In a fit of anger, Hal turned around to fly away, but Carol quickly held him back and asked, "What are you going to do?"
"Aren’t they not letting move it? Then I’ll move it back for them!"
"Wait a minute." Carol pulled him back and said, "The people who sent the agents are the opposition party. If you move the Capitol Building back to tropolis, they can call for a re-vote, isn’t that exactly what they wanted? They might even secretly cheer, thinking their threat plan worked..."
Hal cald down a bit, realizing she was right. These people ca to his girlfriend because he ruined their plans. If he now returns things to the original state, isn’t that exactly what they want?
Not only moving the Capitol Building back to tropolis, but moving it anywhere would make the opposition party happy. You could say any action that causes a disruption in the voting results benefits them. So whether it’s moving the Capitol Building again or stirring up any big trouble, it will be like helping his enemies.
But if he does nothing, on one hand, he can’t swallow his anger; on the other hand, is the ruling party not his enemy too?
Co to think of it, the people who ca to ask him to move the Capitol Building are the ruling party. Because they don’t want a re-vote, hoping things would quickly get back on track, they asked him to move the Capitol Building.
But these people also didn’t keep their promises. They said they would let him return to his position and waive compensation, but his company never received any notice. They are also a bunch of liars!
So now, if he causes trouble, the opposition party is happy; if he doesn’t, the ruling party is happy. No matter what he does, one of his enemies is going to be happy.
This really infuriated Hal. Carol dragged him back to the apartnt, and Hal threw out the agents he had taken down as they tidied up and talked.
"Sorry, darling, I didn’t expect this to get you involved." Hal sighed, "Luckily you’re okay."
"I was really scared," Carol said, "these people ca in with guns pointed at my head, saying it was no use suing them, they were so arrogant."
Putting the sofa back in place, Hal got angrier the more he thought about it, simply grabbed a pillow, and sat down on the sofa, staring blankly.
Carol went to the kitchen, poured two glasses of ice wine, handed one to Hal, sat down herself, and said, "I know you want to vent your anger, to show them a lesson. But, the people with the voice are them. It was them who asked you to do sothing, and after you did it, they define you as a terrorist to hunt down. Your strength alone is too little."
"I haven’t had my superpower for long," Hal said, "One day, I was suddenly teleported to the coast, a big red-skinned guy gave a ring, and suddenly I could fly. I was also teleported to a wonderful planet, training with all kinds of strange creatures..."
Carol sat next to him, hugged him, and said, "I know, you’ve gone through a lot lately. First, there was an accident, and then this thing, you must be tired. I can temporarily move away for a while, they probably won’t find for now..."
"No, no." Hal said worriedly, "That’s not a solution. If they can find this place, they can find your other addresses. When will this end if you keep moving?"
"Do you rember when Superman gave a speech?" Carol asked again.
Hal looked at her, and Carol said, "The reason they dare to treat us like this is simply because our influence is not enough. Even though your superpower is strong, you’ve had it for too short a ti, they don’t know how strong you are, or what kind of value you have, so they dare to threaten you so lightly."
"But Superman is different, he’s been famous for a long ti and gets invitations from the governnt and military to give speeches. Within those forces, there must be a lot of people he can use, and many who admire him, his influence is big enough. Why don’t you go find him and seek his help?"
Hal paused in his actions. He thought about it, and then he realized Carol made sense. The problem they were facing was that they couldn’t take revenge against his enemies right now, because it would be making wedding clothes for others. However, he also wanted to protect himself, but unfortunately, the ti he’s had his superpower is too short, nobody takes him seriously, anyone dares to provoke him. Although defeating these people is not difficult, it’s annoying to have them co every day, and Carol is just an ordinary person, if sothing goes wrong she might get hurt, it’s too dangerous.
Since he can’t beco famous quickly, and needs to ensure those people don’t dare to provoke him, it’s better to directly seek out soone famous to join forces with, so those people beco wary.
Actually, many Aricans are familiar with this kind of thing. Arica is a very thorough human relations society, everyone must find their own "faction" which can be a school alumni association, an industry circle, a family connection, or even a community.
When you encounter troubles, having a strong faction background can help you get through difficult tis. Even the holess, especially those in warr states where they wouldn’t freeze to death, have their own factions, usually a system centered around drug dealers. A lot of drug dealers and gangs help so struggling holess people survive, to reap benefits in the long run.
Hal used to be a test pilot, and the factions within the aviation industry were intensely competitive. Between ground crew and pilots, between pilots and pilots, between pilots and test pilots, between test pilots and test pilots, there’s always probing and fighting, trying hard to kick others out. The last one standing isn’t necessarily the best technically; they’re definitely the best at political maneuvering.
Many of the ridiculous air crash incidents in Arica, are exactly because of this. Many people spend their energy on eliminating dissent, the most united mont is when the plane falls.
Hal managed to establish himself in this circle and beco the highest-paid test pilot. On one hand, he indeed had a strong psychological quality and had saved several accidents; on the other hand, because he had a good girlfriend, Carol, who was the heir to the sixth largest airline on the West Coast, generally no one would ss with him.
This accident was partly because he was too reckless, too confident in himself, thinking he could recover the plane from losing control like before, so he chose a more risky maneuver; it was also because many people had been dissatisfied with him for a long ti, and finally caught his weakness, joining forces to kick him out.
Carol did try to help him, but the trouble he caused was indeed too big this ti, and the opposition’s offensive was particularly fierce. It was impossible to fully shield him, so he had to leave his job first and think of ways to return afterward.
Hal did not go bankrupt because this was rely a temporary asure. Whether it was his girlfriend Carol or his father-in-law Ferris, they all hoped he could return to this industry; it’s just a matter of waiting for things to cool down before they could find a way to maneuver.
Hal agreed to the conditions set by those politicians, hoping to return to his post to avoid giving Carol too much pressure. After all, since he caused trouble, Carol might also have to face criticism from her dad. If he could get back by his skills, his girlfriend could relax a bit.
But now, returning to the post seems unlikely, so he needs to find a way to evade the chase from both parties, and hopefully, he can strike them back. Carol’s suggestion was essentially about finding another alliance.
Hal used to be a test pilot, among the highest-paid in the ranks, and had an even wealthier girlfriend, so all his connections revolved around these two identities.
But now he has beco a superpower user, and for a long ti in the future, he will operate under this identity, so he needs to find a superpower user alliance that can help him resolve the current trouble.
Aricans are quick to accept such identity shifts. Due to class segregation policies, you can only interact with people from your own class, and with any slight change, such as suddenly becoming a little richer or catching up with trends and earning more money, it’s very likely to completely abandon the previous circle and embrace a new one.
So Hal imdiately figured it out: the test pilot circle is no longer useful, he must find a superpower user circle. Carol’s proposal of Superman is indeed good—Superman seems both righteous and powerful. If he brings Carol along to seek him out, saying he’s being pursued, the other party should be willing to help him.
Once they make the connection, it will be easier afterward. Social interactions are about give-and-take, and with his own capability, he surely can assist Superman in the future, thereby securing his position in the circle.
The only tricky part is that both he and Carol are West Coast people, and to join Superman’s circle, they have to go to the East Coast. They will be unfamiliar there and may need so ti to adapt.
The two simultaneously stood up and started packing. Carol first hugged Hal, kissed his cheek, and said, "No worries, my mother left two houses in tropolis, that’s her family’s property. After we go there, we can live there first, and then I’ll persuade my dad to buy us a new one..."
"Oh, no, Carol, that’s really too..."
"Alright, I paid all your property taxes. Let’s not fuss over this, Mr. Superhero." Carol combed her hair back, took out her phone, and said, "Hello? Is there a route? To tropolis? No, no, no, can’t wait. Forget it, then just two first-class tickets."
Then while packing, she looked back at Hal and said: "Sorry, private plane routes need to wait for a while, we should hurry. I asked my assistant to book two first-class tickets..."
At this ti Hal walked up to hug Carol and then said, "Darling, first class is not as fast as ."
Like a "whoosh," he flew into the sky with Carol. Carol looked below sowhat surprised. If it were a regular person, they might be terrified at this point, but Carol was also a pilot and an astronaut, having worked on the International Space Station, so she was not afraid of it at all.
"Welco to Hal Jordan’s exclusive airline." Hal kissed Carol’s forehead and then said, "Let’s go."
Not long after, the two appeared above tropolis. Carol observed the terrain, took out her phone, searched for the location, pointed in a direction, and the two flew together.
As their figures streaked across the sky, Diana, who was just leaving the tropolitan Museum, looked up, sowhat puzzled at the direction they left, and then took out her phone to call Bruce, "Has Superman sent you a ssage? Has he returned?"
"Not yet, what’s the matter?"
"I just saw a man carrying a woman flying past, wasn’t it Clark and Lois? Is there another couple like them in tropolis?"
As she spoke, Bruce had already started accessing the monitor screen on the computer. Soon, the image of Hal Jordan and Carol Ferris flying together appeared on his computer screen.
With another operation on the computer, he pulled up their information, and seeing Carol followed by a string of airline titles, he muttered, "Just in the nick of ti. Diana, I’ll send you the information, they seem to have gotten into so trouble. You should represent us to visit them."
User Comments
0 comments from readers