"...In summary, the Policy Reserve Fund is not a financial product in opposition to the government's financial policy. Quite the opposite, it enhances the financial groups' tolerance and adaptability to the Federal financial policy in the Atlantic Region, helping them mitigate the risks during political transitions, and preventing them from impulsively resisting the President's financial policy. This is beneficial for both the Federal Government and the President."
After Lex finished speaking, he stared closely into Clark's eyes but didn't see any sign of agreement or opposition. The other man replied with a hint of mockery, "To someone like you in finance, everything you speak of is a good thing. But rather than saying you thrive, it's more like you're experts at turning grief into joy."
Lex suddenly gripped the pen in his hand tightly. When he looked closely at the man before him again, he found there was a layer of mist he couldn't see through engulfing him. Clark always tilted his head, avoiding eye contact, hiding his expressions and gaze, yet he would occasionally glance over with those blue eyes. Such sudden eye contact made one almost defenseless under his gaze.
"Are you this sharp with every interviewee?"
"Of course not." Clark shook his head and said.
Lex's expression relaxed slightly, but the next second he heard Clark say, "This can hardly be called sharp, Mr. Luthor."
Lex gripped the pen again and said, "Turn off your ridiculous camera, then let's discuss the real crisis."
"Such as?"
"Electronic life." Lex tossed the pen onto the table. He leaned back into the sofa and tugged at his tie, saying, "It used my sister to set me up, and I'm not going to let it off so easily."
"Wasn't it Rodriguez who shot you?"
"How do you know that?!" Lex suddenly looked up at him.
Clark pointed to his ear, leaning back in the chair, "For an alien's hearing, the sound of a sniper rifle is deafening."
Lex narrowed his eyes, the mocking words just at the tip of his tongue suddenly halted. He stared intently at Clark and said, "Then you could also hear the sniper's footsteps, you could hear him put down the gun, hold his breath, aim, and then pull the trigger. You finally decided to intercept the bullet just before it was about to enter my brain."
"What more do you want? For me to suit up, capture the sniper before coming here, and hand him over to the police?"
"You're Superman, isn't that what you're supposed to do?"
Clark glanced at him again, with the same swift speed as before, a brief glance, then said, "I thought you'd be concerned about who the sniper was."
Lex was at a loss. Indeed, if he had asked for the name immediately, the person could have already been caught by now. He truly did not know what he was doing at the moment.
Lex said, somewhat irritably, "So who is he?"
"I don't really want to tell you." Clark shook his head and said, "Perhaps we should discuss your fund instead."
Lex realized he saw a hint of pity in Clark's expression. He wanted to grasp onto something, but his hands found nothing, so he gripped the armrest of the sofa.
"Tell me, who is he?"
"Rodriguez."
Lex's hand immediately relaxed. His expression froze for a moment, and in that moment, his mind went blank. Then instinctively, he murmured, "Why would he want to kill me?"
"Your heartbeat sounds quite panicked. I didn't tell you because I was afraid of scaring you," Clark said.
"Ridiculous, why should I be afraid of him?"
"Do you really want me to spell it out? You're not afraid of him, but of who might stand behind him, like Batman, or even the President, Your Excellency. The first assassination attempt could have been a weighing of options, but if there's a second time, he might genuinely want you dead. And you'll find there's no way to deal with him, ever since the moment he became President, all your resistance is just a dying struggle."
"I really hadn't thought he'd become President." Lex suddenly relaxed his arms, leaning back into the chair, as if confessing in a church, "He shouldn't be President. He's not that kind of person, and everything he's done since becoming President doesn't seem like Batman."
"Why?"
"Batman fears power, he's a foolish non-interventionist, believing that immense power concentrated in anyone's hands is a bad thing, including his own. He shouldn't do this."
"Unless he had no other choice."
Lex suddenly raised his eyes to look at him, "You're not Superman."
"I am." Clark adjusted his glasses.
"You're not the one I know." Lex stood up abruptly, staring down at him intently, "You can't fool me."
"Is your next question going to be 'Where did he go'?" Clark smiled and said, "Think carefully, is this what Lex Luthor should be asking?"
Lex froze for two seconds, and then collapsed back onto the sofa. He rolled his eyes to look at Clark, saying, "Then what should I be asking?"
"What you should ask is 'Why have you come to me,' shouldn't you?"
Lex pressed his lips tightly, like a spring, accumulating strength for several seconds before forcefully striking the armrest.
"In the presence of Superman and Batman, especially in front of Superman, you almost lose yourself. You only care about what he does, unlike in front of others where you only care about yourself."
"I didn't know you were a psychiatrist." Lex said through gritted teeth.
"If I must say, I'm probably a nurse." Clark laughed again, saying, "I can answer both of these questions for you. The Superman you know went to another universe to save other Batmen, and I came here because he asked me to protect you. Do you find both answers hard to accept?"
Luther's expression was blank again. After a moment, he slowly sat up straight, looked at Clark and said, "Can you look at me?"
"Why?"
"There's not so much why! Look at me!!" Luther shouted at him.
Clark finally turned his face straight, removed his glasses, and looked at him with those blue eyes. Luther was in a daze for a moment, then slowly covered his eyes.
Because he suddenly realized a tragic fact for him—it's not that he cares only about Superman; he cares about every Superman.
There's a fundamental difference between the two. If he only cares about the Superman of this universe, it can be explained by preemptive measures, because such a powerful and dangerous alien poses a great threat to Earth, and he, who sees himself as a human leader, should naturally be vigilant against such dangerous entities.
However, he usually does not take any measures against Superman, only watching him. Besides Superman being strong, there is also a whole host of friends like Batman, Wonder Woman, and the entire Justice League, who are good partners of the human race. It's hard to isolate and eliminate Superman without indirectly triggering a potentially Earth-destroying war.
But now sitting in front of him, revealing his identity, this Superman from Different Worlds doesn't have the Justice League behind him. At least right now, he is alone, and is much more dangerous than the Superman of their universe, his words sharp, thoughts clear, a super brain at least operating at 30%, posing a threat to Earth several times greater than the Superman he knows.
He should have, upon realizing this fact, immediately thought of several plans to deal with him, and after several seconds of weighing, picked the most stable and effective one to start implementing. That is Alexander Luther.
For instance, he could immediately awaken the Luther Group's defense system, directly using Kryptonite to seal off the entire Building, or he can silently take out a gun emitting Kryptonite rays from the drawer of his desk behind him.
But he did none of these.
The only thing he did was make the other party look at him.
How absurd. Are those blue eyes some kind of powerful tranquilizer? Or is he a baby needing a pacifier?
If it were Superman of his universe, Luther wouldn't feel so embarrassed and uneasy, but precisely in front of him, there's a Superman truly using that super brain. He must have seen through everything.
"Don't tell him." Luther said, "Don't tell the Superman of that universe."
"Don't tell him what? That I saved you? Ah, I don't think I should tell him, he'd feel guilty for the danger you encountered."
"Are you kidding!"
"I'm not kidding. Otherwise, why would he find me? He knew that Electronic Life had its eyes on you and might give you trouble, so he asked me to protect you. If you tell him this, he'd think he should have stayed."
"Then you should tell him." Luther wiped his face, taking a deep breath, saying, "Best tell him the sniper bullet has already entered my body."
"Are you sure? I would have to tell him it was Rodriguez who did it, he might suspect Batman. Double happiness for you, right?"
Luther's hand slowly clenched into a fist, he punched the armrest of the sofa, veins popping out on both sides of his forehead.
This damn Superman, what the hell universe is he from?! What the hell did the Luther of that universe do?!
"Don't tell him that." Luther gritted his teeth.
"Why? If he doubts Batman, their alliance breaks, isn't it a good thing for you?" Clark laughed, leaning forward to stare into Luther's eyes and said, "You don't do this because you're afraid he'd be sad?"
"Put on your glasses! Immediately! At once!"
Then Clark really acted as if nothing happened, put on his glasses, kept his head down while looking at his notebook, silently writing and drawing on it.
"Electronic Life..." Luther tried to grasp a keyword in his mind, bringing the topic back on track, "I'll create a body for this Electronic Life, strong enough that he'd rather abandon the conveniences brought by the life form of waves to use it."
"Nice. And then?"
Luther had a stomach full of explanations but held it back, causing his face to flush red. He said, "Aren't you going to ask why this time?"
"Because I know why. If he doesn't have a body, he can always hide behind the scenes, with the enemy hidden and us in the open, it's not a good thing. It's really hard to deal with him, there's no way to start. But once he has a body, no matter how strong, it can be dealt with. Once he enters that body, you will be able to lock him down and then eliminate him, that would be a major achievement."
"Should I really call you Clark Kent?" Luther asked, "Or are you actually Carl Ai'er?"
"You can call me either name," Clark said, "My friends prefer calling me Clark, while my brother and cousin call me Carl, I don't care much about it."
Luther felt a bit bewildered again. Actually, his question was a test, generally speaking, very righteous Supermen in the Multiverse always see themselves as Clark Kent, whereas those a bit more villainous tend to pride themselves on being Carl Ai'er.
Luther once tentatively called the Superman of his universe Carl, the expression was as if he ate a fly, being disgusted for at least three days without roaming around the city. This was the first Superman who seemed not to care at all about what he's called.
"You tell me this because you want me to defeat the Electronic Life with a body. What weakness have you left in this body?"
"Why do you think there's a weakness?"
Clark leaned forward even closer, looking into Luther's eyes, saying: "Because you'd worry I couldn't win."