Chapter 614

In Metropolis, at Luthor Manor, Pikachu put down the phone and turned to Lex: "They've finished over there. We can move now."

Lex leaned against the wall beside him, extended an arm, and Pikachu leapt onto his shoulder; the two left the manor's interior, crossed the courtyard outside, got into a car, and arrived at the gates of Metropolis University.

Clark, backpack on his back, had already been waiting there; he saw a luxury car slowly approaching, carried his pet cage forward, opened the door, and as he got in, complained: "This car of yours is way too flashy—my classmates will definitely talk about me."

Lex glanced down at his watch with a blank expression and said: "Being friends with the Luthor family should be any person's honor."

Clark rolled his eyes; after spending so many days with Lex, he knew this was just one of his quirks—Lex loved to boast about two things: his intelligence and his wealth, and Clark had no way to refute either, because Lex really was brilliant and incredibly rich.

"Are we going to start investigating those locations today?" Clark asked, recalling how, over the past few days, he'd been using his X-ray vision from above Metropolis to scan underground for the secret base Lex mentioned.

Previously, Clark had approached Lex after his dorm was breached, hoping Lex could warn the agents at the CIA; later, Lex told him the CIA's response was that neither the CIA nor the KGB had been responsible.

Lex told Clark there might be another mysterious force hidden beneath Metropolis, ready to invade the city at any moment.

Once Clark learned it wasn't the agents' doing, he felt much more confident—after all, whether it was the CIA or the KGB, crossing them meant risking social death, and opposing these agencies could endanger his family.

But if the enemy was a dark organization unrecognized by law and devoid of moral boundaries, wasn't that exactly the kind of target for his justice?

Moreover, Clark learned from Lex that not only he, but also the CIA and the KGB, intended to confront this mysterious organization—though this so-called dark group likely possessed powers beyond normal human capacity, making it impossible for ordinary agents to detect or counter them effectively.

Hearing this, Clark became even more eager—punishing criminals beyond the reach of law was precisely what he wanted to do. Thus, he followed Lex's plan and spent these past days patrolling above Metropolis, using his X-ray vision to pinpoint several suspicious locations.

Today, they would visit these sites in person to uncover traces of the mysterious organization.

As Clark and Lex headed to the first location, Kara, head of the Metropolis CIA, returned to her apartment, drove to a secret site, picked up the phone, and called Alfred:

"... Yes, of the five bases we've locked onto, three are decoys, and two are inaccessible to our agents. If I'm right, that's some kind of mysterious energy—our technicians have already sampled it, but cracking it will take time."

"... Correct, I thought the same. If we could use the abilities of that superpowered individual named Clark, we might resolve this faster."

"That Luthor heir, Lex, must have already relayed what I told him to Clark. Clark should now know about this mysterious organization—our agents have observed his flight form multiple times in the past few days. Based on his behavior, he's clearly searching for the base."

"Also, our investigation suggests this group originated from Gotham. So I'm calling to ask—do you know their origins or weaknesses?"

After hanging up, Alfred looked toward Bruce, who was analyzing readings on a device.

The analyzer looked unusual—circular in shape, with a central energy storage module, where the dark owl's energy was currently being fed into the machine to be read.

Bruce frowned at the data: this energy registered as completely chaotic on scientific instruments, its values fluctuating wildly with no stable range.

His plan to extract reliable data for experiments had failed; he recalled again Schiller's attitude—Schiller had hinted that this energy could be harnessed by the Arc Reactor.

But in Bruce's view, the Arc Reactor was a generator—so if this unique energy powered it, what would the output be used for? What effect could it achieve?

Fortunately, the experimental materials were plentiful; Bruce could study slowly. During a break in his research, seeing Alfred put down the phone, Bruce paused and said: "Alfred, record these readings. I'm going to check on Elsa."

He left immediately, all research results left exposed on the lab table—as if signaling something to Alfred. Alfred watched his retreating back, smiled, but didn't approach the table; instead, he picked up the phone again and said:

"Yes, Professor Schiller, they've begun. I think you can start preparing too..."

In Metropolis, Lex and Clark had reached the third site. Of the first two suspicious locations, one was a decoy, the other completely abandoned with no recent activity.

The third site lay beneath a sawmill. As the car pulled up, Clark frowned, stopped Lex from getting out, stepped in front of him, and said: "Something's off—I saw something underground... a statue. A... a hawk? There's energy interference—I can't see clearly..."

Lex stepped out of the car. Clark opened his pet cage, letting Batcat leap onto his shoulder, while Pikachu perched on Lex's shoulder—this duo of man, cat, and mouse was perfect.

Lex and Batcat handled the intellect; Pikachu and Clark handled the force. Though Pikachu could belong to the intellect group, his electric attacks were often extremely useful.

In this team, Pikachu's main role was protecting the intellect members—Clark charged ahead to scout, while Lex and Batcat behind needed protection too.

At this moment, Pikachu's combat power was just right; more importantly, he was a ranged mage—once danger arose, he could instantly discharge electricity and eliminate threats at their earliest stage.

Inside the sawmill, workers were still present. To avoid detection, Clark dug a hole far from the workshop and entered first.

He dug continuously as he advanced, finally nearing the secret room he'd seen through X-ray vision. Before reaching it, Clark blinked hard and said: "This is it—the mysterious energy is interfering with my vision. I can't see clearly."

"You said you saw a hawk statue?" Batcat asked.

"Yes, I'm certain. I can still see it now—the silhouette is unmistakably a hawk... but why does this statue feel familiar?"

Suddenly, he exclaimed: "I remember! Isn't this the giant hawk we saw in that city full of cats? The shape matches exactly—I wouldn't forget it."

Batcat narrowed his eyes. The team pressed forward, then stopped before a large door carved with strange patterns. Clark's heat vision had no effect—the energy was blocked by a black shield. He dared not use brute force, fearing he'd disturb the workers above.

"Can you describe the hawk statue's posture?" Lex turned to Clark.

"It's a circular room. In the center is an altar-like structure. I heard screams coming from there, but couldn't make out what they were. At the altar's center stands a massive hawk statue, head upright, but the head is blurred—especially the eyes. Whenever I focus on them, my vision wavers."

"Is the blurriness because the energy there is especially dense?" Lex asked.

"Probably. Only this energy interferes with my sight," Clark replied.

"Dig a hole. We'll circle around to the back," Lex whispered to Batcat.

Clark obeyed. Digging was easy for him—even circling the entire room took little time.

Xiaoshuting

Soon, they reached the back of the door—but solid walls remained. Clark's heat vision still couldn't penetrate.

Lex stomped the ground and said: "No, we need to go deeper—directly beneath the eyes."

Clark asked no questions, kept digging, and soon reached beneath the room.

There was still a wall—but when Clark fired his heat vision at it, he noticed it was no longer indestructible; instead, it began crumbling.

"The energy core of this shield must be in the hawk's head. We're at the farthest point from it—this is the weakest spot. Attack here," Lex pointed to a single brick.

Clark had no concept of this, but seeing Lex and Batcat so certain, he abandoned thought and obeyed.

His control over his eye beams was steadier than his strength control, so the light column was thicker but produced no greater noise.

Ensuring no workers above noticed, Clark increased output. Soon—BOOM—the wall shattered. They climbed up the pile of earth and emerged into the room, facing a scene that stole their breath.

Dominating the room was the hawk statue at the altar's center, surrounded by countless iron cages.

Inside each cage: cats.