Chapter 457: The Mystery of the Spy (Part 2) (Patreon)

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Inside the Batplane, the engines roared loudly, forcing Hal to shout, "Even if you know how to fly a plane, why did you bring them along?!"

Hal turned his head and looked through the seat back. To his surprise, there were two children's seats fixed behind the cockpit, with Dick and Aisha securely strapped in.

"Sitting in a fighter jet is too dangerous for kids!" Hal shouted.

"Do you think leaving them in Gotham is any safer?"

Alfred pulled the control stick forcefully, and the Batplane accelerated again. However, Dick and Aisha, who were sitting in the back seats, didn't seem to be affected.

With the Green Lantern energy in Dick's possession and Aisha's superhuman abilities, they were not afraid of this level of turbulence. They even leaned forward in their seats, curiously looking at the control panel in front of them.

Not only them, but Hal also soon noticed the distinctively different cockpit panel. It was unlike any fighter jet panel he had seen before. However, Alfred skillfully maneuvered the Batplane with ease.

Despite the different panel, Hal could still tell that Alfred was no novice when it came to flying.

As he had mentioned before, flying a plane and driving a car were completely different. Professional pilots needed specialized training, although there were naturally gifted individuals. Just like driving, it was easy to distinguish between a novice and an experienced pilot at a glance.

Gotham and Metropolis were not far apart. They were the two closest major cities, so soon, through the Batplane's cockpit, they could see the faint shadows of the city's buildings.

"No control tower! How are we going to land?" Hal asked loudly.

Alfred didn't answer him. He simply turned his head and looked down, his gaze falling on the parachute pack beneath the seats. Hal followed his gaze and looked at the parachute pack, saying:

"You're not suggesting that I jump out with a parachute, are you?"

"That would be against pilot safety regulations!" Hal argued, his neck stiff. "I've been a test pilot and worked in ground support. I've never seen anyone do this..."

Just as he said that, the barrels of a double-barreled shotgun, the Black Hole, were pointed at his head. Hal swallowed nervously, and the conversation took a turn: "Of course, pilot safety regulations also include emergency procedures. We should be adaptable..."

Alfred retracted the shotgun, and Hal breathed a sigh of relief. Looking at the massive Manor, which was within reach, he sighed again and silently prepared to parachute.

Looking out from the Batplane's cockpit, the snow was still falling heavily, but amidst the snowflakes, the pointed roof of Wayne Manor could be faintly seen. At this moment, the atmosphere inside the Manor was far from calm; it was even tense.

It is well known that Marvel and DC comics have different art styles, not only in terms of visual art but also in terms of storylines and character development. Similarly, the different personalities living in these two worlds undergo different changes due to these differences.

The most obvious example is that DC's Schiller fundamentally dislikes doing work. It's not that he dislikes being a university professor; rather, he prefers to exert minimal effort and enjoy the maximum fun in certain events. He values mental relaxation more...

But sometimes Marvel's Schiller is willing to take matters into his own hands and help the superheroes. He spends time investigating their situations, providing them with psychological treatment, or engaging in discussions about economics with certain heads of important institutions, leaders of certain sorcerer sanctuaries, or alien princes. He prioritizes material gains over mental relaxation.

When these two characters switch roles, things become quite interesting. Just about half an hour ago, Schiller walked out of his guest room and headed straight for the underground of the Manor.

His thinking was straightforward. Since he already knew there was something underground in the Manor, and there might even be remnants from the previous world, why not just go and take them? Who wants to play spy games with them?

Moreover, Schiller's way to the underground was also simple. He used Blink to teleport to the ground level and then began searching for an entrance.

The reason he didn't use Blink to directly go underground was that he was worried about unexpected situations. However, Gray Mist and Blink were his sharp weapons for reconnaissance. Within a few minutes, he had already found the entrance to the underground of the Manor.

Next to the storage room was a cellar entrance, which was a certain distance away from the banquet hall and required crossing the courtyard. This distance exceeded Schiller's Blink range, so he planned to turn into Ashen Mist and float over.

In theory, on such a snowy day with very low visibility, a cloud of mist passing through the courtyard should not be very noticeable, and even if the agents noticed something unusual, they could not do anything about it. Who could stop a cloud of mist?

So Schiller used Blink to teleport to the ground level and, after finding the entrance, transformed into Ashen Mist and began floating towards the cellar entrance. However, it was very coincidental that Bruce, Lex, and Clark's trio were also nearby.

After agreeing to Benjamin's deal, it was no surprise that Lex and Bruce had no intention of following the plan.

They still had their own plan.

Although Benjamin was supposed to take the agents to appease the guests in the Manor, and the trio was responsible for finding the spy, Lex and Bruce's real plan was to investigate the treasure in the Manor's underground while Benjamin was busy with the guests.

Clark strongly condemned this breach of contract, but he followed them because he was worried that they would use the dangerous things in the Manor's underground to threaten ordinary people.

Because they acted earlier, they found the entrance to the underground before Schiller, even though it took them a little longer to search for it.

As Schiller, in the form of Ashen Mist, floated towards the warehouse nearby, he noticed the three people there and turned his head to leave, but it was too late.

Among these three people, Lex was extremely vigilant and had excellent eyesight. He was the first to notice the strange mist drifting towards the warehouse.

Bruce was the first to recognize his good professor, as he had seen Schiller in this form during the Living Hell battle. He turned his head to Clark and said, "Stop him!"

"Stop who?" Clark asked in confusion...

"That cloud of mist, stop it, quickly!"

Seeing Bruce's serious expression, Clark didn't think too much and rushed towards the mist. He then opened his arms and said, "Stop!"

The mist really stopped.

Clark also noticed that the mist even took a step back silently. He was puzzled because he didn't do anything except rush over and open his arms, without using any superpowers. How did it stop?

Bruce walked over, holding his arms, and looked at the mist before saying, "Professor Schiller, come out and talk."

The mist first formed into an arrow, pointing at Clark, then turned the arrow at an angle and pulled it in that direction.

Clark and Lex didn't know what was going on, but Bruce understood Schiller's meaning. He turned his head to Clark and said, "Step back a bit."

Clark was a little confused, but he still did as he was told and took a few steps back. Then he saw the mist slowly condense into a human form, which was Schiller.

"Oh, Professor Schiller, it's you."

Clark was a little surprised, but not because of Schiller's abilities, as Schiller had already demonstrated his superpowers to him before. He was just surprised that Schiller appeared here at this time.

As he spoke, Clark walked up and wanted to stand next to Schiller, but Schiller pointed the umbrella he was holding at Clark.

Clark stopped and was a little puzzled. Schiller turned his head and looked at him, saying, "Don't come near me."

He looked at Clark's eye contact as if an ordinary person saw a nuclear bomb running around with legs.

The only difference was that if an ordinary person saw a nuclear bomb running around with legs, it must be an illusion, but Clark was not. He was indeed a nuclear bomb with legs that could run around the streets. Not only did he have legs, but he also had wings. He could fly very fast and could blast anyone he wanted to, making them lie down.

"I..." Clark took another half step forward, wanting to approach, but Schiller silently took a half step back, always keeping a certain distance from him.

At this moment, Bruce's eyes glazed over, and he realized that Schiller seemed to be afraid of Clark. Why was that?

Suddenly, he remembered the part of the dream that ended earlier and saw some details, such as the state of the invisible wall breaking when Havok swung, and the shattered floors after the floor collapsed beneath him.

Although he was kicked out of the dream immediately after that, it was enough for him to infer what happened next.

After deducing that Clark's thought explosion destroyed Schiller's Temple of Thought Taco and collapsed many layers, Bruce suddenly felt better.

"It seems that you have also found that entrance and are planning to go down. In that case, I won't disturb you," Schiller said, turning to leave, but Bruce stopped him again.

"Do you know what's down there?" Bruce asked.

Schiller shook his head, and Bruce frowned, saying, "No, you should know, otherwise, how do you explain that dream?"

"Can't it be something I made up?"...

Seeing Bruce still staring at him, Schiller sighed and said, "Okay, I know some clues, but I didn't know them by being there in person. I deduced them through other factors."

"What factors?"

Schiller's eye contact fell on Clark, who was a little confused, but Schiller still spoke, "Clark, do you remember when you discussed with me before and mentioned that you felt weak when you came near Manor?"

Clark nodded blankly. Seeing Bruce's skeptical gaze, Schiller continued, "As far as I know, there is indeed a mineral that can make some people with very strong superpowers feel weak. It's called Kryptonite."

Bruce's face changed slightly. He didn't know if Schiller's "some people with very strong superpowers" referred specifically to Clark or to all people like Clark and Schiller, who had special superpowers. If it was the latter, then this mineral must not be in anyone else's hands and must belong to him.

Obviously, Lex also thought so.

Their alliance almost broke apart in a moment.

Originally, if this mineral was specifically for Superman, then they could each have one, but if this mineral could equally weaken all superpowered individuals, then it would be dangerous for anyone else to have it.

But in fact, this logic made more sense because it was unlikely that there was a mineral specifically targeting one person in this world.

Moreover, the laboratory underground in Wayne Manor was built by several previous mayors. At that time, Clark had just been born, and there was no reason for the mayor to develop a mineral specifically for a newborn baby he had never met.

Without sufficient factual basis, no matter how smart Lex and Bruce were, they could not imagine a series of complex alien background stories related to Kryptonians and Kryptonite. Based on the existing clues, that stone was indeed more likely to be targeting all superpowered individuals.

What further intensified the conflict between Bruce and Lex was that they both had urgent opponents to deal with. In Lex's view, it was Clark, while in Bruce's view, it was Schiller.

They both wanted to find something that could restrain the other's superpowers, and now, that thing was right under their feet.

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 458: The Spy Mystery (Part 2)