Chapter 25: Cruelty Is Often Rewarded

"Officer Lane, what happened?" Peter looked out the car window and asked Officer Lane, who was maintaining order at the scene.

"Some guy robbed the bank single-handedly and injured the security guards." Lane put away his walkie-talkie. "This is the first time anyone has dared to rob a Luthor family bank."

"The Luthor family?" Peter turned his gaze toward the bank not far away. The words "Luthor Corp Investment Bank" caught his eye.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Jonathan remarked, "Lionel Luthor robs ordinary people of their money, and a robber robs Lionel Luthor of his money. The difference is that the former is legal, while the latter is illegal."

"Ahem..." Lane coughed, pretending not to hear. "That robber is no simple criminal. Security said he was like a monster. These are troubled times; we should all keep a low profile, wouldn't you agree, Peter?"

Seeing Lane turn the conversation toward him, Peter shook his head. "I have always been a low-profile person, Officer Lane."

"Uh-huh, perhaps. Have a pleasant afternoon, you two." After greeting them, he turned and walked away.

Once Lane was gone, Peter did not start the car. Instead, he stared with a grave expression at the bank, its glass doors shattered into pieces. Who the hell did this? The Luthor family bank was his "private reserve." He had originally planned to fleece the Metropolis gangs first, and then come to plunder the Luthors' bank once he was done—he hadn't expected someone to beat him to it.

"Peter, are you okay?" Seeing Peter staring at the bank without starting the car, Jonathan thought something might be wrong.

"I'm fine, just wondering who did it." As he spoke, Peter started the car and headed toward the mayor's office.

...

Metropolis, Lionel Luthor's office.

Lionel sat in his manager's chair, watching the surveillance footage from the Luthor Corp Investment Bank. In the video, a guy wearing a demon mask grabbed a security guard by the neck and flung him forward with brute force.

"Crash!" The guard’s body shattered the glass and slammed heavily onto the street.

"Bang!" A guard hiding in the corner of the counter fired a shot at the robber. To everyone's shock, the robber only stumbled back one step after being hit, then grabbed the armed guard and smashed him against the wall with a "thud." The guard, his back struck, slid down the wall, coughing up blood.

Seeing this, Lionel Luthor furrowed his brows.

...

"Creak!" Just as he was watching the footage, the door was suddenly pushed open. Young Lex Luthor walked in.

"Dad?" Seeing his son enter, Lionel Luthor immediately pressed the remote to turn off the surveillance video. "Lex, you should knock."

Lionel Luthor turned to face Lex. He had always felt a sense of guilt toward this son. Six years ago, he was driving two-year-old Lex to Smallville when Lex needed to use the bathroom. Because he was on a call at the time, he hadn't accompanied Lex into the cornfield. Then, a meteor shower descended from the sky, impacting the field. When he finally rushed in, he found his son unconscious. Later, examinations showed that although Lex was physically unharmed, the radiation had caused his hair to never grow back.

Lex did not know his father was thinking of the meteor shower that had left him bald. He gently closed the door and said, "Sorry, Dad. I'll remember next time. I want to talk to you about Valena."

Lex tightened his small face. "Dad, Valena is a very competent nanny. I don't understand why you fired her."

"Is that why you came in here?"

"Yes, I hope you will reconsider, Dad."

"You are still young, Lex. There are many things you don't understand."

Lex argued his case firmly. "I'm not ignorant, Dad. Valena is a diligent employee; she deserves to be rewarded, not punished. That is the natural order of things, isn't it? Didn't you teach me that?"

"Do you think I am wrong?"

"No, Dad, I just..." Lex’s voice wavered under his father's intimidating presence.

Lionel stood up, his piercing gaze fixed on him. "Let me tell you something, Lex. People view nature in a certain way, thinking it is harmonious and fair. But in reality, it is not. It leans more toward the side of evil; it is the cruel things that often get rewarded. Do you understand?"

Lex stared at Lionel Luthor in astonishment. It was as if he were seeing his father for the first time. He opened his mouth to say something, but ultimately walked out of the office in silence.

Watching his son’s lonely retreating figure, Lionel suddenly felt a pang of regret. He shouldn't have said those things to him. He was just about to apologize to Lex when his phone rang. With a frown, he picked it up.

...

"Sir, that marshland has already been purchased by someone else."

Hearing that the marshland he had been planning to acquire had been snatched away, Lionel Luthor's mood worsened. "I don't care how you do it, get me the ownership of that land!" Having learned that the marshland was unusual, he was naturally unwilling to let it be taken by others.

"Sir, we have found out who it is... it's Peter Padrik. He signed the contract with the mayor before we did."

Hearing Peter's name, Lionel froze. After a long silence, he said to the other end of the line, "Don't move against him for now."

"Peter Padrik." Repeating the name, his expression became complex.

...

Peter was on his way back to the farm, unaware that he was being targeted.

"Hum!" The sound of a lawnmower echoed. Azu was grumbling that his dad hadn't returned yet. He pushed the mower forward, cutting the weeds in the field. Since the pasture hadn't been cleared lately, the grass had grown quite wild. Taking on the responsibility of doing farm chores, Azu had volunteered to mow the lawn.

"Snap!" Something must have jammed the mower, causing the machine to stall. Confused, Azu bent down to inspect the problem. He stuck his finger into the gear rotation wheels, trying to pull out a steel rod that had become stuck.

"Boom!" With a slight tug, the rod came loose. The high-speed blades began to turn, instantly pulling his finger in. Startled, Azu jerked his hand back, pushing the mower forward in his panic. In his excitement, he accidentally threw the mower into the air.

Azu watched in astonishment as the mower flew into the sky like a baseball, then plummeted straight down.

By the barn, Clark, who was helping move some items, heard a strange sound from the sky. "Huh?" He looked up in confusion, only to see the lawnmower growing larger in his field of vision.

"Clang!"