With everyone working together, the rescue speed increased significantly. Halfway through, the team of bodyguards led by John Diggle arrived at the scene. Each one wanted to perform well in front of their new boss, scrambling to join the ranks of the rescuers.
The team gradually pushed north, moving from the southern districts toward the north side of the city. Many hot-blooded citizens who weren't injured automatically followed Thea's team. After all, Thea's command was effective, and she had the numbers; they were practically the only organized rescue force in the city.
"Please, oh God, someone help!" A faint cry for help reached Thea's ears.
"A few of you, with me—over there." Without time to explain in detail, Thea led Diggle and ran toward the west side.
She saw two middle-aged men desperately trying to pry up a stone slab. A woman was struggling in the narrow gap beneath the slab.
"Editor-in-Chief Perry White?" Thea realized this was an acquaintance. This guy was the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet. Although Lois Lane had conducted the exclusive interviews, Thea knew the Editor too.
"You are...? Oh, Miss Thea—please, give us a hand!" The old man didn't recognize Thea at first. To farm reputation, Thea—who usually had a bit of a germaphobe streak—had gone all out. She was currently covered in grime; one really couldn't recognize her without looking closely.
More than ten burly men swarmed up and rescued the female reporter trapped underneath.
"Is everyone okay?" The female reporter had just crawled out and hadn't even caught her breath when Lois Lane ran over from a distance.
Lois didn't know Thea had been participating in this matter overtly or covertly all along, but she still recognized Thea instantly. The two greeted each other, and at the same time, the same thought flashed through both their minds: Why is she here?
Thea's thought process was very simple: Why do I always see this woman in dangerous places? Is my memory wrong? Is Lois Lane not an ordinary person? Does she have a superpower that teleports her to wherever there is danger? I clearly remember she was staying in Washington earlier...
Looking behind Lois Lane, sure enough, a large number of US troops had entered the city. General Swanwick was commanding disaster relief with a face full of righteousness.
Holy crap—stealing my thunder, are we?! Thea instantly wasn't having it. She beckoned the Daily Planet crowd to go to the rear to rest quickly, while she led her people forward to win over the citizens' hearts.
Superman had originally intended to call it a day after the fight, but seeing Thea doing relief work, he thought about it and also began rescuing citizens.
Three rescue efforts formed in Metropolis. Superman was busy all on his own; ordinary people couldn't keep up with his strength and speed. Moreover, this landscape of ruins was caused by his battle with Zod. Now that Zod was dead, the citizens' resentment naturally vented onto him. Although he indeed helped many people, there was no way the citizens were going to be moved to tears and fall to their knees in gratitude.
The other two rescue groups were Thea and the Military.
Both had many followers behind them. Thea looked more approachable and down-to-earth, actively rescuing the injured and treating everyone equally regardless of wealth or status.
General Swanwick's image was a bit worse; after all, he was in his fifties. Thea helping an old lady was a display of a young person's kindness. If he went to help an old lady, he really couldn't lower his dignity to do that—what if he was called a pervert? However, the military's signboard still attracted many citizens to join his rescue team.
Those who didn't know the inside story would think Thea's actions were purely out of kindness. But General Swanwick knew the truth. Whether she had kindness was uncertain, but Thea leading four or five young men, pretending to struggle while rescuing a citizen trapped under a concrete pillar—this was one hundred percent a show!
However, he didn't object to putting on a show. Who around him didn't put on a show? From certain angles, he was even a bit gratified. This is how one of us behaves. Politicians didn't fear showmanship because they did it too; one more or one less didn't matter. What they feared were guys whose character was so noble it was impeccable.
For example, that guy in the blue tights and red cape in the distance. The man in the blue tights and red cape—Superman—perfectly embodied what it meant to never quite touch the ground. He hovered in the air to save people, his feet never touching the earth. It left General Swanwick feeling distinctly uneasy. Can this kind of person really obey the country's orders and respect the Constitution?
"Sir, the young heiress from Queen Consolidated is asking if our transport planes can help fly in her medical pods." A subordinate reported to the Secretary.
Under the public gaze, Thea didn't intend to expose her identity. The Secretary instantly understood her meaning, nodded, and agreed directly. Trading favors was also a good way to build a relationship. One couldn't just give unilaterally; mutual help and reciprocity were needed to solidify the relationship. The two completed this cooperation tacitly without verbal or eye contact.
With the Secretary of Defense's order, the military C-17 transport planes were mobilized quickly. In less than half an hour, the Medical Pods produced by Queen Consolidated were transported into Metropolis.
Seventy percent of the injured citizens suffered from trauma. Laying in the pod for ten minutes could complete a series of debridement and suturing tasks. Even though this piece of tech was clearly threatening their jobs, the massive reduction in workload made the on-site medical personnel secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
Superman could move mountains and level buildings, but he didn't have any medical skills. Seeing the rapid healing ability on Thea's side, he also transported countless critically injured patients over. Under his persevering rescue efforts, the citizens finally had a somewhat better impression of him, no longer as cold as before.
But medicine cannot cure death. No matter how heaven-defying the Medical Pod was, it couldn't save the dead. When the rescue team moved to the ruins of the original LexCorp Tower, a large number of deceased were carried out. The impact came swiftly and violently; many people lacked Luthor's decisiveness and were directly buried under hundreds of tons of rubble.
Superman had no idea just how much his powers were unnerving the military. Using X-ray vision and super strength, he rescued a few critically injured people, though most of the buried were already dead.
"Chairman, we found Mr. Luthor's secretary. She's injured very heavily..." An executive whispered to Thea.
Thea had long seen the secretary lady being brought out by Superman: Mercy Graves. This woman was not only Luthor's secretary but also his bodyguard. Her skills were extremely high, enabling her to even exchange a few moves with Deathstroke. She was fiercely loyal to Luthor. The only ironic thing was her name.
Mercy?
In both the original timeline and this one, Luthor had discarded her without a second thought.
Luthor needs no Mercy.
The secretary lady brought out by Superman had extremely heavy injuries. Her usually delicate and cold face was a bit twisted. Although her reaction was decent, without that high-tech equipment, the impact came too fast. Relying on her superb skills, she avoided fatal wounds, but falling from a height of hundreds of meters still left her body in a near-death state.
Massive fractures in both legs, severe damage to all internal organs. Under normal medical conditions, making a full recovery would be impossible without a miracle.
"Save her at all costs." Thea glanced coldly at the executive who wanted to offer a suggestion, stopping the words he wanted to say.
Near evening, Queen Consolidated's construction crews arrived to build makeshift housing for all the homeless.