Days as a Spiritual Mentor in American Comics

Metropolis's mornings are much warmer than those of Gotham. Even though it's already autumn, the weather isn't too cold. Clark feels incredibly relaxed flying in the morning breeze. These past few days, his mood has shifted from tense and anxious to pleasant. Cobblepot's presence has brought significant improvements to his work as a reporter.

Everyone knows that a good reporter must have their own connections to get first-hand news. At the newspaper, Clark wasn't valued much, always assigned to cover trivial news because he didn't want to ingratiate himself with influential figures.

But the Penguin Man, Cobblepot, is different. Clark feels a sense of duty to get close to him. It's because Clark was away on business recently and didn't look after Batman properly, leading Batman to make irrational decisions in his grief over lost loved ones. Clark sees this as his fault, so he feels responsible.

Superman never intended to reason with this evil superhero. He thought if Cobblepot tried to create trouble, he would definitely catch him and send him to prison to teach him a lesson.

But to his surprise, Penguin Man Cobblepot isn't as brutal and terrifying as he had heard.

Cobblepot does look somewhat fierce, with a plump figure, an eagle hook nose, a sly smile, and a limp that doesn't make for a very good impression.

Yet, ironically, Clark had been taught since childhood not to judge a book by its cover and to base judgment on actions rather than hearsay. The fact that Clark didn't act against Cobblepot right away meant he would inevitably be swayed by him.

Penguin Man has a considerable charismatic personality, or else he wouldn't have stood out among Gotham's many villains, maintaining a high rate of appearances.

Moreover, he's a very traditional villain, even somewhat unoriginal, yet still beloved by many fans. Apart from his classic appeal, his skills are indeed very strong, capable of causing Batman higher-level trouble.

In most comics featuring Penguin Man, he's not a low-level criminal but always in the center of power, standing firm like a rock in the river, speaking for the crimes of high society.

This means he has a strong ability to socialize. No matter his origin or backstory, he has climbed up from the bottom with his unsightly appearance and mixed well into high society circles, proving his adeptness at dealing with people.

Not to mention the rather naive Superman, even Batman with his many scheming ways sometimes has to keep up appearances with Cobblepot and cannot easily move against him.

And Cobblepot's social trump card is quite simple. He's well aware that disguises will inevitably be exposed, especially in front of superheroes with special abilities like Batman or Superman; deception is the poorest tactic.

So, he doesn't disguise his greed and callousness, only emphasizing and magnifying the parts of his character that can be accepted by them.

He knows kind people are always forgiving and that if one has enough merits, they can also tolerate his faults.

For instance, when dealing with Superman, Penguin Man never hides his ambition for power. He even asked Superman to help him eavesdrop on information. Although Superman didn't agree, Superman also did not harshly reprimand him.

Superman is kind but not foolish. He is a fully capable adult, not a three-year-old child. He is well aware that the purpose of becoming a politician is to vie for power; if one has no desire for power, then why be a legislator?

It's perfectly normal for Penguin Man to want to compete for political power, even if it's the presidency—that ambition alone is not enough for Superman to reproach him.

Superman cares about the means used to achieve ambition. You can have the greatest ambition, but as long as your methods are legal and don't harm ordinary people, he won't always strike with heavy fists.

Penguin Man grasped this point, swiftly proving through his actions to Superman that his rise to power would not harm ordinary people and would even bring some benefits to the general public.

For instance, the issue of registering criminals, Penguin Man had considered it very thoroughly. He supports the registration bill but proposed in the legislative assembly to only publish information of repeat offenders. This conservative and neutral stance earned Superman's favor.

Of course, this was just enough to prevent Superman from being overly critical and to view him with fresh and fair eyes. That, however, was far from sufficient for Penguin Man.

Next, Penguin Man began to earn Superman's favor not by doing good deeds, but by helping Superman do good deeds.

After becoming a legislator, he naturally had his own information channels, and it was not difficult to discover Clark's true identity.

Interestingly, Superman is not a masked hero. The glasses don't hide much when he's a reporter, yet few people can remember his face, which Penguin Man suspects might be one of Superman's superpowers.

Penguin Man discovered his real identity because he had some close contact with Superman recently. It seems Superman doesn't always use this superpower to conceal his identity, which allowed Penguin Man to find an opening.

When he discovered that the other party was a reporter, Penguin Man knew the opportunity had come. As a politician, dealing with reporters is a basic skill, and manipulating public opinion and media is routine.

Using his information advantage, Penguin Man provided Superman with several internal tips related to people's livelihoods, such as forced evictions by large corporations, municipal projects taking over public green spaces, scandals of unscrupulous politicians, and so on.

Yes, these are unfavorable news for his political rivals, but they are indeed deeds done by them, harming ordinary people. Even if Superman knew that Penguin Man was using him as a tool, he had to take on this task.

Moreover, he could use his reporter identity to expose these scandals while, as a superhero, strike directly at the source. A man of letters secures the world with his pen, a man of arms stabilizes the cosmos with his might—Metropolis has yet to see his equal in either respect.

The greatest impact of the two's collaboration was reigniting Clark's passion for journalism, rather than just using it as a cover for his identity as Superman.

He realized that people not only need fair trial outcomes but also value the process of achieving those results.

Ordinary people may need to be saved by others, but sometimes they just need a little help to save themselves, and they are even more willing to do most of the work themselves.

To some extent, Superman is much humbler than the Pale Knight and Batman. He doesn't have a severe savior complex; although he helps wherever he can, he often harbors a mentality of "it's not necessary for me to complete the task, but I must be part of its success."

Although in reality, he is the savior capable of saving everything, perhaps this is what is meant by "a true master always keeps the heart of an apprentice."

After rediscovering the joy of his work as a journalist, Clark started to become dissatisfied with just reporting the dark news provided by the Penguin Man, and began to proactively expose scandals.

He then realized he could do much more than the average journalist. He doesn't need rest, a little sun exposure allows him to work all night. He isn't afraid of assassination attempts, neither gunshots nor car bombs affect him.

Politically, Penguin Man acts as his umbrella, warning him when someone tries to frame him. Economically, although he doesn't get along with Lex Luther, his relations with Luther Group's old rival, Wayne Enterprises, are quite good – Lucius Fox would help him resolve economic disputes.

In just a month's time, the name Clark Kent had become widely known.

People called him the rising star of the East Coast journalism world and said that he could compete for the Pulitzer Prize within five years.

Clark actually had this intention. He thought that last time Batman was framed and imprisoned, it was because nobody defended him.

If he became a well-known journalist, then when Batman encountered trouble next time, he could stand up and clarify things for him. Surely, many people would believe him, making it easier to resolve the issues.

These days, Clark was busy with his journalism work and no longer resisted the previously disliked work of networking and socializing. What's wrong with drinking anyway? Let the Earthlings step aside for a moment, and witness the alcohol metabolism speed powered by nuclear fusion.

That evening, the mayor's chief assistant, Ms. Bo Pei, invited the editor-in-chief of The Daily Planet for drinks, bringing along the currently famous Clark. The mayor's assistant seemed quite interested in Clark, and the two had a good chat.

In a roundabout way, Clark inquired about Luther Group's participation in city government contracting projects. He had been following this lead for a long time, and it was nearing the closing stage.

As long as he could confirm the list of those accepting bribes within the government, he would be able to break another big news by the end of the year. Maybe it wouldn't take five years; he could compete for awards next year.

After several rounds of drinks and dishes, the mayor's assistant began to grumble and complain about her work. Clark saw his chance and signaled his editor-in-chief with a look, intending to sit next to the mayor's assistant and inquire carefully.

But just as he stood up, his phone suddenly rang. The piercing ringtone startled everyone awake.

Clark glanced at his phone, intending to ignore it, but when he saw the incoming call was from "Bruce Wayne," he immediately put aside his work and stepped into the restroom to answer the call.

"Clark, I've recently come across something I think you should see, are you available right now?" Bruce's voice came from the other end.

"I'm free, I'll come over right away. Are you at home?"

"No, I am at a base in the valley outside Gotham City. I'll send you the address, come over."

Clark said nothing more, made up an excuse, and left. He flew to the valley following the address, where he met not only Bruce but also a very grim-looking figure.

"This is Miss Maria," Bruce introduced, "the newly born Joker. I know you have many questions, but you must take a look at this first."

Bruce handed Clark a booklet. Clark looked at him puzzledly but still flipped through the booklet. The contents made him widen his eyes, and he involuntarily held the booklet a bit further away, saying with some disgust, "What is this? A compendium of human history's torture techniques?"

Bruce shook his head and said, "I guarantee you won't find this many tortures in history. This is a catalog for a recent small-scale auction."

"Auction catalog? What's being auctioned?"

"These traps and tortures," Bruce said, looking at Clark, "it involves a gambling game that may be very dark. Are you ready to face the truth?"

Clark should have realized something different about the Bruce in front of him, but all his attention was focused on the so-called dark gambling game. His recent successful cases of using public opinion to uphold justice, made him eager to know the truth.

"Of course," Clark replied, "I am confident I can face all darkness. I believe I can illuminate it."

"Then let's first listen to Miss Maria's personal experience."