Chapter 459: The Butler is Always Right (Part 1) (Patreon)

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As Benjamin's summon gathered all the agents in Manor and headed towards the entrance on the first floor, the atmosphere in front of the entrance grew increasingly tense.

After Schiller revealed that the underground treasure could potentially weaken superpowers, Bruce and Lex found themselves on opposite sides.

These two skeptics would never believe that the other wouldn't misuse this item. They were both control-oriented individuals who believed that regardless of their personal involvement or future use of the item, they needed complete control over it to feel a sense of security.

Moreover, they were both quintessential Americans, with a zero-sum mindset ingrained in their genes. The concept of peaceful coexistence did not exist in their minds. They always believed that if the other side gained more, they would lose something, and ultimately, they would be eliminated by the other.

This constant lack of a sense of security urged them forward, but at the same time, it could easily become a vulnerability that others could exploit. In the moment Schiller spoke those words, these two brilliant geniuses didn't even suspect that it might be Schiller's attempt to sow discord.

Or perhaps they did consider this possibility, but they didn't dare to gamble on whether Schiller's words were true or not.

After the fracture within the youthful version of the Justice League, the atmosphere on the scene became delicate.

In Bruce's plan, the person he intended to weaken using Kryptonite was Schiller, so naturally, he stood against Schiller. On the other hand, Lex wanted to seize the Kryptonite for himself, so he stood against Bruce. This placed Schiller and Lex on the same side.

If we were to compare Lex and Bruce, their intelligence was nearly equal. Bruce had the advantage in physical fitness and combat skills, so if they were to face each other directly, Bruce would have a significant advantage.

However, with Schiller standing on Lex's side, Bruce's limited advantage in physical strength vanished. He needed to seek a powerful ally.

When Bruce called Clark's name, Clark was still confused because he couldn't fully understand the situation. He stood far away and shouted, "What's going on? Aren't we partners?!"

"Clark, we can't let this thing fall into Luthor's hands. His previous actions have shown that he has no limits when it comes to destroying humanity."

"Don't listen to him, Clark. If I get my hands on the treasure, I won't use it against you."

"You're lying, Lex. You want that mineral called Kryptonite to defend yourself against Clark, don't you?"

Lex didn't back down either. He looked directly into Bruce's eyes and questioned, "And who are you defending against by obtaining this mineral?"

After asking this question, Lex and Bruce instinctively turned their gaze towards Schiller. Schiller, who had been studying his umbrella with his head down, looked up when he noticed that everyone had fallen silent. He glanced at Lex and then at Bruce, asking, "Why are you both staring at me?"

"I said I wanted to go down, but you wouldn't let me. I wanted to leave, but you wouldn't allow it. Now, are you going to blame everything on me?"

"Hey, stop arguing!" Clark finally walked over and observed Schiller take a step back in silence. Clark extended his hands, positioning himself between Lex and Bruce, and said, "Regardless of who ends up with this thing, our top priority is to determine if it poses any danger to ordinary people. That's the most important goal of our cooperation."

With that, Clark walked towards the entrance to the cellar. He said, "If you can't agree on this point, I won't let any of you go down there."

"For me, it doesn't matter which one of you gets this thing. So I won't help either of you to fight against the other. If you're going to remain deadlocked here, then I'll go down first."

At this moment, Clark was about to enter the cellar. Lex and Bruce exchanged a glance, and the intensity of their conflict suddenly eased.

Clearly, both of them knew that they couldn't let Clark get his hands on that miraculous mineral. Even if the mineral could weaken superpowers, it might not be able to stop him if Clark went down alone without anyone else around to influence him.

Seeing Lex and Bruce standing side by side again, Schiller shook his head. Clark truly restrained him in every sense of the word, but there was nothing he could do about it. The naive and straightforward Clark outwitted all the strategic thinkers. His judgment was excellent, but Schiller simply didn't fit into his calculations.

The reason for Lex and Bruce's dispute was complex, stemming from their personalities and stances. To choose one side over the other, one must analyze the logical behavior of both individuals, just as Schiller did. He stood on Lex's side because he knew that Bruce intended to use this item against him. Even if he stood with Bruce, he would ultimately be betrayed.

However, Clark chose not to side with either of them. He simply didn't overthink things, remained steadfast in his goals, and charged forward. This inadvertently broke Schiller's attempt to sow discord, and faced with Clark's unwavering determination, Bruce had no choice but to join forces with Lex.Now, the situation has changed. Clark jumped into the cellar first, while Lex and Bruce walked forward, discussing a new plan. Schiller followed behind them, considering whether or not to go down himself.

In theory, at this point, he didn't need to go down anymore. Regardless of what was down there, Lex and Bruce would empty it out. It would be easy to get a little bit from Lex later on. After all, Schiller wasn't Batman, and half a ton of Kryptonite was useless to him.

But at this moment, Schiller, who was walking at the back, noticed that several teams of agents were walking towards them. The thick white snow covered the fence in the courtyard, but shadows could still be seen swaying between the branches.

From their formation, it was clear that this was not a coincidence. They were systematically surrounding the area.

Faced with the unknown dangers of going to an unknown place and competing with equally dangerous opponents for treasure, or staying here to face some easily dealt with agents, Schiller hesitated for a moment before choosing...the former.

He walked into the entrance of the cellar without looking back. He had been observing the agents here from a hidden location, thinking that they hadn't noticed him. So after Schiller entered the entrance of the cellar, the agents rushed out from their hiding place and set up some explosive equipment at the entrance...

As the agents carried out their orders, Benjamin was at the top of the Manortower, using a telescope to observe the situation at the entrance of the cellar.

The tower's location was excellent. It was located in the center of the entire Manor and was the highest point. It could be used as an observation tower to oversee the entire Manor.

Not only could he see the entire Manor, but he could also see the surroundings of the entire mayor's mansion. Therefore, when Benjamin lifted his telescope, he keenly caught sight of a black dot in his field of vision, flying across the skyline of Metropolis.

In the midst of the snow, the visibility was not far enough, so Benjamin couldn't see what it was. But soon, he felt the ground shake, and the explosion's flames lit up in the distance, even forming a vortex that stirred up the snow.

Benjamin squinted his eyes. He put down the telescope and turned his head, asking Kayla behind him, "Did you see that?"

Kayla also had a telescope, and by coincidence, she was looking directly in that direction. After putting down her telescope, she said in an incredible tone, "I think I saw a crashed fighter jet."

"A fighter jet? Who would be flying a fighter jet in this weather, except for those crazy Soviets?"

Kayla frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "That doesn't seem to be a fighter jet model that I've seen before. You know, I also served in the Air Force, and currently, the Air Force doesn't have any fighter jets with an all-black paint scheme."

Just then, they heard a commotion coming from downstairs, not from their tower's floor, but from the fourth floor of the Manor nearby.

Ahzwwahzww

It was a crisp sound that didn't sound like gunfire but rather like the sound of glass breaking. Benjamin's face darkened, and he looked at Kayla, asking, "Are the guests causing trouble again?"

Kayla picked up the walkie-talkie, wanting to communicate with the agents to have them go and check it out. But Benjamin stopped her and said, "Don't mobilize the personnel at the entrance for now. Let's go and take a look ourselves."

Benjamin thought that it was just those impatient guests causing trouble again. During this time, he also discovered that these people were all bark and no bite. Although their words were fierce, once the agents pulled out their guns, they would just stutter and retreat.

Thinking this way, Benjamin didn't take too many precautions and went straight down from the tower, entering the main building of the Manor. After passing through the banquet hall, he walked up the staircase and arrived at the location where the sound came from.

It was at the end of the fourth-floor corridor. Broken glass was scattered all over the ground. Kayla walked up with a handgun, checked it, and said, "Someone must have broken the glass because they were dissatisfied. Was it just a prank?"

"If it was a prank, there shouldn't be any glass on the ground because if the glass was broken from the inside, the glass shards would scatter outside. But now, the glass shards are on the corridor, which means that someone broke the glass from the outside."

Benjamin circled around the broken glass and didn't find any footprints or other similar traces. Finally, he concluded, "It seems that this wasn't done by humans. Perhaps the wind and snow blew some sharp objects onto the glass and broke it from the outside."...Kayla frowned, seeming to have some objections, but she couldn't find any evidence to refute Benjamin.

After all, in this rainy and snowy weather, it was easy for people to leave traces. Moreover, the residents here were all wealthy celebrities who had no motive to run outside the window and climb in through the window.

And if it was an external invasion, it was unlikely. The entire transportation system in Metropolis was paralyzed now. Who would make such a great effort to come here? The entire operation was completely confidential, and communication had been cut off. Outsiders had no reason to come here.

But at this moment, Benjamin made a puzzled "huh" sound. Kayla walked up and found him staring at the wall next to the window. Kayla didn't see anything on the wall, so she walked closer and leaned her head over. Finally, she discovered a small scratch at the junction of the wall and the windowsill, almost invisible.

It looked like it was left when someone climbed over the window. Benjamin stared at the scratch and said, "It seems that someone has invaded here."

Kayla was a bit puzzled. She thought that this evidence was not sufficient. She said, "What if it was caused by glass shards flying out when something broke the glass?"

"Kayla, discovering details and inferring the behavior logic behind them is an essential professional quality for agents. Many agents are known as the kings of agents because they are good at discovering these details and inferring information that ordinary people cannot."

"The position of this scratch is at the junction of the windowsill and the wall, but the direction is upward. If it was caused by flying glass shards, it should be the lower part of the window glass that splashed out, and the scratch should be facing downwards."

"The lower part of the glass, when it shatters, cannot inexplicably turn upwards in the air. Therefore, this should not be caused by glass. More importantly, look here. First, there is a deep scratch, and then there is a long, shallow scratch. What does this indicate?"

"What?" Kayla asked.

"The object that made this scratch is irregular in shape and should have two parts."

"So, what is it?"

"It is very likely the zipper of a jacket or the zipper on the pocket of pants. The zipper's pendant and the zipper itself rubbed against the wall, causing this shape."

Saying that, Benjamin picked up the zipper on his own jacket and lightly scratched the wall, and indeed, the same shape as the previous scratch appeared.

"The invader should be an expert. He cleaned up the traces on the ground in a short time but ignored the wall part."

"Just as I said." Benjamin turned his head and looked at the scratch, saying disdainfully, "In the agent business, details determine success or failure."

"You have to know that details determine success or failure." In a room on the fifth floor, Alfred held the double-barreled shotgun and said to Hal.

Standing by the bed, Hal sighed and said, "So, after you clean up all the traces, you deliberately left a shallow scratch on the window with the zipper, just to confuse that agent leader?"

"Correct. This will give him the feeling that I am not perfect, confusing his judgment of my strength, and also arousing his interest."

"If I do nothing and leave those traces there, that agent leader will definitely think that I am a novice, and one or two agents can easily deal with me. This way, I can't attract his attention."

"But if I clean up the traces too cleanly, it may make him think that no one has invaded here. On the other hand, if he judges my strength to be too high, he may call all the agents to search, which is not conducive to our operation."

"So, the goal is to attract his attention, make him come after us, but not to make him too vigilant." Hal summed up.

"Correct." Alfred nodded and said, "Now it seems that I have successfully aroused his interest, and even stimulated his fighting spirit, making him want to come and compete with me."

"What are you going to do? Fight him?"

Alfred looked at Hal with a look of looking at a fool.

"Why should I fight him?"

"Then what are you going to do?"

"The young master and miss are not young anymore. I think it's time for them to learn some necessary self-preservation skills."

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 460: The Butler is Always Right (Part 1)