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Chapter 311: Terrific
So, the one who gave the Trinity temporary amnesia was the sorceress Circe, and somehow she had once again formed an alliance with Lex Luthor—if memory served, the last time he saw those two in the Fallen Realm, their little boat of friendship seemed to have capsized.
"Luthor is building a team," Superman said with a grave expression.
"I think their target is us."
"His target is always you," Kara muttered. "That man is practically a rabid Superman stan."
"I don't think so," Superman said. "He hates my guts, and for some reason, he always loves to pick fights with me in all sorts of ways. And to be honest, I still haven't figured out why."
Kara said, "Alright, a twisted Superman stan then."
"In any case, we need to be on high alert. Luthor is gathering our respective enemies, most likely with the goal of destroying the Justice League," Batman said. "But now we know. We have to find them and take them down before they make their move.
We need an emergency League meeting."
Kara went "Ah," and her lips formed a pout. "Another meeting?"
Batman shot her a disapproving look.
Kara's tone instantly shifted. "Ah, I mean, meetings are great! We should have more meetings, get together more often, and get things all straightened out, hahaha..."
Batman looked away, no longer staring at her. He then turned to Orin Vale.
"There's one other thing. You mentioned before that you were interested in the remnants of Intergang?"
"That's right. Their leader was captured and their central command collapsed, but someone else has gathered the remaining members," Orin Vale nodded. "I want to know who, and what their objective is now.
Why? Does the world's Greatest Detective have any clues?"
"I've been keeping an eye on it," Batman said flatly. "Intergang has organized a series of activities recently. They seemed unrelated, but I tried to analyze the logic behind their actions.
In fact, all of their recent operations have revolved around a single company..."
He activated the portable terminal on his wrist, and a beam of blue light projected a logo.
It was a circular black emblem with a conspicuous "T" printed in white.
"This is..."
"Cyberville Corporation. Its CEO and founder is Michael Holt," Batman said. "One of the smartest men in the world."
Orin Vale grew pensive.
Michael Holt, the future superhero "Mister Terrific." He could read the works of various masters of physics at the age of six, later easily obtaining fourteen doctorates, and founded Cyberville Corporation from scratch, single-handedly becoming a billionaire... although his company was eventually acquired by Wayne Enterprises.
But right now, Batman clearly doesn't know this future Justice League teammate yet.
Orin Vale had previously suspected that Desaad might be behind the current Intergang. Perhaps Desaad had taken an interest in something Mister Terrific was researching?
"Cyberville has recently been intercepted multiple times by the remnants of Intergang, and some data and components have been stolen. When I investigated those operations, I found that all the stolen items could be traced back to a classified project Holt established..."
Batman paused as the image in the projection he was displaying switched.
"...He calls it the 'Quantum Tunnel'."
A thought sparked in Orin Vale's mind.
Quantum Tunnel. It sounded like something related to the Multiverse and parallel worlds.
If that was the case, Orin Vale himself had some interest in this technology. Multiverse travel had always been one of his main research topics.
"What specifically is it researching?" he asked.
"That's classified information at Cyberville, inaccessible from the outside," Batman said, turning off the screen. "I had originally planned to follow up on it, but now The League might be targeted by Luthor's unknown legion. I need to investigate Luthor first."
"I understand," Orin Vale nodded. "Thanks."
He could feel that Batman's trust in him was growing compared to when they first met. Although he still had that prickly demeanor and always sounded like someone owed him money, he was now willing to share intelligence and even do some investigation on Orin Vale's behalf.
This was a huge step forward.
"No problem. You guys focus on dealing with... whatever alliance of villains Luthor has put together," Orin Vale said. "I can handle my own little problem."
Mister Terrific in DC is a bit like Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four from the Marvel universe next door, a man fans call 'Reed the Charlatan'—both are Doraemon-type characters. Their so-called scientific research and development is like child's play; they can casually pull a heap of overpowered equipment that would make even gods tremble from their omnipotent black-tech treasure chest.
If Mister Terrific was truly dabbling in multiverse travel, then he might actually be able to find a way out of this Universe.
Michael Holt's office was located on the top floor of his skyscraper. It had a private elevator, high-tech sensors, a high-voltage electric grid, an automated defense system, and so on.
For a CEO's office, it was armed to the teeth.
Of course, it posed little trouble for Orin Vale. In fact, if he was determined to get in, there was hardly a room on this Planet he couldn't enter.
Orin Vale entered Holt's office while maintaining his stealth, phasing through the wall. No one was inside. His Enhanced Vision swept across the entire office, and he noted that no one had entered this room for at least a week.
Taking two steps toward the desk, Orin Vale suddenly noticed a faint change in the air currents.
With a jolt of his mind, his thoughts instinctively accelerated. An invisible electric arc filled the entire room. His body floated lightly to the side, and a high-speed whirlwind that had just swept past him instantly sent the documents on the desk flying into the air, where they were suspended, scattered haphazardly in midair.
The next moment, a laser beam shot out from behind him as if from nowhere, piercing through and melting several of the floating papers.
Orin Vale turned his head to see that three floating metal spheres had appeared beside him out of nowhere. They formed a triangular formation, trapping him in the middle. Each sphere was imprinted with the "T" logo representing Mister Terrific.
He recognized them at a glance: Mister Terrific's signature black technology, the flying T-Spheres. They could fire lasers, emit electric currents, generate shield barriers, perform reconnaissance, turn invisible, carry people in flight, hack into any system, and so on. They were among the most advanced pieces of equipment in the world.
It seemed Holt had used the T-Spheres to set a trap here, specifically to capture any uninvited guests who broke into his office.
This was an interesting piece of technology.
Orin Vale thought for a moment, then, maintaining his high-speed mode, he floated forward and gently tapped each of the three small spheres with a speed so fast that even their built-in AIs couldn't react.
In a flash, the firewalls crumbled and the programs were rewritten. The red glow on the "T" logos of all three spheres disappeared simultaneously as they switched from alert to friendly mode.
The acceleration ceased. Orin Vale stopped and clapped his hands in satisfaction.
Your T-Spheres are pretty nice.
But now they're mine.
"Alright, now, would any of you be willing to share information about that Quantum Tunnel directly with me? It'll save me the trouble of having to look for it myself," Orin Vale's gaze swept over the three small spheres.
The three spheres flew forward with immense affection, vying to be the first to project floating screens filled to the brim with all of Michael's classified archives.
A complete reversal of their earlier hostile attitude, their current eagerness seemed to say, "This way, Big Shot."
(end of chapter)
So, the one who gave the Trinity temporary amnesia was the sorceress Circe, and somehow she had once again formed an alliance with Lex Luthor—if memory served, the last time he saw those two in the Fallen Realm, their little boat of friendship seemed to have capsized.
"Luthor is building a team," Superman said with a grave expression.
"I think their target is us."
"His target is always you," Kara muttered. "That man is practically a rabid Superman stan."
"I don't think so," Superman said. "He hates my guts, and for some reason, he always loves to pick fights with me in all sorts of ways. And to be honest, I still haven't figured out why."
Kara said, "Alright, a twisted Superman stan then."
"In any case, we need to be on high alert. Luthor is gathering our respective enemies, most likely with the goal of destroying the Justice League," Batman said. "But now we know. We have to find them and take them down before they make their move.
We need an emergency League meeting."
Kara went "Ah," and her lips formed a pout. "Another meeting?"
Batman shot her a disapproving look.
Kara's tone instantly shifted. "Ah, I mean, meetings are great! We should have more meetings, get together more often, and get things all straightened out, hahaha..."
Batman looked away, no longer staring at her. He then turned to Orin Vale.
"There's one other thing. You mentioned before that you were interested in the remnants of Intergang?"
"That's right. Their leader was captured and their central command collapsed, but someone else has gathered the remaining members," Orin Vale nodded. "I want to know who, and what their objective is now.
Why? Does the world's Greatest Detective have any clues?"
"I've been keeping an eye on it," Batman said flatly. "Intergang has organized a series of activities recently. They seemed unrelated, but I tried to analyze the logic behind their actions.
In fact, all of their recent operations have revolved around a single company..."
He activated the portable terminal on his wrist, and a beam of blue light projected a logo.
It was a circular black emblem with a conspicuous "T" printed in white.
"This is..."
"Cyberville Corporation. Its CEO and founder is Michael Holt," Batman said. "One of the smartest men in the world."
Orin Vale grew pensive.
Michael Holt, the future superhero "Mister Terrific." He could read the works of various masters of physics at the age of six, later easily obtaining fourteen doctorates, and founded Cyberville Corporation from scratch, single-handedly becoming a billionaire... although his company was eventually acquired by Wayne Enterprises.
But right now, Batman clearly doesn't know this future Justice League teammate yet.
Orin Vale had previously suspected that Desaad might be behind the current Intergang. Perhaps Desaad had taken an interest in something Mister Terrific was researching?
"Cyberville has recently been intercepted multiple times by the remnants of Intergang, and some data and components have been stolen. When I investigated those operations, I found that all the stolen items could be traced back to a classified project Holt established..."
Batman paused as the image in the projection he was displaying switched.
"...He calls it the 'Quantum Tunnel'."
A thought sparked in Orin Vale's mind.
Quantum Tunnel. It sounded like something related to the Multiverse and parallel worlds.
If that was the case, Orin Vale himself had some interest in this technology. Multiverse travel had always been one of his main research topics.
"What specifically is it researching?" he asked.
"That's classified information at Cyberville, inaccessible from the outside," Batman said, turning off the screen. "I had originally planned to follow up on it, but now The League might be targeted by Luthor's unknown legion. I need to investigate Luthor first."
"I understand," Orin Vale nodded. "Thanks."
He could feel that Batman's trust in him was growing compared to when they first met. Although he still had that prickly demeanor and always sounded like someone owed him money, he was now willing to share intelligence and even do some investigation on Orin Vale's behalf.
This was a huge step forward.
"No problem. You guys focus on dealing with... whatever alliance of villains Luthor has put together," Orin Vale said. "I can handle my own little problem."
Mister Terrific in DC is a bit like Mister Fantastic of the Fantastic Four from the Marvel universe next door, a man fans call 'Reed the Charlatan'—both are Doraemon-type characters. Their so-called scientific research and development is like child's play; they can casually pull a heap of overpowered equipment that would make even gods tremble from their omnipotent black-tech treasure chest.
If Mister Terrific was truly dabbling in multiverse travel, then he might actually be able to find a way out of this Universe.
Michael Holt's office was located on the top floor of his skyscraper. It had a private elevator, high-tech sensors, a high-voltage electric grid, an automated defense system, and so on.
For a CEO's office, it was armed to the teeth.
Of course, it posed little trouble for Orin Vale. In fact, if he was determined to get in, there was hardly a room on this Planet he couldn't enter.
Orin Vale entered Holt's office while maintaining his stealth, phasing through the wall. No one was inside. His Enhanced Vision swept across the entire office, and he noted that no one had entered this room for at least a week.
Taking two steps toward the desk, Orin Vale suddenly noticed a faint change in the air currents.
With a jolt of his mind, his thoughts instinctively accelerated. An invisible electric arc filled the entire room. His body floated lightly to the side, and a high-speed whirlwind that had just swept past him instantly sent the documents on the desk flying into the air, where they were suspended, scattered haphazardly in midair.
The next moment, a laser beam shot out from behind him as if from nowhere, piercing through and melting several of the floating papers.
Orin Vale turned his head to see that three floating metal spheres had appeared beside him out of nowhere. They formed a triangular formation, trapping him in the middle. Each sphere was imprinted with the "T" logo representing Mister Terrific.
He recognized them at a glance: Mister Terrific's signature black technology, the flying T-Spheres. They could fire lasers, emit electric currents, generate shield barriers, perform reconnaissance, turn invisible, carry people in flight, hack into any system, and so on. They were among the most advanced pieces of equipment in the world.
It seemed Holt had used the T-Spheres to set a trap here, specifically to capture any uninvited guests who broke into his office.
This was an interesting piece of technology.
Orin Vale thought for a moment, then, maintaining his high-speed mode, he floated forward and gently tapped each of the three small spheres with a speed so fast that even their built-in AIs couldn't react.
In a flash, the firewalls crumbled and the programs were rewritten. The red glow on the "T" logos of all three spheres disappeared simultaneously as they switched from alert to friendly mode.
The acceleration ceased. Orin Vale stopped and clapped his hands in satisfaction.
Your T-Spheres are pretty nice.
But now they're mine.
"Alright, now, would any of you be willing to share information about that Quantum Tunnel directly with me? It'll save me the trouble of having to look for it myself," Orin Vale's gaze swept over the three small spheres.
The three spheres flew forward with immense affection, vying to be the first to project floating screens filled to the brim with all of Michael's classified archives.
A complete reversal of their earlier hostile attitude, their current eagerness seemed to say, "This way, Big Shot."
(end of chapter)
