Night had fallen on the city, and it was time to call it a night. I slammed the spell book shut and rubbed my tired eyes. Magic can be incredibly useful and powerful, but when you're limited by materials and reserves, then technology, even if it's not the most advanced, can give the mystical arts a hundred points of leeway and still have a huge advantage.
Let's take search spells, for example. The coolest ones, which work through the astral at any distance and show exact coordinates, require a shitload of mana, the ability to work with the astral plane so you don't get eaten by the local inhabitants, and a thing that belongs to the target for a long time.
But the charms available to me, show only an approximate direction, work in a relatively small radius, about five kilometers, and for their functioning requires fresh blood with the remnants of aura.
No, it's bullshit... Let's say that the problem with more or less accurate location is solved by the method used to determine the coordinates of an object in the GPS system: just take the intersection point of two or more lines from different points. But, first of all, where to get fresh blood of the First? And secondly, I have to get pretty close to him anyway because of the limited range. It's really easier to plant a bug than to go to all this trouble.
The girls were doing much better, and the potion was almost ready. Tomorrow we'd be sure to test it on someone, and if the result was satisfactory, we'd pump it into a tank for use on Alastor Winslow.
Before I left, I picked up the diamonds that had been charging from the dragon vein with the sorceress's permission, and then Harley and I said a warm goodbye to Zee (someone got a light discharge again when he went for the ass in his bathing suit) and headed home, planning to stop by my neighbor's house later to get the details of the assassination attempt.
The mansion had undergone another major transformation during our absence. The north wing had already been completely renovated, and now only the south wing remained, plus the greenhouse. The pace of the construction firm was much faster than Natalie had agreed to when we'd first met, but it was easily explained by the increased number of workers who'd been temporarily relocated from their hiding place downstairs and the fact that we were out of the way for the day.
When all the outsiders were gone, I sent my assistant to deal with the miniature cameras for tracking Alastair Winslow, and I was finally able to begin the final transformation of the car. I filled all the engraved runes with salt and varnish, deciding not to waste my blood. Despite the fact that the red liquid has a much better conductivity and manaem capacity, it loses these properties over time, coming into complete disrepair, unlike sodium chlorine. Through the created paths enough to occasionally pass mana, and then the rune ligature will exist for a very long time, the main thing is not to forget to change the diamonds that serve as batteries.
Touching a small rune circle on the touch panel, a pulse of magic with the desired color, and the Aston immediately changes color, becoming coal-black, including license plates. According to my calculations, one one-carat diamond filled with neutral mana should be enough for at least five hours of work, but we don't know what will happen in reality, so I left the driver's seat, leaving the disguise active. I have a bunch of charged gems now anyway, so there's no shortage of mana for now.
"Mr. J, it's so cool," Harley, who came to the presentation of the updated car, said with admiration. - You are a real magician!
"Heh-heh-heh," I ruffled my hair in embarrassment, "don't exaggerate. Your potion modification looks much cooler. By the way, any luck with the cameras?
"They have a very sophisticated system inside, so I've only managed to re-flash one device so far... Oh, what are you doing?" The blond cutie asked as I took her in my arms like a princess.
"I'm glad I have such happiness. Sunshine, what would I do without you?
Despite what she and I have done in bed... and also on the floor, the sex swing, the couch, the windowsill, and the table, the girl still blushes. I kiss the sexy beauty tenderly and feel her hands crawling under my shirt, scratching my back lightly.
"Bummer! Bummer! Bummer!" My phone started blaring in a nasty voice, signaling an incoming call from Alan, who was obviously late. Huh, I'd changed the ringtone for a reason.
"I gotta take this.
"It's okay," Harley kissed me again and got out of my arms, "we were planning to stop by the super pervert's place. You realize we wouldn't have had time for him," then I was pulled gently by my collar, "but we'll make up for it later.
"Sure, honey!" I kissed her snub nose and answered the call, putting her on speakerphone. - Alan, I hope you have good news.
"Well, how can I tell you..." the older man began uncertainly.
Fucking hell, I knew something was gonna go wrong. This was bullshit, not luck. I took a deep breath, mentally resigning myself to the inevitable. Eh, I'll have to release the game right away, hoping to get rich on it, or try to rob some supervillain to pay off the VSO with interesting technologies.
"How bad is it?
"The suit's sold, the money's already in your account.
"Uhm... - I even hung back a little. - Huh, so what's the problem?
"Jay, that's not the money. Someone else stepped in and bought the whole lot for seven hundred million dollars.
Who would think of buying Joker's junk for a fabulous sum of money? No, it is clear that collectors are strange people and can even buy water from a blogger's bathtub, and then drink an incomprehensible soapy liquid, organizing a challenge to see who won't vomit the longest, but seven hundred million dollars for a costume... It must be a complete psycho, and a psycho with money.
"Alan, hold the shipment!" I need to plant a bug in the suit I bought to track down the asshole.
Heh, the First may be a madman with a leaky roof, but he correctly assessed his options, deciding not to rob the local auction directly. Still, the security there is really brutal and consists of thugs who are not afraid to shoot to kill, unlike the bank employees.
"Sorry, but it's already been taken, paid for in cash. They say the buyer brought a truckload. Basically, the reason I called so late was because it took too long to count.
"Fuck.
"I don't know why you're upset, because it turns out you have twice as much money," the older man said, surprised by my reaction.
"Did you see the robbery today?
"Yeah... Gives me goosebumps..." he visibly shuddered.
"I'm sure the suit was bought by a copycat. So, can you get the security footage so we can get an I.D. on the buyer?
"No, I'm sorry, Jay, the auction house cares about its customers. Maybe after a formal police request, they'll release the information, but they'll stall until the last minute. Trust me on this one.
Bad... Bats better not know about this incident, or I feel that I'll lose all my hard-earned money. At the same time, knowing who came to the auction is unlikely to help us track the psycho. Hmm, on the other hand, I have great doubts that the movement of such sums of money remained unnoticed by the superhero, although the same Penguin he practically does not touch. And the supervillain is definitely doing illegal activities, which makes him a good profit.
"What to do with the rest of the money?" The lawyer clarified, interrupting my thoughts.
"Huh, it's definitely not worth it to transfer by wire transfer, so you'd better just bring them over," I replied, realizing Dershowitz's capabilities. - It would be desirable to exchange twenty million for synthetic diamonds of one carat. And you can take the same amount for your work.
Naturally, Alan couldn't deliver everything at once, because Hugo's money still had to be cashed somewhere, so we agreed that he would bring some of the money tomorrow morning, so that I could close my debt to the VSO, and the rest within a month, which I didn't need in a hurry, given that I had a nine-digit sum on my card. After the conversation, I turned off my smartphone, and then I had to catch the blonde girl who rushed into my arms and was obviously happy that we were now incredibly rich.
"What are we going to do with the money?" The girl asked, clinging to me trustingly and looking into my eyes penetratingly.
"I don't know... Do you have any ideas?" I wasn't planning on buying anything wildly expensive right now. Buying additional equipment to equip the base is out of the question, because it's already obvious.
"Well, I thought it would be nice to buy my own island in a warm climate. Ivy would be very happy.
"That's a great idea! Once we're done with Grundy, we'll buy an island and build a country house there. Maybe we'll even celebrate New Year's Eve in a new place, - having outlined the plans for the future, I went to visit my neighbor with Harley in my arms, because there was a fear that we'd forget about everything and then we'd have to solve the problems in the deadline mode.
Alfred met us at Wayne Mansion and informed us that "Master Bruce" hadn't returned from his night watch yet. Sometimes I have doubts in my heart that Bats is a real person and not some meta with rabid regeneration. Judging by the news, he should be near death after the attack, but no, he's riding around like a happy goat, hunting down various criminal elements.
We started to head home, planning to return a little later, but the older man suggested we wait for the superhero in the living room, and given the divine pastries on offer, our tandem simply had no right to refuse.
***
I sat on the comfortable couch and watched Harley munching on her third pie, drinking it with raff with raspberry syrup. I don't lag behind my beloved, destroying the foodstuffs on the coffee table, but sometimes I'm stuck like this, admiring her concentrated face, as if the fate of the whole world depended on her actions.
"What?" The blonde paused briefly, noticing my gaze.
"You're so cute *-*," I gently touch her cheek, removing the crumbs, causing joy to flash in the girl's eyes.
No, this is beyond me! I leaned down to kiss her, and out of the corner of my eye I noticed the butler, who had been watching us all this time with a smirk in his eyes. Eh, this isn't normal.
"Alfred, can you tell me what's wrong?" I pull away from my faithful assistant and look at the man carefully.
"What do you mean, Mr. Arkham?
"I realize that Bruce is a bit of a phase freak, and even peeping through cameras is somewhat forgivable for him, tough childhood, paranoia and all that... But you've been watching us like this for half an hour now, which is kind of weird.
"You two look so harmonious together. You're not shy to be around each other, though both of you are not ordinary people, and you even try to do heroic activities, saving the city... Ahem, but you started to save the city recently, but still.
"Aah..." I stretched out, realizing where my interlocutor was going.
Oh, Bats, you can't get out of a happy married life, no matter how hard you try.
"You just have to believe in your other half, - I hug happy Harley by the waist, - I am well aware of the dangers of relationships, but at the same time, they make me stronger, helping me to survive any hardships.
"Golden words," the butler nodded his head gravely.
"What a circus you're making here," the billionaire suddenly entered the room and immediately plopped down in his chair, wrinkling his nose a little. Heh, not Wolverine's regeneration after all.
"We were discussing the delights of family life," the older British man replied nonchalantly. - Adoption is wonderful, but it's still a surrogate.
"Alfred, not in front of the guests... Especially since there was a big problem with that. Richard disappeared in the docks when he tried to track down his parents' killer.
"Zuko's boss?" I made an assumption.
"No, I checked him first and he's not involved.
"I don't know who the kid was, but if his mouse was interested in him, he must have been in the DC Universe somehow. Maybe he was even one of the Robins... No, I remember that the first one was named Dick, and the second one was Bruce's own son named Jason. Well, the little one can wait, because I have better things to do.
"What do you hear about the First?" I asked, crossing my fingers for luck and hoping that the maniac had already been caught and was sitting in a box, inhaling a chemical compound that made him adequate.
Reality, as always, was disappointing, as the fake Joker had been deafening so far. He'd cleaned up his tracks too well, getting lost in the Old Gotham neighborhood. Given the catacombs there, which could be the size of the upper city, it's easier to find a needle in a haystack, because in the process no one will try to stab you in the side with a sharpened rebar. Here only the tactic of waiting will help. But the good news was that the superhero managed to catch another green-haired psycho, though it wasn't really him, but the Silent Gang.
Harley once told me about these badass post-Soviet natives. They are one of five gangs that control the smuggling of contraband into and out of Gotham by rail. They have this cute tradition of giving their new members iron masks that are soldered on the back of their heads for at least a year. This symbolizes the fact that they will never be snitches.
Bats himself would hardly have entered their lair without a good reason, but they were the only ones who could let the owl assassin who had assassinated the billionaire through for a fee. Old Wayne Tower, despite the name, and the fact that it was built over fifty years ago, has very advanced security systems. The only possible option to get in and out unnoticed is to just use the tunnels underneath the building. Much to Gloomy Mouse's surprise, the gang turned out to be out of it, which didn't save them from a life-giving pissing, in the process of which, the Dark Knight just stumbled upon a prisoner who turned out to be a patient of the dead doctor. Now the psycho is being rehabilitated by breathing a special chemical compound in a secret hideout under the Panessa movie theater.
- I see... Are you sure the assassin couldn't sneak through the tunnels past the gangs?
The man shook his head negatively.
"Even I couldn't do it. I've had time to assess the skills of a failed assassin, and they're clearly worse than mine.
"Yeah, modesty isn't exactly your thing, 'Greatest Detective,'" I grinned.
"You're the only one who calls me that.
"Huh, that's right. But back to the owl ninja question, any ideas? Maybe we should examine his body to see who he is? I understand from the news that he didn't turn into a stinky sludge.
Bats wrinkled his nose.
"He somehow managed to survive and escape, killing the ambulance crew. All I've got is some blood with incredibly high levels of electrum, which makes it impossible to run a proper DNA test. Traces of monoammonium phosphate are also present, but I was only able to detect them because I knew what to look for.
I'm deep in thought. To talk or not to talk about Grundy? There are only seven days left before the revenant appears... Stop, maybe it's time to try to be more independent? Moreover, the preparations are already in full swing: the potion is almost ready, the laboratory where napalm grenades can be made is also available, the money for reagents is available, one miniature camera for hidden surveillance of Alastair has been re-flashed. Plus, I should have the promised WayneTech stuff in my hands in a couple days. Frankly, the super pervert's got enough on his plate as it is. He doesn't even have time for a normal relationship, and I'm about to cause more problems. After all, this news is sure to upset Alfred, and I don't want to do that!
With that in mind, I thanked Bruce and his butler for their hospitality, and then walked with the blonde on my arm to the exit.
We had already managed to leave the estate grounds, but Harley was still unaccustomedly silent, or rather she quite often allows me to fully lead the conversation, but when we are alone she is usually more active in sharing her thoughts.
"Something wrong, sunshine?
"Yeah... Mr. J, I've been thinking. Don't you think it's weird that Batman basically killed a man? I mean, we know the owl ninja survived, but regular people die falling 30 stories...
***
When the guests left, Bruce Wayne looked carefully at his old friend standing next to a basin of water and bandaging supplies.
"Alfred, don't you think it's a bit much to educate strangers about family problems?" The man asked, pulling off his jacket and T-shirt, revealing blood-soaked bandages.
"I must say, Master Bruce," the elderly Briton said with a sedate manner, carefully wetting the cloth with water, "your old enemy has managed to start a rather strange, yet very friendly family, which serves as a support and encouragement for him.
"I understand what you're trying to 'subtly' hint at, but you know my answer perfectly well," the billionaire was adamant.
"You were on the verge of death today... Maybe a sham marriage to produce an heir?
"Something Jay is not particularly eager to have children, as he is well aware of how dangerous this world is.
"I'd like to point out that he's clearly trying very hard.
"It's a lousy effort since it usually goes in the wrong holes.
"But he's trying," Alfred Pennyworth said nonchalantly, changing the bandage on his master's shoulder.
Batman performed a facepalm, deciding not to argue with his stubborn friend. Eh, Richard had to be lost. So the boy could distract the old man for a while, who after the speech about the heir in Jay's performance hinted daily that it was time to settle down.