American comics: From Hogwarts to God on Earth

Chapter 417: A wealthy individual has illegally adopted several young boys; a thorough investigation

Chapter 417: A wealthy individual has illegally adopted several young boys; a thorough investigation is recommended.

Although Bruce Wayne described it as just an ordinary car, and Rune himself wasn't particularly fond of luxury cars, he could still recognize the Rolls-Royce logo.

"It's a good brand, but the car model is a bit ugly." Rune shrugged. The front of this car was particularly long and flat, making it look like a truck cab from the front.

Bruce disagreed with the statement, but said nothing. Aesthetic sense is a very personal thing, but Batman secretly took note of it.

For the average person, knowing someone's personal aesthetic might not be of much use, but this so-called useless information can accelerate Batman's psychological profiling of Rune.

"Get in." Bruce, sitting in the back, patted the seat, gesturing for Rune to get in. He hoped to speak with Rune as Bruce, though he was more adept at mentoring new members of the Justice League as Batman.

When giving "tutorials" to all new members of the Justice League, Batman is often the bad cop, while Superman is the good cop. They don't do it intentionally; it's just their personality.

Rune got into the car without a second thought. He certainly had enough money to squander; he could even buy several private jets for Clark to play with, but he himself wasn't interested in cars or airplanes.

Runes can fly on their own, covering a hundred kilometers in the time it takes to eat a dinner, and they can also teleport, consuming only a little magic power. But cars and airplanes are much more troublesome, requiring maintenance, regular refueling, and, oh right, taxes.

In the United States, calculating taxes is not just a problem for local government officials; in fact, it is a very painful process. Many poorer young Americans ask their parents to calculate their taxes for them.

If you overpaid taxes, it's not a big problem. As long as you file an application within three years, the IRS will refund the overpaid amount after verification. However, if you underpaid taxes, you will be penalized, and if you don't pay in time, you will also have to pay interest on the penalty.

In Rune's own world, his assets were the envy of countless financial advisors. They called, offering to manage his money through his bank account, but Rune refused them all.

Bruce, of course, was unaware of this. Looking at Rune's appraising gaze, he figured the man probably wasn't very wealthy.

Wizards in DC also have similar settings to those in D&D, such as rich wizards being genuinely rich and poor wizards being genuinely poor, like Constantine.

Batman believes Rune is the latter.

In fact, Constantine could instantly become a millionaire if he were willing to take out one or two items from his treasure box, but his poverty was one of the prices he had to pay to become a wizard.

So even if he becomes a millionaire briefly, he will be robbed of all his money one night while drunk.

Besides the cost of the spell, the creatures of Hell and Heaven also didn't want to see Constantine enjoy himself on Earth. They only wanted to see this wretched man suffer, which was exactly what Constantine had planned, since it was like selling the same thing to multiple people.

As for academic types like Zatanna, the cost of their spellcasting is entirely due to the person who inverts their mind. Therefore, many academic mages don't incur much cost when using magic; at most, it only affects their mood.

If Rune were human, he would also choose to take revenge on these damned thieves. Stealing is one thing, but constantly throwing shit on yourself—who could stand that?

He even thought that the person who initially transformed into the inverted human might have been a normal male, but was constantly affected by the spellcasting costs of other wizards in the positive matter universe, which turned him into the ugly electric dragon he later became.

But he's helped Hecate first, so he has to temporarily put up with the inverted man. Moreover, in the reboot following the Metal Event, these two representatives of magical will seem to have missed the boat and simply disappeared.

Lost in thought, Rune didn't mince words. He immediately asked a bombshell question: "How are your children?"

Damian had already reunited with Batman and his son, but he was still curious about how much Damian knew about his mother's plans. This question was actually just a probe and a hint.

In Infinite Crisis, Superman Supreme, trapped in the Heaven dimension, shattered the wall of reality, altering cosmic reality and allowing Jason to be resurrected like another serial killer of the same name. However, he soon collapsed in the street and was taken to the hospital.

After being in a coma in the hospital for a full year, Jason finally woke up from the long night. Due to amnesia, the hospital was unable to find his relatives to pay the medical bills and could only curse his bad luck as they kicked him out.

If it weren't for the fact that Jason's suit was so expensive that it would be difficult to explain if he came looking for trouble later, the hospital would have already dismembered him.

Jason thus became a penniless vagrant, wandering the streets day after day, until he was recognized by Talia, who took him back to the League of Assassins, trained him, and placed him in the Pool of Lazarus.

This evil demon blood transformed an already impulsive and easily angered champion of justice into a violent and ruthless anti-hero. When he returned to Gotham and discovered that Batman had not only failed to kill the Joker to avenge him, but had also taken in the third Robin, he began his own revenge plan.

That's Jason's story, but Jason is clearly not back in Gotham yet.

Bruce's face darkened instantly upon hearing Rune's words. This guy just loves to bring up the most sensitive topics, doesn't he?

"My children are all doing well."

"Yes, yes." Rune adjusted his posture, making himself more comfortable. "A single man, repeatedly adopting young boys through irregular procedures—"

It sounds like something some priests would be willing to do.

"Hey! Our boss was just doing a good deed!" the driver chimed in, defending Bruce. "There was this kid who tried to steal something from our boss—oh, sorry boss—"

"It's nothing." Bruce's face showed a sad expression. As Batman, he couldn't show any emotional fluctuations, but as Bruce, he could freely show his sadness.

The person the driver was referring to was Jason. And what Jason stole back then wasn't anything else, but the tires of the Batmobile.

The driver, however, was clearly unaware of the details. He only knew that Jason was adopted because he was caught stealing. According to his understanding, Jason was later murdered by a criminal.

It's regrettable, but this is Gotham, and wealth doesn't guarantee safety; this kind of thing happens all the time.

"I can tell you treat your employees quite well, but I have serious doubts about your relationship with your own children," Rune said. This was already a very serious accusation, but he continued, "I wouldn't be surprised if one of your children beats you up someday."

The driver wanted to say a few words in defense of his boss, but Bruce stopped him. There were some things he couldn't say to the driver's face, so he could only hint at them indirectly.

"Do you know something?"

Although the pain of drinking the potion was still fresh in Batman's memory, his pain tolerance was high, and he still had the mind to eavesdrop on the conversation between Rune and Alfred. He was also aware that one of his counterparts had a good relationship with Rune.

But Rune stopped talking about it; his hints couldn't be clearer. Batman must have guessed something, but he felt it wasn't enough and wanted Rune to say more.

But what's the use? Rune has no connection with Batman in this world, and even if he told him, Batman might not believe him. Even the Batman in his own world who is still in development might not believe him.

Moreover, Rune has that blue bald head, so he can't say it outright.

"Want to try this?" Rune pulled another bottle of potion from his pocket.

This abrupt change of topic made Bruce realize that the other person was unwilling to talk more, so he followed up on Rune's words and asked, "What is this?"

"A beauty and skin-nourishing potion." With ordinary people present, Rune couldn't say what kind of magical potion it was. "It's very suitable as a gift for women."

"While winning the hearts of those cat-like women is an extremely difficult task, I think no woman, regardless of her type, can resist the allure of becoming more beautiful, can't she?"

Bruce fell into thought.

Comparing women to cats is certainly accurate; their minds are like cats'—one second they're rubbing against your palm affectionately, the next they're unleashing a barrage of scratches and hisses. But to hear those words from Rune's mouth—

He always felt that Rune already knew about his relationship with Catwoman.

"They can't resist the temptation of money either, and I'm the last person who needs money." Bruce finally shook his head, pointed out the window, and said, "We're here."

At this moment, Rune looked outside—

It was a rather small duplex apartment.