Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 522 The Coward's Choice
Shen Hai took a deep breath and asked, "I know you're a good person, can you help me?"

To be honest, hearing these words from the deep sea always gave Clark a strong sense of absurdity.

He has encountered criminals and villains who have asked him for help, but most of them are just desperate and unlucky people. Real villains don't ask Superman for help—because their requests are usually not good, and he can't possibly grant them.

Deep Sea is clearly not a desperate, unlucky guy; he could be considered a pervert or rapist.

"You need my help?" Clark replied, "Excuse my bluntness, but just a few days ago you were threatening Starlight, trying to sexually harass her in the workplace; and now you're asking me for help, saying you want to do something meaningful?"

"I'm so sorry, I'm really sorry," Shenhai said in a very soft tone. "I will never do such a thing again."

Clark slowly shook his head. He didn't really believe that Deepsea had truly repented; judging from the other party's appearance, he was merely afraid.

Otherwise, why didn't he apologize to those he had previously wronged?
Because those people don't have the ability to directly confront him like Starlight does.

Some people are very flexible; they have neither a backbone nor a brain, and they sway whichever way the wind blows.

Vought's heroes are hardly moral, and Deep Sea, who has always been at the bottom of the Seven, is unlikely to have any backbone or perseverance. But the saddest thing is that he has lost even his anger and passion. Nothing supports him to stand between heaven and earth; he is a person with almost no self.

Such a person cannot be judged by good or evil, because with just a little pressure, he can abandon some of his bottom line, and with even more pressure, he can abandon some of his principles—perhaps his heart is kind, but his actions have nothing to do with his heart.

He will do whatever kind of pressure he is under from the outside world.

But Clark was a really good guy, so he was genuinely going to listen.

“Well, that’s something new—why ask me instead of Homelander or Madeline?”

“They won’t help me. In their eyes, nothing is important if it doesn’t benefit Walter or themselves.”

"Then what do you want to do?"

"I want to save some dolphins."

Clark raised an eyebrow. Even without his super brain, he could figure it out—the deep sea has always been able to and enjoys communicating with aquatic creatures. This was his own superpower, and it naturally made him more intimate with aquatic life.

"Illegal hunting, illegal fishing?" Clark asked. "Or smuggling or trafficking endangered marine life?"

"No, none of those. At least, Walter didn't include any of those things on my task list. There were only some show-off tasks."

Deep Sea was a little uneasy: "It's about the Oceania, where dolphins are suffering from hunger and abuse, and they are very unhappy—I want to expose this, and I hope that people can see it."

"It turns out it was an issue related to animal protection."

Clark understood: "I remember you also have promotional ads and amusement park cooperation contracts for Oceania's fall activities?"

“I did, so when I went to Madeline, she didn’t agree to my proposal.”

At this point, Deep Sea earnestly pleaded with Clark: "In the so-called marine paradise, the dolphins are only used as toys for tourists. They cannot escape, nor can they get enough food. They are confined to larger swimming pools."

"So you've come to me for help?" "Only you can help me, please, Clark."

"Am I the only one who can help you?"

Yes, only—

Shen Hai was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly couldn't finish.

Clark looked at him quietly, his blue eyes as deep as the sea, carrying an indescribable meaning.

"Is it really the only one who can help you?"

Deep Sea's lips moved; he wanted to speak, but couldn't utter a word for a moment.

“You habitually want to rely on something; it’s become a habit, hasn’t it?” Clark asked. “Why is that, Deep Sea? If this is really that important to you, why don’t you dare to do it yourself?”

"Is it fear of losing their place in the Seven Heroes, or do they feel inadequate from the bottom of their hearts?"

"If a position in the Seven is really that important to you, you might as well just give up that idea. As long as you're in Walter, you'll face similar choices again and again."

“Walt will only see us as stars, but you want to be a hero,” Clark said calmly. “I’m afraid there’s no such thing as having both, at least not forever. You have to make a choice.”

This was something no one had ever said to Deep Sea before, because just the day before yesterday, he had told his private psychologist that he was probably only included in the group of seven for the sake of diversity, and that he was actually the weakest one.

The doctor told him that he was one of Walter Seven, that he was a hero, and that he had no reason to feel inferior.

Clark laid bare the harsh reality in a few words: he was no hero; he was simply a star that Walter had chosen for diversity within the Seven.

Moreover, he has to choose between his current life in the spotlight, living in luxury cars and cars, and the things he wants to do.

At that moment, he suddenly felt a pang of self-loathing, because he was really thinking about his annual income and the adoration he received from fans under the spotlight, and he began to hesitate.

If it comes at the cost of these things, then I don't really care as much about the lives of those dolphins as I thought, right?
Thinking about these things, Shen Hai was in a state of turmoil, and he turned and left in a daze.

Meanwhile, Clark put away his phone and listened intently.

Ma Zhaodi's voice came from the direction of the studio apartment, extremely faint, only his extraordinary hearing could detect it: "I've never been a fan of organizations that promote extreme animal rights. Those 'people' like to value animals more than people—but abusing animals in aquariums is certainly inhumane."

"It's a pity there's no Daily Planet in this world, otherwise, if you wrote a report, they might be pressured to release the dolphins."

Clark smiled wryly. He had been in New York for so long and knew the city quite well. If any reporter dared to write this report, they would only be suppressed by the capital behind Oceania.

“Anyway, you don’t need to worry,” Ma Zhaodi replied. “It’s the internet age now, no one can keep information hidden forever. Ignoring that birdman in the deep sea, I will get these dolphins out.”

"Sometimes, you really have to fight fire with fire."

(End of this chapter)