Chapter 4346

The Capitol is located in Washington, D. C. It houses the most recognizable landmark on the National Mall—the United States Capitol Building, the white structure with the dome and Roman columns commonly seen in film and television propaganda. As the name implies, this is where the U. S. Congress meets; the circular hall, also frequently seen in film and television, is the chamber of the House of Representatives.

Coincidentally, the period around Christmas is exactly when the electoral votes from each state are submitted. Congress is extremely busy during this time—it is the prime opportunity for them to exercise their power, and almost no one is absent.

This time, however, they were exceptionally present, because the alien arrival incident had affected the electoral college vote, leading to a dispute over the count, and all the representatives were sitting in the House chamber to discuss it. Just as their debate reached a climax, the ground suddenly trembled slightly. When they looked out the windows, the scenery was no longer that of the National Mall, but the bustling cityscape of Metropolis.

If that were all, it might have been manageable, but the number of police and soldiers who had followed Superman was countless: the MPD (Metropolis Police Department), FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation), HSI (Homeland Security Investigations), NG (National Guard), USMC (United States Marine Corps), USAF (United States Air Force), and a series of other armed forces had all arrived. Basically, aside from when they were asking for funding at the end of the year, there was never a time when all these units were gathered together; even for major strike missions, usually only one or two would appear.

These units were fully armed, and each person carried more than just one weapon. All kinds of counter-terrorism equipment were available, and everything was fully loaded. The pitch-black muzzles were aimed at the center of the Metropolis plaza—where the U. S. Capitol Building now stood.

In other words, the moment the representatives opened their eyes, the entire U. S. armed forces were launching a surprise attack on the U. S. Capitol Building; all that was missing was a shout of "The heavens are dead, the Yellow Heaven shall rise."

Never mind the process of how this surprise attack came to be or who was attacking whom; the point was that thousands of guns were now aimed at the most important political building in the United States. Who wouldn't panic?

To put it simply, news of threats to the President's safety is common in the U. S.; the number of famous assassins who have targeted the President can be counted on one hand. But who has ever heard of a terrorist attack on the U. S. Capitol Building?

The biggest news regarding the U. S. Capitol Building is usually representatives fighting among themselves. Is it that terrorists don't want to do it?

Assassinating the President can be called a personal grudge, but attacking the Capitol Building is equivalent to declaring war directly on the United States. As the saying goes, an arrest requires a warrant, counter-terrorism only requires coordinates, and war doesn't even need coordinates—it starts with the continent as the unit of impact. Even a madman wouldn't do something like this.

Consequently, everyone was stunned: the U. S. military, the federal government, members of Congress, Metropolis reporters, and onlookers—no one dared to move, fearing that a single accidental discharge would cause the Civil War to repeat itself in all its glory.

You could say that no one even cared why Superman had done this, because resolving the current situation was already difficult enough. And this was exactly what Clark wanted.

"Everyone, for f***'s sake, don't move!!!" the roar of the U. S. Marine Corps commander came through the earpiece. "Don't move! And don't put your guns down, don't make any moves. Are you f***ing deaf?!!!"

Theoretically, the military should have been telling these soldiers to put their guns down immediately to avoid accidental discharge, but things weren't that simple. The American system of separation of powers leads to mutual suspicion among all parties—it's a small-scale Dark Forest Law: you can only assume the other side is unfriendly.

In this scenario, whoever moves first might be the first to face a strike. Even if you were just trying to put your weapon down, if someone later analyzed your movement and determined you had hostile intent, who knows how many families would be wiped out.

So the best method now was to remain completely still and wait for someone else to move. But no one dared to move first, so the situation remained deadlocked.

The military didn't want to move first because they didn't want to take responsibility. They were also very aggrieved; they were originally executing a mission to monitor and pursue Superman, and the armed forces they deployed were within a reasonable range. Who could have guessed he would move the Capitol Building here? The armed forces intended to deal with Superman were now effectively besieging the Capitol Building.

The members of Congress were going crazy. We gathered to discuss official business, not to be rounded up in one go. We were eating hot pot and singing songs in the conference hall, and halfway through, we were hijacked. Who can we reason with?

So, since the situation is already messed up, why not withdraw the people and the guns immediately? How much longer are you going to keep those guns pointed at our heads?

The members of Congress exploded and began frantically calling military officers, demanding they withdraw their troops immediately. But the angrier they got, the less the officers dared to withdraw. If they were treated like this while having guns pointed at their heads, what would happen to the military if they withdrew?

Thus, the military naturally wanted to negotiate: we can withdraw, but you must guarantee there will be no retaliation, after all, this wasn't our fault. The more they negotiated, the more anxious the representatives became, and their attitudes grew even worse, which made the military even less confident. Back and forth they went, and the two sides remained deadlocked.

Some might find this ridiculous, but in reality, the American political system is just like this. They don't have a unified government; if you had to describe it, it's like a large corporation where every shareholder has their own interests, and the subordinate departments are even more prone to backstabbing. "Discussing facts as they are" almost doesn't exist; everything is based on one's own position—only things that serve the department's interests get done, and everything else can go to hell.

Some might think the representatives don't need to be afraid, as they wouldn't dare to fire. But the American atmosphere is such that anyone could fire at anyone; they have lived in such an environment since childhood, and the distrust of armed forces is cultivated over a long period, from civilians to politicians alike. To take a step back, even if they didn't want to fire, with so many weapons, if one went off accidentally, a single bullet landing on you would be like a mountain.

As for why well-maintained active-duty weapons would go off accidentally—how much funding do the representatives approve every year, and how much of that funding is actually used for proper purposes? They know that better than anyone. This, my friends, is a guilty conscience.

The members of Congress were all numb. They really couldn't figure out how Superman thought of moving the entire Capitol Building into the circle of his pursuit. Does the alien have a super political brain in addition to super strength? Who did he learn this from?

Actually, logically speaking, the President's team should have mediated, but the problem now is that if the White House makes a phone call that doesn't satisfy Superman, he might move the White House over too, and then the United States would have effectively moved its capital to Metropolis.

It's not that Metropolis is bad; since the buildings are already moved, it wouldn't be impossible to work here. But folks, look at Gotham next door; those lunatics have a big explosion every three days and a small one every two. Can the security personnel even survive?

Of course, Washington, D. C. would be happy, since as the political center, they never had voting rights. Now that those masters have finally moved away, they would surely vote with all their might.

But this creates another problem: New Jersey was originally a blue state. If the political center moves here, this state can't vote, which means losing one blue state; and whether Washington, D. C. is red or blue is uncertain. Losing one blue state might even result in gaining a red state. This really would make America great again.

In short, the games involved were so complex that half a day after the Capitol Building arrived in Metropolis, and after countless phone calls, the situation remained deadlocked.

It got to the point where even the onlookers went home to cook dinner, leaving only the dedicated reporters to keep watch. Many television stations started broadcasting live, intending to see which of these two stubborn mules would give in first.

The members of Congress certainly couldn't outlast the military; after all, the soldiers were professionally trained and could stand guard for days. These representatives were all in their seventies or eighties, and without heat or food—the boomerang that once besieged the presidential palaces of other countries had finally struck them right between the eyes.

Even more coincidentally, when night fell, it started to snow in Metropolis. This was the biggest snowstorm of the year so far, and the temperature plummeted to below minus ten degrees Celsius. The representatives finally couldn't take it anymore and called the White House for help.

The President had to save them whether he wanted to or not; the electoral vote results were in their hands. If he didn't save them, not only would his political career end, but his physical life might end as well.

However, he wasn't the golden-haired real estate mogul; never mind the military, even mobilizing the National Guard was a struggle. With no other options, only one path remained: call Superman and beg him to call off his magic.

Clark's first words upon answering the phone were: "The weapon created by A. R. G. U. S. almost killed me. After I woke up, Amanda Waller even led people to attack me. For the purpose of self-defense and counter-attack, I unfortunately accidentally struck her..."

The President understood everything immediately and said: "This was entirely a decision-making error by A. R. G. U. S. The White House and the federal government never intended to be your enemy; this was entirely the work of Ms. Waller alone. I fully understand your act of self-defense. Regarding the death of Ms. Waller, I am also very sorry. I can guarantee you that you will not be prosecuted in court for this; if there are any other related legal proceedings, I can grant you special immunity."

"Fine," Clark nodded and said, "Write the immunity document first, and I'll come pick it up later. Now I'm going to persuade the military to leave."

The President breathed a sigh of relief: fortunately, Superman had a good temper; if he had been even slightly more difficult, today's situation would have been impossible to resolve.

However, he clearly underestimated Clark. Because after Clark got the immunity document, he did indeed go to persuade the military and police to leave.

The military took the opportunity to step down; after all, Superman had flown over and told you to leave. If you didn't leave, he might move you to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. You couldn't just end your life today.

After the armed forces dispersed, the representatives breathed a sigh of relief. They were freezing and couldn't stay in the hall without heat any longer, so they walked out in twos and threes, intending to find a hotel and spend this cold snowy night before doing anything else.

As a result, the moment the leader walked out, about a thousand reporters swarmed them, shoving microphones into their faces.

"Hello, Congressman. Have you seen the building next door without a ceiling? According to our information, there are over 2,000 unidentified corpses inside. Are you aware of this?"

"Hello, Congressman, sources reveal that the federal government is capturing homeless people on a large scale in Los Angeles for illegal human experimentation. Are you aware of this?"

"Hello, Congressman. I am a reporter from the Metropolis Morning News. May I ask, are these unidentified corpses appearing at the military base related to the poisoning of Lois Lane? Is this, as rumored, a cover-up operation by the federal government and the military?"