Chapter 45: Kryptonian
As Luka pushed the small spaceship to accelerate back towards Jupiter's orbit, Cyborg's electronic eye finally flickered back to life.
"Luka's transmitter signal and the frequency band emitted by the ship are appearing simultaneously. It doesn't seem to be an enemy."
The Justice League members briefly breathed a collective sigh of relief.
One less unknown enemy was always preferable.
Cyborg then instinctively compared the spaceship's frequency bands against all known signal signatures in the database.
Five minutes later, Luka felt his earpiece erupt into a cacophony that sounded like a crowd of people cooking.
Due to signal loss across the vast cosmic distance, the voices in his earpiece were distorted by static and pitch fluctuations.
"Damn! That's Kryptonian—"
"Kryptonian? Has he run into a bunch of Supermen?"
"Could he have been captured—"
"Contact Superman immediately!"
Batman frowned at the commotion. Since Luka had been flying towards the Solar System's edge for approximately four hours, some League members who had completed their missions had also arrived at the Watchtower.
This led to a slight commotion. Everyone knew Superman's strength, but Superman's attitude couldn't determine the overall nature of Krypton.
Zod's arrival was still fresh in their minds.
Batman approached Cyborg and quietly instructed him to activate the quantum communication signal.
"Luka, are you conscious?"
"Answer me, Luka."
Luka slightly reduced his flight speed, took one hand off the spaceship, and activated the communicator at his waist.
"What's up? I'll probably be back in about half an hour. The spaceship's material is decent, but judging by the external damage, the internal structure might be compromised. I'm afraid if I accelerate too quickly, the whole thing will fall apart."
Luka's clear voice reassured the Justice League members.
Under Batman's questioning, Luka provided a rough description of the spaceship's appearance and the unconscious girl lying inside.
He then added with a playful tone, "Now I really believe there are a lot of alien refugees on Earth. The frequency is so high, it's like Earth is constantly emitting a signal that attracts other races."
"Just now I heard you guys mention Krypton. Is Superman still busy?"
At Luka's inquiry, Cyborg immediately pulled up a live news broadcast on the screen, showing Superman suppressing a volcano from a unique low-angle perspective.
In the footage, Superman, who had been handling things easily, showed visible urgency after receiving Cyborg's message.
He put all his strength into his freezing breath, his cheeks puffing out.
Completely disregarding the local ecological environment and subsequent maintenance work, in just ten seconds, Superman left behind a massive man-made ice mountain in Hawaii, and then, with a tremendous boom, shot off into space.
Superman was in such a hurry that he didn't even glance at the Watchtower as he passed it.
Before Luka even reached Mars' orbit, he felt a flash before his eyes, followed by the familiar weight of a large hand pressing down on his shoulder.
Superman's other hand carefully touched the ship's hull, staring blankly at the girl with tear stains visible through the cabin window.
This time, it wasn't an enemy, it was a fellow Kryptonian.
The loneliness hidden in his heart for decades burst forth.
"Thank you, Luka," he said, his voice strained with emotion.
"Uh, no..."
Before he could answer, Luka's vision was filled with the same stretching of starlight into streaks he had experienced last time.
In the blink of an eye, Superman gently set both him and the vessel down on the outer bridge of the Watchtower.
Despite the terrifying acceleration and deceleration, Luka, the one being carried, felt no dizziness or disorientation whatsoever.
Luka had never been so envious of Superman's bio-field before.
"This is just too versatile," he muttered.
The Watchtower was wrapped in an energy barrier that retained a breathable atmosphere. Everyone walked straight out from inside and gathered around Superman.
Curious and concerned, they clustered behind him, whispering and speculating about the newcomer's identity.
Diana placed a hand on Superman's arm.
Even Batman, uncharacteristically, completely ignored Luka. He walked over to the ship, pulled out his instruments, and alongside Cyborg, began a meticulous inspection of the Kryptonian vessel and the physiological state of the girl inside.
Superman seemed to notice certain markings inside the ship through his X-ray vision.
"The same family crest... she... Is she... my family?"
Flash reacted quickest, quietly offering his congratulations to Superman before hastily adding a lengthy explanation about how the young woman would only be allowed to stay if she proved completely harmless.
Green Arrow, standing in the crowd, suddenly looked up and glanced in Luka's direction.
The latter stood there quietly, his face revealing no particular emotion.
Green Arrow silently slipped away from the crowd and walked over to Luka.
"Considering how significant this is, I'll add another 2 million dollars to your fee, purely on my own behalf."
Luka was silent for a moment, then raised a hand to stroke his chin. He looked at Batman's back, which was hunched over as he carefully analyzed the girl's vital signs. The corner of Luka's mouth suddenly curled up.
"No need for the extra... Tell me, if I refuse this payment entirely, wouldn't that mean Superman owes me a huge personal favor? In the future, if Batman comes after me, would Superman step in to protect me?"
Green Arrow was taken aback. Although he didn't understand the conflict between this kid and Batman, he seemed rather eager to see how things would develop.
He also glanced at Batman, whose current level of focus was even more intense than during the Justice League's previous encounters with powerful enemies.
A mischievous grin spread across Green Arrow's face.
"You don't need to worry about that. Knowing Superman's personality, whether you take the money or not, from now on he'll forever remember that you were the one who carefully and safely brought his 'family' back from the edge of the solar system."
"Then deal. How do we settle the five million?"
"Are you really that broke..."
"Do you know how I've been feeding myself since I got to Earth? I dive into the ocean and catch fish."
Green Arrow felt like slapping himself. He wasn't short on cash, but why had he opened his mouth like that?
"I won't go back on my word. When you have time, head to Queen Industries in Star City and find Oliver Queen. He's a super-rich handsome guy. Just mention my name, then call him 'good-looking,' and you can get 7 million from him."
Luka was finally shocked by such an extravagantly wealthy statement.
What kind of person casually adds another $ 2 million just like that? Even if you're rich, that's not how you give money away, right?
Is Green Arrow brain-dead, or is Oliver Queen brain-dead?
"If I make you say a few more words, will it go up to ten million?"
Green Arrow didn't answer. Instead, he gazed up at the starry sky visible through the energy shield, then patted Luka on the shoulder with a sigh.
"I also lived off fish I caught in the sea for a few years. That life was really tough. For a while after that period, I couldn't even pick up any women. They complained my mouth always smelled fishy."
Is that so?
Luka found it a bit hard to understand. Although he hadn't been able to live the luxurious, decadent life he'd imagined after escaping to Earth, and thinking about it occasionally was a bit disappointing.
But simply living by catching fish by the sea still felt like paradise to him.
What's a few years of eating fish? The mental humiliation on Viltrum was far worse. The weak sometimes ended up with their faces shoved into toilets, forced to eat shit.
As for money, Luka felt he didn't really care much about it.
The main reason he'd asked the League for compensation was because Rachel had been giving him strange looks lately. She kept muttering about how he was a liar who'd tricked her into living a life even harder than being a thief in Gotham.
If he didn't find a way to get some money, his pride as a man wouldn't be able to take it.