Gerry's Plan

Late at night.

In a gym filled with iron equipment, a figure sat on a bench, slowly swinging a dumbbell in his hand.

"Ah!"

His brows furrowed as he exerted his arm, trying to lift the dumbbell.

But the bone that had been set at the hospital sent a wave of pain through him.

"Hiss."

Whitney sucked in a sharp breath. The pain kept him from gripping the dumbbell, and with a clang, it crashed onto the floor with a dull thud.

"Shit!"

Whitney roared as he stood, then angrily kicked the dumbbell away. Jino's cold, indifferent face flashed through his mind, and his eyes brimmed with venomous hatred.

"Jino Luthor! I'll definitely get revenge!"

If not for Jino, he would still be the football team captain, still one of the most prominent figures on campus.

"Interesting."

An icy voice sounded behind him. Whitney jumped, his body shuddering as his gaze fell on the glass.

He saw a man in a black jacket standing behind him with his arms crossed.

"G-Gerry?"

Whitney was somewhat surprised by Gerry's transformation. The formerly short, ugly little man had not only grown taller, but his face had become smooth and refined as well.

But then he remembered the news that had spread throughout town that afternoon: Mrs. Ted had been murdered, and the killer seemed to be her son, Gerry.

He was alone with a murderer!

"Y-you... what do you want?"

His body trembled uncontrollably, his teeth chattering. Fear grew in his heart, as though countless ghosts surrounded him and made the air in the room several degrees colder.

Gerry waved a hand. "Hehe, don't be nervous, Whitney."

He licked his lips. "I originally planned to eat you to regain my strength, but I changed my mind."

"You hate Jino, and I hate him too. We're friends."

As he spoke, Gerry casually opened Whitney's refrigerator, grabbed some raw beef, and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing and swallowing.

Whitney also hated Jino, and that was why Gerry had decided to spare him.

After eating and drinking his fill, Gerry wiped the bits of raw meat from the corner of his mouth.

"I hope you'll keep what happened tonight buried in your stomach."

After threatening Whitney with a cruel look, Gerry slowly pushed open the window.

"Wait!" Whitney gritted his teeth and forced himself to endure his fear. "You said you hate Jino. What about Clark?"

Gerry frowned slightly. His neck twisted around a horrifying one hundred and eighty degrees as he turned to stare at Whitney. Under the latter's terrified gaze, he said softly, "I hate him too."

As a romantic rival, how could Gerry fail to see the love in Clark's eyes for Lana Lang? But Lana Lang belonged to him. Any man who dared lay a hand on Lana Lang had to die!

"Then fine, I can help you." Whitney's gaze gradually hardened.

"Help me?"

Gerry sneered and looked Whitney up and down, as if he were looking at a pile of indescribable garbage.

"Wait, I know Clark's weakness!" Whitney sensed the contempt in Gerry's heart, but he still endured the humiliation and said, "My ex-girlfriend once had a necklace."

"Shut up!" Gerry frowned, extending a finger to point at Whitney. "Say her name!"

Whitney gritted his teeth. "Fine. Lana Lang used to have an Emerald Necklace that she wore all the time. I noticed that whenever Lana Lang got close to Clark, his face would turn incredibly pale."

"It seemed..." Whitney recalled every time Lana Lang had approached Clark. "It seemed that whenever Clark got close to Lana Lang, he became extremely weak."

"Until this morning, when Lana Lang and I broke up. She ran into Clark, but Clark wasn't affected at all."

"And that day, Lana Lang happened to lose the necklace."

Whitney laid out his deduction, and the logic was sound.

Listening to Whitney's explanation, Gerry raised a brow. Scenes of him observing Lana Lang every day flashed through his mind. It did seem that as long as Lana Lang wore that necklace and came close, Clark would weaken.

Then he recalled how Jino had brutally beaten him tonight. Clark had actually managed to take one of Jino's punches, which meant he was no ordinary person either.

As he thought, a vicious plan began brewing in Gerry's heart.

A cruel smile curled across his lips as Gerry stared at Whitney. "Describe that necklace in detail."

Whitney thought for a moment before saying, "Lana Lang said it was a keepsake left to her by her family. Every late night, it gives off a dazzling green light. It looked like agate, but also like jade. It was a very strange kind of stone."

As Whitney's description became clearer and clearer, Gerry could not help smiling. He thought of the same kind of stone in the glass case where he raised his insects.

"I understand." Gerry rudely cut Whitney off, then lightly leaped out into the night through the window.

Run. Run like mad.

The road beneath his feet, the trees around him, the air at his side.

Everything swept past him at an incredible speed.

The gale whipped his short sleeves with a loud flutter. Clark pumped his arms continuously, like a bullet tearing through the air in the pitch-black night.

Clark ran without any destination.

His eyes were lost as memories flashed through his mind.

Jino's anger, Lana Lang's disappointment, Gerry's mockery, his father's teachings.

"I'm such an idiot!"

Clark suddenly stopped. The halted momentum stirred a faint gust that struck the distant trees, making their branches and leaves tremble.

"Ah!"

Clark raised his fist and slammed it into the trunk.

Bang!

The terrifying force instantly shattered the trunk, sending wood chips flying.

Clark wildly threw punch after punch at the broken tree.

"What should I do? What is the right thing to do?"

His father had told him to be a kind person, to respect life, and to protect the weak.

But Jino had told him that he should show no mercy to enemies and wipe them out completely.

The clash between those two different beliefs filled Clark's immature heart with confusion.

He could only vent his anger on himself. Though he had said, "I'll handle it myself," he had no idea how to investigate Gerry's whereabouts, much less capture him.

So Clark could only blame himself for not being decisive enough, not being smart enough.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

His fists hammered the tree trunk with sounds like muffled thunder, carrying far and wide through the air.

Until the poor tree could no longer withstand the Kryptonian's furious blows and was soon reduced to a pile of shattered wood chips, which the breeze scattered away.

"Huff... huff."

Clark lowered his fists, closed his eyes, and took deep breaths.

"Feeling awful?"

A voice sounded behind him.

Clark's eyes narrowed. Without turning around, he grabbed a tree trunk and hurled it behind him.

Clark turned around and coldly watched Gerry's flickering figure beneath the moonlight.

"Murderer, how dare you show yourself in front of me?"

"Of course it's because I missed you, Clark."

Gerry's waist and abdomen twisted and flipped at an exaggerated angle, carrying his upper body out of the way of the spear-like wooden spike. A malicious smile hung on his face. Then he pulled several stones glowing green from his pocket.

"I'm sure you'll love the little gift I brought you."