“It was mentioned in the report,” the vice principal snapped his fingers. “Read!”
Finger opened the document. “Remarks: During the execution, a small-scale disturbance occurred, causing a few minor injuries and fires. The flames were quickly extinguished by the Cape Town Fire Department, with no spread. Chu Zihang received a demerit and had one month’s scholarship deducted.”
“See? Very strict! Our management of students is very strict, clearly stated!” The vice principal said with righteous indignation.
“Small-scale disturbance? It was the collapse of Cape Town’s baseball stadium, with tens of thousands of spectators! Hundreds of people were burned!” Andrew shouted. “This incident was broadcast by Cape Town TV to millions of viewers. The video footage has been submitted to the jury. How do you explain that?”
“Speaking of that incident… I happened to watch a special program on Cape Town TV yesterday, specifically about that accident.” The vice principal snapped his fingers again. “Play the video!”
The television program was projected onto the large screen, with the Cape Town TV logo in the top right corner. The reporter was interviewing an old Black man with an earnest expression, showing the scar from a burn on his arm.
“For the baseball stadium incident that has yet to receive a reasonable explanation, do you have anything you can recall?” the reporter asked.
“I saw the culprit!” The old Black man nodded firmly.
“Can you describe his appearance?”
“He was wearing a red and blue outfit, tight clothes, a cape—looked just like a madman. His eyes could shoot flames, and the clothes of the women he stared at were burned off!” The old man’s face was full of conviction, as if he had seen everything clearly.
The camera switched to a young man dressed in hip-hop style: “No doubt, he was American—square-faced.”
“Tight suit, muscular, a handsome man.” A shy young girl.
“I saw him lift a Hummer and throw it, not sure who he was fighting.” A security guard on the scene.
The camera returned to the reporter’s face: “After months of persistent investigation into the baseball stadium collapse, we were surprised to find that witness descriptions all pointed to a well-known figure…”
The frame froze. A poster of a famous alien occupied the entire screen—blue tight suit, red underwear worn on the outside, red cape, and that wavy lock of hair hanging over his forehead…
Andrew’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “You mean… Superman did it?”
The vice principal shrugged. “I didn’t say anything; Cape Town TV did.”
Andrew slammed his fists hard on the table. “Enough! I’ve tolerated you long enough! Don’t take me for a fool! If you’re going to lie to me, at least make up a credible reason!”
“We’re not lying to you,” the vice principal said, shaking his head helplessly. “I’m just showing you a TV program. The world is so wonderful, yet you’re so irritable.”
“What about the Stockholm incident? Chu Zihang hanged the criminal on the City Hall!”
“A serial killer, and a Death Servitor at that—hanging was fitting, a deserving end,” the vice principal said nonchalantly.
“But Chu Zihang was clearly on the verge of losing control during the mission! He exhibited dangerous, homicidal tendencies! It’s because of his lineage! This was erased from the report!” Andrew sneered. “How do you explain that?”
“Oh, regarding that matter, let’s see what the police recently found from a few witnesses.” The vice principal gestured.
The screen changed. “No doubt it was Spider-Man. Look at the way the person was hung up—that’s his style, I can recognize it,” said a freckled kid wearing a baseball cap backward.
“A figure quickly climbed up the City Hall—using both hands and feet, climbing straight up, shoo-shoo.” The witness spoke in perfect Mandarin, with subtitles indicating he was a Chinese tourist.
“I know you still want to ask about the Chicago Hancock Tower incident.” The vice principal clicked the remote.
“I saw him. He winked at me—he was handsome, sexy.” A drunk woman, sitting seductively but indecently with her legs spread on a barstool, squinted her eyes as if flirting with the cameraman. “He drove away in an Audi TT, no mistake—it was Iron Man, it was him, everyone knows that face. I think if he wasn’t in a hurry, he would’ve stayed to have a drink with me.”
“Both hands with Repulsor Rays, a Uni-Beam from his chest, just like this—he knocked down the walls of three floors in one blast! Believe me! He’s the strongest, because Iron Man keeps upgrading himself! Those genetically enhanced superheroes can’t compare—it was him, I saw it with my own eyes.” A café employee struck a pose, pretending to shoot beams from his hands. “And what happened after? Don’t listen to that stupid woman; of course he flew away! Do you understand Iron Man? He can fly! Why would he need to drive an Audi?”
The vice principal turned gracefully, spreading his arms slightly, smiling. “After watching this news, my dear colleagues, great scientists, wise theologians—can we believe that this was done by Superman, Iron Man, or Spider-Man?” The vice principal pounded the table. “Obviously not! Can public media be used as evidence? Public media is just a bunch of paparazzi! They’re willing to fabricate anything for news effect!” The vice principal seemed heartbroken. “Why would we distrust the Execution Bureau’s report and believe public media instead? As vice principal of Cassell College, for so many years, I’ve worked diligently, urging the Execution Bureau to be honest, to be truthful, and to strive to be good people. This aligns with our college’s century-old motto… Oh, sorry, we don’t have a motto.” The vice principal cleared his throat. “My friends! Always keep your eyes open—we never let a bad person go! And we don’t wrong a good person either!”
The entire investigation team looked as though they had been struck by lightning. They had anticipated a low level of shamelessness, but not this absolute lack of it! Clearly, they themselves were Cassell College’s most shameless paparazzi, yet they were condemning the world’s public media as paparazzi to discredit their evidence.
After a brief silence, led by Finger, all the representatives of the Lionheart Society stood up and applauded, followed by the professors in the audience, with Schneider leading them—all stood up and applauded. The only ones still seated were the Student Union representatives led by Caesar. The jury members exchanged glances, and the elderly scientists and theologians, who hadn’t left campus for many years, were unfamiliar with the developments outside. Some of them had read Superman or Spider-Man comics, and some were even fans of such comics. But clearly, these comic book heroes couldn’t possibly exist in the real world. By this reasoning, as the vice principal said, the news media had fallen into decline in recent decades and were entirely unreliable, making it difficult for the investigation team’s evidence to pass scrutiny.
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