PFC Chapter 4343 Body of Steel (48)
Chapter 4343 Body of Steel (48)
Chapter 4343 Body of Steel (Forty-Eight)
Clark had indeed considered the cooperation Amanda mentioned. Although he possessed superhuman eyesight and hearing, he couldn't maintain focus all the time. Unless it was a major event like the arrival of a monster, he wouldn't notice smaller disasters occurring far away.
However, the number of souls lost in this kind of disaster is probably no less than that of a major disaster. If he could save them, Clark would still want to, since it wouldn't take much effort.
However, if he spends all his time patrolling the Earth, he probably won't have any time for himself. He also needs rest. So it would be ideal if someone could notify him at crucial moments.
Amanda led Clark to a spacious, circular office. Several large screens stood in the center. Amanda operated the system and explained, "We primarily deal with disasters that ordinary people can't handle and that require the intervention of superhumans. Priorities are determined by the scope of the impact and the number of people affected. We've already hired some superhumans. You don't need to solve every problem."
Clark stared at the screen and saw that there were indeed people carrying out disaster relief efforts. Some were helping to straighten leaning buildings, some were rescuing a research team trapped in the blizzard, and others were searching for ships in the storm.
“It looks pretty good,” Clark said.
"Yes, and you won't be working for free. We'll collect rescue fees from these people and give you a percentage of that. We'll also pay for the best insurance for you. If you run into any trouble, you can come to us."
Amanda turned around and said, "Superpowered individuals are destined to be extraordinary. You'll attract a lot of attention and get into a lot of trouble. You might not be able to win in a one-on-one fight, but it will definitely be exhausting. If we step in to solve your problems, it's not a bad option, is it?"
Clark weighed the options in his mind. He thought this model was indeed good. However, having learned his lesson, he wouldn't trust others so easily again. So he said, "It seems good so far. But I don't know if I can get used to it. So I might need to go back and think about it some more."
“Okay. Don’t worry, we don’t force sales here. You can leave if you want. If you’ve changed your mind, just email us.” Amanda took a business card out of her pocket and handed it to him, saying, “Sky Eye will always welcome you.”
Back at the apartment entrance, Clark looked down at the business card. He wasn't the type to act arbitrarily. He felt that as an alien baby, his wisdom and strategic thinking were probably insufficient. He needed to find someone knowledgeable to advise him.
Clark arrived at Wayne Manor in the middle of the night. Bruce was still awake; Clark even doubted that he needed sleep, because Bruce was always awake and working, no matter when Clark arrived.
This time it was a bit more formal; Bruce was in his study looking at documents. Clark climbed in through the window, tiptoed up behind him, intending to scare him, but Bruce spoke first, startling him instead.
“My window frame comes from a 16th-century French castle. If you come up the stairs and knock on the door, I will open it for you.”
Clark quickly took two steps back, looked back at the wooden window frame, and thankfully, it wasn't dirty. Then he looked at the window with some suspicion; it didn't look like something from the 16th century.
After this little incident, Clark almost forgot what he was going to ask. He walked to the chair by the window, sat down, gathered his thoughts, recounted the events, and then asked, "What do you think of this?"
“Pretty good,” Bruce said slowly, turning to the next page of the document. “Sounds wonderful.”
"So there's a problem with how it's being executed?" Clark said to himself. "I had a feeling something was off. What do you think they're trying to do?"
Bruce shook his head and said, "I don't know either."
“Alright. I’ll decline,” Clark said. “I’m fine the way I am now; there’s no need for me to cooperate with them, right?”
Bruce gently put down the file, turned to look at him, and said, "When they come to you, you have no choice."
Clark's expression changed abruptly, and he said, "What do you mean? They planted a bomb in my house?"
"You have no choice but to accept. Otherwise, you'll be entangled with them."
Clark was somewhat skeptical. He said, "They didn't force me to agree."
"They just didn't verbally pressure you to agree. If you don't believe me, just wait and see."
Clark got nothing out of him and could only return to his apartment. The very next morning, a lawyer was knocking on the door.
“Hello, is this Mr. Kent?” The lawyer nodded to him and said, “I am the lawyer representing Mr. Andevich, the landlord. Your landlord is forced to return to the Metropolitan Area due to business difficulties in another city, and this is his only residence there. As the landlord, he has the right to terminate all contracts with the tenant under these circumstances. This is the termination agreement, this is the filing document, this is the community consent form, and this is the outstanding property management fee bill. My client requests that you move out of the house within one day.”
When the lawyer handed the documents to Clark, Clark was completely stunned. He said, "We signed a three-year contract, and I've only lived here for less than a year and a half..."
"Yes, I've already explained the situation. Under New Jersey law, a landlord can require a tenant to terminate the lease unconditionally when they want to reclaim their only residence. Our review confirms that your landlord meets this condition. The lease has been terminated. You must move out immediately, or we will take enforcement action. You will be responsible for any losses incurred during this period."
Clark was furious. He slowly clenched his fists, wishing he could burn the documents in front of him with his laser eyes, but he knew that burning the contracts wouldn't do any good. They were already registered with the community; he had no choice but to leave.
Now he understood why Bruce had said he had no choice. So when Amanda told him to come to her if he had trouble, she wasn't just being polite; she was actually going to deliberately create trouble for him, forcing him to come to them.
Clark slammed the door shut and stormed into the bedroom. Fine, it's just moving? He'll move! He'd never bow down to them!
Clark took out his phone, hesitated for a moment, and then dialed Diana's number first.
"Hello, is this Diana? There's a problem with my house, I can't stay there for a while. Could I... what? You have to move too? How did you find a place?"
"Uh, you didn't find one? Then... oh, you went back to Amazon. What about your job? Well, it's good to have a skill. It's okay, I'll think of something else."
Clark hung up the phone and sighed. He sat down on the sofa and opened a rental app. But he knew he was unlikely to find anything. Most rentals weren't available during the winter.
This is actually due to a peculiar rule in the United States. Although many homes in the US have fireplaces, they actually have central heating and have to pay for it. Moreover, this heating fee is paid in advance, and the heating company will only provide heating after receiving the payment.
That's quite normal; after all, you can't expect to get something for nothing. Heating fees aren't actually that outrageously expensive, but the problem is that if you miss the payment window, you can't pay anymore. In other words, if you don't pay your heating bill within the designated period, your house won't have heating for the entire winter.
Landlords won't cover heating costs; tenants are responsible for that. In other words, if you didn't sign the contract during the period when heating costs are due, you won't be able to pay for it that year.
Very few people manage to move in during that window, and now the payment period has already passed. Once missed, landlords won't be looking for tenants all winter. Without heating, if tenants freeze to death in their apartments, property values across the entire neighborhood could drop. Even if landlords wanted to hire, the other residents wouldn't agree.
It sounds bizarre that someone with a house could freeze to death, but it's actually quite common. The US has a high prevalence of detached houses, and problems with alcoholism and drug abuse are also prevalent. Without central heating, fireplaces aren't burned frequently enough, and someone might simply fall asleep and freeze to death.
Clark wanted to find a studio apartment that was currently available for rent. This was the only option he could snag. Downtown studios have central heating, so there were no heating fees. However, these apartments typically have long-term leases, subletting is strictly prohibited, and landlords are obligated to renew the lease unconditionally if the tenant wishes to do so. Vacant apartments are rare.
Remembering that Diana had said she had already moved out, Clark tried to find her old apartment to rent, only to discover as soon as he searched that it had already been rented by someone else. He was too late.
He searched for ages, not because he couldn't find a suitable place, but because there simply wasn't one. Not a single house to live in. Even after expanding his search to Brudhaven, he still found nothing.
As for why he didn't search Gotham, it wasn't because there were too many crazy people there. The main reason was that rent in Gotham was much more expensive than in Metropolis, which Clark's salary simply couldn't afford. Moreover, because there were so many vandals, landlords had a lot of requirements, and filling out the rental application form was like writing an academic paper. It was simply impossible to rent anywhere.
Clark searched for a long time but couldn't find it, pacing anxiously around the house. After hesitating for a while, Clark finally dialed Louise's number.
He was a little embarrassed to speak, but he still stammered out the words. Louise seemed surprised, but still said, "I'm sorry, I probably can't be of any help this time. I already canceled my lease before I was hospitalized. I'll be staying in the hospital for at least two or three months, and after I recover, I need to go on vacation to avoid the commotion. So I don't have a fixed place to live right now..."
“Don’t worry,” Louise said. “I know a few real estate agents; I can ask them for you. But you shouldn’t be asking me about this. Why don’t you ask Schiller?”
Clark suddenly realized, "Wait a minute, why doesn't he go find Schiller?"
Actually, he called Diana and Louise simply to find a temporary place to stay before he could slowly rent a place. But if someone could find him a place to stay immediately, there would be no need to look for temporary accommodation.
So he dialed Schiller's number and said, "Hello? My dear fan? Are you free later? Yes. I need your help with something. See you later."
Half an hour later, Schiller heard Clark's request in the coffee shop. He raised an eyebrow in surprise, looked him up and down, and then said, "You mean, you went to the world's richest man's house three times in a week and didn't even notice if he had a guest room big enough for you?"
Clark's mouth dropped open.
Half an hour later, Bruce opened the door and looked at Clark standing outside carrying large bags and packages. He squinted and said, "I don't think I have..."
"You mean, you have French window frames from the 16th century, but no guest rooms?"
Looking into Clark's innocent blue eyes, Bruce could only sigh, open the door, and say...
"……come in."
(End of this chapter)