mtl008 Chapter 4328 Body of Steel (33)
Chapter 4328 Body of Steel (33)
Chapter 4328 Body of Steel (Thirty-Three)
Clark did as Diana said: she drank a glass of warm water, went to the bathroom, and then went to sleep. When she woke up, she was still a little dizzy and nauseous, but much better than before.
Fortunately, he had been wearing the green gemstone for the past few days and had gotten used to the slight discomfort. He took a deep breath, regained his energy, got dressed, and prepared to go downstairs.
Diana was already waiting at the door, and the two drove together to the laboratory. Diana looked at Clark and said, "You're just handing over your hair and blood to the military like that? Aren't you afraid they'll use it to do something weird?"
"Don't worry, I asked Bruce. You can't do anything with just blood and hair."
"Cloning won't work either?"
“No,” Clark shook his head and said, “Bruce told me that humans haven’t even been able to crack their own genetic code yet, let alone the Kryptonians. It’s impossible.”
"But you should still be careful. I know you're not the type to mess around, but someone might try to sabotage you. Don't go to any dangerous places alone lately, okay?"
Clark roughly understood what Diana was trying to say. He also knew the military's true nature; they would do anything to get his genes. Using a honey trap or something similar wasn't out of the question.
Clark wasn't too worried. Firstly, no one could force him, and secondly, he felt he already had someone he loved. Once he was done with this busy period, he would find a way to pursue Louise.
Thinking about this, Clark asked, "Do you think there's reproductive isolation between humans and Kryptonians?"
Who have you fallen for?
Clark was taken aback, then said, "Do you have mind-reading abilities?"
"Ha, little baby. I've lived all these years, do you think I need mind reading to deal with you?" Diana said with a hint of disdain, tossing her hair. "Tell me, who have you taken a fancy to?"
"Louise Lane. She truly is the most charismatic person I've ever met—strong, independent, and intelligent..."
So Diana listened to all the flattery the whole way and started to regret exposing Clark's true colors.
Upon arriving at the base, Clark found Colonel Jones there as well. He didn't think much of it, nodded to him, and went inside. Then, the experts drew a little blood from him and took it to nearby equipment for analysis.
Clark pressed his hand against the wound from the blood draw, feeling a little smug: thank goodness for the green gem, now he could also participate in the physical examination.
As a child, unable to control his strength and unsure how to change his rock-solid physique, he could only find various excuses to avoid school physical examinations, for which he was once ridiculed and ostracized. After starting work, although he was allowed to participate in physical examinations, he still couldn't get his blood drawn, even when he tried to relax his skin; the needle simply wouldn't go in. So, he would always use excuses like not being fasting or taking medication to avoid blood tests, which greatly displeased his superiors.
Now, with the green gemstone and his skin-relaxing abilities, we can finally insert a regular needle. At his next checkup, he can finally have his blood drawn.
After having his blood drawn, Clark prepared to leave. The expert, seemingly hesitant, stopped him and asked, "What were you doing yesterday?"
Clark paused for a moment, then looked at Diana somewhat guiltily—what else could he have been doing yesterday? Drinking, of course.
"What's wrong?" Diana asked. She walked over and looked at the test report, but didn't understand it, so she said, "We went out for drinks yesterday, and he only had about three sips. It should have been metabolized long ago. Is there anything abnormal in the blood sample?"
“This isn’t unusual,” the expert said. “Just drank alcohol? That’s impossible. Come here so we can test you again…”
So Clark had the test done again, and the results still made the expert frown repeatedly. The expert said, "This blood sample is significantly different from your previous one. Look at this value, it's risen too sharply..."
What is this value?
"I don't know, but it's one of the components of your blood."
The mention of blood reminded Clark of his past experience, so he said, "Well, I was injured before, and someone injected some gemstone powder into my blood..."
"Gem powder?"
“Yes, this is it.” Clark took off the gem he was wearing and said, “Take a look and see if this is the composition.”
The expert took the gemstone for testing, and soon came back with the results, saying, "That's right, it's this thing, it has the same properties. You ate this thing?"
“How could I!” Clark said. “This stuff would make me very weak, why would I eat it?”
"That's not right. The level of this component in your blood has risen significantly. Could it be that someone injected you with it again?"
"Impossible. I wasn't injured this time. If someone injected me, how could I not know?"
Suddenly, Clark stopped. He remembered that the cocktail he had yesterday, called "Sunset Boulevard," was green.
With a loud bang, he slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Schiller!!!"
Diana couldn't help but cover her forehead, saying, "I knew the 'Sunset Boulevard' cocktail was supposed to be orange-red, how did it turn yellowish-green? I shouldn't have let you drink it!"
Clark sighed and looked at the expert, saying, "Will this cause me any harm?"
“It’s unclear at the moment,” the expert said, shaking his head. “This requires a full medical examination. I can assure you that your information will absolutely not fall into the hands of anyone else…”
Clark turned to Colonel Jones, who nodded at him and said, "Don't worry, there's no problem with this medical examination."
Clark gritted his teeth. He was certain Schiller was behind it all, and even though he'd helped him inflict a huge loss on the Luther Group, he wouldn't invite him to dinner!
Clark went to get a medical checkup. Diana walked up to Colonel Jones and said, "Hello, Colonel."
"Hello, ma'am."
"Let's not beat around the bush. You're not from around here either, are you?"
"That depends on how you define a local. If you divide a region around the sun and the entire solar system as its radius, then I should be more local than you."
Diana narrowed her eyes.
“I am a Martian,” Colonel Jones said. “My real name is Ron Rontz, and I am a Martian hunter. You can think of me as a policeman on Mars. Many years ago, I came to Earth because of an accident. After the Martians went extinct, I settled here.”
"It sounds like you're in the same boat as Clark, no wonder you're helping him."
"I'm also helping myself. Humans are indeed the dominant race on Earth, but there are also many immigrants who have settled here, most of whom are displaced orphans. It's unwise to escalate the conflict between humans and extraterrestrials, because we are not the invaders. On the contrary, when invaders come, we will stand on the side of humans, because we need this society, and we can no longer live without it."
Diana listened with deep emotion and said, "You are right. Dividing life on Earth into natives and aliens is superficial. We are also human beings. We have built this society, and we will maintain it. We even hope for a better human civilization more than many humans do, and we have made many efforts for it. If we are all classified as enemies, it will only bring disaster to the earth."
“Often, when extremists label a certain group of people as enemies, it's not because they genuinely want to protect their own people's safety. On the contrary, it's to create a crisis, gain more power, exploit internal resources, and more legitimately persecute their fellow citizens,” Rong En said. “They create a false sense of competitive pressure, telling everyone that these are extraordinary times, forcing them to cut back on spending. But in reality, the resources saved are neither used to defend against external enemies nor to improve welfare benefits; instead, they are all plundered by them.”
“Let’s not talk about this,” Diana said. “No matter how eloquently we outsiders speak, they will only think we are trying to seduce people. Let’s talk about someone else instead.”
"Who?"
Schiller.
Diana tapped her chin lightly with her finger and said, "He played a far more significant role in this whole affair than we realize. To be precise, he orchestrated it all, from the Serpent of Phrygne to Egyptian mythology, to royal scandals and artifact exhibitions—he did it all. What was he really after?"
“I thought you already knew,” Ron said, somewhat surprised. “Didn’t you realize that Clark Kent is the central figure in this whole series of events?”
“I’ve figured that out. I know Schiller’s target is Clark, but I don’t understand what he’s trying to do to Clark,” Diana said, frowning. “If you say he wanted to save Clark, he injected him with some unknown drug while Clark was injured, making his injuries worse; if you say he wanted to harm Clark, he saved Clark’s mother. I really don’t understand him.”
“I think he wanted to help Clark.” Ron turned around, started pacing, and said, “Of all these events, the one that seemed most likely to harm him was injecting him with that gem powder.”
"And this time, I put the powder in the wine and made him drink it. Good heavens, I really thought he was drunk, but I never imagined he was poisoned!"
“Yes, but he wasn’t poisoned, was he?” Ron said, spreading his hands. “That means Schiller didn’t intend to kill him. Have you heard of specific immunotherapy?”
"Uh……"
“It’s desensitization therapy,” Ron added. “When you are allergic to something, you can expose yourself to small doses of that thing to induce your immune system to produce antibodies.”
“I really don’t know. I’m not allergic to anything,” Diana said, shaking her head. “Will this really work?”
"This needs to be done under the guidance of a professional doctor. The dosage needs to be strictly controlled each time to avoid causing severe allergic reactions. Also, it is not effective for everyone. Some people just cannot produce antibodies."
"So you think Schiller was giving Clark desensitization therapy?"
“That’s right. If, as you say, Clark is allergic to that green gemstone, manifesting as dizziness and weakness, perhaps repeated exposure to small doses could gradually immunize him against this allergic reaction, thus achieving desensitization.”
“Why didn’t he just say so?” Diana couldn’t help but say. “Couldn’t he just tell us that Clark is allergic to this, and that if we expose ourselves to it more often, we might not be allergic anymore?”
Is he a doctor?
"Uh……"
"Of course, I don't approve of his somewhat crude method, which is almost like poisoning and framing. But the fact is he's not a doctor, and you might not listen to him even if he told you, so he just did it first and then informed you later. Besides, with this doctor around, the truth will be revealed sooner or later. If the doctor thinks it's not good, he can stop it; if he also thinks it's good, then we can use the gem in Clark's hand to continue the desensitization treatment without causing any serious consequences."
"That makes sense. No wonder he chose to poison the wine yesterday; he knew we were going to have our blood drawn... Wait, how did he know?"
Diana looked at Ron again, and Ron simply smiled at her.
Schiller: A Mighty Chemistry
(End of this chapter)