The story was written during the height of the late 1950s monster movie craze. That last one doesn't really look very scary. Meanwhile, by a quirk of fate, a volcano eruption elsewhere releases an extinct giant centipede from ancient caverns.
People seeing the huge, winged centipede flying overhead dismiss it as a publicity stunt.
Superboy continues to suspect that Superbug might be a publicity stunt despite the studio's denial in the next day's newspaper. He inspects Superbug with his X-ray vision and finds no mechanical parts inside. Superboy digs a giant pit to contain the quicksilver flood, saving a farmhouse. He soon determines that each of Superbug's legs can create a different element. Superboy takes a powder when he realized that the Midas legs are Superbug's defense mechanism.