This Doesn't Look Like a Villain, Does It?

Hearing this exchange, Jonathan and Martha, who were standing to the side, went pale.

Just moments ago, they had thought this billionaire who had flown a fighter jet to save people was a great guy.

Yet in the blink of an eye, he had put poison needles and listening devices inside the watch he gave their benefactor?!

"Wait!" Jonathan, the honest Kansas farmer, yanked Clark behind him and stared at Batman with the wary look of a mother hen protecting her chicks. "Mr. Wayne... didn't you say this was some kind of secret defense base? Who exactly are you? Poison needles? Listening devices? Our family of three... we didn't stumble into a den of thieves, did we?!"

Martha also tightly gripped her son's arm, her voice trembling. "Clark, maybe we should just go back to the farm and grow crops. The outside world is too dangerous. Someone who poisons people at the drop of a hat has to be one of those supervillains from the movies!"

Bruce Wayne, the Dark Knight of Gotham City, a founding member of the Justice League, and the world's greatest detective, was now facing a "villain accusation" from a pair of simple farmers. For an extremely rare moment, he froze on the spot.

"Pfft—hahaha!" Lin Xiao really could not hold it in anymore. He clutched his stomach and burst out laughing.

"Mr. Kent, you've misunderstood."

Lin Xiao waved with a smile, trying to smooth things over. "He's not some supervillain. He's just a rich young master who lost his parents at an early age, suffers from a severe lack of security, and has serious persecution delusions.

It's true that he saves people, and it's true that he wants to protect Earth. It's just that his whole 'dark tactics' approach is a little... deranged."

After hearing Lin Xiao's explanation and seeing Bruce's cold expression on the verge of cracking, Jonathan and Martha finally relaxed a little.

Bruce rubbed his aching brow, sighed, and looked earnestly at Jonathan and Martha. "Sorry. I frightened you. But I promise you, this is not some evil organization, much less a sealed prison."

"Clark joining the League is only meant to ensure that when Earth faces natural disasters or alien invasions, there will be guidance to help him use his powers properly."

Bruce pointed at Clark. "He is still your son. Whether he wants to stay on the farm and grow crops or become a reporter in a big city is entirely up to him. If you miss him, with his supersonic flying speed, getting home for dinner would only take a few minutes."

Hearing that he could get home for dinner in just a few minutes, Jonathan and Martha finally put their minds completely at ease.

"If he can really use this power to help others, and still come home whenever he wants..."

Jonathan turned to look at his son, who stood a head taller than him. His eyes reddened as he heavily patted Clark's shoulder. "Go, Clark. You were never meant to belong to that little farm. Go do what you're meant to do. Just remember... always keep that kind heart of yours."

"Dad! Mom!" Moved beyond words, Clark pulled his parents into a tight embrace.

In this warm and touching moment—"Ding—"

The elevator doors at the rear of the base opened. Alfred, the old butler dressed in an immaculate tailcoat, slowly approached carrying an exquisitely crafted silver tray with several steaming cups of black tea and some pastries on it.

"Mr. Kent, Mrs. Kent, I have arranged a private jet that can safely return you both to Smallville at any time."

Alfred elegantly handed the tea to everyone, then turned and looked at Clark and Lin Xiao standing nearby with a gaze full of relief.

"Thank you both, truly. In Gotham City, few people would understand my young master's good intentions." Alfred gave a slight bow, his tone carrying the unmistakable air of an English butler. "Thank you for becoming friends with my young master..."

He turned his head and gave Bruce Wayne, whose expression had grown somewhat awkward, a deep and nostalgic look. Alfred took a deep breath, preparing to build up his emotions and say the words he had kept buried in his heart.

In that very instant, Lin Xiao loudly blurted out:

"Your next line is going to be—'The young master hasn't smiled like this in a long time'!"

Alfred, who had just built his emotions to their peak, froze completely like a statue struck by lightning.

"???" Alfred stared at Lin Xiao, his eyes full of life experience now filled with disbelief. "You... how did you know what I was going to say?!"

Lin Xiao smugly blew on his fingertips.

Obviously! This is the standard old-butler line from those ancient domineering-CEO novels! I've seen it in novels at least eight hundred times, if not a thousand! The emotion, the look in his eyes, the rhythm of that pause—it was so damn obvious I didn't even need to think!

"..." Bruce Wayne covered his face in despair.

"Lin Xiao." Batman gritted his teeth and pointed toward the base exit. "Take your gold and get the hell out of the DC Universe."

"Sure thing! Goodbye, boss! Thanks for the gold!" Rather than getting angry, Lin Xiao happily waved.

Under the utterly bewildered gazes of Clark and his parents, Lin Xiao transformed into a brilliant red beam of light, shot straight through the base's defensive dome, and vanished with extreme flair.

All that remained in the Batcave was a butler questioning his life, an utterly exhausted Dark Knight, and a farm boy who would scan his drinking water with Heat Vision three times in the future.

Elsewhere, amid the flickering glow of interdimensional teleportation, Lin Xiao landed steadily on the leather sofa in his apartment in Chiba Prefecture.

"Whew... perfect finish!" In a great mood, Lin Xiao stretched lazily. Not only had he changed the tragedy of Superman's adoptive father, he had successfully messed with Batman, and he had even landed the "butler joke." This trip to the DC Universe could not have been more perfect!