When Selina darted up the stairs, she did not expect anyone to be at the landing. Upon seeing Clark's shadow cast on the stairs, she instinctively veered to the left before rolling away, darting past Clark.
The situation unfolded too suddenly, and Selina moved too swiftly. The agents trailing her saw Clark blocking the stairwell and presumed he was an accomplice. With no second thought, they fired at Clark.
Naturally, the bullets posed no injury to Clark. His invulnerability shielded him from all harm, yet this blatantly aggressive act had enraged him. While gentle, Clark was not lacking in temper and found it offensive that the attackers did not hesitate to aim real bullets at him. Had he been an ordinary person, he would have been killed instantly. How could these people be so irresponsible?
He had no idea that the elusive Catwoman had frustrated the agents. Despite not being particularly strong in head-on fights, her skills in guerrilla attacks, positioning, and kite manipulation were second to none. Making the dim corridor her battlefield, she knocked out several agents, infuriating others who abandoned tracking their original target, Benjamin, to pursue her.
"Stop!" Clark shouted. "There are innocent people here; you can't just indiscriminately shoot!"
The agents did hesitate, for they had never met someone like Clark. In the face of their zealous operations, ordinary people would typically either scream and run away or cower, clutching their heads. Someone daring to obstruct their path was unheard of.
"We are on a mission; move away immediately!" they demanded.
"But you just fired at me! Are you authorized? Who permitted you to attack civilians!" Clark countered indignantly. The agents were left baffled. It was unfathomable to them that this audacious youth would dare to challenge the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
They had no way of knowing, after all, that Clark was a small-town young man, the furthest place he'd ever been was a seed factory in the southern part of Delaware. He had hardly ever seen a metropolitan police officer, let alone an agent.
The leading agent cautiously advanced a few steps, gun in his raised hands, staring intently at Clark. Undeterred, Clark insisted, "Stop right there! Whatever you're doing, I cannot let any of you intrude where innocent people are!"
The agent glanced back at his men and ordered, "Proceed with our mission. Apprehend him first!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" Gunfire echoed through the corridor. Clark's facial expression grew stern. Despite his intimidating presence, the bullets all paused mid-air, then like rain, dropped to the floor.
The agents stared wide-eyed, their shock quickly subsiding. A trio sprung into action, charging at Clark. As Clark attempted to subdue them, two more agents raced past him to resume chasing Selina.
Coming upon the corridor, the agents discovered no trace of Selina. They resorted to checking room by room.
Upon opening the first room, they found Lex seated at a table. An agent moved to question him, but another held him back, whispering, "He's Old Luthor's son. He's said to be autistic. You won't get anything from him."
Looking at Lex's blank stare, the agent shook his head and signaled for the others to search the room. Yet, another agent stopped them, cautioning, "We cannot search the Luthor Family's rooms. We'll be in trouble if Lionel Luthor should come back!"
Advising the others, "Quickly scan this room and let's move on."
The agents appeared hesitant; clearly, they were all aware of Old Luthor's reputation. They vaguely rummaged through the room's contents before promptly leaving. Once the agents were gone, Selina exited the bathroom, saying, "Thanks."
At this moment, Clark, freed from the agents' clutches, returned. He was taken aback by Selina's presence, asking, "What's going on? Aren't you Bruce's girlfriend? Why are they chasing you?"
"It's complicated." Uninterested in excessive dialog, Selina moved to leave. Suddenly, the sound of gunfire resonated from downstairs.
Furrowing her brows, Selina pinpointed that the gunfire seemed to originate from the room where Bruce and Benjamin were staying. She immediately sprinted out of the room, Clark tailing behind her. While on the run, Selina questioned Clark, "Why are you following me?"
"Are those agents shooting again?! Why are they doing this?! I need to protect the civilians here!" Clark asserted.
Flabbergasted, Selina didn't know if bringing Clark to Bruce was a good idea. However, Clark dashed ahead at a speed Selina's naked eye could not capture, denying her the chance to intervene.
Bruce, currently entangled with the agents, had indeed not anticipated Clark to arrive first.
Originally, Bruce had completed his inquiry with Benjamin and alerted the agents to extract him safely. After all, Benjamin had taken severe blows; if left undiscovered overnight, there would be a threat to his life. Bruce didn't want blood on his hands.
However, Clark's intervention disrupted the scenario. Bruce could have escaped the agents efficiently using advanced equipment he had previously retrieved. But now, Clark was determined to punish the reckless agents.
Clark's approach of brute force was indeed miraculous. Against such a formidable opponent, agents sped bullets as if they were disposable. Clark's biological stance was immune to bullet shots, however, Bruce was not. Caught in the narrow corridor filled with ricocheting bullets from every direction, Bruce was momentarily trapped with no escape, hence, was forced to join the battle.
When Selina rushed downstairs, the flashes from the gunfire momentarily blinded her. Was she delusional or had their strategy of fleeing been swapped with an all-out fight against the agents? Nevertheless, sighting Bruce dodging stray bullets, Selina had no choice but to rush into the battlefield.
More than those engaged in the battle, were the guests of the manor ordered back to their rooms. The large-scale gunfire spread of a large vicinity as the agents' guns were not equipped with silencers. Confused guests began flooding out of their rooms to investigate the situation.
Guests initially stayed put, wary of the agents patrolling the perimeter outside. But with the agents from the corridor missing, the guests began stepping out, their collective murmurs filling the air.
At first, it was friendly banter and conjecture between the upper-class participants of the banquet. Cooped up in this daunting mansion all night and yet, forbidden to leave, tempers were flaring. Before long, heated arguments broke out.
Although this banquet was primarily attended by the upper echelons of the society, the universal rule applied; the louder the voice, the more convincing the argument seemed.
On this side of the hallway, the distinguished guests attending the banquet were arguing loudly.
"They've locked us in this damned place! Now they've started a gunfight, do they want us to be hit by stray bullets too?"
"Damn it, what the hell is this place? Are we here for a banquet or to go to war?"
"Those shit agents won't let us out! They aren't guaranteeing our safety either, I'm definitely going to make a complaint about them!"
"Stop bluffing, Old Damon! You can't even reach the doorstep of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, go home and eat your farmer's lunch!"
"Shut up, can you stop making noise?! Who's going to find a gun, we have to protect ourselves..."
On the other side of the corridor, Clark, Bruce, and Selina were engaged in an intense fight with the group of agents.
The brute force tactic fits Clark well since his strength is enormous and he is immune to long-range bullet attacks. Within this narrow corridor, it is as if he has the place to himself.
Bruce is not to be outdone, having practiced his footwork in Shiller's Dream, he's able to dodge bullets and engage in hand-to-hand combat simultaneously while Selina provides support from the side. The three of them are giving the agents a run for their money.
In fact, it's rather miraculous that these agents can hold their ground against the three of them.
Actually, Clark only wants to subdue them and doesn't wish to hurt anyone, so he has to control his strength. Bruce can only perform at an average level in guerilla warfare, and Selina isn't adept at direct combat.
In this period, gunshots rang out non-stop sounding like firecrackers going off, mixed together with the fluctuating volumes of the quarrel, it sounded like a symphony echoing through the manor.
So, what was Shiller up to at this time?
That's right, the recently asleep Shiller was woken up once again.
Before even opening his eyes, he could hear the sounds coming from the floor below:
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
"Whizz! Cross-cross!"
"Bullshit!" "You're the bullshit!" "Shut up!" "Oh——"
"Boom!"
"Crash——crash——"
Shiller sat up from his bed with his eyes closed, took a deep breath, and glanced at his watch.
Excellent, this sleep lasted a record-breaking 26 minutes tonight.
Shiller slowly walked over to the guest room's shelf, retrieved a glass from its place, and upon sitting back down on the bed, a bottle of wine appeared in his hand. The moment he popped the cork, a strong intoxicating aroma filled the room.
Shiller poured a bit of wine into the bottom of the glass, then tilted his head back and swallowed it in one gulp. The wine bottle disappeared, the glass fell to the ground and shattered. Under the influence of Mad Liquor, Shiller entered a much more stable dream.
Upon arriving at the center of the Thought Palace, Shiller walked towards a hole in the middle of the empty space, muttering to himself:
"I'm glad I didn't fill in this hole, I knew it would come in handy one day."
Upon reaching the hole, Shiller, without hesitation, jumped right in. Passing through bizarre illusions, when he landed, the first thing that came into view was a lawn.
Just as Shiller took a step forward, a pale-faced man dressed in a black robe appeared right in front of him with a "whoosh". Shiller greeted him, "Long time no see, Dream God Morpheus."
Morpheus had no intention of exchanging pleasantries with him, he stared warily at Shiller and asked, "What are you up to?"
"I want to pass through your territory, into someone's dream."
"Who?"
"Joker Jack."