Chương 136: Chapter 136: A Reward & a Really Weird Letter

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"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers."

- Blanche Dubois, (A Streetcar Named Desire)

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<(Bruce POV)>

"What do you think this is, Cortana?" I casually asked while inspecting the huge courier box with the help of the bat tool one of the drones had brought me earlier.

"Whatever this is supposed to be, sir, it's not completely normal. Despite the various types of analyzing methods, we have been using to try and find out its contents, I couldn't find a single significant detail about it. All the test results save for the camera sensors failed even to perceive the box, much less find out any hidden details about it." The AI responded in a puzzled voice.

"And what about the person who delivered it? Any news about him yet?" I asked with curiosity. "After all, he was not an ordinary human being either. His evading my senses proved just how capable he was."

"Unfortunately, no sir. I have searched every digital database on the planet that I had access to. I haven't found even a single detail about the man that we saw earlier. Even the CCTV cameras near the hotel failed to capture a single photo of the man trying to enter or exit the property."

Currently, I was in one of the hotel suites that I had just rented in order to find out the origins of the huge package that was delivered directly to my hotel room by a very shady-looking delivery guy.

Initially, I was quite skeptical and hesitant to accept the package. However, when the delivery person begged me to sign for it, citing that both his job and life were at risk if he couldn't deliver it today and mentioning his hungry children back at home, I was compelled to oblige.

The guy sounded so pathetic that I just couldn't say no to his pitiful face. He sounded like one of those guys who always worked as hard as he could to provide for his family but still had to face misfortune wherever they went for no reason at all.

Originally, I intended to interrogate him or perhaps even scan his mind to discover how he managed to bring that package to the eleventh floor of the hotel without notifying the security staff. However, after I signed the delivery receipt at his request, he just vanished as if by magic. A single lapse in my vigilance allowed him to slip away undetected, leaving no trace of his whereabouts or how he managed such a swift escape.

"Yep, he was definitely a supernatural being, possibly even connected to the Olympian pantheon in some way," I said as I eyed the unique name pasted on the outer cover of the package 'Hermes Express'.

"Should I open it?" Cortana asked as two thin metal arms with pincers extended from the white drone floating in front of me towards the boxed package.

"... Okay, do it. Although I would have liked to wait until we went back to the cave to conduct additional tests to find out more about the package, I doubt we would find anything new especially since we haven't found anything about it after doing so many tests already." I said, giving Cortana the go-ahead to unwrap the package.

Upon hearing my command, Cortana cautiously activated a thin laser concealed within her pincers to slice through the top layer of the courier box, her guns and blasters ready to engage should there be a trap. As the upper layer of the packaging slowly tore apart, a big silver-hued, luminescent piece of metal chunk enshrouded in a thin purple fabric was revealed, accompanied by a piece of paper resting atop it.

[Image in discord]

"It's a piece of metal, sir... with a letter on top probably written for you," Cortana stated the obvious before going ahead to pick up the letter.

However, as soon as her pincers touched the paper a lighting jolt seemed to pass through her drone body as some smoke began to rise from it, making it slightly lose its balance in the air for a second. However, the very next moment, the drone again successfully regained its balance before going ahead to scan the letter that it was still holding in its hands.

"Cortana, are you alright?" I asked with some worry as I could not help but frown at the tiny amount of black smoke that escaped the drone's body.

"Yes, sir, I am completely fine. It was just a small electric shock of about 250 volts. It wasn't even enough to kill a strong enough human, much less harm this particular drone model. The brief short circuit was only because all my defenses were temporarily down when I touched the letter. I guess I got... careless." Cortana explained with a downcast voice.

"That's okay, Cortana. You don't have to mope around now. Just make sure that this doesn't happen again. Sometimes, even a single moment of carelessness can result in someone's death... or a delivery guy running away. *Sigh* Anyway, go ahead and read the letter." I ordered before redirecting my attention to the piece of glowing rock.

If one were to ignore the glow of the chunk of metal, it honestly looked like some kind of weird non-refined ore. 'Wait, is it perhaps that?'

While I was inspecting the piece of metal, Cortana seemed to be scanning the letter for any irregularities. Once she was done, she began to read aloud the contents of the letter.

"Dear Mr. Bruce Wayne,

I trust this letter and the package to find you in time. I am writing to you under circumstances that are mildly exasperating and extremely annoying.

You see, Athena—my cunning hot sister—and Hera—my bitch of a mother—have blackmailed me into sending you this package as your reward for some quest you supposedly completed for them. Yes, by the way, you heard that right, blackmailed! One would think the goddesses of wisdom and family would have better uses for their time, but apparently, they have given you their words to send you this reward. So, here I am, reluctantly parting with FIFTY KILOGRAMS of the rare and highly coveted element called Eighth Metal.

Now, let's clear the air: I am not in the habit of sending rare supernatural metals to mortals, no matter how cool, broody, or handsome they may be. But both Athena and Hera insisted (forced) me to do this, something about their godly honor depending on this reward. Frankly, I don't see why a billionaire needs any more help other than his billions, but what do I know? I'm just the god of smithing.

Honestly, this isn't the first time I've been dragged into these ridiculous promises made by my family. I never understood what it is with gods and their grandiose rewards. You know, Zeus once promised a flying ship to some hero—guess who had to make it? And don't get me started on my brothers Hermes and Apollo. It's like an endless game of "Hephaestus, we need a favor," and I'm always the one left holding the hammer.

So here we are. Anyway, enclosed with the package you hopefully received is a shipment of pure Eighth Metal, which, for the record, is a remarkable substance. It's lighter than air, stronger than any metal on Earth, an extremely good conductor of all types of magic BLAH BLAH BLAH, and most of all, annoyingly difficult to part with. I can only hope you make good use of it. Perhaps a new armor? Or a sword? Or maybe a spear? The possibilities are as endless as your funding.

In closing, I hope you can do justice to the most valuable metal in the world and make something unique with it since you are apparently also an inventor like me. Maybe, that's why Athena has a crush on you. Wait, I wasn't supposed to say that. Well, I guess it slipped my fingers, maybe she shouldn't have blackmailed me in the first place if she didn't want anyone to know this. Also, if you ever need any more rare materials, please consider asking ANYONE BUT ME. My backlog of godly requests is already longer than the River Styx.

Oh, and forgive me for the little prank I pulled with the letter. I really wanted someone to blame for having to give away so much eighth metal, so I decided that "shocking" you a little with a harmless prank could satisfy my anger.

Yours begrudgingly,

Hephaestus,

God of Fire and Forge,

Vulcan Forges Corporation, Olympus

P.S. If you figure out how to stop gods from making absurd promises involving my labor, do let me know. I'd be eternally grateful. Also, if you ever invent something amazing you can share it with me either via prayer or just burning your invention in a fire lit in my name."

Cortana finally finished reading the letter in one go.

"..." My silence lasted for a long time as I wondered how to respond to the letter. All of it was mostly Hephaestus ranting like a ten-year-old about him having to give away so much of the metal to me but truthfully, Hephaestus sounded like a—I don't believe that I am saying this— but he sounded like a... "good" guy who was always bullied to do stuff by his family members. Even though I was the one benefiting from this the most, I could not help but feel slightly sorry for him.

"Sir, now that we know this is pure eighth metal, should I arrange for it to be transported back to our lab?" Cortana finally broke the silence after some time. She sounded like she was also confused about how she should react to the letter, so she just chose to ignore it.

"Yeah sure, do that. I won't be working for the week since I am on vacation, so I'll look into this after I return to Gotham." I answered after thinking for a while as I surveyed the glowing piece of metal.

'Now, I just have to decide what to make with this... as well as how to actually make it since I have no idea how this metal is even used in metalcraft'.

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