"Ordinary cloning experiments take years as a metric; you have to cultivate cells starting all the way from embryos."
"However, the method I employ is different—it completely bypasses the development stage."
"The principle is simple: I clone multiple copies of a single cell, and then let those cells grow together into the different body parts required, using a single genetic blueprint as the template."
"As you can see, Batman. This is the body you needed."
Warren the Jackal still acted somewhat unfamiliar around Batman. His eyes weren't looking at Batman, but rather at that young, unconscious body inside the culture dish.
For reasons unknown, Warren the Jackal felt that this cloned body looked oddly familiar, as if he had seen that face somewhere before.
Yet where exactly he had seen it was something Warren the Jackal couldn't recall at the moment. Besides, his mind wasn't focused on the face.
What he cared about more was whether this body had been cloned perfectly enough.
Fortunately, when it came to the realm of cloning, there was likely no authority in this world greater than him.
The body inside the culture dish lay there quietly, its chest rising and falling slightly. Aside from the brain having no thoughts—much like a person in a vegetative state—it possessed not a single flaw.
Batman stood before this adult-sized culture dish, gazing at the young face that looked identical to his own.
At this exact moment, even Batman fell into a sense of loss and uncertainty.
He didn't know whether heaven or hell existed in this world, nor did he know whether extracting the memories of the real Jack Monroe after his death and implanting them into a new body was far too cruel for this young man of convoluted fate.
I'm sorry, Jack, Batman said in his heart.
Following that, the hesitation in his eyes cleared away completely as he turned his gaze toward Warren the Jackal and Professor Miles Warren, who had come over to assist:
"Begin."
Warren the Jackal nodded, producing the extractor containing Jack Monroe's memories.
This device had originally been created by Warren the Jackal before being passed from Batman's hands into Black Widow's.
Miles Warren had also used this exact method when copying his own memories into Warren the Jackal's mind.
The needles on the extractor extended silently, inserting into the brain of the cloned body.
Batman took a deep breath, watching the progress bar on the extractor slowly fill up until the memory implantation was complete.
Over the next day and night, Batman did not step away from this cloned body for a single moment, waiting for him to wake up.
Not until the afternoon of the third day did the body—which had remained completely motionless in the culture dish with only breathing and a heartbeat—suddenly twitch.
First, his eyelids flickered slightly, and then his fingers twitched.
After these tiny movements continued for over ten minutes, the body took a sudden, deep breath, sitting up like a drowning man jolted awake.
The memories right before his death flooded into his mind, halting at the precise moment Bucky's dagger slashed open his throat.
Perhaps no one could have saved him except for that all-powerful Batman.
And so, he called out subconsciously:
"Batman!"
Yet when he turned his head and saw Batman standing nearby, his expression turned into a mix of crying and laughing:
"Hey... Did you die, too?"
"Jack." Batman shook his head, his voice low and raspy—the result of staying awake for a day and night without eating a single bite of food.
"I remember dying. Where am I now?" Jack Monroe asked, looking down at his bare body with a hint of embarrassment.
"In my laboratory," Batman said.
"You brought me back to life?!" Jack Monroe's eyes widened, but he quickly realized that this body was different from his own. "No, this isn't my body..."
"It's a clone," Warren the Jackal chimed in.
"Werewolf by Night?" Seeing Warren the Jackal for the first time, Jack Monroe mistook him for that guy from the Avengers Alliance.
However, he quickly realized that Warren the Jackal and Werewolf by Night were not the same person. The two had completely different fur, and Werewolf by Night transformed only when he needed to fight.
Ordinarily, he maintained the appearance of a blonde British youth.
"Since I'm here, it means the operation in Washington is over at least... Was it successful?" Jack Monroe asked.
Even now, his primary concern was still not himself, but the rendezvous plan to support Captain America that they had been executing right before his death.
"It was successful," Batman said.
"That's good. Then I didn't die in vain—wait, no, I'm clearly not dead right now, but wait..." Jack Monroe fell into a loop of self-contradiction.
"Jack." Batman interrupted his loop. "To be precise, you are no longer Jack Monroe. You are merely a different person who shares his memories and personality."
Jack Monroe fell silent.
He certainly knew that the real Jack Monroe was dead, but what else could he say right now?
At the very least, within this cloned body, possessing complete memories meant that he had, in a sense, achieved a continuation of life.
And so, he grinned, flashing a smile at Batman:
"I know, but this should count as good news."
"You need a new name to start a new life," Batman said.
"Um... Before using a new name, I might need to put on some clothes first," Jack Monroe said, still smiling.
Batman nodded. Warren the Jackal extended his grayish-blue furred claws to pull him out of the culture dish, while Miles Warren tossed a set of clothes over to him.
A few minutes later, a glowing, high-spirited Jack Monroe returned to Batman's side.
At this moment, Batman was standing alone by the shore of South Brother Island, gazing out at the surface of the East River, which reflected the sunlight like golden fish scales.
"From today onward, your name is Benjamin." As soon as Jack Monroe reached Batman's side, he heard Batman speak in a low voice.
"Benjamin?" he repeated.
In the Bible, this was the name of Jacob's most beloved youngest son.
It was also a name that typically carried the meaning of "the blessed one" or "the bringer of good fortune."
Batman giving him this new name was clearly a wish to bring him good luck, rather than having him haunted by tragic fates of every kind.
Jack Monroe pondered for a few seconds before openly accepting the new name Batman gave him.
And so, he laughed again, happy as a child:
"What should my last name be?"
"Reilly." Batman had thought of that beforehand as well.
The word "Reilly" symbolized courage, fearlessness, and perseverance in Irish, while symbolizing simple, unpretentious vitality in English.
Jack Monroe understood Batman's intentions just as well. He felt on the verge of tears, yet he still made an effort to curl the corners of his mouth upward:
"Alright, Benjamin Reilly. Ben Reilly. I'll use this name to start a new life."
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my pa-treon:
pat reon .c-om/windkaze
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Pa-treon normally.)