As the military leaders retreated, Robert paid them no mind. Just moments earlier, the dense deathly aura in the area had suddenly vanished, as if it had slipped into another world.
"Could it be... the Hell Dimension?" A thought flashed through Robert's mind, as that was the dimension he knew best that matched the deathly aura.
Currently, the gap between Earth's dimension and others had not fully healed. Unlike other dimensions that had ceased their invasions due to heavy losses, the Hell Dimension had never stopped its attempts to breach Earth. Even without direct orders from demon lords or rulers, Hell's demons craved Earth more than any other realm. Any opportunity they had, they would throw themselves at Earth.
Thus, when the deathly aura disappeared, Robert immediately suspected the Hell Dimension. However, upon further sensing, he couldn't detect the familiar signature of Hell's energy.
"What's going on?" At that moment, Clark appeared beside Robert, asking, "Did you find anything?"
"I can't track where the deathly aura went," Robert said slowly, shaking his head. "From what we know, the most familiar connection to deathly energy is the Hell Dimension."
"However, there's no trace of Hell's presence here. This leaves us with two possibilities: first, there's another dimension or powerful being associated with death that we don't know about; second, whoever is behind this is hiding, so the deathly energy left no other trace."
"So, it's possible that the culprit is still on Earth? Even if they're not from the Hell Dimension, they're definitely linked to death?" Clark understood what Robert was implying and asked to confirm.
"Exactly. We need to search thoroughly. Judging by where the deathly aura vanished, we can at least rule out the southern region." Robert nodded, glancing briefly at Bast, the Panther God, who was still hovering in midair.
Robert felt a bit disappointed that Wakanda wasn't involved. He would have preferred if this trouble had been caused by Wakanda or its gods, as it would give him a reason to strike back at Bast. After all, Bast and Wakanda had once clashed with Clark, and Robert wasn't one to easily let things go. If they had crossed him, he wouldn't hesitate to retaliate.
Bast, feeling Robert's gaze, inexplicably shivered. He was certain Robert wasn't strong enough to threaten him, yet a strange chill ran down his spine.
"It must be my imagination. Surely not every extraordinary person on Earth is as terrifying as Superman," Bast thought, trying to reassure himself.
"The north?" Clark hadn't noticed the silent exchange between Robert and Bast. His attention was fixed on the northern region, where his eyes could see much. However, Clark's super-vision wasn't able to see through certain supernatural forces, and like lead, powerful mystical forces could block his sight. Despite Robert's insight, Clark still didn't detect any dimensional beings, only witnessing several criminal activities in progress.
"Huh?! What are you doing?!" Suddenly, Clark's expression changed. He shouted in anger and vanished from sight.
Meanwhile, in a courtyard in London, a rugged-looking man with a vicious gleam in his eyes was pointing a gun at an adorable three-year-old boy.
Clark, having seen this scene from afar, couldn't contain his rage and immediately sped to the location to save the boy.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Gunshots rang out in the courtyard, but they weren't from the man's gun. Instead, they came from the police outside, who had their weapons trained on the assailant.
*Clink! Clink! Clink!*
Before the bullets could reach the man, Clark appeared in front of the boy, shielding both the child and the man. The bullets bounced harmlessly off Clark, clattering to the ground.
"Huh?" Clark was momentarily surprised. When he had scanned the area earlier, he hadn't noticed that the police had surrounded the place. Their swift action had caught him off guard, and he realized that even without his intervention, the boy would have been safe. In fact, his appearance had unintentionally saved the man, who was about to be shot.
"Superman?!"
Clark's sudden arrival drew gasps from the crowd. The man froze in place, and the police outside also looked on in shock before their faces lit up in surprise.
In this country, with its deep but complicated ties to America, Clark was still immensely popular. Even though his primary base of operations was in America, the rarity of his appearances here made him seem even more mysterious and revered. Thus, despite it seeming as though he had saved the criminal, the officers weren't upset. They knew that with Superman on the scene, the boy was in no danger, and the assailant had no chance of escape.
Neither Clark nor the police noticed the odd reaction of the little boy. When Clark appeared, the boy's pupils had constricted, and a flash of disdain crossed his eyes upon sensing Clark's bright, sunny aura. But that expression quickly faded.
"Daddy, what's going on? Who's this man?" The boy's expression shifted to one of confusion and fear as he called out to the rugged man, even stepping forward toward him.
"Don't go near him!" Clark's expression turned to disgust upon hearing the boy call the man "Daddy." He swiftly scooped up the boy and reassured him softly, "Don't be afraid. I'm not a bad person."
"Hey, are you a fan of Superman? Your clothes look like his! I've seen reports of Superman—he can fly and do all kinds of amazing things! Is that true?" The boy's innocent curiosity seemed to shift his focus. He grabbed a corner of Clark's cape, looking up with wide, fascinated eyes.
"It's true..." Clark smiled, nodding, while gesturing to the approaching police officers. The officers quickly moved past Clark and approached the man.
"Robert Thorne! You're under arrest!" they declared firmly.
"Wait! Superman! Don't be fooled! That boy isn't innocent—he's a demon!" Thorne shouted, struggling against the officers. "You're Superman, aren't you? You can reveal his true form! Please, do it before it's too late..."
Thorne was visibly agitated. The police, noting his erratic behavior, sedated him immediately, and he slumped into unconsciousness.
"A demon?" Clark blinked in surprise, glancing down at the boy in his arms, who still appeared bewildered. Instinctively, Clark used his x-ray vision but found nothing unusual. The boy's body structure was perfectly normal for a human child.
"I must be crazy, believing a madman who tried to shoot his own son," Clark muttered to himself with a wry smile. The only oddity was the man's name—Robert Thorne, the same as his friend Robert's.
"How could you say such things about Damian? He's so sweet and kind—he's no demon!" A woman suddenly approached, angrily berating the unconscious Thorne. "You've hated Damian ever since your wife got pregnant with your new child, but wanting to kill him? You should have been shot on the spot!"
The woman's face grew even fiercer as she continued, "No, even if you survived the bullets, you'll burn at the stake!"
"Who are you?" Clark asked, frowning at the woman's bitter curses.
"I'm Belloc. I was the Thorne family's nanny, and I've been taking care of Damian. That's why I know about Robert's twisted thoughts," Belloc explained.
"Is that so? Do you know anything about this?" Clark asked the police, still not entirely trusting Belloc.
"She is the Thorne family's nanny, but she's only been working for them for a short time," one of the officers confirmed.
"I started after Catherine got pregnant. That's how I know about Robert's hatred for Damian. Let me take care of him—I'll look after Damian," Belloc said, her gaze toward the boy becoming almost obsessive.
"Hehe, Belloc, pick me up!" Damian called out, reaching toward her. Though Clark hesitated, he eventually let Belloc take the boy into her arms.
At that moment, Robert appeared. He had been delayed while investigating Bast and the Wakandan gods, but once he had finished, he rushed over.
"What's going on? Why did you come here?" Robert asked as he arrived.
"It's nothing, just a minor issue," Clark replied, shaking his head.
"Superman, we'll take it from here. Don't worry, we'll make sure this man is punished for what he's done, even if he didn't succeed," one of the officers promised, glancing briefly at Robert before addressing Clark.
"That's not necessary. Just handle it by the law. Figure out why he tried to harm his child. After all, even a tiger doesn't eat its own cubs..." Clark said with a sigh.
"We understand!" the officer replied. Then, turning to Belloc, he said, "Ms. Belloc, you were a witness and the one who called in the incident. Please come with us, and you can take care of Damian. Where's his mother, Catherine?"
"She's at the hospital for a check-up. Catherine loves Damian, but Robert must have taken advantage of her absence to act. Thank goodness I called the police in time," Belloc explained, still visibly shaken.
"I didn't dare confront Robert directly. He's a U.S. diplomat, and I couldn't afford to provoke him."
"Don't worry. Even if he's a diplomat, we won't let this slide! If this goes public, the U.S. won't be able to avoid the scandal!" the officer assured her.
"
That's a relief. I was worried about retaliation," Belloc said, breathing a sigh of relief as she followed the police to their car.
"Goodbye, Superman!" Damian called out cheerfully from the car, waving at Clark with a smile. Clark waved back with a smile of his own.
"You know, this guy's name is Robert, just like you," Clark said to Robert, laughing as he watched the police car drive away. "If I hadn't intervened, this Robert would've been killed on the spot. I guess I overstepped a bit... Huh? Robert?"
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