Chapter 531: Demigod
The Return to Civilization
In the suburbs of Metropolis, inside the lakeside villa.
Luke shed his clothes and stepped into the steaming bath. The warm mountain spring water immersed his body, and every cell seemed to relax, giving him an indescribable feeling of comfort.
His time on the isolated island was anything but pleasant.
The first few months were spent in meditative cultivation, with nothing else to do. For the later months, to accelerate his progress, he was forced to use the Thunder Refinement Method, which meant being struck by lightning every day.
The lightning grew stronger each time, nearly giving him a psychological trauma. In desperation, he could only soak in the sea, using the water to disperse the electrical force.
On the mountain, one day can equal a thousand years in the outside world.
He lost all sense of time while cultivating, and Luke himself didn't realize how long had passed.
"Ah, the outside world is so much better!"
Luke sighed contentedly, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep. In his daze, he heard a voice calling out,
"Hey, are you done soaking? It's been an hour."
Luke yawned. "Bring my clothes in."
The door opened. The girl marched in angrily, put down the clothes, and immediately turned to leave.
"Wait."
"What!"
Luke stepped out of the bath, naked, and pointed to his back.
"Help me scrub."
"Get lost!"
Linda's face flushed scarlet, and she darted out like a fleeing bird.
"Little girls are just little girls, no sense of fun."
Luke shook his head helplessly. Green light overflowed from his shoulder and extended outward, forming a solid energy arm. The arm picked up a loofah from the rack and began scrubbing his back.
The Half-God
After washing up, Luke was once again a handsome man with long, flowing hair. However, because he had spent so much time at sea, his skin had a bronze tan, making him look considerably more mature.
Linda complained indignantly,
"Kal was captured by that bastard Lex Luthor. We should be going to save him, but you're just soaking in the tub. What do you even think of him?"
"Relax, Clark will be fine."
Luke stretched his shoulders. He raised his hand, and a wine bottle on the table automatically flew into his grasp. Linda watched this with confusion. Recalling the events from earlier, she asked,
"You seem different than before. You can fly, and now you can move things remotely. Did you awaken a new superpower?"
"It's not a superpower. It's something else."
"What is it?"
Luke took a gulp of red wine, sighing as he spoke. "In Chinese terms, it's an Earth Immortal. In Western terms, it's a God."
"I've become a god now. No, wait!"
Luke shook his head, suddenly correcting himself. "Demigod, to be precise. I'm still a distance away from a True God."
Linda looked at him strangely. "Are you running a fever? There are no gods in the world."
"Gods are real. They're not gods in the colloquial sense, but a title earned when power reaches a certain state."
"God is a state of being, like this."
Luke snapped his fingers. A bolt of thunder struck from the clear sky, hitting the lake outside the villa. The water exploded, sending up massive splashes.
The girl's eyes widened. She was completely stunned.
"How... how did you do that?"
"The Divine Firmament Thunder Method recorded in the Celestial Master Strategy. Combine it with calling the wind and summoning the rain, and you get this effect."
"This is one of the results of my cultivation on the isolated island. The existence of divinity allows me to transcend the human form and become a god." He then changed his tone and teased,
"Beautiful Ms. Danvers, would you like to spend the night with a god? It would be very interesting."
"Get lost!"
The girl rolled her eyes. After months away, he was still the same—not one bit of change.
The Revelation and The Plan
Luke sipped his red wine, his gaze gradually becoming heated. After spending months alone on the isolated island—with the exception of the first month when two Atlantean girls kept him company—he had been a miserable bachelor. Seeing a beauty like Linda, his body was naturally protesting.
After draining the bottle, his body felt like it was burning.
"Do you remember what I told you before I left? I wanted to give you a gift. The gift is ready. Do you want to see it?"
At that, Linda suddenly spun around and glared at him.
"Luke Shaw, you are an absolute bastard."
Luke was speechless.
"Did you really think I didn't know what you were plotting? The Red Rose Villa. That's the surprise you prepared for me, isn't it?"
Luke rubbed his nose awkwardly, cursing internally about who had leaked the details of the villa.
The girl wouldn't let up.
"I almost forgot about it until you brought it up! You're unbelievable! Building a secret room to simulate a red sun environment, and giving it that tacky name, 'Red Rose'! What were you trying to do? What was your plan?"
"Nothing, I just wanted you to experience the life of an ordinary person for a while."
The girl squinted at him, clearly not believing such nonsense. Luke was incredibly awkward, but his thick skin allowed him to maintain his composed and confident appearance. However, the tent beneath his trousers gave away his pretense.
The atmosphere was subtly charged.
Luke subtly crossed his legs and began to change the subject.
"Tell me what's been happening outside. What happened in the months I was gone? How did Lex Luthor get Clark's genes? And the clones and the Reach—these are all critical. Only by understanding the whole picture can we save your cousin."
Linda didn't want to humor him, but the thought of the captive Kal forced her to recount the entire sequence of events.
As he listened, the smile vanished from Luke's face, replaced by extreme seriousness.
The matter was far more complicated than he thought. Lex Luthor's target wasn't just Superman; he had a much more "grandiose" plan.
"Things have gotten tricky."
"Where are Lois and Martha?"
Linda frowned slightly, not understanding why Luke brought up the two women. She could only answer instinctively, "They should be in Metropolis."
Luke immediately called Wang Hu, instructing him to arrange personnel to place Lois and Martha under strict protection, allowing no outsiders to know their location.
Linda asked, confused,
"Why do they need protection?"
Luke said gravely, "If I were Lex Luthor, I would use Clark to make a political statement. Superman's identity represents a lot of things."
"Are you saying he will use a clone to replace Kal?"
"Not just him, but also the U.S. President. Adam was captured; the man in the White House now is a genuine puppet."
Luke's eyes were intense, carrying a hint of killing intent. "True to form, Lex Luthor immediately grasped the key issue. Superman and the President—two cards are in his hands. Very good."
"I want to see what he plans to do next."
Linda asked strangely, "How do you know the President was captured? You haven't been in contact."
"That's a secret. I can't tell you."
The girl pouted. Though curious, she just showed disdain on her face.
Just then, the phone rang. It was Lois.
Luke answered, simply said, "Ten minutes, we'll meet and talk," and then hung up.
"Let's go. It's time to act."
"If we drag this out, there really could be major trouble."
Luke changed his clothes and returned to Metropolis with Linda.
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