Upon seeing this information, Clark immediately called Oliver.
"Bruce has been kidnapped again," he said. "Someone stuffed him into a black Honda car. But the car has special visual shielding, so he didn't see the details.
However, after communicating with the kidnappers, he judged that it might be one of my fellow Kryptonians.
I think you should find the location as soon as possible so we can rescue the kidnappers... Yes, the two of them had a conflict, and Bruce threatened to make him pay. I can't guarantee what will happen if this keeps dragging on."
Oliver hung up the phone, opened the group communication channel, repeated Clark's words, then said in a deep voice, "Fully track the whereabouts of the black Honda car!"
"Understood." Pamela pressed her gloved hand against the headset.
"On my way." Lex hurried down the stairs.
"Got it." Hal looked out at the sun through the floor-to-ceiling window.
"No problem." Harley put away the defense blueprints in her hand.
The Justice League swiftly operated, everyone searching for the mysterious black Honda car in their own ways. Countless signals converged inside Luthor Manor.
Meanwhile, on a cliff on the southern beach of Metropolis, a white beam of light invisible to the naked eye penetrated the soil and shot up from inside the cliff towards the sky.
Following the beam downward, a cave in the center of the cliff was revealed, clearly not a natural formation but artificially hollowed out.
On the side facing the sea, there was a barely noticeable entrance concealed by shrubbery, covered by a thin energy membrane that blocked all energy fluctuations inside.
Through the small entrance, the inside opened up into a vast cave. The neat cuts on the rock walls revealed the ease of excavation. At the deepest part of the cave stood a highly advanced spaceship.
The spaceship did not resemble the flying saucers humans thought aliens would pilot. Its shape was closer to a quadrilateral pyramid, with wings extended from each edge. When stationary inside the cave, the wings retracted, and faint lights gleamed along the edges.
Many workstations had been extended from the spaceship, turning the cave into a makeshift alien base.
At the center of the base was a transparent cylindrical chamber, just big enough for an adult human male to stand in. And the unlucky human currently standing there was Bruce.
He was baring his teeth and waving his fists, a slight injury on his mouth, clearly having just fought someone.
Given that the person standing before him was a standard Kryptonian, it was remarkable that Bruce had sustained only a minor injury on his mouth.
The tall figure opposite him was also suffering. He hadn't expected Batman's combat skills to be so proficient that a sweeping kick could knock him down.
Or rather, what he couldn't comprehend was why, after Batman knocked him down with a sweeping kick, the next move was to pull at his hair?
What bewildered him even more was his own instinct to grapple with Batman instead of using more sophisticated combat maneuvers.
One could say that any humanoid creature—or any being with four limbs, for that matter—will instinctively resort to brute actions like grabbing and clawing when first attacked, proficiently using a technique known as "Turtle Fist."
Once one person starts swinging "Turtle Fist," any advanced combat skills the opponent has are nullified, reducing the fight to a chaotic melee, where rich experience in chaotic battles prevails.
The events of the past few seconds convinced this extraterrestrial visitor that humans evolved from monkeys.
However, he was now uncertain where Kryptonians, who looked exactly like humans, originated.
"Bat-man!" he enunciated word by word.
"I told you, I'm not Batman!" Bruce paused more significantly than he did, looking even angrier.
"Very well, if you refuse to cooperate, I'll have to switch to a different method." The other party took a few steps back, reaching for a button on the control panel, and pressed it lightly.
The moment the button was pressed, a halo gradually illuminated above the cylindrical chamber, descending towards Bruce's head.
Bruce glanced up at the halo but did not show any sign of fear. Instead, there was a cunning smile on his face.
Suddenly, Bruce reached behind his waist.
The Kryptonian instinctively mirrored his movement and realized something was missing from his own waist.
Out of nowhere, Bruce produced a gun.
Zap—bang!!!
The energy chamber shattered, and Bruce disappeared in an instant. The Kryptonian turned to look for him and immediately heard the sound of a charging energy cutting gun.
Zap—bang! Bang! Bang!
A single charge, three successive shots, struck the three most valuable, complicated, and rare machines in the base.
Instantly, metal shards flew everywhere, electric sparks scattered around. A shadow flashed past the Kryptonian's eyes, and red light flickered in his vision.
Zap—!!
The laser beam swept across, destroying the device in front of him, creating a gap in the circle of equipment. A figure darted through the gap.
Seeing the figure heading towards the spaceship, the Kryptonian rushed forward, but the figure agilely circled behind the spaceship. He had to ascend rapidly, flying over the spaceship.
However, the opponent, being smaller and more agile, slipped past the side wings of the spaceship again.
When the energy cutting gun charged again, the Kryptonian felt a very bad premonition.
ZZZ—
A continuous sharp whine indicated the cutting gun had switched to cutting mode. But Bruce was hiding in his blind spot, making it impossible to see what he was cutting.
The Kryptonian had the cutting gun with him because it could slice through Krypton Technology's metals with ease, a very handy tool.
The Kryptonian initially thought that even if Bruce intended to sabotage the spaceship, he wouldn't know where the critical parts were located. In these few short seconds, he shouldn't be able to cut into the engine.
But when he circled around to catch Bruce, he found a large hole in his spaceship, and Bruce had already disappeared.
Could he have gone inside?!
Considering the potential damage Bruce, wielding the cutting gun, could do to the spaceship, the Kryptonian hurried back to the spaceship, activated the self-check system, and tried to locate the reckless intruder.
Yet, after a lengthy self-check, the system reported only damage to the spaceship's exterior, with no other threats indicated.
Worried it might be a trick, the Kryptonian manually scanned the ship, confirming only the hole in the shell, with no additional damage.
Flying out of the spaceship, he was left dumbfounded.
The spaceship was intact; only the spaceship was intact.
Or rather, there was only the spaceship left.
The entire base laid out around the spaceship had vanished, leaving only the natural dust of the cave, which scattered in the cold wind, desolate like the alien visitor's heart.
"Batman!!!!!!"
Hal, just flying back over Metropolis, heard this furious roar. He slapped his thigh and shouted, "Oh no! Hurry back to the base!"
Batman, flying behind him, quickly grabbed him, saying, "That should be a Kryptonian's voice, right? Could Bruce have encountered him?"
"That is indeed a Kryptonian's voice, but from the tone, it seems he encountered Bruce." Hal swung his cape and, with all speed, flew to Luthor Manor, only finding time to explain once on the ground, "Quick! Bruce must be planning his next move; we need to hurry!"
"If he has set a trap for Zod, then we should cooperate quickly. I think he might..." Batman began analyzing Bruce's plan, but Hal interrupted, "I think he might have set a trap for us!"
Before he finished speaking, Lex's image appeared on the communicator, shouting, "Hal! Stop that black Honda!!!"
Hal spun around to see a missile-like figure zooming over Metropolis, red eyes blazing, launching laser beams at the city.
He gasped, quickly taking off. Superman followed closely, with Injustice Superman flying out the window. They all flew in the same direction.
Standing at the door, Batman was nearly hit by Injustice Superman. Just as he was adjusting his position, Pamela stormed out.
Still in his lab coat, he tossed aside his protective goggles and floated into the air with his arms flung wide.
At the moment he raised his hands, countless vines burst from the ground, reaching skyward, then converging in the center, entwining to form a tight green net.
Simultaneously, Luthor Manor's energy shield activated.
"Are they launching a full-scale attack?!" Batman spoke into the communicator, "We must stop Zod immediately! I need equipment!"
"I have a question." A deeper voice came through the communicator. Injustice Batman said, "Why isn't Zod using his spaceship?"
Batman was momentarily speechless. He clearly didn't know either. Even if Kryptonian ship weapons were subpar, they were far superior to firing lasers with his eyes.
If this were probing attack, there was no need to expose himself; deploying drones would suffice. But if this was a full-on assault, why wasn't he using his spaceship?
Ultimately, Batman concluded that Zod must be extremely confident in his body's resilience, believing he could escape unscathed from an assault by three Supermen.
At that moment, a drone's hum sounded from behind. A box was dropped from the sky. Batman walked over to open it, discovering a full set of combat gear.
Though it bore Luthor Group's logo, it wasn't the time to care about that, as long as it worked.
Batman quickly donned the auxiliary exoskeleton, grabbed silver-colored Batman darts, similar in weight and shape to the ones he usually used, along with grapples, shooting guns, lighting bombs, tear gas, and other equipment.
Injustice Batman got into a clearly Luthor Group-produced combat vehicle. Unlike the Batmobile that looked like a sports car, this vehicle was a bona fide armed combat vehicle: high chassis, heavy weight, armed with various weapons.
The two Batmen drove towards the battlefield center in the same vehicle.
But upon reaching the battlefield center, Batman realized the battle wasn't what he'd expected.
Ignoring the rampaging Zod in the sky, nor the two Supermen close to Zod but making no moves, nor Barry and Hal running around ineffectively...
Who could tell him what the deal was with the black Honda being chased by dozens of police cars?