Marvel’s Shadowed Knight

Peter Parker had a feeling about it—and naturally, Jessica sensed it too.

She turned to Bruce and said,"I think he's already recognized me." Jessica understood that if she could sense it, there was no way Spider-Man hadn't.

Bruce simply wrapped an arm around Jessica's waist and said, "He was going to find out sooner or later, but it doesn't matter."

"Mhm." Jessica smiled as she listened to Bruce, and followed his steps over to where Stark and Peter Parker were standing.

"I was prepared for the fact that I wouldn't see a woman by your side until I was married," Stark greeted Bruce with a smile.

As the heads of two major conglomerates, the two did share a certain level of camaraderie.

The main reason was that even when Bruce attended these events, he never competed with Stark for the beautiful women.

Even though many actresses showed up specifically for Bruce,Who knows? If one succeeded in getting close to him, anything could happen.

"But I feel like your chances of getting married are still a long way off," Bruce replied. He knew Stark's ways too well—this guy was never going to settle down.

If the day ever came when he heard Stark was getting married, it would be more shocking than a nuclear bomb falling on New York.

Stark had nothing to say to that.

What could he say? It was the truth, after all.

"This one—you should be familiar with," Stark smoothly changed the subject and gestured toward Peter Parker beside him.

"The pioneer of cutting-edge industry in New York City: Peter Parker." Bruce smiled and extended his hand to Spider-Man.

"That title's just what others say. I'm quite aware of Parker Industries' current scale," Peter answered modestly.

"If possible, I think Parker Industries and Wayne Enterprises could try collaborating. At least in some fields, we're working toward similar R&D goals." Peter fixed his gaze squarely on Bruce, deliberately avoiding looking at Jessica by his side.

"Then it's best we talk after this party. After all, no one comes to a Stark party to discuss business. That would be a real waste of all the good wine Stark managed to bring in." Bruce smiled.

Their handshake was light—barely a grip—before they let go.

Seeing this, Stark chuckled and patted both of them on the shoulders.

"Well, now that it's come to this, if we don't go back and have a couple of drinks, it really wouldn't sit right," Stark said, already turning to lead the way.

By this time, even the reporters had finally stopped pressing their shutters. They'd already gathered enough material. While it might not have been explosive, the scene was still enough to grace the front page of tomorrow's paper.

Unless New York's superheroes caused some big incident to steal the spotlight, this was already a sure bet for headline news.

Of course, that kind of thing was unlikely.

The group entering Stark's party headed straight for the bar with clear intent.

For Jessica, this was her first time in such a place. Everything she'd known about these so-called high-society parties and balls came from television.

Besides, even now, Jessica wasn't legally old enough to drink.

"Four martinis," Stark signaled boldly to the bartender—only to have Bruce press down one of his fingers.

Stark clearly didn't understand why Bruce was doing this.

"Two will do. Jessica's not of legal drinking age yet. I'll just have soda water."

At Bruce's words, Stark raised an eyebrow.

"If you hadn't said that, I really might've forgotten how young you are," Stark said, glancing at Jessica.

Even though Bruce had inherited Wayne Enterprises and was now its chairman, he was still just a young man in his twenties.

Sure, the way Bruce carried himself didn't resemble someone in their twenties—but his age was still exactly that.

Stark looked at Bruce beside him, then at Peter Parker on the other side, and couldn't help but shake his head.

It was clear that New York now belonged to the younger generation.

Neither Bruce nor Peter was over thirty.

Jessica had already taken a glass of soda water from Bruce, but her eyes were on the dance floor in the distance.

"Go have fun." Bruce clearly understood what Jessica was thinking. He patted her hand, signaling that she didn't need to stay by his side.

"Okay!"

Jessica headed toward the dance floor, while Stark waved to his assistant, instructing her to keep an eye on Jessica.

Just in case anything happened.

Peter Parker glanced over for a moment, then looked away again. He knew full well that now wasn't the time for any conversations.

Meanwhile, Bruce had already started talking with Stark.

"Lately, Stark Industries doesn't seem to be doing too well," Bruce said. While conducting audits at Wayne Enterprises, he had also checked the status of other companies—and most were in fairly stable condition.

Only Stark Industries was in a rather awkward position.

Stark was clearly aware of this, but he didn't take it to heart. He always believed he could bring Stark Industries back to the top, and that he could get things done.

"Let's be honest—what are you planning?" Stark didn't believe Bruce was about to give him some great advice. Sure, they could be friends in private, but that didn't mean they were going to become close business partners.

"DC Comics. Sell it to me."

Bruce was direct—he didn't hide his intentions at all.

Stark was momentarily speechless when he heard Bruce's proposition.

He had already lifted his glass to his lips but now had no urge to drink.

He couldn't quite wrap his head around it.

"Honestly, I don't see what's so appealing about that. Sure, in terms of scale, they're a big player in the comic book industry. But if you're looking to make money, you'd be better off with movies or TV series—no need to get involved with that stuff."

Stark looked at Bruce, trying to figure out what was going on in his head. What could've sparked his sudden interest in buying DC Comics?

"I just want to see what it'd be like to turn those stories into movies. Don't you think they'd be just as good as the real-life superhero stories happening around us?" Bruce said with a smile as he finished his drink.

Bruce's reasoning made a lot of sense—after all, many people had grown up reading DC comics.

For someone like Bruce, a super-rich man acting on a whim, buying DC Comics wasn't out of the question.

"Well, I won't say it's impossible. But I think you'd better get some competent people involved—don't just let anyone have a go at it."

"So that means you agree?"

"Yeah, I don't have much interest in it."

"Pleasure doing business." As Bruce and Stark shook hands, the matter was decided then and there.

Even though there wasn't a written contract yet, their verbal agreement was already enough.

On the other side, Peter Parker looked a little confused.Weren't they not supposed to talk business at this party?Why was that suddenly back on the table again?

Was it his own problem, or was it those two guys' issue?

Looking at Peter Parker, Stark didn't say anything—he just smiled.

On the other side, Bruce had already set his glass down and walked over to Jessica.

The two of them were dancing in the middle of the floor.

Although Jessica felt a bit shy, the feeling was undeniably enjoyable.

The party could be described as calm and uneventful—no disturbances, no surprise attacks by any supervillains.

It almost felt completely out of place in this world.

After all, a party attended by Spider-Man and Iron Man without a villain crashing in was practically unheard of.

Everyone knew that villains loved to show up right in front of heroes.

This kind of peaceful moment was a good thing for anyone—villain or hero.

"Looks like the party went quite well today," Alfred commented quietly when he saw Bruce and Jessica return.

"It really did," Jessica replied with a helpless shrug, "but I'm not old enough to drink yet, so I'm not sure if what they were drinking was really that amazing."

"Perhaps next time, once you're of age, you could try some of the wine from Wayne Manor. Though I wouldn't recommend drinking too much, lest—" Alfred's words were cut off as Jessica gave him a sudden hug.

"I know, Alfred. I won't get addicted to it," Jessica said with a smile, then ran off toward the upstairs bedroom.

Alfred watched her leave, smiling.

"I used to think that this house might only ever have the two of us," Alfred said, clearly glancing at Bruce as he spoke.

"Now there's one more. And in the future, maybe even more—but who can say for sure?" Bruce seemed quite open-minded. Now that he had arrived in this universe, there was no way he was going to get involved in the affairs of the Avengers.

The Avengers had way too much mess to deal with. Sure, the Justice League from the other Batmen in his mind had its own problems, but it was still much better than the Avengers.

At least they didn't constantly erupt into so-called civil wars or turn on each other over every little disagreement.

"Heading out on patrol tonight?" Alfred asked before Bruce could leave. After all, Bruce usually took some time to patrol as the Bat, whether in New York or Manhattan.

Thanks to his excellent stealth capabilities and intelligence network, Bruce almost never left any trace behind.

"I'm heading out," Bruce said, and with that, he descended into the Batcave through a hidden passage.

Alfred didn't say anything about Bruce's decision—he had already seen it coming.

As for Jessica, the fact that Bruce had once brought her into the Batcave already said a lot.

At the very least, Jessica wasn't the kind to leave just because Bruce was Batman.

Sure enough, after a while, Jessica appeared before Alfred. She had clearly realized that Bruce hadn't come upstairs and was curious. But thinking about the Bat identity, she quickly guessed the reason—still, she wanted to confirm it with Alfred.

Meanwhile, at a jewelry exhibition on the other side of town, a sleek and agile figure appeared silently.

She didn't act rashly but instead carefully examined all the devices around the exhibit.

In truth, she had already investigated the security setup here long before arriving. What she needed now was just to confirm the positions of each element in her mind.

The setup was fairly standard—old tech like infrared sensors, gravity detection systems, and bulletproof glass.

As for whether any superhero would show up and interrupt her operation—well, she had already arranged for someone to distract the one most likely to interfere: Spider-Man.

Not to mention, she and Spider-Man had some unresolved grudges to settle.

Before entering, she had already used her gadget to override all the surveillance cameras with looped footage.

All that was left now was to bypass the security systems.

The infrared sensors posed no problem to her.

Thanks to the device on her mask, she could easily see the full range of the infrared coverage.

At this moment, she put her body's flexibility on full display, weaving her way effortlessly through the beams without triggering a single alarm.

Eventually, she stood in front of the display case holding the diamond necklace.

She could already picture what it would look like hanging from her neck.

The only things standing between her and the necklace were the bulletproof glass and the gravity-sensing device beneath the pedestal.

But she had prepared for that too. Before arriving, she had brought along a weighted block that matched the necklace's weight exactly.

She had no concerns about the bulletproof glass. Placing her fingers lightly on the surface, she drew a single stroke—and a clean cut appeared.

With incredible precision, she carved out a perfect circle in the glass—just the right size to perform a classic switcheroo.

Her movements were swift, and in a flash, she had completed the switch, not giving the gravity sensor any time to react.

As she admired the diamond necklace in her hand, a shadow streaked past her cheek, striking the weighted block she had just placed.

Suddenly, alarms blared.

She hadn't expected this at all—she had already diverted Spider-Man, yet somehow another superhero had shown up.

And when she saw the batarang embedded in the pedestal, she was momentarily stunned.

Wasn't that kind of thing supposed to only exist in comic books?

"Do all cats like to play these little games of thievery?" came a deep voice. "Black Cat?"

"I just enjoy it, that's all," Black Cat grinned upon hearing the voice, showing no intention of returning the necklace.

This piece—Black Cat was determined to have it.

"And if you're planning to play superhero here, maybe you should talk it over with that spider of yours."

(End of chapter)

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