Tim spent the entire afternoon playing games with Silo. By the time he left, Silo watched with satisfaction as his game ranking climbed to the number he wanted.
But the games hadn't really made Silo forget his goal. He'd been slightly delayed over the past couple of days, but that didn't mean he would give up or shift his focus.
Gotham was always bolder than other cities. In Gotham's black market, things that were never seen in the open would always circulate. That was Silo's experience.
However, the Kryptonite content in this world—or rather, the Kryptonite still in circulation—was surprisingly scarce. It wasn't even just Kryptonite; whenever a green gem appeared, a dragon would emerge from the shadows and secretly stuff it into its hoard before anyone else could.
This had led even major super-villains and super-criminals like Black Mask to have to research synthetic Kryptonite just to get by.
Kryptonite was a fragment of Krypton, and Krypton was a planet that had once sustained Kryptonian life. There was no way only this tiny amount of debris should have been left behind, right? Or had Krypton burned up entirely from friction with the atmosphere when it fell to Earth as meteors?
So fragile, Krypton.
Oh wait, since it had already been destroyed, then yes, it really was quite fragile.
Silo let out a deep sigh, thoroughly disappointed in this universe's Krypton.
"If I'd known it would be like this, I should have stuffed more into my suitcase when I came over." Silo pulled up his hood and muttered to himself.
Back in his hometown, Kryptonite was as ubiquitous as air—so common that no one ever doubted it would run out.
As I said, Krypton was a planet. It was truly massive, enough for a Kryptonian to keep eating until Earth itself was destroyed.
So from birth until now, Silo had never really been this short on Kryptonite… well, not entirely true.
A long time ago, Lex had experimented on him specifically to test what would happen to a Kryptonian without Kryptonite exposure.
Lex never showed him the detailed records, but as the test subject, Silo had a decent understanding of his own body.
Kryptonite was the key that unlocked his power. At the start of the test, it was very uncomfortable—his whole body felt weak and limp, as if he'd have to relearn how to walk.
But whether it was his personal genetics or some other issue—Silo believed it was because he carried half-human genes—once he'd completely depleted the residual Kryptonite in his body, after a bit of adjustment, he found he could actually tolerate the state without it.
Without Kryptonite, he was still a half-Kryptonian with a sharp mind, slightly stronger than average, slightly better senses, and capable of punching through a wall with one blow.
Lex didn't believe superpowers were everything. Even without them, he still had a brilliant mind and skillful hands for research. The high-tech gear he crafted by hand allowed him, as a human, to hold his own against Kryptonians. Aside from his questionable aesthetic sense—his armor was a bit ugly—there were no flaws.
That was precisely why Silo knew what it was like to completely lose his abilities. This outcome wasn't some unknown variable to him. That was also why Silo didn't seem anxious.
It was like having an unlimited bank card but running out of cash on hand. You'd feel a bit anxious about not having cash for the bus, but you could still take your time finding an ATM to withdraw money, and in a pinch, you could even use your face to find someone to rob for some cash.
Speaking of which, Silo felt a bit frustrated. He floated in mid-air, pouting unhappily.
Lex was the one who claimed he didn't care about superpowers, yet he was also the one obsessively researching magic.
Adults were like that—saying one thing and doing another. It was really annoying. Unfortunately, all the adults back home were like that, which made Silo's tantrums seem especially unreasonable.
He'd once complained to Lois about it, and Lois, who usually liked him, didn't take his side either. That powerful, wicked Amazon just stroked his cheek with her slender, beautiful hand and whispered with a low laugh in his ear: "Your father is doing something great. Don't disturb him, little boy."
Those Amazonian blue eyes, hidden beneath an ambiguous cruelty, held an expectation and probing that Silo couldn't understand.
So yeah, he really couldn't figure out the games adults played.
Just like he still couldn't sort out the love triangle between Ultiman, Superwoman, and Nightwing, nor understand whether Lex, who had somehow wormed his way into the mix, was Ultiman's deep-closeted secret or genuinely having an affair with Lois.
As for why not having an affair with Nightwing? Well… he didn't want to end up a generation below Richard for now? Richard would definitely mock him for that.
The complicated relationships back home held Silo's thoughts hostage for a few seconds. He shook off the images his mind had conjured and returned to his current plan.
In this world, he had no direct means of collecting Kryptonite, so he tried threatening some people to gather it for him.
But even after threatening Black Mask, this group still proved useless. If Silo hadn't casually attached them to Black Mask's roster, making their Kryptonite search look like it was on Black Mask's orders, Batman would have already strung them up and killed them by now.
Human thinking follows inertia, but Silo excelled at breaking that inertia.
Since a week of collecting had yielded no Kryptonite, putting out word that he was "selling Kryptonite" would surely attract those with a need for it.
Silo was genuinely curious—besides Superman, who else would be collecting Kryptonian remains?
People with a need for "something" always know where to acquire it better than others, and they're bound to already have the same item in their possession.
Yes, Silo was fishing. And he hooked a big fish in just one night.
Using an informant's identity, Silo spread word on the black market that he had a top-quality emerald in his possession.
Before long, an anonymous user expressed interest.
Silo stated he wouldn't do in-person deals—a deposit first, he'd ship the item, and the balance would be paid upon confirmed receipt.
The other side haggled a bit, but Silo sensed something was off.
This was a villain's instinct and intuition—most robbers can tell at a glance whether their target has money.
Even though the other party played their part convincingly, with detailed slang and verbal tics, Silo's gut told him that fish on the other end absolutely wasn't short on cash and could be squeezed for more.
So Silo did squeeze for more. He put on an air of take-it-or-leave-it arrogance, holding firm at a price above market value. Sure enough, the other side probed with a few more questions, went back and forth a bit, then dutifully wired the money.
Silo cheerfully scouted the location, planning to follow the customer home—when he'd sent out the message, he'd subtly steered the information toward Kryptonite, fully committing to the persona of a greedy, petty Black Gang fool who didn't understand Kryptonite but had stumbled upon some and decided to flip it for profit.
He was still a few kilometers from the requested address, but with Super Hearing and Super Vision, that distance was more than enough for him to observe and tail.
Silo stopped. Gotham seemed to have plenty of surveillance cameras, but given how trigger-happy the locals were, cameras never lasted long—either stripped and sold for scrap or destroyed in gang fights. Silo picked a clean spot with no cameras and sat down, waiting for the fish he'd been staking out for two days to take the bait.
—Someone was coming.
Silo instinctively quieted, watching an ordinary-faced, burly man walk to their designated meeting spot.
The man scanned his surroundings warily, confirmed no surveillance or hidden observers, then carefully inspected the package—to fish, you must first cast bait, and Silo had indeed stolen a green gemstone that looked remarkably like Kryptonite.
Green gemstones were far easier to find here than Kryptonite.
That green gemstone Silo had carefully selected via five-finger discount—at a glance, you couldn't tell it apart from Kryptonite. Even Silo himself, if he hadn't felt the absence of that attracting pull from the stone, might have doubted whether it was Kryptonite and tried taking a bite.
The brown-haired man narrowed his eyes, pulled a box from his coat, and placed the palm-sized green gem inside.
Silo paused, his blue eyes narrowing slightly as he unconsciously tilted his head. He couldn't see inside that box—it was lead-lined.
Lead is harmful to humans; no normal person would specifically use a lead box to store a gemstone. And anyone who knew lead could block Kryptonite radiation was necessarily someone familiar with Kryptonite.
He'd hooked a big fish. Silo's lips curved upward as he eagerly watched the stranger weave through the streets and disappear.
Silo didn't plan to follow immediately—from the man's subtle movements, Silo had already noted his wariness. Someone like that was highly sensitive to being watched or followed. Unless the man moved beyond his surveillance range, Silo wouldn't budge an inch.
"Real cautious, huh." Silo muttered, buying himself a hot dog on the side. After one bite, Silo sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes nearly welling up.
He stared in shock at the spicy hot dog in his hand—he had no idea an ordinary Gotham hot dog could breach a Kryptonian's defenses and deliver a burn he could actually feel.
Was he already this weakened, or was this spicy hot dog some kind of Gotham specialty?
Silo set the hot dog aside with reverence. Meanwhile, the man he was watching had changed clothes and altered his appearance—simple adjustments that completely transformed him, making him nearly unrecognizable.
One hour later.
Silo, who was already eager to start sneaking into the base, suddenly froze mid-expression, his wicked grin faltering. Those blue eyes, once brimming with anticipation, locked onto a single direction and refused to move.
—That "big fish," the one with money to burn, the one with nerves of steel, the one who had nearly given Silo the slip, had just waltzed right into Wayne Manor, plain as day, right under Silo's nose.
Silo: "…"
Silo: "…?"