Chapter 370
Ant-Man Hank Pym was nearly insane with rage.
How long had it been since Batman infiltrated Pym Technologies to steal Pym Particles? Barely a week!
For seven days he'd spent every waking moment plotting how to capture Batman in one stroke and retrieve his stolen Pym Particles.
But before his detailed plan could be implemented, Hank Pym had watched helplessly as a little girl burst into the building and flashed a badge at him.
"FBI!"
Then, in less than one second of his stunned reaction, the badge in the little girl's hands dropped to the floor. BANG—it exploded, rapidly dispersing intensely irritating gas.
By the time Hank Pym's recently developed Ultron robots—not yet in official production—and his ant army swarmed to the location, he could only watch the little girl bounce out of a laboratory, clutching a vial of deep red liquid.
That was his Pym Particles.
Having Pym Particles stolen yet again, Ant-Man was already furious beyond measure. He didn't care how old this little girl was, whether she'd reached adulthood. He swore that after catching her, he'd send her straight to juvenile detention.
But the little girl seemed exceptionally skilled at evading pursuit. She'd circled Manhattan once and managed to temporarily lose Ant-Man completely.
When Ant-Man finally picked up her trail again and caught up, the first thing he saw was the massive Devil Dinosaur. The second was Batman's expressionless face standing nearby.
No hesitation. No consideration. No communication.
Ant-Man Hank Pym instinctively assumed this little girl stealing Pym Particles had also been Batman's idea.
This transformed his fury into nearly tangible flames. He and Wasp Janet launched direct attacks on Batman without a word.
"Hey! I'm the one who stole your Pym Particles! And it was Reed's idea!"
Lunella sat atop Devil Dinosaur's head, cupping her hands around her mouth like a megaphone as she shouted.
Batman had already saved her once, plus saved Devil Dinosaur once—that counted as two life-saving favors to Lunella.
She had absolutely no intention of letting Batman take the blame. Her plan had been meeting Batman then returning to Manhattan to leave Ant-Man a few more clues.
By the time Ant-Man followed the trail, Lunella would already be on a plane to Uzbekistan.
Ant-Man and Wasp completely ignored Lunella's shouts, launching a relentless series of attacks against Batman.
Their bodies continuously shrank and enlarged under the effects of their respective Ant-Man and Wasp suits combined with Pym Particles. Each enlargement coincided with punches and kicks.
Lunella blinked. The scene before her eyes looked like Ant-Man and Wasp constantly teleporting. Each appearance brought attacks from different positions and directions.
Often one appearance's image hadn't yet faded from Lunella's vision before the next attack arrived silently, the entire process taking less than a tenth of a second.
Such brief intervals couldn't form clear images in human eyes. What Lunella saw were merely residual afterimages—traces of light lingering in her eyes from each manifestation.
Lunella didn't understand how Ant-Man and Wasp accomplished this. Reed Richards had said they were ordinary people... did this relate to Pym Particles?
For one instant, Lunella considered using the chance while Ant-Man fought Batman to return to Pym Technologies and steal another vial of Pym Particles.
One vial for Devil Dinosaur's transformation, one for research.
But emotion conquered reason. Lunella shook her head in self-negation. She couldn't cause Batman more trouble.
"After this, Batman probably considers me just another brat like any ordinary person," Lunella's mouth twisted downward.
Lizard Professor stood to the side, spreading his ten fingers. Sharp claws shot out with a SHING almost the instant Batman took damage.
Like Lunella, he couldn't clearly distinguish Ant-Man and Wasp's attack patterns, but that didn't prevent him from intervening.
Lizard Professor closed his eyes. In the darkness after losing visual input, he could "see" two heat-radiating figures circling Batman.
Both figures constantly enlarged and shrank, darting and weaving around Batman with lightning speed, switching positions until even infrared perspective blurred them into indistinct masses.
Most lizard species lacked infrared sensing capability. Only extremely rare breeds possessed it.
But Lizard Professor was different. His genetic mutation into lizard form made him the king among all reptiles, possessing virtually every ability found across all lizard species.
When necessary, Lizard Professor could even spit acid from his mouth or inflate his body with pustules that sprayed toxins.
But these counted as surprise tactics. Lizard Professor rarely used them, preferring to rely on his claws and tail—nearly as long as his body—for close combat.
"Professor, take Lunella away." Batman urged Lizard Professor between exchanges. "I can handle them."
Lizard Professor didn't hesitate. He nodded firmly. "Alright!"
With that, Lizard Professor turned toward Lunella, still sitting atop Devil Dinosaur shouting at Ant-Man and Wasp.
"Come with me!"
"No! This is trouble I caused! I can't burden Batman!" Lunella shook her head.
If not for fear of hitting Batman by mistake, Lunella would have already urged Devil Dinosaur into action.
"Staying here IS burdening him." Lizard Professor raised his claws toward Lunella. "Use Pym Particles to shrink Devil Dinosaur. I'll take you both away."
Lunella opened her mouth. Before she could speak, Lizard Professor offered a second option:
"Or I kill Devil Dinosaur and take only you."
Lunella's heart lurched, scalp immediately tingling. Looking at Lizard Professor's appearance brimming with primitive ferocity, she instinctively shrank against Devil Dinosaur's body.
THUMP.
Lizard Professor stepped forward once.
Lunella snapped awake instantly. She rapidly pulled Pym Particles from a pouch at her waist, then extracted a series of toy-like tools from her backpack.
But however clever she was, she'd only just obtained the Pym Particles. Facing this creation embodying Hank Pym's life's wisdom, she felt somewhat at a loss.
"Forget it. I don't want to waste time." Lizard Professor shook his head, releasing pheromones toward Devil Dinosaur.
Under Lunella's astonished gaze, Devil Dinosaur curled head and tail against its abdomen. The massive creature rolled into an irregular ball.
Lizard Professor bent down and scooped upward in one motion, hoisting Devil Dinosaur's seventeen-to-eighteen-ton bulk onto his shoulder. With a thunderous BOOM, his feet struck earth as he charged away.
"Waaaaaah!" Lizard Professor's fierce action terrified Lunella. She gripped Devil Dinosaur's broken horns with both hands, not daring to release them.
Only after person, lizard, and dinosaur had covered over a hundred meters did Lizard Professor finally stop, looking back toward Batman.
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