When disaster strikes in one place, help comes from all around. Even though they knew Japan wouldn't show much appreciation, China still sent massive aid. The island nation's capital had been wiped out in a single day—an enormous loss.
The entire landscape of the city had changed. A new lake as large as the Great Lakes in the U.S. had appeared, along with a river rivaling the Grand Canal in size.
"Darling, I'm heading back to the U.S. to report in detail on this event. What about you?"
"Me? Batman's satellite base should be done with modifications. I'll probably help out there for a few days," Liu A'dou replied. Batman's sky station had been redesigned with Kryptonian tech and a teleportation module. Some parts were swapped out, and now it was nearly complete. The Justice League's base was finally taking shape.
"Then I'll see you next time I get a break."
"Take care of yourself. And take good care of our daughter," Liu A'dou said. Since Ada was passionate about her job, he didn't stop her.
"I know," Ada nodded.
Gotham City hadn't changed. Liu A'dou could smell that familiar scent—the stench of crime in the air. Danger lurked everywhere, just the way he liked it.
But Batman wasn't in the Batcave.
"Alfred, where's your young master?"
"Mr. Kid, Master Bruce went to investigate the meteorite that fell in Gotham City."
"Didn't think he was into meteorites. Maybe he's got a new hobby—collecting space rocks?" Liu A'dou thought maybe this was the beginning of Batman stockpiling Kryptonite. After all, Kryptonian destruction had probably put him on alert.
"Master's hobbies have always been unusual. Would you like to wait for him, Mr. Kid?"
"Yeah, I'll wait."
"Very well, sir. I'll prepare some refreshments for you."
Rich people really lived differently. A butler who took care of everything—zero worries.
Kaitou Kid knew Batman would prepare countermeasures for every Justice League member. Kryptonite for Superman, hallucination drugs for Wonder Woman, bombs for Flash, psychological weaknesses for Green Lantern… What would he prepare for him?
Liu A'dou wondered, What's my weakness? Oh right—he loved being cool. If he couldn't feel the audience's gaze, maybe Kaitou Kid would just fade away.
He casually accessed the Supercomputer to check the news. Sure enough, all the headlines were about the monster attack on Japan. Refugee relief was slow, Japan's response was heavily criticized, and luckily U.S. troops were there to help manage things, so most of the displaced people were now accounted for.
They temporarily relocated the capital to Kyoto, and even the emperor had been moved.
It was a big deal, but netizens were just commenting lightly online, more curious about Taowu. Were there more monsters like that on Earth? What kind of species was it?
But all investigations into Taowu were classified, so the public was itching for answers but found nothing.
The battle with Taowu had been so unexpected that public curiosity was unavoidable. But the local government had no real explanation. Most of the information had come from the U.S. military. Without America, modern Japan really seemed powerless.
Alfred brought over delicious snacks. Liu A'dou nibbled while watching the news and waiting for Batman. Finally, around midnight, Batman returned.
The Batplane had a huge football-shaped object slung underneath it. Liu A'dou stared. What did he bring back this time?
Batman wasn't surprised at all to see Kid there. He just kept working. Ever since he learned about Superman's home planet, he'd been monitoring the Kryptonian trajectory. He'd already detected a meteor headed for Earth and suspected it was Kryptonite. If it fell into the wrong hands, it would be bad news for Superman, so he planned to retrieve it first.
But when he reached the impact site today, he found something strange. The meteor wasn't a rock—it was a spaceship. And inside the ship, there were signs of life. Fearing it might be a Kryptonian refugee, he didn't risk waking them. He brought the whole ship straight back to the Batcave.
"This is a spaceship?" Liu A'dou was stunned. "You just picked up a spaceship on your way home? How?"
"This ship came from the direction of Krypton. Judging by the materials and technology, it likely left Krypton around the same time as Superman. Seems like besides Superman's parents, other Kryptonians made preparations too."
Liu A'dou nodded. "You planning to open it?"
Batman glanced at Kid, then nodded. "With someone like you here, who can go toe-to-toe with Superman, I'm ready to open the ship."
"Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm afraid you'll pull out some weird trap to mess with me. I'm super scared," Liu A'dou said dramatically.
Batman replied, "I do want to figure out how to beat you. So far, all I know is that you just keep getting stronger. It's different from everyone else—an unpredictable kind of evolution. If I want to make a contingency plan against you, it'll have to constantly evolve too. A single plan won't cut it."
At least Batman was honest, and didn't care if anyone liked his attitude or not.
"I'm not as amazing as you make it sound," Kid said modestly. "Maybe you can just throw money at me until I die."
"…" Batman took that as a joke. "Ready? I'm opening the hatch."
Liu A'dou nodded. "Go ahead."
Fsssh!
A puff of white mist sprayed from the edges of the hatch as the door slid open.
Inside, a girl lay sleeping peacefully. As the hatch opened, her eyes shifted beneath her lids, then slowly opened.
The girl was awake. But the moment she saw two strangely dressed men—one in all black, one in white—her face filled with fear. "D*（＆...%~"
No one could understand what she said, but it was clearly Kryptonian.
Panicked, she tried to get up from the pod, but her body lifted off involuntarily. She hovered, then dropped straight to the floor. She clearly couldn't control her new powers yet.
"Calm down!" Batman ordered, but it had the opposite effect. It just made her even more terrified.
The whole scene looked like a creepy older man scaring a helpless girl. Liu A'dou couldn't help but comment, "Batman, stop getting closer. Just let her adjust. This is probably the first time she's ever seen aliens. Unlike us, she doesn't have any experience dealing with extraterrestrials."
That had absolutely nothing to do with anything, but whatever. Batman didn't even bother to argue.
The Kryptonian girl tried to run. But she hadn't realized how uncontrollable her powers were. With one leap, she slammed straight into the Batmobile. Boom! One whole side of the car crumpled.
Even Liu A'dou felt a pang of sympathy for Batman. Every piece of equipment in the Batcave was expensive. That Batmobile had to be worth at least 10 million dollars, right? It probably couldn't even be fixed. Oof.
The girl ran wild through the Batcave, smashing into everything. Her destructive power was insane—wherever she bumped, something broke. Batman's face stayed cold, but in his head he was calculating damages.
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. "Kid, put her to sleep. We need someone who can actually talk to her."
"Of course." Liu A'dou appeared behind the girl and tapped the back of her neck, knocking her out.
Superman arrived soon after being notified. Learning that another Kryptonian had landed on Earth, he felt a strong sense of duty to help. As long as she wasn't like General Zod, Superman was more than willing to let his fellow Kryptonians live peacefully on Earth.