Chapter 28: The Way To Solve The Problem
In the bedroom on the second floor.
The desk lamp in the room cast Ian’s shadow on the wall, twisting into a bizarre, clawing monster. In reality, he was just sitting cross-legged on the chair, staring at his little computer.
The computer fan emitted a faint hum, Ian’s fingers rapidly tapping on the keyboard, browser windows popping up one after another, all news from Metropolis during the daytime yesterday.
Metropolis Daily, Planet Forum, City News Express. Ian wanted to see if he could find clues about what happened to Superman and what would happen to Metropolis.
Showdown with Father Clark?
He had that thought earlier, but then he remembered the Female Grim Reaper appearing again, clearly trying to stop him.
There must be a special reason! Is it that Superman continuing to intervene would trigger worse consequences, or would it cause death to arrive early?
“I hate the Riddler.”
Calming down and thinking about it, based on Ian’s understanding of Clark, even if Ian directly pointed out that he knew Old Father was Superman and told Clark about his communication with the mysterious Grim Reaper, Old Father would absolutely not let Ian get involved in the subsequent investigation.
Don’t forget, in his parents’ eyes, he was a patient with a bit of a mental problem.
And for Superman.
Humans are too frail.
So when Old Father encounters anything, he would definitely choose to face it alone, doing his utmost to avoid involving family in dangers related to him.
A showdown wouldn’t bring father-son collaboration with Old Father.
Ian even worried that, given Old Father’s cautious personality, he might send Ian to some magic side hero’s home for days of exorcism and hazard checks.
Only seven days.
Ian didn’t want to be dragged into exorcism. He had considered seeking help from the true wisdom representative, the uncrowned king of neighboring Gotham City.
However.
After thinking for a long time, Ian gave up the idea. Not because he feared exposing himself as a special person.
As long as he didn’t expose himself as a transmigrator, there were too many special people in this world to count.
It would just mean getting noted in Batman’s little book and having a series of contingency plans made.
Capable special people all received this treatment more or less; everyone being the same meant no real impact.
What Ian worried about was Batman’s attitude; he hadn’t met this world’s Batman and had no way to gauge Batman’s attitude toward Superman.
Perhaps Metropolis would be saved because of it, but whether Superman could be saved would purely depend on the other’s mood.
After all, Superman had died under Batman’s scheming before.
Ian really couldn’t afford to gamble. He wasn’t like certain overly arrogant groups who, after transmigrating, thought they were the destined protagonist, making everyone they met pledge loyalty on the spot and controlling Batman as they pleased.
In front of the strongest intellect in Batman’s DC universe, Ian had no confidence in his own world-shaking wisdom for now; perhaps only facing Batman’s tombstone rotten for a hundred years could his wisdom stand tall.
This was self-awareness.
In front of Batman, everyone pretty much had this self-awareness. Batman wasn’t an absolute good guy who loved helping; only the Batman seen through screens was the popular king everyone loved.
Precisely because of this.
Ian temporarily set aside seeking Batman’s help.
There were seven days; within three days, he could still try other choices.
Like asking Wonder Woman for help? Wonder Woman surely had magical help methods, and her status weight was definitely not low; there were actually quite a few relatively friendly superheroes like her.
Ian could even try from the Grim Reaper’s side.
The rule that without the Grim Reaper taking the soul, a person can’t die surely had loopholes to exploit.
And Lucifer of the Bar of Light, frustrated at not being able to hook up with the girl God arranged; there might be deals to make here.
Of course, dealing with the King of Hell required careful thought.
“As for whether Metropolis is destroyed or not, that’s for superheroes to worry about… I don’t care that much.” Ian’s thinking was simple; he only cared about his own family.
Who made his whole family family heroes? There was some inheritance in this regard. Compared to his two brothers destined to become heroes, Ian even felt he was much more selfish.
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Ian kept telling himself this. Top students should all understand; multitasking is basic. While thinking, he continuously browsed news on the web.
In the data jungle.
Ian searched for any suspicious clues.
【Cherry blossoms in Metropolis Central Park bloom early; experts say global warming is causing climate anomalies, calling on the Eastern power to save more carbon emissions for the West to use.】
【Subway Line 3 suddenly sealed off, suspected ancient creature remains found underground.】
【LexCorp’s new clean energy project receives government support.】
……
One news item after another flashed across Ian’s eyes; he quickly scrolled the mouse wheel, and suddenly, a news event from that morning caught his alert and attention.
【Starflight Airlines Flight 143 crashes】
【Outrage! Superman too late to rescue, 12 dead, 36 injured, only 114 unharmed survivors; this forces us to question what Superman was doing!】
Below the headline and soul-searching content was a shocking photo: the plane at the moment of ground contact, a red-and-blue figure arriving belatedly from afar.
The photo’s capture was very clear, the article full of malice; clearly LexCorp-controlled media, which didn’t surprise Ian much.
Media controlled by Lex Luthor’s company—if they didn’t bash Superman one day, that would be scary. Of course, this news wasn’t entirely fabricated rumor.
“Airplane crash…”
Ian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
He recalled during morning class, the classroom window suddenly shaking, and the muffled explosion from afar; the calm teacher and smoke outside campus had him complaining for a while.
Now it seems.
Something had indeed happened.
Normally, the increasingly powerful Superman couldn’t fail to rescue a crashing plane; this situation could only mean one thing—something delayed Old Father, making him late.
“Maybe I can investigate from this angle.” Ian searched online some more and saw a video shared by a cam girl named 【Big Baby Ball】 on social media.
Hmm.
The soccer babe’s balls were indeed big.
But the focus was the paid video of real underwater selfies, with the plane crash site behind. The cam girl was on a high-rise; in the empty background video, you could clearly see the wobbling ball in the sky… no, the wobbling Old Father in the sky, directly confirming Ian’s earlier guess.
“Something did happen, right before this plane explosion!” Relying on his “family” will, Ian forced himself to focus on the key spot.
Under normal circumstances.
Superman couldn’t be flying unsteadily in the sky; this would only happen if Superman’s condition was off, perhaps just extricated from something extremely tricky.
And.
Already injured!
“Whether Old Dad was injured, maybe someone among these people could notice.” Ian browsed more news related to the plane crash, focusing on the hospital where the injured were centralized; he felt he might get useful clues from them.
“That’s the plan.”
The slightly worn 【spirit calling card】 flipped in Ian’s hand.
He already had his decision and plan.
Of course, before that, he still needed to get through tonight.
“Good thing I used Second Brother’s account to buy the video; hope Mom doesn’t blame my good brother too much after seeing the billing information.”
“Jordan will surely feel an invisible sense of achievement when getting beaten; after all, he’s getting beaten to save our dear father!”
“Jordan is our family’s superhero!” Ian multitasked, continuing to search for clues while opening a small window in the computer corner to finish appreciating the paid video.
No choice.
Who made Ian’s soul from a nation famous for thriftiness?
How could he waste money like that?
That was very shameful; multitasking threefold was no problem for him.
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