Critical Point

Sizzle...

The voice over the radio disappeared.

Staring at the radio in his hand, General Lane irritably took off his cap and fiercely rubbed his sweat-soaked scalp.

"What rocket? What the hell are you talking about?

Did he think I threw that missile at him?!"

At that, the veins on General Lane's forehead bulged, and he hurled the radio away!

"Damn it, I should be the one suspecting him of sending people to massacre my men and even kidnap my daughter, yet he's turning around and smearing shit all over me!

He's already been blasted by an air-to-ground strike once, so why won't he just fucking die!!!"

As his words fell, General Lane painfully tilted his head back.

Beside him, his adjutant gave a light cough and spoke.

"General, theoretically speaking, the people who kidnapped your daughter should be an unknown third party.

And according to our investigation into Downton, he doesn't have the ability to assemble a force capable of using air-to-ground weapons and then slaughtering our elite special forces in the blink of an eye.

So..."

"I know, I know!"

Before his adjutant could finish, General Lane dejectedly cut him off.

"I know he didn't do it, and I know this was aimed at me. At a time like this, you don't need to speak for me.

A mere Downton, with his intelligence not yet widely circulated, simply isn't worth any organization going to such lengths for.

And me? I'm a general, damn it!

I suspect this is an internal American problem. One of my political enemies must have made a move—maybe it's those pieces of trash at the CIA."

At that, General Lane's eyes lit up as he continued speculating.

"That's right. Even if it wasn't the CIA, it must have been one of my other old rivals!

Whether they were sabotaging my plan to capture Downton and trying to lower my standing in the defense hierarchy through my failure, or kidnapping my daughter.

Their actions might even disrupt the military's cooperation with LexCorp.

Looking at it that way, aside from my enemies, these mysterious people today might also be LexCorp's enemies. Maybe they're here to compete with LexCorp for contracts!"

The more General Lane spoke, the more confident he became, and the clearer his reasoning seemed to him. He clenched his right hand into a fist and heavily smacked it into his left palm.

Smack!

After the crisp sound, General Lane finally said,

"That's definitely it. So it won't be long before they contact me to discuss the terms for exchanging my daughter.

If nothing unexpected happens, the experimental equipment from LexCorp that I accepted is their target!

But they don't know that equipment is useless to me. If we don't procure it, it will remain nothing more than experimental gear, and LexCorp's equipment has extremely sophisticated anti-reverse-engineering systems!

So now, all I need to do is wait for the call, and while I'm at it... deal with that damned Downton!"

General Lane immediately took a new radio from his adjutant, then shouted to every operations team in Smallville Town.

"All personnel, listen up! Kill Downton at all costs. As long as he is killed, he will be forced to teleport away. Don't let him become our problem.

At this point, he no longer deserves to be our target!"

"What the fuck?"

The moment General Lane finished speaking, Downton's flippant voice suddenly came through the radio.

Downton pointed his rifle at the soldiers below while holding the radio and cursing.

"Are you fucking looking down on me?"

On the other end of the radio, General Lane's old face turned green as he listened to Downton.

"Everyone, switch to Channel Six!"

As soon as he said that, General Lane threw away the radio with a bitter smile, then took the in-ear headset from his adjutant.

At the same time, after confirming that no sound would come from the radio, Downton aimed his gun at the soldiers below.

Rat-a-tat-tat!

After sending two soldiers on their way, he rummaged through their bodies, stripped off one soldier's tactical vest and put it on, then found seven magazines in total and stuffed them into the vest.

Then, holding his gun in one hand, Downton righted his Harley.

Vroom!

Accompanied by the roar of the Harley's engine, Downton grinned excitedly.

Though he did not know exactly where that general was, Lois Lane, the reporter, had to still be at the café.

He knew Lois Lane. That recklessly bold woman would never easily leave the place where they had agreed to meet.

Even if he had been shelled, or Smallville had turned into a battlefield, the only thing on that woman's mind would definitely be a big scoop!

If she were not that recklessly bold, she would not be Superman's future wife, forever lingering in that Schrödinger's state of being kidnapped.

So Downton immediately sped toward the café.

However, the soldiers who had died not long ago had already reported Downton's location. As a result, after he had ridden across only one street, three soldiers rushing toward him blocked his path head-on!

Not everyone General Lane had brought was special forces, but the men blocking Downton's way now truly were members of the Navy SEALs.

After confirming Downton's identity from afar, two of them immediately rushed into cover by the street and began suppressive fire against him.

At the same time, the third soldier raised an RPG at Downton.

Facing the bullets, Downton fired back with one hand, emptying an entire magazine.

Unfortunately, not only had that magazine failed to hit the enemy, the closing distance also caused Downton to get shot.

Bang!

Downton felt a heavy blow in his chest and was sent flying backward off the motorcycle.

After rolling twice across the ground, Downton stood up with a frown and raised a hand to press against his chest.

"Damn it, that accurate? Straight through the heart... it was just a coincidence, right?"

As he spoke, Downton tore open his undershirt and fully exposed the wound.

The bullet had indeed struck his chest, but the pain told him that although the flesh of his left chest had been torn open, there was nothing wrong with his heart. His ribs, on the other hand, might have been fractured!

Downton gently pressed the wound. After letting out a muffled groan, he suddenly laughed.

"My physique is improving fast. It seems to be nearing a qualitative change."

After muttering with a smile, Downton picked up his gun and charged straight toward the soldiers.

Seeing Downton charge, the soldier holding the RPG frowned, then thoughtfully fired the rocket.

Whoosh!

Amid the explosion, Downton once again vanished in flames.

At the same time, the three distant soldiers reported over the communications channel that they had killed Downton once.

But...

After making their report, the three of them could not help looking at one another, each seeing confusion in the others' eyes.

"Did you notice that guy's speed?"

"You noticed it too!"

"Yeah, that guy... he was insanely fast. He moved like a cheetah!"

"That's right, he really was fast. And I think I hit him in the heart—his left chest looked like it had practically exploded!"