Kapitel 140: Hidden Codes

Seated in the chair, he was like a little man compared to Clark and Batman, their imposing figures blocking nearly all his view.

…His blue eyes remained fixed on Batman.

After finishing his conversation with Clark, Batman touched the back of his neck and said quietly, "Diana is unwilling to give up the pursuit of Captain America."

"If capturing Captain America is her dedication as a warrior, then I'll support her unconditionally," Clark said.

"Is there anything else, B?"

Batman said nothing and turned to leave.

Before he departed, his steely blue eyes once again seemed to casually sweep over Soren.

—Soren's eyes suddenly widened!

Then, the dark cloak flew past him, growing ever more distant.

Clark exhaled through his nose, picked up Soren, and said, "B has become less talkative over these past two years—let's head back to the Watchtower. The game console I set up for you yesterday hasn't been used, has it?"

Held in Clark's arms, Soren didn't resist and nodded his head gently.

Clark took him back to the Watchtower, had dinner with him, and played a game together.

It felt like their relationship had reverted to how it was just after college: living and eating together, playing games, watching movies, and lying in bed talking about trivial things.

Soren sat with his back to Clark, flipping through two comic books.

Clark used his x-ray vision to glance at them and smiled slightly. "When did you start liking Tintin? I thought you'd prefer the new issue of <<Invincible Boy>> I brought."

"…It might be something Barry or Victor left behind. I was just bored, so I looked at it," Soren casually replied.

But his attention was focused intently on the comic book pages, searching through each mark on the pages—

On the second page of this comic book, the title was printed: <<The Prisoner of the Sun >>

As he found the markings he had previously thought were random scribbles in the comic book,

…all the answers unfolded before him.

The gesture Batman made toward the back of his neck was a hint about his suppressor.

Years ago, Batman had taken the notes where Soren had drafted the suppressor in New Esh, along with its annotations.

—And had also deciphered the New Earth's language.

These notes' markings corresponded to specific pages in the modern adaptation of <<Alice in Wonderland>> and <<Tintin>> comic books, specifically the first letters of the dialogue boxes on those pages.

When these letters were put together—

They formed a sequence of numbers pronounced in New Earth.

…This was the code left by Bruce.

He mouthed the sequence, his heartbeat pounding so fast it felt like it might burst from his chest.

Clark glanced at him with curiosity, "Your heartbeat is really fast. Is the comic that exciting?"

Soren turned a page, licked his lips, and nodded, "Yeah, it's getting to the most intense part—" He turned his body, feigning serious concentration on the comic book, keeping his gaze fixed on the pages without lifting his head.

Clark smiled. "Don't get so engrossed that you can't sleep. You should go to bed."

"Soon," Soren said, flipping another page, "…I'll go to sleep after I finish."

He went through the entire comic book in a theatrical manner, placing it carefully by his pillow.

As his heartbeat gradually settled, he closed his eyes and pretended to doze off.

His mind was busy with thoughts, making it hard for him to fall asleep quickly.

Why had Bruce left a code here?

Did he already know Soren would return?

Did he know Clark would confine him here?

What was the purpose of this code?

Could it help him escape?

As Soren tossed and turned in bed, he was unaware that Clark had quietly left his side.

"I'm going back to Earth to handle some matters," Clark said softly.

He could discern from Soren's heartbeat whether he was asleep or not.

Soren closed his eyes and nodded silently.

Clark soon left the Watchtower.

After he departed, Soren waited quietly for about 3600 seconds, making sure his heartbeat had completely calmed down before he rolled out of bed and walked directly to the surveillance room.

He found the control station marked with the bat emblem, pressed the operation buttons, and entered the sequence of numbers.

With two soft beeps, all the control panels in the surveillance room lit up, and the system powered on.

The blue and white mechanical lights bathed his pupils.

Sitting in front of the control panel, he felt like a sailor at the helm of a ship, while the vast expanse of stars and seas slowly unfolded before him.

The system activation signal was transmitted from the Watchtower's satellite, traveling at the speed of light through space, crossing the atmosphere, reaching the Earth's surface, and penetrating the lakebed of Wayne Manor.

In the Batcave, the signal receiver beeped.

Immediately, a line of large text appeared on the central screen of the Watchtower's surveillance room: Press the fourth button from the left in the third row.

Soren complied.

The button activated an unknown device.

After a buzzing sound near his ear, Batman's image appeared on the screen before him.

Batman was clad in black armor, wearing his bat helmet, and his steel-blue eyes remained unchanged—cold and resolute, like sharp icicles.

He stood in the frame, staring directly at Soren.

"Soren Hargreaves," he began slowly, his gaze fixed on Soren's face, his deep, gravelly voice echoing in the surveillance room, "you are now using a backup computer control system I left in the Watchtower. It is encrypted by me and can bypass Cyborg's global digital surveillance."

"The acoustic counter-surveillance devices in this room have also been activated, so Superman won't hear our conversation," he added.

Soren sat in the chair, looking at him.

There was no time for pleasantries; more important information needed to be addressed, "Thank you, B. Did you know I'd be here?"

"To be precise, this is just one of the contingency plans I developed for all worst-case scenarios," Batman said through the camera, "Superman's abilities have significantly increased since your departure. His super hearing allows him to listen to every corner of the solar system, so I had to include the Watchtower in the contingency plan."

Soren lowered his gaze, "I've already heard Tony mention it... Clark's situation is very bad. Bruce, why you didn't try to stop him from doing this?"