Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 438 Too Passionate, Brother

“You looked very sad at the time; in fact, I even felt like you were about to cry.”

Bruce continued, “Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t following you on purpose. But right now, people in other cities have a bad impression of Gotham City. It’s rare to see a reporter like you who is willing to come here to interview. I believe a good report can attract a lot of visitors to Gotham. So, as one of the local hosts, I actually wanted to talk to you that day, just to make friends.”

“But you seemed to prefer to be alone at the time, so I didn’t approach you. Now, it seems I should have invited you for a drink, Mr. Clark, even if not for your report, but for those eleven trees you planted.”

Clark's face showed a hint of shame. He felt extremely guilty about his body being used to destroy Metropolis. If Dr. David Gannerson had swapped it with anyone else, he would not have been able to cause such serious damage to Metropolis.

Unfortunately, he was too powerful and too weak in his guard.

He actually planted more than just these dozen trees. In the cemetery of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he also planted trees for the other people who died in the disaster and offered prayers and condolences, but no one saw it.

Ma Zhaodi patted Clark reassuringly. He knew that heroes always subconsciously take responsibility upon themselves; this was their weakness, but also one of the reasons they were called heroes.

“I know you, Mr. Wayne, you’re very famous,” Clark said, a hint of dejection in his voice. “I’m so sorry the Wayne branch office building was destroyed.”

Upon hearing his apology, Bruce's gaze deepened, and he subconsciously scrutinized Clark, seemingly trying to determine whether he was truly sincere.

Ma Zhaodi rolled his eyes at him. He knew that Batman wouldn't easily trust others, but from his God's-eye view, he really disliked Bruce's scrutinizing gaze towards Superman, a purely good person.

That's enough. You can suspect that Superman is being controlled, coerced, restrained, or deceived; you can take all sorts of countermeasures against him, that's fine. But if you're going to say you doubt Superman's sincerity, then I'm starting to feel a bit annoyed.

Fortunately, Bruce quickly looked away and patted Clark on the shoulder. "Don't feel sorry for me (in English, 'sorry' and 'regret' are the same word, so Clark's words could be interpreted as 'I feel sorry and sympathetic for what happened to you,'" he said, Clark. "About two months ago, I was indeed very angry about the casualties at Wayne Enterprises' Metropolitan branch; the property damage was a minor matter."

"This incident also made me feel disgusted with Superman. Don't misunderstand, this is not displaced anger, but based on a fact—there is only one alien with such divine power on the entire Earth. The destruction and collateral damage he causes when he fights are terrifying, and this has nothing to do with his own will."

“I know he may have done his best to protect Metropolis, but he is too powerful. Just his existence is already out of place with everything human—and that is even on the premise that he has no ulterior motives.”

Hearing this, Clark became even more frustrated. He wanted to say something in his defense, but he didn't know what to say.

“However, my thinking changed a month ago,” Bruce continued. “In the month that followed, Superman seemed to be more cautious about his powers and controlled them more precisely. He also participated in the reconstruction work and the memorial service.”

"I can't tell if everything he's doing is real, but perhaps he does have a human heart."

At this point, Clark immediately raised his head, his expression showing considerable pleasure.

Ma Zhaodi, standing to the side, looked at Bruce and thought, "Isn't it because he said something good about Gotham in the newspaper?"
“Clark,” Ma Zhaodi suddenly asked, turning his head, “Do you know Batman?”

“Hmm? That Gotham City urban legend?” Clark replied, “I’ve heard quite a few stories about him since I came to Gotham.” “Yes, about a year ago, I saw a video about him.”

"That was in front of a burning residential building, when Batman was rescuing people from the fire—after he brought everyone out, he also brought out a hapless guy who wasn't wearing any clothes a set of clothes and pants."

Bruce raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at Ma Zhaodi, wondering why he suddenly brought up that embarrassing incident—at least for Ma Zhaodi, it was definitely a dark chapter in his history.

However, Ma Zhaodi ignored Bruce's gaze and continued telling the story calmly.

"After he rescued the person, he wanted to leave, but then something happened—you know what it was?"

Clark shook his head.

"Someone asked Batman to go back into the fire to find his bank card—then a second person followed suit, asking Batman to find his phone, then his wallet, then his driver's license, and then everyone started asking him to go back into the fire."

"Clark, if it were Superman, what do you think he would do?"

"Superman?"

This should have been an easy question to answer, but Clark's expression was very serious. He thought for a moment and replied, "If it were Superman, he could of course go back into the fire and help them get everything out. In fact, Superman could even put out the fire with his freezing breath—but this question is unfair to Batman."

“He’s not Superman. In fact, I think he might be a great masked vigilante. He’s afraid of fire, he can get hurt, he’s a real person.”

At this point, Clark finally answered firmly, "These demands are unfair to Batman."

Upon hearing this answer, Bruce subconsciously glanced at Clark, a cryptic look flashing in his eyes; while Ma Zhaodi smiled, clearly satisfied with Clark's response.

“Most of the time, people are more critical of good people and more lenient with bad people.” He concluded, “At that time, that unlucky guy who wasn’t wearing clothes just ran out and started cursing at the crowd. He was the only one who spoke up for Batman.”

"Clark, you're one of those people too. There are very few people like that, but they're very important."

"So, I share your opinion. If you think the previous question was unfair to Batman, then I feel the same way about Superman. I don't think it's fair to blame Superman for all the problems caused by Metropolis's supervillains—Bruce, what do you think?"

Bruce snapped out of his daze and slowly nodded in agreement when faced with Ma Zhaodi's question.

At that moment, Clark couldn't help but reach out and give Ma Zhaodi a hug.

(End of this chapter)