Godfather Owl: Guardian of Batman [182]

Hephaestus had rushed off enthusiastically to begin his work.

Bruce didn’t doubt the fire god’s integrity. As Olympus’s most straightforward and honest deity, Hephaestus wasn’t one to go back on his word.

Besides, even if Hephaestus did try to keep the fragments for himself, Bruce could always summon them back with a spell.

“So, what now?” Diana asked. “Do we just sit here and wait?”

While Diana possessed many virtues, patience wasn’t one of them. She preferred swift resolutions, eager to end conflicts in a single day if possible.

“There’s nothing else we can do right now but wait,” Bruce replied calmly. “You’ll need to give Hephaestus some time. In the meantime, we can explore the divine realm.”

As long as they avoided Hera, Olympus was effectively Diana’s home.

“Before that, I’m going to take a closer look at this vault,” Bruce added. If anything worthwhile caught his eye, he’d graciously accept it. After all, he could only choose two items, so he needed to choose carefully.

“Fine,” Diana agreed begrudgingly. She hated wasting time, but even she understood there was no rushing this. Resigned, she followed Bruce to browse Hephaestus’s centuries-old collection.

The fire god’s vault wasn’t a museum. Everything in it had been forged by Hephaestus himself, and many were replicas—the originals remained in the hands of their owners.

Bruce passed by numerous legendary artifacts: Hercules’s bow, Achilles’s armor, Athena’s cloak of invisibility, Hermes’s winged sandals…

Any one of these could cause a frenzy in the mortal world.

But none of them interested Bruce. Powerful though they were, they didn’t suit him.

Bruce’s nature was one of self-reliance. He disliked relying on external tools or powers unless he had personally earned or mastered them. Items like the Hellbat armor or Mjolnir were temporary measures, only used when his current strength wasn’t enough.

So, while the treasures he passed were fascinating, they didn’t stir his heart.

Until he saw it.

A lasso. A black lasso.

It hung on the wall, emanating an ominous presence that momentarily left Diana in a daze.

“This thing…” she murmured.

It looked eerily similar to her Lasso of Truth.

Even Kathoom, perched nearby, was stunned. “The Lasso of Secrets?” the owl exclaimed. “What’s that doing here?”

He hadn’t expected such an item to appear in this universe.

The concept of the Lasso of Secrets originated in the main DC continuity. It was tied to another character entirely:

Wonder Woman’s daughter, Elizabeth “Lizzie” Marston Prince, code-named “Trinity.” As the Crown of the Amazons and head of the Justice League, she was the daughter of Diana and an unnamed father—a mystery Diana had never publicly revealed.

The Lasso of Secrets was one of Lizzie’s weapons, alongside two others.

The first was the golden Lasso of Truth, inherited from her mother.
The second was the white Lasso of Lies, originally wielded by an adversary of Wonder Woman.
And the third was this black Lasso of Secrets, its origins shrouded in mystery.

Kathoom hadn’t expected to see the Lasso of Secrets among Hephaestus’s collection.

“What is it?” Bruce asked Kathoom. “Is it like Diana’s Lasso of Truth?”

“All I know is that it’s called the Lasso of Secrets,” Kathoom replied. “I’m not sure what it does. But if you’re curious, you could ask Hephaestus for it.”

Bruce hesitated. What would I even do with this?

Diana already had a lasso. Would they just tie each other up for fun?

“Don’t think of it like that,” Kathoom interjected, catching Bruce’s skeptical look. “A lasso of this caliber isn’t just for tying things up.”

Diana’s Lasso of Truth, for example, could do much more than compel honesty. In Wonder Woman 1984, she had used it creatively, lassoing clouds and lightning to swing through the skies.

Yes, the Lasso of Fate wasn’t limited to binding physical objects. It could even tether abstract concepts, like lightning or ideas.

“If the Lasso of Secrets feels too strange for your style,” Kathoom suggested with a sly grin, “you could attach a grappling hook to it. Very Batman-esque.”

“Enough,” Bruce muttered. He could see how intrigued Kathoom was by the lasso, and anything that piqued the owl’s curiosity was probably worth taking.

“I’ll take this as my first item,” Bruce said, reaching up to remove the black lasso from the wall.

The moment he touched it, a chill ran through him. For an instant, he felt as if every secret he had ever kept was being laid bare.

Every single one.

Bruce clenched his teeth, resisting the invasive sensation. The lasso didn’t have a wielder yet, so its power wasn’t fully active. Soon, the unsettling feeling dissipated like a passing shadow.

“Bruce, are you all right?” Diana asked, concerned.

“I’m an orphan!” Bruce suddenly blurted out.

The unexpected outburst startled Diana. She grabbed his shoulders, her face serious. “What’s wrong, Bruce? What happened?”

Bruce shook his head, regaining his composure. He looked down at the lasso in his hands, puzzled. If this was the Lasso of Secrets, shouldn’t it force him to reveal his deepest secret?

But… being an orphan wasn’t a secret at all. Everyone knew that.

“It’s nothing, Diana,” he reassured her. “Probably just an effect of the lasso. I’m not sure what it does yet.”

Diana nodded thoughtfully. “It reminds me of the Lasso of Truth. Anyone caught in it can only speak the truth. Maybe this one makes people share painful memories.”

She wrapped him in a comforting hug. “It’s okay, Bruce. The past is behind us. We have to look forward.”

Bruce suspected the lasso’s power was more complex, but he didn’t argue. Being held by Diana felt nice, and he didn’t want to ruin the moment.

After a while, Diana released him. “Let’s keep looking,” she said. “You still have one more item to choose.”

Bruce nodded, continuing his exploration. He passed rows of ancient weapons, impressive but not enticing.

Eventually, he reached a section labeled the “Modern Zone,” where Hephaestus had recreated human technology.

“I know these are supposed to be powerful, but they look so… outdated,” Bruce muttered.

Unlike the sleek design of the ancient artifacts, the modern weapons had a clunky, retro feel. The Vulcan heavy machine gun, grenades, and other firearms all looked like relics from World War I.

Despite their supposedly advanced capabilities, their designs lacked refinement.

Bruce struggled to reconcile their crude appearances with Hephaestus’s claims of star-destroying power.

As he turned a corner, something else caught his attention—a vehicle covered in a black tarp. Its size hinted at something substantial.

Curious, Bruce pulled off the cover.

Underneath was a sleek, black car.

Its streamlined design exuded speed and power, like a bat poised to strike. Sharp, angular headlights gleamed like a predator’s eyes, while the wide grille below resembled fanged jaws. The car’s matte-black paint and metallic armor gave it a futuristic, battle-ready appearance.

Bruce froze, staring.

This was his dream—the perfect Batmobile.

For a moment, even Diana couldn’t compete with the allure of the car.

“Wow, it’s still here!” Kathoom exclaimed. “This thing’s been around for hundreds of thousands of years, and Hephaestus actually kept it.”

Bruce didn’t respond. He already knew what his second item would be.

—

This is a fan translation of 蝙蝠侠的猫头鹰教父 by 巴巴罗萨光年. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!