Chapter 5029

"But I don't even know what kind of people they are now." Spider-Man took another sip of coffee.

"You look a bit downcast," Bruce said, looking at him, "Are you a pessimist?"

"Actually, I wasn't originally." Spider-Man gave a wry smile, "But ever since I got my spider powers, I haven't accomplished anything, and instead, because I was too reckless, I caused a civil war. Sometimes I really feel that Peter's choice was wrong, that he shouldn't have chosen me."

Bruce pressed his lips together, also unsure how to comfort him. Batman and Spider-Man are like two sides of the same unlucky coin in the multiverse—these two are practically limitless in misery, and yet this Bruce Wayne has somehow combined them both.

Just like Batman, he lost his parents at a young age, left with no one to rely on, wanting to avenge them but not knowing how, leaving himself in a miserable state. After finally gaining superpowers from the Amazing Spider-Man, he stumbled into Spider-Man's fate vortex, where every kind of misfortune found him—how wretched can one be?

"Don't think like that." Selina, clearly the opposite of a pessimist, said, "I actually think you're quite fortunate."

"Look, you're not doing a good job as Batman—you don't have the wisdom of other Batmen—but you somehow gained superpowers by accident, and with no side effects. Although you're not as optimistic and talkative as Spider-Man, you're richer than him and don't have to worry about financial problems—isn't that all good?"

Spider-Man stared at her somewhat dazedly. Selina placed her hands on the table and said, "You have useful superpowers that Batman lacks, and more money than Spider-Man—if they knew, they'd all envy you."

Spider-Man lowered his head, though he did look less despondent than before. Bruce continued, "I feel it's because you've had too few successes, so insufficient feedback makes you always feel useless. As long as you can accomplish something entirely on your own, your mindset will shift quickly."

"Do I need to go back to Wayne Enterprises first?" Spider-Man asked, "But I really don't know where to find those employee records, and the HR people won't listen to me anyway."

"Then Thomas..."

"He told me to handle it myself." Spider-Man rubbed his face with his hand, "After all, he's from another universe and can't stay here forever—many things really are only I can handle."

Bruce was about to speak when Selina seemed to know what he was going to say and nudged him with her elbow. Bruce responded with a questioning expression: "What's up?"

"I already said it—good people can't be bosses," Bruce said, "You won't sneak around at night to look through files, will you? And you're just looking, not taking anything—nothing will happen."

Spider-Man widened his eyes slightly, then quickly shook his head and said, "I promised Peter I'd never use my superpowers for bad things. You shouldn't say this isn't bad—even if I were the boss, stealing trade secrets is still illegal."

Bruce crossed his arms. Selina glared at him again, then turned to Spider-Man and said, "You're right—this only treats the symptom, not the cause. You can't keep stealing like this all the time. Besides, you're not a professional thief; with your skill level, you'll eventually get caught."

Bruce turned to look at Selina, finally understanding she wasn't stopping him because the method was unethical, but because, from a professional thief's perspective, she judged that this Spider-Man couldn't pull off the theft.

But thinking about it, for Bruce, finding a night, hooking a grappling line to the roof, jumping into the office to look through files, and memorizing all the information with his brain is easier than drinking water.

However, for Spider-Man, who is closer to an ordinary person, although he can crawl around outside buildings and easily break into offices, figuring out where personnel records are stored, how to avoid cameras once inside, and how to record the data without leaving traces are all problems.

It might not even work in one trip—if the first attempt fails, he'd need a second. If the second doesn't capture everything, he'd need a third. With his infiltration skills, he'll eventually get caught, and by then embarrassment will be the least of his worries—once people discover Spider-Man is doing this, the Revival Alliance won't let him off.

Selina paused, then said, "Do you have any research on internet information technology?"

Bruce then jabbed Selina with his elbow. Spider-Man seemed not to understand, so Selina had to say, "Can you hack?"

"That's also illegal..."

"But this doesn't involve superpowers," Selina said, "And as long as you're not caught, it's fine."

"Do you think he could possibly avoid detection?" Bruce couldn't help but interject, "Being a hacker isn't that easy—nowadays, the most effective hacking technique is social engineering: wear a work uniform, grab a ladder, walk into the company, and just plug in a USB drive..."

"Sorry, I really can't," Spider-Man said, "Wayne Enterprises' security is extremely strong—I definitely couldn't break in, and I couldn't do it without leaving traces."

Selina sighed. Bruce thought for a moment and said, "I remember Peter is a very skilled hacker—why don't you go find him?"

"I can't ask him to help me with this." Spider-Man shook his head, "Even aside from legal issues, if he got caught, what would I do? I can't drag him into this."

"Don't rush, don't rush—let me think." Selina began turning her little brain again, "So, through observation, can you roughly tell what kind of people these individuals are?"

"I can sense they're forming factions and ganging up, but I really can't tell which group is which kind of person." Spider-Man had no choice but to answer truthfully.

"Then why don't you bring Bruce along..." Selina trailed off, "But we really can't stay here forever helping you—you'll have to rely on yourself."

"Then why don't you just tell me the method?" Spider-Man said, "Namely, what traits these people have, and what methods I can use to distinguish them."

"That's a long story." Bruce looked troubled, "Behavioral analysis requires many samples—meaning you need to continuously observe them and remember some of their behaviors. But for ordinary people, noticing details is already hard, let alone remembering them."

Selina nodded. For ordinary people, the brain's filtering function is strong—most of the time they can only focus on one thing, while all other noise gets filtered out, making it impossible to see in all directions and hear from all sides.

Even if you focus on observing a person, some details will still be overlooked—simply put, the brain decides remembering those details is useless and automatically blocks them. But some people can still analyze things from those details.

If everyone could notice details and analyze them, then everyone would be spy material. But the fact is, very few people can do this—most people either don't notice at all, notice but forget immediately, let alone analyze.

"I can also tell you this," Bruce finally decided to try, he said, "Whether someone is smooth-talking or firm-willed is easy to tell. But some people are sweet-faced and bitter-hearted, others are outwardly soft but inwardly firm—this requires close observation of their behavioral choices..."

Bruce began explaining to Spider-Man how to distinguish various types of people, especially those who don't easily reveal their personalities, how to determine what kind of people they are by observing their behavioral choices and judgments.

This also includes how to gather intelligence through conversation with people. After all, knowing who has a background and who doesn't basically comes only from asking long-term employees—even if Bruce Wayne is the boss, shareholders don't necessarily tell him the whole truth, so the current employees' accounts are more reliable.

Actually, this is quite difficult and requires some talent. Some people can talk nonstop and still leave no trace. Others don't know how to weave questions into daily conversation and easily raise suspicion. Still others simply can't make small talk—finding topics is a struggle for them.

Fortunately, Spider-Man isn't stupid—he just lacks experience. Bruce listed a few key points, which Spider-Man remembered, and his mental resilience is decent—he doesn't blush or tremble when lying, which is already good news.

Bruce was speaking until his mouth was dry, and Selina occasionally had to add key points—not only finishing the drinks but also refilling two or three times. They lectured for an entire afternoon and finally laid a foundation.

Just as they were planning to eat something and rest, a commotion suddenly came from the coffee shop entrance. Not long after, a team of agents walked in, the leader being an agent who flashed his credentials at Spider-Man.

"We need your cooperation in investigating the kidnapping of Ms. Pepper Potts—come with us, Mr. Wayne."

"What does this have to do with me?" Spider-Man couldn't help but ask.

Bruce quickly stood up to interrupt him, saying, "Are you going to the Revival Alliance headquarters? Can you give us a ride? We happen to need to go there too."

"Figure it out yourselves," the agent said, then looked at Spider-Man.

Spider-Man wanted to say something else, but Bruce quickly jabbed him with an elbow. Spider-Man still looked confused, glancing at him repeatedly.

Selina also stood up and made a mouth shape at Spider-Man: "Follow him."

Spider-Man didn't understand why, but was taken to the car. Bruce and Selina hailed a taxi and followed behind, driving toward the Revival Alliance headquarters.

"Oh no, he'll definitely ask in the car what Pepper Potts' kidnapping has to do with him," Bruce said with a headache, "He'll surely feel framed, and then clash with the Revival Alliance."

"It shouldn't come to that. He should also know that before being kidnapped, Pepper had just come from Wayne Enterprises, so he's definitely a suspect. Even without Luther, they'd try every way to pin it on him. Should we contact Thomas?"

"Thomas must already know," Bruce said, "But Thomas is from another universe after all—this universe's Wayne Enterprises doesn't belong to him, it belongs to Spider-Man. Even if Pepper says she went to see Thomas, Spider-Man still has to go."

Selina also couldn't help but let out a deep sigh: "Even if he doesn't fight with the Revival Alliance people, he'll end up fighting Luther—and you know better than anyone how infuriating that guy is."

"So we need to find a way to help him," Bruce said, frowning, "But the Revival Alliance's internal meetings won't let us in—the security is too tight, and we two probably can't sneak in."

"Let me think... I've got an idea," Bruce said, "Later, you just follow my cues and act accordingly."