PFC Chapter 4346 Body of Steel (51)
Chapter 4346 Body of Steel (51)
Chapter 4346 Body of Steel (Fifty-One)
It was a seemingly normal photo, and Clark didn't initially notice anything wrong with it. He only gleaned from it the information that Lex might have lost his mother at a young age, but after taking another look, he suddenly realized that the way they were holding hands was a little off.
The man was holding Lex's right hand, but not in a normal way. It was as if he was hiding Lex's right hand behind his back, making their actions look very strange.
Clark initially thought it might be due to Lex not standing properly in the moment of the photo being taken. However, the subsequent photos each had their own strange aspects. For example, in a photo taken at the beach, Lex was wearing a turtleneck sweater. And in another photo taken in the office, the angle of Lex's ankle looked very unnatural.
Clark continued flipping through the pages and quickly found more clues. Although he wasn't particularly good at body language, he could at least understand the eyes. Little Lex clearly didn't want to take a picture with his father, as if he was always trying to hide to the side, never looking directly at his father, his whole expression stiff and numb.
After reviewing the photographs and other documents, Clark finally found a crucial piece of evidence: Alexander Luther's medical records from a psychiatric visit to a hospital in the Metropolitan Hospital.
“Goal!” Clark said. He glanced at the hospital name and the date of the visit, and based on Luther’s age, deduced that this must be a diagnosis from his teenage years.
Generally speaking, heirs to large corporations would never see a psychiatrist, as this could arouse suspicion among the board. Furthermore, if Clark's suspicions were true, there would be no reason for Lex's father to send him to a doctor. Even if he did, there would be no need to keep a report.
That leaves only one possibility. As a journalist, Clark was somewhat aware of this kind of thing. Powerful and wealthy people can use a diagnosis of mental illness to escape responsibility.
Clark looked at the medical terminology on the diagnosis report, took out his phone to look it up, and found that Lex Luther was suffering from "bipolar disorder," also known as manic-depressive disorder.
Clark recalled Luther's performance and felt that it might not be entirely fabricated. He then made a rough deduction about the situation.
When Lex Luthor was very young, his father abused him. He likely still has injuries, which is why he tries to hide them when being photographed, either concealing them or turning them away. This caused him severe psychological trauma and led to his mental illness.
As he grew a little older, he probably went to school like everyone else. But because his mind was already distorted and he had a high IQ, he might have committed a crime at that age and been discovered.
In order to keep his position as heir to the Luther family, his father had to take him to see a doctor and successfully obtained a diagnosis certificate to exonerate him. That diagnosis certificate has remained to this day.
To find out if that was the case, Clark chose the simplest method: searching online. The life stories of figures like Lex Luthor, the heads of large corporations, are public knowledge, and many people are happy to share details of their interactions with such wealthy individuals.
Sure enough, Clark quickly found the social media profile of someone claiming to be Lex's high school classmate and discovered the school's name. A search of the name plus the year led him to a case.
This was a poisoning case. However, perhaps due to its age, or perhaps due to deliberate cover-up, the available reports are all vague. All that is known is that someone poisoned the school's water dispenser, but it was discovered, thus a tragedy was averted.
Clark suspected that Luther was responsible. Poisoning was in line with his style, and he was a brilliant scientist whose chemical technology at the time far surpassed that of his peers, making it easy for him to produce toxic substances from the school's chemistry lab.
As for why he was discovered, it's not surprising. This guy's just not very bright in this regard. Now he's back in jail, isn't he?
After learning all this, Clark could only sigh inwardly. Little Lex was indeed pitiful. Logically speaking, having an unhappy childhood is no excuse to persecute others. However, it must be acknowledged that society bears some responsibility. Because when little Lex was being abused, no one discovered it, and no one came to his rescue. This was a failure of societal norms in child protection, and the lack of oversight and supervision of Lex's father led to this tragedy.
Given that, Clark felt it was worth giving Lex Luthor a chance. He didn't need to transform him into some kind of saint, just someone who wasn't so antisocial.
And this is for his own good, Clark thought. Don't take on a job you're not qualified for. Even if you're a well-informed antisocial person, look at those lunatics in Gotham; they could fight Batman for three hundred rounds. That's real antisocial behavior. And look at you, you fought this alien baby of mine for less than three rounds and ended up in jail. You're both useless and a playboy.
With this in mind, Clark arrived at the police station where Luther was being held. He was still in custody and hadn't been transferred to another prison. Logically, he should have already been in jail, but Amanda had likely interfered. This, however, made things easier for Clark; if he were truly in a high-security prison, it would be much more difficult for Clark to see him. Being at the police station made things much simpler.
Taking advantage of the fact that the officers were resting at night, Clark swaggered onto the balcony, opened the window, and then descended to the detention cell.
Lex was fast asleep and didn't notice Clark's arrival at all. Clark felt a little embarrassed and didn't know how to wake him, so he simply coughed loudly twice.
Lex rolled over, barely managing to open his eyes a crack in the darkness. He screamed when he saw the figure standing before his bed.
Clark hurriedly covered his mouth, gestured for him to be quiet, and said, "Keep your voice down, or you'll call the police."
"I'm calling the police! What the hell are you doing here?!" Lex practically roared.
“Don’t worry,” Clark said. “I know you really don’t want to see me, and I didn’t really want to see you either. But that’s how the world is; sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do. And I’m here so that you don’t have to do things you don’t want to do.”
Lex seemed half-asleep, his expression somewhat dazed. Clark's long, rambling explanation was essentially wasted.
“Okay, I’ll get straight to the point. That Amanda Waller, the black woman who came to see you during the day, the head of the Sky Eye organization, also came to me and threatened me to work for them. I know she came to see you too, and you don’t want to work for her. So how about we cooperate?”
Lex finally came to his senses. He shrank into the corner, glaring at Clark, and said, "I knew she came to me to get back at you. I went with her during the day."
Clark felt a surge of anger. He couldn't understand it at all, so he finally asked, "Why are you targeting me?! What did I do to offend you???"
His tone was full of doubt. He really didn't understand. He and Lex had never had any past grievances or recent feuds, so how could he hate them so much?
Lex just stared at him without saying a word. But Clark noticed that he seemed to be trembling slightly, as if he had suddenly fallen ill. So he sighed and patiently said, "If you have any opinions about me, just say them. Communication is the best way to clear up misunderstandings. Tell me first, what exactly do you dislike about me?"
Lex's jaw was trembling. He cursed again, "Get away from me! You damn monster! Stay away from me!"
Clark realized that this guy was completely uncommunicative, and he felt somewhat discouraged, even starting to wonder if it was really because he was an alien that he couldn't communicate with him smoothly. But then he thought, why is it that he communicates with other people so easily? He can even communicate with Batman!
“I went to your house.” Clark really didn’t want to bring up other people’s painful memories, even if it was someone he was an enemy, but he had no other choice but to be frank. “I saw a picture of you when you were a child. It’s actually quite strange. Your father abused you, didn’t he?”
Lex seemed to freeze for a moment, then pounced on Clark like an enraged beast. The impact was negligible for Clark, but fearing he might injure himself, Clark quickly pinned him down.
"You damned bastard!!! How dare you!!!"
Clark assumed he was referring to Clark's unauthorized entry into his home, so he said, "I'm sorry, but I really couldn't help it. I just wanted to get to know you better. If you found this offensive, I apologize."
"Why! Why!!! I've prayed so many times, I've prayed fervently every day, but you just won't come!! Nobody comes! You're not a god at all!!! You're just a cold-hearted coward!!!"
Lex's heart-wrenching roar stunned Clark. For a moment, he didn't understand what Lex was saying. However, his mind worked quickly, and he immediately realized that Lex might be a little out of his mind.
Clark figured he was probably a bit older than Lex, or maybe they were about the same age. But even in appearance, they weren't a generation apart. So the person Lex was talking about who wouldn't save him probably wasn't him.
Because when Lex was a child, he was a child too. And one was in New Jersey, the other in Kansas; one in a big city, the other in a small town. They were completely unrelated, so there was no question of saving them.
And considering the words "prayer" and "god," Clark wondered if Lex was referring to God.
Smallville, where he grew up, was a place with a strong religious atmosphere, where God was mentioned in everything. Although Clark did not believe in God, he had some knowledge of this subject.
So he understood Lex's thought process almost immediately. When he was abused as a child, he prayed to God countless times, but God never answered him or came to save him. So he hated God.
That's quite normal. Clark once heard a neighbor's kid say that if God didn't bless him and he passed his exam, he would change his prayers before meals to rock lyrics. Some people believe in God in a relatively pragmatic way, hoping that God will help them and give them a response.
Furthermore, when Lex was abused as a child, no one helped him, so he could only rely on God. But God didn't respond to him. It's understandable that he hated God.
But if you hate God, then hate God. I'm not God, so why are you causing me trouble?
But then, Lex seemed to suddenly come to his senses again. He retreated to the corner and stared coldly at Clark, saying, "You people are all the same. You enjoy people's faith and praise from a high place, but you never really help the victims. Gods are all the same—cold and selfish."
“No. God didn’t come many years ago, but today, many years later, haven’t I come?” Clark looked into his eyes and said, “Even if you wanted to kidnap my mother, create monsters to destroy Metropolis, and wanted to kill me, didn’t I still come?”
Lex Luthor's expression froze.