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Chapter 433: Metropolis Doubts (Seventeen)

As it turned out, the troubles caused by the overnight blizzard were far greater than anyone had imagined. In one of the most important and grand buildings in all of Metropolis, a violent explosion occurred in a certain room, with flames shooting up to the sky. However, all the police cars and ambulances were unable to arrive on time because the snow had blocked the roads.

You might wonder about snowplows. Well, they were even farther away than the police cars and ambulances, and it took them two hours to shovel their way here.

Schiller walked along the corridor, seemingly unperturbed by the billowing smoke that had risen from below. He descended the spiral staircase to the floor with the meeting room, where he spotted the figure of Scarlet Witch stumbling and running towards him.

Lex, with a puzzled expression, followed Schiller's lead and opened a window at the corner of the hallway to take a few breaths of fresh air, violently coughing afterward.

When he straightened up, he noticed Schiller standing at the mouth of the staircase. Lex pointed down and said, "It's all Bruce Wayne's doing!"

Bruce emerged slowly from the cigarette fog, carrying a fire extinguisher and wearing a makeshift gas mask that Selena had brought earlier. He dropped the extinguisher on the ground and said, "This thing is expired. We need to think of another way."

Schiller slowly opened the umbrella he had in his hand, and both Lex and Bruce looked at him, not understanding what he was up to. But as he raised the umbrella overhead, the space beneath it was free of cigarette smoke, as if it were impenetrable by any harmful substance.

Schiller stood in the cigarette fog, holding the umbrella, and looked at Lex, then at Bruce. He asked, "Can one of you explain to me what's going on here?"

Lex started counting the patterns on the ceiling, while Bruce examined the text on the fire extinguisher. After a cough, Bruce spoke first, "I swear, I dismantled the helicopter's engine only to prove the perfection of my design, and it was his suggestion."

Lex looked at Bruce, pointing a finger at himself, and vehemently retorted, "You claim that the engine you modified is the best in the world, but that's just a big talk. The best aircraft engine will always be the one I invented!"

"But you have no evidence to support that claim, whereas I have a working prototype."

"I've already pointed out the flaws in your engine components. Your energy efficiency is abysmal. If it weren't for that old man Lionel earlier, I wouldn't have had a chance to establish my own laboratory. Otherwise, I'd show you what true genius invention means!"

"Your arrogance and conceit are contrary to the spirit of scientific exploration." Bruce's tone remained calm, but it was evident that he was eager to counter Lex.

It was the first time he had faced someone whose intelligence matched his own, at least in the field of invention and creation. And they were both not yet 20 years old. No matter how high their intellect was, it was hard to avoid a competitive spirit. Anyone who dared to venture into the realm of scientific research had absolute confidence in their own capabilities.

After an initial bout of mutual probing, they realized that their minds worked at similar speeds, and their intelligence was on par. They understood that they had encountered formidable opponents.

The ensuing discussions on theories were lengthy, and it was apparent that the scientific knowledge of the DC world would take a significant leap if not for their mutual distrust and recent acquaintance.

However, theoretical discussions could only showcase so much. They soon wanted to transition to the experimental phase, but the mayor's mansion was not their laboratory, and they lacked the necessary equipment.

During their conversation, they touched upon the small gadgets that Bruce had brought with him, which led to a discussion about the mode of transportation he used to arrive here, the helicopter.

As well-known, just like the Batmobile, all of Batman's vehicles appeared to be one thing on the outside but were heavily modified into something entirely different inside. The helicopter was no exception; it could transform into a rocket launch pad and assemble a rocket for space travel, which was not surprising for Batman's gadgets.

Speaking of the helicopter, they had to talk about Bruce's modified helicopter engine, which was the essence of any vehicle. Bruce was confident in his modifications, believing he had taken every aspect into consideration, creating the most perfect helicopter engine.

Lex, on the other hand, didn't believe it. During his two years without medication, he had learned most of the knowledge available to humanity. Like Bruce, any complex scientific technology that might be incomprehensible to ordinary people was as simple as eating and drinking to him. So, he snorted at Bruce's so-called perfect helicopter engine, thinking he could find its flaws easily.

Bruce was curious to see if Lex could indeed find any flaws. Thus, in the middle of the night, he climbed out of the manor's window, reaching the rooftop of the adjacent building, where he successfully brought the helicopter engine to the meeting room. And then, they started examining it carefully.

Regardless of anything else, anything Batman made was always highly secure.

However, this isn't a laboratory, and there aren't many specialized tools to pry open the engine's casing. Still, the debate between the two about the engine grew increasingly heated, and neither could convince the other. Only facts could settle the matter. Thus, Lex decided to use a directional explosion to access the internal wiring.

The explosion did succeed, and Lex did manage to identify the engine's flaw at that moment. However, the physical sparks caused by the explosion were much bigger than the sparks of their intellect.

Perhaps it was not that they lacked intelligence, but rather, they were somewhat unlucky. Normally, controlled explosions should be manageable, but something went wrong, and the helicopter's engine exploded.

Both of them realized something was amiss before the explosion and managed to take cover. Thankfully, they weren't injured, but the explosion shattered all the glass in the meeting room and started a fire.

Having listened to the entire account, Schiller touched his temple with his hand and checked his wristwatch. It was around 7 o'clock in the morning, and the winter daylight was still scarce, leaving the outside world in darkness.

Schiller sighed and closed the umbrella. He looked at Lex and Bruce, saying, "What are you waiting for? Let's put out the fire."

Lex and Bruce sighed in unison, knowing that expecting the police and fire department to arrive in this weather was unrealistic. They had to resort to the most primitive methods.

Bruce headed towards the corridor, saying, "I'll go to the nearest bathroom and fetch a water hose. You go downstairs and evacuate the people who are trying to escape to the backyard."

Muttering a few words under his breath, Lex glanced at Schiller beside him. Ultimately, he said nothing and turned to head downstairs.

As he approached the window, he looked outside and leaned against the balcony, murmuring, "Am I seeing things, or is something flying up in the sky?"

Lex narrowed his eyes, looking outside, then turned his head to Bruce, who hadn't left yet, and said, "I told you your so-called 'perfect' helicopter engine couldn't possibly be perfect. Your helicopter can't fly in this weather, but some helicopters can."

Bruce was in a hurry to put out the fire and paid no attention to Lex. However, as he went to the nearest bathroom, connected the water hose, and brought the other end to the meeting room to fight the fire, he caught a glimpse of a figure amidst the broken glass.

The person seemed to be holding a real firefighting hose and was spraying water outside, but he himself looked unsteady, leaning against the wall.

Aside from the initial shock of the powerful explosion, the fire inside the meeting room wasn't too extensive. Bruce advanced step by step with his homemade water hose and quickly created a path to fight the fire. He then reached the window, picked up the seemingly uninvited firefighting hose, and started extinguishing the flames.

The effectiveness of the real firefighting hose was much better than his homemade one, and soon the fire inside the room was mostly under control. Bruce approached the area where the figure was and dropped the water hose beside him. Then, he quickly walked over, taking off his gas mask and putting it on the person's face.

He stared at the figure and asked, "Who are you? What are you doing here? Why weren't you staying in the guest room?"

"I...," the person managed to utter a syllable but was interrupted by a series of coughs.

Bruce sized him up; he was a young man who appeared to be about the same age as Bruce, with black hair, and the color of his eyes obscured in the cigarette fog. He had a handsome face and a reasonably strong build.

Bruce furrowed his brow; he didn't remember inviting anyone like this to the event, but it seemed like he had brought the real firefighting hose.

Bruce turned his head again, focusing on the firefighting hose, and then noticed that it seemed to be reaching in from the outside.

He walked to the window, picked up the hose, and looked down. He saw an entire firetruck's water tank.

Even with Bruce's intelligence, he couldn't fathom how such a massive water tank ended up there.

He glanced at the water hose in his hand, then turned his head to the young man. Finally, he tossed the water hose aside and walked up to the person, asking him, "Did you bring the water tank here?"

"Uh, no, I believe it must be the fire department or something."

Bruce squinted; he asked, "Then why are you here? I don't remember inviting anyone like you to the event."

"I just came to help," the young man explained earnestly. "I'm a student at Metropolis University, and we just had a break. I was supposed to go home, but due to the blizzard, all transportation has been suspended."

"I happened to see smoke billowing from the house at school, and I knew there was a fire. So, I thought I could lend a hand."

"Coincidentally saw it?" Bruce repeated the phrase. Seeing that the young man's face was full of disbelief and he wanted to explain further, Lex entered grumblingly, saying, "Goodness, what are you doing inside? Is this tiny flame worth you..."

"Oh," Lex stopped at the doorway, looking at Bruce, and said, "You turned your helicopter engine into a person just to prove it's the most perfect in the world?"

"No, he says he came to help," Bruce turned back and started walking back?

But at that moment, he suddenly heard a "bang" from behind him. The peculiar young man had fallen to the ground.

No one attacked him, and there was nothing on the floor to trip him, yet he fell to the ground as if he'd been knocked over by an invisible force.

Lex looked at the fallen young man and remarked, "If he really is your helicopter engine turned person, then it's pretty rotten."

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