"Doesn't he have Phasing ability?" Diana said, "When he was fighting Savage Wolf, Savage Wolf couldn't hit him at all. Savage Wolf's fists swung towards him, and he just entered Phasing state, making Savage Wolf punch only air. Also, his Disguise ability is based on molecular-level restructuring, so he's the least likely to be hit."
Clark thought about it, and it was true. Actually, Mars people aren't just mini Supermen; their abilities each have their own strengths. Superman's greatest power is Idealist Power, that is, the belief that he can achieve anything. Besides various Super strength, Mars people's most formidable ability is Phasing. In front of any enemy that can't hit him, he's invincible.
Let's put it this way, if Ron had kept following Savage Wolf back then, he could've followed him all the way to Apocalypse Star. Savage Wolf and Darkseid wouldn't have been able to do anything to him. Because his Star Spirit-like Phasing state is immune to 99% of the attack methods in this world. The remaining 1% mostly targets the Mars people's weakness of fearing fire, to perform Mind Attack on him, preventing him from Phasing and evading.
There's no need to mention Victor. He has gathered three Mother Boxes and is now complete. His ability to modify things might even directly modify the Death Force. Once mastered, it will surely be Justice League's powerful weapon.
Thinking about it this way, actually, the biggest issue is Arthur. To say he's not strong is not true, either. He can now command Seven Seas, and has the golden trident in hand. Plus, he has mastered the Evolution of All Things power, so he's not afraid when facing typical enemies. However, these powers might not be enough to counter the Death Force.
With this thought, Clark stood up and said, "I'm going to Atlantis to talk to Arthur."
Diana quickly grabbed him and said, "You can't just go like that. Have you forgotten? You're the US President, and Arthur is King of Atlantis. Rashly going there might provoke a diplomatic incident..."
"Can we really worry about that now?" Clark said.
"Don't forget, the Behind-the-scenes Manipulator is always watching, eager to catch our mistakes. It's better to be cautious."
"Alright, I'll notify him first." Clark took out his phone but realized he didn't have Arthur's number, and it seemed there was no signal in Atlantis. So he called Shiller.
"Hello? It's me. I want to go to Atlantis, can you help me contact Arthur? I don't want any unnecessary misunderstandings. Okay, got it."
He put away his phone, nodded, and said, "Done."
Diana felt that leaving it to Shiller probably wouldn't resolve it. But she didn't know how to remind him, so she just said, "Anyway, you're the most in danger. They're most eager to defeat you. Be careful."
Clark nodded, turned, and flew away. Diana sighed, sat back in her seat, hugging her arms and said, "There's one more thing I don't understand. Back when the Metropolitan Museum lost not just the Frenes Snake, second floor archives were also stolen."
Hal wondered, "Archives? Related to the Frenes Snake?"
Diana nodded and said, "And Damian said it wasn't them who sent someone to steal the artifacts. Of course, I have some ideas who's involved, but I feel others are wrapped up in it too."
"Like who?"
"That group of professional robbers should be Shiller's people but they probably had another buyer." Diana thought while saying, "I believe Damian when he says it wasn't him. After all, they had prepared Steve, and there's no time for double insurance. I think the real buyer is likely more interested in the archives."
"That's strange." Hal said, "If it's politicians, they wouldn't need the real archives. They could just make up a set. Because they just want to let the public know something, not that they actually want to know."
Diana nodded and said, "You make a good point. If it's just to Manipulate public opinion, there's no need for real archives. Disseminating some ambiguous rumors or simply fabricating a tale might even be more popular than those profound historical records. Politicians value spreadability rather than accuracy."
"So, the person who stole the archives honestly wants to determine some things through true historical material. That's why he came to steal from the museum. He might be researching something."
"Then it can't be Shiller." Diana said, "The artifact is made by him, the historical stories are all fabricated by him. The archives are almost entirely written by him, he has no need to steal again... Wait a minute. Is this another bait he left?"
Hal showed some interest, he placed his hands on the table, leaned forward and said, "Definitely. Otherwise, he wouldn't write so much data without reason. Because, as long as an incident falsely implicating Mars people in Human race top echelons hiding history comes out, and Frenes Snake related history is scarce, it can be completely explained. He doesn't even need to write anything, all blame could be placed on Mars people erasure."
Diana nodded again, the logic was sound. Following this line of thinking she continued, "The historical materials he fabricated definitely have specific uses. Like the myth story with a red and blue snake successfully revealing Superman's Kryptonian heritage. This was clearly premeditated, otherwise, it wouldn't seamlessly match Superman's uniform colors."
"What other details are in this legend?" Hal took out his phone and started reviewing historical news, looking through details since the incident broke out, then uncertainly said, "How did Tutankhamun defeat the snake again?"
"Seems like it was with some scepter?" Diana couldn't quite recall either. Maybe her brain's self-protection was gradually erasing matters related to the snake. Thinking for a moment, she suddenly remembered a key point, "Oh! Green gemstone!"
"What?"
"The legend says Tutankhamun's scepter had a green gemstone. This gemstone was lodged in the snake's body, defeating the giant snake. Later, it was embedded in the snake tail of Frenes Snake. And then..."
Diana suddenly fell silent after speaking because she remembered that Shiller had crafted this part to entice Luther into using the green gemstone against Clark. The result of opposing Clark was that Clark got injured and lost his mind, smashing her computer when he stayed at her place.
Great. It really wasn't a good idea to push beyond the limits of self-protection and stubbornly try to figure out the plot of that damned snake. No matter what part of the process, I end up being the unlucky one.
Seeing Diana stop speaking, Hal thought something major had happened. He quickly asked, "What happened next?"
"Nothing, I just..."
Thinking about the green gemstone brought Clark to mind; thinking of Clark, apart from thinking of her unfortunate self, Diana also thought about Clark's recent TV speech.
She suddenly stood up, showing an expression of sudden realization. Hal looked at her puzzled and asked, "What's wrong? What did you think of?"
"Did you find Clark's last TV speech strange?"
"...Why strange? He spoke quite well."
Diana shook her head and said, "The first part is fine. He revealed his identity and emphasized growing up on Earth, but the latter part didn't make sense."
"What do you mean?"
"What's the current context? Everyone is counting on him to defeat the Mars people. Although it's important to emphasize the strength of the Mars people to increase pressure on various nations, I've already done so during interviews. If Clark continues this emphasis, it does seem a bit like boosting others' morale while weakening one's own confidence. Too much spring pressure can cause breaking."
"Unlike me, he's a president, and what he says carries weight. Clearly, he only needed to mention that the red and blue colors refer to the decorated uniform on Krypton, emphasizing his identity as a Kryptonian. Yet, he repeatedly described the process of Tutankhamun slaying the snake. Isn't that stressing that the Kryptonians haven't beaten the Mars people?"
Hal nodded and said, "That's definitely a bit off. From a political perspective, these matters can be glossed over lightly; there's truly no need for elaborate speeches, as it's not a glorious thing. While watching, viewers are likely to think, they were defeated thousands of years ago, can they really lead us to victory against the Mars people now?"
Diana began to browse her phone. In the speech video comments, she indeed found such remarks. Fortunately, these individuals are the minority; most people haven't thought that far.
Perhaps most people haven't realized this, or believe there are differences among Kryptonians. But this is something that could have been completely avoided. Even if Clark didn't consider this, the ever-observant Shiller cannot possibly have overlooked it. The president's speech must pass through the secretary's hands.
Shiller didn't alter this part and let Clark speak it, indicating he thought this section was fine. Alternatively, this part was simply inserted by him.
Diana somewhat understood Shiller's working style now. He never imposes anything, always letting those willing take the bait.
Take the Frenes Snake, for example. When he approached both herself and Luther, he didn't insist they follow his words. Even the negotiations were somewhat perfunctory, more like he was making a special trip to inform them of the matter. Anyway, I've told you what's going on, it's up to you how to handle it.
Both Diana and Luther had choices. Diana admitted internally that back then, she agreed because she didn't want to be harassed by agents, but, actually, she was more curious about royal scandals. Especially scandals related to her profession, she was eager to understand what was going on, and thus fell for it.
It was the same for Luther. Forget Wikipedia; as long as he didn't believe in the illusory snake-slaying legends, he wouldn't have walked right into the trap. But he happened to feel threatened then, and thus took the bait.
Rather than saying Shiller is skilled in manipulating emotions, it's more accurate to say he is adept at capturing certain fleeting emotions and throwing out tempting bait at those critical moments, with few able to resist biting.
Thinking from this angle, many inexplicable matters suddenly became clear. Diana said, "The stolen information must also be a kind of bait, fishing for those who want to know certain things."
"The TV speech is the same. This entirely unnecessary section being included is just alluring bait. He must have spotted certain fish shadows lingering beneath the hook. All of these are used to entice them onto the hook."
"Sounds impressive," Hal said, "I can never understand such people's world. But, I think I can already guess what kind of people he's trying to catch."
"Tell me," Diana raised an eyebrow.
Hal smiled confidently and said, "Fishing is a patient game. For anglers, they need enough patience to wait for the fish to bite, and they are not waiting for the fish to drop their guard."
"Then what?"
"It's when the fish are hungry enough," Hal said, "As long as the hunger is strong enough, they will definitely bite. Who do you think is the hungriest right now?"