章 41: CHAPTER 41
Batman sat at his command center in the Batcave, surrounded by towering computer monitors that flickered with data. He was dressed in his iconic black and grey suit, his cowl resting on the table beside him.
The cave was dimly lit, with only the glow of the monitors providing light, his eyes scanning through lines of data he collected from Lex Luthor's mech-suit after the Justice League's previous fight against Lex Luthor, Black Adam, and Vandal Savage.
Since that fight, he still deliberated on the fact as to why a prideful being such as Black Adam who was as strong as Superman, would team up with the likes of Lex Luthor. He put that thought on hold for now and moved on to analyzing the data they had obtained from Lex Luthor's mech-suit.
The data he obtained from the suit, primarily concerned the weapon that Lex Luthor used against Superman. As he continued to sift through the information, he felt a presence behind him.
Turning his head, he saw Superman standing there, his arms crossed over his chest. "What are you doing, Bruce?" He asked in a low voice.
Batman didn't look up from his computer. "Going through some data from our last fight," He replied calmly.
"How did Luthor get his hands on that Kryptonite weapon?" Superman asked, breaking the silence in the Batcave.
Batman frowned, "I don't know yet. I've been going through all the data we collected during the fight, but there's nothing conclusive."
Superman sighed, his frustration evident. "There has to be a way to find out. We can't let him get away with this."
Batman nodded, "I have an idea. I've been tracking Luthor's activities for a while now. He's been making some suspicious purchases and transactions lately. I think he's planning something big."
Superman's eyes narrowed, "What kind of purchases?"
"Chemicals, electronics, and other materials that could be used to make weapons," Batman replied. "I've been monitoring his financial transactions as well. He's been funneling a lot of money through his company, masking it as funds for a new green project, but the costs just don't add up."
Superman's expression turned awkward, "... That's kinda low, even coming from you. But I guess such things matters much when Lex starts moving shady."
Batman nodded, "Agreed. I'll continue to track his movements and see if I can find any leads on where he got his hands on that kind of weapon. In the meantime, we need to be ready for whatever he has planned."
Superman clenched his fists, "I'm ready. Whatever it takes to stop him."
Batman turned to face Superman, "We have to stop Luthor soon. Whatever he is planning can't be good."
Superman nodded, determination etched on his face. "I'm with you, Bruce. Just hit me up and the rest of the Justice League once you find something."
"Sure." Batman replied, then returned back to his computer as Superman flew out of the Batcave.
…
[Bruce Wayne's POV]
After the impromptu confrontation from Superman, I went back to reviewing what I could glimpse from Luthor's little Kryptonite experiment.
For now what actually worried me were the schematics from the weapon Luthor used against Superman, to harness the power of the Kryptonite which worked at a cellular level.
The technology needed to achieve that result was near impossible to find. If Lex actually created that technology himself, then I would have to give more credits to his genius.
Another difficult fact to accept was that he had the ability to create synthetic Kryptonite, as labeled in the schematics.
The Man of Steel's most persistent and unwilling adversary was now developing weapons that could level the playing field, giving him an advantage. With these weapons, he would undoubtedly gain the upper hand.
It was a very disturbing discovery on our end. Knowing that the Beacon Of Hope wasn't as invincible as we thought he was, weary us.
If that battle had taken place within the city while Superman was losing control of his powers, he would have caused more damage than the villains themselves could have done.
I did a search on technologies which made use of the vital parts of the weapon I disassembled, but there was no solid result.
I proceeded to check several technologically advanced companies and one data caught my eye. I could feel it in my guts that I had just found a clue.
A few months ago, Ivo Laboratories were working on a project that aimed to revolutionize power sources as we know them today. This experimental project led to the discovery of an energy signature that had never been recorded or studied by scientists before.
They studied it to the best of their knowledge but were unable to proceed any further. They were stuck at a crucial part of the experiment that required external stimuli to jump-start it, but they did not yet have the necessary technology.
Fortunately, a laboratory located in their neighboring city had developed a technology that could be the key to their problem. This exceptional research and development company in Central City was known as Mercury Laboratories. Mercury Laboratories' expertise in harnessing the power of tachyons particles.
Tachyonic particles are hypothetical particles that travel faster than the speed of light if harnessed correctly. They have been proposed as a possible explanation for certain unexplained phenomena in physics, such as the phenomenon of faster-than-light communication and the existence of negative mass particles.
After they reached out to Mercury Labs, they came to a conclusion of transporting the experiment over to them. Where the scientists who were in charge of that project would continue their research and pursue that scientific breakthrough they all wanted.
According to the reports from that day, a mysterious group intercepted the transport vehicle a few meters away from the border of Central City.
They carried out their operation swiftly and with precision, as they subdued the guards and stole the case which contained the experimental project. Before the cops arrived at the scene, they scattered in different directions as they fled the crime scene, losing the cops to the cold trail of their dirt bikes.
According to the police it was as if they had vanished into thin air, without leaving any evidence that could be traced back to any criminal group or person.
"Hmm." Something suddenly clicked as the missing pieces slowly came together. I saw a sketch of the project and it looked similar to one I had seen earlier.
The data I and Green Lantern retrieved from Lex's mecha-suit, provided a sketch of how the weapon worked. I brought up the image to monitor and compared it with the project Ivo Labs had lost.
To most people, these two projects might seem entirely different, and I almost missed the similarities myself. However, upon closer inspection of the data from Ivo Labs, I realized that their fundamental structures were the same. The information from Luthor's project, on the other hand, appeared to have been modified and restructured to achieve his desired results.
That was what he used in creating that synthetic Kryptonite weapon. He must have replicated the energy signature of a pure Kryptonite during it's modification, then exposed its core to a calculated amount of radiation before advancing with the project.
It was just a replica that was why it had a different effect on the Kryptonian cells of Superman. While Kryptonite weakened his cells, this aberration messed with the cell's ability to process and absorb radiation.
Luthor usually paid criminals to do his biddings, so it couldn't be traced back to him but with this, I'm certain he was behind the theft of that project. Why? Because I'm staring at the evidence.
I sat in front of the large monitor at my Batcave, I could feel my face tense as I analyzed the data on the screen. The images flickered rapidly as I scrolled through surveillance footage from various locations surrounding that area the project was stolen, trying to identify the group of thieves who had made off with the project that Lex Luthor had paid them to steal.
I tried tracking the unknown group using every resource at my disposal to gather intelligence on their movements and activities. But despite my best efforts, they remained frustratingly elusive.
As I studied the cases, I came across another case which peaked my interest some more. The theft of a Khandaq diamond, a priceless gemstone that had been taken from a heavily guarded museum exhibit. Despite an extensive investigation, no suspects had been identified, and the trail had gone cold.
Suddenly, something came to mind and I began to connect the dots between the various unsolved cases on record in the police database.
Each crime seemed to have been executed with an insane level of precision and expertise, which confirmed my suspicion that they were all the work of the same group of thieves.
I had always been able to locate my targets eventually, no matter how elusive they seemed. But this time, the trail kept leading to dead ends. It was as if the group disappeared into thin air.
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