mtl008 Chapter 4405 Project Farstar (23)
Chapter 4405 Project Farstar (23)
Chapter 4405 Project Far Star (Twenty-Three)
Clark didn't want to rush things, but he knew his boss well. He could tolerate him while he was away; but if he returned and didn't work, Clark would be in serious trouble. The editor-in-chief's patience would only last until tomorrow morning at most. Without the interview transcript, he could basically say goodbye to journalism.
So even if Luthor Manor was a den of dragons and tigers, he had to venture in. But what he didn't expect was that Luthor Manor really was a den of dragons and tigers, but the most terrifying dragon wasn't Lex Luthor, but rather the corpse of Raphanus, whom he was supposed to interview.
Clark easily slipped into the banquet. He arrived at the perfect time; the entrance was packed with cars, and celebrities were pouring in one after another. The doormen and valet attendants were too busy to keep up, and no one had time to check invitations.
Fortunately, considering it was his first day back at work, he made a point of wearing a suit. Although it was a bit odd that he was carrying a camera bag, he wasn't too conspicuous in the crowd, and it was easy for him to blend in.
Upon entering the hall, Clark began searching for his target. Rafanas was a middle-aged man, around fifty years old, slightly overweight, balding, and with a birthmark on his left hand. These features might not be obvious to an ordinary person, but Superman had superhuman vision, and the birthmark alone made it easy for him to identify him.
Clark glanced around and quickly spotted Rafanas chatting with someone in a corner of the banquet hall. He knew he couldn't just rush up to him now; after all, he was there for an interview, not to kidnap him. He needed to find him when he was alone.
After waiting for a while, Rafanas finally put down his glass and walked towards the back corridor, seemingly to use the restroom. Clark quickly weaved through the crowd and walked towards him, soon catching up.
"Hello, Mr. Rafanas, I'm a reporter from the Daily Planet. I have some questions I'd like to ask you about this quarter's municipal management plans. Could I have a few minutes of your time?"
Lasanas waved his hand impatiently and said, "What's the point of asking those same old questions? I have more important things to do now, don't waste my time."
“Other issues are also worth discussing,” Clark said, following behind him. “Please trust the reach of the Daily Planet; we will report your views and attitudes truthfully…”
Rafanas was still unwilling and walked all the way to the bathroom door. When he turned around to enter the bathroom, he caught a glimpse of Clark's face, who had been following him the whole time.
"My God! You're not...you..."
“I’m a reporter for the Daily Planet,” Clark quickly emphasized. “Would you be willing to be interviewed by me?”
“Of course, of course. I’m always happy to cooperate with a dedicated journalist like you.” Rafanas immediately beamed. He said, “I do have a lot to say, but I haven’t had a way to voice it. How about this, you go to the reception room over there and wait for me, I’ll be right there.”
Even though Clark was in a hurry, he couldn't possibly follow him to the restroom, so he had no choice but to walk in the direction Rafanas pointed out. The reception room that Rafanas mentioned was a separate tower located in the northeast corner of the banquet hall. It was circular in shape, with chairs and tables for receiving guests placed near the windows.
This isn't exactly a private space, as the north and east corridors connect here, and there are no doors. The space doesn't even have a ceiling; there's a small atrium overhead, and the reception area is invisible from any angle.
Clark glanced around and saw that because this place was quite far from the banquet hall and relatively secluded, no one came here at all. Behind the windows were tall bushes, and the backyard was completely silent, unlike the bustling front yard where people came and went.
After all, he had sneaked in, and couldn't possibly ask Luther for a proper meeting room; having this place was already quite good. Clark sat down and began writing. He had prepared his questions on the spot, and initially thought they might be somewhat inadequate, but he hadn't expected Rafanas to be so unpredictable.
Clark first asked him some common-sense questions, which the man answered quite well, proving that his professional competence was not a problem. However, because Clark had personally witnessed the level of municipal management in the metropolis before, he had a preconceived bias, so he asked him a few more pointed questions about tent districts and homeless people, but the man's answers were also watertight. The resulting draft read like the kind of political news release that the editor-in-chief liked best.
Clark had asked enough questions and was about to call it a day, but Rafanas became so interested that he pulled him aside and started asking more questions, from his superpowers to his anatomy. If it weren't for the fact that there wasn't any lustful look in Rafanas's eyes, Clark would have thought it was sexual harassment.
After chatting patiently for a while, Clark realized that Rafanas seemed to be only interested in aliens. Since he had already been recognized, Clark had nothing to hide, so he simply talked about his superpowers and background.
Of course, he didn't mention Krypton, but focused on the meteorite event that was reported in the news years ago, and the spaceship in the Arctic that many people know about. I thought that would be enough to satisfy Rafanas's curiosity, but his questions became increasingly outrageous.
"Did your parents really just leave you here back then? Didn't they prepare some guards or something for you?"
“I’m not a prince,” Clark replied somewhat helplessly. “My parents are just ordinary scientists; they don’t have that kind of power. Besides, we didn’t have enough time to prepare…”
"So you're scientists. Did they develop the spaceship that sent you here?"
"I'm not entirely sure either, but it's probably been modified by them," Clark said after a moment's thought. He wasn't very good at lying, especially when dealing with shrewd politicians like these. Less said, less wrong done.
"Then there must be quite a few scientists who can build such a spaceship, right?"
Clark realized something was off, but he didn't know who Rafanas was targeting. He said, "There should be quite a few. What's wrong?"
"Then they might come to Earth too, right?"
Clark immediately thought of the fabricated content in the Egyptian mythology related to the "Serpent of Phriene," which claimed that Kryptonians had visited Earth thousands of years ago.
Although the story was made up, and the aliens might not have been Kryptonians, Clark's conclusion at the time was that he couldn't possibly be the first alien to come to Earth, and that many predecessors might have been hiding in human society for a long time.
So after thinking about it, he said, "I don't think my people necessarily have to come to Earth. But any alien civilization that can build spaceships for long-distance travel is likely to visit Earth; it's just a matter of how many people visit and when."
His statement was rather conservative, essentially admitting nothing. But Rafanas seemed excited, saying, "So there's a lot more, right?"
"What's a lot?"
"An alien like you."
“Compared to the total number of humans, we certainly are not many. I think we belong to the minority.” Clark’s answer became increasingly conservative; he always had a feeling that this old politician was up to no good.
"So who do you think is more likely to be... I mean, in your opinion, who is more like an alien? Someone you would find common traits with, someone you can connect with."
Clark's alarm bells were ringing loudly. He realized that Rafanas might be trying to trick him into saying something, but he really didn't know where the target Rafanas had drawn was.
In general, Clark wasn't someone who cared much about current affairs; otherwise, he wouldn't have never kept an eye on the politicians the editor-in-chief had asked him to keep an eye on. This time, he had finally condescended to do so, but he didn't really take it to heart. The manuscript was written on the spot after he arrived, and his main goal was to get by.
Rafanas's question made him realize that there was probably more bad news coming from the political district recently. To avoid being tricked by this old fox, Clark could only apologize and go to the restroom.
Once in the restroom, he frantically searched on his phone, first browsing the news page, then clicking into the politics section. A deluge of nonsensical, formulaic statements made his head spin, but he quickly caught the key phrase—"Martian invasion???"
Clark opened the photo of the Martian city taken by the rover and, based on his years of journalistic experience, determined that the photo was likely genuine. But why would Martians invade Earth?
Clark scratched his head, unable to figure it out for a long time, but he still managed to deduce from this information that Rafanas probably wanted to ask him who the Martians were.
Clark recalled the scene he had witnessed in the banquet hall and couldn't tell which of them weren't human. They all looked quite human.
However, he quickly realized a logical point: if Martians were easy to spot, he wouldn't be the one to capture them. These aliens were probably like him, looking almost identical to humans, perhaps even with similar internal organ structures, so even with his X-ray vision, he wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
This leads to another conclusion: if he can't tell, then humans certainly can't. Not only can they not tell, but current human technology may also be unable to distinguish them.
This is a huge problem, Clark thought. He had considered the possibility that some alien predecessors who had arrived on Earth long ago might be hiding in human society, but he hadn't expected there to be so many. And judging from the tone of the argument between the two sides, it seemed that the Martians had been secretly trying to control human society?
Since Rafanas asked that question, it meant he thought there might be Martians among the guests present today. But Clark genuinely couldn't tell; the Martian's disguise was just too good.
Clark was actually a little unconvinced; he felt he hadn't looked carefully enough. After thinking for a while, he couldn't suppress his curiosity, so he quickly walked towards the banquet hall and stood on the side of the corridor, carefully examining everyone inside. He swore he was very focused, not missing a single detail, but he truly found nothing.
As Clark walked towards the reception room, he pondered what he had just witnessed, trying to make sure he hadn't missed a single detail. When he returned to the reception room, he noticed that Rafanas wasn't there, and assumed that the other man had probably gone to the restroom.
After all, he didn't go straight back to the reception room after using the restroom; he went to the banquet hall for a while, so it was possible that the two missed each other. Clark picked up the camera in front of him and fiddled with it. He thought he would take some photos later to examine them carefully. Even if he couldn't see the human anatomy, their clothing might have clues that he could definitely tell the difference.
Just then, he suddenly heard a noise on the second floor. He instinctively looked up and saw a corpse falling from the sky. When it hit the ground, its pale eyes were staring in Clark's direction.
Clark was stunned. He immediately looked towards the side of the courtyard, but there was no one there.
Now, he was alone in the room with the corpse, and his super hearing told him that the topic of heated discussion in the banquet hall was when the aliens would start killing people.