bookbashuk Chapter 4337 Body of Steel (42)
Chapter 4337 Body of Steel (42)
Chapter 4337 Body of Steel (Forty-Two)
"Damn it, we've all been tricked by Luther!! He's definitely behind this!!"
During a military meeting, an officer gritted his teeth and said, "I never agreed to the plan to bring him in for the experiment in the first place!"
"You make it sound so easy! The higher-ups are desperate for results, and we don't have any experts. The most professional one is under Superman's watchful eye, and we can't even get in touch with him. Who else can we turn to besides Luthor?!"
"We've really offended Luther before, so of course he'll try to get revenge. Once others find out that this monster was created by us, we're all finished!!!"
“No, we can’t let anyone know,” one of the officers said, standing up. “Anyway, there’s an alien spaceship hovering over us right now. We can just say it came from there. Who can verify that?”
The meeting room erupted in discussion, with many nodding in agreement. "That's right, let's just say it's an alien monster. They've never seen what aliens look like anyway, as long as it has nothing to do with us."
"I think so too. As long as we can explain it to Congress, that's fine. Anyway, those congressmen aren't really concerned about any losses."
"No, that's not enough. That's the city center of a metropolis. After such a big incident, simply identifying a murderer won't quell public opinion. We need to find a way to divert attention."
“I have a plan,” an officer said. “We’ll just say that Superman is also an alien, and this is their alien civil war. Many people admire Superman, and they’ll be shocked to hear this. Everyone will be talking about Superman, and no one will bother us.”
“I think that’s a good idea. But how do we prove he’s an alien? After all, he doesn’t look anything like that monster.”
"That's a bit of a problem. He looks too much like a human. No one will believe he's an alien."
“By the way,” a young officer suddenly said, “do you guys remember the Egyptian myths that were circulating a while ago?”
"You mean that snake...the one on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art?"
"That's right. The myth says that the aliens who came to Earth were a long, red and blue snake. Isn't Superman's suit also red and blue?"
"Isn't this a bit too much? His uniform is red and blue, not the other way around..."
"Who cares about that! Those reporters can turn black into white. As long as we put in some effort in public relations, we're sure to spark a discussion."
"Ahem." The general, sitting in the main seat, cleared his throat and said, "Your suggestions are all good, let's do it this way. Prepare to contact the reporters, we absolutely cannot let anyone realize that this is our responsibility."
The officers walked out of the conference room one after another, and the last one took out his phone. After hesitating for a moment, he clicked on the name "Louise" in his contacts.
Louise walked with a brisk pace, and Clark could barely keep up with her. She crossed the corridor, stood in front of the elevator, and pressed the button. After entering the elevator, she turned around, nodded slightly, and said, "To make a fuss about your identity, you need evidence. You never know where they'll dig up some ridiculous stuff, let the reporters fabricate stories, and use it to fool the public."
"The best way to deal with this is to completely destroy the breeding ground for rumors. I already have an idea..."
Louise entered her studio. Clark was visiting for the first time, but he wasn't interested in appreciating the decor; he simply followed Louise and asked, "How do I do it?"
Louise sat down, picked up her water glass, took a sip, cleared her throat, and said, "The first law of communication is that whoever is faster is more likely to be right. People tend to believe the first person to speak out, and no matter how things turn out later, the impact of the message will be greatly reduced. So we have to be faster than the military."
"They want to create a sensational news story to divert attention, so we'll create a sensational news story to shift the focus to them. If they try to outdo us with their own news, they'll be a step behind and will never be able to overshadow our hot topics; if they choose to suppress public opinion first, they'll miss this explosive moment, and any subsequent news will be much harder to attract the attention of so many people."
"Creating news? Is it spreading rumors? But this..."
"Of course, this isn't a rumor. In fact, I suspect the monster was created by the military, and I have reasonable grounds for it. You mentioned in your previous press release that you heard the body collectors in the tent area say that the increased use of corpses was because someone wanted to test a new weapon against aliens. Could it be the military?"
"Of course, we have no evidence that they are actually testing new weapons on corpses, nor can we prove that the military is testing the new weapons. But one thing is undeniable: a lot of homeless people have indeed died recently."
"The truth is, those on the East Coast froze to death, while those on the West Coast might have been from urban beautification efforts, but people won't think about it too much. They'll only notice that there are indeed fewer homeless people during this period, and coupled with the possibility of us testing new weapons, they'll naturally conclude that the military's new weapon test failed, ultimately creating mutants. This kind of conspiracy theory is very popular."
"In this way, we neither spread rumors, but raised reasonable suspicions, while explaining where the invading monster came from, pointing out the culprit, and attracting public attention."
Louise spoke while writing her article, and by the time she finished, she had almost completed half of it. Clark was utterly impressed; he felt he could never become such a brilliant independent journalist in his lifetime.
Louise's throat was dry from talking, so she picked up her water glass and took another sip. But suddenly, her breathing became rapid, she clutched her neck, and began to cough and vomit violently.
Clark was stunned and rushed over to catch her. He glanced at the water glass, realized the problem, and quickly induced vomiting in her. Louise shuddered once and then fainted.
Clark hurriedly carried her to the hospital, and as he watched Louise being taken into the operating room, his anger nearly ignited his brain.
Clark stood outside the emergency room, taking a few deep breaths. A sliver of reason compelled him to leave the hospital; he couldn't afford to lose control now. He had to find a way to resolve this, and he had to finish his report on Louise.
But he wasn't as experienced as Louise, who could write a report out of thin air. So he flew back to the Daily Planet to retrieve his report and review the details.
"Editor-in-chief, where's the article I gave you before?"
Which one?
"It was this morning that I requested independent publication..."
"It was just published."
"What?!" Clark was completely dumbfounded.
A glint of light flashed in the editor's eyes. He said, "You mentioned in it that the number of homeless people in Los Angeles has decreased sharply recently, and that you heard a morgue worker say that someone is researching alien weapons and needs corpses, right?"
The editor-in-chief sat down in his office chair, turned around a couple of times, and said, "Before that monster came, nobody wanted to use this kind of waste paper to wipe their butt. Repeating other people's daily lives isn't news. But with the monster here, this really has the potential to become a huge hot topic."
Clark couldn't help but cover his forehead. Good heavens, none of these journalism students are any good; their noses are sharper than a hyena's. The editor-in-chief and Louise were on the same page; they both wanted to use their previous investigative reports to create a big news story.
Aren't you afraid the military will cause you trouble?
“I didn’t say who did it,” the editor said, spreading his hands. “I was just repeating what Los Angeles life is like, as usual, publishing a boring report that’s like toilet paper. What do I care where they want to guess?”
After saying that, he picked up the cup on the table, wanting to take a sip of coffee. Clark appeared in a flash beside him and knocked the cup away.
"Crack!!"
"Clark Kent, are you insane?!"
“I’m doing this for your own good,” Clark said. “The last person who suggested this method is in the emergency room right now; someone poisoned her.”
Having said that, Clark, not wanting to talk any further, turned to fly away. But then came the editor-in-chief's urgent shout from behind: "Wait!"
Clark turned to look at him, and the editor-in-chief, his eyes gleaming, said, "Who are you talking about? Who poisoned whom?!"
“Louise. My friend, a journalist…”
"Louise? Louise Lane? That famous independent journalist?!"
Clark could only give a brief overview. The editor-in-chief immediately stood up from his chair and said, "Quick, grab the camera, call everyone in the office, we're going to the hospital!"
Clark was shoved into the office by the editor-in-chief. The editor-in-chief stood in the office doorway and shouted, "Everyone! Grab your tools! Come with me!!!"
The editor-in-chief ran outside while grabbing the phone, and kept talking non-stop until he reached the bottom of the stairs, making one call after another.
When we arrived at the hospital entrance, it was already surrounded by layers of people. Police officers and reporters were crowding in front of the entrance.
Clark was completely stunned. However, the editor-in-chief, while squeezing his way in, made a sorrowful expression for the cameras of the various reporters.
"Yes, I really didn't expect them to dare do such a wicked thing to their colleagues who dared to speak out. If they continue like this, who will be willing to speak up for the people?!"
"I simply cannot believe it, this is a human tragedy! Someone is trying to block the channels of communication and prevent the public from obtaining the truth!"
"Yes, as soon as my report was published, poor Ms. Ryan was murdered. Of course, I didn't mean to suspect anyone, but you know how strange it is."
"I cannot answer that question. I also refuse to believe that loyal soldiers trained by the federal government would do such a thing to shirk responsibility and suppress public opinion! If this is true, what can we trust anymore?!"
"Of course, I'm not attacking the ruling party. However, whether their apparent helplessness regarding the issue of extraterrestrial life contributed to this tragedy is a question we should seriously consider..."
Clark watched helplessly as the editor-in-chief walked and talked, until they reached the hospital. By then, the whole story had developed into "Louise Lane, an independent journalist who provided a report on the number of homeless people in Los Angeles, was poisoned by the military to silence her."
Clark suddenly realized that if he wanted to become an independent journalist, he might really need to practice more.
Back at the hospital, Clark quickly asked the doctor about Louise's condition. The doctor didn't seem too worried, saying, "Acute metal poisoning, very weak toxicity. After gastric lavage, she's mostly recovered. However, the patient is quite weak and may need to rest for a while..."
Clark found it odd; Louise wasn't physically weak at all, and someone in poor health couldn't be a reporter. The last sentence sounded strange.
Just as he was about to press further, he used his exceptional hearing to hear a familiar voice coming from upstairs, which sounded like Schiller.
"I told you you should have put in less, then you wouldn't have vomited so badly. Madam, you're being too hard on yourself."
"Don't worry, I'm fine. Ugh... I knew all along that Clark's background would be a problem. See, it's always good to be prepared, isn't it?"
"You really went all out to create a big news story. But now look what's happened. If anyone says Clark is an alien, everyone will think it's someone trying to silence you by making up such rumors. But you two..."
"This isn't the time to talk about that. Ahem, the photos of our hug should have already been sent out, I'll need your help again..."
"No trouble at all. People love gossip anyway, and besides, Superman just saved the world. His gossip will definitely be a hot topic, so I don't need to bother spreading it."
"That's good. He should be here soon, you can go now."
As Clark pushed open the door, Schiller, who was walking out, bumped straight into a wall. Clark went in, crossed his arms, and squinted at Schiller.
Schiller took a step back, pointed at Louise, and said innocently, "She made me do it."
(End of this chapter)