Chapter 28
"Why do I have to come along too?"
Raven, who had been hoping to slip quietly into the shadows now that everything had settled, was suddenly grabbed by the shoulder by Luka, who had jumped down from above.
"How long has it been since you had a proper meal? This is a rare chance to let a big spender pick up the bill," Luka whispered to the visibly uncomfortable Rachel.
"Let go! People who get too close to me end up cursed!" Rachel struggled a few times, even trying to use magic to escape, but Luka easily swatted away the magical smoke that should have been untouchable by mortal flesh.
"So you'd rather isolate yourself, be alone? But didn't you come to Earth in the first place to find warriors who could stand against your father?" Luka lowered his voice, glancing at the three figures walking ahead.
Green Lantern had already extinguished his glow. A green light moving through Gotham's dark streets would attract too much attention.
Batman was questioning Nightwing about details of his interactions with Luka over the past three days.
Rachel closed her eyes in frustration and withdrew her magic. No other choice. She really couldn't break free. Now, any magic, sorcery, or mystical energy that came into contact with Luka's body only produced a physical effect. And Luka possessed a physique far beyond that of ordinary people.
"After observing things these past few days, I've concluded that Earth simply doesn't have any warriors capable of standing against Him."
"Then why are you still wandering around Earth? Other than making yourself miserable, it won't get you any closer to your goal."
With his wisdom beyond his years, having touched Raven's soul and glimpsed fragments of her memories, Luka cut through the girl's stubborn facade.
Rachel fell silent, whether out of anger or utter speechlessness. She glared with dead-fish eyes as Luka half-dragged her forward.
Batman still didn't take Luka to the Batcave hidden beneath Wayne Manor.
Instead, it was another one of his many hideouts.
A secret entrance concealed within a sewer opening at the edge of a cliff.
Luka suppressed a sigh of disappointment at missing the chance to visit the holy ground of comic book lore. He released his grip on Raven's arm and strode confidently into the dimly lit hall.
Having secured the Yellow Lantern Ring, Batman turned his gaze to Luka. Nightwing, meanwhile, announced he was going to grab some food and disappeared down a nearby passage.
Only Green Lantern remained unnoticed in a shadowy corner, using his ring to scan every nook and cranny of the Batcave. He was searching for any special materials hidden within the cave that he was unaware of.
"Your body seems to have undergone some changes," Batman said in his deep, gravelly voice.
Luka nodded calmly, glancing at Green Lantern with amusement. Noticing the scrutiny, the Lantern straightened up abruptly and began whistling innocently, pretending he hadn't been doing anything suspicious.
"I still feel that tingling sensation, and I'm certain it's coming from Green Lantern."
Several more pairs of eyes locked onto Hal Jordan.
Hal Jordan instinctively covered his ring, then awkwardly tucked his hand behind his back, as if hiding it could suppress the leaking emotional spectrum energy.
"Why are you all staring at me? Oa's database has no record of the Emotional Spectrum directly catalyzing the evolution of a species' physical constitution."
After this explanation, Hal Jordan seemed to have convince himself, and his demeanor became bold and open again.
"Kid, are you really from that… what was it, Scrotum? Or did you just pop over from another universe?"
"It's Viltrum," Luka casually corrected Hal's pronunciation, then nodded, a trace of unease surfacing in his expression.
"As for whether I might be from another universe, that's what I initially thought too."
Luka gestured toward Raven, who was huddled in a shadowy corner.
"I grew up on Viltrum. Our civilization conquered hundreds of inhabited planets in the surrounding region, yet we never encountered any sorcerers."
"But since coming to Earth, I've found sorcerers everywhere. Which violates Wobakan's Law. Given the density of magic users on Earth, even if you extrapolate that across the entire galaxy, Viltrum, having conquered so many civilizations, should have run into at least a few by now."
This "law" was nonsense Luka made up, but he figured Batman's vast knowledge, would recognize a similar Earth term.
Sure enough, Batman nodded in agreement.
"Earth has a similar concept called the Drake Equation, which can also be applied to calculate the probability of intelligent civilizations developing individuals with superpowers or magic."
"Exactly. After encountering so many magic users, I briefly wondered if I'd stumbled into a new universe."
Luka's brow furrowed.
"But the yellow ring... it called me Luka Thragg from the Virgo Supercluster. If this were a different universe, how could it know my origin and true name?"
All eyes turned to Hal Jordan. As a member of a Lantern Corps, no one present understood the rings' selection protocols better than he did.
Hal Jordan didn't stand on ceremony. He cleared his throat with a fist to his mouth, then strode boldly out of the shadows.
"There's no need to question the true name. Any name you've ever used on Earth, even if any Lantern Corps is on the other side of the universe, they can obtain it. This is based on... based on... I believe it's based on some fundamental logic of the universe."
Batman watched in silence while Hal's less than stellar academic performance on Oa caught up with him, then followed with another question.
"What about the Virgo Supercluster?"
Only then did Hal's demeanor turn serious and focused.
After all, they were talking about a terrifying warlike civilization, one whose species could apparently evolve through exposure to the emotional spectrum, and one of them was standing right here.
"That region is 60 million light-years away, outside my jurisdiction. I've already filed a request with my colleague responsible for that sector, but scanning an entire supercluster is time-consuming and resource-intensive. The process could take years."
Hal Jordan tapped his ring.
"What I can tell you right now is that, at least in Oa's database, there is no planet called Viltrum in the Virgo Supercluster."
Batman turned his gaze back to Luka.
"We will continue to be vigilant about Viltrum. Right now, we need to focus on other pressing matters."
Luka nodded knowingly.
"I understand. You want to test my evolved physical structure, right? You've already obtained all my data from Mr. Bruce Wayne, haven't you?"
Green Lantern shot Batman a sidelong glance.
Batman remained perfectly calm and admitted it without hesitation.
"Yes, Bruce likely told you about his cooperation with the Justice League. Acquiring your files from him wasn't difficult."
Hal Jordan looked up at the Batcave's ceiling, his body twitching slightly.
Luka glanced at him.
"Does Mr. Green Lantern need to use the restroom?"
Batman pointed Green Lantern toward a restroom direction. The latter thanked him in a grave tone before slowly walking away.
Luka followed Batman in the opposite direction.
Nightwing returned to the main hall with a plate of steaming food. He looked around but saw no one except Raven, who stood silently in a shadowy corner.
"Uh, I've just reheated some steak. Anyone want some?"