Chapter 2279: Late Autumn in the Golden City (32)_1

Lex bumped into Pamela in the kitchen.

The energetic young lady was pillaging the pantry, or perhaps she was just indulging in some additional desserts that Merkel had set aside for her.

"I don't know what it is, but ever since I regained my sanity, I've been eating much more. I'm even eating three meals a day now."

"How many meals were you eating before?"

"Normally, I would sleep until noon, then laze around until the evening. I'd probably grab a sandwich or something around eight or nine o'clock, right before I rush off to the lab."

"The fact that you're still alive is a miracle."

With apparently nothing better to do, Pamela and Lex were sitting on opposite sides of the kitchen counter, chatting. Pamela was sizing Lex up and down when she said: "You don't look too bad all dressed up."

"I didn't expect any compliments from you." Lex replied with evident boredom.

Both fairly close in age and often bumping into each other in the lab, Lex was quite familiar with Pamela's nature.

"Talya and I have a plan." Pamela nonchalantly disclosed, "Here is the basic rundown..."

Pamela started telling Lex about their outlandish plan. To her surprise, Lex didn't seem shocked at all. Instead, he said, "You guys got all fired up but didn't consider the feasibility of the scheme at all."

"The biggest problem is that you've invited Clark Kent. Do you know he's actually an alien? Do you realize his powers could obliterate earth with a single punch?"

"Of course, we know he's powerful. That's part of the reason we chose him. Ah, yes, not just because he's handsome."

"He is indeed reasonable under normal circumstances." Lex picked up a piece of cake, but didn't eat it for fear of messing his clothes. While studying its decorations, he added: "Men are most vulnerable and almost devoid of any rational thought during certain times. You were right, you, Talya, and Selina are all quite attractive. This could pose a serious risk of Clark losing control."

Pamela opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again. She sighed and said, "I wonder what experiences you've had that allow you to point this out immediately after hearing our plan."

"This shows that I'm rational and you guys are lust-crazed lunatics."

"Okay, I admit there is indeed a problem. But ah, doesn't he have a girlfriend..."

"A frenzy induced by mass excitement is not something you want Professor Shiller to find out about. That would mean giving back all the knowledge you've gained from his books."

Pamela let out a deep sigh before asking, "So, for this pure human party, are you in?"

"The truth is, you haven't got Bruce and Selina on board yet. Without the two of them, it won't work out, even with your involvement and mine. We'll need Clark to be part of it, but that's risky."

Pamela massaged her forehead, she had to admit Lex was right. This was a classic paradox.

"Who else do you think could convince Bruce and Selina?"

"I don't think you can persuade Shiller."

"Cough Cough!!" Pamela's violent coughing was so severe it almost choked her. She had to rush over to the faucet and take several gulps of water.

As she came back to the counter and caught her breath, Pam shook her head saying, "Let's not mention that name for a while. You have no idea what happened."

Lex arched his brows, glancing at Pamela with intrigued eyes. Pamela said, "You probably won't believe this, but I almost involved him. In a physical sense."

"What did you do?" Lex asked, frowning.

"You must've noticed my changes. The results of Professor Shiller's treatment were astonishing, right?"

Pamela laid her arms on the table and continued, "But you also know I possess certain special abilities. Given my unstable mental state, I wouldn't have complied easily during the treatment."

"Did you attack Professor Shiller?"

"I'm afraid it's worse than that," Pamela replied, pursing her lips, "I might have tried to restrain him with my vines. Even though I don't think I was successful in the end, it was still terrifying."

"Or maybe, you've partially succeeded." Lex shifted his gaze away, hiding his mouth behind his cup, "The professor wouldn't harm his students. If you were at a crucial stage of your treatment, he might not have resisted, risking a treatment failure."

"Are you suggesting I actually got him?"

"Did he tell you about this? How did he describe it?"

"Some terrifying vine-based restraining methods."

"So even if it wasn't that serious, part of it must be true." Lex took a sip of water, "You should understand, Professor Shiller hates everyone in the world equally, he would never admit his weakness unless it's necessary."

"God." Pamela sighed and sank into her bar stool, leaning on the countertop, "I was unconscious, I missed everything, damn it."

"Is that your main concern?" Lex rolled his eyes, "Even though he said it was okay, you know how tolerant the professor is."

"Come on, I myself don't know what else I can do..."

Bam! Bang bang!

A sudden loud noise came from upstairs, followed by a dazzling light. When the light faded, Lex and Pamela opened their eyes again, looked at each other, and quickly ran upstairs.

But halfway there, Pamela suddenly stopped Lex, saying, "No, don't go up."

"What's wrong?" Lex asked, frowning.

A flicker of alarm passed over Pamela's face. She froze for a few seconds, opening and closing her mouth, furrowing her brow then looking blank, causing Lex to suspect she was having facial spasms.

After a while, Pamela licked her lips, tilted her head, and, pulling Lex with her, turned around and headed down the stairs.

"What's up?" Lex asked again, "What happened upstairs?"

"Don't ask." Pamela made a silence gesture and said, "We didn't hear anything. It was all an illusion."

They had just sat back down at the bar stools when Shiller came down the stairs. Looking up, Lex saw that Shiller had changed into his dinner attire.

A rust-colored prince's suit, a slightly jovial polka dot tie, a daisy-shaped tie pin and golden chain, and a four-fold spiraling pocket square; this prompted Lex, also out of artistic appreciation, to take a moment to stare intensely.

On looking closer, he noticed something amiss. Though not quite a great detective, his observational skills were still far above average.

One of Shiller's cufflinks was askew - only slightly, less than a millimeter by his estimation. But it was very unusual, since the rest of the outfit looked as if it had been cast from a mold, and this was the only problem.

Shiller, descending the stairs seemingly clueless, spoke while adjusting his suit button.

"Busyness does lead to mistakes. I accidentally bumped into the mirror in the bedroom just now. I didn't scare you guys, did I?"

Pamela's head was shaking so much it was almost centrifugal, Lex rolled his eyes, shot a quick glance at Pamela and also shook his head.

But he realized that something was off. The three noises just now were definitely not caused by a falling mirror.

From his previous observations of the décor of Rodrix Manor, Lex discovered that the former owner of this manor, the Vicount, was a style chaser who, when building the manor, used exquisite wooden furniture as a trend.

All the bedrooms had wooden floors, and the wardrobes and mirror frames were also wooden. The sound of wood on wood isn't so dull.

Moreover, if it was a mirror falling over, even if the mirror shattered, it wouldn't produce three similarly dull noises. Moreover, Lex had never heard of a scenario where a mirror falling in a bedroom could cause a large optical phenomenon.

The burst of light just now was beyond what could be achieved by physics. Even a flashbang would be hindered by walls, yet that light evidently penetrated all matter, brightly as if divine.

And the most obvious flaw was that adjusting the mirror would not mess up the cufflink, as the mirror was just a flat wooden frame. All one would need to do to handle it was to reach under the frame and lift gently.

Even if one needed to adjust the mirror, it would necessitate raising both arms. At that moment, constrained by the fit of the tailored suit, the cuffs would be pulled back, thus there wouldn't be any chance of anything on the sleeves hitting the frame.

But evidently, that was all there was to Shiller's answer. He wasn't trying to fool anyone, the purpose of this answer was clearly to make others stop asking, or rather, it was to warn them - this was all I can give, all that you can think of.

Seeing the slightly alarmed expression on Pamela's face, Lex understood - she probably saw what happened in the master bedroom through her vines.

Dingling.

The phone rang, Shiller turned to answer it, and Lex vaguely heard a familiar female voice coming from the phone.

"Hello? Miss Selina?"

Selina, quite helplessly rubbing her forehead on the other side of the phone, spoke as politely as possible, "I'm very sorry, Professor. It's just that Bruce and I might have to alter our planned arrival time. Yes, something unexpected happened."

"No, it's nothing major, it's just... I don't know how to explain it, because it sounds like a phony excuse."

"Okay, please don't be angry. I can't believe it either. Your good student, Bruce Wayne, just got sunburned."

"Or rather, not just. It was when we left around midday. No, he wasn't exposed to the sun, we wanted to drag him to the pier to see the sea, but he flatly refused to go, so he didn't get sunburned."

"If I have to say, it was when we went to get the car and were informed that the entrance to the underground parking lot in the market was temporarily closed. We had to go to another, further entrance in another building next to the market."

"There was no connecting passage between the two buildings, so we had to go outside. But the distance between them was very short, probably around 50 meters, minus the shadowy parts on either side of the building, the total sunlit part was probably... 20 meters?"

"I don't know, but that was the only time he was exposed to sunlight. I don't understand - in just those few seconds, how did he manage to sunburn the back of his neck?"

"It's not too severe, just a bit red, but for safety reasons, it's best to apply some ointment. I'm currently applying it to him, but the sunburn ointment smells and is quite sticky. We can't put a shirt on until it dries properly, otherwise it will ruin the shirt."

"Yes, thank you so much for your understanding. I'll relay your message. We'd like to push back our arrival time by about half an hour. Okay, that's all then. Thank you, Professor."

Taking advantage of Shiller's distraction with the phone call, Pamela and Lex had already passed through the dining room at the back, and arrived at the porch leading to the garden.