Ambush

"Luthor?"

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

Lex Luthor wore an expensive silver-gray suit, young in appearance, exuding an elite and capable aura. Only a faint trace of the frivolity and arrogance typical of a rich second-generation heir lingered between his brows. He was not yet the cold, composed billionaire and schemer he would become.

"Even if you turned down my gift, I don't want you to be too distant."

Clark went along with it, smiling lightly.

"What are you doing here, Lex?"

He felt some goodwill toward Lex, who had given him a pickup truck as thanks.

"Why can't I be here?

Do you think I should be spending all my time in nightclubs, luxury stores, and sports car dealerships, burning money and partying?"

Lex Luthor countered with humor.

"Come on, Clark. Can't I be a little down and take a walk?"

"A billionaire heir, coming out to the countryside for a stroll, wandering into a market to buy hot dogs and fruit to cheer himself up?"

David raised an eyebrow, speaking flatly.

"Metropolis has vast, lush golf courses. Aren't they enough to ease your gloom?"

A countryside walk, a chance encounter, a pleasant chat—how convenient it all sounded.

Clark vaguely sensed that his brother didn't seem to like Lex Luthor, and he felt a bit puzzled.

But toward Luthor, besides some goodwill, he also carried a hint of guilt.

When he'd returned the pickup truck to Luthor Manor last time, he'd chatted with Lex Luthor for a bit.

They'd talked about Lex Luthor's bald head. He said it was because, over a decade ago, his father had brought him to this small town to inspect a fertilizer plant when they encountered the Meteor Shower. After being exposed to its radiation, he lost all his hair.

"Even though it got me cold looks from my father and ostracism from my classmates, who thought I was a freak, it's fine. It taught me a lot—like how solitude helps with thinking.

Cattle and sheep flock together; beasts walk alone."

Clark still remembered Luthor's words. He'd said them with flair and disdain, but his expression at the time clearly showed he hadn't fully let it go.

"And this is?"

"My brother, David," Clark introduced.

"Your brother? Hello, David."

Luthor sized David up quietly, offered a greeting, then his face darkened as he sighed.

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

Not until I'm no longer everyone's laughingstock."

"What's wrong, Lex?"

"My father thinks a lion's offspring should be bold and aggressive."

His tone was self-mocking.

"Maybe because I haven't achieved anything impressive enough in his eyes at my age, he's exiled me to this small town to manage the local fertilizer plant."

Luthor Group's assets spanned the entire U.S., especially in Metropolis, where its presence could be seen in nearly every aspect of daily life—food, clothing, housing, transportation.

Training an heir to the group shouldn't be done this way—pulling him out of the core of a massive conglomerate and sticking him in charge of a tiny fertilizer plant in a remote town.

Many in Metropolis's upper class had heard how spoiled the Luthor boy had been since childhood.

The money his father had spent to keep him out of the papers and prison for his antics could have built several newspapers and prisons from scratch. Now, it seemed the old man had realized the mud couldn't stick to the wall. That shrewd, cold-blooded old bat, Lionel Luthor, had finally given up on him.

"As long as you run the fertilizer plant well, your father might let you back sooner or later."

When Luthor mentioned his father's exile—the man who had always neglected him—Clark's expression shifted slightly as he offered comfort.

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

"Maybe. But I think instead of running a fertilizer plant with such obvious potential, I'd rather break into a new track."

Luthor adjusted his mood and smiled.

"Today's automotive glass came from a failed chemistry experiment. The cola that's everywhere traces back to a doctor trying to make a headache-relieving syrup..."

"Clark, David, do you know how many huge opportunities started out utterly unremarkable, like seeds buried in the soil, only to be discovered, watered, and nurtured by sharp-eyed people before growing into towering trees that everyone looks up to?"

He spoke to them with ease, as if laying out his ambitions and goals.

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

Clark joked.

"Did you find that seed, Luthor?"

David added, speaking slowly.

"Not yet. But no matter what you're searching for, the most important thing is patience, isn't it?"

Their eyes met, and Lex Luthor smiled with effortless charm.

To be fair, setting aside his lesser-known wild deeds, Luthor had been raised with excellent manners. His every gesture and word exuded refinement, making others feel at ease and leaving a favorable impression that invited pleasant conversation.

"Oh? Is that so?"

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

That seed was Clark—a man who had been hit head-on by a runaway sports car speeding over two hundred miles per hour, smashed through a bridge's concrete railing, plunged into the river, and emerged completely unscathed.

Today might mark the beginning of Luthor's excavation.

"Clark, David, you two need to go back and grab more fruit."

Jonathan and Martha returned with cheerful faces, having just closed a deal.

"A customer throwing a party took a liking to our fresh fruit, but we didn't bring enough."

The two stood up, and Clark introduced Luthor to his parents.

"Mr. Kent, Mrs. Kent, a pleasure to meet you."

Lex Luthor extended his hand with warmth and friendliness.

Jonathan paused briefly, then shook his hand out of politeness before immediately turning to his sons.

"Hurry up—don't keep the customer waiting."

He clearly had no desire to exchange words with Lex Luthor.

Luthor's smile remained, his white teeth flashing, but it seemed to stiffen slightly.

"Yes, Father."

David smiled, and he and Clark agreed before leaving.

"Father doesn't seem to like Lex Luthor."

As they walked away from the market, Clark voiced his confusion.

"Father's dislike for the Luthors goes way back.

Before the Luthor Group used every trick to buy up a bunch of land and set up that fertilizer plant, the area near it—the river flowing through town—wasn't green yet. Grass grew along the banks, and the soil wasn't gray-black and stinking."

David let out a cold laugh.

"Now..."

An indelible scar had appeared on the town's map.

"But that wasn't Lex's fault." Clark felt it was unfair to blame someone who couldn't even do elementary math back then.

"Hey, Clark, David."

As they chatted and prepared to drive away from the market, they ran into Chloe and Pete, who were also out for a spring outing. The pair waved happily and walked over.

"Who wouldn't love a spring day like this—sunny, fresh air—to go out and enjoy?"

Chloe took a deep breath, her mood bright.

After a few exchanges, Pete suddenly recalled something.

"Oh, by the way, have you guys seen Gregg?"

"No, why?"

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

The police went to investigate and found Gregg's mother dead at home, her body wrapped in something like a spiderweb. Gregg's gone missing..."

He glanced around, lowering his voice, and the atmosphere turned eerie.

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

Clark frowned, unable to believe it.

Could someone really murder their own birth mother?

"Normally, no, but that's what the police suspect." Chloe shrugged. "Maybe his drastic change in appearance is due to a mental illness—then it's not impossible."

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

Pete warned seriously.

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

"We will, Clark and I."

David nodded, lost in thought.

Could Kryptonite cause genetic mutations and also warp someone's personality?

"By the way, where's your family's stall? We've got nothing to do—we can help out." Chloe grinned, squinting. She and Pete used to hang out at Kent Farm all the time and knew the Kent family well.

"Thanks, Chloe, Pete."

After pointing them to the stall, David and Clark started the pickup truck and pulled onto the highway.

Vroom!

On the deserted suburban road, Clark drove with a worried look, his eyes not even on the road.

"Can you watch where you're going, Clark?" David frowned. "If the car flips, we might not get hurt, but the family's got another expense to deal with."

"If... I mean, if Gregg really has lost it..."

Clark turned his head, his voice laced with concern.

"Is Lana in danger?"

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

Above them, a cold, sinister figure dropped from the treetop by the roadside. Moving with unnatural speed, like a mantis lunging at its prey, it crossed several meters in an instant and slammed down with overwhelming force!

A bit late on the update, added eight hundred more words.

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