The next day.
The military, through Lois Lane, once again lured Superman to the military base.
Their reason was the same reason Lex Luthor gave.
They requested Superman's help in studying the World Engine and spacecraft that crashed from Krypton in order to understand Kryptonian technology and better prepare for defending against aliens in the future.
Because of the incident with Faora leading the remaining Kryptonian forces away, Superman didn't refuse.
He wanted to live like a normal person on Earth and be accepted by Earthlings.
But precisely because he possessed such great power, and because of the threat of his own kind from outer space, he had to maintain trust with official organizations, at least to a certain extent, so that they would ask him to help with things that didn't cross his bottom line.
That very night, after Superman left, at the harbor pier connecting to Metropolis.
Lex Luthor, wearing a suit, watched as workers unloaded a shipping container from a truck.
"The surveillance footage has been copied, Lex."
A blonde woman in a business suit handed Lex Luthor a USB drive.
Luthor inserted the USB drive into his laptop, opened the surveillance footage, dragged the progress bar, and saw Superman walking into the Kryptonian spacecraft's hold with masked military personnel, nodding in satisfaction.
"Eve, encrypt the contents and upload them to the group's military project reserve database. Remember to use the old one, don't upload it to the new one. Then, extract a few photos from it that clearly show Superman's face and location, and contact a few newspapers and media outlets that have a good relationship with us.
Also, immediately transfer the remaining blood of Zod."
Luthor closed the video and looked at the shipping container.
Workers were welding thick lead plates to the outer layer of the container.
Zod's body didn't fall into the hands of the military or Luthor, but in Metropolis, with the power of these two, as long as they put in the effort, they could find some Kryptonian blood left behind from the battlefield during the battle.
Luthor's confidante, secretary, and lover, Eve Teschmacher, took back the USB drive and turned to leave.
At that moment, the container was loaded onto a cargo ship.
A cargo ship whose next stop would be Gotham.
Luthor watched the cargo ship disappear into the distance, then turned his gaze to the laptop on the table.
It was displaying real-time surveillance footage.
In the enclosed space, under the dim yellow light, an oval sphere more than two meters high was pulsating rhythmically like a heart.
Through the thin, translucent gel, one could clearly see a hideous and fierce monster being gestated.
This was exactly what the shipping container contained.
… …
… …
"Bruce! I think you need to see this!"
In the Batcave, Barbara's call brought Bruce Wayne, who was updating some plans, over.
"You need to see this plan and recording. LexCorp and the military's latest collaborative project. They look like they're trying to create a bio-weapon?"
Bruce Wayne, who had just finished pumping iron, stood behind Barbara's seat in a short-sleeved shirt.
"Initiate Virus Thirteen to unlock the encrypted files."
"Did you plant a virus in LexCorp's server the last time you went to Metropolis?"
"Just a little something I did on the side."
Batman narrowed his eyes as he looked at the report in the decrypted files.
At the same time, several carefully selected and cropped images were sent to newspapers and other news media.
People always enjoy a good show and don't mind if things get bigger.
Some media reporters were even hoping that things would get as big as possible.
The next day, when the topic of "Superman and the military jointly researching bio-weapons" appeared on news newspapers and television programs, public opinion instantly boiled over on the internet.
Some supporters believed that this was preparing for the next alien threat, while opponents believed that this was an extremely dangerous move that could pose a major threat to humanity.
Under the guidance of behind-the-scenes manipulators, both sides were very vocal, and the arguments were fierce.
The more intense the argument, the greater the impact it would have.
As for the person involved, he had now returned to that military base.
"Hand over the Kryptonian test subject, or I'll take it myself."
Red cape fluttering, Superman hovered in mid-air, looking angrily and calmly at the military base's soldiers and officers.
He felt like he had been tricked.
"I'm sorry, we don't know where that thing is either. I've already had people remove all the lead plates in the base. You'll soon be able to see everything here clearly."
The base's military commander said to Superman with a calm expression.
"Maybe you hid it somewhere else?"
Superman questioned.
"But that thing really isn't in our hands, nor was it created by us. The most likely person is Luthor. He entered there the day before you, and he's also the one who invited you here."
The military commander decisively sold out Luthor.
Superman took a careful look at the brigadier general.
The frequency of his heartbeat and the micro-expressions on his face both showed that the man wasn't lying.
Then, a red light shone from his eyes.
The brigadier general's breathing stopped, and all the surrounding soldiers raised their guns at Superman.
However, Superman didn't attack them. Instead, he shot his heat vision into the ground, the place that blocked his X-ray vision.
After a dozen seconds, a large pit was melted in the ground, and all the underground facilities used to store the wreckage of the Kryptonian spacecraft were destroyed.
"Mr. Superman, these are the country's property. You shouldn't have done that!"
The brigadier general's face turned dark.
Superman's actions, regardless of the reason, would definitely get him into trouble.
"I'm sorry, Brigadier General, these are Kryptonian property, and also my spoils of war. I think I should be more qualified to decide how these things are used. They shouldn't be used to produce such dangerous weapons."
Superman shook his head at the brigadier general and soared into the sky, emitting several sonic booms in succession.
"Sir, should we send someone to take Luthor into custody?"
A lieutenant colonel asked the brigadier general.
The brigadier general shook his head.
"No, someone went as soon as the news came out, but Luthor disappeared."
Every time I write a plot involving characters' intelligence, it's the most brain-wracking…
The intelligence of the characters in the book depends on the author's intelligence. Luthor and Batman are set as the top of human intelligence, with super high IQs.
But the author only has the IQ of an ordinary person.
The plots involving them are sometimes really headache-inducing in order to conform to their personalities and motivations, so I feel that these two chapters are not as smooth as the previous few days, because I have to find a way to write two people whose IQs are much higher than mine…
