As he walked into the guest room, Clark looked up and took in his surroundings. This was undoubtedly the most luxurious room he had ever stayed in, none other. Even the star-rated hotels he stayed in during official trips could not compare to its beauty. He felt his vocabulary was somewhat lacking. He could only say that he really believed Bruce's study window frames came from a 16th-century French castle.
After escorting him to the guest room, Bruce said nothing more and turned to leave. Clark sat by the bed, packing his luggage, while not forgetting to call his friends and family to assure them of his safety.
Clark was not overly worried about their safety. Diana required no concern; those people at A.R.G.U.S. couldn't possibly threaten her. Lois was currently in the spotlight, and Amanda, if she had any sense, would never go after such a prominent journalist. Martha was the most vulnerable one, but Bruce had already sent someone to protect her.
So, upon arriving at the manor, Clark felt at ease, ready to relax first. After washing up, he lay on the bed, looking at the intricately patterned ceiling, unable to help but sigh.
If the Clark who just entered Battleworld encountered his future self traveling back in time telling him, someday you'll be staying at Batman's house, his past self would certainly punch him to see who was impersonating him.
The development of events had far exceeded expectations. He was now lying in Bruce Wayne's guest room, intending to sleep well. It was truly insane.
With such thoughts, drowsiness gradually overcame him, and Clark slowly fell into a deep sleep. The next morning, he was awakened by the sound of his phone ringing. He squinted his eyes, fumbling to open the phone, and after bringing it to his ear, was startled by the cold touch.
"Hello?" Clark flipped over, forcing his eyes open. But upon hearing the voice on the other end, he was instantly jolted awake.
"It's me, Mr. Kent. Do you know a woman named Amanda Waller? Yesterday, she barged into my lab and claimed she wants to arrest me for illegal human experiments..."
The person calling Clark was the expert who conducted desensitization experiments for him. Clark practically jumped out of bed. He said, "She went to find you?! That damned madwoman!"
"Don't worry," Clark started changing clothes, then said, "I'm heading there right now, I'll make sure she doesn't harm you..."
"No, the reason I'm calling you is to tell you not to come over. She's here to force your appearance..."
"But," Clark paused his actions, then said, "if I don't go, what if they really arrest you?"
"Then let her arrest, let her sue as she should."
"No," Clark immediately said, "if the charge sticks, you could end up in prison."
"She wants to charge me with illegal human experiments, but all my recent experiments revolve around you—are you human?"
"Uh..."
Clark was indeed stumped by the question. He thought for a moment, and the expert's reasoning made sense. Now that his lineage has been publicly revealed, everyone knows he's not human. Therefore, the expert conducting desensitization training on him couldn't be considered illegal human experiments.
The person is simply conducting experiments on an alien; don't mind whether the alien cooperates—it does not involve human experimental ethics. Therefore, charges like human experiments cannot possibly succeed. As for anything else, it depends on Amanda Waller's abilities.
Merely being able to break into the lab proves she indeed has some skills. You should know; the military was forced to disclose his identity but couldn't breach the lab, partly due to Officer Jones's involvement, yet it also proved the military wasn't as omnipotent as he thought. And this enigmatic A.R.G.U.S. actually managed to do it, showing she shouldn't be underestimated.
Realizing this, Clark no longer felt like resting. He quickly got out of bed, preparing to solve this trouble. He took his belongings, ready to head to A.R.G.U.S.'s base to ask Amanda Waller for an explanation. But just as he was about to leave, he stopped.
Thinking it over, Clark realized he couldn't just rush over like that. After all, they had long exposed the base location, but still dared to do these things, indicating they weren't afraid of superpower users storming their base.
Previously, both the Federal Government and the military were apprehensive of superpower users' combat levels. But this organization specifically for superpower users seemed fearless in this regard; they might really have some tricks up their sleeve.
If that's the case, they must have already set ambushes at the base. Rushing over blindly equates to walking right into their trap. He couldn't do such a foolish thing.
Thus, he paused his actions, sat back beside the bed, and began to think. A.R.G.U.S. should be a secret organization, meaning the public doesn't know about their existence. In this situation, a public opinion battle would be useless against them.
Clark couldn't expose their existence, as that would likely get him entangled in charges of leaking national secrets or endangering national security, which would play right into the enemy's hands.
If he cannot reveal the existence of the other party, he cannot use tactics like a media battle. Organizations like the Federal Government or the military mostly care about their reputation, even if just to win votes, they wouldn't want to cause a scandal. By exposing them through public opinion, it might make them somewhat restrained. But this strategy doesn't work on an organization like A.R.G.U.S., as they don't care whether they're liked or not.
Clark increasingly felt that this matter was extremely tricky. Among all the crises he had faced in the past, there was never such an all-pervasive and difficult-to-deal special agent organization. These people had few weaknesses, but they could always get under his skin, making everything in his life go wrong until he surrendered.
But Clark would absolutely never concede. If it happened once, it would happen again. Today they could use such means to force him to join; who knows if tomorrow they will make him kill someone with the same tactics? Given the nature of this organization, it's not impossible.
Moreover, being coerced leaves a handle for others. Once people perceive you as someone who will compromise, you'll be the first they think of whenever compromise is necessary. You'll be forced to reluctantly yield, over and over.
Clark himself was a very tough person, and even for the sake of that spirit, he would certainly not compromise with A.R.G.U.S.
But now he also understood that having an attitude was useless. Non-compromise was the result, but he could not possibly pay such a high price to avoid compromising and have those people bother him for a lifetime. He needed a way to solve the problem once and for all.
Clark pondered there, sometimes recalling his participation in Battleworld, other times the case of Martha's kidnapping. Actions taken by Bruce, Diana, Lois, even Shiller, this group of smart people in dealing with troubles, kept flashing in his mind.
Clark faintly sensed that he seemed to have grasped a bit of insight, so he continued to think along those lines.
What is the best method to deal with an enemy that cannot be confronted directly?
Clark thought that if he couldn't handle A.R.G.U.S., surely someone could. As long as A.R.G.U.S. could be dealt with, it didn't matter if it wasn't him who did it, as long as the result was good.
First, he had to determine who could tackle A.R.G.U.S. There were many candidates; in fact, all of those friends he knew could do it. However, Clark wouldn't choose them. He didn't want to use his friends or cause them more trouble. Even if he needed their help, he would say it directly instead of doing something underhanded behind their backs.
Conversely, the only ones he was willing to use were his enemies. Among his enemies, the military and the Federal Government could actually deal with A.R.G.U.S. But, Clark estimated it would be complicated to incite these two sides to go against A.R.G.U.S.
He was very self-aware, knowing he didn't have the brainpower to navigate among a group of cunning officers and politicians, neither getting himself into trouble nor cleverly using them to deal with the ones he wanted them to confront. If he had such an ability, A.R.G.U.S. would be no match for him and he would have quickly handled them.
Upon thinking more, Clark felt he should not overestimate his own ability. He probably couldn't manipulate other forces. This not only needed wisdom but also a certain talent, which he simply didn't have.
Then the best method was, he would find a target who already had conflict with A.R.G.U.S., and then they could cooperate. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all.
But, who would hold a grudge against A.R.G.U.S.?
The information Clark had was too little, and awaiting here would yield no more. Clark decided to go investigate. And this time, he didn't bring Kryptonite, to deal with this cunning organization, caution was necessary.
Clark had found that after a period of desensitization training, not only did he no longer react as much to the stuff, but possibly due to the long-term burden, his abilities had indeed improved. Take Super Senses for example, now if he focused, he could perceive a range more than twice as large as before. Now, with some effort, Clark could hear the winds on Mars.
He knew A.R.G.U.S. had always been surveilling superpower users on Earth, including himself. So, to ensure that this investigation wouldn't be detected by the other side, he decided not to conduct surveillance on Earth but to fly directly to the Moon.
If he crouched on the Moon, it wasn't like they could send a rocket to watch him, right? As long as he was far enough, their information was one-way transparent to him, and the further away he was, the more convenient it was for him to oversee the whole scene, monitoring all developments.
Action followed thought. Clark grabbed some essentials, mostly water and food, and also took a particularly comfortable deck chair from Wayne Manor, then flew out of Earth's atmosphere, speeding upwards until he landed on the Moon's surface.
There are indeed quite a few lunar probes launched by humans on the Moon, but the Moon is not small, it's not that easy to bump into technological equipment. At least when Clark landed, he didn't see any traces of humans, everything here seemed very primitive and desolate.
Fortunately, the beautiful Earth mother quietly rotated in the distance as Clark put down his belongings and set up the deck chair, preparing to begin surveillance.
However, the Moon's low-gravity environment was not what the deck chair was designed for, so it couldn't stay put. Clark had no choice; he flew back to Earth to get some nails or something to secure the chair on the Moon's surface, and then lay down comfortably.
After lying for a while, he felt uncomfortable again. The chair was indeed cozy, but not as comfortable as when he was lying at Wayne Manor. Glancing down, he realized he forgot the cushion. Clark once again flew back to Wayne Manor to fetch a cushion.