Chapter 4317

"Ahem." Under the spotlight, Clark sighed, adjusted the microphone, blinked his eyes gently, and then said: "Hello everyone, I am Superman."

"Oh——!!!!!!"

A mountain-shaking cheer came from the field. Everyone was gathered around the square, with countless lenses aimed at him. That red and blue uniform looked even more vibrant and brilliant in the dazzling early winter sun.

"Standing here today, I mainly want to solve two problems." Clark sighed gently and said, "I know everyone feels very heartbroken and regretful about the Luthor Hotel building accident that happened two days ago. Many people are mourning the deceased and taking care of the injured. I can fully understand everyone's feelings. As the first eyewitness to the accident, when I heard your screams, I felt the same, I couldn't control myself, and I made rescue actions at the fastest speed. But unfortunately, I couldn't save everyone."

"Oh..."

The people below all let out sighs, but more were voices comforting him. The reason for this was that the media had already paved the way enough in the past few days.

First, the very tragic accident scene, then the building collapse, then the crowd fleeing, and then the injured accepting interviews with tears in their eyes. Finally, the scene of Superman saving people like a god descending to earth, filmed by Lois, was circulated. Naturally, it made people feel that if it weren't for Superman, more people would have died.

Of course, it was also because someone intentionally brought the rhythm to Luthor, wanting the Luthor Group to take the blame. They used some improper commercial competition behaviors to imply that the Luthor Hotel's construction quality wasn't good. So the public's focus was all on the Luthor Group, and Superman wasn't very conspicuous.

"However, I also want to announce some good news to everyone here. After three days of search work in cooperation with the military and the federal government, we have found most of the missing personnel. The estimated number of casualties has changed from over ten thousand to a few hundred, most of whom are minor injuries. It's just that because they were psychologically shocked and reacted too intensely, it wasn't conducive to early treatment, so the hospital's judgment of the injuries was more severe."

Whispers immediately broke out below. Clark had long expected this scene, cleared his throat again, and said: "Of course, some people unfortunately passed away in this accident. I think they can also receive everyone's mourning in heaven and feel happy for it."

The voices below calmed down a bit. Clark sighed in his heart; sometimes people were more willing to believe what they already believed than the truth. If he said directly that no one was injured, no one would believe it at all, so he could only restore the truth as much as possible.

"And the second thing, which is also the thing I want to emphasize in this appearance: the Luthor Hotel collapse wasn't an accident, nor was it because of the Luthor Group's construction quality problems."

The crowd below was in an uproar. Clark hurriedly seized the opportunity to speak, raised his voice, and said: "Everyone can fully believe that I haven't been bought by the Luthor Group. I am standing here saying these words because the FBI and the military have already found solid evidence. Remember the spaceship that once appeared over Metropolis and was blown up by me with one punch?"

As soon as this was said, it became quiet below. Most people expressed affirmation. The event that night was actually quite big; an alien spaceship suddenly appeared over an American big city and was blown up by another superhero. How could such a big event not be explosive?

It was just because some time had passed, and there had been more explosive news recently, so everyone didn't mention it much.

"What I want to say is that the spaceship was indeed an alien spaceship, but it was only their small frigate used for scouting the situation on the ground. That night, I discovered the spaceship appearing and immediately realized that the people of Metropolis might be in danger. So I hurriedly blew it up without letting it land. Otherwise, even if they didn't activate weapons, it would be troublesome if they carried any alien viruses."

The crowd applauded him again. Clark hurriedly continued: "But unfortunately, it wasn't just this small spaceship that came to Earth; there was also a huge main ship parked in low Earth orbit."

Clark pointed to the projector, and the image of the Kryptonian main ship appeared on it at the right time. Everyone was stunned.

In fact, so far, the fact that aliens had come was basically only known to the high-level officials of various governments on Earth. Ordinary people didn't know, and even if they guessed some things through Egyptian mythology and the pictures of the spaceship that appeared over Metropolis that night, they didn't know the whole picture. And now you tell me that such a big spaceship is parked above our heads?!

The crowd became visibly panicked. Clark hurriedly said: "Don't be afraid, everyone! These aliens aren't that strong; hasn't their spaceship already been blown up by me?"

"And, I won't hide it from everyone, they didn't just send one spaceship; there was also a spaceship that landed near a US military base, and it has also been repelled by our brave soldiers!"

The crowd was skeptical. But fortunately, the US military's recording equipment was very complete, and almost all the details of that battle were recorded—of course, they didn't show the part where they were suppressed in the trenches, but the part where the special forces came and defeated the aliens.

Once this video was released, most people believed it. It wasn't that they didn't suspect they were faking it, but mainly because the US military's faking level had never been very good, and they had made loopholes several times before. This video was so real that it didn't look like something their faking level could produce.

In addition, this video was also affirmed by governments of various countries. Not all countries' governments were as lacking in credibility as the US federal government. So most people still believed it.

Seeing that the time was about right, Clark said: "Now is indeed an extraordinary time, but throughout history, humanity has experienced many twists and turns. The Black Death that killed countless people, the wars that caused countless people to lose their lives on the battlefield, the sacrifices made for landing on the moon and exploring the universe... these didn't defeat us, but made us stronger."

"If the universe isn't an empty black hole, then third-kind contact is a matter of time. External enemies will come one day. What we can do is to be of one heart and unite. Only in this way can we go further in the universe. Isn't it?"

On the TV, on the advertising screens of buildings, on mobile phone screens, on the computer screens at the meeting site, there was all Clark Kent's handsome face and his steady and firm voice.

Bruce picked up the remote control and changed the channel. Clark threw himself onto the sofa, but suddenly bounced up, staring straight at Bruce and asking: "I performed okay, right?"

"If you were as unconfident as you are now at that time, then I can only give you a negative answer." Bruce sighed and said, "In just two hours, you have already asked me this question 53 times."

"This is my first time doing this kind of thing!" Clark closed his eyes, lay on the sofa, and said, "Although I'm a reporter, I'm an investigative reporter, not an interview reporter. I have never appeared on the big screen. My God, I can't believe it; all the important channels in the world are playing my speech during prime time. Ah——"

"You did very well," Bruce said, "You successfully united the federal government, the military, and the Luthor Group. This is a great achievement that no one else has done."

"Is this what I did?!" Clark couldn't help but say, "It was clearly done by that person named Schiller. I really don't understand why he didn't go up himself, but had to make me go up..."

After complaining a few times, Clark fell silent again. He fell into thought again, because he suddenly discovered that, in fact, it seemed that this game was calculated back and forth, and the one being calculated wasn't Luthor, nor was it the aliens, but himself.

First, concocting a cultural relic scam, while fooling Luthor and Diana. Then provoking Luthor, making him have a stress reaction to aliens, and making the stupid decision to kidnap Martha. Then letting him hold the green gem specifically designed to restrain Kryptonians, defeat Clark, let Clark lose his super strength, be picked up by Diana, force Clark not to use super strength, but only use wisdom to break the situation.

Then notifying Bruce to save Martha, letting Clark chase to Wayne Manor, and after understanding part of the truth, using the urgency of the military to let the military find Lois, then backhanding an email to Lois, using her to disclose the royal scandal, forcing the royal family to have to open the exhibition, and then facilitating the Metropolitan Museum to borrow the exhibition.

Immediately after, provoking Luthor leading to his hospitalization, letting the military have an opportunity to take advantage of, get the gem, develop new weapons, and then using Clark to pull the aliens to the military base, fight a winning battle, and let everyone realize the importance of the gem. So everyone stared at the gem borrowed for the exhibition, constantly fighting openly and secretly.

At this critical juncture, leading the aliens to the Luthor Hotel, causing the hotel to collapse, borrowing media public opinion, extremely exaggerating the disaster level, spreading rumors that the Luthor Group's construction quality was not up to standard, accusing the federal government and the military of inaction, triggering international public opinion, and at the same time weakening their own prestige.

All of this, there was only one purpose, and that was: to let Superman stand up at the critical moment to save everything.

First, he had to have the ability to stand up at the critical moment. If he had always been in that puffy state of anger before, he wouldn't think rationally at all, wouldn't know what to do when, wouldn't perceive the subtle changes in the situation, and wouldn't have the ability to handle these complex relationships, so of course he wouldn't stand up.

Secondly, he had to be willing to stand up. He had to realize that he was Earthling Clark Kent, and as an Earth citizen, his responsibility was similar to that of the Luthor Group, the federal government, and the military. He was willing and able to take on such responsibility.

Finally, there had to be an opportunity for him to stand up. If everything developed very smoothly, for example, Luthor successfully found Kryptonite, first defeated Superman, then defeated Kryptonians; or if any of the forces had an overwhelming advantage, they wouldn't need Superman. They would definitely regard Superman as an enemy, not to mention fabricating charges to arrest him, they would also have to squeeze him to the edge.

However, under Schiller's series of operations, Clark made great progress, and the whole situation was stirred into a pot of porridge by him.

Luthor, the extreme resistance faction who resolutely refused to cooperate with aliens and was determined to eliminate all aliens, had to ask Clark for help. The military and the federal government, whose reputation was damaged, who were eager to recover, and who wanted to find someone to take the blame, had no time to care whether Clark was human or not.

And Clark stood up, not only clarifying for the Luthor Group, pinning the blame on the aliens; but also praising the search and rescue results of the federal government and the military implicitly and explicitly; immediately after showing the heroic posture of the military resisting aliens; and finally, everyone was happy, and the host and guest were satisfied.

In fact, this plan was simply creating a god. It's just that others create gods by holding them high; Schiller creates gods by digging the ground three feet deep, which makes the god look relatively high.

The so-called troubled times produce heroes, but what if there are no troubled times? Of course, create one yourself.

If the situation is great, then Clark's importance won't be shown; but if the situation is a mess, then Clark becomes the only existence with the ability to stand up and lead humanity.