As long as there's proof that Mars people indeed exist, it would benefit certain groups. For example, the opposition party that wants to utilize the excuse of "Mars people infiltrating human voting" to demand a re-election.
Clark thought, Luther was right. These politicians have gone mad, lost themselves, disregarding everything, wanting to drag everyone into this crazy electoral game. Right now, everything happening on Earth could become their excuse for whether or not to have a reelection.
Clark also realized that his previous act of moving Capitol Hill might indeed have been reckless. Had he not opened this door, maybe the politicians wouldn't be so crazed.
Initially, this term's opposition party had lost many votes, and the president was likely to be re-elected. If the election ran smoothly, his reelection would be practically guaranteed. At that time, the opposition was in a semi-abandoned state because their performance in the midterm elections was poor, and they didn't really want to fight either.
However, the election encountered frequent issues, and the voting process faced ups and downs. This provided hope to the opposition party, a chance to pluck the fruit.
If they hadn't worked hard this year, if nothing unexpected happened, they would just accept it. But if there's a chance to overturn the election by opportunistic means, they would definitely go all out.
Just like a college student who didn't study much throughout the semester, it's expected to fail, but if they find out a teacher is lenient, they would definitely try to plead.
Fundamentally, there's not a strong desire for success, but a very strong desire for success without effort, by exploiting loopholes. Gaining without effort drives people crazier than the gain itself.
So now the opposition party is like madmen, sprinting for a re-vote. They've gone mad, and the ruling party has no choice but to follow suit. Because the prospect of losing after putting all efforts in, with others exploiting a loophole, is even less acceptable.
The two sides are in a deadlock, already entangled with each other to the point of losing sight of reality. Under such circumstances, not to mention two lives, if launching a missile could secure victory for one side, they'd definitely do it.
Clark immediately realized that Shiller was right. With such an elaborate scheme, utilizing so many resources, they would definitely not settle for no gains. Killing someone publicly would be the best choice.
The guests at the banquet are under police surveillance, but who watches the police? Examples of law enforcers manipulating the law for personal gain are plentiful. They're the best candidates for action.
Clark began to look around. He already checked earlier, and among the police and agents who came later, none had any physical abnormalities. Considering them all human, it would still be quite difficult for humans to murder a fellow being, especially under Clark's watchful eyes.
Yet Clark wasn't confident. For well-trained law enforcement, it might only take a second to suddenly kill, and Clark might not have time to stop it. He had to know where they were most likely to act, then get there first to prevent it. But he couldn't figure out where they would act.
So, he looked toward a suspected experienced serial killer. Clark looked at Shiller and asked, "Where do you think they'll act?"
"How would I know?" Shiller said. "After all, I'm an super-powered serial killer, how would I know how ordinary people kill?"
Clark clenched his fist. Yet, he still patiently said, "If it were you, where would you act?"
Shiller looked up, gazing toward the ceiling above.
Clark's sense of urgency grew stronger. Ignoring the surprised glances from others, he flew up, hovering in the middle of the ceiling, quietly listening to the entire building's movements.
Then he heard Shiller quietly saying, "…But those cops might not have such artistic pursuits."
"Bang!"
A loud noise came from the rear of the banquet hall. Clark furiously flew over and saw a figure lying in a pool of blood. A lady in a gown had fallen out of the restroom door, the back of her head hit hard, seeming unrevivable.
Clark flew into the bathroom but didn't see anyone. He scanned the room and found no traces. Great, these people were surely plotting for a long time. Even though he arrived so quickly, he couldn't catch the culprit.
He checked the lady's condition and found, unsurprisingly, she had stopped breathing. He wondered why the police let her go to the restroom, but saw from the open side of her gown that she had nursing pads. She was likely in the breastfeeding period, so the police indeed couldn't prevent her from going.
All feelings turned into a long sigh. Clark coldly stared at Shiller approaching him. It was deliberate to mislead him.
Standing where he originally was, he was only a dozen meters away from the restroom behind the banquet hall and could reach in an instant. But after flying to the ceiling, he had to descend before rushing over, and couldn't descend too fast, or the wind he'd create would slap the fragile humans against the walls, inadvertently delaying a few seconds and allowing the assassin to escape.
He didn't understand why Shiller did this. Making a big deal and confirming the existence of Mars people, what good does it do him?
Stepping back to let the police examine the corpse, Clark fell into thought. He really had ample time to think because when the person died in the crowd, he had no suspicion. The police were quite courteous to him, only asking him to leave the crime scene, not to hinder their work.
The investigation into Rafanas was already completed, but now someone died, and it was forced to extend. It's near dawn now and still no one can leave.
Clark angrily walked to sit on the sofa beside the banquet hall. Thinking for a moment, he realized it was wrong, so if they kill again, sitting somewhere remote could bring suspicion on him. So he moved a chair to the center of the banquet hall, afraid nobody could see him.
Sitting there, he began to ponder why Shiller would be necessary for the Behind-the-scenes Manipulator's backup plan to succeed.
After thinking for a long time, he couldn't figure out any necessity. Could it be he simply enjoys causing chaos and watching the fun?
Though Clark believed he was indeed such a person, he felt this time was different. Suddenly, he had a burst of inspiration.
He had been misled—the confirmation of Mars people's existence wasn't an alternative plan of the behind-the-scenes manipulator, but actually the primary goal of the mantis pursuing the cicada only to be snatched by the oriole.
Before, he thought the manipulator aimed to involve both him and Shiller, then create a list to gain political benefits. Now, it seemed there was indeed such a plan, but there was no alternative plan. This backup plan to confirm Mars people's existence was something Shiller concocted.
And the reason he merged the two plans was to mislead himself into thinking that both of them were victims, neither wanting the backup plan to succeed.
Clark was indeed misled. He thought confirming the Mars people's existence would be of no benefit to Shiller, so when considering where the killer might strike, he instinctively sought the other's help, giving Shiller the opportunity to mislead him, ultimately leading to the failure in preventing the second murder.
The various analyses and reminders from Shiller before were just groundwork, aiming to make Clark feel he was trustworthy, then delivering a critical blow at the key moment, like prying open a tiny crack in an ice cap, eventually forming a massive iceberg.
Thinking of this, Clark began to ponder, what benefits does confirming the Mars people's existence hold for Shiller?
Due to the scarcity of clues, he indeed couldn't figure it out. And now, he didn't even need to check his phone for news websites, just by seeing the dense crowd of reporters outside the estate, he knew Shiller's objective was achieved. This matter was bound to be exposed and escalated, everyone would know that Mars people had begun hunting the human race, particularly important figures.
So far, Clark saw no other purpose beyond spreading panic. Did Shiller think that by making those important figures believe Mars people were hunting them, they would restrain themselves?
"If you still harbor illusions about them, then I can only say you're too naive." Clark said to Shiller passing by his chair, "Even if there were real aliens hunting them, they'd only think of sacrificing others to save themselves, or believe such things wouldn't happen to them."
Shiller also pulled up a chair and sat beside him, then said, "Why do you think I still hold hope for them?"
"You... I'm unsure," Clark said, "I can sense you have great hope in me, maybe you're just a very optimistic person."
"I have hope in you because I'm a fan of yours. As for those tedious fools, I really don't care about them."
"Then why are you doing this?"
"I've been very clear, I don't care about others. From the moment I arrived in this cosmos, everything I've done has revolved around you."
"But how does confirming the existence of Mars people affect me?"
"That's still incorrect. Everything unrelated to you is merely a facade and means. Perhaps the impact is more direct."
Clark looked at him, deeply puzzled. He could feel Shiller wasn't lying to him, nor was he deliberately going in circles, it's just that he indeed didn't know what this supposed more direct impact was.
But suddenly, he felt an unusual pulsation coming from the ground beneath him. This made Clark's hair stand on end.
His heightened senses told him that the slight tremors he felt from the ground at this moment weren't something that could be caused by surface ground disturbances. The entire crust, or rather, the entire Earth, was vibrating.
Clark shot up instantly, feeling somewhat panicked as he looked around. Yet the people around him seemed to notice nothing, leading Clark to doubt he was experiencing an illusion.
But he knew he wasn't; the ground beneath him was indeed trembling, however slight the vibration...
"Boom!!!!"
Alright, now it wasn't slight anymore. The entire ground suddenly trembled, everyone was shaken over, screams echoed, even the group of reporters outside the door were shrieking and running.
"Earthquake, earthquake!!!"
"Metropolis is having an earthquake, run!!!!"
"God, there's an earthquake! Help!!"
Clark had no time to bother about the surrounding voices, knowing that Metropolis is a coastal city, and if a severe earthquake occurred here, the risk of a tsunami was high. If a tsunami happened, casualties would be extremely grave.
He flew out at the fastest speed, intending to rush to the shore to prevent the tsunami, but was stunned as soon as he flew out.
A colossal "pin" was fixed in the Atlantic Ocean, towering into the clouds, vast and unmatched.
And that tremor resembling an earthquake earlier, was caused when the pin pierced through the crust.