amaotonovel Chapter 4342 Body of Steel (47)
Chapter 4342 Body of Steel (47)
Chapter 4342 Body of Steel (Forty-Seven)
It can be said that Louise's theory of timeliness was perfectly put into practice. The order in which news is released is very important. Sometimes, some people suppress the emergence of certain news, not to completely eliminate it, but simply to buy time. As long as it is delayed until the right time, its impact is greatly reduced.
This time was no different. Lois Lane acted much faster than the military, first releasing news of her being poisoned and her romantic relationship with Superman. Then, when the military released news about Clark's identity, it easily became a mere afterthought.
If this news had been released first, people would likely have focused their discussions on questions like, "Where did Superman come from?" and "Why is he fighting other alien monsters?"
But now everyone's attention is focused on Louise being poisoned. And with this news breaking, people naturally assume it's a crucial clue revealing the truth behind the military's cover-up. Once it's treated as a secondary issue, it becomes less important.
While many people were discussing the facts in the comments section of this news article, on other platforms, public opinion was much freer. Almost everyone speculated that, because the poisoning of Louise had been exposed, they immediately targeted her boyfriend in an attempt to suppress the journalist.
This kind of thing is all too common. If they can't deal with the person directly, they target their family and important friends to distract them, and incidentally smear their social circle, lowering the public's impression of them.
So the question comes back to square one: why did the military poison Louise?
What could possibly drive them to such extreme measures, even resorting to bizarre tactics against her boyfriend, and to ruin her reputation?
At this time, the Daily Planet published a "Los Angeles Undocumented Immigrants and Homeless Population Survey Report." This report was actually written by Clark, based on his real observations in Los Angeles, and supplemented with some official statistics. On its own, it didn't seem like much; most Americans were used to it—if undocumented immigrants and homeless people died, it didn't make a difference.
However, as the first daily newspaper to arrive at the scene after Louise's poisoning, their actions at this time drew considerable attention. Many then noticed that the report vaguely pointed to issues such as the recent sharp decline in the number of homeless people and the unusual direction the vehicle collecting the body was traveling.
That's it, they were definitely taken to do some kind of shady experiments. Do you think a seasoned American wouldn't understand this? One, three, five: biochemical viruses; two, four, six: genetic modification; and the last day is used to eliminate those involved.
Thus, the general outline of the matter has been clarified: because of the existence of aliens, the military collected a large number of corpses, or even captured living people for experiments. One thing went wrong, resulting in the monster that flew over the metropolis.
The courageous independent journalist Louise had already discovered their activities. She launched an investigation in Los Angeles and returned to the Metropolitan with important information, only to be discovered by the military and targeted for elimination.
After the poisoning attempt failed, the military, enraged, sought to damage her reputation and divert attention. They resorted to bringing up the identity of her boyfriend, Superman, in an attempt to gain public support.
The biggest flaw in this case is that, generally speaking, Americans wouldn't use such a complicated method as poisoning to silence someone—especially armed forces like the military, who usually just shoot them.
However, Lois Lane's relationship with Superman perfectly explains this flaw. Come on, her boyfriend is Superman; if you just go knocking on his door with a gun, you're making Superman laugh.
Because Lois was under Superman's protection, the military couldn't use their usual violent methods and had to resort to poisoning her. Perhaps due to their lack of experience, the poisoning attempt failed. It wasn't until it could no longer be concealed that the truth was revealed.
The United States truly lives up to its reputation as a country with a separation of powers. The biggest advantage of this system is that if one department fails, the other departments will inevitably take advantage of the situation. It's like your left hand and your right hand arm wrestling, and it's a zero-sum game where both sides are aiming to destroy the other.
As soon as this incident involving the military came to light, Congress immediately initiated an inquiry process, demanding an explanation from the military. While it may sound like they are concerned about public sentiment and advocating for the people, in reality, they are trying to absolve themselves by convicting the military.
The military was also at a loss. They'd been hunting geese all day, but eventually, they got pecked in the eye. They couldn't outmaneuver these journalism students. What could they do?
The interrogation is unavoidable; otherwise, I'll be convicted outright. Sending a few internal scapegoats won't be enough; I have to find a way to shift the blame. Even if I can't shift it all, I need to shift at least some of it to lessen my own responsibility.
Who's the best scapegoat? Lex Luthor, of course.
It's not even fair to call him a scapegoat anymore; he did it. Did he really think there were no security cameras in our lab?
They hadn't bothered Luther before because the capture of Zod was a shady affair, and besides, Luther was someone they had invited themselves, so there was no benefit in revealing it.
But now that things have come to this point, it's no longer a question of whether someone lives or dies, but how many will die. So, in order to minimize the number of deaths, they have to get Luther implicated.
During the interrogation, the military presented surveillance footage. The footage showed that Luthor had indeed tampered with Zod's test subjects. The evidence was irrefutable. That same day, Lex Luthor was arrested and imprisoned.
The charges this time were too serious, and the evidence was too conclusive, leaving virtually no room for defense. Moreover, the military, in an effort to clear their name, released the information prematurely. The Luther Group's stock price plummeted, and the big players who had long coveted the Luther Group finally began to make their move.
This behemoth, which once practically ruled over Metropolis, collapsed with a sound not much louder than a pebble falling into water. When Clark saw Luther's shaved-headed prison photo on the front page of the newspaper, he felt little joy, only a pang of sadness.
What he didn't expect was that the day after Luther went to jail, on his way back to his apartment, a group of men in black stopped him and took him to a nearby alley.
Clark was somewhat speechless. He didn't know what the other party's purpose was in putting on this show. To a normal person, it would certainly be full of mystery, but he was a superhuman who could see right through a person's internal organs. Therefore, when the woman in black appeared, there was no mystery at all, and Clark could see her fatty liver at a glance.
“Hello, ma’am, what can I do for you?” Clark asked.
The man pulled out his ID from his coat, flashed it at him, and said, "The government and its agents, Amanda Waller, the main person in charge of 'Project Sky Eye.' The famous Mr. Superman, I'm here to talk to you about a project the government has been working on for over a decade. We see hope in you to take the project a step further. Do you have time?"
“Actually, I wasn’t free,” Clark said truthfully, “but since you’ve put it that way, I don’t seem to have any room to refuse. Where shall we talk?”
The strong Black woman seemed surprised that Superman would be so cooperative. After a pause, she said, "Let's get in the car first."
Clark followed her into the car. Besides the driver, it was just the two of them inside. Amanda said, "I know you may not have heard of Project SkyEye, but I must tell you, you're not the first superhuman we've discovered."
“Oh, okay,” Clark replied indifferently.
Amanda frowned again. In the past, when she said this to certain superpowered individuals, they would become very interested, either asking her who else was like this or what other abilities they had.
“In fact, you’re not the first alien we’ve discovered,” Amanda dropped another bombshell.
“But I should be the most valued one, it’s my honor.” Clark’s perfunctory attitude was obvious.
Amanda frowned deeply and said, "Have you ever seen any other superpowered people or aliens besides yourself?"
“I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it in the murals on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art,” Clark said with a shrug. “There were rumors online recently that aliens had already landed in ancient Egypt. So, I guess I’m a bit late to the party.”
"In order to investigate and manage people like you, the government has launched an operation called Project Sky Eye. To ensure the safety of the Earth, we have been monitoring people with superpowers."
“But you obviously didn’t monitor that monster, otherwise I wouldn’t have needed to intervene.” Clark knew his words were a bit harsh, but he really couldn’t stand Amanda’s attitude. You can monitor it privately if you want, but why come and tell me? Isn’t that provocation?
Surprisingly, Amanda wasn't angry. She simply nodded and said, "Indeed, that monster appeared so suddenly that we didn't have time to react. If it weren't for you, Metropolis might already be destroyed. You truly are a hero."
These words made Clark feel a little better. After all, ever since his identity was revealed, he had always felt that people were looking at him strangely. And although he didn't expect anything in return for saving people, he was still happy when someone praised him.
"That's why we've come to you, hoping to establish a partnership. If there's a disaster that we can't respond to in time or can't handle, we hope you can step in to save lives."
“That’s no problem,” Clark said, “but if it’s just this, you could have just sent me an email. There’s no need to make such a big deal out of it.”
Amanda shook her head and said, "It's not that simple. You haven't experienced this kind of pattern before, have you?"
Clark finally sensed something unusual and said, "You want to hire me to do things for you?"
“I suppose so,” Amanda said frankly. “However, we won’t restrict your freedom, nor will we require you to come to work every day. We just need you to be there when something happens to help resolve problems that we can’t handle.”
"Okay, so what problem will you have me solve?"
"For example, you did a great job with that monster before. It was indeed our mistake that time; we failed to detect the monster's existence in advance. However, we did make some relatively effective warnings. Once we get to the base, we can show you the data. If something like this happens again in the future, and the disaster happens to be within your capabilities, we will notify you to handle it."
Clark didn't speak, only watched the car drive into the underground parking garage. When he emerged from the elevator, he realized it was indeed a large base, and it looked quite old. Everyone was proceeding according to plan, in an orderly manner.
(End of this chapter)