The moment Mogo finished speaking, Bruce froze.
At the same time, three Kryptonian giants shot up from their lounge chairs nearby.
One of them rushed over to Mogo's side, fussing over the little girl made of sand.
"Mogo, this guy actually dared to plant bombs on you?"
"Hell, even Scholar Bach wouldn't dare do that—how is he so bold?"
"Wait, why can't I see anything...?"
One of the Kryptonians activated his super vision and scanned the area for a long while, but all he could see was sand, and more sand.
And at that moment...
Bruce rolled his eyes helplessly, then quietly tapped the ground with his foot.
Instantly, within an eighty-meter radius, eighty-two small ant-like robots carrying bombs burrowed up out of the sand.
As the mechanical ants scurried back to his feet, Bruce nodded with an air of complete nonchalance.
"Sorry, I wasn't aware of the rules here, so..."
"It's fine, it's fine! I forgive you—after all, you're still just a child!"
Mogo was remarkably magnanimous. In the blink of an eye, she shifted from a little over fifty centimeters tall to roughly two and a half meters.
Then she reached out, and to Bruce's utter shock, ruffled his hair.
"I can see your age. You're so young—only forty-three years old!"
"I—?!"
Bruce was completely dumbfounded.
At the same time, one of the Kryptonians off to the side casually snatched up a mechanical ant from the ground before it could finish crawling back into Bruce's shoe.
Before Bruce could even ask for it back, the Kryptonian exclaimed in astonishment.
"It's made of a lead-based metal! So there are metals our vision can't see through. This has to be reported to Scholar Bach!
Honored Lord Mogo, although this Earthling is a guest of Lord Heisenberg, please keep an eye on him. Who knows if he's carrying any more of these dangerous toys that could hurt himself?
If a guest of the Lord were to get injured in the Divine Kingdom, we would be held responsible!"
"Mm-hmm, don't worry. I'll take care of this little one.
Even the smallest bee on my body is older than him. It's been far too long since I've seen such a tiny little creature..."
"I—?!!"
Bruce stared blankly at Mogo. Her sand-hand was still resting on his head. As he felt the grains of sand sliding off his cowl, a surge of mixed emotions flooded through him.
"I'm still a child?!!"
"Of course! Come on, I'll take you to the sea to play. Do you like water?
Or do you only like playing Batman?
Don't worry. While your father is off discussing serious matters with the elders, I'll take good care of you on their behalf.
I may not have experience raising children, but I am three-point-seven billion years old, so I think I'll manage!
Especially when it comes to a little troublemaker like you who likes playing with bombs!!!"
The moment her voice fell, Mogo's enormous body suddenly scattered with the wind.
Then, countless grains of sand surged up from the ground, transforming in an instant into a sea of sand that lifted Bruce's body straight into the air.
"I've got all kinds of furry animals on me. They all love the feeling of sliding down from high places.
You should like it too, right?"
As that omnipresent voice echoed in his ears, Bruce felt the sand beneath him shift slightly.
And then—a slide over two hundred meters long formed in an instant!
Feeling the wind rush past him, watching himself plummet down a two-hundred-meter slide at a seventy-five-degree angle...
Beneath Bruce's calm expression, his mind was already flooded with hundreds upon thousands of motherfuckers.
Are you sure the furry animals on you all like playing like this?!!
You call those furry animals?!
Those are a warrior race!!!
Before Bruce even landed, a Kryptonian in the distance studied the mechanical ant in his companion's hand with curiosity.
"Our vision actually can't see through lead metal?
Weird.
Let me test how powerful this thing is!"
The moment the words left his mouth, the Kryptonian casually squeezed the ant in his companion's hand.
Just as Bruce on the slide reached the lowest point and launched toward the sea off the slide's final upward curve—
A brilliant firework blossomed over the beach!
Bruce free-fell over the surface of the sea for a full five seconds. And when the fireworks faded—
He, having just smashed into the water, happened to catch sight of three faces, charred black and gleaming...
Splash!
Bruce hit the water.
"Hahahaha!!!"
"Whoa, it's actually got some kick!"
"This little thing has a huge blast radius!"
"Hurry up and fix the beach—don't let the Lord see!"
"Come help—I think we overdid it!"
A group of Kryptonians scrambled over, filling in the thirteen-meter crater the ant-bomb had blasted open with sand, while their frost breath extinguished the fires on the beach.
Their movements were extremely professional—they'd clearly done this kind of thing more than a few times before.
As for Bruce, who was being treated like a child...
The seawater was instantly brought under Mogo's control as well. Like a giant hand, it scooped up the little troublemaker Bruce and whisked him off for some delightful playtime!
...
About a dozen minutes later.
...
The dome of the Divine Kingdom opened once more, and Clark, holding his lover Lois and his mother Martha, floated across the boundless sky of the Divine Kingdom.
Looking at the enormous planet in the distance, Martha couldn't help but marvel.
"So this is the power of a god... Clark, I suddenly regret hiding your powers from you all these years, just like your father did.
After all, it made you suffer so much. And you were never the only special person in the world.
Did we do the wrong thing?"
"Of course not, Mom."
Clark smiled, gently tugging at his mother's fingers, then explained in a soft voice.
"You did everything right. You're the ones who taught me what love and care mean. I'm grateful to have those feelings!
And as for this miracle that belongs to Heisenberg—it isn't just the power of a god. It's the power of the Kryptonians!
Let me introduce you to my Kryptonian family now!"
As he spoke, Clark pulled his lover and his mother along, flying straight toward Mogo.
When he passed over the highest mountain range on Mogo's surface, he suddenly froze for a moment.
As the people closest to him, Lois and Martha could naturally sense the shift in his emotions.
Lois asked softly.
"What did you see?"
"Nothing. Just some... scenes I can hardly believe..."
As he spoke, he couldn't help shaking his head, flatly refusing to believe what he'd seen.
How could Bruce possibly be like that?!!
...
Not long after, he brought Martha and Lois down to the beach where the explosion had just occurred.
The moment he landed, Clark couldn't help wrinkling his nose.
"Why does it smell like sulfur-based explosives?"
"You're smelling it wrong. Looks like your five senses still need more training!"
"That's right—none of us can smell anything, so how could you?"
"So these are your family members?"
"Hello there! We're Kryptonians. We're very friendly and we love peace!"
"That's right, we're especially peaceful!"
The Kryptonians talked over each other, covering it up. Clark rolled his eyes helplessly.
"Fine, nothing happened here. But it'd be best to have the Divine Kingdom adjust the atmospheric composition nearby.
The air's too combustible—the scent of flash-burn is too strong."
"OK, I'll go find the Divine Kingdom right away!"
One Kryptonian immediately flew off and vanished in an instant.
Soon after, Clark felt the surrounding air gradually shift closer to Earth's.
Seeing this, Clark released his force-field control over Martha and Lois, letting them breathe the most natural air.
If he'd let them experience Mogo's gravity and atmosphere directly...
They would have been crushed to powder by the gravity the very instant oxygen poisoning set in.
Meanwhile, Heisenberg, after making a full circuit and giving Alfred a tour of Mogo's scenery, returned to the original beach.
As the two landed, Heisenberg looked at Clark and greeted him with a smile.
"So this is your adoptive mother, right?"
"That's correct, Lord. This is Martha."
Clark replied, then turned to his mother, who was dressed in a bohemian gown, and introduced them.
"Mother, this is Heisenberg—my great-grandfather!"
"Ah, this... this is truly... a... god?"
Martha was a bit stunned.
To meet Heisenberg, she had specially prepared a Greek-style classical dress.
It seemed only that kind of attire could match the style of a god's armor.
But this god was wearing a beach shirt and board shorts...
Wasn't that a little... improper...?
Seeing Martha's astonished expression, Heisenberg chuckled and gently shook her hand.
"You think I'm being a bit too casual, don't you? Don't overthink it. Here at home, I'm just an elder to a lot of children!
Lois, take your mother-in-law somewhere to rest for a bit.
There are quite a few people from Atlantis and Paradise Island, so the banquet will start a little late."
"Okay, Great-Grandfather!"
Lois agreed readily, then led Martha over to the entertainment area that had just been set up nearby. They found a sofa with a furry animal sprawled beside it, sat down, and began playing with the unique fur-covered creatures of Mogo.
After that, Heisenberg frowned slightly and gently patted the little ball in his arms.
"Bring him back. That's enough playing."
"He's the one who buried bombs in the Divine Kingdom! I'm just teaching him a small lesson..."
"That's just his personality. You'll get used to it.
Setting aside that habit of his—always fighting an imaginary war against thin air—he's a good man. In fact, he's one of the best men on Earth!"
Heisenberg remarked with a smile.
Hearing Heisenberg's words, Mogo nodded helplessly, and then her round, plump body gave a slight quiver.
In the distance, a vast expanse of yellow sand swept over in an instant.
And in the middle of that sand sat Bruce, his face completely blank, riding atop a giant white...
Call it a dog and it seemed too fat. Call it a bear and it was too slender...
In any case, it was a massive furry creature, a full sixteen meters tall, drooling as it went.
Bruce was sprawled across the top of that thing's head, bouncing up and down with the creature's every step...
The moment Alfred got a clear look at Bruce's current expression, he burst out laughing.
Even as he laughed, he couldn't help sighing—today's trip to the Divine Kingdom had truly been worth it!!!
As Bruce watched himself get closer and closer to the group, an unnatural flush spread across his darkened face.
This was the first time he'd ever been humiliated in front of so many people!
And worst of all—right now, he wasn't the always-embarrassing playboy Bruce Wayne.
He was Batman!!!
He really regretted wearing this suit here!
Before he could sink deeper into regret, Clark had already started teasing him with a grin.
"Buddy, I never knew you still had such a childlike heart. I also love riding those big, fluffy, energetic, and especially adorable animals as they run in the wind!"
"R... right?"
Bruce froze.
"Really adorable... right?!!"
/-\
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