehouse, Bruce looked up at the figure that suddenly appeared before him.
Barry was even more surprised because he had never seen a Batman like this. The Bruce in front of him was not wearing his black Batman suit, instead, he wore a set of work clothes, holding a wrench in his hand, stains of oil all over his sleeves and pants, exactly like a truck driver.
"Are you the one who brought Thomas to this universe?" Bruce asked.
"Yes, I am the Flash from another universe, nice to meet you."
Barry stood still as he nodded at Bruce, he was shocked at Bruce's slow extended hand.
Barry pointed at the hand with trembling fingers, then pointed at himself, then pointed at the outstretched hand again. It seemed as if he had suddenly become speechless and couldn't utter a word.
Bruce looked down at his hand, paused for a moment, then took off the slightly dirty glove on the hand with his other hand and extended the hand out again.
Barry was still surprised, standing in place motionless. At this time, Clark stormed in angrily, looking at Barry and saying, "How can you be so rude? When someone extends a hand to you, how could you not react?!"
Then Clark went to Bruce's side and said: "Don't mind him, Bruce. It's not your fault. You did well, when meeting someone for the first time you should offer to shake their hand."
"And you understood that if your glove is dirty, you should take it off before shaking hands with someone, that's great!"
Barry stared blankly at Clark, but unexpectedly, Diana also walked out from behind another tractor nearby, looked at Barry with a cold gaze and said: "When meeting new friends for the first time, you should indeed shake hands, unless you are not friends, but enemies."
"No, wait a minute, Diana, don't get your lasso out yet, what I mean is... you guys might not understand Batman very well, I do, he is actually..."
Now as routinely as ever, Bruce paused with his hand held mid-air for a while then brought it back. He didn't even glance at Barry, and continued to work.
Seeing Bruce move away again, Clark's face was filled with barely concealed fury.
"You hurt his feelings!" Clark raised his voice: "He is a mentally ill patient and he even tried to shake hands with others! How could you treat him this way?! Don't you have any sympathy?! Indifference turns people into devils!"