The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman.

Chapter 4451 Dark Prelude (Thirty-Six)
Diana silently covered her forehead, unsure how to react. From what Clark said, it seemed the resurrected Amanda was planning to assassinate the president. But the assassin she hired, or the middleman who hired the assassin, was Schiller Rodriguez.

Barry seemed confused. He asked, "What, Amanda? What happened between her and Schiller?"

Clark's face darkened as he thought of the woman he had killed with his own hands. Even if his death was part of Batman's plan, Amanda's actions were far more sinful than that.

Amanda's actions reveal just how ruthless and audacious she is. She dares to persecute even someone like Superman with impunity, let alone ordinary people. Countless lives have been lost to her over the years; she is truly a scourge on humanity.

In fact, Clark felt that he could tolerate Luther more than Amanda. Because Luther only targeted him; call it paranoia or love turned to hate, but at least he didn't involve others.

Luthor knew his power would weaken without the Yellow Sun, so his plan was to send himself back to Krypton, where the Yellow Sun was absent, to weaken himself and prevent his escape. If it were Amanda, she would have simply blown up the Yellow Sun.

This is no exaggeration. While Luthor may not seem particularly intelligent, at least he's not anti-human. He deals with himself based on ensuring his own interests, demonstrating basic wisdom and rationality. Amanda, however, is different; she's a pure madwoman who doesn't consider the consequences. The fact that she dared to push herself to that point, completely unafraid of destroying herself and the Earth, speaks volumes.

Since the Grim Reaper's powers first appeared, they've been diligently causing trouble, but haven't accomplished anything significant. Clark is wary, but not to the point of being on high alert. However, the thought that he might have resurrected Amanda fills Clark with only one thought—Grim Reaper, you better not get caught by me, or you'll be in big trouble.

Previously, he couldn't accept killing, but ever since he killed Amanda, he's found it hard to accept that the dead can come back to life.

Noticing Clark's pale face, Diana quickly went over and patted him on the shoulder, even stroking his back like she was comforting a child, saying, "It's alright. The resurrected enemies are all defeated opponents. If we can defeat them once, we can defeat them a second time."

Clark knew perfectly well that Amanda wasn't difficult to deal with. But the thought of digging this rat out of the gutter and killing her again made him feel nauseous.

"But why would he think of going to Schiller?" Barry was completely puzzled. "Schiller seems like a very kind person, so why is everyone going to him?"

These words left Clark and Diana speechless. "Were we looking for him? He took advantage of our vulnerability!"

“Schiller was the president’s secretary,” Clark said. “And he had previously served as the head of the Sky Eye Association, making him Amanda’s successor. Although he accomplished nothing and made a complete mess of things during his tenure, Amanda died too young to know.”

“That’s true.” Diana couldn’t help but laugh and cry when she thought about it. Let’s put it this way: when Schiller is properly employed, he can’t do anything and even slacks off; but when he’s secretly causing trouble in private, he’s all-powerful and controls everything.

Take the Sky Eye Society for example. When Schiller was in office, he only did one thing: move the Capitol Building back. He did a terrible job of it, making things worse than anything else. Diana witnessed firsthand what it means to have the front lines in dire straits while the rear enjoys the spoils, what it means for an incompetent general to cause the downfall of an entire army, and what it means for every wrong move to lead to total defeat.

It's not easy to get things done, but it's even harder to get them done so badly. With so many members in the Justice League, he managed to offend them all and not befriend a single one; it's like he filled in all the blanks on a cloze test wrong. Having him as the head of the Eye of the Nation is truly a blessing for Congress.

Thinking of Schiller's "great achievements," Diana couldn't help but sneer. If Amanda really did it, then the biggest mistake she made was not formally hiring Schiller—handing him over would only cause you trouble.

And indeed, that's exactly what happened: the methods used couldn't generate public outcry, the bullets didn't cause any injury, and the sequence of events facilitated subsequent deduction. All that effort resulted in Clark being unharmed, while the killer was clearly identified.

Clark also discovered that if you give Schiller something he doesn't like to do, he won't refuse; he'll even do it very enthusiastically. First, create a seemingly flawless plan, and execute it perfectly. Everyone works up a sweat, but looking back, it's a miracle there were no results—in reality, they've all dug themselves a hole.

It's like asking someone to sculpt an ice sculpture in winter. They draw up designs, find raw materials, purchase various tools, and meticulously carve it, working tirelessly until summer. But there's no ice, no sculpture, and the melted ice randomly drowns three unfortunate allies.

Clark and Diana both felt that this was actually a skill in itself. In their careers, they had both encountered some difficult tasks that they couldn't refuse. Both of them were the type to grit their teeth and accept it, since they had superpowers, so they could just work overtime instead of sleeping.

But the more you back down, the more some people take advantage of you. Both of them had moments of great anger, but upon closer reflection, they realized that refusing to do anything would offend people, and there wasn't much else they could do.

So the two of them began to silently ponder how Schiller had messed up every single thing he didn't want to do.

As they pondered, they gradually figured out a pattern.

For example, many people take on tasks they don't want to do and then dawdle, procrastinating or rushing through them, but this is actually the worst approach.

Normally, if you take on work that others don't want to do, they owe you a favor. But if you have a bad attitude, or don't do the work well, slowing down the team's progress and angering your superiors, you'll be lucky if they don't yell at you, let alone owe them a favor.

If you don't do it properly, you'll waste your time, no one will appreciate your kindness, and you'll make yourself feel terrible—it's a complete loss.

So, is it enough to just work like an old ox and do your job well? Actually, no. Clark and Diana were both nuclear-powered donkeys, their millstones spinning at speeds almost comparable to neutron stars, yet they still got angry.

It's not that they can't do any work that comes their way later, but some people's attitudes are really infuriating. It's like they're taking advantage of your easygoing nature. Anyone treated like that would be filled with resentment, and it's incredibly draining on your mental health over time.

The right approach is like Schiller's: I not only need to be busy, but I also need to make sure everyone sees it. I dedicate myself to the task until my dying breath; I pour my heart and soul into it, striving for perfection; there is no aspect I don't think about, no aspect I don't miss. I practically share the glory and the shame with the work; as long as the work is there, I am there; if the work dies, I die.

The key to performing this effectively lies in creating a sense of conflict. If you're a clerical worker, don't just sit in front of the computer; run around the building. And when you're walking, make sure you look like you're in a real hurry. If someone asks you something on the street, casually complain a bit and confidently say, "I used to have a clerical job, but now my legs are so thin from running around."

If you do manual labor, you'll occasionally be deep in thought, or you'll pull people together to discuss things, or you'll be looking up a lot of information. When someone asks you, you'll say, "I did manual labor to save myself the trouble, but now I have to work hard both mentally and physically."

Only when the work method is not directly related to your job description can you demonstrate your dedication and hard work. Take Schiller, for example. When his primary identity was that of an action-oriented conman, he would stay at the Sky Eye Foundation base making phone calls; but after he became the president's secretary in the office, he began to personally assassinate the president.

Why are Congress and Amanda finding fault with him? This isn't his profession. He's been working in a non-professional field all day long, doing his best and leaving the rest to fate. He did everything he could, so if it didn't work out, he can only say it was fate.

Such effort can make those who escaped the job owe you an even greater debt of gratitude. Sure, they may not appreciate it, but if you have any conflicts with them later, you can stand on the moral high ground and say, "You all disliked doing this job, and I worked so hard for you, yet you treated me like this."

For an ordinary person, after a lot of work, they can simply choose not to produce anything. For example, they might give someone something else when they actually want it; or they might choose a more efficient, roundabout method when a better approach would be better. In the end, the final product might be irrelevant and poorly executed, and when asked, they would claim they had done their best.

Of course, even experts can make a few mistakes. For example, they might insist on borrowing someone from the department that is the boss's arch-rival when they could have finished the job themselves; or they might insist on scrutinizing every detail of the process when it's almost done, dragging everyone involved to work overtime.

Basically, after doing this twice, no one will give you difficult work anymore. Of course, this only applies to those who don't want a promotion or whose ambitions lie elsewhere. Take Schiller, for example. He wasn't working for the government; he had his own plans and rhythm, so he could naturally use this tactic to deal with Congress and Amanda, while secretly stirring up trouble on his own.

Of course, Schiller was more skilled; he could use the output of these ineffective, aimless efforts to achieve his own private goals.

For example, Congress asked him to move the Capitol Building, but he messed things up. The Capitol Building wasn't moved back, but the Justice League did unite closely, which was exactly what he wanted.

For example, Amanda hired him to assassinate the president, and he went through a lot of work, but the president was unharmed. Amanda, who wanted to hide in the shadows, had already been exposed by the Justice League.

Clark realized that this was probably one of Schiller's goals. Amanda had likely already returned, but had been hiding in the shadows, plotting her scheme without Schiller's knowledge.

But after this assassination, various flaws and loopholes led him to think of Amanda. Combined with the fact that the Grim Reaper's power can resurrect people, it was easy to deduce that the Grim Reaper had changed his strategy and started resurrecting their enemies, and that Amanda might have already been resurrected.

Clark even suspected that Amanda might not have originally intended to assassinate him, but that Schiller had cast a tempting bait to lure him in.

Diana had clearly thought of this as well. She looked at Clark and found that Clark was looking at her as well. Diana stated her speculation: "Schiller must have put his own stuff in the stolen documents from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, giving Amanda the confidence to kill you."

“Kryptonite,” Clark said, getting to the heart of the matter. “It must contain information on how to obtain large quantities of Kryptonite, and the ‘correct’ way to use it to kill Kryptonians. That’s why Amanda had this idea.”

"Without a doubt, it was Schiller who made it up. He knew you were immune, so he set up this whole scheme. The purpose was to force Amanda to take action and remind us that she's back."

　I'm a little late today because I went to visit relatives in another city.

　　(End of this chapter)