Ian would ultimately remain ignorant of The Flash's encounter.
High up in the sky.
In the cold wind.
"What are you doing! Are you trying to make sure everyone knows you've committed a serious crime of robbery?" After flying high enough, Kara couldn't hold back her exasperation.
Ian, however, had a well-reasoned defense.
"Come on! I saw reporters! Be a reasonable Auntie, okay? I don't have your Super-Goggles, so I need some way to protect my privacy and identity!"
"A handsome boy like me... people will know who I am after two minutes of searching. By then, not only my father, but your true identity will probably be exposed too."
This was indeed a reason Kara found hard to refute.
"..."
But Kara still felt utterly speechless.
"You carry stockings with you?"
She increasingly felt that Ian was more professional than a veteran mugger.
However.
"Are you kidding me? I'm not a pervert, how could I carry something like that around... I'm just clever and know how to improvise; I checked a suitcase dropped by a passenger."
"And to avoid you judging me by your own standards, I must state: it was unopened when I got it!" Ian ripped the stocking off his head.
He didn't throw it away.
Instead, he rummaged through his pocket with a hole in it, and then tied the stocking directly around his waist. His Auntie's words had reminded the boy that carrying a few small props was never wrong.
"We need to fly North." Pulling out his map, Ian prepared to guide Kara, and this time, Kara, who had originally intended to fly Ian straight home, did not object. Through her brief interaction with the reporter among the passengers, she realized Ian might not be completely making things up due to a delusion.
"According to my investigation, the sewage plant at this location is the most suspicious. It was only built last year, and it's right next to the water treatment plant. Anyone who has studied urban planning knows this is very illogical."
Ian pointed at the map.
"You haven't even started high school yet, what urban management could you have studied?"
Kara was slightly suspicious.
Ian was self-assured.
"I've played Cities: Skylines, do you understand the value of a five-star mayor!" He wasn't trying to show off, so after explaining, he pointed back at the map.
"Here, Auntie, fly towards this spot."
He started navigating.
However.
"Try to feel if I have eyes growing on the back of my head." Kara was utterly exasperated. Although she had a super-brain, she didn't usually memorize the maps and layouts of other cities.
"No Kryptonian telekinesis?"
Ian frowned.
Kara was completely bewildered.
"Wait... is that supposed to be a thing?"
She was extremely unfamiliar with the term Ian mentioned, making her increasingly suspicious about what kind of knowledge Clark was teaching his children. Could it be that Clark had lived on Earth for so long that he mutated into something stronger than her?
"Fine, then I'll hold the map in front of your eyes." Ian acted while greatly disappointed. In the ranks of aliens, it seemed Ultraman was superior.
"Showing me the map doesn't mean covering my eyes with it! Give it here!" Kara had no choice but to snatch the map from Ian's hand herself to confirm the direction.
"My arms are short."
Ian replied matter-of-factly.
"..."
Kara once again felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
Her speed was very fast.
Before Ian could even calculate how many experience points he could gain if he jumped from this height, Kara had already arrived at the sewage plant marked on the map.
"Thud!"
A near-vertical landing.
Kara landed in front of the rusty iron gate of the sewage treatment plant. Ian also deftly leaped from her back onto the ground, and skillfully pulled the stocking from his waist back over his head.
"..."
Kara found this difficult to comment on.
She rubbed her temples hard, no longer offering meaningless advice. She turned and walked toward the sewage plant, using a single hand to push open the six-meter-tall metal gate.
The hinges let out an ear-piercing screech.
The sound resembled a painful wail.
Inside, the pungent smell of disinfectant mixed with sewage rushed out, causing Kara to wrinkle her super-nose. Ian also covered his mouth and nose immediately. His voice, muffled by the stocking, was deep and filled with a sense of shock.
"Ugh, this smell is like stewing durian in a pot of dirty socks." He always had strange metaphors that were incredibly evocative yet made it difficult to imagine how he came up with them.
A dozen workers in orange jumpsuits were busy in the factory area. Seeing Supergirl and the stocking-headed man suddenly appear, they all stopped their work and looked over curiously.
However.
No one came forward to ask questions; everyone was busy with their own tasks. Had they not seen Supergirl, whom they usually only saw on television, these diligent workers might not have even given them a second glance.
After all, work was far more important than celebrity worship, and Supergirl was just part of the routine here in Metropolis.
"Well?"
Ian asked. It was impossible not to be nervous.
But due to the presence of the immortality buff, Ian was also a bit eager, sensing he could definitely gain several levels here.
"Let me see."
Kara raised a hand, signaling Ian to wait. Her eyes focused, and her super-vision scanned the entire facility. Filter tanks, sedimentation basins, disinfection equipment... everything seemed to be running normally.
"There's nothing wrong."
Kara withdrew her gaze and looked at Ian, confused.
"It's not here... that can't be right. My super-wisdom is clearly telling me there must be a problem here." Ian frowned and held up his electronic device.
"It's a LexCorp property, the buffs are fully stacked." Ian waved the information he had just pulled up, but Kara's immediate focus was somewhat unusual.
"You're using the same phone as me!"
Kara sounded surprised.
She was about to say that this might be the bond of blood.
However.
"I don't have my own phone yet. This is your phone, Auntie... I borrowed it." Ian blinked. His words instantly froze the smile on Kara's face.
"I knew I felt you touching me a moment ago!"
Kara realized belatedly.
She was utterly speechless toward Ian.
Her gaze finally focused on the information on the phone—Metropolis New Concept Sewage Plant, a wholly-owned subsidiary of LexCorp, slated to process 70% of the city's industrial wastewater for free in the future!
This news made Kara's eyes flicker.
LexCorp had always maintained a stable reputation in the superhero community.
Even more stable than Boeing.
"You're right. It's unlikely that Luthor is truly engaging in charity. He always has his own motives and agenda." Kara felt she should check this wastewater plant more thoroughly.
To this.
Ian deeply agreed.
"Right? Right? I even dare to bet that if Luthor, who is taking on social responsibility, doesn't have a scheme, I'll immediately hire the Joker from neighboring Gotham as my therapist!"
He spoke righteously.
Kara's expression, upon hearing this, became strange.
"Why would you reward yourself?" It was clear that after only a brief half-day together, her problem with this nephew was no longer about prejudice.
"?????"
Ian's face flushed red.
He was a little angry.
He was about to strongly retort.
"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh~"
Just then, a violent retching sound interrupted their conversation. Not far away, a thin worker suddenly fell to his knees, clutching his throat and making choking sounds.
His colleagues immediately rushed over.
"Mike! What's wrong?"
Friends started showing concern.
But the worker Mike didn't answer. He suddenly vomited a mouthful of dark green material, which splashed onto the concrete floor with a "splat." The dark green vomit seemed to carry a green fluorescence.
Not only that.
The half-digested food residue let out a corrosive "sizzle" when it touched the ground, burning through the hard concrete floor and continuously emitting wisps of black smoke.
"No!"
The worker who had been concerned for his friend, and the other zealous colleagues around, all turned pale in shock at this sight. They scattered in panic like ants whose nest had been disturbed, running away.
"It's that condition! The one that appeared yesterday! It must be some kind of contagious disease!" Someone screamed in terror, abandoning their work and running straight toward the gate.
They looked truly terrified.
"What's going on?"
Kara tried to stop a worker to ask.
However.
"A contagious disease! A terrifying contagious disease! Superman was infected too!" The worker only managed to warn her in fear, then desperately struggled to get away from the "patient."
Kara had no choice but to let him go.
"Sir, are you alright?"
Although she didn't have the plum candy Ian wanted her to have, she still uttered the famous line, all the while remaining vigilant and cautiously approaching the kneeling, vomiting worker.
Hearing this.
The worker, Mike, lifted his head.
"Save me!"
The man's voice was despairing and hoarse.
His eyeballs had turned a cloudy white, and green matter was visibly flowing under his skin. The man opened his mouth to say something more, but only let out an inhuman howl. The man was undergoing extremely rapid mutation. Green energy erupted within his body—wicked, terrifying.
It carried a potent corrosion for biological genes.
"Workers! Never be slaves!"
The man roared.
Ian felt the lines sounded familiar.
***
New week new goals
200 stones for bonus
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