CHAPTER 47

At the hotel entrance, Superman scanned with his X-ray vision and easily found the penguin playing on the computer.

He landed on the balcony of room 2706 with Lois. Out of politeness, Superman knocked on the sliding glass door to get the penguin's attention inside.

"Oh? Superman's here. Finally fucking here. If he didn't come soon, I'd be suspecting his super brain was a piece of junk."

The penguin hopped off the computer desk. The dragon tooth key on its flipper shot out a compressed teleportation array, like a laser.

After hitting the computer, a white light flashed, teleporting the computer away.

It waddled over to open the door.

"Welcome, bro. I've been waiting for you for a long time, Superman. Oh, and your little girlfriend, Lois Lane from the Daily Planet."

"Don't talk nonsense; we don't have that kind of relationship yet," Lois denied, a little flustered. She still had her voice recorder on; some things couldn't be said carelessly.

Having encountered this foul-mouthed penguin before, Superman didn't really mind its teasing; it was better than being cursed at.

Moreover, Superman planned to pursue Lois as Clark Kent; at this moment, Superman was just Superman.

Superman asked directly:

"You knew I was coming? Who are you? And how much do you know?"

Regarding this talking penguin, Superman's habitual thinking led him to believe it was just a puppet put forward to take the blame, with someone definitely manipulating it from behind.

The penguin, pulling a bowtie from somewhere, put it on its bird neck and introduced itself: "Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Kowalski, the smartest penguin in the entire universe! And also the mastermind behind all this!"

Did I guess wrong? Superman's expression was odd. He scanned the penguin again with his X-ray vision. Apart from something strange on the penguin's back, it was indeed a biological creature, with no mechanical or similar modifications to its brain.

"...Alright, Kowalski. Then can you tell me, the 'Dark Secrets Net' from before, was that your doing?"

"That's right!" the penguin nodded.

"Why?"

"For love... cough, misspoke, it's to make you grow!"

Lois's eyes began to look strange, as if those first two words had piqued her gossipy interest.

She interjected, "...Grow? What kind of growth?"

Kowalski the penguin took a few steps back, pulled out a blackboard from under the bed, and then began to draw, explaining as he drew:

"Emmm, my original plan was to let Superman witness the true dark side of humanity."

Before Superman could retort anything, the penguin patted the blackboard and said:

"It's just to let you, Superman, make a choice: after witnessing human darkness, will you continue to help humans? Or will you give up your superhero identity and find a place to retire?"

Superman suddenly felt this sounded very familiar, as if someone had asked this question before:

"You want Superman to disappear that much? Just like Luthor?"

The penguin's bird beak tilted upwards slightly.

"Of course—not! I won't let Superman retire. Superman retiring would throw this world into chaos."

"So, I have a follow-up plan here. Once you give up Superman's identity, I will act as your life mentor to do ideological work for you."

The penguin, from somewhere, pulled out a piece of paper on which a stick figure drawing was depicted: Penguin patting Superman's shoulder.jpg.

...Lois understood. Simply put, it was to give Superman an ideological lesson. But now there was still one doubt:

"Then... what's the situation now? Who was it that was whitewashing Superman online?"

At this question, an angry expression appeared on Kowalski the penguin's bird face:

"Who else could it be? Of course, it's baldy Lex!"

"Oh Superman, you might not know, but he's your loyal fan!"

"All the 'Dark Secrets Net' sites I created were blasted by him. Damn baldy, such a waste of my precious typing time."

Superman: "..."

Hearing that it was Lex Luthor who had secretly intervened, Superman's feelings were complicated: fifty percent baffled, twenty percent incredulous, twenty percent disbelieving, and ten percent heartwarming.

He really couldn't imagine Luthor helping him, even if it was counterproductive help.

"Why would he help me? It can't possibly be because I often spoil his plans, right?"

An expression of disdain appeared on the penguin's face, the kind of disgust one feels when seeing something dirty:

"Why else? He doesn't want me interfering in your little 'training game' between you two."

"My operations would make him feel fear! He fears seeing a mature and stable Superman."

The air suddenly fell silent; the conversation stalled.

Superman had a distinct feeling of being treated like a foolish child by Lex Luthor.

Lois hadn't heard enough. Seeing the conversation about to stall, she tried to ease the atmosphere: "Wow~, that's a very interesting way to put it. Luthor, who always targets Superman, would be afraid of Superman? Hahahaha, I'll definitely write that down tomorrow."

The penguin also laughed:

"Oh, he's terrified, Ms. Lane."

"If Superman had no moral bottom line, then he would be like Homelander in my book, capable of making the entire world fear him! Dread him! He would become the Sword of Damocles hanging over everyone's heads!"

"No, I will absolutely not become Homelander! Wait, you wrote that book!"

Superman first denied Kowalski's statement, then suddenly realized that the book that had nearly broken his composure was written by this penguin!

Well, well, well, so it was you, you little rascal!

His fists clenched tightly, even emitting a sonic boom.

Kowalski, as if not noticing, flexibly approached Superman and whispered in his ear:

"Yes, that's right, I wrote it. From the looks of it, you must have read it. How was it? Pretty shocking, right? Do you want to try some of the operations from the book? Take a shot at the moon?"

"No!" Superman unclenched his fists. Under the penguin's provocation, his resolve suddenly firmed. The bio-field he emitted became even stronger.

"I will use my actions to prove my determination to protect people. I will absolutely not be like Homelander, disregarding life."

The biggest difference between him and Homelander was that Superman didn't care about fame, nor would he kill for fame, and he certainly wouldn't just do whatever he wanted.

The penguin clapped its flippers:

"Very good. Congratulations, Superman. Your heart has grown stronger by another step. This is very good. The stronger you are, the safer Earth will be."

"However, I'm going to go find trouble with Lex Luthor next. Please don't stop me!"

"No, wait!"

Superman wanted to grab Kowalski. Lex Luthor wouldn't be as easy to talk to as him. A talking penguin, if it fell into Lex Luthor's hands, would definitely become an experimental subject.

...But Kowalski the penguin suddenly erupted with a strong electric current that covered its entire body. Its black and white exterior instantly turned golden.

"Oh yeah~, awesome! Five Hundred Thousand Volt Lightning Armor! This form, I shall call it: Penguin VIP."

Superman's bio-field was most sensitive to this change. He felt the creature in front of him suddenly break through his field's envelopment.

He could originally sense the penguin's shape, but now, the golden penguin was enveloped in an oval force field.

It used that to repel his bio-field.

"Ahahaha, goodbye! Superman."

With a push of its two feet, the golden penguin slid rapidly along the ground.

As it was about to approach Superman, it, in a manner completely unscientific in Superman's eyes, turned from the ground towards the wall, adhered to the wall, and slid away along the wall.

"Is it because of that force field?"

Just as Superman turned his head to look, it jumped directly off the balcony.

"Oh no, it won't fall to its death, will it!"

Superman flew out the window, looked down, and saw a golden afterimage rapidly sliding along the hotel's outer wall.

Moreover, when encountering obstacles, it could adjust its sliding direction, deftly avoiding them.

"OMG, is this really a penguin? This isn't scientific!!"

He chased after it. Compared to the penguin's sliding advance, Superman's flight was a bit faster. He instantly caught up and waited for it at the bottom of the building.

"Oh oh, don't block me, Superman."

Seeing the path on the ground blocked, the golden penguin seized an opportunity on the curved sculpture of the hotel floor, used it as a ramp to take off, crossed the road, and rushed into the shopping mall opposite.

"Make way, make way, getting zapped by me will bring you terrible luck!"

"Oh! Shit!" ...

"Penguin!" ...

"Watch out for the penguin!" ...

... "Holy crap!" ...

The golden penguin charged straight through, with Superman flying in pursuit behind it.

It always ran towards crowded places, making Superman somewhat hesitant. Faced with so many people, his super speed and super brain were like they had crashed; he couldn't use them at all at this moment.

Sliding along, Kowalski suddenly slid to an atrium. It hugged a stone pillar with both flippers and slid down in circles.

"Woohoo... hahaha, Lex Baldy dreams of leading Superman on a chase like this."

The atrium was spacious enough. The penguin's appearance had scared away the people on the first floor. Superman, being faster than it, was already waiting for it on the first floor.

"Really, a Superman who doesn't learn his lesson. Don't underestimate penguins, bastard!"

Unexpectedly, the golden penguin, in Superman's blind spot as he looked at the pillar, pushed off with its two feet, detached from the pillar, and rushed towards the entrance.

Superman, seeing the penguin suddenly disappear, activated his X-ray vision and saw the penguin escaping directly in front of his line of sight.

"Quite agile indeed."

Super speed activated. Everything around him slowed down. Superman flew towards the penguin, easily catching up to it.

Just as he was about to reach out and grab it, he suddenly felt his hand being pricked by something. There was a numbing sensation, but not much.

"This layer of current is quite strong. An ordinary person would probably be electrocuted if they touched it. You're quite dangerous!"

Just as Superman was about to succeed, he... his hand slipped...

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"...?"

Superman once again reached for the penguin. When his hand touched the golden penguin, the golden electric coat on its body repelled his bio-field. The penguin was actually pushed away by his own bio-field.

"How is this possible?" Superman simply couldn't believe it; this was the first time his bio-field had been utilized by an opponent.

With a lapse in concentration, Superman exited his super speed.

"Ahahaha, I was prepared for you, Superman! This time, my super brain wins!"

The golden penguin slid out the main door with a smirk. At the first manhole cover in front of the door, it dived in. While falling, it used the dragon tooth to enter the "Tomb of the Living Dead."

Superman had used his X-ray vision when the penguin entered the sewer. Then, the penguin suddenly disappeared in a way he couldn't understand.

He flew to the manhole opening, opened the cover, and carefully inspected it. "Really gone!"

The dried mud at the bottom of the manhole showed no signs of having been stepped on.

"Space technology? Or a superpower?"

Wee-ooh—wee-ooh—

The police arrived and surrounded Superman.

"Superman, please come with us! Explain what just happened."

"Officer, there's a reason for this..."

Just as Superman was reasoning with the police, Lois arrived in her car.

She got out of the car and ran over, standing in front of Superman, then used her voice recorder as evidence to converse with the police.

Superman said at this moment, "That penguin just now said it's going to find trouble with Lex Luthor. Officer, the penguin is very dangerous. I'll go find Luthor first."

Bang!

Superman flew away, leaving a sonic boom in his wake.

Lois and the police officer looked at each other, covering their ears.

…………………………

Lex Luthor was explaining his plan to his team.

Superman flew directly to the window of the meeting room and politely knocked on the glass.

The target of their discussion suddenly appearing before them startled Lex Luthor as well. He didn't go to open the window; his first action was to pull out a Kryptonite gun from a bag beside him in the meeting room.

He aimed it directly at Superman outside the window.

Superman raised his hands, an innocent smile on his face, a posture of surrender.

Lex, seeing that Superman wasn't here to cause trouble for him, lowered the gun, went over and opened the sliding glass door, allowing Superman to enter, and then began to question him.

"Superman, what are you doing here? Are you here to declare war on me?"

"No, I'm here to save you. There's an electricity-wielding penguin preparing to cause trouble for you. I'm here to protect you."

"Ha! Ridiculous!" Lex Luthor slammed the Kryptonite gun on the table with a thwack!

Lex felt he was being underestimated. Was he the kind of person who could be easily dealt with?

Let alone an electricity-generating penguin, even Superman had been handled by him!

Who was this foolish Superman looking down on!

Lex Luthor turned his head and said to the people below the stage:

"Hey, everyone! According to Superman, that penguin who insulted us earlier is apparently coming to cause trouble for us! Does anyone have a way to deal with it?"

The area below the stage instantly became lively:

"Ha! Let it come, I guarantee I'll stew it in soup!"

"The laser weapons our team developed should be able to deal with it!"

"What laser weapons? I think an ordinary handgun can take care of it. As long as it dares to appear, I can blow its head off with one shot!"

"Lex, the corpse can be given to me. I can definitely study its genes thoroughly!"

...

"See, with my team here, it's just a mere penguin. It can't cause much trouble."

Superman shook his head:

"You're overconfident, Luthor. That penguin emits high-voltage electricity sufficient to cause death. Even I would be affected. If an ordinary person touches it, they will be electrocuted."

"Oh, that's good news. It seems our bio-electricity project can take another step forward! I'm even more interested in that penguin's genes!"

"Do you want to participate in the research, Superman?"

"Uh, Luthor, I'm being genuinely serious in reminding you! I don't think you guys can beat it."

Superman's expression was stern; he indeed didn't look like he was joking.

"Interesting. It seems we're really going to have a major tech breakthrough!"

A sinister smile appeared on Lex Luthor's face.