Chapter 648: The Mysterious Night on the West Coast (Part 1) (Patreon)

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Some of you may recall that previously, Bruce was in Metropolis investigating a series of serial killings, while Clark took over his position and began maintaining order in Gotham.

Clark found himself puzzled by the intricate web of gang relationships in Gotham, but he had no trouble dealing with the super-villains.

The gangs often clashed over their interests, making it difficult to determine right from wrong. Territory disputes were all about making money, and making money was about a better life. To sever this chain of interests, Clark would have to rebuild all of Gotham, which was beyond his capabilities.

However, the majority of super-villains simply wanted to watch the world burn, with no concern for interests or survival. For such individuals, it was easy for Clark to discern right from wrong - he just had to give them a good beating.

During Clark's time maintaining order in Gotham, he had managed to subdue almost all of the super-villains. Joker had caused some trouble initially but, upon realizing how uninteresting Clark was, he had voluntarily checked into Arkham Asylum. Scarecrow, who had previously escaped from Arkham Asylum, had briefly resurfaced but was now lying in the hospital.

During his stay in Gotham, Clark had become acquainted with Batman's two children, especially Aisha, whom he found to be an adorable little girl.

Perhaps due to the inherent differences in Kryptonian aesthetics, Clark saw nothing wrong with Aisha and readily accepted Alfred's explanation about her irises being different colors.

Moreover, Clark was better at handling children than Bruce. Whether it was playing ball with Dick or taking Aisha for a flight, he was adept at it, and both Aisha and Dick liked him a lot.

When Batman returned, Clark was no longer needed to maintain order. However, when Bruce ended up on this deserted island due to his concerns about the Bat Wing, Aisha kept pestering him to find her father.

Upon hearing her call and seeing the encouraging eye contact from Alfred, along with the prepared Batcopter, Clark simply picked up the aircraft and flew to the island.

Holding Aisha in his arms, Bruce looked at Clark with a questioning gaze and asked, "How did you find this island?"

"It's simple. I flew around the Earth a few times."

"A few times?"

"I mean, I circled around each latitude once and saw you guys on this island. Then, I flew back to Gotham, picked up the plane and Aisha, and flew here." Clark shrugged, completely oblivious to how extraordinary his statement sounded.

Hal covered his eyes, realizing that Clark had used the exhaustive method, which was even more astonishing in a way.

With Clark's arrival, Schiller's wilderness survival trip was effectively canceled. It was challenging to put a Kryptonian in a survival situation because their abilities made it nearly impossible for them to be in distress.

Clark casually kicked a tall tree, which fell to the ground. Using his heat vision, he cut it into neatly stacked boards. With a wave of his hand, the boards began to move on their own, and, hand in hand, they danced energetically to the woodpile.

Bruce pointed to a rock wall, and Clark's eyes emitted beams of heat. The smelting process was skipped as iron blocks appeared. Bruce had drawn up the blueprints, and Clark picked up an iron block, squeezing it into a finished product with precision matching that of a machine bed.

All the parts were assembled in no time, and the original car was freshly produced. By the time Arthur had caught a bucketful of fish, the ship parts requested by Schiller were already assembled.

As the ship was launched, Arthur and Oliver were left in disbelief. They thought that the world must have gone mad to show them a miraculous creature with heat-vision, immense strength, and the ability to fly.

After the ship was built, the group split into two. Since Schiller still had some vacation time left and had no intention of returning to Gotham immediately, he planned to sail north along the coast, visit the West Coast, and then continue to the East Coast after that.

Clark needed to return to school, so he hurried back to Metropolis. Batman, knowing that he couldn't handle Aisha's boundless energy alone, was eager to get back to Gotham to seek help from Catwoman and Alfred.

These two individuals boarded the Bat Wing and hastily returned to the East Coast. The remaining members of the group boarded the two ships they had prepared and set sail for California by sea.

Unsurprisingly, Schiller got seasick again. Hal and Arthur stood on the deck, fishing together. Hal glanced back towards the direction of the cabins and shook his head, saying, "I don't understand why he chose to take the boat, knowing he gets seasick."

"I've seen many people like him. They value their vacation time so much that they want to try every recreational activity, even if stepping onto a fishing boat makes them nauseous. They push through to experience it," Arthur replied, holding a fishing rod.

"You've just summarized the essence of travel. The lives we envy and yearn for are just everyday routines for others. Perhaps they've already grown tired of it," Hal said as he began reeling in his fishing line, expecting a big catch this time.

Arthur also glanced back at the cabin and said, "He should be fine. He seems...”

"Don't worry, even if he has a problem, he can always fly back. By the way, what about Oliver? Is he still resting in another room?" Hal asked.

"Don't mention it. He also gets seasick. He should be resting in another room," Arthur replied.

Both of them sighed and shook their heads, but at the same time, they were secretly pleased because they didn't experience seasickness at all.

Schiller was well aware of his seasickness, yet he chose to take the boat back, not out of self-torture, but to figure out why he got seasick in the first place.

This couldn't be a mere coincidence. With the symbiote inside him, the likelihood of any physical ailment affecting his body was zero, as the symbiote could perfectly regulate every cell of his body.

There were two possible explanations for this situation. One was that the symbiote's adjustment was incomplete, causing adverse reactions in some organs. The second possibility was that this sensation might not be physical.

Lying flat on the bed in the cabin, Schiller closed his eyes and let Grey Mist adjust his body's condition to determine which organ was causing his seasickness.

Grey Mist experimented for a long time but found no abnormalities. Schiller's body was in excellent health, and the organs responsible for maintaining balance were functioning normally under his control, causing him no discomfort.

Schiller knew that despite Grey Mist's fondness for alcohol and occasional eccentricities, it was highly reliable when it came to important matters. If Grey Mist said there was nothing wrong with his organs, then there was nothing wrong.

This meant that there was only one possibility left – this sensation was not physiological but psychological.

Even if Schiller couldn't enter the Temple of Thought, he could use his professional knowledge to eliminate most of the negative psychological states. At least for a short time, he could calm himself and maintain a normal psychological state, free from conditions like seasickness, acrophobia, or claustrophobia.

Schiller adjusted his breathing while lying down and started self-hypnosis. He was highly skilled at this, but the dizziness and nausea persisted.

Realizing that this approach might not work, Schiller changed his strategy. He directly transformed into Grey Mist and discovered that even in his misty state, he still experienced seasickness.

Then, as Grey Mist, Schiller flew to the bottom of the ship and forcibly dampened the ship's movements, eliminating the swaying entirely.

Normally, seasickness was caused by the swaying of the ship. Even though Schiller's organs were not affected by the motion, the psychological suggestion might still be at play. However, if the ship was sailing on the sea like it was skating on ice, without any movement, then the psychological suggestion should disappear completely.

But Schiller found that this had no effect whatsoever; he still experienced seasickness.

This led him to contemplate whether this state was really seasickness. Was it truly a physiological reaction that humans could understand?

At this moment, as the ship passed by several islands within their line of sight, not far from the fishing boat, Schiller could transform into Grey Mist and drift over to them.

When he landed on the sandy beach of one of the islands, the abnormal sensation vanished the moment he left the seawater.

Even though Schiller wasn't a professional surgeon, he knew that abnormal reactions produced by the human body and mind didn't just disappear in a moment. There was usually a slow recovery process. Seasick passengers, for example, wouldn't instantly feel better as soon as they stepped onto solid ground. They would still feel uncomfortable for several hours and might even need to lie down at a hotel for a whole day before they started to recover.

However, Schiller repeatedly confirmed that whenever he was on the sea surface, he experienced dizziness and nausea, but these sensations immediately disappeared as soon as he set foot on land.

Schiller was lost in thought as he returned to the ship. When Arthur and Hal, who were eating, noticed him, they waved him over. As Schiller sat down at the table on the deck, he seemed distracted.

Actually, he was just contemplating what might be causing this phenomenon. However, Hal and Arthur thought he was feeling seasick, so Arthur suggested, "How about this? I'll choose a spot where the ocean currents are smoother and use the water's propulsion to make the ship go faster. That way, we can reach our destination more quickly."

Although Hal said not to worry about Schiller, he furrowed his brows when he saw Schiller's distracted expression and said, "Are you sure you're okay? I've never seen you in such a bad state before."

"I'm just thinking about why I get seasick," Schiller said after taking a bite of his sandwich.

"There's no need for a reason. Some people get seasick because they dislike the taste of seawater, some can't tolerate the rocking, and some just get seasick for no apparent reason – it's in their nature," Arthur said as he also took a bite of his tuna sandwich.

"I've blocked my sense of smell, blocked my vision, minimized the ship's rocking, and even used repeated psychological suggestions, but I can't get rid of this feeling. I believe it might not be related to the physical body, but rather the soul," Schiller pointed to his temple.

"Can seasickness really be connected to the soul?" Hal speared a piece of leafy greens from his salad, chewed on it, and then said, "I think you've spent too much time with that rotten guy Constantine. You're tying everything to the soul."

Mentioning Constantine, Schiller had an idea. He stroked his chin and then said to Arthur, "Where is our first destination? Coastal City, right?"

"That's correct. According to the route we planned earlier, we're going to Coastal City, Star City, then through Kansas to Iron Heights and Central City, and finally back to Gotham..."

"No, let's change the route. Let's go to Los Angeles."

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 649: A Mysterious Night on the West Coast (Part 1)