Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 408 Xia Zuo: Let Superman Suffer a Big Loss

Xia Zuo pressed hard on his forehead with his hand, trying to smooth out the blue veins on his forehead as much as possible.

He angrily demanded, "Clark, what promises did you make to me back then?"

Superman stammered, unable to speak, and could only keep apologizing: "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I... I'm so useless—"

Several months ago, Superman was forced to kill General Zod. Out of guilt, he refused Shazor's request to dispose of Zod's body and instead decided to bury him himself in a place where no one could find him.

At that time, the Kryptonians had not yet become Shazor's people; they were enemies who had not yet surrendered, so Superman did not consider the Kryptonians' needs at all.

Although Shazor's strength has increased dramatically, he is still far from the true 16 combat power. He is not confident that he can defeat Superman, and he can also acquiesce to Superman disposing of Zod's body.

Although he knew that Superman was a very careless guy, allowing him to dispose of Zod's body would inevitably give Lex Luthor an opportunity to create the monster Doomsday.

But Xia Zuo still agreed.

Because Doomsday can be killed, but Superman needs a lesson, a profound lesson that is enough to kill him.

So Shazor allowed Superman to take Zod's body away.

Now the results are in: the secret place that Superman talked about, which no one knew about, has been stolen so beautifully.

The angrier ones now are not the scheming Xia Zuo, but General Zod's relatives and clansmen.

Kryptonians now possess super hearing and super vision. When Superman said, "General Zod's body is missing," the two leaders of the Kryptonians on Earth appeared.

Fiora's eyes were red, not from the impending heat rays, but from the grief of hearing that her husband's body was missing.

Her eyes were red as she looked at Superman and coldly questioned, "You were the one who insisted on burying Zod, but now you haven't even been able to preserve his body. Can you find it back?"

Apollo snorted coldly: "Just think about it. If he could find it himself, why would he need to come to Mr. Xia Zuo?"

""

What could Superman say when he made a mistake? He could only apologize repeatedly and try to explain, "I've searched the entire Earth, but... but I just can't find it—"

Xia Zuo stopped him from apologizing, saying, "There's no need to apologize, it's useless."

"If someone is determined to steal the body right under your nose, they must have made thorough preparations to ensure you can never find it again. For example, they might have built a large basement out of lead; how could you possibly find it then?"

"Given your personality, even if you find a suspect, you wouldn't barge in and forcibly conduct an inspection without evidence."

"Tell me all the suspicious coordinates, and I won't have many reservations. I can naturally force an inspection."

Superman's face turned as red as a monkey's bottom, but he stubbornly refused to say, "No, that's against the law."

Xia Zuo, this madman, was completely taken aback. He even forgot that he couldn't beat Superman and started cursing at him: "I!! #!! Are you out of your mind?"

"In this situation, you're talking to me about the law!"

"You're the one who made a mistake, you son of a bitch who can't handle things, you're the one who came all the way from Metropolis to Gotham City to beg me, not the other way around!"

"Why the hell do you think you're qualified to make conditions and impose restrictions on me when you're begging me?"

"Where do you get the nerve?"

Fuora was now furious. Pointing her finger at Superman, she yelled, "We don't need your help anymore! You're just making things worse! We'll handle it ourselves!"

"roll!!!"

Superman wanted to stop the Xia Zuo Group from breaking the law, but he was scolded so badly by Xia Zuo that he was too ashamed to speak and could only leave in frustration.

Before Superman took off, Shazo stopped him and solemnly warned, "Clark, since someone dared to make a move, his target is most likely you."

Superman completely ignored Xia Zuo's words, waving his hand and saying, "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Xia Zuo narrowed his eyes and asked, "Recently, there's been a lot more green kryptonite on Earth. I warned you before to collect as much of this stuff as possible to ensure it doesn't fall into other people's hands. Did you do that?"

Superman nodded: "I've collected most of them. Kryptonite is indeed a threat to me, severely weakening my strength and defense, even more so than the Kryptonian environment."

"I hid all the kryptonite I collected in a secret location where no one will find it."

Shazo held up one finger and asked, "Is it near the place where you buried General Zod's body?"

Superman was stunned: "————, let's be together."

Xia Zuo sneered, "Don't tell me that after you discovered General Zod's body was missing, you didn't check the whereabouts of the kryptonite."

Superman stared in disbelief for a full ten seconds before hurriedly flying away.

This time, he didn't even bother to conceal his trajectory and flew straight south.

Xia Zuo shook his head and laughed, "I knew you would hide in Antarctica. Unfortunately, others know that too. I really don't know where you got the confidence to think that place was secret enough."

Behind Shazor, Fiora and Apollo had already led the Kryptonian warriors into flight, their mission to search the entire United States for General Zod's body.

However, Shazor was not optimistic about their actions, and the Kryptonians' high-profile actions could only force Lex Luthor to make a decision ahead of time, launch a plan against Superman, and even create Doomsday ahead of schedule.

But that was exactly what Xia Zuo wanted, so he shrugged indifferently and went back to his room.

Now, his forest is very peaceful, and the annoying Gotham City Phantoms are all gone.

Poison Ivy helped Shazzo manage the vegetation in all of Gotham's parks, earning a large sum of money through her labor. She then used the money to buy an island in the Caribbean and is building a second plant paradise.

With a large number of workers employed by the Shazor Corporation, Gotham City's gangs lost their vitality, and the security situation improved significantly. Harley Quinn felt that this was no longer a fun city and didn't know where to go to have fun now.

Catwoman would never leave Gotham, but she found another place, built a new cat house, and didn't appear in the forest for a long time.

After all, Shazo's territory has no jewelry or artwork, nor does it have Bruce Wayne, whom Catwoman likes.

Xia Zuo was very happy with the undisturbed environment and continued his cultivation.

As Xia Zuo's power was fully converted into Qi, he felt more and more joy in cultivation, and the increase in strength brought additional pleasure, which was truly irresistible.

Xia Zuo estimates that in another three months, he will be able to surpass Superman and become a truly invincible being on Earth.

At that time, his biggest worry will no longer be survival, but how to adapt to outer space and become a super life form that roams the universe.

Xia Zuo shook his head and exclaimed, "Oh dear, humans are truly a species that can never be satisfied with its desires! This is truly—wonderful! Hahahaha!"

Just as Shazo had imagined, the Kryptonians and Superman failed to find General Zod's body, and questions about Superman began to surface online.

Of course, the main accusations were against Xia Zuo, who was accused of allowing Kryptonians to trespass into private collection rooms, company secret laboratories, and national secret laboratories, thus violating personal privacy and company and national secrets.

The accusations against Shazo sparked public outrage, and some local courts even tried Shazo and the Kryptonians in absentia, sentencing him to huge fines and more than 30 years in prison.

Then----

What then?

That's all!

Xia Zuo treated public opinion as a fart, and the Kryptonians didn't even know they were on trial. Courts in various places didn't dare to enter Gotham City to enforce the law because they would be arrested by the Gotham police.

Three months have passed, and Xia Zuo continues doing what he was doing, completely unaffected. The matter has simply cooled down, and everyone acts as if it never happened.

Then, the accusations against Superman for breaking the law grew louder and louder, gradually becoming a new trend in public opinion.

During this time, Superman became increasingly arrogant, no longer taking Shazor's words to heart, and frequently contacted Lois as Superman. Those who were interested naturally became certain of their relationship.

The carefree Lois is even more oblivious than Superman. She makes no attempt to hide her frequent visits to Clark's mother, Martha, thus dragging her into the mess as well.

Once Luthor had ascertained information about all of Superman's relatives, he launched his plan.

Louis accepted an invitation from Amaga, the warlord of Narome in Africa, and foolishly stepped into a trap, only to be caught in the crossfire of a ruthless attack by the CIA.

Just as Luthor predicted, Louise's encounter with danger attracted Superman, leading to a conflict with the CIA without his knowledge.

This department, which is most adept at spreading rumors, quickly stirred up a media storm targeting Superman.

Superman doesn't care about public opinion or his reputation, after all, to him, humans are no different from ants.

Unfortunately, Superman has a troublesome girlfriend.

Louise felt that it was her fault that Superman was now embroiled in a media storm, so she investigated desperately and successfully found a bullet as evidence to prove that Superman was not the one who killed people in Africa.

This woman foolishly used evidence as leverage to desperately persuade Superman to go to a hearing to prove that he did not commit murder.

Frustrated by his girlfriend, Clark returns to his hometown and seeks comfort from his mother, Martha.

Martha, of course, stood firmly by her son's side. She comforted Clark, saying, "Clark, my son, you owe nothing to anyone on Earth."

"Whatever you choose to do, whether you become a hero or an ordinary person, as long as you have a clear conscience, that's good enough."

If it had ended there, the subsequent tragedy would not have occurred.

Unfortunately, the naive Martha added, "My Clark is the very best of people. People just misunderstand you. If people really understood you, they wouldn't be afraid of you anymore."

Clark's mother Martha's words changed his mind.

He pondered the matter all night at the farm and finally decided to attend the hearing.

Clark decided to help humanity understand and believe in itself.

When Louise learned of Clark's decision, she jumped for joy and immediately published Superman's statement in the newspaper, making it the front-page headline.

The whole world was in an uproar.

This is the first-ever hearing involving extraterrestrials, and it will be a publicly conducted third-kind encounter.

Even the most reclusive Kryptonians cannot ignore such sensational news.

Fiora, holding a newspaper, found Shazo engrossed in his training and asked, "Mr. Shazo, does Karl's behavior threaten us? Should we do something?"

Xia Zuo looked at the newspaper and sneered, "Well, he didn't take my warnings to heart at all and actually went public with his relationship with his girlfriend. Clark is asking for it."

"Fora, this is a scheme by some bastard among humans targeting Clark. It's definitely very dangerous for him, but it will only benefit us and cause us no harm."

"By the way, how has the kryptonite I gave you before affected you?"

Fuora replied seriously, "For people of our race who have never been exposed to Earth's environment, Kryptonite is just an ordinary rock and has no effect whatsoever."

"However, those who come into contact with and adapt to the Earth's environment and are greatly enhanced will be harmed by Kryptonite. The greater the enhancement, the greater the damage they will suffer."

Fiora sighed, "Kryptonite affects me the most. Just contact with it causes discomfort throughout my body, and prolonged contact can even cause muscle spasms."

"Mr. Xia Zuo, I'm feeling very conflicted right now. I don't know whether or not we should let the children come into contact with the Earth's environment —"

Xia Zuo smiled and said, "Don't let a small mistake prevent you from eating."

"The law of survival in the universe is still the survival of the fittest. Strength is the foundation of everything. We cannot give up the huge boost to our strength just because Kryptonite is effective against enhanced Kryptonians."

"After all, the weakness of kryptonite is easy to solve."

Fiora was overjoyed: "Really? What should we do?"

Shazo took out a kryptonite from the lead box next to him, which instantly made Fiora feel very uncomfortable and caused her to show signs of weakness.

Xia Zuo said, "It's clear that the effects of kryptonite on you stem from radiation."

He casually picked up a lead block, kneaded it into a small box, put the kryptonite inside, and Fiora's discomfort immediately disappeared.

"This experiment proves that as long as radiation is blocked, one can be immune to the damage from kryptonite."

Shazo looked at Fiora: "The Kryptonian civilization once conquered vast star systems. They must have had better and simpler protective equipment against the ubiquitous high-energy radiation in the universe, right?"

Fiora bowed respectfully, "Mr. Shazo is right. Krypton has such equipment, and it can be made very small, such as bracelets, necklaces, and other accessories."

Xia Zuo nodded in satisfaction and said, "Then hurry up and make a batch of equipment for everyone, including a set of beautiful accessories to avoid accidental damage."

Fiora nodded and said, "Yes."

She hesitated for a moment, then asked, "What about Karl?"

Xia Zuo shook his head and said, "Ignore him."

"His arrogance now is not much different from when you first came to Earth. Let him suffer a great loss."

Fiora nodded again: "I understand."

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