As this thought crossed his mind, the glacier beneath Lucas's feet began to tremble slightly.
The vibration quickly intensified, growing so strong it felt like a major earthquake.
Lucas knew the ship was about to activate. With a flash, he slipped into the vessel.
Using his control over ki, he quickly sensed Clark's location and headed toward him.
---
Outside, Colonel Hardy—who had just received the withdrawal order and was packing up—also noticed the abnormal tremors in the ice.
All the soldiers emerged from their tents, staring blankly as the massive iceberg in the distance cracked apart, enormous chunks of ice sliding down one after another.
Moments later, a long, streamlined spacecraft slowly emerged from beneath the glacier.
Brilliant white flames erupted beneath it.
As the engines roared to life, the Kryptonian ship lifted into the air.
Then, before the stunned eyes of everyone present, it turned into a streak of light and vanished from the sky.
---
Inside the control chamber, Lucas stood quietly to the side, watching Clark reunite with his biological father.
He listened as Jor-El explained Clark's origins, the history of Krypton, the function of the Codex, and more.
Then came the long, drawn-out speech.
In Lucas's view—
It was pure brainwashing.
On the surface, Jor-El spoke of kindness, responsibility, and using great power to guide humanity toward order and goodness.
But from another angle, the implications were far darker.
What Jor-El was really saying was for Clark to stand above humanity.
To use his strength and moral authority to lead humans.
To change them.
And what did that mean?
A Kryptonian ruling Earth?
Or humans becoming Krypton's subordinates?
In the original DC timeline, there were people like Jonathan Kent and Lois Lane to anchor Clark and keep him from straying.
But now, Lucas was here.
Out of respect, Lucas didn't interrupt the father-and-son conversation.
Only when Clark donned the Superman suit did Lucas feel something intangible shift—
as if an invisible thread in fate itself had been tugged.
---
The next moment, Clark—still unable to fully control his bio-field—lost control in midair.
He plummeted from the sky, smashing straight through the peak of a mountain and obliterating a vast stretch of ice below.
Lucas burst out laughing and immediately flew to Clark's side.
The provocation worked.
Fueled by competitiveness, Clark rapidly began to grasp the balance between his biological force field and Earth's magnetic field.
With each second, his control improved.
"Lucas," Clark said, flying alongside him without falling behind,
"Want to see who's faster?"
He was clearly trying to get revenge for Lucas laughing at him earlier.
"Sure," Lucas replied casually.
In the past, he might have hesitated.
Now, there was no need.
"Then let's race—first one to your house wins!"
Clark activated his force field, producing a thunderous sonic boom as he shot forward.
Lucas chuckled, then unleashed his ki.
His speed surged instantly as he gave chase.
Neither of them held back.
In the blink of an eye, they accelerated to nearly 26 Mach, tearing open a visible gap in the clouds as they screamed across the sky.
---
Air force bases across America immediately sounded alarms.
Command rooms fell silent as officers stared in disbelief at the rapidly moving signals on their screens.
Not even the fastest fighter jets could keep up.
Even satellites struggled to lock onto the targets.
Only after Air Command and the Department of Defense identified Lucas's signal code did panic subside.
NASA later provided blurry images captured by space telescopes.
That was when they realized—
There was another person flying alongside Lucas at the same speed.
When President Ellis heard the report, he waved it off.
"Not our problem."
If the sky fell, Lucas would hold it up.
And anyone flying beside him clearly wasn't an enemy.
Better to spend that energy gathering votes.
---
The most unsettled person, however, was a certain bald man hiding in the director's office of S.H.I.E.L.D.
"To keep up with him at that speed…"
Nick Fury muttered, his single eye gleaming.
"Even if he's weaker than Lucas, his strength is still terrifying."
His eye shone with greedy intensity, like he'd just discovered a priceless treasure.
"If I can recruit him into the Avengers… this team will undergo a complete transformation."
---
Up in the sky, Clark clenched his teeth and accelerated again.
His speed surpassed 28 Mach, rapidly approaching 30 Mach.
Lucas couldn't help but marvel.
As expected of DC's ultimate cheat character.
Just awakened, and already hitting growth-stage levels of speed.
Naturally, Lucas stopped holding back.
His ki exploded outward, forming a blazing aura around his body.
Whoosh—!
His speed spiked again, instantly pulling far ahead.
Clark, left eating turbulence, gritted his teeth and pushed even harder—
drawing upon massive amounts of stored solar radiation.
---
"Oh my God… are they even human anymore?"
At an air force base, Colonel Rhodes stared in disbelief.
Tony Stark's armor surpassing fighter jets was one thing.
But these two monsters were flying at 36 Mach—
Nearly 12 kilometers per second, reaching second cosmic velocity.
"That's terrifying…"
Rhodes swallowed hard.
"Thank God they're not our enemies."
At that speed alone, Earth had no technology capable of stopping them.
---
Lucas touched down gently in front of his house.
Thanks to his precise control of ki, not even the grass stirred.
Boom!
A series of loud crashes echoed behind him.
Lucas sighed and took off again, catching the out-of-control Clark midair and bringing him to a safe stop.
"Sorry," Clark said sheepishly.
"I couldn't slow down properly. I almost crashed."
If Lucas hadn't acted as a brake, half the neighborhood would've been gone.
"It's fine," Lucas replied casually.
"As long as my house is still standing."
He stepped forward to unlock the door—
Only to find it opening on its own.
"Hey, Lucas, you're back—oh? Clark?"
Kara's bright, playful face appeared in the doorway.
Naturally, she noticed Clark standing behind him.
_____
T/N:
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