Chapter 25: Dog Detective

　　Although he had a premonition, Superman, who was exposed as soon as he met him, still wanted to struggle: "I just happened to meet Superman a few times..."

　　Esta smiled: "Is it the kind you see in the mirror every day? Sorry, Mr. Kent, I don't mean to threaten you, but that guy used your name and identity to board the space station. If he gets into any accident..."

　　Ester didn't say all of her words, but the implication was that if Clark, a poor and powerless little man, was really put on the spot, even if he could escape jail time, Superman, his parents, and his future wife and children would probably have to work for the company to pay off the debt for the rest of their lives.

　　Thinking of the tragic scenario that he might have to rely on reselling Superman's red underwear to pay off his debts in the future, Clark was filled with grief and anger. In a rage, he had no choice but to accept the commission from the space station commander, Ester.

　　Rao, Batman will laugh at me for the rest of my life!

　　"I will try my best to find that mysterious man." He said helplessly, with the composure of a superhero. He was still too young and obviously lacked real understanding of the hidden talents in the space station.

　　"Great, Mr. Kent, you really are the superhero of the Earth," Estelle complimented.

　　"I upgraded your access card. This card is enough to open most of the rooms in the space station. If there are no clues found in these places, it will be bad."

　　Clark had a bad feeling: "Ms. Ester, won't you send someone to investigate with me?"

　　"What? You don't know?" Estelle looked at Alan in confusion. Alan coughed awkwardly:

　　"I'm sorry, Miss, because you said you wanted to keep it a secret for the time being..."

　　Esta slapped her head in annoyance: "This is my fault."

　　She turned her attention back to Clark: "Ahem, Mr. Kent, do you know the history of the space station?"

　　Superman used his magical brain to recall: "According to Wikipedia, this space station was built by Ms. Black Tower. Later, due to geopolitical reasons, Ms. Black Tower chose to close the space station."

　　Esta nodded in affirmation, but she was only affirming the second half: "You are wrong. This space station was built with the company's money to house the strange objects and followers collected by Ms. Black Tower. But it is true that for some reason, Ms. Black Tower closed the space station."

　　"Strange things?" Clark caught the key words.

　　"It is a general term for the collection of Madam Black Tower. Some of them have magical functions, and some come from civilizations whose technology has been lost. These are the collections that Madam Black Tower obtained when traveling in the universe. They have certain scientific research value."

　　Esta (player) briefly introduced the background setting and brought the topic back to the main topic:

　　"Now, after a long period of closure, Ms. Black Tower has agreed to reopen the space station, but the staff here have been closed for too long. They urgently need to know information from the outside world. Some people are eager to return to Earth, and some people still want to continue to follow Ms. Black Tower."

　　Alan continued, "So what the lady meant is that she wants to hold an open ceremony to celebrate the reconnection with Earth. The company sent these people here to serve as a buffer. The lady plans to decide whether to keep or leave the staff based on their attitude towards outsiders."

　　Clark thought for a while and soon understood what Estelle meant: "So at this critical moment, if we investigate the mysterious person who sneaked in, it will easily cause panic among the staff."

　　"Right, so that's why we need you, Mr. Superman. As a reporter for the Daily Planet, it's reasonable for you to appear anywhere in the space station. I want to try my best to give everyone a perfect celebration."

　　"I understand. I will complete the mission alone." Superman nodded, agreeing to this reason. However, as an outsider who was unfamiliar with the place, how could he tell whether the space station staff were genuine?

　　Alan suddenly thought of something when asked this question: "Wait, Miss, we have helpers."

　　"You mean..." Estelle's eyes lit up.

　　Superman and a white dog with a clerk tag on its chest looked at each other.

　　"Hello, Pepe?" He spoke slowly, hoping that no one would notice that he was talking to a dog. Rao, this world was getting crazy.

　　"Woof, woof!" Pepe wagged his tail happily. He was snow-white with two big pointed ears. His eyes, like black grapes, looked at the person in front of him with moist eyes. He was wearing a black puppy suit with a decorative small airplane stuck on it.

　　I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but Superman always feels like it’s greeting him.

　　Player: "What kind of work do you do?"

　　Superman decided to believe in his own illusion. After all, this is the gathering place of the most advanced technology on earth. It shouldn't be surprising that a dog can make others understand what he is saying:

　　"I'm Clark, and from now on, we're teammates."

　　Superman held out his hand, expecting Pepe to shake his hand.

　　"Woof!" Pepe called out and put his right front paw on Superman's hand. The corner of his mouth raised in a strange arc, which players considered to be three parts of ridicule, three parts of indifference, three parts of disdain and one part of zygomatic muscle disorder.

　　Player: "Yoshi!"

　　The system doesn't really understand what's wrong with the player: "You are ruining the reputation of a dog. You make me sick."

　　Players who are forced to experience the dog’s perspective: “You’re dead.”

　　Forced to accept an inexplicable mission, Superman, who teams up with a dog, chooses to start the investigation from the main control warehouse section.

　　"Come on, Pepe, smell if there is any unfamiliar smell here." Superman squatted down and said gently to a dog.

　　"Woof~" Pepe wagged his tail and started running wildly in the warehouse. As a young reporter who often goes out on field trips, this amount of exercise is no problem for Superman.

　　Soon, Pepe stopped.

　　"No, he's from the company." Superman said firmly.

　　Pepe stopped next to a salesman who was selling "Black Tower's IQ" for $5 each. There were quite a few rich people who came to buy them.

　　They gathered around a vending machine that was advertising a drink called "Cali White".

　　"Come back soon, Pepe."

　　Superman observed carefully and recognized that the salesman was the person in the same carriage with him. He also found that the people who came to buy were actually staff members of the space station. So he quickly called the dog back and chose to take a few steps back to show respect to these people.

　　"As expected of the company's salesperson..." Superman wiped the non-existent cold sweat from his forehead.

　　After eliminating a special smell, Superman scratched Pepe's little head. Fortunately, most of the physical skills were managed by AI, so the player did not do anything that would lead to social death.

　　Soon, after a short period of playing with the dog, Pepe started running again. This time he stopped in front of a couple. The man was expressing his love to the woman in a ostentatious way:

　　"Ah~ My dear, my love for you is like the stars in the sky, it will never go out~"

　　He even used an operatic singing voice, holding a space plant pulled out of the flower bed in his hand. The man was dressed in designer clothes, his golden hair was painted with mousse until it was shiny, and he sprayed extremely heavy perfume that made Superman and Pepe feel very uncomfortable.

　　The woman opposite cooperated by covering her mouth. Her beautiful skirt swayed in the air, revealing a pair of high heels that could be considered a torture to wear.

　　"Ah~ Although this is the first time we met, your confession deeply moved me. I agree with your confession. Let's be together, darling~" A sweet and beautiful voice echoed in the air.

　　The two of them screamed in terror.

　　Because the one who spoke was not a woman, but a space plant held in the man's hand.

　　Superman quickly called the defense department staff to take down the three guys. The man was fined $5,000 for destroying the flower bed without permission, while the space plants that were replanted kept shouting:

　　"No, don't abandon me. The three of us will definitely live a good life—"

　　The real person to whom the love was confessed covered his face and left.

　　Just like Superman watching a talk show, trying his best to hold his cheeks to prevent himself from laughing too obviously:

　　"Pfft, no, not this one. Look for it again, Pepe."

　　"Woof~" Pepe called out weakly and started running again.

　　This time, what Pepe found was just a toilet.

　　"Why is there a toilet in the office area?" Clark's face was full of question marks. Although this space station was weird enough, whether it was talking plants or animals that could understand human language, they were more or less within the scope of understanding.

　　But it's weird to have a toilet in the office area! Would anyone really use it? Are the staff here mentally healthy?

　　"Woof woof!" Pepe squatted obediently next to the toilet and signaled to Superman.

　　Finally understanding Estelle's painstaking efforts, Superman half squatted down and patiently explained: "Pepe, listen to me, we are looking for the mysterious person who sneaked into the space station, and he can't be a toilet."

　　"Woof!" But Pepe didn't move and still squatted next to the toilet.

　　Superman used his magical brain: "Do you want to go to the bathroom? I understand."

　　He nodded to himself, taking it for granted that a dog would use a human toilet.

　　So, in front of Pepe's (the player) incredulous gaze, Superman reached out his hands to hold Pepe's belly, and lifted it up with its four legs suspended in the air, letting the dog's four paws flutter weakly in the air.

　　"Ah, bastard! What do you know!" The player struggled hard.

　　As Superman, Clark possesses a body of steel and strength powerful enough to punch through anything, and the consequence of that powerful strength is that Superman misjudged the dog's struggle, thinking it was just discomfort from being suddenly picked up.

　　Seeing Pepe's butt getting closer and closer to the toilet, the player opened his mouth in grief and anger, and after rubbing Superman's skin with his teeth, he bit Clark's sleeve.

　　System: "Why don't you bite his arm?"

　　Furious player: "Is that something a dog can bite? Pepe is just an ordinary puppy with high IQ who can understand human language. Please be kind and teleport it!"

　　The system, which had been threatened with death by the player before, said sarcastically: "Okay, okay, that's the only time you need me."

　　So the moment Superman grabbed Pepe and put him on the toilet, a black hole suddenly appeared inside the toilet.

　　"What?!"

　　Superman was bitten on the sleeve by Pepe and was swallowed by the toilet.