Chapter 130: Identification Signal
2023-10-23 Author: Rowing Without Oars 233
"So, this is the... what was the name of this city again?"
A tall, red-haired woman turned her head.
It was the princess from Almerac, Maxima.
"Gotham, Your Highness."
The Maid following behind her said as she flipped through the *Gotham Travel Guide* in her hand.
"The book says this city is famous for its circuses, clown acts, and... an asylum?"
The Maid raised an eyebrow.
What kind of city lists an asylum in the special features section of its travel guide?
"Is the person we're looking for here?" Maxima asked.
"I believe so, Your Highness."
The Maid swiped her hand, and a video materialized in her palm. The screen showed a Giant of Light descending like a deity, his golden radiance dispelling the darkness as he stood tall amidst the city.
"This is where he first appeared and is most active. It's highly likely he operates out of this city."
Maxima stared at the red-and-silver body that had appeared in the urban area in the footage. "Did you see this body? These lines, this tough skin, this powerful aesthetic..."
"Y-yes, Your Highness," the Maid reminded her in a small voice. "But, just a thought. If this giant form is his true form, wouldn't he be... a little too big?"
What she was thinking was, *This guy is in the fifty-meter class by the looks of it, while Your Highness is barely two meters tall, even with heels. Let's set aside the species difference for a moment, but isn't this stretching it a bit too much?*
But to her surprise, Maxima's eyes shone even brighter. "Isn't bigger better?"
The Maid: "..."
"Speaking of which, I recently assigned you to learn about Earth's culture. How is that coming along?" Maxima asked. "Learned any tricks? I'm open to any suggestions right now."
Maxima figured that while she didn't need to completely adopt local customs, she should at least understand the views on marriage and love of the local species when arriving at a new place. After all, even different human ethnic groups on the same planet could have vastly different outlooks, let alone beings from different planets.
Thus, this arduous mission had fallen to her Maid.
"Oh, yes, yes. I recently searched through literary materials from many nations across this planet and indeed made some discoveries."
"Oh? Then what should we do?"
"Nothing." The Maid was full of confidence.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean it literally. Many books say that the more enthusiasm you show, the more likely it is to backfire," the Maid said. "If Your Highness does nothing, the man will instead think, 'Woman, you have caught my attention.' Then he will become interested in Your Highness, and he'll take the initiative to create chance encounters and make contact..."
"Is that for real?" Maxima was puzzled. "Are the customs on this planet really that strange? Why does that sound so unreliable? What kind of literature have you been reading?"
"This one."
The Maid waved her small hand, and the cover of a book immediately materialized, displaying the title: *Overbearing CEO, Where Can My Wife Run?*
As she mentioned it, her eyes lit up. "At first, I started reading it with the intention of studying, but the further I got, the more interesting I found it. I'm almost at chapter one thousand now, about to catch up to the latest release..."
Maxima: "..."
The more she heard, the more unreliable it sounded.
"I have an idea, too," Sas, who had been standing sullenly to the side, spoke up.
"Hm? You have a plan?" Maxima glanced at him. "Let's hear it."
"I've observed that the people of this planet hold that Superman, and this Ultraman here, in extremely high regard, with great reverence. It seems they also respect the strong."
Almerac was a planet of brutes, and Sas was clearly a fighter jet among brutes; his way of thinking was simple and direct.
"If Your Highness were to join the fray and display your strength, perhaps you would catch his eye?"
"Hiss~"
Unexpectedly, this suggestion instantly resonated with the iron-willed brute of a princess who was single-mindedly searching for a husband who could fight.
"I think Sas has a point."
Maxima nodded. It seemed that the mere mention of a fight immediately woke her up.
"Good! Then the next step of the plan is to find that guy and let him witness this princess's iron fist!"
Meanwhile, Orin Vale, having returned to his shop, resumed his daily routine of studying, conducting scientific research, and developing new things, but he didn't forget to keep an eye on current events.
The liveliest place recently had to be Metropolis. The first wave of the DC Universe's own 'spiritual energy resurgence' seemed to have crashed right into Metropolis. Ever since Superman announced his debut, all sorts of super-powered freaks and rogue creators of dangerous tech wanted to take a shot at the Man of Steel to make a name for themselves.
So, for Superman, this was probably the most stressful period of his career. Internally, the Justice League had yet to be formed, so he had no teammates to back him up; even his external brain wasn't online yet. Externally, in the early days of his career, neither the public nor the military had enough trust in him.
Honestly, although General Lane had promised not to cause him trouble, with the traditional American way of doing things, that so-called promise was probably worth about as much as used toilet paper.
The only reason things seemed amicable was that they had discovered Superman's fist was truly massive. In reality, who knows how many people were secretly lusting after his body while looking up at the blue sky.
Once they got an opportunity, the best-case scenario was being thrown into a Flashpoint-style VIP suite to serve time, and the worst-case was a round of "photon skin rejuvenation" on an operating table that would cause one to die on the spot—Jun would probably send his congratulations overnight from the Ultraman Universe upon hearing the news.
Mental fortitude was one thing, but Superman's villains were all inhuman. Take Parasite, who had just wreaked havoc in Metropolis last week. A classic comic book lab accident: a nobody exposed to hazardous alien materials, his body rewritten, transforming him into an overpowered villain who could absorb the life energy of any living being through contact.
It could even absorb Superman's energy, and after absorbing it, it could even replicate his abilities. Superman only managed a hard-won victory after taking a severe beating, ending up black and blue.
So, at this stage, Superman was distinguished by his mental resilience and physical durability. Successfully surviving until the formation of the Justice League would be quite a test of his skills.
Orin Vale was scrolling through the latest video of Superman posted on the Daily Planet's official website when he looked up and saw a man and a woman in a corner seat of the shop. The red-haired woman was coiled around the man's slightly chubby waist as if no one else was around, embracing him tightly like a snake.
Orin Vale even glimpsed a police badge in the chubby man's jacket pocket.
He was even a detective from the GCPD, and this woman didn't look like his wife.
*Well now, he's from the Gotham City Police Department, yet he's being this audacious in broad daylight?*
*No, wait, since he's from the Gotham City Police Department, nothing he does should be surprising...*
The woman snuggled in the detective's arms. "Darling, I heard you've been investigating that... what's it called... Roxxon?"
"Roxxon Energy. A high-level executive from the Board of Directors died."
The detective spoke gently, his hands roaming.
When his hands reached certain parts, the woman giggled, playfully dodging and saying, "Stop it."
"Who killed him?" she asked with a smile.
"Who knows. But we suspect it's related to Roxxon's recent lake-filling project. We're guessing it was an extremist environmental organization... Ah, right, I shouldn't be talking about this. Case details are classified information. Ha, it must have been that drink I just had, it went to my head."
The detective smiled. "Just for today, let's not talk about such downers, shall we, sweetheart?"
"Of course, whatever you say."
"..."
Orin Vale decisively retreated into his underground laboratory before the scene could get any more cringey.
Over the past two days, he had been conducting a simple study of the strange mutation that had occurred in Titano. Although it had returned to normal size, a scan revealed that the radiation energy hadn't been completely purged. A portion of it remained in the little monkey's body.
Further research even revealed that the radiation had been affected by the Shrinking Ray he had released, causing it to mutate further.
This situation meant that even after reverting to a small monkey's size, Titano was still stronger than an ordinary animal. Moreover, if he conducted more in-depth research, it seemed possible that it could regain the ability to become gigantic. In fact, with training and adjustment, it might even master the ability to change its size at will.
If he could really develop it to that point, then it would truly take after its master...
He had also finished reading the literature on the Speed Force brought back from Gorilla City. He had learned a lot of miscellaneous theoretical knowledge, but much of it still required experimental testing. The Speed Force was indeed an energy law primarily governing spacetime. Orin Vale already had several ideas, all related to influencing time.
The energy within the Speed Force mineral he had brought out during his first entry into the Speed Force field had also been completely depleted during his research. Orin Vale was already planning when to find an opportunity to go back and get some more.
He hadn't visited in a while; that gorilla buddy in the Speed Force must be pretty lonely. He would probably be very happy to have him as a guest.
"Ding~"
A notification sound rang out, and Orin Vale looked up.
"We should probably consider changing that notification sound so it doesn't sound so much like a system cheat..." Orin Vale asked, "What is it this time?"
"It's the new frequency radar we built based on the information provided by the Fort Rozz prisoner, Indigo, sir," Pal said. "It looks like we've found a suspected Fort Rozz identification signal."
(end of chapter)