The giant Tyrannosaurus Rex was easily three times the size of Professor Connors in his Lizard form, which stood at only three meters tall and five meters long.
The beast held a clear advantage in sheer scale, but the Lizard's strength—exceeding eighty tons—ensured he wouldn't be a "cowardly lizard." Instead, he took the initiative, lunging forward and whipping his tail toward the creature.
Seeing the Lizard charge straight for it, a flicker of human-like disdain appeared on the giant T-Rex's massive, prehistoric face. Its own much thicker tail swept upward, lashing out with the momentum of its shifting weight.
BOOM!
The collision of flesh on flesh sounded like a clap of muffled thunder. The bony spurs on the Lizard's tail shattered and went flying. Before the spray of blood could even hit the ground, it evaporated instantly under the sheer force of the impact.
The giant T-Rex fared no better. A series of sickening cracks rang out as the bones within its tail snapped under the pressure of the head-on collision. Furthermore, the thick skin and muscle were torn asunder, sending large chunks of bloody meat tumbling to the dirt.
The primitives had seemed brimming with confidence in their giant T-Rex, waiting expectantly for a grand display of beastly dominance. Seeing their champion injured, their faces twisted into expressions of panic. They began shouting words that the Lizard couldn't understand.
Soon, led by an unknown individual, the primitives began to drop to their knees one by one, kowtowing repeatedly toward the giant T-Rex.
"ROAAR!"
Driven by intense pain, the giant T-Rex let out a mournful wail. This only terrified the primitives further; they prostrated themselves on the ground, clutching their heads and trembling in fear.
The Lizard watched the scene with cold eyes. Unlike the primitive societies of Earth where humans domesticated wild beasts, this world seemed to be the reverse. The giant T-Rex appeared to be the leader, while the humans were the domesticated livestock.
This eerie realization caused the Lizard to narrow his eyes. A sharp pang of pain shot through his own tail, but his reason and calm temperament kept him silent. His golden, vertical pupils remained fixed coldly on the worshipped T-Rex.
A second later, the Lizard charged again. The second round between the two monsters had begun.
Meanwhile, at the ring of fire.
Batman did not jump in. Instead, he reached back and grabbed his wide cape, snapping it forward.
The Batsuit's cape, engineered with fireproof and high-temperature resistant properties, acted like a soft yet resilient shield in front of him. He broke into a sprint, forcibly smashing a gap through the fiercely burning perimeter.
"Lunella!"
Batman reached the red-scorched Tyrannosaurus Rex in a few quick strides. Keeping a wary eye on the dinosaur, he extended a hand toward the young girl, Lunella.
"I'm Batman. I'm here to take you home!"
The flames of the fire ring rose nearly three meters high, acting like a wall of fire that blocked out all sights and sounds from the outside world. Only now did Lunella realize that someone had jumped through the yellow-green vortex into this primitive world to save her.
She tried to reach out, but the T-Rex—whose skin had been burned crimson—was using its body to protect her, inadvertently blocking her escape route.
Seeing this, Batman didn't hesitate. With a slight flex of his forearm muscles, he triggered the mechanism in his gauntlet, firing a strand of jet-black spider-silk.
With a sharp thwack, the silk adhered firmly to Lunella, and he hauled her toward him.
"Cough! Cough!"
The moment Lunella tumbled into Batman's arms, the intense heat and acrid smoke forced a fit of coughing, tears streaming down her face.
"Don't be afraid. Close your eyes," Batman comforted her.
As he spoke, he wrapped his cape around Lunella, cradling her with one arm. With the scorching air and stinging fumes blocked by the cape, Lunella wiped her eyes and looked up at Batman's jaw.
"Don't you need to breathe, Batman?" Her first words were a question of curiosity.
"I'm holding my breath, Lunella," Batman replied.
"Huh? Why?" Lunella asked, puzzled.
Most ordinary girls would have fainted from terror after being snatched by primitives, taken to a world full of dinosaurs, and thrown into a fire pit to huddle with a dying T-Rex. Even if they hadn't fainted, they certainly wouldn't be as quick to calm down as Lunella was now.
"Because I removed the air filtration system," Batman said.
Lunella looked down and noticed that inside the protective cocoon of the cape, an air filtration system—extending via tubes from the black Batsuit—was working hard to provide her with clean air.
"You're amazing. If a normal person talks while holding their breath, they lose their air supply rapidly. If they exhale and can't replenish their oxygen, they pass out," Lunella noted, wiping her nose on her sleeve.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Batman stomped across the ground, following the gap he had made to exit the ring of fire.
"Correct. I am very capable."
Only after clearing the flames did Batman let out a sharp exhale, followed by an inhale so long and deep that Lunella's eyes widened. For a moment, she felt like she wasn't being held by a man, but by a blue whale with staggering lung capacity.
"You really are strong, Batman."
Batman didn't say anything more. He nodded, constantly scanning the surroundings to get his bearings, ready to evacuate with the Lizard at any moment. He had a lingering question in his mind, but before he could ask, Lunella spoke first.
"I bet you're wondering why these primitives singled me out, even though Reed was the closest one to the vortex."
Batman glanced at her. He did indeed have that question, though he wasn't aware of the second half of her statement. After all, he hadn't been on the scene, and there hadn't been time to review the surveillance footage after arriving at the Baxter Building.
ROAR!
The Lizard was currently locked in a brutal struggle with the giant T-Rex. The creature was not only far larger than a normal dinosaur, but its strength and the defensive capabilities of its thick hide far exceeded a standard Tyrannosaurus. Even with the Lizard's eighty-plus tons of strength, he couldn't defeat it immediately.
"I have the answer to that, Batman."
Lunella poked her head out from the Bat-cape, watching the giant T-Rex as the Lizard pinned it to the ground with his claws.
"That dinosaur is the leader of this primitive tribe. It has a superpower."
"Just like me, and just like this Tyrannosaurus here... it possesses a degree of telepathy."
As she spoke, Lunella pointed toward the red-skinned Tyrannosaurus still within the ring of fire.
Baxter Building
Tony Stark aimed his repulsor at Reed Richards.
"Mr. Richards, I need to warn you for the third time: you are prohibited from approaching the Omni-Wave Projector."
Reed Richards ignored him and continued running toward the machine, even rolling his eyes at Tony.
"Please. I am a genius protected by this country. You're pointing a weapon at me? If the President hears about this, even your boss, Tony Stark, won't be able to protect you."
Behind his metal mask, Tony Stark's teeth were clenched tight. He couldn't actually blast Reed Richards, and legally, he wasn't even allowed to knock him unconscious. The man was one of the few strategic-level talents in the United States; his importance far outweighed the high-end weaponry Stark Industries had previously provided to the military.
But what did that have to do with "Iron Man"? At worst, he'd just switch identities later—maybe to "Iron Superman" or something!
Hardening his heart, Tony swung his palm to strike just as Reed reached the Omni-Wave Projector.
"Tony Stark, have you really thought this through?"
Just as Tony's hand was about to connect with Reed's head, Reed Richards looked at him fearlessly and called him by his true name.
"You thought you could hide from everyone by calling yourself 'Iron Man,' but you can't hide from me, Tony."
"Given that I've known for a long time and haven't told a soul, let me take a close look at this Omni-Wave Projector. I promise I won't touch it."
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