Nobody can stop me from drawing cards in Gotham!

Chapter 52 Clark: This is Part 1 of the Plan

"Disappeared?"

As Jaeger pondered the question in his mind, he quickly scanned the room with his eyes and, sure enough, did not see Clark, that conspicuously large man.

"...He couldn't have been eaten by the energy-devouring worms, could he? Do worms have that kind of hobby?" Jaeger retorted, while simultaneously dodging a beam of light with the help of the poisonous mist, and with a swift stroke of his sword, severing the head of the energy-devouring worm beside him.

Meanwhile, Tony, on the other side, also noticed Clark's sudden disappearance: "Where did that big guy go? Where is he?"

Fortunately, the voice of the poisonous fog rang out to Jaeger at that moment: "Found him—I spotted him with the fog I had distributed on the ship. He seems to have just run out of the room and is now running in the corridor."

"I don't think he's the type to run away," Jaeger said. "Clark must have suddenly noticed something... You keep an eye on him and report back."

"Understood." As the poisonous mist finished speaking, it also noticed an energy-devouring insect attempting to ambush Jaeger from behind.

The mist surged out instantly, helping Jaeger adjust his position. At the same time, the poisonous mist gathered into a tentacle-like thing and swung it out, instantly causing the energy-devouring insect to splatter blood.

"Clark Kent is still running... running... now he's left the corridor and onto the outer deck of this floor..."

The sound of the poisonous fog suddenly stopped at that moment.

"What's wrong?" Jaeger asked. "Did something happen to Clark?"

Upon hearing this, Poison Mist's previously very businesslike reporting tone suddenly turned strange: "It's not that he's had any problems..."

"?" Jaeger asked, puzzled. "What happened?"

"Uh, he..." Poison Mist said, "...suddenly went up into the sky, like he flew up."

"...???"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

One minute ago, in the hallway outside the room.

Clark is running.

Just as Tony Stark was pointing out the special individual, Clark noticed that it was already sunrise.

This was the moment he had been waiting for.

If it's a normal night, Clark, who can usually absorb enough energy during the day, can also use his superpowers.

But this time, it was the energy-devouring insects that ambushed him, allowing him to get through a long night without superpowers and without the help of sunbathing to recover.

Moreover, he had been fighting for hours with a body without superpowers against a bunch of annoying insects that seemed endless and constantly splitting. Even the best temper was getting irritated—when will this ever end, these energy-devouring insects!

Thankfully, we finally made it through.

The moment Clark stood on the deck, panting heavily from the sweat of killing the insects, he leaned on the railing and faced the rising sun over the distant sea.

The bright light refracted on the sea surface like countless shattered gold foils.

Upon witnessing this scene, Clark involuntarily closed his eyes, feeling his heavy body gradually becoming lighter and a familiar power surging back into his body.

The next second, he soared into the air at a speed too fast for the naked eye to perceive, heading straight for the sky!

He passed through the clouds, through the clear Hawaiian sky.

Finally, he broke through the blurry horizon and arrived in deep space, where he could look down at the blue planet behind him.

Clark gazed at the planet, then took a deep breath.

He would not allow the energy-devouring worms to destroy the cruise ship, the city, or even the planet... everything he was willing to protect.

As for how to deal with those insects, especially the troublesome special individuals...

A glint flashed in Clark's blue eyes, and then he abruptly changed direction, flying straight toward the other side, toward the source of his power—the Yellow Sun.

He had an idea.

Since those insects like to devour energy and seem quite interested in their own energy...

He could take advantage of that and attack these insects!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

At this very moment, on Jaeger's side...

"I think Clark must have his own plans."

As Jaeger explained to Tony what he had shown the poisonous fog, he speculated, "After all, his abilities have returned. And just as he said before, it was at dawn."

"Hmm." Tony hummed. "Well, it seems he does have some special qualities besides being a walking energy source."

"But I hope that big guy has actually come up with a way to break this deadlock." Tony cursed under his breath as he kicked away a few more energy-devouring insects. "This is never going to end...! I swear I don't want to see any insects for at least a month after I get back! I've had enough of these disgusting tentacles, pincers, and that damn splitting!"

"I agree." Jaeger was also exhausted at this point, so he simply let the poison mist fully materialize for one-click substitution. He took the opportunity to rest for a while and think about possible countermeasures against the energy-devouring insects.

After all, Jaeger's physical abilities were still those of an ordinary human, and [Landon Parrels] hadn't added any points to his physical abilities, so after wielding his lightsaber for several hours, he really couldn't hold on any longer.

—Although I genuinely thought it was really cool when I was wielding lightsabers, I regret it now, I really regret it.

As expected, showing off backfired... I should have gotten some easier weapons.

Just then, Jaeger, who was hiding inside the poisonous fog but still able to share vision and observe the outside world, suddenly noticed something.

The energy-devouring insects, which had been targeting him and Tony with a clear objective, suddenly seemed to be attracted by something, paused for a moment, and then frantically surged in a certain direction!

"Click click click...click click click..."

They opened their mouths one after another and spat out beams of light, shooting them at the fragile ceiling!

"What are these bugs doing all of a sudden?!"

Tony watched in surprise as the energy-devouring worms suddenly acted as if they were all having a collective breakdown.

"...I don't know," Jaeger answered cautiously, while deliberately trying to block a group of energy-devouring insects.

The insects ignored him, bypassing Yeager and quickly crawling forward.

Suddenly ignored by the energy-devouring insects, Jaeger and Tony were speechless.

They exchanged a glance, both their eyes filled with doubt.

"If I remember correctly, this is the top deck of the cruise ship..." Jaeger pondered. "Even if they break through the ceiling, it's just air. So why are they suddenly attacking the ceiling like this?"

"Unless..." Jaeger suddenly paused, frantically calling out to Poison Mist in his mind, "Poison Mist, is there still any mist you've distributed on the ship? Look directly above our room and see if anything has attracted the attention of the Energy-Eating Insects."

"Understood!" The poisonous fog immediately complied.

He also synchronized the fog's visibility to Jaeger's side, allowing Jaeger to see what was happening outside.

But to Jaeger's surprise, he saw nothing.

The outside was empty; at least within the range of the toxic fog's synchronized vision, there was nothing there.

"That's strange," Jaeger muttered. "What's going on?"

"In any case, one thing is clear," Tony said calmly, "the only reason the energy-devouring worms are doing this is because of energy."

"After all, it's their instinct."

"So, if we could make a group of energy-devouring insects suddenly go mad, even ignoring other things that threaten their lives—"

Tony frowned: "It can only be some incredibly massive energy source."

"—So, what exactly did they sense?"