"So what's going on?"
When Jovian flew home, he found that not only were Debbie, Nolan, and Mark there—but Cecil was there too, the white-haired old man with half his face scarred.
"Jovian, something pretty interesting came up. This is an opportunity." Nolan looked at Jovian and immediately walked over.
"An opportunity?" Jovian raised an eyebrow.
"You changed your suit?" Nolan froze for a moment when he saw Jovian's brand-new combat suit.
"Yeah. Mainly because I needed to make it different from yours. Otherwise there are always idiots who can only tell heroes apart by their outfits, and they can't tell the two of us apart."
Jovian nodded and explained why he'd switched.
"Not bad. Black with white trim—pretty slick…" Nolan sized up the suit. By his standards, it looked cool enough.
"Ahem. I don't think this is the time for father-and-son small talk."
Just as Nolan and Jovian were chatting, Cecil walked over. He cleared his throat twice and spoke.
"What, something happen?" The moment Jovian saw Cecil, he knew it was never good news. Cecil was a walking setup.
"It's like this. The government has decided to send four scientists to Mars."
Cecil didn't beat around the bush—he stated the reason he'd come.
"Mars?" Jovian nodded slightly. He vaguely remembered this part of the story. He remembered there were Martians up there, and also a kind of parasite that looked like one of those face-hugger things from Alien. Disgusting as hell.
"Right. But we don't know what kind of danger this trip might run into, so we want you to go with the astronauts—to help them get through whatever happens."
Cecil nodded as he explained why he'd come looking for Jovian.
"I think I get it." Jovian nodded again. He understood.
"Sure. No problem."
Jovian agreed easily. He planned to use "going with the astronauts" as an excuse—and completely solve the Mars problem for good.
"Hah…"
Hearing Jovian accept, Cecil finally exhaled, the tension in his chest easing.
"Then I wish you a pleasant trip."
Cecil wore a fake smile as he offered his "blessing."
"Alright." Jovian nodded. Even if it was fake, he'd take it anyway.
"Jovian, your task this time will be even tougher than the four astronauts', but I have complete faith in you. I'm sure you'll finish your mission perfectly."
Nolan patted Jovian's shoulder. He genuinely believed his son would handle it easily.
"Of course. This kind of task is still pretty easy for me."
Jovian smiled slightly after hearing Nolan, making it clear he could handle it without effort.
"Heh. Then I won't bother you."
Cecil looked at the warm family moment in front of him, sneered like he didn't belong, and then—gone in a blink—vanished from the house.
"Heh…"
Jovian glanced toward where Cecil had disappeared, said nothing, then shifted his gaze to Mark, who was grinning like an idiot.
"Mom, what's wrong with Mark?" Jovian shook his head.
"Mark's probably in love, isn't he?"
"He just came back a little while ago with a girl named Amber."
TN: If you remember the blonde girl from the first chapters, well, that was Amber; in the original comic she's Caucasian.
Debbie spoke with exaggerated enthusiasm.
"Hey! That's my private business, okay?!" Mark's expression changed instantly. He felt like his privacy had been invaded.
"If other people can see it, it's not private anymore." Jovian patted Mark's shoulder.
"…"
Mark went quiet. He felt like not only could he not beat his brother—he couldn't even outtalk him. Somehow, it felt like his brother had his entire life in the palm of his hand.
"I'm gonna make some lunch…"
"Oh yeah, Mom—what do you think about me going to Mars?"
Jovian walked into the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and started making a sandwich while asking Debbie.
"I still think school is more important."
"But if it's you, being gone a few days probably isn't anything to worry about. So I'm fine with it."
Debbie was only a little worried about his schoolwork. Everything else didn't concern her much.
"You really don't have to worry about school."
Jovian laughed when he heard that. School? What was that? He hadn't been studying at all—he hadn't even been going lately.
"Yeah… with you, I really don't need to worry."
Once Jovian's words reached Debbie's ears, they turned into something else in her mind. She took it to mean that everything taught at school was child's play for Jovian, so there was nothing to worry about.
"I think I squeezed on a little too much cheese."
Jovian raised an eyebrow as he looked at his "special" sandwich.
"But I like cheese."
Then Jovian put the sandwich into a food container. That was his special Mars sandwich.
After everything was ready, Jovian didn't go looking for troublemakers. He stayed home and rested properly, preparing for his Mars trip.
Global Defense Agency headquarters.
"Go, Jovian…"
Cecil stood in his office, calculating nonstop.
"Sir… you're really just letting Jovian leave like that?" Cecil's blond assistant looked at him and asked.
"It's not that I'm letting Jovian leave."
"Jovian has to leave—temporarily."
"That way, we'll have enough time to investigate the truth. And enough time to figure out which side Omni-Man Nolan and Invincible—Mark—are actually on!"
Cecil looked at the assistant beside him and spoke coldly.
"But sir… is the truth really that important?"
"Even if we learn the truth, what can we do? We still don't have any way to deal with Viltrumites."
The blond assistant sighed, asking helplessly.
"Sigh…"
Cecil sighed too.
"If we learn the truth, we can prepare for everything else."
"If Nolan, Mark, and Jovian are all working together, then we'll destroy every piece of data—and we won't investigate anything ever again."
"We'll pretend we know nothing… and keep barely surviving on this planet."
A flicker of grief and helplessness passed through Cecil's eyes. The Global Defense Agency—Earth's technology—was still far too weak. Facing something like Viltrumites… they simply had no power to resist.
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