Chapter 439: Metropolis Doubts (Part Twenty-Three) (Patreon)

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As Selena rushed up the staircase, she never expected to encounter people there. When she saw Clark's shadow on the stairs, her instinct made her dodge to the left and quickly roll past him.

The situation happened too suddenly, and Selena's movements were too swift. The pursuing agents, seeing Clark blocking the staircase, assumed he was Selena's ally, so without hesitation, they opened fire at him.

Of course, the bullets couldn't harm Clark; his biological abilities made him impervious to blades and gunfire. Nevertheless, Clark was still annoyed. Though he was kind, he had his temper. He couldn't fathom why this group of people would shoot at him with real bullets without a second thought. If he were an ordinary person, he'd be dead by now. How could they be so irresponsible?

Little did he know that these agents were infuriated by Catwoman's elusive actions. Catwoman might not excel in head-on confrontations, but she was unmatched when it came to stealth attacks, evasion, and misdirection. Taking advantage of the dim lighting in the corridor, she knocked out several agents with surprise attacks. This angered the others, and even their leader, Benjamin, gave up the chase and followed Catwoman here.

"Stop!" Clark shouted loudly. "There are civilians here. How can you shoot recklessly?"

The agents hesitated, as they had never encountered someone like Clark before. Normally, when they performed their missions, civilians either screamed and fled or cowered in a corner, but never had they encountered someone bold enough to directly stand in their path.

"We're on a mission; step aside immediately!" one of the agents retorted.

"But you just shot at me! Did you have permission? Who allowed you to attack innocent people?" Clark questioned fiercely. The agents were bewildered; they couldn't understand where this audacious person came from, daring to confront the Federal Bureau of Investigation head-on.

Unbeknownst to them, Clark was just a young man from a small town. He had never traveled far, and the farthest he had been was to a seed factory in southern Delaware. He had hardly even seen the police in Metropolis, let alone know about the FBI agents he was facing.

The leader of the agents cautiously stepped forward, holding his handgun, and took two steps closer, glaring at Clark's face. Clark warned them, "Stop! Don't come any closer! Whatever you're doing, I can't let you invade the space of ordinary people!"

The lead agent turned back to look at his comrades, then said, "Continue the mission, subdue him first!"

Bang! Bang! The sound of gunfire filled the air. Clark's expression darkened, exuding an aura of power without anger. In an instant, his biological abilities activated, and all the bullets froze in mid-air before falling like raindrops.

The agents widened their eyes, but soon they reacted. One team of three rushed toward Clark. As Clark was about to subdue them, the other two agents quickly ran past him and continued chasing Selena.

Upon reaching this floor, the agents realized there were no more shadows of Selena in the corridor. They could only search room by room.

Upon opening the first door, they found Lex sitting at a table. One agent approached him, intending to ask him questions, but another agent stopped him and whispered, "He's Luthor's son, and he seems to have autism. Asking him won't be of any use."

Seeing Lex's vacant expression, the agent shook his head, waved his hand, and gestured for the others to search the room. But another agent stopped him, saying, "We can't search the Luthor family's room. If Lionel Luthor comes back and finds out, we'll be in trouble!"

He then told the others, "Just do a quick search and let's leave."

The agents hesitated, clearly aware of how difficult it would be to deal with the powerful Luthor family. They quickly skimmed through the room's contents and then left. After they were gone, Selena emerged from the bathroom and said, "Thanks."

Just as she managed to escape the agents' pursuit, Clark returned after breaking free from their clutches. Upon seeing Selena, he paused and asked, "What's going on? You're supposed to be Bruce's girlfriend, right? Why are those people chasing you?"

"It's hard to explain," Selena replied, unwilling to waste time. She started to leave, but at that moment, gunshots echoed from downstairs.

Selena frowned and listened carefully. The gunshots seemed to come from the direction of Bruce and Benjamin's room. She immediately rushed out, with Clark following closely behind. As Selena ran, she asked, "Why are you following me?"

"Are those agents shooting again? How can they do this? I have to protect the civilians here!" Clark declared with determination.

Selena opened her mouth to respond but couldn't stop Clark, who moved at a speed she couldn't even perceive. He shot out of the room, leaving her with no chance to intervene.

Bruce, who was already in a confrontation with the agents, couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Clark being the first to arrive.

Initially, Bruce had finished questioning Benjamin and called the agents over to have them rescue Benjamin. After all, Benjamin had suffered two heavy blows, and if he remained frozen all night without being found, his life could be in danger. Bruce didn't want him dead.

However, Clark's intervention made the situation difficult to control. Bruce could have easily shaken off the agents using the advanced equipment he had retrieved earlier, but now Clark was adamant about punishing the agents who shot recklessly.

Clark's tactic was straightforward—overwhelming force. The agents, facing such a formidable opponent, shot their guns as if ammunition cost nothing. Clark was immune to bullet attacks with his biological abilities, but Bruce wasn't. The narrow corridor was filled with bullets from all directions, leaving Bruce with no escape; he was forced to join the chaotic battle.

Seeing Selena descend the staircase, the flashes of gunfire momentarily blinded her. She couldn't comprehend why their initial plan of evading the agents had turned into an all-out fight. But seeing Bruce avoiding the flying bullets, Selena had no other choice but to join the fray.

In addition to the few individuals and agents, there were also many party attendees who had been driven back into their rooms. The gunshots were intense, and many agents' guns lacked silencers, causing the sound to travel even further. Numerous people were perplexed and pushed open their doors to see what was happening...

Originally, there were agents guarding the corridor, preventing people from wandering around. But now, all the agents on the corridor were gone, so the crowd came out, and the noise became incessant.

At first, there were discussions and speculations, but after being trapped in this haunted place for the whole night without any means to leave, people's anger grew, and it didn't take long before arguments broke out.

Although the attendees of this party were mostly high society individuals, the rule of arguments remained the same—those who shouted the loudest seemed to have the most reasonable points.

On one side of the corridor, the prominent guests were engaged in heated disputes.

"They've locked us up in this damn place! And now they're starting a gunfight! Do they want us to die from stray bullets?"

"Damn it, what kind of place is this? Did we come here for a party or a battle?"

"Those damn agents won't let us out! They don't guarantee our safety. I'll make sure to lodge a complaint!"

"Don't talk big, Old Damon! You can't even reach the threshold of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Go home and eat your farmer's lunch!"

"For goodness sake, can't you all stop arguing?! Who can find a gun? We have to protect ourselves..."

On the other side of the corridor, Clark, Bruce, and Selena were deeply engrossed in their fierce battle against the agents.

The tactic of overwhelming force suited Clark well due to his immense strength and immunity to long-range bullet attacks. In this narrow corridor, he was practically invincible.

Bruce refused to be outdone; as the Dream Emperor Schiller, he had honed his agility, dodging bullets while engaging in combat. Selena provided support from the sidelines. The three of them fought fiercely against the group of agents.

It was a miracle that this group of agents managed to hold their ground against the three of them.

In truth, Clark merely wanted to subdue the agents without harming them, which required him to control his strength. Bruce could only perform at an average level when facing close combat, and Selena wasn't skilled in direct confrontations.

During this time, the symphony of gunshots, mixed with the cacophony of arguments from the other side of the corridor, made it feel like a concert in the Manor.

So, what was Schiller doing at this moment?

Well, the noise had just awakened Schiller from his slumber once again.

He hadn't opened his eyes yet, but he heard gunshots coming from downstairs:

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

"Hush! Shut up!"

"You piece of crap!" "No, you're the piece of crap!" "Just shut up!" "Oh..."

"Boom!"

"Clatter—Clatter—"

Schiller sat up on the bed, eyes still shut. He took a deep breath and glanced at his watch.

Perfect! This sleep duration broke tonight's record, lasting for a whole 26 minutes.

Schiller slowly walked to the shelf in the guest room and took a glass from the cup holder. Once he returned to the bed, he had a bottle of alcohol in his hand. After uncorking it, a rich, intoxicating aroma filled the air.

Schiller poured a bit of alcohol into the glass, then tilted his head back and downed it in one gulp. The bottle of alcohol disappeared, and the cup fell to the ground, shattering into pieces. Under the influence of the potent alcohol, Schiller entered an even deeper dream.

He arrived at the center of the Temple of Thought, heading towards a hole in the middle of the open space. As he walked, he muttered to himself, "Good thing I didn't fill up this hole. I knew it would come in handy someday."

Arriving at the edge of the hole, Schiller didn't hesitate and jumped right in, passing through bizarre and colorful phantoms. When he landed on the other side, the first thing he saw was a lawn.

Schiller took a step forward, and "whoosh," a man in a black robe with a pale face appeared in front of him. Schiller greeted him, "Long time no see, Dream God Morpheus."

Morpheus showed no intention of exchanging pleasantries. He stared at Schiller warily and asked, "What do you want?"

"I want to borrow a path from you to enter someone's dream."

"Who?"

"Joker Jack."

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 440 Metropolis Mystery (End)