"No, you can!"
Courtney's eyes blazed, "Pat, this isn't what you usually teach me. Is the justice I uphold, the one I Google, a joke in your eyes?"
"No, it's not!"
Pat shook his head, a pained expression on his face. "That line is drawn right there; once we cross it, we can't go back! After killing Bruce Gordon, everything became irreversible. I know, I can feel it, we fell apart. From then on, everyone started coming to the Justice Society less and less."
"Green Lantern, Flash, Doctor Fate, Hawkman—everyone noticed our change."
Pat said agonizingly, "That's also why we were defeated by the Injustice Society; our belief vanished. It's only natural for a team without belief, a scattered mess, to be wiped out by another powerful team."
"You guys…"
Courtney sat down, feeling a bit upset. "You shouldn't have done that. There must have been another way. You fell for the 'Shadow's' trick, Pat."
"When our own families were threatened, we all became selfish."
Eric and Clark listened to the father and daughter's conversation from the side without interrupting.
After nightfall, Eric called Bart and Jenna.
Although he didn't want them to stay the night, Eric could only let the father and daughter stay due to Clark's strong insistence.
Jenna prepared a lavish dinner, cautiously watching the silent guests.
"You seem a bit distracted, Jenna. After preparing such a beautiful dinner, I thought you'd feel very satisfied."
Bart asked Jenna.
"I… I'm fine."
Jenna smiled at Bart and looked at Eric, "Teacher Eric, how do you like the taste?"
"Not bad."
Eric nodded.
"I heard that people from Kansas State University came looking for you a few days ago, Teacher Eric."
Jenna's lips curved into a smile, intentionally bringing up Eric being scouted by Kansas State University in front of the guests.
"This is graduation season. Will Teacher Eric be admitted to Kansas State University?"
Kansas State University is located in Manhattan, a picturesque small city in central Kansas, USA. It is the state's first public university, abbreviated as K-State, and enjoys a relatively high reputation nationwide.
"Hmm, full scholarship."
Eric nodded, showing little excitement.
He wasn't very interested in a university that was far from home and relatively low-ranked nationwide.
Clark, who was beside him, listened with some envy. He hadn't received any university invitations yet, and a scholarship was even further from his mind.
Seeing Eric's full scholarship, he felt a bit envious.
"Jenna."
Courtney, who was eating pancakes, had a good impression of Jenna. The two girls of similar age quickly became friends. "Why do you call Eric 'Teacher'?"
"Eric is my mentor."
Jenna explained to her.
"In what aspect?"
"In every aspect."
Jenna smiled slightly at Courtney.
After dinner, Jenna and Bart went back, while Courtney and Pat stayed for the night.
Clark lay on the slightly simple bed. Just as he was about to close his eyes, he suddenly noticed a figure standing by his bed.
Opening his eyes, he saw a familiar figure.
Dina Crock, the little girl who was hit by a car and fell off the bridge, was standing by the bed, staring at him.
"Di… Dina?"
Clark scrambled up from the bed, looking at the girl in front of him with some surprise.
He didn't understand why she was standing before him.
"Clark, you could have saved me, but you didn't. You hesitated for a moment, only because you were wondering: is it worth exposing your identity to save me? You learned to weigh things, you learned to calculate consequences, but how can this world be like this?"
Dina stared coldly at Clark, "The old you wouldn't have done that. You would have selflessly saved an innocent person, because you believed it was righteous and good. You always stuck to that creed, but now you've wavered. You've been influenced by Eric, your bottom line has wavered, but your heart will condemn you!"
"You killed me, and in the future, you will kill more people!"
Dina furiously rebuked Clark, "Admit it, your weakness and your going with the flow will make you kill more people!"
"I!"
Clark shook his head blankly, a pained expression in his eyes. "I'm sorry, I… I could have saved you. I really did hesitate for a moment, I…"
"It's all your fault, it's all you, Clark Kent. Your maturity and irrationality, you killed more people! Your bystanders and cold-blooded inaction made me lose my father and mother."
Blood flowed from Dina's eyes, and a dagger appeared in her hand, slashing towards Clark.
Clark's mind was in a mess, and he had no intention of dodging.
The next second, Dina's figure, lunging towards Clark, was shattered by a pair of hands, turning into invisible smoke and disappearing.
Eric's figure appeared before him, reaching out a hand to rest on his shoulder.
"Clark!"
"Uh… hmm?!"
Clark, emerging from the illusion, saw Eric standing in front of him, gasping for breath, a bewildered expression in his eyes.
"Eric!"
"I… I think I just saw Dina."
Still shaken, Clark rubbed his forehead and said, "I was just lying on the bed, and she appeared. I don't know how to face…"
"Clark…"
Eric shook his head. "You didn't even go to bed. You just said you were going for a walk."
Hearing Eric's words, Clark froze for a moment, then began to look at his surroundings, realizing that he was indeed standing outside the barn.
"Clark, if you succumb to your inner fear and darkness, then you will be unable to face the true enemy."
Eric's eyes showed a solemn expression. "Devourer of Heaven wants to make you afraid, to let the darkness within you destroy you."
"I…"
Clark lowered his head dejectedly. "Yes, I know, I know this should be an illusion, but I can never face the darkness in my heart. If this is human emotion, Eric, I find it really makes me suffer, I…"
Looking up, Clark said to Eric with some sadness, "Sorry, I made you worry again."
This time, Eric didn't mock Clark. He said, "No one is a born fighter, Clark. Admitting your weakness doesn't make you look like a failure; constantly running away is what makes you look like a complete failure. This is what our father has always tried to tell us, isn't it?"
Eric said, handing the Cosmic Scepter to Clark. "The Star Scepter will help you resist Devourer of Heaven's illusions. As long as this thing is around you, he won't be able to corrupt you."
Looking at the Star Scepter, which had already shrunk in Eric's hand, Clark shook his head and said, "I can't take it, Eric. It's more suitable in your hand."
"My eyes are the best weapon."
Eric shook his head and turned to leave.
"The Star Scepter is more valuable in your hand temporarily than in mine."
Looking at Eric's disappearing back, Clark's expression was somewhat complex.
"Eric!"
Clark called out to Eric, who was about to leave.
"I plan to apply to Central Texas University. Maybe we can go to the same university."
Clark expressed hope that he and Eric could attend the same university.
"Whatever."
Eric shook his head and turned to leave. "What you should be thinking about now is which university will accept you."
Watching Eric's figure enter the barn, Clark turned around, looking at the Staff in his hand, his eyes shining brightly.
The next day, Eric and Clark went to school together.
Pat and Courtney temporarily stayed at their house.
As graduation season approached, the difficulty of them taking leave also gradually increased.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, they could only try their best to catch up on some previous lessons.
"Hey, Eric, Clark."
Lana and Chloe, carrying a cup of coffee, were walking down the corridor of the teaching building. After seeing Eric and Clark, they immediately came over to say hello.
"Hey, Lana, Chloe."
Clark was carrying a pile of books and couldn't free his hands, so he just nodded at the two of them.
"Just now, no, it should be a while ago, Lana and I went to the farm to look for you two, and we saw a girl."
Chloe cast a suspicious glance at them. "Your relative?"
"Yes, my cousin."
Clark immediately explained to her.
"Really?"
Chloe's face showed an amused expression. "But that girl named Courtney didn't say she was your cousin, but said…"
Glancing at the expressionless Eric beside her, Chloe said, "She said she was Eric's friend! It looks like you two should at least coordinate your stories first."
Clark gave Chloe an awkward smile, then glanced at Lana beside him. "Cousin and friend, maybe that's not a conflict."
"Alright, Clark, I know you. You're never one to hide things, unless your personality disorder acts up and splits into another you. Otherwise, your lies are meaningless in front of me."
"Oh, and you two must stay after school tonight for tutoring, because you've missed a lot of classes recently."
Chloe said gleefully, "Unless you don't want to graduate."
Lana glanced at Eric and said, "But you don't have to worry too much. We'll accompany you to the tutoring classes after school tonight."
"That's not bad."
Hearing that Lana and Chloe would come to accompany him to the remedial class, Clark's mood immediately improved.
After school in the afternoon, Eric first called Bart and Jenny, asking them to keep an eye on Pat and Courtney, and not to let the two of them go looking for Devourer of Heaven.
After hanging up the phone, he entered the tutoring class and found that besides a few of them, there were also some slouching students in the classroom.
After Eric walked into the classroom, the boys who were whistling at Lana and Chloe immediately became well-behaved.
These idle Xiao Hunhun students had long heard of Eric's reputation.
Many of the Xiao Hunhun students had even been disciplined by Eric, so they didn't dare to be unruly in front of him.
"So, today's topic is a war that started because of a woman. She is Helen of Troy, also the muse of history."
Teacher Dikes, dressed quite fashionably, was lecturing the students on history.
He was also an art teacher.
"Cough!"
Dikes coughed, suddenly feeling something was wrong with his body.
"Cough cough."
After coughing for a while, he looked up. "Sorry, where… where was I just now?"
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