A figure broke away from the dazzling dance floor, leaned against the wall, and tugged at his tie. He took a few steps forward but then slumped against the wall, sitting down as if intending to spend the night in a drunken stupor.
"Hey, are you okay?" a female voice sounded above his head. He said, "Don't just sit there, let's go over there."
She helped him up and brought him to the sofa nearby. Under the dim light above the seat, she scrutinized the man.
His black hair fell in a few unkempt strands, with high cheekbones and a bridge of the nose, eyelashes as long and straight as arrows, and tightly pressed lips lacking color.
"He wouldn't have blue eyes," the woman thought, "That would be too gaudy. They must be either brown or gray, that would fit."
"Are you okay? You're really drunk. Tell me your address, and I'll take you back."
The man shook his head but still took out a business card from his suit pocket. The woman glanced at it, raised an eyebrow, and said, "A British man. My goodness, how did you end up here? Fine, which hotel are you staying at? It should be the Luther Hotel, right?"
The man seemed to nod. The woman sighed, pulled out her phone to call a car, supported him out of the bar, and helped him into the car. After a thought, she chased the driver away and drove herself.
"What brings you here? Business?"
"No, I'm here looking for something."
"Looking for something? What are you looking for?"
"A royal artifact went missing, seems it was brought to America. They sent me to find it."
"That's bizarre; it sounds like a movie." The woman's hand paused, then said, "A royal artifact, it must be quite valuable, right?"
"Very expensive... Egypt... snake... emerald..."
"Alright, sounds like something that's worth a lot. Have you found it?"
"No clue. But there are many wealthy people here; I'm sure I'll find it. Tomorrow I'll take a look around Gotham."
The woman's movement paused again, then said, "Gotham? You think it's in Gotham?"
"Bruce Wayne can afford it. I have to take a look."
The woman's eyes shifted, then she said, "Okay, I hope you find it soon. We're here. I'll have a waiter help you in."
"Thank you... thank you, miss. Give me a... card, and I'll thank you personally..."
"No need for a card. If we're meant to meet again, perhaps we will." With that, she left.
Shiller stood on the steps at the entrance of the hotel lobby, slowly straightening up without a hint of drunkenness. Under the shadow of a few stray strands of hair was a slight smile on his lips.
The woman driving back pulled out her phone as she waited at a traffic light, muttering, "Egypt... snake... emerald... Frenes Snake? Museum's treasure? Those British really gathered some good stuff..."
She enlarged an image to take a closer look, marveling, "Such a big emerald..."
"No news of theft, looks like they're keeping it under wraps... East Coast?"
"Hello? It's me, where are you guys drinking again? The money from that Valart Group job should be almost spent, right? Sure, I know industrial espionage isn't easy, but if the price wasn't right, would I even take it? This time's different; I heard something interesting. If it works out, we'll make a big profit. Want to hear about it?"
"Egyptian artifact... found it, here." Diana reached for a book on the shelf and started leafing through right there. At the sight of the large table of contents, she replaced the book.
"These greedy Brits, why not move the whole of Egypt over? Tens of thousands of artifacts, when will I finish checking them all?" Diana sighed, "Such a famous artifact should have some information online; better check the internet."
She sat at a nearby desk, opened her computer, and started searching. She quickly found many web pages, including academic descriptions, visitor reviews, and even strange legends, but most of the focus was on that emerald—it certainly looked valuable.
"No wonder the royal family is so worried," Diana shook her head, "This thing could be a national treasure in any country; the fact that it was swapped for a fake shows they have some nerve..."
"Whoever swapped this probably didn't do it for a personal collection, so it's likely for sale. But how many could afford it? I know all those magnates on the East Coast... surely it's not Bruce Wayne?"
"Forget it. I'll check out the Luthor Manor tonight. If the treasury there doesn't have it, then it's probably at Wayne Manor."
Diana stood up, took her lasso, and leapt out the window into the vast night.
"You mean the British lost a national treasure, and you just happened to hear about it from some drunken guy who came to look for it?" A Black man wearing a hood asked from in front of a computer.
"I know it sounds ridiculous, but since there are no jobs recently, why not give it a shot? We hit the jackpot with that diamond last time, right?"
The other nodded, looked back at the screen, then said, "So where do we start looking? Wayne Enterprises?"
"No way, that drunkard said he wants to take a look at Gotham."
"Shouldn't we get there first?"
"That means we don't need to look for it ourselves, just keep an eye on him. If he finds it, we can snatch it. We should check the places he hasn't been to first—go take a look at the Luther Group."
In the deep of night, Lex Luther was still in the laboratory. He was wearing a full radiation suit and a mask. He picked up a green gemstone and looked at the readings on the instrument, then angrily threw the gem down.
"That damn liar! I knew he was a fraud all along!"
Lex let out a roar, stormed out of the lab, tore off the protective suit, bundled it up and tossed it aside, and rubbed his head vigorously.
He burst out of the room and took out his phone to send a message, but at that moment, the alarm sounded. He froze for a moment and rushed to his office.
Opening the door, he saw the abnormal light flickering on the computer, hurried over and cursed, "Damn it! Damn it! Someone actually dared to infiltrate the Luther Group?!"
"Damn, we've been discovered, retreat quickly." In the dimly lit basement, a woman said anxiously, "We still have to work with him in the future, we can't let him hold a grudge. Run!"
"How did he discover us?" the man in the hood asked, "This guy didn't upgrade his security system again, did he? He has too much time on his hands!"
"Are we out?"
"Don't worry, we didn't leave any traces; they can't trace us. But to be safe, you should test him tomorrow."
"If we get discovered, aren't we walking into a trap?"
"It's fine, we have leverage over him; he wouldn't dare do anything to you."
In front of the computer, Luther slammed the keyboard and shouted, "That damn bastard actually got away!"
He took a deep breath, just about to continue tracking this audacious bastard on the computer when another alarm sounded from his phone. He opened it to find that the Luthor Manor's treasury had been attacked. He quickly activated the security defense system on his phone, cursing under his breath.
Upon hearing the alarm, Diana sighed, untied the Lasso of Truth wrapped around the treasury door. She knew it wouldn't be this easy, if it were so simple to enter Luthor Manor's treasury, the Luthor Family would have been cleaned out long ago.
She swiftly dashed out, and the security measures were of no hindrance to this demigod; her figure quickly vanished into the night, leaving Lex Luther alone in his office, futilely enraged.
He vented his anger for a while, gradually calming down.
"This isn't a coincidence..." he muttered, "They infiltrated the Luther Group and wanted to open my treasury... Could it be..."
After a pause, he opened his phone, scrolled through the emails in his mailbox until he found an image of a business card, then dialed the number on it.
"Hello? Where are you right now? Come over immediately, I need to talk to you... Let's not beat around the bush, what the hell was that ghost thing you gave me?! Don't tell me you don't know!"
"Fine... you better give me an explanation tomorrow, or else I'll make sure you regret it..."
Lex hung up the phone forcefully, tossed the phone onto a nearby table, and turned to look out the floor-to-ceiling window, his mind replaying those data. The readings from that supposedly radioactive green gem showed absolutely nothing unusual. Could it be its immense value that's causing so many people to covet it?
"No, that's not right... there must be something special about this thing. But what exactly is it?"
A series of dark thoughts flashed through Lex's mind. If that damn fraud doesn't clear things up, he won't walk out the doors of the Luther Group.
While he was pondering this, he suddenly saw a light streaking across the sky over Metropolis. Immediately following, the entire city was briefly illuminated, waking countless people from their dreams.
Clark sat up from his bed, looked out at the sky from his apartment—a massive spaceship appeared over Metropolis.
Clark squinted, rolled off the bed, and in the blink of an eye was dressed in his Superman costume. He flew up to the sky, fearlessly heading straight for the ship.
As if to vent all his anger and sorrow, Clark took a deep breath and quietly said, "Let's see what you've got."
Saying this, he waved his cape, blasted forward and punched the side of the massive spaceship. With a boom, the ship exploded like fireworks over Metropolis, and the shockwave and tremors caused countless people's eardrums to bleed.
Everyone was stunned by this sudden change. The debris from the exploding ship hadn't even had time to fall to the ground before Superman darted through them, destroying every piece.
Afterwards, he slowly descended, landing in front of the people hiding atop the largest remaining piece of wreckage from the ship.
An unknown fury drove him, and his eyes were as cold as an Arctic storm.
"You shouldn't have come here. Will you leave on your own, or do I have to throw you out?"