"Son, what did you give me yesterday?"
At the breakfast table, Father Jonathan was full of energy, eating the sandwich Martha made, completely unlike his near-death state from poisoning and high fever yesterday.
In fact, his body had never felt better, as if he had endless strength. He recalled with slight confusion on his face.
"It was the Dionysus Factor."
"This Dionysus, is it metal?"
Jonathan looked puzzled, wondering if he would have trouble with security checks on future flights.
"Something like that."
Aware of general knowledge, David knew metal couldn't be ingested. He found a more acceptable way to explain it: "You can think of it like herbal soup."
Although the Dionysus Factor could grant immortality and resurrect the dead, Father Jonathan's appearance hadn't changed much.
However, Ra's al Ghul, who had lived for over seven hundred years and was immortal, also looked like a middle-aged man. Even the Joker, who had the purest Dionysus Factor in the comics, didn't have the face of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old.
"Perhaps the Dionysus Factor doesn't affect the host's external age?"
"Herbal soup?"
Martha looked at the metallic dark green liquid in the stone test tube in her hand, hesitating. Her son had asked her to drink this in the morning, saying it was good for her health.
Even though she knew her son would never harm her, drinking metal made her hesitant. Besides, she wasn't sick, so maybe she didn't need to take medicine for now.
At the table, Clark seemed a bit preoccupied, quietly drinking the seafood soup his mother made, not saying a word.
Yesterday, he had asked his brother what he and Kara were talking about. His brother had replied "nothing" and hadn't elaborated.
But he had heard the general content of their conversation.
"Sergei? Destroying the world?"
David glanced at Clark, sensing he had something on his mind.
He thought of Rickman, whom he had killed. Had Clark remembered that incident again after he returned home and was still dwelling on it?
Yesterday, when Clark had asked David about his conversation with Kara, David, thinking it was a casual question, had casually replied "nothing."
"Being seen as a savior in a prophecy and having to say it oneself is bound to make one feel ashamed."
Besides, Kara would eventually realize the prophecies in her tribe were wrong, and this matter would pass.
At the table, after swallowing a mouthful of thick soup, David's eyes flickered, and he sighed inwardly.
This was just a misunderstanding. He believed no one would like to be seen as a villain who would destroy the world in the future. He hadn't told Clark about this completely meaningless matter that would only make him feel bad.
After breakfast, on the way to school.
"David, where have you been these past two days? You didn't come to school."
Facing Chloe and Pete's curious questions, David shrugged.
"I had some family matters, so I went to Gotham."
"Gotham?" Chloe and Pete exchanged glances, clearly having heard of the name.
"I heard it's full of gangsters, and you even have to be careful walking down alleys during the day," Chloe recalled the past rumors about Gotham, a look of reluctance appearing on her face. She was interested in strange things, but not gang robberies.
The public safety there was reportedly worse than in Smallville.
"It might be a bit better now than before,"
David said with a smile.
Batman's appearance, while unable to reverse Gotham's deep-rooted criminal ecosystem, had at least had some effect.
Those criminals and thugs were also afraid of Batman suddenly appearing, beating them severely, and throwing them into prison.
"I heard a masked vigilante appeared there, called Batman?"
Pete recalled the news he had seen not long ago.
"Batman..."
Mentioning the name, Clark, who had been quietly looking out the window at the scenery, pursed his lips.
When he went to Gotham yesterday, he was too rushed to find clues to save his father, so he didn't have time to think about other things.
But what he saw and heard in Gotham left him confused.
"Bruce Wayne, the heir to Gotham's long-standing Wayne family, with billions in assets, no superpowers, facing a corrupt and dark city and the safety of the common people, he rushes forward to fight crime regardless of his own safety."
After a brief observation and contact, he was somewhat shocked by Bruce Wayne's character.
"Without a doubt, from the current perspective, Batman is a hero.
But if that's the case, what role do I play in the future?"
Doubt flickered in Clark's eyes. The future visions Ms. Cassandra had predicted for him included Batman.
But he and Batman stood on opposite sides, and Batman chose to stand with David, helping David against him.
Batman is good, so what kind of person is he in the future?
Thinking of Kara's words, the tribe's prophecy, destroying the world, a wicked nature hidden in their bones... Clark swallowed.
Surely not?
"Am I watching David all day to prevent him from turning bad, only to become the one who turns evil and harms others in the future?"
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
"Clark?"
Seeing Clark shake his head violently for no reason, looking unwilling to accept it, David patted him and said.
"Don't tell me you're still thinking about Rickman?"
"No, Rickman he..."
Clark came back to his senses, wanting to speak but stopping.
Actually, regarding Rickman, he was naturally angry at first, thinking that his brother, after vigilantism, had started killing indiscriminately, but...
"These past two days, Chloe showed me some news about Rickman."
Looking at Chloe and Pete on the other side of the school bus, Clark lowered his voice.
A Metropolis Environmental Center supervisor named Paul, who never accepted bribes, enforced the law like a mountain, and had been fighting against corrupt elements, was still renting a cheap apartment in Metropolis with his family.
"Supervisor Paul is a truly respectable good person who keeps people's health in mind."
But after meeting Rickman one morning and inquiring about the pollution from his factory, he inexplicably jumped to his death.
"The news was accompanied by photos from the scene, showing his wife and young child weeping and suffering over the body covered with a bloodstained white cloth."
The scene was so tragic it brought tears to one's eyes. Clark's voice was low, and he clearly understood what had happened.
"Rickman used his abilities to kill a respectable good person and destroy a happy family..."
And this wasn't the first time Rickman had done something like this; there had been many news reports of suicides in the past that bore his mark.
Clark still had reservations about his brother David's vigilantism, but he no longer thought Rickman was innocent and deserved to die.
"Next time you visit a stranger's house, check the soles of your shoes."
Clark was fine with letting the matter go and had no interest in discussing a dead man with Clark. David just reminded him faintly at the end.
"Soles of my shoes?"
Clark wondered why this was suddenly mentioned.
On the other side, Pete suddenly leaned over.
"Hey, did you hear?
Today's class."
"What about the class?" The two were puzzled. Was there anything different?
Looking left and right, Pete lowered his voice with a slightly lewd expression.
"Haven't you looked at the class schedule?
The school has a new female biology teacher, mature and beautiful. Today's class is about teaching people about the two sexes. I heard they'll be showing some films in class, you know..."
He winked at the two of them.
"Pete, can you stop acting like a rutting baboon?"
Chloe, who had mastered internet technology, looked disgusted.
"And you guys."
"I don't understand, I don't understand."
Clark coughed, his face turning red, and quickly said he didn't understand.
David's eyes drifted out the window, pretending not to know him.
...
"Come in."
A knock sounded on the heavy wooden door, and Luthor, who was handling official business, spoke.
His new bodyguard captain opened the door and brought the person he wanted to see.
"Manager Corro, Mr. Luthor is waiting for you inside," said a tall, well-built man in a black suit and sunglasses, opening the door. He seemed to have encountered something joyous today, with a smile on his lips that he couldn't hide his good mood.
However, being affected by feelings outside of work while on duty made it difficult to say if such a person was a qualified bodyguard, let alone a bodyguard captain.
"I hope I haven't disturbed your work."
Leaning back in his comfortable executive chair, Luthor extended his hand: "Please sit, Mr. Corro."
"Thank you, Mr. Luthor." A middle-aged man with an honest face looked amazed at the luxurious facilities of the castle. He walked cautiously, as if afraid of breaking something, and sat down nervously, clutching the hem of his suit in front of his boss.
Glancing at the new bodyguard captain who closed the door with his head down, a mysterious smile flashed across Luthor's lips.
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