"Dingling, dingling."
The alarm clock by the bed rang. Clark sat up from the bed, yawned, pulled the blanket aside, and reached to turn off the alarm.
He instinctively reached for his phone. But when he turned on the screen, it was filled with emails and message notifications. Clark slapped his forehead, "This is a disaster!"
He unlocked his phone and first opened the news app. Sure enough, the headline read: "Earth's hero Superman is not actually from Earth?!"
Clark felt his breath catch suddenly, and his chest started to ache. Although he had expected it, when the matter was really made public, he inevitably felt disheartened and frustrated.
Why? Why, even though he grew up on Earth, received Earth education, and never went to an outer planet, couldn't he be considered an Earthling?
Why, even though he fought bravely and saved so many people, are people still only concerned about which planet he was born on?
Clark scrolled down the news page. He didn't even dare to look at the content, directly scrolling down to the comments section. There were roughly over 700 comments. He just glanced briefly and saw many unfriendly words.
And unsurprisingly, many people attributed the previous battles between the Monsters and Superman to alien internal wars, thinking that humans and the military were completely victims, constantly abusing and complaining in the comments.
In fact, compared to Monsters, they hate Superman more because they think Superman deceived them and, although he is an alien monster, packaged himself as a hero — just a sensational Joker.
Perhaps many people would find this rhetoric unbelievable. After all, no matter what, Superman saved so many people. But in America, with such a public opinion environment, the barriers between people are thick. In countless vertical divisions, everyone is socially conditioned into cold and selfish beings.
To them, Superman didn't save their peers. Folks from small towns think city people have nothing to do with them, Black men think white people have nothing to do with them, and men and women also feel like they're not the same kind. Blue-collar workers think office workers deserve what they get, and financial elites think the lower class should just die.
So, even if Superman saved many people, many still think he hasn't done anything good. Some even say in the comments, better not to save, just destroy Metropolis instead.
Clark sighed while scrolling through the comments. Even though he had long known the military would do this, and he had mentally prepared for it, when the day finally arrived, he realized he wasn't strong enough. The more he read, the more upset he felt, as if a big stone was blocking his heart, causing him to gradually detach from the real world.
Clark halted his morning routine, collapsed back on the bed, put down his phone, closed his eyes, but couldn't sleep, tossing and turning. In the end, he opened his phone again, looking to distract himself with something.
Clark initially didn't plan to open his email because he feared seeing messages from familiar people and colleagues condemning him. Strangers' skepticism could be tolerated, but if he had to tear faces with these colleagues he met daily, future days might be tough. So he could only shrink his head and be an ostrich.
Thankfully, today was a day off, no need to go to the Daily Planet. Otherwise, he wouldn't know how to face his colleagues' gazes.
However, seeing the email app made Clark hesitant again, worried that Lois might send him an email. Lois is still in the hospital now, and if something urgent can't reach him, it would be troublesome.
Thinking of this, Clark clicked on the email app with gritted teeth. Surprisingly, many colleagues sent him emails, but they weren't condemning him or asking if he's from outer space. After filtering out all the greetings and polite expressions in the emails, they boiled down to one question — "Are you dating Louise Lane???"
Clark's hand froze on the screen. He felt like Tom Cat who had eaten hot peppers, turning into a ripe tomato, almost popping off his lid.
These few words shocked him much more than those previous 700-plus comments.
Although he had already glimpsed some of Lois's plans, and had mentally prepared to some extent, when it actually unfolded, he realized his mental preparation was insufficient.
No way, how did I end up dating?! I haven't even confessed yet!
Clark rushed to open the entertainment app. The moment he opened it, a huge picture jumped onto the screen: a tall and strong man holding a long-haired woman in his arms. His azure eyes revealed infinite tenderness, and he gently stroked the woman's long hair. Behind them were the ruins of buildings, yet the sunlight shined upon them, like the final scene of a Hollywood disaster film.
Clark couldn't help but cover his eyes, really wanting to say: "Photographer, with skills like yours, why aren't you competing for a Pulitzer Prize, rather than being a little paparazzo?"
This photo was taken with a great level of skill; neither of their faces are fully visible, but the atmosphere is intense. And because neither of them are fully visible, with one showing just their eyes and the other their jawline, it stirs up even more speculation.
However, the person recognized first wasn't actually Superman, but Lois, because Lois has been in the spotlight recently.
There are quite a few news media people as sharp as the editor of the Daily Planet. They extensively covered Lois's poisoning incident, constantly playing the sympathy card in front of the media.
This is not surprising at all. Most of the time, reporters are the perpetrators, and the entire news media industry has a terrible reputation, with people looking at them as if they're looking at a pile of stinking dog poop.
This situation is indeed their own doing. But precisely because of this, when they finally get a chance to be the victims, they must capitalize on it, clinging fiercely to the sympathy card. This is called accumulating moral capital.
Many people encounter such individuals in life—those who start playing the sympathy card whenever something happens, clinging to that little issue. If it's genuinely miserable, that'd be understandable, but most of the time it's baffling, and sometimes it even feels like they're deliberately screwing things up just to play the sympathy card, and this happens in every matter.
In fact, these people are subconsciously accumulating moral capital. It's like parents saying to their children, "I've worked so hard to raise you." It's not entirely untrue—raising a child isn't easy, and occasionally mentioning it is understandable since everyone needs to vent sometimes. But if it's a daily, yearly occurrence, from birth until coming of age, it's actually moral blackmail.
As long as they portray themselves as miserable enough to be seen as victims in the public eye, they stand to gain many benefits. For instance, "I've already suffered so much, you can't expect more from me," or, "I'm so pitiful in this area, so I have to make it up elsewhere, and no one can say anything about it." It's quite convenient for taking advantage.
Now, these media people are doing just that. Without such an opportunity before, they finally got one, and it happens to be the perfect victim. They must harness the power of communication to let the world know how pitiful they are. This way, whatever mess they make in the future would be attributed to societal pressure.
Setting everything else aside, if law enforcers hassle them in the future, they can just lie on the ground, claiming they were poisoned to cover the truth, seeing as there's precedence. Surely, some will take their side.
This concentrated effort from so many media people has had surprisingly good effects. The news about Lois being poisoned to silence her has even overshadowed the invasion of Metropolis by a monster at one point.
Although Metropolis was invaded by a monster, it didn't cause much damage. Everyone saw through videos that Superman saved the buildings. The streets might have a few holes, with minor issues like leaks or traffic jams, nothing that qualifies as an epic disaster.
However, a female reporter conducting an investigation in Los Angeles suddenly being poisoned by the military to silence her is a significant issue. What report was she working on in Los Angeles? What triggered the military's sensitive nerves? Why did the military poison her? And who saved her?
These questions sparked widespread discussion online, with some presenting facts and evidence, some speculating just from pictures, and some even calling various military institutions, garnering much international wonder. The situation has become quite a scandal.
And then, a photo appeared on the homepage of a gossip website. At first glance, it looked like a movie still, but upon closer inspection, something was off. Very quickly, someone recognized the female protagonist in the photo as none other than the recently popular independent reporter Louise Lane.
Hot topics can be mutually responsive. As everyone was digging through Lois's past, this newly appeared photo wouldn't be spared. Most assumed she was hugging her boyfriend, so initially, the photo didn't cause much of a stir. After all, they are both adults, and having a boyfriend is normal. Moreover, they were just hugging on the street, with nothing more intimate captured, so it's hard to cause a commotion.
But as the photo spread, a Little Smart Ghost noted something: doesn't this guy look a bit like Superman?
Again, Clark's biological field interference is limited, and he has appeared on TV giving speeches, so many remember his face. With just a pair of eyes, people were able to recognize him.
The internet went wild: Lois and Superman, the most talked-about man and woman in recent news, are actually in a relationship!
With just this one photo, netizens started deeply investigating the relationship between the two. With investigation comes leaking, and the revelations were a mix of truth and speculation, fueling further curiosity.
A military-oppressed independent reporter and a superhero who saved Metropolis. What is the connection between them? Could their romantic relationship have deeper implications? Could it be related to their recent experiences?
Some conjecture: Is it because Lois is Superman's girlfriend that the military tried to poison her to silence her?
But soon, someone rebutted, pointing out that Superman had previously reconciled with the military and the Federal Government parties and even praised them during his speeches. They should be in a cooperative phase now. The military might still have some preventive measures, but there's no need for such drastic actions. They could be counting on Superman for publicity instead.
And precisely at this moment, major mainstream news media sites abruptly released a piece of information: Superman is not an Earthling but an alien.
Everyone was suddenly enlightened, not because of Superman's identity revelation but because the situation was clarified: it wasn't the military trying to deal with Superman by poisoning Lois, but rather the military aimed to deal with Lois by exposing Superman's identity. Lois is the person the military wants to target!