Time flies—and another week has passed in the blink of an eye.
During this week, Loren once again locked himself in the secret experimental lab, devoting himself entirely to his research without sleep or food.
Finally, on the seventh day, he successfully installed the improved version of the Ark Reactor into both 2B and the Batsuit.
"Boss, is this the Ark Reactor? Such surging energy! I feel like I have endless strength!"
Feeling the reactor's powerful output, 2B's face lit up with excitement.
Before this upgrade, she'd had to enter charging mode every night while Loren slept—leaving her unable to warm his bed.
Now, thanks to the Ark Reactor, she could go an entire month without recharging—even if its energy were completely drained. All she'd need to do was swap it out for a fresh unit, a process that took barely a dozen seconds—far more convenient than traditional charging.
"The Ark Reactor runs on nuclear fusion," Loren explained. "Its energy efficiency dwarfs that of older battery technologies. Not only does it grant you an extremely long standby time, but it also dramatically boosts your reaction speed and physical strength. On top of that, you can now use the anti-gravity device in your boots for extended periods—giving you true flight capability."
Hearing this, 2B nodded silently—then immediately activated the anti-gravity system.
In an instant, she became weightless. Her body broke free from gravity's pull and floated effortlessly into the air.
Ordinarily, sustained flight requires a powerful engine to generate thrust—but the anti-gravity device worked differently. Instead of propulsion, it created a localized counterforce to gravity itself—similar in principle to the repulsion between like magnetic poles. The result was silent, smooth, and utterly noiseless.
She hovered there, graceful as a character from Dragon Ball, her movements elegant and fluid.
"I can fly… I can really fly!"
Seeing herself soar so easily, 2B squealed with childlike glee. Then, like a bird set free, she began darting around the laboratory.
At first, her movements were slightly unsteady—but within seconds, she'd mastered the art of flight. Even in the confined space of the lab, she maneuvered with astonishing precision and control.
"Boss, come fly with me! Let's go outside, okay?"
Her excitement grew by the second, and the lab's walls soon felt too small. She turned to Loren, beckoning him eagerly—knowing full well that he, too, had integrated the Ark Reactor into his Batsuit and could now fly alongside her.
Loren regarded her with the fond, indulgent expression of a weary but proud father.
"Alright," he said, "let's go out and fly together… and kill someone while we're at it." A glint of ruthlessness flickered in his eyes.
"Kill someone?" 2B's eyes widened—not with fear, but with exhilaration. As a general-purpose combat android, battle was her greatest joy. "Are you talking about that World Security Council minister you mentioned last time?"
"Yes," Loren confirmed, his voice cold. "It's time to kill Alexander Pierce."
With that, he spread his arms and stood tall in the center of the lab—ready for what came next.
And this action seemed to trigger some kind of signal.
Suddenly, black mechanical components shot out from the laboratory's combat wardrobe and automatically assembled themselves onto Loren's body.
Over the past week, Loren hadn't just installed an Arc Reactor into the Batsuit—he'd also made significant upgrades to the suit itself.
He'd modularized it, separating each component so the armor could be donned quickly, like interlocking building blocks.
Moreover, he'd embedded a miniature anti-gravity device into every module, granting each one independent flight capability.
He'd even pre-positioned several new Batsuits in low-Earth orbit aboard satellites.
That way, no matter where he was—even thousands of miles away—as long as the satellites could lock onto his location, a suit could streak down to him at high speed.
Not only was it undeniably cool, but it also drastically reduced suit-up time.
This concept wouldn't be realized by Tony Stark until Iron Man 3—but Loren had already brought it to life, ahead of schedule.
His inspiration, however, hadn't come from Stark at all, but from the anime Saint Seiya, which he'd watched as a child.
"Boss, you're so cool!"
Watching Loren suit up in such a dramatic fashion, 2B couldn't help but exclaim in awe.
"What's even cooler is yet to come!" Loren grinned and immediately opened the lab's steel canopy.
As the sky opened above him, Loren merely rose onto his tiptoes—
—and his entire body floated upward like a feather.
With a sharp whoosh, he rocketed into the sky.
His speed instantly surpassed Mach 1, and a vapor cone—the telltale sign of a sonic boom—flared behind him.
But he didn't stop there. Within seconds, he accelerated further, hitting Mach 3.
For context, Tony Stark's Iron Man suit needed to operate at full capacity just to barely reach Mach 3.
For Loren, it was as effortless as breathing. Clearly, his Batsuit had already surpassed Stark's Iron Man armor in performance.
In the blink of an eye, he'd climbed to an altitude of ten thousand meters—
—and his velocity had now reached a staggering Mach 3.5, far outpacing most modern fighter jets.
With capabilities like that, "terrifying" wasn't an exaggeration.
"Boss, slow down! I can hardly keep up with you!"
2B's voice crackled through the comms inside Loren's helmet.
He eased off the throttle and hovered in place.
Moments later, 2B caught up and appeared beside him.
"The view from up here is breathtaking!" she said, gazing at the horizon.
"It is beautiful," Loren agreed. "But hidden within that beauty is something vile. It's time to remove it."
"Alice—locate Alexander immediately and eliminate him."
"Understood. Locating…"