Midway Ambush

"Luthor?"

"Call me Lex. You saved my life, Clark."

Lex Luthor wore an expensive silver-gray suit. He looked young, with the sharp, capable air of an elite, though there was still a trace of the frivolity and arrogance of a rich heir between his brows. He was not yet the cold, steady billionaire and ambitious schemer he would become.

"Even if you turned down my gift, I still hope you won't be so formal with me."

Clark went along with it and smiled.

"What are you doing here, Lex?"

He had a favorable impression of Lex, who had given him a pickup truck as thanks.

"Why can't I be here?

Do you think I should spend every day in nightclubs, luxury stores, and sports car dealerships, throwing money around and partying?"

Lex Luthor retorted humorously.

"Come on, Clark. Can't I get depressed and come out for a walk?"

"An heir to a billionaire's fortune would come to the countryside like an ordinary person, stroll through a market, buy hot dogs and fruit, and try to improve his mood?"

David raised a brow and spoke flatly.

"Aren't Metropolis's sprawling green golf courses enough to ease your troubles?"

A countryside stroll, a chance encounter, and then a pleasant conversation. How convenient.

Clark vaguely sensed that his brother did not seem to like Lex Luthor, which puzzled him.

But aside from some goodwill toward Luthor, he also felt a little guilty.

The last time he had gone to Luthor Manor to return the pickup truck, he had chatted with Lex Luthor for a while.

When the subject turned to Lex Luthor's bald head, Lex had said that more than a decade ago, his father had brought him to this town to inspect the fertilizer plant. They had encountered the meteor shower, and after being exposed to its radiation, all his hair had fallen out.

"Because of that, my father looked down on me, and my classmates excluded me, thinking I was a freak. But it's fine. It taught me a great deal—for instance, solitude is more conducive to thought.

Cattle and sheep travel in herds. Predators usually walk alone."

Clark still remembered Luthor's words. Though Lex had spoken with flair and disdain, it had been obvious from his expression that he had not completely gotten over it.

"And this is?"

"My younger brother, David," Clark introduced.

"Your younger brother? Hello, David."

Luthor discreetly sized David up and greeted him. A gloomy look appeared on his face as he sighed.

"Metropolis's golf clubs are wonderful, but I don't want to go back there just yet.

Not until I've shed the identity of everyone's laughingstock."

"What happened, Lex?"

"My father believes that a lion's offspring should be fierce and ever advancing."

His tone was self-mocking.

"Perhaps because I've reached this age without producing anything worthy of his approval, he exiled me to this town to manage its fertilizer plant."

Luthor Group assets were spread across the United States. In Metropolis especially, Luthor Group could be seen in nearly every aspect of daily life.

That was no way to train a corporate heir—removing him from the vast core operations of the group and making him manage a tiny fertilizer plant in a remote town.

Quite a few people in Metropolis high society had heard how much of a playboy the Luthor boy had been since childhood.

His father had spent enough money keeping those exploits out of newspapers and out of jail to build several newspaper offices and prisons from scratch. Now, he had probably realized that Lex was beyond redemption. That shrewd, cold-blooded old bat, Lionel Luthor, had finally given up on him.

"If you manage the fertilizer plant well, your father may let you return sooner or later."

Hearing Luthor mention being exiled by the father who had neglected him since childhood, Clark's expression shifted slightly as he tried to comfort him.

"I heard you're your father's only son."

"Perhaps. But rather than run a fertilizer plant with such limited potential,

I'd rather open up a new field."

Luthor adjusted his mood and smiled.

"Modern automobile glass originated from a failed chemistry experiment. Cola, now sold all over the world, can be traced back to a physician trying to make a syrup to relieve headaches..."

"Clark, David, do you know how many enormous business opportunities began as something utterly insignificant? Like seeds buried in the Soil, only discovered, watered, and cultivated by someone attentive before growing into towering trees admired by countless people?"

He spoke eloquently to the two of them, as if laying out his ambitions and goals.

"So you came to the countryside to look for seeds?"

Clark joked.

"Have you found that seed yet, Luthor?"

David added slowly.

"Not yet. But no matter what one is looking for, patience is what matters most, isn't it?"

Their gazes met, and Luthor gave a refined smile.

It had to be said that, setting aside his unknown playboy exploits, Luthor had received an excellent upbringing. In the way he treated people and carried himself, he displayed fine breeding that made others feel at ease and unconsciously left them with a good impression, making conversation flow naturally.

"Oh? Is that so?"

A cold glint flashed through David's eyes. He thought Luthor believed he had already found that seed and was now in the process of digging it up.

That seed was Clark—the person who had been hit head-on by an out-of-control sports car going over two hundred miles an hour, smashed through a bridge's concrete guardrail, plunged into the river, and emerged completely unharmed!

Today might be the beginning of Luthor's investigation.

"Clark, David, you need to go back and get some more fruit."

Jonathan and Martha returned with happy expressions after closing a deal.

"A customer throwing a party took a liking to our fresh fruit. The fruit we brought isn't enough."

David and Clark got to their feet, and Clark introduced Luthor to his parents.

"Mr. Kent, Mrs. Kent, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Lex Luthor warmly and amiably held out his hand.

Jonathan paused, then shook his hand out of courtesy before immediately turning to his two sons.

"Hurry up. Don't keep the customer waiting."

He clearly had no desire to speak to Lex Luthor.

Luthor kept the smile that showed his white teeth, though it seemed to grow faintly stiff.

"Okay, Dad."

David smiled. After he and Clark agreed, they left.

"Dad seems to dislike Lex Luthor."

On the way out of the market, Clark asked in confusion.

"Dad's dislike of the Luthor family goes back a long way.

Before Luthor Group used every method available to buy up a large amount of land and build the fertilizer plant, the river flowing through town near that place had not yet turned green. Grass still grew along its banks, and the Soil was not gray-black and foul-smelling."

David sneered.

"Now..."

An unerasable scar had appeared on the town map.

"But that isn't Lex's fault." Clark felt that they should not blame Lex for something that had happened when he could not even do elementary school arithmetic.

"Hey, Clark, David."

As the two chatted and prepared to drive out of the market, they suddenly ran into Chloe and Pete, who had also come out for a spring outing. The two happily waved and walked over.

"Who wouldn't enjoy coming out for a spring outing on a sunny day with such fresh air?"

Chloe took a deep breath, in an excellent mood.

After they chatted for a few moments, Pete seemed to suddenly remember something.

"Oh, right. Have you seen Gregg?"

"No. What happened?"

"You might not believe this, but yesterday Gregg beat Whitney unconscious outside the school and sent him to the hospital.

When the police went to investigate, they found Gregg's mother murdered at home, her body wrapped in something like spiderwebs, and Gregg had disappeared..."

He looked around and lowered his voice. The atmosphere immediately became eerie.

"You mean... Gregg killed his own mother?"

Clark frowned, unable to believe it.

Would anyone really kill their biological mother?

"Normally, that would be impossible, but that's what the police suspect." Chloe spread her hands. "Maybe his drastic change in appearance was caused by mental illness. Then it wouldn't be impossible anymore."

"Anyway, if you run into Gregg, be careful."

Pete warned them seriously.

Someone who might have killed his own mother was capable of anything.

"Clark and I will."

David nodded thoughtfully.

Could Kryptonite mutate a person's genes and change their temperament at the same time?

"Oh, right, where's your family's stall? We happen to be free, so we can lend a hand." Chloe smiled with narrowed eyes. She and Pete had often gone to Kent Farm to play before, and both were familiar with the Kent family.

"Thanks, Chloe, Pete."

After pointing out the stall to them, David and Clark started the pickup truck and drove onto the road.

Whoosh!

Once they reached the deserted country road, Clark drove with a worried expression, his eyes not even focused on the road ahead.

"Could you watch the road, Clark?" David frowned. "If the truck flips, neither of us will get hurt, but the family will have another expense."

"If... I mean, if Gregg really has gone crazy..."

Clark turned his head and asked worriedly.

"Will Lana be in danger?"

"Move!" David glanced ahead and suddenly reached for the steering wheel.

Ahead of them, a cold and sinister figure leaped from the top of a roadside tree. At an unnatural speed, like a Kanto pouncing on prey, it crossed several meters in an instant and lunged at them with overwhelming force!

This update was a little late. I wrote eight hundred extra words.

Thanks to reader Memory's Bitterness for the 300 Qidian coin donation.

Thanks to reader Little Tree Little Tree for the 200 Qidian coin donation.

Thanks to reader Lord Divine Child's Dog for the 200 Qidian coin donation.

Thanks to reader 20190709140116911 for the 200 Qidian coin donation.

Thanks to reader Yipo Yi for the 200 Qidian coin donation.

Thanks to reader Cangyun's Crane for the 100 Qidian coin donation.

Thanks to reader 1455147117727412224 for the 100 Qidian coin donation.

Thanks to reader Ma Lang for the 100 Qidian coin donation.

Thanks to reader 160501185207728 for the 100 Qidian coin donation.

Thanks to reader Three Upside-Down Snails for the 100 Qidian coin donation.

Thanks to reader Who Eats Evil for the 100 Qidian coin donation.

Thanks to reader A Southern Rabbit for the 100 Qidian coin donation.

Thanks to reader 20210825133803023 for the 2 Qidian coin donation.

Thanks to reader Watching the Lantern by the Mouth for the 2 Qidian coin donation.