Chapter 4313

Pedestrians on the ground were screaming and fleeing. Those further away looked back at the building as it slowly collapsed. Just as everyone was shouting "No!!!" at the top of their lungs, a figure flew beneath the building and hoisted the half-collapsed structure.

In the eyes of the onlookers, compared to the massive Luthor Hotel, his figure was incredibly small. Yet, it was this tiny figure that lifted the building directly, holding it steady before setting it down in the empty park nearby.

Everyone was stunned by this turn of events, momentarily not knowing how to react. But there were always those quick to respond; the moment the building began to collapse, they had already pulled out their phones to take pictures. Not to mention, this was the golden heart of downtown Metropolis, filled not only with surveillance cameras but also the headquarters of many news agencies. Many reporters had already swarmed over with their long lenses and cameras.

The moment Clark landed, Lois had already raised her camera. She captured the entire scene of Clark saving the building. However, saving the building was clearly just the beginning. She kept her camera trained on the Luthor Hotel, and sure enough, she spotted several figures wrapped tightly in the lens.

Half an hour earlier, on the Kryptonian ship. Zod frowned as he looked at the information on his tablet. His fingers tapped rhythmically on the table, as if he were deep in thought.

A female adjutant walked over and sat opposite him. "What is it, General?"

"I am thinking about something," Zod said. "This artifact is likely not as simple as it appears. If the myths and legends are true—that Kryptonians once visited Earth and were repelled, or even killed, by the natives using green gemstones, and that these gemstones were inlaid into an artifact currently hidden in the British Museum—then where did the green gemstone powder that repelled you and caused your mutations come from?"

The female adjutant also frowned; she had keenly noticed that something was amiss. The discrepancy lay in the quantity of the gemstones.

Currently, the human internet was flooded with the legend of that mural. To prove the mural hadn't been stolen, the Royal Family had opened it for public exhibition, and the results were excellent. High-definition images of the artifact were everywhere online, especially the pattern that looked like their small frigate and the close-up of that beautiful green gemstone.

Then the question arose: if the mural was genuine and the gemstone was properly inlaid, where did the military get the gemstone powder to make their weapons?

Ordinary people didn't know, because in their eyes, the theft of the artifact was just a rumor. There was only one gemstone from start to finish—the one on the exhibit.

Zod, of course, knew otherwise, because they were the ones who had been beaten. If the gemstone was properly inlaid in the exhibit, the thing that hit them couldn't have appeared out of thin air.

Therefore, Zod leaned toward the conclusion that the gemstone had already been swapped. The one on display was a fake, and the truly useful part had long since been pried off by humans and used as a weapon. This was a classic bait-and-switch: showing the public that the exhibit was intact while the real value had already been replaced.

Following this logic, the current exhibit was a counterfeit, and the most valuable part for everyone had long since vanished. Yet, the strange thing was that various human factions placed such high importance on this "fake gemstone."

Zod hadn't sent people down this time specifically to trouble Clark. The small frigate he sent had placed a network beacon on Earth that could connect to the main ship, allowing him to access the human internet.

Kryptonian network technology wasn't exactly advanced, but fortunately, the humans didn't seem to be hiding anything. The front pages of certain newspapers read: "Metropolis National Guard continues to escort precious artifacts to ensure safety," "US military dispatches personnel to strengthen patrols around the Metropolis Museum," "Members of Congress visit in person to ensure the exhibition is foolproof"...

This was clearly very wrong. Logically, if the useful part had already been taken and they had achieved significant results in the battle against the aliens, shouldn't they be striking while the iron was hot and taking action against the aliens? Why were they all so busy with an artifact?

Excluding all impossibilities, the remaining one must be the truth. Zod felt that the gemstone on the artifact might also be real.

Or rather, the gemstone on the artifact was the one that truly defeated the Kryptonians, and the one that hit them might have been a replica researched by humans, or perhaps a companion mineral of the gemstone. It was precisely because it had been proven effective that people were now targeting the real gemstone.

Although this explanation also had various inconsistencies, Zod couldn't think of any other possibility. Even if there were other possibilities, he couldn't take that risk. Even if there was the slightest chance that the gemstone on the exhibit had the same effect as the powder that repelled them, it could not be allowed to fall into human hands again. They had to obtain it.

Zod also understood that with everyone wanting this gemstone, no one would leave the real one until the day of the exhibition; they would certainly try to swap it out before then. Therefore, he had to act early, or he would lose all initiative.

However, he wasn't human and found it difficult to conduct covert investigations, nor did he know who had the capability to swap the gemstone during the handling process. But there was a simplest method: let the mantis stalk the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Zod chose the military as his target. He was a general himself and knew very well that, typically, military officers were the most simple and crude; they wouldn't engage in subtle, convoluted schemes. They would kick down the door, point a gun at someone's head, and wouldn't everyone just compromise?

If he followed the politicians, he might go in circles and end up back at the start. Smaller factions were even less worth mentioning; they might not even know where the door was.

So, Zod sent his men down to tail the military officers. This wasn't difficult, as the military personnel had a very unique temperament; even when they were just idling on the street, they looked different from ordinary people. And anyone idling on the street at this time was likely aiming for that "professional."

The three aliens he sent down followed them and discovered that the military seemed to have locked onto the Luthor Hotel, as if the professional they were looking for was staying there. The military lived up to their expectations: flashing IDs, drawing guns, and heading up to find their target.

The three aliens tailing them naturally knew they couldn't just walk up openly, or they would easily alert the target, so they went through the freight entrance at the back, knocked out two ordinary employees, and took the stairs to catch up with the officers.

The officers were already knocking on the door, and the three aliens lay in ambush in the stairwell of the fire escape. But for some reason, after the door was knocked open, both sides got into an argument and started fighting directly.

The three aliens thought, "Could one side be trying to silence the other?" If they didn't act now, the mission might fail, so they charged in with guns raised.

The officers were no pushovers; seeing intruders, they opened fire immediately. They were well-prepared and had heavy firepower, nearly driving the aliens out. The aliens didn't back down and returned fire.

However, they had no correct understanding of the structural integrity of human buildings. Their laser guns could easily slice through the load-bearing walls of the building, and they weren't firing single shots but sweeping from left to right, cutting through all three load-bearing walls in the presidential suite and leaving a massive gash in the exterior wall.

With a boom, the building collapsed directly. Everyone was like laundry beads in a washing machine, screaming as they tumbled in one direction, including the firing aliens. Only then did they realize what a stupid thing they had done.

It was fortunate that Clark arrived quickly; the building only tilted slightly before he hoisted the whole thing and set it down in the park nearby. Had he been even a few seconds late, the culprits who caused the collapse would all have been crushed to death.

After setting the building down, Clark flew back immediately. Worried that Schiller might have met with foul play, he began searching the crowd the moment he landed, but he didn't see him.

He landed slowly and first saw the few aliens. He narrowed his eyes at them. "Where did you take him?"

The aliens looked as if they had seen a ghost, because Clark was speaking to them in Kryptonian. For a moment, they didn't know whether to raise their guns or answer.

Clark asked again, slightly impatient: "Where did you take Schiller?!"

The aliens were also confused. They had come here looking for an expert, but before finding the expert, they had demolished the building.

Thinking of this, they turned to look at the situation in the room, because logically, the expert they were looking for should have been in that room. However, apart from the human soldiers, the only humans in sight were a man and a woman huddled in the corner, shivering.

The aliens hesitated; this didn't look much like their target, but since the military had found this place, it couldn't be for nothing. Should they just take them back and test them?

They charged toward that direction. Clark gave a disdainful cold snort, rushed over, punched one of them flying, and hovered before them. "I told you already, Earth is not a place you should be. Get lost!"

The target suffered a heavy blow and let out a painful groan. Seeing this, the other two companions knew today was likely a wash, so they simply grabbed their beaten comrade and fled.

Clark glanced back at the man and woman. He hadn't noticed anything at first, but upon a second look, he found the man looked familiar—he seemed to be a Senator from New Jersey.

But the woman was a complete stranger; she didn't look like the wife who usually appeared in the media with the Senator. Had Zod gone mad, sending people down specifically to catch an affair?

The officers reacted quickly, hurriedly saying: "We were indeed looking for Schiller, but... it wasn't him in the room. We found the wrong person!"

Clark frowned. The military shouldn't have gotten the room number wrong, so it was likely that Schiller had played some trick, leading the officers to the room of a Senator having an affair, causing the two sides to clash.

This guy was truly not a simple character. Clark began to ponder again: these clever people had motives for everything they did. Was his refusal to help swap the gemstone just so he could watch these people fight at the exhibition?

Clark frowned. The room number the military could investigate shouldn't be wrong, so it might be that Schiller did something to make the officer happen to check the room of a congressman who was having a secret meeting with his lover, leading to a conflict between the two sides.

This guy really isn't a fuel-efficient lamp. Clark thought again, these smart people have purposes for everything they do. He wasn't willing to help replace the gemstone, could it be just to watch this group of people fight at the exhibition?