The laser gun's icy touch was absolutely real.
The laser pulse gun from the nightmare world lay quietly in Ian's arms. The words "SHIELD PROPERTY" on the gun body shimmered faintly under the light of the voice-activated lamp on his bedside table.
"Not only is my scalp tingling, but I'm getting goosebumps..." Ian was genuinely surprised. He had tried countless times before but had never been able to bring anything back from that nightmare world.
What was the situation this time?
Was the nightmare beginning to infiltrate the real world? Or was it related to the change in his identity information in the DC Universe, shifting from the original [Ordinary NPC] to [Independent NPC]?
"No, I feel that the AI Iron Man is more suspicious!"
Ian scratched his slightly messy hair, thinking of Gwen, who was smashed into a meat patty only to reappear perfectly intact, yet didn't show the same exact form as the Grandma-Aunt type.
Perhaps.
It wasn't just Gwen.
Betty, and everyone else in the base... also possessed a similar "ability." Ian thought back to the digital Tony's comments. He suspected that everyone in that world was just a clone endowed with memories. As for why the reappearing Gwen still remembered Ian, perhaps the memory data possessed the characteristic of real-time upload?
This was absolutely a situation Ian had not anticipated. It was completely different from the "echoes of the past" he had imagined. Could it be that the world itself was a place that had been purely digitized!
"Alas, I used my super intelligence too many times today. It's normal that I can't figure it out." Ian racked his brain but found no answer, so he found a reasonable explanation for his inability to understand. Whatever the situation, Ian believed he would find the answer when he entered that world again tomorrow night.
"Now! Back to sleep!"
Ian looked at the night outside the window. He pushed his confusion aside, embraced the laser gun, and went back to sleep. Because he had sufficient sleep, he dreamt he had grown to a height of 190 meters.
The next morning.
"Earthlings should also have their own Plasma Spark Towers!"
Well, perhaps teenagers going through puberty always dream of bizarre things. That's why Ian slowly woke up with the regret of not being able to evolve all mankind like the Lizard.
Looking at the warm laser gun on his bed.
Ian was thoughtful.
He knew he probably couldn't hide this object from his parents at home, and he didn't have a suitable size school bag to take it to school. So, he utilized the super intelligence that had also woken up with him.
"The most dangerous place is the safest place!" Ian sneaked into his parents' bedroom and hid the laser gun under their bed, all while being watched by his "sleeping" father, who had opened his eyes.
"..."
Clark just quietly watched Ian climb up from the floor. The moment Ian raised his head, he made 100% eye contact with Clark, yet still pretended not to have seen anything.
*Click*
The boy fumbled twice on the bedside table, then quickly placed something on Clark's head, and raised his hand to gently wipe Clark's eyelids from top to bottom.
And so.
In the quiet, utterly silent atmosphere, Clark, with his eyes closed, "watched" his youngest son tiptoe slowly out of the room.
He didn't turn over to check what was hidden under the bed.
He didn't even open his eyes.
He just raised his hand and rubbed his throbbing forehead, which felt like his blood pressure was spiking, and smoothly removed the noise-canceling headphones that Ian had put on his head in an act of "blatant cover-up" and "burying one's head in the sand."
Ian cleaned up a bit and went out for school.
A moment later.
"Tap, tap, tap~"
The sound of someone coming downstairs rang out. The aroma of frying bacon wafted from the kitchen. Lois was frying eggs. Hearing the footsteps, she greeted her eldest son, whose footsteps she knew well, without turning around.
"Good morning, Jonathan."
She continued working.
"Morning, Mom." Jonathan rubbed his sleepy eyes and walked to the kitchen cupboard. He was about to replenish his nutrients, but after opening his small cabinet, he was stunned.
"Where is the protein powder I just bought?"
He suspected this was a hallucination caused by not being fully awake.
He rubbed his eyes again.
"Creatine, Arginine, Fish Oil... All gone?!" Now he discovered more facts that were difficult to accept. His voice even carried a slight tremor.
For a professional athlete, there was no greater bolt from the blue first thing in the morning.
"Sorry, honey." Lois's tone was helpless. She didn't turn around. In her mind flashed the shocking image of Ian wolfing down all of Jonathan's supplements not long ago.
"I already gave Ian money to buy you new ones tonight." As a mother who believed she understood her children best, Lois strongly suspected Ian thought this was how he could become as strong as Clark. This was a very normal line of reasoning. Perhaps if she were given ten more chances, she would never guess that Ian was actually trying to gain experience.
No more medicine to take.
Why not try an overdose of supplements?
Unfortunately.
Due to his already extraordinary liver and kidney function, Ian didn't achieve the effect he wanted. This left Jonathan suffering. Without the supplements, he felt his strength had instantly diminished considerably.
"Uh... okay, I'll borrow protein powder from a classmate at school." Although Jonathan was confused about what this had to do with Ian, his emotions as an elder brother were always stable.
Footsteps came from the stairs again.
Clark and Jordan came down, one after the other.
"Dad, did you get new glasses? They look cool." Jonathan noticed the brand-new black-rimmed glasses on Clark's face. He gave Clark a thumbs-up, providing him with emotional value.
However.
Clark, who had been prone to muteness every morning recently, still remained silent. He stirred his cereal bowl with a fork and only mumbled a vague "Mm" in response to Jonathan's compliment.
The atmosphere was a bit awkward.
Jonathan wondered why his parents were so glum.
"I'll go get the newspaper."
Jordan slipped out, returning moments later with a package, walking toward Clark with a confused expression. "Here, your package—why would it be mailed from Gotham?"
Due to what happened yesterday.
The father and son still had some distance between them.
"An old friend lives there."
Clark didn't want to take it.
But Jordan was very curious.
"What is it?"
Jordan directly tore open the package, which lacked any address labels. There was nothing fun or mysterious inside, only several thick, handwritten books mailed from Clark's "old friend."
*How to Teach Your Child That Earth is Not for Blowing Up*
*From Brat to Supervillain: A Prevention Manual*
*100 Answers When Your Child Asks, "Why Can't I Experiment on People?"*
*The Parenting Crossroads: From "I Want to Be a Superhero" to "I Want to Rule the World"*
...
With every book title Jordan read out.
Clark felt the cereal in his bowl became a little harder to chew.
"Seriously, what kind of friend sends you this kind of ridiculous book? And look... they seem to be entirely handwritten? Not published books?" Jordan was greatly shocked and extremely puzzled.
"Chomp, chomp, chomp~"
Clark just chewed his cereal.
Silent.
He looked at his wife, who was quietly opening a bottle of wine in the kitchen.
Even If he couldn't get drunk, he actually wanted a few glasses too.
***
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