allendalepharm Chapter 394 There are False Men Among Us
Chapter 394 There are False Men Among Us
Chapter 394 There are False Men Among Us
"You're leaving already? How long has it been since we last saw each other?"
As Joey prepared to journey into deep space, Starfire embraced her from behind. Feeling the soft warmth against her back, Joey composed herself but could only forcefully break free of the embrace: "Time waits for no one."
The meeting was so brief that Joey and Starfire, who had been separated for a long time, had to part again after less than ten minutes of meeting.
Joey even brought a backpack specifically for this trip, containing a teleportation beacon that Tony had just temporarily assembled, carrying hundreds of thousands of possible coordinates.
These coordinates are all locations that Batman has selected as difficult to deal with, star systems that are extremely dangerous even for Green Lantern.
"Either the surrounding celestial environment is enough to kill all life, or the local residents are simple and honest." Since Joey has the power to roam freely in the universe, he naturally has to take on the biggest and most dangerous workload.
"You can go with Superman."
Batman, who had been standing aside observing coldly, handed Starfire a green lantern ring: "We have plenty of green lantern rings here."
Since the Kryptonians took her Green Lantern ring, he'll just give her another one.
"I—" Before Starfire could say anything, Joey stopped Batman by raising his hand: "No, she just escaped from the Kryptonians and needs to rest. Besides—efficiency comes first—"
"Oh~~~" Tony stroked his chin with a mischievous grin: "If I were you, I definitely couldn't be this focused."
""
Although Superman's words were somewhat euphemistic, both those directly involved and those not directly involved understood what he meant.
If the passionate spark were to travel with Superman, Superman himself couldn't imagine how much it would affect efficiency along the way.
While these clueless guys were making a fool of themselves, Batman was like an outsider, and he was secretly starting to frown.
Superman is blinded by concern and can't see the problem, while Batman always feels that something is wrong.
Was the other party being a little too enthusiastic?
If the two had indeed been separated for about half a year, then such passion would be understandable. But the problem is that it was Superman, not Starfire, who had been separated for more than half a year.
In Xinghuo's perception, the two had only been apart for a few hours at most. He knew that the Tamaran people were used to expressing their emotions outwardly, but this was a bit too outward, wasn't it?
When one plan failed, Batman came up with a new one.
"Tony?"
He pulled a thin cigar from his bat-belt at his waist, then asked Iron Man for a light: "A lighter."
"I'm quitting smoking, and I've locked all those little gadgets away."
Tony held out his palm, showing Batman his palm-sized cannon: "Will this work? — And give me one too~"
slap~
An impatient Spark stepped forward, snapped his fingers, and a flame appeared on Batman's cigarette butt: "You're welcome."
Batman, who was only a step away from Starfire, shook the flame burning on his cigar and then slowly extinguished it: "Next time—it needs to be trimmed before it can be lit."
He wasn't in the mood for smoking at the moment; all Batman wanted was that tiny spark from before.
The fact that Xinghuo actually used the Tamaran's abilities to light the flame proves at least one thing: he is not a Martian.
There's also a transactional cooperative relationship between the Martians and the Kryptonians, something Batman remembers.
Those Martians are skilled at mimicry and disguise, and their disguises are so convincing that almost no one can tell the difference. However, this race is extremely afraid of fire.
This is the underlying logic engraved in the Martian DNA, just like the human knee-jerk reflex, which is insurmountable.
With the flames erupting at such close range, if the other party were truly a Martian, they would have already revealed their true form in shock.
What happened?
Seeing Starfire and Joey getting all lovey-dovey again, Batman's brows furrowed even more.
Perhaps the people of Tamaran are just that enthusiastic?
Batman couldn't ask the other party about things from the past to distinguish between truth and falsehood, after all, he hadn't been on Earth for as long as Starfire had.
This is difficult.
Batman also began to wonder if he was being too paranoid. A good detective shouldn't have preconceived notions, but his intuition just wouldn't let him.
Many past experiences have taught me to trust my intuition, but intuition can sometimes be wrong, even for someone like Batman.
After much deliberation, Batman decided to suppress his suspicions for now; finding the location of the Soul Stone was the most important thing.
However, he really needs to be careful and keep an eye on the other party.
Soon after Iron Man dismissed Superman, Batman, who was about to embark on his journey, came knocking.
Iron Man is currently acting as a helpful customer service representative, explaining the functions of his backpack device to Joey: "Press once to switch to the next navigation coordinate, press twice to switch to the previous one, long press to activate noise cancellation—haha, don't worry, just kidding—"
"Long press to initiate an emergency teleportation, which can send you from billions of miles away directly to the top floor of my building, and it can even send you back in the opposite direction! — Don't be surprised, Stark technology is just that amazing!" ~ And also —"
After patiently waiting for Tony and Superman to finish their long, rambling conversation before getting to the point, Batman finally put his arm around the other's shoulder from behind: "Iron Man."
"Holy crap!" The bat that suddenly appeared behind Tony startled him. "What the hell? Do people in your universe have some weird rule that makes them die if they make a sound while walking?"
Superman walks without making a sound because he's floating the whole time with his feet off the ground, so he's not walking at all. Batman, on the other hand, is like a ghost because he's on the ground but still makes no sound.
"From now on, no joking around, no interruptions—listen to me." Batman's tone was serious, and he carried that weight with Joey on the other end of the line: "Superman, you too, listen carefully."
Rather than confronting each other directly, Batman felt it was more appropriate for the three of them to find each other's weaknesses in private. He solemnly stated, "One of us is an imposter."
"————!" Tony, who had his back to Batman, was shocked.
For a mere 0.01 seconds, Doctor Doom, who had successfully possessed Tony, thought he had been exposed.
But upon further reflection, he quickly regained his composure—
Doctor Doom is Tony, but Tony isn't Doctor Doom yet. He's pretending to be someone who hasn't experienced that much time, which is a flawless deception.
If it were truly his own problem, Batman wouldn't stand behind him and calmly reveal the secret through words.
He had already resorted to some underhanded tactics.
"Don't you think there's something wrong with Spark?"
Batman's question left both Joey and Tony somewhat puzzled.
When it comes to Kryptonians, Joey has no choice but to be cautious, but he had indeed verified it with his own abilities and the result was that there were no problems.
"Spark should be fine."
The moment the other person wasn't wearing the green light ring, even though Starfire's reason was flawless, Joey still secretly glanced at her with her super vision: "A standard Tamaran, the DNA structure matches perfectly, and didn't you just try it? She's not a Martian."
Joey could certainly see through Batman's little scheme: using a flame to test if the other party was a Martian in disguise. It was a good idea, and it would have been even better if Starfire hadn't discovered it.
The fact that the other person offered to light Batman's cigarette proves this point.
"Guys, can we focus on the Infinity Stones for now?"
Tony interrupted their argument and discussion, finding Batman's unwarranted caution to be nothing more than paranoia: "Superman must continue searching for the Soul Stone's location; he's the most efficient among us. As for the Starfire issue—"
Under normal circumstances, Tony might have suggested that she simply travel with Superman!
If the other party is really fake, they will be exposed sooner or later. Even if the disguise is flawless, with Superman watching and far away from Earth in the middle of nowhere in outer space, it would be impossible for her to cause any trouble.
However, it is now absolutely necessary for Batman to maintain this skeptical attitude.
Since the suspect isn't me, the more things I do to draw the other party's attention, the easier it will be for me to act secretly.
Besides Xinghuo, weren't there three other people who came back?
Tony used a diversionary tactic: "Instead of suspecting Starfire, I think we should suspect those three more. How did they manage to escape from that Kryptonian-filled spaceship so easily?"