Chapter 4336

Actually, Clark had indeed considered the cooperation Amanda spoke of. Although he possessed super-vision and super-hearing, he had no way to concentrate his attention every single moment. Unless it was a major disturbance like the arrival of a monster last time, he would not notice small-scale disasters occurring in very distant places.

However, the souls lost in such disasters were likely no fewer than those in large-scale ones. If he could save them, Clark still wanted to; it wouldn't cost him much effort anyway.

But if he spent every day patrolling the Earth, he would likely have no time of his own left. He also needed rest. So, if someone could notify him at critical moments, that would be for the best.

Amanda led Clark into a spacious, circular office. In the center of the office were several giant screens. Amanda operated the system and explained to him: "We mainly deal with disasters that ordinary people cannot solve and that require super-powered individuals to intervene. We determine priority based on the scope of impact and the number of victims. We have already hired some super-powered individuals. You don't need to solve every trouble."

Clark stared at the screens and discovered that people were indeed currently engaged in disaster relief. Someone was helping to straighten a leaning building, someone was rescuing a scientific expedition team trapped in a blizzard, and others were searching for ships amidst a storm.

"It looks pretty good," Clark said.

"Yes, and you won't be working for free. We will collect rescue fees from these people and give you a proportional cut. At the same time, we will provide you with the best insurance. If you run into any trouble, you can also come to us."

Amanda turned around and said: "Super-powered individuals are destined to be extraordinary. You will attract a lot of attention and also invite a lot of trouble. Fighting alone doesn't mean you can't win, but it will certainly be exhausting. If we step in to resolve troubles for you, it's not a bad choice, is it?"

Clark weighed this in his heart. He felt this model was indeed quite good. However, once bitten, twice shy; he had suffered enough losses and would not trust others so easily again. So he said: "It looks pretty good for now. But I don't know if I can get used to it. So I might need to go back and think about it."

"Alright. Don't worry, we don't force sales here. You can leave if you want. If you make up your mind, just send us an email." Amanda took a business card from her pocket, handed it to him, and said, "A. R. G. U. S. welcomes your arrival at any time."

Back at the entrance of his apartment, Clark looked down at the business card. He was not the type of person to act arbitrarily. He felt that, as an alien infant, his wisdom and overall perspective were likely still insufficient. He needed to find someone knowledgeable to consult.

It was already midnight when Clark landed at Wayne Manor. Bruce was still not asleep; Clark even suspected he didn't need sleep, because no matter when he came, Bruce was awake and always working.

This time it was slightly more formal; Bruce was reading documents in the study. Clark climbed in through the window and tiptoed behind him, intending to startle him, but Bruce spoke first, startling him instead.

"My window frame is from a 16th-century French castle. If you walk up the stairs and knock on the door, I will open it for you too."

Clark hurriedly stepped back two paces, turned to look at the wooden window frame, and fortunately, it wasn't smudged. Then he looked at the window suspiciously; it didn't look like a 16th-century item at all.

After this interlude, Clark almost forgot what he wanted to ask. He walked to the chair by the window, sat down, organized his thoughts, recounted the matter, and then asked: "What do you think of this?"

"Quite good." Bruce slowly turned to the next page of the document and then said, "It sounds very wonderful."

"So there's a problem with the execution?" Clark said to himself, "I just feel something is not right. What do you think they are trying to do?"

Bruce shook his head and said: "I don't know either."

"Alright. I'd better decline then." Clark said, "I'm doing just fine as I am now; there's no need to cooperate with them, right?"

Bruce gently put down the document, turned his head to look at him, and then said: "When they came looking for you, you already had no choice."

Clark's expression changed abruptly, and he said: "What do you mean? Did they plant a bomb in my house?"

"You have no room to refuse. Otherwise, you will be pestered by them."

Clark was somewhat skeptical. He said: "They didn't force me to agree either."

"They just didn't use words to force you to agree. If you don't believe it, just wait and see."

Clark couldn't get anything out of him, so he could only return to his apartment. As it turned out, the next morning, a lawyer was knocking on the door outside.

"Hello, is this Mr. Kent?" The lawyer nodded at him and then said, "I am the attorney for your landlord, Mr. Andevich. Due to poor business conditions elsewhere, your landlord must return to Metropolis, and this is his only residence in Metropolis. As the landlord, he has the right to terminate all contracts with tenants under these circumstances. This is the termination notice, this is the filing document, this is the community consent form, and this is the settled utility bill. My client requires you to move out of the house within one day."

When the lawyer handed the documents to Clark, Clark was stunned. He said: "We signed a three-year contract, and I've only lived here for less than a year and a half..."

"Yes, I have already explained the situation just now. According to New Jersey law, when a landlord returns to their only residence, they can require the tenant to terminate the contract unconditionally. After our review, your landlord indeed meets this condition. The rental contract has been terminated. You must move out immediately; otherwise, we will take mandatory measures. You are responsible for all losses caused during this period."

Clark was furious. He slowly tightened his fists, wishing he could use his heat vision to burn these documents right in front of him, but he also knew that burning the contract was useless. It had already been filed with the community; he had to leave whether he wanted to or not.

Now he understood why Bruce said he had no choice. So when Amanda said to come to her if he had trouble, it wasn't just being polite, but that she would really deliberately create trouble for him, forcing him to go to them.

With a "bang," he slammed the door shut and walked angrily into the bedroom. Fine, isn't it just moving? He'll move! Wanting him to bow to them? Dream on!

Clark took out his phone, hesitated for a moment, and then dialed Diana's number first.

"Hello, Diana? It's like this, my house has some problems and I can't live there for the time being. Can I... what? You have to move too? How did you find a house?"

"Uh, you didn't find one? Then... oh, you went back to Themyscira. Then what about your job? Alright. It's good to have a skill. It's fine, I'll think of another way."

Hanging up the phone, Clark sighed. He sat on the sofa and opened a rental app. But he knew it was impossible to find any house at all. The vast majority of houses do not accept tenants in the winter.

This is actually because of America's bizarre rules. Although many American homes have fireplaces, they actually have heating, and they also have to pay heating fees. And this heating fee is paid in advance; the heating company must receive the money before they will provide heat.

This is quite normal, after all, you can't get a free ride. The heating fee isn't actually exorbitantly expensive, but the trouble is that if you miss this window for payment, you can't pay it anymore. That is to say, if you didn't pay the heating fee during the specified period, the house would have no heating for the entire winter.

The landlord won't cover the heating fee; this is something the tenant pays themselves. That is to say, if you didn't sign the contract during the period when heating fees were being paid, you couldn't pay it for that year.

There were too few people who could move in exactly during that window period, and now the payment period had already passed. Once missed, landlords wouldn't look for tenants for the entire winter. Because, without heating, if a tenant froze to death in the house, the property value of the entire community might drop as a result. Even if the landlord wanted to recruit, others in the community wouldn't agree.

The situation of having a house but still freezing to death sounds bizarre, but it's actually not uncommon. There are many single-family homes in America, and problems with alcoholism and drug abuse are also quite serious; without heating, if you don't burn the fireplace diligently, you might just freeze to death in your sleep.

Clark wanted to see if there were any studio apartments currently for rent. This was the only way to pick up a bargain. Studio apartments in the city center have collective heating, so there is no issue with heating fees. But relatively speaking, these apartments are all long-term leases, subletting is strictly prohibited, and if the tenant requests a lease renewal, the landlord must renew it unconditionally. There are rarely any vacant apartments.

Thinking of what Diana said about having already moved out, Clark wanted to find her previous apartment to rent, but as soon as he searched for it, he found it had already been rented by someone else. He was still a step too late.

After searching for a long time, it wasn't that he couldn't find a suitable one, but that there simply weren't any. There wasn't a single house he could live in. Even though he had expanded his search range to Blüdhaven, he still couldn't find anything.

As for why he didn't search in Cat Getan, it wasn't because there were too many lunatics there, but mainly because the rent in Cat Getan was much more expensive than in Metropolis, and Clark's salary couldn't afford it at all. And because there were too many vandals, the landlord's various requirements were also particularly numerous; filling out a rental application was like writing a thesis. It was truly impossible to rent.

Clark searched for a long time without success and paced back and forth in the house in a panic. After hesitating for a long time, Clark dialed Lois's number.

He was a bit embarrassed to speak, but he still stammered it out. Lois seemed very surprised, but still said: "Sorry, I might really not be able to help this time. I had already moved out of my house before I was hospitalized. I have to stay in the hospital for at least two or three months, and after I recover, I have to go on vacation to avoid the limelight. So I don't have a fixed residence right now either..."

"Don't worry yet," Lois said, "I know a few real estate agents, I'll ask for you. However, you shouldn't come to me for this kind of thing. Why don't you go ask Schiller?"

Clark suddenly realized, that's right, why didn't he go find Schiller?

Actually, he called Diana and Lois just to find a temporary place to stay and then slowly rent a house. But if someone could help him rent a house immediately, then there was no need to find a temporary place.

So he dialed Schiller's phone and said: "Hello? My dear fan? Are you free later? Yes. I have something I'd like to ask for your help with. We'll see each other later."

Half an hour later, in the cafe, upon hearing Clark's request, Schiller raised his eyebrows in surprise, looked him up and down, and then said: "You mean, you went to the world's richest man's house three times in one week, and didn't observe whether his house had a guest room that could accommodate you?"

Clark opened his mouth wide.

Half an hour later, Bruce, who opened the door, looked at Clark standing outside the door carrying large and small bags, narrowed his eyes, and said: "I don't seem to have..."

"You mean, your house has a French window frame from the 16th century, but no guest room?"

Looking at the innocent expression in Clark's blue eyes, Bruce could only sigh, opened the door, and said.

"... Come in."