His animosity toward Superman stemmed from Superman's alien origins. He believed Superman's existence turned humanity into birds trapped on Earth, weakening human potential, and thus concluded that Superman was humanity's greatest threat. At the same time, he constantly sought to prove to the world, in his own way, that he was superior to Superman.
"What do you plan to do?"
Qingshui asked the question again.
"It's obvious. We can all guess who that alien hiding his identity is—the one in the red cape flying around. The emergence of other capable and righteous individuals always has a traceable path, whether through their own intelligence or some anomaly. Only he is different."
Lex Luthor said to Qingshui.
"As long as we know how to deal with Superman, we'll know how to deal with his kind. So, our initial goal is definitely the same as the government's: find someone who knows Superman's identity, someone who can get close to him, and then draw him out. He's the key figure in all of this."
Qingshui glanced at Lex Luthor.
This guy surely has strategies prepared for Superman, probably even contingency plans for me, just like Batman.
These intelligent people have a strong sense of impending crisis, almost like they suffer from persecution fantasies. But if an unexpected event like today's occurs, they'll be the most reliable teammates.
"We need to divide our labor. Perhaps I can help modify and upgrade your battle suit, giving you further ability to combat alien forces. Victor is a good helper. As for you, I'll mobilize all available resources from LexCorp to assist you. You need to help us find someone: Lois Lane of the Daily Planet. We must follow her to find Superman and learn how to deal with his kind."
"I won't give you the battle suit, but I can give you some blueprints. You can try to assist with the modifications using them."
Qingshui said calmly.
He knew, of course, that Lex Luthor was certainly coveting his battle suit.
Although the current White Knight, with Qingshui's absorption of extensive knowledge in engineering and high-end Puppetry, possessed a significant level of technological sophistication, Lex Luthor's expertise would surely allow him to build something better.
He figured Luthor was genuinely curious about how he controlled the battle suit.
However, since only he possessed Chakra, Lex Luthor wouldn't discover anything significant from his battle suit.
But with Luthor's abilities, even with Victor watching, it would be effortless for him to leave some sort of mechanism on his battle suit.
Lex Luthor said with a look of regret:
"Is that so? It seems our trust isn't quite sufficient. What a pity. I still have some Promethium stored at my company. It was originally intended as an energy storage material for a newly developed giant particle collider. I had planned to use it to coat the surface of your battle suit, but now it seems..."
"Cough, cough... It seems our bond is still very deep."
Qingshui coughed, interrupting Lex Luthor, and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I'll bring the battle suit over in a bit. You can just modify it."
As Qingshui spoke, he already had a strategy in mind.
He would remove crucial parts like the Speed Force Dagger and Freeze Gun from the White Knight and give them to Lex Luthor.
Luthor wouldn't be able to figure anything out from them anyway, so it would be like getting a Promethium Alloy-coated battle suit for free.
Even if Luthor left some mechanism on it, Qingshui wasn't afraid.
Because Qingshui could completely rebuild another White Knight. In fact, with his current increase in power, the performance of a new puppet would see a small leap compared to the current one.
Later, he could try using Transparent World plus electromagnetic scans and various other methods to re-examine the White Knight. It would be best if he could find a way to replace that Promethium outer shell.
"I'm very pleased, Mr. Watt, that you stand firmly with me in the face of a racial threat."
Lex Luthor smiled and extended his right hand to Qingshui. His shiny bald head gleamed under the incandescent light.
Qingshui also extended his right hand, shaking Luthor's hand, and they reached an agreement.
...
...
Finding Lois Lane wasn't difficult.
In fact, there was no real need to search, as Superman's Kryptonian fear of Kryptonite was already well-known comic book lore in Qingshui's pre-transmigration world.
Finding Lois Lane was mainly a formality.
Through Lex Luthor's channels, Qingshui's contact with her took place in an interrogation room at a military base in Kansas.
"Miss Lois, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Qingshui, dressed in a suit, entered the interrogation room and placed a timer on the table.
"What's the meaning of this? Some kind of intimidation tactic?"
Lois looked at the timer, which was counting down from three minutes.
"No, these three minutes don't exist. With our capabilities, we can only modify the surveillance and audio signals before the real decision-makers arrive. Three minutes is a conservative estimate of the time we have."
"You sound like you have a lot of power. Are you a secret organization?"
Lois Lane sat calmly in her seat, retorting to Qingshui. From her demeanor, she was likely employing her journalistic instincts, hoping to dig up some secrets from him.
"No, I only represent myself. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Clearwater, from Gotham City, a law-abiding businessman with a modest fortune."
The biggest gang leader in Gotham City introduced himself to the reporter-hero.
"It seems you're not affiliated with the government or the military."
"Indeed, I'm not. But at this moment, like them, I stand with humanity. I believe you do too, Miss Lois. None of us want to see the moment when humanity's only home is destroyed by aliens."
"You're right. So, what is the purpose of your visit?"
Lois Lane asked Qingshui.
"We're facing a threat from beings like Superman, and we need to know their weaknesses to take appropriate action."
Lois had an "I knew it" look on her face.
"So, you ambitious people want to use me to find out Superman's weaknesses so you can control him and use him for your own purposes? Sorry, I don't know anything."
Qingshui glanced at Lois's expression, then at the timer counting down to one minute.
"Alright, thank you, I understand. They're afraid of something called Kryptonite."
Lois tilted her head, stunned.
What the heck is Kryptonite?
"What are you talking about?"
"Can you tell me where to find Kryptonite?"
Miss Reporter was bewildered.
"Are you serious?"
"Excellent. There might be samples near Smallville, where Superman first landed. Thank you, Miss Lois, for your contributions to humanity."
With a snap, Qingshui closed his small notebook and put it, along with his pen, into his pocket.
After all, he was just going through the motions.
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