DC: I am Bruce Wayne

Chapter 79: The Wayne Corporation Gambit

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"Don't give up, there's no shame in falling down! The true shame is not to stand up again!"

- Shintaro Midorima, (Kuroko no Basuke)

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<Bruce Wayne POV>

"Bruce, are you absolutely sure that you don't just want to use the amusphere on everyone and brainwash every gang leader and politician in the city to be loyal to you? I think that would be much more effective than you doing this... caped crusader stuff that you are planning. According to my calculations, a symbol of hope or justice won't mean anything to humans when faced with dark times.

However, if you let me, then I might be able to slowly convert the population of the entire city to your loyal followers. It would be much more fast and effective with minimum bloodshed. And you would not even have to do anything, all you have to do is just give me the command and let the new generation combat drones handle the rest." Cortana confidently said as she showed me holograms of the various plans she had made to make my job easier for me.

"Hahahahaha. Strangely, I actually agree with you Cortana. Me, playing a hero or even an antihero wouldn't change shit in this hellhole of a city. Humans are inherently selfish and greedy creatures which is not bad by the way since those very factors greatly contribute to development and evolution.

But that also means that no matter how much I try playing the ideal good guy as the symbol of hope, they would always go back to their old ways when they get the chance. They would always want to fight and kill, plunder and rape, steal and torture. Hell, some of them would probably even do it for fun rather than greed." I admitted after a laugh at which Cortana's hologram which currently looked like a young adult girl rapidly nodded.

I had greatly upgraded the hologram technology in my lab after my return. Even though they were still not advanced enough to use hard light to interact with the physical environment, they were still comparable to Mysterio's hologram systems. So, Cortana could now easily take the form of an ordinary-looking human or whatever form she desired and she would appear as normal to anybody as me or any other physical being. Normally, she liked using her original blue form when it was just me with her but in the presence of others, she resorted to using a more human form to 'fit in'.

However, right now, she was using her 'non-blue form' to have this conversation. She was even wearing a general's uniform that strangely made her look like some kind of a dictator to make herself appear more serious. However, in my eyes, it only served to make her look cuter.

"... But despite all this, I cannot agree with your suggestion. Free will is a very important thing to me personally. To me, taking away people's free will by brainwashing them and making them complacent in following my orders is equal to the highest of torture and abuse, perhaps even worse since that would mean, I would be taking away the very meaning of what it means to be alive and free.

That is something I don't desire since I have no wish to rule over anyone. I only wish to make a world where I and my loved ones won't have to live in fear of random psychos and wannabe villains. Perhaps I would have done it if it was the only way but currently, it is not. I am confident that humanity will survive even without me brainwashing the entire species and becoming its absolute overlord. Plus there are too many gods, demons, aliens, angels, imps, and other interdimensional entities in this multiverse for us to brainwash Cortana.

As for becoming a hero, HAHAHA, don't joke around. I have no desire to be a symbol of hope or whatever. I am simply going to become a person who will show everyone that villains may appear cool at first glance but at the end of the day, the end of a bad person is always equally bad. I will make examples out of them in front of the world and ensure that any person would think twice before even considering disturbing my or the city's peace. The symbol of hope might not work, but the symbol of fear and vengeance definitely will." I explained to Cortana.