Just as Benjamin gathered the agents from across the estate and sent them to search the first floor for the entrance, the atmosphere in front of that entrance grew increasingly tense.
The moment Schiller said that the treasure underground might be a special mineral capable of weakening superpowers, Bruce and Lex found themselves on opposing sides.
These two skeptics would never believe that the other would refrain from abusing such a thing. At the same time, they were both control freaks—the kind who needed to obtain and fully control something, whether it had anything to do with them or whether they would ever need it, before they could feel safe.
And they were both very typical Americans. Zero-sum thinking was practically etched into their genes. Peaceful mutual benefit did not exist in their minds. They always believed that if the other person took one more piece, they themselves would have one less—and would therefore be killed by the other side.
This ever-present sense of insecurity constantly drove them forward, but it could also easily become a weakness others could exploit. The instant Schiller said those words, neither of the two brilliant geniuses even suspected that it might be Schiller's attempt to drive a wedge between them.
Or rather, perhaps they had considered it, but they did not dare gamble on whether Schiller was telling the truth.
After this youthful Justice League fell apart on the spot, the atmosphere became rather delicate.
In Bruce's plan, the person he intended to weaken with Kryptonite was Schiller. That naturally put him against Schiller. And since Lex was competing with him for the Kryptonite, that put him against Lex as well. Which meant Schiller and Lex ended up on the same side.
If Lex and Bruce were compared, there was little difference in their