Steel Body

Bang! Accompanied by the roar of wind and thunder, Aeo landed heavily in front of the entrance to the abandoned warehouse.

"Efi, are you sure this is the place?" Aeo frowned and asked doubtfully into the miniature communicator by his ear.

"That's right. This is it!" the Smart Butler replied with absolute certainty.

With no other choice, Aeo used his X-ray vision to scan the enormous abandoned warehouse. Fortunately, he finally spotted the kidnappers deep inside, along with Rachel Dawes, whom they had brought here. "All right, she really is here."

"Hm?" The kidnappers were also alerted by the huge noise at the entrance.

"Go take a look," said one of the kidnappers wearing a Joker mask.

The other five kidnappers looked at each other and were about to move when the Son of Krypton outside slightly shifted his stance. With a bang, his Steel Body smashed directly through the wall, and before anyone could react, he sent the kidnapper closest to Rachel Dawes flying with a single punch.

"Boom! Boom boom!" The unfortunate kidnapper crashed through countless oil drums, wooden tables, and piles of debris.

"..."

Everyone was stunned by the enormous commotion, standing frozen as they watched the kidnapper fly far away, his bones shattered and tendons torn...

"Fuck!" The Joker-masked man who had spoken earlier finally snapped out of it. Eyes bloodshot, he grabbed an MP5 and opened fire at the Son of Krypton. "Who the hell are you?!"

"Damn it!" Aeo had originally intended to take them out first, but afraid that Rachel behind him might be struck by a stray bullet, he had no choice but to spread his arms and shield her tightly. Bang bang bang bang.

"Ahhh!" Rachel Dawes screamed without stopping.

Click, click.

At last, the kidnappers ran out of bullets. They stared uncertainly at the spot where the newcomer and hostage stood, now shrouded in smoke.

"Tsk. I knew they couldn't hurt me, but that feeling..." As the smoke dispersed, the Son of Krypton stood before them completely unharmed. Seeing the kidnappers' jaws nearly hit the floor, Aeo rolled his neck. "Gentlemen, now that you're done shooting, it's my turn."

"No—" The Joker-masked kidnapper had not even finished screaming before Aeo struck him away with terrifying speed.

Bang bang bang.

The remaining four kidnappers fell as well.

Lowering his fist, the Son of Krypton, who had not even gotten enough exercise to count as warming up, clicked his tongue. "Tsk, that wasn't satisfying at all."

Compared to ten years ago, he might not have been able to crush everything in his path yet, but beating up ordinary people was no problem at all. After dealing with every kidnapper, Aeo turned to Rachel, who was staring blankly in shock. "Hey, beautiful. Looks like I wasn't too late. Are you okay?"

"..."

Rachel felt as if she were dreaming. Tonight had been utterly surreal.

First, a policewoman had tricked her into believing Harvey had been injured and was being treated at the hospital. Then, when she anxiously drove there herself, a group of kidnappers abducted her and brought her here. They had said they would strap explosives to her and Harvey and make the two of them die together. But just then, a handsome young man had suddenly appeared from nowhere—Zhou Xiao was only sixteen at the time. With his blond hair and gray eyes, he was extraordinarily handsome, and his unbelievably muscular build for someone his age made him an absolute heartthrob—then this cute young man had taken down kidnappers armed with machine guns in just a few moves, with skills terrifying enough to defy belief. Other than dreaming, Rachel could not think of any explanation for everything that had happened tonight.

Especially since this handsome Xiao, dressed in nothing more than an ordinary black hoodie, was actually impervious to blades and bullets—there was no mistaking it. Through the bullet holes in his clothes, Rachel had clearly seen the Son of Krypton's smooth, uninjured skin.

"Excuse me... are you an alien?" Rachel could not help asking stupidly.

Aeo smiled. After looking around and confirming that the explosives had only just been brought out and that there was no one else here, he said with a grin, "Does that matter? What matters is that you're safe, beautiful."

He casually packed the explosives back up and weighed them in his hand. With this much, let alone blowing up a person, it would have been more than enough to blow up a building. The Joker really had wasted them on something trivial.

"Instead of worrying about that, shouldn't you be worrying about how your boyfriend is doing right now?"

Rachel's expression immediately changed. "Can you save Harvey? He's innocent, uh..."

"Aeo Zod. You can call me Aeo Zod," Aeo said with a smile.

"Aeo?" Rachel did not have time to care about the handsome young man's strange name. "Zod! Can you help save Harvey? Your skills..." she asked, hope shining in her eyes.

Aeo shook his head, and the light in Rachel's eyes instantly went out. "Why? Aren't you a superhero? You're so skilled—you took down all the kidnappers in an instant, and you're even impervious to blades and bullets..."

"Heh, calm down, my lady." Aeo reassured her. "I didn't say I wouldn't save him. It's just..."

"Just what?" Rachel looked at him through tear-filled eyes.

"It's just that someone should already be saving him..." Aeo searched the kidnappers and found a walkie-talkie, which he waved at her.

"Hello? What happened over there... why did you suddenly go silent...?"

"Bang!"

"It's Batman! Damn it, how did he find out we were here...?"

"Shoot him! Shoot him now!"

"Rat-tat-tat!"

"No." Over there, Bruce had finally tracked down the kidnappers' location again with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help after racing against time. When they split into two teams to conduct the rescue, Bruce had mistakenly chosen the group holding Harvey Dent. So when Harvey saw Batman coming to save him, he was not happy at all.

"Why did you save me?! Rachel—Rachel was kidnapped too..."

Batman, who had already rescued the wrong person, felt even more miserable. He hurriedly snatched the walkie-talkie from the kidnapper's waist, took a deep breath, and said, "Rachel. Rachel, are you all right?"

"Harvey?" A familiar voice suddenly came through. Harvey was so overjoyed that he ignored the bindings around his body and hopped over to Batman's side. "I'm fine! Rachel, are you okay...?"

"I'm fine too." The star-crossed lovers had finally reunited, making Aeo smile while Batman's heart ached.

"I was saved by a superhero..."

Hm? Batman finally realized something was wrong. He grabbed the walkie-talkie that Harvey Dent had practically pressed to his face and coldly asked the other side, "Who saved you, Rachel? Sir, you are...?"

Harvey was also slightly stunned, then stared nervously at the walkie-talkie.

"Crackle, crackle." After the usual static, a young voice spoke. "Batman, who I am isn't important. What's important is that your friend Rachel is safe... I know you suspect who I am, but I want to say this, Batman: I'm not your enemy... If you're really worried, I'll hand Rachel over to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who'll be arriving shortly. That should put your mind at ease, right?"

After saying that, Batman could no longer hear the other side's voice.

"Rachel! Hello, Rachel!"

Beside him, the district attorney shouted even more anxiously than Batman.

Woo-woo~~

Outside, the police had finally arrived. Bruce steadied himself, helped Harvey cut the tape binding him, then glanced at the kidnappers and explosives strewn across the floor. His face darkened as he instructed, "Harvey Dent, the police are here. I'm leaving first."

After a pause, Batman said with a hint of apology, "You got dragged into this for no reason. Be careful. I'll bring Rachel back safely..."

With that, Harvey's vision blurred, and Batman had vanished.

"..."