(~˘▾˘)~~(˘▾˘~)
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"The fierce beast is caged."
On the large screen, Luther stroked his chin with a hint of amusement while watching the monitoring in another room.
A young man in a blue T-shirt lay unconscious, secured by heavy shackles specially designed for him, locked into a custom-made electric chair.
Although said as a shackle, these restraints were more like a solid giant steel ball, leaving only the young man's two arms, legs, and head exposed.
Two enormous sonic weapons were aimed at his ears, prepared for any unexpected situations in case he woke up.
Even so, outside the room where even walls were made of fine steel, a group of heavily armed soldiers nervously held their breath as if some terrifying monster was inside the room.
"You didn't tell me that your plan was to knock him out with a high-speed train full of passengers!"
General Sam Lane, with his steel-like gray hair and military bearing, stared at the screen with displeasure.
He didn't want to see any mishap, whether it was this unique being or the passengers on that train.
"No, no, no, he wasn't knocked out," Luther said, emphasizing with a finger. "He passed out from exhaustion."
"What's the difference?" Sam Lane shot him a sideways glance.
"General, you wanted a Superman, and I've given you one," Luther replied.
Luther didn't want to explain further to General Lane, a military man with a distinguished career who only understood soldier training and warfare, and spread his hands with an expression that people would want to punch in his face.
"Just don't forget what you promised me at the beginning."
"To share everything about this... superhuman biological research?"
Sam Lane frowned, recalling the name people used for this powerful being.
"By the way, your daughter gave this creature that name, and he doesn't seem to mind it," Luther chuckled.
"Superman?... Whether he's human remains to be seen."
"I've never heard of a human inhaling a super-potent anesthetic gas strong enough to knock down thousands of Asian elephants and just have a slightly slowed heartbeat."
Sam Lane glanced at the monitored heart rate on the screen and snorted.
If it were a human, even inhaling excess oxygen would have caused oxygen toxicity.
"Take a blood sample from him first, let me see what he really is."
"Blood samples?" Luther looked surprised.
"I doubt his skin could be pierced even with a titanium alloy drill. What do you plan to use to draw blood, General?"
Sam Lane glanced at him, not saying a word but seemed to have a plan in mind.
...
"Is it Clark? Has he been captured?"
Hearing the voice, Martha rushed into the living room, her face slightly pale, covering her mouth in disbelief as she watched the news on TV.
"Superman is really Clark. He was taken away?"
Jonathan stared wide-eyed, sitting on the couch in shock, then became extremely anxious, unable to accept the news.
"Mom, Dad, do you know?" David, with a gloomy face, asked casually while staring at the television.
Clark had told him that he hadn't informed their parents about his identity as Superman, wanting to spare them the worry, and had asked for his help in keeping it a secret.
But upon seeing the news about Superman in trouble, both immediately became anxious and nervous, not behaving like they had just learned about it.
"Your brother wanted to keep it from us.
But how could we not see that he had a secret?" Especially Martha, covering her mouth, her eyes welling up with tears.
In the city, there was a super-powered vigilante who could lift trucks effortlessly and move faster than bullets, and the news on TV and in newspapers had already spread like wildfire.
Initially, the couple thought it was another person who had gained superpowers through a meteorite, and they lamented that so many people gaining abilities that way, and they were relieved that at least one of them was using their powers for good.
They didn't think much of it at first, especially since the news showed a seemingly healthy Superman, nothing like their son Clark, who has now been blind for a while.
However, over time, the couple noticed that whenever they talked about Superman, Clark either tried to avoid the subject or looked uncomfortable when discussing it, leading them to have suspicions.
And how could it be a coincidence that another super-powered individual as strong as Clark, an alien, suddenly appeared?
"Now isn't the time to discuss this, son.
You need to go bring your brother back."
Snap out of it, Jonathan stood up abruptly from the couch, filled with anxiety.
In such a critical situation, who knows what the military might do to Clark?
"I understand. I will definitely bring Clark back safely."
After one last look at the scene, David frowned and disappeared in an instant, creating a gust of wind. Martha couldn't hold back her anxious tears after seeing her son leave.
Jonathan held his wife, and they both nervously watched the television screen, praying that both of their sons would come back safely.
After leaving home, David's speed increased rapidly, reaching nearly thirty times the speed of sound in an instant, taking less than half a minute to go from Smallville to the incident site in Metropolis.
[Template integration at 97%.]
After the Black King template experienced a massive increase in fusion on Paradise Island, his abilities to manipulate energy also skyrocketed. This included the power to enhance his physical strength and speed through energy consumption.
Near the platform where the incident occurred, armed soldiers stood behind the barricade, keeping all unauthorized personnel away from the scene while military experts conducted the final sampling work.
"How could this happen?"
Lois Lane rushed to the scene with her reporter assistant, Jimmy, and she had a bad feeling as she watched the orderly lockdown of the area.
She was about to turn around and ask her father what was going on when suddenly, a gust of wind blew by.
At the center of the scene, a tall figure appeared, radiating purple light all over his body. With one hand, he effortlessly lifted a soldier by the neck, with a cold aura.
"Which base are you guys from?!"
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(~˘▾˘)~Don't forget to send your power-stones!~(˘▾˘~)