The Kidnapped Clark

Early morning.

A lounge chair had been set up on the vast lawn.

Jino lay back on it with his eyes closed, bare-chested and wearing a pair of floral shorts.

The gentle sunlight poured over him, seemingly dusting the boy with a layer of gold.

Jino loved basking in the sun. Whenever sunlight shone on him, he could tangibly feel the joy of growing stronger.

"I've been basking in the sun for thirteen years already."

I should have awakened some other abilities by now, right? If not, I'll take a trip to the desert and bake there for a month.

Jino looked thoughtful as he held out his right hand. A maid quickly placed a glass of milk in it.

He took a light sip of milk.

Jino turned to the young maid and smiled. "Thank you."

"Buzz~"

A brief stab of pain struck him. The image before him gradually blurred and distorted, while everything around him seemed to take on the dark tones of a movie.

"You're welcome."

The little maid took the cup, and through Jino's eyes, he could easily see through her delicate, youthful face to the moving skeleton beneath, as though it had been X-rayed, along with the constantly beating heart inside it.

Everything was so clear. Flowing blood, twitching nerves—before these eyes, no secret could remain hidden.

"Young Master?"

The maid looked shyly at Jino, who was staring fixedly at her.

"It's nothing." Jino came back to himself, his expression calm as he closed his eyes again.

But the faint curve of a smile at the corner of his lips proved that he was in an excellent mood.

"It's finally here—X-ray Vision."

Jino opened his eyes again and turned to look at what the maid wore beneath her clothes.

Under her black maid's dress, she wore lace mesh lingerie, a pleasingly sexy sight.

Jino silently gave it his assessment. Mm, not a bad ability.

At the very least, he could use this ability to observe the clothing preferences of the opposite sex and infer their inner personalities.

Just as Jino admired the maids trimming the lawn in the distance, Old Butler silently appeared behind him.

"What is it?" Jino asked without turning around.

"Young Master, there are two matters. Your classmate, Lana Lang, is awake. She has already had breakfast and is looking for you."

Jino nodded. "Bring her over."

Since Lana Lang's house had been caught up in the chaos last night and smashed into ruins, and with the threat of Gerry still at large, Jino had no choice but to bring her to his family's castle for the night.

"Also, Mr. Jonathan Kent is looking for you outside the estate."

"Jonathan?" Jino frowned. Clark's father was looking for him?

Could it be because I beat up Clark? Is Jonathan planning to teach me a lesson about love?

"Bring him over too."

Jino was rather curious about Jonathan's purpose in coming to the castle. After all, the man had always regarded the Luthor Family as a monstrous threat.

Jino closed his eyes again and lay in the chair, pretending to rest. Before long, the sunlight before him seemed to dim. When Jino opened his eyes, he saw Lana Lang standing before him with her hands behind her back and a bright smile in her eyes.

"You're blocking my sunlight." Jino unceremoniously pushed Lana Lang aside.

The girl was a little speechless. She could tell that Jino did not like her.

Still, thanks had to be given. Lana Lang stood beside Jino and looked out over the distant lawn with him. "Thank you for helping me yesterday."

"It was only right. Clark is my friend." Jino shook his head and looked at Lana Lang. "He's a good boy."

At the very least, he was better than Lana Lang's football-player ex-boyfriend.

"Yes." Lana Lang stared at Jino and let out a faint sigh.

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment, until Butler led Jonathan, who wore a grave expression and walked hurriedly, into the estate.

"Mr. Jonathan." Jino rose from the lounge chair. He maintained respect for Clark's adoptive father.

"Jino." Jonathan looked at Jino with a complicated expression. He pressed his lips together before asking, "Is Clark at your house?"

"Clark?" Jino frowned. "Shouldn't he have gone home last night?"

Although Clark had said last night that he would take responsibility for investigating Gerry, Jino had clearly dismissed those words as a teenager acting on impulse. Yet Clark had actually failed to return home all night?

That did not fit Clark's character at all. Though he often argued with his adoptive father, Clark loved his adoptive mother, Martha, dearly. If Clark truly did not intend to go home, he would at least have left Martha a message.

So...

Once all the impossibilities had been ruled out, the answer that remained was this: Clark might have run into trouble.

"Could Gerry have captured him?"

Others did not know, but Jino understood that Gerry's transformation had come from Kryptonite.

Therefore, if Gerry encountered Clark while carrying Kryptonite, the only unlucky one would be Clark.

Jonathan left with a stomach full of doubts.

"Clark is missing?" Lana Lang asked worriedly.

"He's disappeared." Jino's expression darkened. Without Clark, who was he supposed to farm negative points from? That stupid woman Talia?

"We have to find Gerry."

Jino looked grim as he turned and ordered Butler, "Butler, bring me a map of the town."

Butler nodded and quickly instructed the maids to bring over a map.

"Rustle."

The town map was unfolded and placed before Jino.

His gaze swept across the map as Jino silently analyzed Gerry's possible hiding places.

First, the mummified corpses found at Gerry's house proved that he had been active near his home.

And since the town was densely populated, Gerry was unlikely to be hiding and operating in the town center.

Using elimination, Jino crossed out several unlikely options.

As the possible locations dwindled, Jino finally fixed his gaze on an Abandoned Factory not far from Gerry's home.

"Could it be here?" Jino extended a finger and tapped the map to himself.

The boy slowly rose to his feet and looked toward the distant northwest.

There, an iron "beast" flickered in and out of sight beneath the morning sun.

The Abandoned Factory.

The abandoned machinery, covered in dust, had long since been scrapped.

The rusted supports testified to the factory's age.

And on a thick iron bar, bare-chested Clark hung with a piece of glowing green Kryptonite suspended from his chest.

Countless strands of webbing covered the entire factory. Gerry hung upside down from the webs like a humanoid spider, his legs pressed together as they stepped on the webbing, his eyes fixed on the Kryptonite at Clark's chest.

A cold smile curled across Gerry's lips.

"Do you think using you as bait will lure that rich second-generation friend of yours here?"

Clark's face was twisted in pain. Beads of sweat rolled continuously down his cheeks, striking the steel with soft drips.

"Y-you won't succeed." Clark struggled to raise his head, opening his hazy eyes as he said weakly, "Jino is very smart. He'll never let a demon like you go."

As he spoke, Clark looked guilt-riddenly at the several mummified corpses on the ground.

These innocent people had all been abducted by Gerry during the night, then had their flesh and blood devoured before Clark's eyes.

"Heh, I'm not afraid." Hearing Clark's words, Gerry sneered and pulled several pieces of Kryptonite from his pocket. He shook the Kryptonite in his hand, making them collide with a crisp clinking sound.

"Once I catch that guy, I'll eat both of you." A fanatical gleam flashed through Gerry's eyes. He craved Jino's godlike power.