The brains of the operation
"What do I want?" Lex asked in an amused tone. He had to be careful with his wording, for he couldn't say they had nothing he wanted, for that would be a lie! He thought that he could avoid it by asking them a question instead, for example, 'do you even have something I could want?'. Yet while technically it was a question, it insinuated that they had nothing he wanted. Since the meaning being communicated was false, Noman would be able to detect it, so Lex's intuition quickly shut him down.
This was not something he could get through with half truths and hidden meanings.