However, if one must identify the most crucial clue—Clark walked over and picked up that pot. He remembered very clearly that his mother, Martha Kent, hated wasting food immensely.
With a "swoosh," Clark was jolted awake. Thankfully, the ceiling was not unfamiliar this time; he was still in the military's cell. Having figured some things out, he finally began to calm down.
Now, all he needed to do was get out of here.
This wouldn't be easy. His injuries hadn't healed yet; he couldn't fly or punch through ceilings like before. He still had some super strength, but it was probably insufficient to directly challenge the military base's defenses. Moreover, this was his second imprisonment; they would definitely keep a close watch on him.
Right, that officer. Clark thought. He didn't believe everything he'd just experienced was his own dream; that officer must have done something.
"Someone! Anyone!" Clark shouted.
Sure enough, he was under close watch; not long after shouting, a soldier came over. Clark said to him, "I want to see your superior!"
After a while, a tall figure approached. Clark opened his mouth to speak, but when the person came closer, he realized it was a white man.
"No, not you." He said instinctively, "Where's the Black officer?"
"Black? What Black?" The tall white officer frowned, "Don't play tricks with me, damned alien. The scientist will arrive soon; you won't be able to jump around much longer."
After saying that, he turned and left. Clark hit the railing, "No, wait! I want to see that Black officer! I..."
Suddenly, a conversation between Shiller and that Black officer flashed through Clark's mind. It seemed he realized something, taking two steps back and sitting back on the bed.
No, everything was wrong, everything was not right. Clark thought, was he not here, or did he never exist? How was that possible?
Puzzle after puzzle, Clark felt like his head was about to split open. That familiar anger threatened to surge up again, and Clark quickly took a few breaths, suppressing his emotions.
No use counting on others, Clark thought, he had to rely on himself. But, without superpowers, how could he get out?
Clark sat there thinking, but before he could come up with a plan, two soldiers came in, signaling him to stand up.
They were fully armed elite personnel, two in front and two with guns standing behind. Clark pursed his lips and stood up, allowing them to handcuff him.
What the hell, these things pinched at his wrists painfully. Clark couldn't help but grit his teeth; if only his super strength were still there, the handcuffs would be as flimsy as paper.
He was led out, walking deeper inside; the whole way was lined with identical corridors, and Clark could barely distinguish directions. Then he was brought into an observation room with one side wall made of glass, and outside the observation room stood an old man with some gray in his hair and beard, presumably the scientist they mentioned.
Clark's eyes turned, and suddenly he had an idea. He took a deep breath, being especially careful to control his emotions—this plan could only succeed, otherwise, there'd be no chance for him to leave.
He sat down at the table, while the officer came to sit opposite him. The other looked a bit nervous still, but he didn't know Clark was even more nervous than he was.
"Name."
"Clark Kent."
"Human name?"
"What else?"
"Did you really grow up on Earth?"
"Of course." Clark took a deep breath and said, "I came to Earth as an infant; my parents adopted me and named me Clark Kent."
"What's your alien name?"
"I don't know." Clark lied. He actually knew; he had seen his father's consciousness, he knew he was called Carl Ai'er, but he really didn't like that name, and he could tell that the officer opposite was trying to coax him into admitting he was an alien monster.
"How did you come to Earth?"
Clark closed his eyes, then said, "Do you know how your mother got pregnant?"
"Answer my question!"
"I already answered, I was just a baby then, how would I know how I came to Earth?"
"Was this some alien experiment plan? Do they want to use Earth as a petri dish?"
"I'm not a virus," Clark said, "otherwise you would have been dead long ago."
The officer wanted to say something else, but Clark seemed to have run out of patience, he said, "I don't have time to mess with you. I believe you've discovered a large ship docked in near-Earth orbit. The one I destroyed over Metropolis was just one of the main ship's small escort ships, and even that small escort ship was enough to destroy Metropolis."
"They didn't directly attack Earth with their main ship, but sent a small escort ship to test Earth's strength. That's why I stood up and destroyed it immediately. If that hadn't made them wary, they would have fired on Earth already."
Clark put his hand on the table and said, "Do you think, with your capabilities, you can shoot down that ship? You can't even defend against its attack!"
Clark extended a finger, staring at the officer's eyes across from him: "One shot, just one main ship cannon shot, and Earth would be destroyed. They currently fear my strength and don't dare to attack rashly, but they won't stay there forever."
Clark stood up, startling everyone. But he just stood there and said, "I do have a way to deal with that ship, but I need someone capable of taking responsibility to talk with me. You better not send some clueless idiot—becoming my enemy will only lead to you losing your last hope."
Everyone looked at each other. The officer still wanted to say something, but he quickly received instructions over his earpiece and reluctantly turned to leave.
Soon, under the protection of fully armed soldiers, the scientist came in. Before he could even stand firm, Clark used all his strength, rushed in that direction, directly grabbing the scientist and holding his neck.
"Nobody move!!! Or I'll kill him!!!" Clark shouted.
Dark gun barrels immediately aimed at him. Clark tried to calm down, speaking in a cold tone: "The ship capable of destroying Earth is right above your heads. At this critical moment, you can afford to lose countless bureaucratic generals, but you absolutely cannot lose an expert who truly understands what's going on. If you don't want him to die, let me go."