Chapter 648 No Discord, No Concord
Tony Stark had the support of Stark Industries’ research, and had far more convenient access to the necessary technology and raw materials.
Palladium, for example, was something that Tony could easily get his hands on.
He could use a plasma thruster any time he wanted as well.
Luke didn’t have that luxury.
Whether it was the radioactive nuclear material or the plasma thruster propulsion, they belonged to the military and were cla.s.sified.
As a huge military firearms business, Stark Industries specialized in these very products.
But the moment Luke used these things, he would be hunted down by the various intelligence agencies.
Rocket propulsion + nuclear material = ? Anybody with common sense knew the answer.
Unlike Tony Stark, who was only making a suit out of interest, Luke had always done things with a clear purpose in mind.
He wouldn’t blindly pursue glamor and progress, and would only choose the most suitable route for himself.
Thus, to avoid Tony Stark detecting him, or other people sensing the similarities in their technology, Luke deliberately stripped the test suit of most of its abilities.
Luke had also long taken Batman’s high-profile debut into account.
Given that he would be going to New York, it was an inevitable choice.
However, if L.A.’s Ghost Butcher were to appear in New York at the same time that Luke was transferred, anyone who paid attention to Luke would be able to discover this astonis.h.i.+ng coincidence just by a.n.a.lyzing the data.
It was like the old saying: Too many coincidences basically were no longer a coincidence.
Few people in intelligence were fools. Luke didn’t expect them to be idiots.
Luke had thus shown up in his guise as Batman in such a high profile manner last night. He was going to use this new ident.i.ty to strike at criminals in the coming months and completely put an end to the Ghost Butcher’s operations.
At the same time, setting up Batman as someone who saved people and didn’t kill made him the polar opposite of the coldblooded Ghost Butcher who killed all his opponents.
In any case, crippling criminals was as good as killing them, and could be even more frightening
Broken bones were enough to prevent an ordinary person from working to the best of their abilities in everyday life.
They would have a hard time moving about with multiple fractures; it would already be a huge feat if they could take care of themself.
If Luke really ran into the sort of supervillains that couldn’t be beaten down, and were up and running after just a dozen days, Luke would deal with them separately.
After all, Luke was more than who Batman was!
At two in the afternoon, the house turned lively once more.
Selina had already gone to the training room to exercise. Claire got up a little later and went to the training room as well.
The noise she made woke up Blake, who was in the living room. Since she had nothing to do, she went to the training room to watch them.
Blake was shocked by what she was seeing.
She and Claire met at a high school cheerleading contest in a pretty dramatic way.
The two of them were “enemies” at first. Their cheerleading teams were rivals, and Claire’s team lost.
Then, someone in Blake’s team mocked them, which almost led to a big quarrel between the two teams.
As the cheerleading captain for the team from Knox High School, Claire stepped forward and proposed that they solved the conflict — with a duel.
If the other side was afraid to fight, she also said that they could compete in other ways, like skateboarding, rock-climbing or parkour.
Eventually, Claire defeated several girls on Blake’s side on her own.
From skateboarding to a fight in the end, she crushed her opponents.
After all, Claire was Luke’s biggest fan and had learned the simplest form of practical Brazilian jiu-jitsu from him. In less than five seconds, she had her opponent in an armlock.
In the end, the winning team left, dejected and depressed, while Claire’s team was in high spirits even though they lost the compet.i.tion.
On the second day, Blake went to find Claire on her own and had a fight with her.
It wasn’t a fierce fight, but it had taken Claire some effort to suppress Blake.
After the fight, Claire finally asked Blake why she had come to her for a private duel.
Blake bluntly said that her father had taught her to use her abilities to help those in need, not to use them in a fight.
It was her teammates who had provoked the other team first. She didn’t agree with them, but she couldn’t stop them. After all, she was one person, and she wasn’t the captain.
She only went to Claire for a duel because she didn’t want Claire to look down on her school.
They hadn’t seen each other again after that, but they kept in touch via the phone. After the fight, they found that they had a lot in common.
That was why Blake had always thought that Claire was strong.
But today, she watched as Selina easily tackled Claire and pressed her to the floor like a kitten, unable to move at all. The girl didn’t nearly seem as tough as when she had fought Blake.
Claire, however, was used to it. Seline had taught her too many lessons for her to find it humiliating anymore.
While chatting with Selina, Claire learned that she had fought many fierce criminals in the last few months.
It was only natural that she couldn’t beat such a professional.
After Blake came in, Claire directly invited her to train with them.
“You should exercise more if you’re in a bad mood. Sweating it out will feel good,” said Claire.
In just half an hour, Blake sat on the side, sweating all over.
Looking at Selina and Claire who were fighting again, she could only admit that she was far weaker than Claire in terms of both strength and combat tricks.
After Claire’s training was over, Blake accepted the bottle of water Selina gave her and asked curiously, “Selina, is Luke as good as you?”
Selina, who was wiping her sweat, laughed and turned her head. “You must be joking!”
Blake was stumped. “Huh?”
Selina wiped her mouth with a towel. “He taught me all my combat tricks. How can I possibly beat him?” n.o.body in the whole world can beat him! she secretly added.
Blake gaped. “He taught you that?”
Selina shrugged. “He was the one who taught Claire her Brazilian jiu-jitsu tricks back in high school.” Blake looked at Claire, who nodded affirmatively. “Back before we first met, Luke taught me some basic Brazilian jiu-jitsu for one or two hours each month. Haha, at that time, I didn’t really want to learn because I didn’t like fighting.”
Blake: …Why do I feel like such a weakling?
Looking at her face, Selina smiled. “He’s a police detective. Fighting is his job. You’re just a regular student. Some self-defense skills will be enough for you. Let’s go have lunch.”
After they all came out and showered, Selina sat down at the dining table. “Wait a bit. Lunch is almost ready.”
Looking at the empty dining table, Blake felt a little doubtful.
Selina had already noticed her expression. She coughed and said, “Luke loves cooking. Of course, it’s just the cooking; Claire and I wash the dishes.”