Viktor never thought Batman would come to pick him up.

  He politely shook Bruce Wayne's hand.

  "Viktor."

  "Please, follow me."

  Bruce Wayne nodded thoughtfully, withdrew his hand, gestured for him to follow, and turned to head into the building.

  Viktor followed behind him and walked into the lobby of Wayne Enterprises.

  The lobby looked kind of simple and quiet at first, but everything was super fancy and expensive. The marble floor was so polished that it reflected the light, and the crystal chandelier above the entrance illuminated the room with dazzling brilliance.

  The employees coming and going were all dressed in neat suits, and when they saw Bruce Wayne, they all stopped to greet him, speaking respectfully.

  Bruce responded to the greetings with a smile, but his steps never slowed down. He led him into a private elevator and pressed the button for the top floor.

  During the elevator ride, neither of them spoke, and the only sound in the small space was the faint hum of the elevator. After the elevator doors opened, the top floor revealed a spacious office.

  Bruce led him to the lounge area of the office, gestured for him to sit, and then personally poured a gss of water and handed it to him.

  "I'm not sure what kind of taste you prefer. Would you like some salt or sugar?"

  Viktor took the cup but didn't drink from it. He simply pced it on the coffee table in front of him. He stared intently at Bruce, trying to read something from his expression.

  However, the Bruce Wayne in front of him looked completely like a friendly, middle-aged businessman, with a tone that was a little humorous and pyful.

  He was nothing like the mysterious, cold person he had imagined. Viktor held back a lot of sarcastic thoughts but, unfortunately, didn't have anyone to vent to at the moment.

  He read plenty of Marvel comics and watched the movies in his past life, and the Bruce Wayne in front of him did have a strange simirity in personality to Tony Stark.

  Bruce had no idea what was going on in Viktor's mind and continued speaking seriously.

  "Aliens or superpowered beings from other dimensions showing up on Earth isn't new. Wayne Enterprises has some private colborations with the Justice League—I assume you've heard of the Justice League?"

  Viktor nodded.

  "I've watched a lot of TV these days since there's not much else to do."

  Bruce shrugged, looking a bit helpless and frustrated.

  "There's nothing I can do about it. Some of them just love to be in the spotlight."

  He really wanted to know which identity Bruce was speaking from when he said that, but unfortunately, he couldn't ask.

  Bruce continued speaking.

  "One of our projects is to provide a legal identity and pce for those 'bcklisted' superpowered individuals who have been confirmed to be harmless."

  Viktor didn't speak. He knew that what Bruce Wayne was about to say next was the important part.

  "However, before that, I'd like to run a few tests on your body."

  Bruce's gaze fell on him, his tone very polite.

  "You know, the biology of extraterrestrial beings is very different from that of Earthlings. We need to understand your limits and weaknesses so that we can help you integrate into Earth effectively, and also provide more effective assistance if you ever find yourself in danger."

  Viktor's expression immediately turned more cautious. As if he could see through his concerns, Bruce Wayne expined.

  "You don't need to be scared. This isn't something I'm forcing on you. It's totally your choice."

  Afterward, Bruce didn't say anything else. He walked over to the liquor cabinet, rubbing his chin like he was trying to decide which bottle to pick.

  But in reality, Bruce was using some methods to closely watch Viktor's reaction.

  ...

  Ten days ago, the man who had dropped down from the sky while holding the unconscious Viktor warned Batman in a quiet voice, telling him not to take any tissue samples from him while he was unconscious.

  Batman was a little frustrated. Not only did he know exactly what Batman was pnning, but he also took away the little gadget Batman had secretly prepared to extract 'alien samples.'

  In the end, Batman only got one tiny drop of blood left in a needle, and he had a feeling that this drop of blood was allowed by that man.

  "You know, as long as you leave, I have countless ways to obtain his samples."

  Batman's voice was low, with a hint of frustration.

  "I don't care. As long as he's conscious and knows what's happening… You can try whatever you want, or actually, you could just ask him straight."

  Then that person flew away, holding the newly treated Viktor.

  Then, Batman remained silently staring at the night sky.

  ...

  Viktor thought about it carefully and realized that Bruce Wayne's suggestion could actually be good for him. Even though he had the body of a Viltrumite, Viktor didn't have a deep understanding of his own body.

  From the comics he read in his past life, Viktor knew that Viltrumites were powerful and had strong healing abilities, but he didn't know if there were other specific weaknesses other than the sensitivity to noise.

  If he could undergo the tests to better understand his body, it would be a good thing for him. It was better than one day facing an enemy who secretly pulls out a weakness he doesn't even know about and using something that could kill him without warning.

  'This is the Batman we are talking about. He would eventually get samples from me without me knowing or noticing it.'

  Moreover, as time went on, it was simply a matter of whether Bruce Wayne would get the samples sooner or ter.

  There was no choice, and killing was not an option yet.

  "Alright."

  In the end, Viktor nodded.

  "I agree to the tests."

  Bruce turned around and smiled with satisfaction.

  "Great. The testing b is on the other side of this floor. We can head there now."

  He stood up and led him toward the inner part of the office.

  On the way, Bruce Wayne casually asked, "I know you're from Viltrum. Honestly, I'm very interested in your pnet. Can you tell me more about your pnet's culture? Like, how do you fight, and how did you conquer other civilizations?"

  Viktor paused for a moment, then continued walking. He knew that Bruce was starting to dig for more important information. He didn't resist, nor did he pn to lie too much in front of this person.

  "Before I left, our pnet was going through a years-long civil war, which caused part of the education to become twisted."

  Viktor's voice carried a hint of undisguised disgust.

  "We are taught from birth that 'weakness is sin'.. As children, we were thrown into training camps and forced to fight each other and only the st one standing gets further training."

  He paused for a moment before continuing.

  "After reaching adulthood, we were sent to various pnets to conquer those civilizations deemed 'valuable.' The method of our conquest is simple: we first send a small group of warriors to raid, destroy the enemy's military forces, and then proceed with rge-scale occupation. For those civilizations that resist strongly, we wipe them out completely, leaving no survivors."

  After a brief moment of silence, Viktor deliberately slowed his pace and began to describe in detail the most brutal and bloodthirsty aspects of Viltrumite.

  "There was even an orchestrated pn by the Viltrumite Empire. They would send a powerful warrior to a pnet that needed to be conquered. First, they would disguise Viltrumite civilization as a helpful one, blending in for years to make the people rex their guard. Then, one day, suddenly destroy the pnet's most important defense systems."

  He turned to look at Bruce Wayne, whose face was dark and filled with suspicion.

  "Honestly, this pn is cruel, but it's also brilliant and effective. They would only need one Viltrumite to conquer a civilization with this method, and it greatly reduces the death rate of the Viltrumites. A small mistake, and even the most experienced and powerful Viltrumite could fail."

  Bruce Wayne instinctively raised a doubt.

  "That kind of time cost—"

  "Oh, our average lifespan is very long. I've heard that Earthlings consider living a hundred years quite remarkable, but a Viltrumite warrior like me could st for five thousand years."

  Bruce's heartbeat sped up, and Viktor noticed it clearly. It was only at this moment that Viktor realized just how hard Bruce was trying to separate himself from Batman.

  This is such powerful control over his emotions. If he hadn't kept his memories from his past life, Viktor might have just thought of Bruce as an interesting, curious, and wealthy man.