DC: I am Bruce Wayne

Chapter 74: It Is Finally Time

---

"Success is harder than failure for many things in this world."

– Osamu Dazai, (Bungo Stray Dogs) 

---

<(Bruce Wayne POV)>  

"Nah, it's best not to do anything stupid especially when I can do this later in the safety and comfort of my Bat-cave with the assistance of Cortana and my AmuSphere. I won't have to risk the death of my current personality if I just upload the surviving portion of the previous Bruce's mind to Cortana's servers and modify it first before I assimilate it into myself." I finally mumbled to myself as I withdrew my finger from the 'extract' option beside the 'Unknown Life' folder visible on the PC.

Instead, I focused on the 'Ra's Al Ghul's Amazing Experiences' folder which could be naturally downloaded into my mind without any presence of his personality due to the ritual. I had been steadily absorbing the memories and knowledge inside that folder for a while now. I could have easily done it all at once but I didn't want to face the intense mind-bending mental pain and spiritual exhaustion that would come from absorbing almost a millennia worth of information. After all, I wasn't a masochist. 

So, I stuck to only absorbing a decade of Ra's Al Ghul's knowledge every few days since I wasn't in any rush. I preferred meticulously combing through his memories and using them to their full potential rather than just absorbing all of them at once and not knowing what to do with them or worse being overwhelmed with too much information at my disposal and becoming like Ra's Al Ghul myself. 

In fact, these absorbed memories had been the reason I was so successful in keeping so many of the generals under Ra's Al Ghul still loyal to me. Despite their wish to grab power for themselves the moment they learned about Ras Al Ghul's possible death, the only reason they didn't rebel was that I had learned some of their biggest secrets and weaknesses Ras Al Ghul knew about them and had basically used those to threaten them in the letters that I had sent them in a bid to blackmail them into continuing to be loyal to me. 

A lot of them listened while some even thought that Ras Al Ghul wasn't dead and was retiring with me being his next successor, having his direct support. Of course, some didn't give any importance to the letters, refusing to bow to my threat but I wasn't worried about them. Even with the tiny bit of knowledge, I had about Ra's Al Ghul's connections and resources, I knew that by the time any of those factions attacked, the new League of Assassins under me would just be too powerful to stop.

'I see, that explains why that cunning old man never tried using any mystic abilities on me.' I thought to myself after I pressed on the 'extract' option beside one of the countless files in his folder and gained access to the last decade of Ra's Al Ghul's memories, something I desperately needed to make some sense of a few things.

Ra's Al Ghul just like me was afraid of entities affecting him or manipulating him to their will. That's why he didn't practice conventional sorcery. He also wasn't a natural homo magi. But that didn't mean he could not use magic at all. He could. What he did to achieve that was simply sacrifice his life force and vitality to be able to get the chance to wield mana. 

Of course, his having unrestrained access to the Lazarus Pits meant that he never faced death due to a shortage of life force. Whenever he used up too much of his vitality, a bath would simply be enough to bring him to his peak.

But despite all that, the reason Ra's Al Ghul hadn't used any magic against me that day by sacrificing his life force was because he was already running low on it. The blend of chemicals that he ingested to get physical abilities equal to mine had almost ruined his body from the inside and drastically reduced his life force, leaving his reserves not nearly enough to cast any magic. He also couldn't take a bath in the Lazarus pit because even though that would bring his body back to its peak, it would also nullify the strengthening effects of the mixture. 

So, I could only laugh at Ra's Al Ghul's bad luck. He would have had a higher chance of defeating me with magic but unfortunately for him, he had the ego of a warrior. He genuinely believed that his experiences and his preparation would be enough to defeat me and take everything I had for himself. 

He even had certain plans where he could take over my body if the ritual were to fail. The only reason why he even did that particular ritual despite its shortcomings was because he had determined that having immortality in his own old ugly body was better than living a normal human lifespan in my young handsome body. 

'But that does make me wonder, am I truly immortal in every sense of the word.' I asked myself as I prepared to leave my mindscape to go back to the real world. 

"*Cough* *Cough*" I coughed lightly while slightly panting from the mild mental exhaustion as I gained consciousness and woke up in the real world. 

"You are back sir. I was beginning to think that I would have to wait for the entire morning before you decide to come back to the world of the flesh." Cortana made a friendly joke, her voice originating from the drone resting on his desk beside the bed he was currently lying on. 

"Oh hey, Cortana. I was just going through my recent memories in my mind castle. How long have you been here for?" I asked as I stretched my limbs lazily. 

"Not long. Just the past two hours. I didn't want to wake you. You already sleep a lot less than normal kids your age... How is your body? Any abnormalities or changes from the last time we conducted those medical tests?" Cortana asked after a moment of deliberation. 

"No, I still haven't faced any considerable physical changes except the current lifecycle of my cells. It seems my cells have become extremely long-lived now which means I theoretically might have a lifespan now that could be quite envious to some people." I answered as I looked at my face in the mirror beside my bed. 

I had become quite the charmer with my face and body possibly even being in the top 0.0000001 percent on the list of extremely attractive humans. 

It felt like I was the perfect combination of every type of Bruce Wayne ever made and represented almost everyone who had played the character in any type of media. 

The distinguished features of Adam West, with a chiseled jawline and well-defined cheekbones that exude charm and charisma, eyes, reminiscent of Michael Keaton's, that are piercing and dark along with Val Kilmer's refined and aristocratic facial attributes, and George Clooney's infectious smile. 

Christian Bale's rugged and muscular physique only added to my imposing presence perfectly combining with Robert Pattinson's youthful and enigmatic edge and his tousled, dark hair.

As for my presence, I knew the only Bruce Wayne who could even hope to match it would be the one from the animated series, the greatest Batman ever.

"So, are you a complete immortal now because I have a list of experiments you told me to remind you of when you would become 100% immortal??" Cortana asked as she displayed a list of different names of projects from the holographic projector fixed on her drone. 

"... I don't know. There is presently no practical way for me to know the definite answer to that but going by the current lifespan of my cells, I think I am aging about a hundred times slower than before. I think it would be appropriate to say that I can live for about 1000 to 1500 years without any worry, depending on how much my rate of healing compliments my long lifespan." I answered after a thought. 

"Oh. Then I will remind you of the list later when you gain actual true immortality." She sarcastically commented as the holographic list disappeared. 

"Yeah, that would be for the best. I am sure that swimming in lava on an alien planet a few moments before it gets destroyed can only be done if there is no way for me to physically die a mortal death." I muttered to myself as I thought about the various fun plans I used to make up in a bid to entertain myself. "Anyway, what is happening with Gotham? Is everyone alright there?" I queried. 

"Everyone is well and making rapid progress in their... 'character development arcs' as you like to call it. Even Helena in Italy has started doing some vigilante work using your Bat tool. I think it's already time for you to start the second stage of the 'Bat-family' plan after you make your return." Cortana advised. 

"I think so too. I cannot always look after them even though I want to. So I should give them the tools and means to look after themselves. I am almost done with the League anyway. I have already crafted the plans and made my vision for the organization clear to both Nyssa and Talia. They should be able to do the rest with my resources at their disposal." I said with a straight face. 

"You mean you will just leave everything after the planning stage to them again... You are too lazy my dear maker ^_^" Cortana said as her mini-hologram smiled from the drone. 

"Yeah yeah, whatever... By the way, I think it's time to upgrade you from that simple hologram technology and tentacles back at the lab. How does hard or solid light technology sound? I think it will suit you quite well until I develop a more permanent solution to your body problem like an android or maybe a clone or something along those lines." I asked at which she suddenly became visibly excited and her hologram began to nod rapidly at my proposal. 

"Yatta yatta" Her hologram jumped up and down in happiness like an anime girl. I could only chuckle seeing her excitement.

I was happy as well. Not only did I gain Ra's useful knowledge but I also acquired control of the League of Assassins as well as the All-Caste. Both organizations were important to me due to their rich history and heritage and I had clear plans for both. 

All-Caste would be the international organization for handling supernatural threats like demons, ghosts, and magic, operating as a global Charitable Foundation while the League of Assassins would deal with my more... mortal enemies and be the biggest mercenary organization in the world with deep connections in the underworld operating as a global chain of premium hotels. Both of them would of course serve under the Hightable. 

They would appear as independent organizations working for their own respective agendas but in reality, both would be my invisible hands working tirelessly all around the world, mainly outside Gotham and especially outside America to make sure that some random suicidal idiot or subtle supernatural threat in a desolate corner of the planet won't be able to destroy the world before me even finding out about it. 

So while I make Gotham my base and headquarters by purging it of its crime and corruption, the other two organizations would make sure to slowly do the same for the world as well, albeit in a way where I would be the greatest gainer. I might not be heartless but I also don't work for free. If I am going to dedicate some of my valuable time to saving the world, I might as well enjoy what it has to offer. 

'I think I can be a very good 'one-man Illuminati'.' I mentally laughed at the thought.

"But all these talks of Gotham do make me a little homesick. I think it's time for me to return home Cortana... It's finally time for me to start my real work." 

---

(A/N: Yep, Rejoice! it is finally time.)

Don't forget to 'favorite' and comment if you like the chapter.

Also, you can check out my Patreøn page to read ahead or to support your fantastic author.

Right now I have about 12 chapters in advance there.

(My Patreon uses the new billing method which means if you pledge on the 15th of this month, you will have to pay again on the day you pledged, i.e., the 15th of the next month. So whenever you subscribe, you will get a whole month.)