Soren hesitated but pushed the hard drive toward Tony, "Just some work stuff... I copied it from the lab."
— This was a major flop in his life!
He thought cracking a few files would be a piece of cake with his computer skills, but after failing dozens of times, he felt defeated.
It seemed the person who encrypted these files was way more skilled than he was.
Ugh!
He never thought he was so clueless back in New Earth!
Since coming to this comic world, it felt like his intelligence was being easily outmatched!
He was stuck on this problem for a while and when he saw Tony today, he decided to take a chance and ask for help.
Tony, still somewhat skeptical, took the hard drive and said, "...Just don't let me find out that you're doing anything dangerous, kid."
Although Tony said that, he still took the hard drive with him but didn't promise Soren if he'd help crack it or not.
A few days later, Soren received a flood of emails from Tony.
Tony sent over a dozen emails in huge, bold letters, demanding, "Where did you get these files?"
"What do you want with this information?"
"Call me immediately, OK?"
Soren was startled.
Why was Tony reacting so strongly?
Did these files actually contain some big secret?
Nervously, Soren called Tony.
Then, over the phone, Tony tore into him, scolding him like never before.
Tony explained that he recognized the encryption style right away—it was the work of Lex Luthor.
Tony and Lex Luthor had always been enemies.
Lex Luthor was like a snake, always ready to strike at anyone who crossed his path.
The files were full of designs for massive attack devices commissioned by Lex from S.T.A.R Labs.
There were missile launchers that could lock onto fast-moving targets, light emitters capable of firing special rays, and sonic attack weapons...
While Tony didn't know exactly what Lex Luthor planned to do with all this, based on his knowledge of Lex Luthor, it couldn't be anything good.
Tony warned Soren to stop looking into it.
He promised to hand the materials over to S.H.I.E.L.D. so they could deal with Lex Luthor.
He also made Soren promise not to contact Lex Luthor or get involved in the matter any further.
Soren quickly agreed to everything Tony Stark asked of him, outwardly obedient.
But inside, his mind was already racing with ideas.
—The moment he heard what those blueprints were for, he understood exactly what Lex Luthor was planning.
All of those designs were meant to attack Superman!
It seemed that Lex Luthor, who wasn't even bald yet, was already preparing to take down the Man of Steel.
He had likely already discovered that Superman lost his powers under red sunlight.
—That special light-emitting device?
Soren guessed it was probably a red sun emitter.
So, Lex Luthor had probably also figured out that Kryptonite could fatally wound Superman.
…And that missing Kryptonite ring.
Soren's heart sank.
He needed to retrieve it.
Fast.
...
Gotham City.
The roaring Batmobile tore through the shadowy corners of Gotham like a black whirlwind.
Its engine growled fiercely, and the headlights pierced the darkness like the eyes of a predator locked onto a fleeing Beetle car speeding away.
The Dark Knight of Gotham City sat inside.
His eyes were fixed on the criminal vanishing into a narrow alley.
He slammed his foot down on the gas pedal.
The powerful engine roared in fury, and the Batmobile was about to climb up the wall like a shadow.
But suddenly, the control panel flashed with a light blue incoming call animation.
The opening beats of "Butter-fly" abruptly drowned out the engine noise.
As the music played, a text message popped up on the screen: "Hello?? Batman, are you there???"
Batman's foot froze on the gas pedal for a moment.
He glanced at the screen and immediately recognized the source of the strange call animation.
His finger tapped the screen, coldly replying with two words: "I'm busy."
The response came almost instantly: "If you replied, that means you're not too busy! Can you help me out, B? Do you know where Lex Luthor moved those artifacts he was supposed to donate to the Metropolis Museum a few months ago? I know you've been watching him!"
Batman immediately closed the screen and didn't respond.
But the messages kept coming, and the Batmobile's interior was filled with the constant pinging of notifications.
"Computer, block the caller, add them to the blacklist," Batman commanded the car's AI.
The AI obeyed, and the Batmobile was once again filled with the roar of the engine.
With no more distractions, Batman sped through the streets and quickly caught up to the criminal he had been chasing.
The Dark Knight, fierce and relentless, descended from the sky like a storm.
Using his grappling hook, he launched himself forward and kicked the windshield of the fleeing car with brutal force.
The glass shattered, cutting into the criminal's face, followed swiftly by a Kevlar-covered fist.
Batman yanked the small, terrified criminal out of the car, the sharp edge of his mask's nose almost touching the criminal's eyes.
In a matter of seconds, Batman took down the criminal, who was wanted for multiple robberies and murders.
He broke the man's arms and legs and bound his wrists in heavy iron cuffs.
As usual, he would dump the criminal at the doorstep of Gotham Police Department, leaving the rest of the work to the officers.
Just as Batman was about to secure the criminal to the Batmobile—
A blond teenager, propping his chin on his hand with elbows resting on his knees, sat on top of the Batmobile, gently swinging his pale legs in the dark.
His wavy blond hair looked like a golden ocean under the setting sun.
Noticing that Batman had finished his work, the teen turned around to looked at him with a huge, bright grin on his face, "B! Why'd you block me?"
"…"