Chương 46: Chapter 45
Perry White is, without a doubt, the current editor-in-chief and boss at the Daily Planet.
But Kara didn't care about that. Perry had agreed to give her a month's paid vacation, and she had no interest in getting involved with Batman or Gotham's drama.
In fact, Kara already knew Batman's true identity—Bruce Wayne.
But she wasn't supposed to know that. If she brought it up, Bruce might not deny it, but it would certainly cause problems down the line. Why bother?
Kara wasn't about to run around for some small paycheck, either. As she'd told Perry, her current column brought in enough money to live comfortably. So she simply brushed aside his calls and continued enjoying her life on the farm.
The truth was, the farm didn't have endless chores, and nothing was too exhausting. Sometimes she'd water the crops manually, but most of the time it was just for fun. After all, there wasn't much else to do during downtime, and working in the fields helped pass the time.
She also enjoyed harvesting fresh food directly from the land—like roasting a sweet potato or potato, or even a few ears of corn.
Her style of cooking amused her family. At least when it came to roasting corn, they'd never tried it her way before, but it wasn't bad. Instead of grilling the corn over a fire like a traditional skewer, she'd stick the whole cob on a twig and roast it until it absorbed a smoky, slightly charred flavor while keeping its natural sweetness.
Honestly, Kara thought, isn't this just simple country living?
She loved this kind of carefree life.
However, no matter how hard she tried to avoid trouble, it still managed to find her.
One night, Kara was abruptly woken up by the sound of her phone ringing.
She groggily grabbed the flip phone from her bedside table and saw Bruce's number flashing on the screen.
Sighing, she answered, rubbing her forehead to ease the oncoming headache. "Bruce? Why are you calling so late? If you're just calling to annoy me, I swear I'll kick you the next time I see you."
Kara wasn't exaggerating—back when they were in college, she'd once kicked Bruce into the air, knocking him out cold in an instant.
"Kara, I need your help," Bruce's deep, serious voice came through the phone. "Come to Gotham. I'm afraid the city is on the verge of collapse."
Kara groaned. She really didn't want to get involved.
"I'm just a newspaper columnist, Bruce. You're giving me too much credit," she said, trying to deflect.
She didn't know the exact situation in Gotham. As far as she knew, the mob boss Carmine Falcone had already been taken down. Shouldn't that mean everything was fine?
That's because she had been intentionally ignoring Gotham's news lately.
Bruce's tone grew more urgent. "Kara, you can fool everyone else, but you can't fool me.
What took me six years to master, you learned in less than one. It may seem like you've spent three years traveling, but in reality, it only took you one to train with the same masters I did. Don't forget, I was the one who recommended those teachers to you."
Kara was silent.
Besides keeping her Kryptonian identity a secret, Bruce was right about everything else. He might be the person who knew her best in the world—apart from her family, of course.
"I need your help, Kara. You're possibly stronger and more skilled than I am. If you don't help me deal with this, Gotham could be destroyed," Bruce said. His words weren't an exaggeration. He had spent six years honing his skills with world-renowned teachers, but Kara had mastered the same techniques in a fraction of the time.
Both of them were experts in nearly every martial art on the planet, but Kara's Kryptonian strength made her even more formidable.
Running a hand through her hair, Kara finally made up her mind and asked, "Who's the enemy?"
Bruce replied with two names: "The League of Shadows... and Ra's al Ghul."
Kara's brow furrowed. "Wait a second. Isn't that the group you joined last year? And didn't you kill Ra's al Ghul?"
"I can't explain everything over the phone. Just come to Gotham," Bruce urged.
Realizing she couldn't avoid the situation, Kara reluctantly agreed. "Fine. I'll drive over right now. Seriously, though—I'm just an ordinary white-collar worker. You're asking a lot of me, Bruce."
On the other end, Bruce let out a sigh of relief. He teased, "An ordinary woman who's also an expert in martial arts and combat skills from around the world?"
Kara shot back, "That's still better than someone running around in a costume with a ridiculous name like Batman."
It seemed like they were both in the mood for a bit of banter.
After a moment of silence, Bruce shifted gears and said, "I've asked Alfred to send the private jet to pick you up. It'll save you the drive."
Kara couldn't help but smirk. "Oh, so you're calling him Alfred now?"
"Only when I have to," Bruce replied.
Kara sighed, ignoring the Batman topic. She had no intention of doing a first-hand interview on this situation. Otherwise, Perry would never leave her alone—and that was more trouble than it was worth.
Instead, she asked, "I'm not helping you for free, you know. And I don't want to expose myself, so you better prepare a suit like yours for me. Oh, and I want the Batmobile and all the equipment too."
Bruce winced. Even a billionaire like him flinched at that request.
A voice in the background—Alfred's—could be heard asking, "Master Wayne, are you all right?"
Bruce quickly responded, "It's nothing, just a toothache."
Batman's gear—the Batmobile, the Batcycle, even his suit—were all top-of-the-line, custom-designed tech. His suit alone probably cost millions of dollars, not to mention the other gadgets.
But in order to secure Kara's help, Bruce had no choice but to agree.
Though, in classic Bruce fashion, he added, "But since all this equipment is unique, I'll keep it here for safekeeping. I'll give it to you when you need it."
Kara initially agreed, but after hanging up, she realized what had just happened.
"Wait a minute—if it's in his place, isn't it still his?"
It dawned on her that Bruce had essentially tricked her. All that equipment would still belong to him, and she wouldn't be able to use the Batmobile for anything trivial, like driving to work.
She sighed in frustration. "Damn it... he got me."
Bruce had set a clever trap, making her promise to help him in the future. As cunning as always, he'd once again proven that, when it came to strategy, no one was better than him.
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