Chapter 43: Listening Device
Before flying back to their temporary refuge on the sea cliff, Luka made a detour to the open ocean, several hundred miles away, to wash off the lingering stench of blood.
Only when he was completely rid of the bloody scent did he leisurely fly back to the cliff.
"Rachel!"
Luka opened the tightly sealed hatch of the escape pod, only to find Rachel missing.
Slightly puzzled, he ascended into the sky and scanned the surroundings. That was when he noticed that, at some point, a strip of beach had appeared where two sections of the cliffs met.
The beach was remarkably concealed; even climbing to the highest point of the steep cliff face would make it difficult to spot.
Rachel stood at the edge of the beach, holding a branch as thick as a finger, poking at the dried fish hanging on a drying rack.
Sensing his gaze, Rachel glanced up warily. Upon realizing it was Luka descending slowly from the sky, she resumed her blank expression.
"When did you set all this up?" Luka asked, stepping onto the soft sand.
Rachel shot him a sidelong glance, her voice completely flat, devoid of any inflection.
"You left behind a lot of fish before you left, and I didn't know how long you'd be gone. I sensed an empty cavity in the nearby cliff with magic, so I moved the rocks to open it up and started drying fish to stockpile."
Luka was even more puzzled.
"But didn't you say you were tired of eating fish?"
"Then what else am I supposed to eat?!"
Rachel's voice suddenly rose sharply, her emotions seemingly surging. However, thanks to Raven's emotional suppression and the lingering magic, even in her agitated state, her facial expressions remained restrained.
"Didn't Aquaman give us two—oh! My God."
Luka finally remembered, his hand instinctively reaching to his waist. On the other side of the box containing the Yellow Lantern Ring, he pulled out two large pearls, one black and one pink.
The pair stared silently at the pearls. A hint of murderous intent gradually appeared in Rachel's eyes.
Luka wiped nonexistent cold sweat from his forehead, muttering to himself, "They actually survived..."
"Ahem, I'll find a way to sell these in Gotham City later. Tonight, we're going to Metropolis for a feast!"
Rachel scoffed coldly, turning back to poke at the dried fish.
Luka awkwardly tucked the pearls back into his waist pouch, then walked behind Rachel and poked her back with his index finger.
"What?" Rachel's tone reverted to its usual flat, emotionless monotone.
"Could you check what Batman's doing right now?"
"Oh, he got back to Gotham a few minutes before you. He's been rummaging around in that Batcave where he treated us to steak last time, and now he's standing in the corner where I set up the sound transmission magic."
"Aha!"
Luka slapped his fist into his palm, letting out a triumphant cheer as if releasing pent-up frustration.
Earlier on the Watchtower, Batman had seized the opportunity to dissect him. If not for Luka's years of mastering emotional control and expression management, he would have nearly lost his composure.
It's one thing to read about Batman in comics and movies, and another entirely to experience being personally targeted and analyzed by him. No amount of imagination could have prepared Luka for the reality.
True, it was because of "that person's" existence that Batman had gained advance information Luka never imagined anyone would know.
But the psychological profiling, like being forcibly stripped naked by a thug, had left Luka with a lingering shadow.
Now, picturing how Batman must have been puzzling over how Luka knew the Green Lantern Corps had stationed people in the solar system, then rushing back and tearing through the Batcave like a frantic mouse, made Luka feel much better.
Serves him right.
"Batman tore down the wall where I left the magic," Rachel suddenly added.
"Oh? Was the magic destroyed?"
"Not at all. My magic isn't so weak that it requires a physical medium to exist."
"Now I'm even more satisfied, Rachel! Thanks to your magic, I finally got to vent my anger. Next time I'll give him an even bigger scare..."
"Batman just opened a communication channel. He's warning the person on the other end to completely abandon Batcave 76 and forbidding anyone from entering it again."
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Luka's forehead, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"Batcave 76?! Has Gotham's underground been carved into a mole's warren? How can a city's foundations remain stable with so many tunnels beneath it?"
Then realization dawned on him.
"Completely abandoning a Batcave... that guy's got money to burn and no conscience!"
Seeing Luka's mood plummet from elation to despair, Rachel paused before offering reassurance.
"Don't worry. That day, while Nightwing was bringing me my steak, I cast a similar, simple spell on him. It was rushed, though, so it won't work beyond a certain distance. But we can still monitor Gotham from here."
The corners of Luka's downturned mouth gradually curled upward.
Rachel's expression suddenly shifted.
"He's still in the Batcave. He just communicated, telling Nightwing to stay away from Gotham for now... Damn it, he even smirked at me."
Seeing Rachel's visible alarm, Luka abruptly lowered his head and began frantically patting himself down.
Even though he had stripped and scrubbed himself thoroughly while showering hundreds of miles away, he couldn't shake the nagging doubt.
What if he missed something?
He hadn't been thinking about this possibility then, so he might have overlooked something.
After all, this Viltrumite combat suit had likely been touched by Bruce Wayne himself.
Nearly stripping naked, he turned the black-painted Viltrumite suit inside out, examining every inch for any foreign components. He found nothing.
Luka scratched his head in frustration, then froze as inspiration struck. He pulled out the special case containing the yellow ring.
After several minutes of scrutiny, he still couldn't detect any listening devices.
As for the possibility of a device being hidden inside the ring itself, Luka considered it unlikely.
Even if Batman possessed such advanced technology, the ring was usually stored in a special box that could block the fear spectrum. Moreover, their mission to the God Realm included a contingency plan to use the ring as a disposable resource.
What would be the point of planting a listening device inside the Yellow Lantern Ring?
Luka stood there, utterly perplexed, until Rachel's stomach growled loudly.
Startled, Luka pulled out the two uniquely colored pearls he had kept close to his body, which had miraculously survived the battle unscathed.
Rachel seemed to understand his intentions. She grabbed his hand, shaking her head frantically while forcing a pained expression onto her face.
"Big feast~"
Luka closed his eyes, steeling his resolve. He pinched the black pearl between his thumb and forefinger and gently rubbed it.
The black pearl crumbled into black pearl powder.
His mood darkening, Luka thought he heard Rachel nearly faint.
"This... Never mind. No more searching for listening device for now. We still have one left. Let's go exchange it for money."
From the pink pearl lying quietly in Luka's palm came Batman's deep, mocking voice.
"Your reflexes are impressive. In a way, you and I are similar. You're just not very lucky."
Luka's expression visibly shifted. He snatched up the pink pearl, his arm swinging back over his head.
The pink pearl continued broadcasting Batman's voice.
"Gotham's pawn industry is backed by Wayne Enterprises. Each of those pearls is worth about 140, 000, but the one in your hand can fetch 300, 000 from me."
"Are you sure you want to throw it away?"
Luka suddenly felt Rachel clinging tightly to his leg.