Chapter 369
"Is she mocking me?" Lizard Professor watched Lunella bounce in place at a distance, refusing to approach any closer. He snorted hot air from his nostrils.
"No. She's afraid of you," Batman said, glancing at Lizard Professor.
Though Devil Dinosaur's crimson body and massive size certainly justified the "devil" designation, at least the creature had protected Lunella in the prehistoric world.
Meanwhile, Lizard Professor's vicious bone spikes and talons, thick tail, and those vertical pupils reflecting hints of gold in the pitch darkness—all made him appear far more terrifying than Devil Dinosaur.
Lizard Professor turned helplessly toward Batman's stern expression. "I know. I was just joking."
Lizard Professor had visited the prehistoric world, rescued Lunella alongside Batman—they simply hadn't exchanged any words throughout.
In Lizard Professor's eyes, Lunella rated as a clever little girl at most. He'd originally planned to tease her the way he would his own daughter.
But clearly, that idea wouldn't work out.
"Lunella, this is Lizard Professor. Don't be afraid."
Batman spoke through encrypted communications to Lunella, still seven or eight hundred meters away.
Receiving the message, Lunella looked up in Batman's direction. When she saw Lizard Professor raise both front claws in a surrender gesture, she couldn't help but giggle.
Based on her trust in Batman, Lunella didn't hesitate long. She continued bouncing forward on her spring-loaded shoes.
"You came alone?"
Only when Lunella stood before Batman did he ask.
No one stood behind Lunella. Batman had expected Reed Richards to follow, but the man was completely absent.
"I ditched him," Lunella said with evident pride. "Reed wanted to track me. I figured he definitely wanted to get the full-wave projector back from you, so I lost him."
Batman didn't press further, his attention shifting to the various gadgets covering Lunella's body. "You made all these yourself?"
"Of course!" Lunella eagerly demonstrated her contraptions to Batman. "Look, these shoes don't just provide strong enough bounce to let me jump long distances like the Hulk, they can also do this—"
Mid-sentence, blue light flared from her soles. Impact streams shot downward from the shoe bottoms, the reverse thrust lifting Lunella's body wobbling into midair.
"Big guy! Did you miss me?" Lunella called out to Devil Dinosaur.
Devil Dinosaur responded with a loud snort, then stretched its head toward Lunella while opening its fang-filled maw wide.
Lunella's heart lurched, but her psychic sense detected no hostility from Devil Dinosaur. Even nearby Lizard Professor and Batman remained completely unmoved by the gaping jaws approaching her.
She chose to trust Batman once more, watching Devil Dinosaur's mouth draw closer and closer... until it clamped her denim jacket and tossed her upward.
THUMP. Devil Dinosaur flung Lunella onto its head in one mouthful, settling her securely between the two broken horns.
"Woohoo!" Lunella couldn't help but cheer, gripping the broken horn bases with both hands as Devil Dinosaur carried her through a full rotation.
Under Lizard Professor's pheromone influence, Devil Dinosaur regarded him as a father figure—clearly wouldn't engage in such playful interaction with him.
But in Devil Dinosaur's eyes, Lunella was a companion. Tossing her onto its head and spinning caused zero psychological stress.
"Heh heh heh." Lizard Professor stood to the side watching Lunella—whose body wasn't even as large as Devil Dinosaur's arm—laughing at something unknown.
Batman's expression remained neutral, his gaze scanning Lunella's equipment through the Arkham suit's white lenses, examining each piece methodically.
Lunella's homemade gadgets carried a strong personal style... toy-like aesthetics, vastly different from Batman's utilitarianism and completely unlike Reed Richards' approach.
After scanning Lunella head to toe, confirming she carried no listening devices or trackers Reed might have planted, and verifying Reed genuinely hadn't followed, Batman finally broached the main topic. "Lunella, Devil Dinosaur's size is extremely conspicuous. After taking him away, have you considered how to address this problem?"
"Devil Dinosaur? I love that name." Lunella hugged Devil Dinosaur's head, pushing up her round glasses to think before answering. "Reed said he could help me, but needed the full-wave projector in exchange..."
Batman remained silent.
"But the full-wave projector was in Reed's hands less than a day before he caused the dinosaur invasion disaster. Though it let me meet Devil Dinosaur as a companion, who knows what else might happen with the projector in his hands."
Lunella looked at Batman's jaw. "So I refused him."
"What was his method?" Lizard Professor asked curiously.
"He said Pym Technologies in Manhattan has a miraculous substance called Pym Particles. He could help me obtain some to use on Devil Dinosaur," Lunella said.
Batman still didn't speak.
Reed's idea aligned perfectly with Batman's own thinking. Among Batman's several prepared plans for Lunella—building her a large private zoo, purchasing an island in the East River exclusively for her—naturally included one utilizing Pym Particles.
But Lunella had refused Reed's conditions. Batman felt somewhat curious what this little girl planned to do.
"I'm taking Devil Dinosaur home," Lunella said. "Back to Samarkand."
Samarkand was a city in Uzbekistan. Batman wasn't surprised hearing that word from Lunella's mouth.
Unlike Dane Whitman, who'd vanished completely after a fire, Lunella's appearance in New York had documented records—she'd been sent for schooling but played hooky because teachers only taught knowledge she'd already mastered.
Unfortunately, her truant days hadn't lasted long before Dr. Helen Cho, managing Professor Miles Warren's condition, encountered her. Seeing the little girl's exceptional intelligence, Dr. Cho had simply sent her to colleague and friend Reed Richards.
"Judging by your outfit, you seem to have prepared for a long journey before leaving," Batman said.
While scanning Lunella earlier, he'd noticed her backpack—besides being a rocket booster—contained considerable food supplies and a stack of bills.
"Exactly!" Lunella nodded, refusing to dismount from Devil Dinosaur's head.
"New York sits over ten thousand kilometers from Samarkand. Your idea seems somewhat naive," Lizard Professor couldn't help commenting. "Batman, can the full-wave projector send her back?"
"No." Batman and Lunella spoke simultaneously.
"I never said I'd ride Devil Dinosaur back. Actually, I'm planning to fly, and I've already arranged plane tickets and pet transport procedures," Lunella said with a grin.
Lizard Professor looked up at Devil Dinosaur, whose size rivaled a small aircraft. "You're certain?"
"I'm absolutely certain, because I stole Pym Particles from Pym Technologies~" Lunella giggled, raising her spring-loaded boxing glove fist. "By my calculations, Ant-Man and Wasp should be chasing us down right about now."
Batman's brow furrowed slightly. Before he could speak, his back suddenly went cold. Spider-sense erupted like a gushing spring.
CLANG!
Batman's left arm shot up, blocking his face. Almost simultaneously, tremendous force transmitted through the armor.
"Um, why aren't they attacking me? Why target Batman first?" Lunella blinked, watching Batman take invisible attacks.
"Professor, you and Lunella leave first," Batman said, fists clenched and positioned front and back in a fighting stance. "I'll hold them off."
***
20+advance chapters at patreon.com/Eatinpieces