amaotonovel Chapter 4332 Body of Steel (37)
Chapter 4332 Body of Steel (37)
Chapter 4332 Body of Steel (Thirty-Seven)
Clark's superbrain stopped functioning for at least two seconds, seemingly rebooting to process information it couldn't handle. Once the superbrain resumed processing, Clark rushed forward, shouting, "Madam, madam! What...what's wrong?!"
After saying that, Clark wanted to slap himself—what else could it be? Premature birth!
When he rushed in front of the woman and blocked her way, he saw her face and realized that she wasn't as haggard as he had imagined. She was still wearing makeup and a black leather jacket. The jacket was a bit long, so it covered her lower body, but in reality, she wasn't wearing anything underneath.
Besides the strong smell of blood emanating from her, there was another indescribable odor: a bit like the smell of decay, and a bit like the smell of urine; in short, it was extremely unpleasant.
She was so thin that her cheeks were sunken, and her two round eyes stared at Clark with a very wary look. Clark opened his mouth, but for a moment he couldn't say anything.
“You’re new here, aren’t you?” the woman said. “Don’t address people as ‘madam’ here…”
“Then…then, Madam…”
The woman rolled her eyes dramatically, walked past Clark to the blue tent next to her, pulled out a pair of scissors from the tools nearby, and reached out to cut the child's umbilical cord.
Clark was terrified. He quickly stopped him, saying, "Stop! You can't do this! You'll definitely get infected!"
"No, it didn't happen the last two times..."
"Stop, stop, stop, stop!" Clark frantically tried to stop him. But then, the other man suddenly shoved the bloody little thing into his arms, then started groping around on the ground, finally pulling out a syringe, and sat down to inject himself into his arm.
Clark was trembling all over. The baby in his arms was still alive, but it looked to be only six or seven months old. It couldn't even cry yet, only had very weak breathing, and its skin was covered with what looked like blood blisters. Its facial features were still indistinct.
Clark was on the verge of tears. He held the baby tremblingly and said, "You...you..."
"Here you go," the woman said. "Thank you for calling me 'Madam,' it's been a long time since anyone has called me that."
"Give it to me?! But I..." Clark really didn't know what to say. He wanted to get the child to the hospital immediately, but he didn't know how to cut the umbilical cord, and besides, there were no tools here. He was at his wit's end and could only say to the woman, "Step back a bit, I...I..."
Clark closed his eyes, lowered his head, and remained silent for two seconds before suddenly realizing that he couldn't use the heat ray if he didn't open his eyes. He had no choice but to muster his courage, open his eyes, and use the heat ray to cut the umbilical cord.
The woman showed no surprise at his superpowers, but it was more likely she was high. Clark backed away, clutching the little bundle of flesh. He could hear the baby's heartbeat growing weaker and weaker; he had to get it to the hospital quickly.
Just as Clark was preparing to take off, a man walked out from behind the tent. He paused for a moment when he saw Clark, then whistled lewdly at him: "Where did this little beauty come from? You're not here to see Daisy too, are you? What's the fun in dealing with a woman like this? Come with me..."
He was halfway through his sentence when he saw the baby Clark was holding. His eyes widened instantly, and he lunged at him. Clark quickly dodged, shouting, "What are you doing!"
"That's my child! Give him back to me!!!"
Clark was stunned again. He glanced at the woman lying on the ground, then at the homeless man. If the homeless man hadn't been Black and the baby clearly a white baby, he might have actually believed it.
“Are you crazy?!” Clark yelled. “How could this be your child? You’re a black man!”
"What the hell do you know, you idiot! Daisy is mine, so her child should be mine too! Give it to me!"
Clark, of course, couldn't give it to him. But holding the child, he couldn't retaliate and could only retreat repeatedly. Seeing him turn to run, the homeless man cursed and screamed like a madman, reaching into his coat pocket for something.
boom!
Before Clark could react, he was shot. He was currently wearing Kryptonite, which weakened his physical abilities, so the bullet pierced his skin, but fortunately, it only went through the surface and got stuck in a muscle crevice.
Even so, Clark still gasped in pain. But he couldn't care less; instinctively, he pulled the child into his arms, kicked the gun out of the homeless man's hand, and turned to run out of the woods.
He thought he was running quite fast, but before he could even get out, he found several people blocking his escape route. The black homeless man was calling their names, so they were clearly in cahoots.
Clark slammed on the brakes, glancing ahead and then back. The situation was critical; he couldn't afford to think twice. He reached into his pocket to pull out the kryptonite and throw it down. But in that instant of hesitation, a loud thud was heard, and the black homeless man was struck on the back of the head by something, slowly collapsing to the ground.
Clark saw the woman called Daisy holding a bloodstained stone. She seemed completely unaware of what she was doing, acting purely on instinct. But Clark noticed that her gaze remained fixed on the child in her arms.
Clark was filled with mixed emotions, but he knew he couldn't leave the child with his mother, or he would be doomed. Taking advantage of the moment, he quickly grabbed the child and ran outside, finally managing to escape the tent area.
Clark hailed a taxi, wrapped the baby in his coat so the driver wouldn't see it. When they arrived at the hospital, he handed the child to a nurse, but he could clearly see a hint of doubt in her eyes.
“This isn’t my child,” Clark said. “This is…this is what I found.”
“You’re a good person,” the nurse said. He looked at the baby with pity, then gently shook his head and said, “But I’m afraid…”
The baby was taken inside, and Clark waited anxiously outside. A short while later, the doctor came out and said, "I'm sorry, we did our best. It has been called by God."
Clark felt completely drained of strength. The doctor looked him over, as if recognizing him, and stepped forward, saying, "Don't blame yourself too much. This child has a hereditary drug addiction and AIDS. Even if he survives, he will probably suffer a lot."
Clark recalled the woman's last look. Even if she had lost her mind, she still retained some maternal instincts. She felt Clark could take her child away from here. But…
"Can I have the child's body?" Clark asked again, mustering his courage.
"Normally, these kinds of corpses need to be disposed of. But... well, what can you do when you're Superman?"
The doctor went out for a while, then stood by the door and beckoned to him, secretly handing him a bag and saying, "Don't let anyone see."
Clark was in a daze. He simply thanked them and left the hospital. He headed towards the tent area because he felt he had to give the child's biological mother an explanation, no matter what.
It was getting dark, and the grove of trees seemed even more eerie. As he approached, he saw several figures carrying a corpse past. Clark recognized the body as that of the baby's mother.
Clark was instantly enraged. This woman had been perfectly fine just hours ago—well, not exactly fine, but at least alive and seemingly not going to die anytime soon. Even if she had just given birth, she should have been alive for some time; how could she be dead now?
Clark gave chase. But just as he was about to confront the group, he vaguely overheard a conversation:
"The shortage of corpses has become too great lately. Clear out the entire area around here, and collect whatever is roughly available. Understand?"
"No problem, you can rest assured about our work. But, is there some kind of epidemic lately? Why all of a sudden..."
"You should check the news occasionally. With aliens right above our heads, wouldn't the officials be going crazy with worry?"
"It's not that Superman can..."
"Superman is beyond their control. I heard they've created some kind of special effects weapon, and they need to experiment with some of the materials used in it. Anyway, bring as much as you can, and you'll get your share of the benefits."
After that voice disappeared, the other two voices rang out again: "What special effects weapon? The test ingredients are corpses instead of living people? You're kidding me!"
"Then why so many all of a sudden..."
"You're making a fuss over nothing. We have to clear a lot of snow every year before Christmas. Too many people will prevent those old men from going out to celebrate. We're not on the East Coast, where a snowfall can clear most of it. We just have to do it ourselves."
"Okay. I remember there are two others near the fence who are almost dead. Shall we go tonight or tomorrow morning?"
"Let's go tomorrow morning. I'm fucking exhausted. Let's find a place to have a good drink."
Clark felt a chill run down his spine. He clutched the bag in his arms, wanting to chase after the two men, but then he thought better of it and decided he had to catch up with the car that had taken the body first.
The car was speeding. Clark took a couple of steps, but realized he couldn't keep up. So he simply took to the air and followed the car, weaving through the streets and alleys. Only after landing did he realize: he had actually flown! He still had kryptonite on him; in his haste, he had forgotten that he couldn't fly.
The car drove into a research center. Surveillance cameras were everywhere, and Clark didn't dare venture inside. He had no choice but to carry the child back to the tent area, intending to find a secluded spot nearby to bury the child. But as soon as he rounded the east side, he saw a group of people surrounding a lit tent.
With his exceptional hearing, he could clearly hear what lewd things were happening inside the tent. He wanted to rush over and stop them, but some of the people inside didn't sound like they were being forced. Clark stood there for a long time, finally deciding to turn and leave.
After wandering around for a while, they found a secluded spot in the woods. Clark used his heat beam to dig a hole in the ground. Just as he placed the baby inside, he saw a figure swaying towards them—
An old man emerged from a yellow tent, reeking of alcohol. He looked half-asleep, as if he had come out to relieve himself. As he entered the woods, he and Clark stared at each other blankly.
“You…” The old man looked at Clark first, then at the baby in the pit, and seemed to have regained some of his senses. Then he said, “This is Daisy’s child, right? I heard she gave birth today.”
"You know her?"
"I guess so. She came two years ago. I think she used to work as a real estate agent. Someone tampered with her contract and cheated her out of a lot of money, and then... But how come her child is with you? Isn't she Jia Bo's person?"
(End of this chapter)