Clark was momentarily unable to accept this version of himself.
Even if it was another version of himself whose personality was affected by the red meteorite.
Could his fear of Eric not be eliminated, even after a personality change?
Clark fell into self-doubt.
"Don't be sorry, Clark."
Eric put down the newspaper and said to Clark, "You've paid a sufficient price."
The sufficient price he was referring to was that Clark couldn't get out of bed until he had lain there for a whole day after returning.
"It seems I got what I deserved, but I still have to tell you, I didn't do it on purpose. Eric, it wasn't my intention, I didn't want to hurt you."
Clark shook the jumbled thoughts from his mind and said to Eric with a serious expression.
"If saying that makes you feel better, Clark, I accept your apology."
Eric sat down at the dining table and replied casually to Clark.
He didn't care much about Clark's apology.
In his opinion, language is something that can both expose and bury thoughts.
He wouldn't react simply because of a few words from someone else.
"There's something, a criminal case happened by the Benati River."
Jonathan picked up his hot coffee and said to his family, "Two unidentified individuals were killed. Since their identities can't be confirmed, it will probably take some time to investigate the truth.
"Benati River?"
Clark's expression was a little strange when he heard that word.
He had once knocked out two assassins looking for Jessica near the Benati River. Were they the ones who were killed?
But even though his temperament had changed drastically at that time, he hadn't directly killed them.
Who did it?
A suspicious Clark looked at Eric.
He locked his suspicion onto his younger brother.
But looking at Eric's calm expression, he began to wonder if he was overthinking things.
"Clark."
His mother, Martha, interrupted Clark's thoughts and said to him, "There's one thing that at least sounds like good news. You were worried before that the prophecy you heard from Ms. Cassandra at the sanitarium would come true, but after a storm, everyone is safe and sound. This shows that what you saw wasn't the future, or rather, it was a future that could be changed, wasn't it?"
Martha mentioned the prophecy Clark had seen earlier, about his parents having an accident.
"I've never believed in divination."
Jonathan said to his family, "The past belongs to Death, the future belongs to yourself. Others cannot change our future; only you yourself might be able to do it."
Clark nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this.
He now remembered the scene he had witnessed at Ms. Cassandra's place.
His parents' tombstones stood around, and he, with blood-red eyes, fought Eric.
The self in the cemetery, with that madness and beast-like behavior, was almost identical to the self whose personality was changed by the red meteorite.
Could it be that the future was really changed by him?
Clark rested his chin on his hands, beginning to consider whether, as his parents said, destiny had been twisted from its original track by him.
Meanwhile, Eric, upon hearing his mother mention Cassandra, fell into deep thought.
Someone who can glimpse certain life fragments of a person's future?
Sanitarium, Ms. Cassandra.
Eric noted these two key pieces of information, deciding to find an opportunity to see what kind of existence she truly was.
The next day.
The sanitarium welcomed an uninvited guest.
In the tranquil garden, the elderly Ms. Cassandra, wearing sunglasses, sat at a round table, flipping through a book.
Eric walked behind Ms. Cassandra, observing her.
"Why don't you come and sit, young man? You won't see anything standing behind me."
Ms. Cassandra put down her book, faced straight ahead, and said to Eric.
"Eric Kent."
Eric walked to the old woman and sat down, directly stating his name.
"I heard you can predict the future, and that you greatly impressed my brother, Clark."
"Hmm, so you've come to see how a blind old woman can tell someone's fate without seeing anything at all?"
Eric shook his head, "I just wanted to confirm what Clark saw."
"Aren't you Clark's brother? Wouldn't he tell you himself what he saw? Hmm."
The old woman smiled and tapped the book, "Perhaps your relationship isn't that close, but that's the norm in life. How can human relationships be defined so simply? I'm sorry, young man, I won't tell you what Clark saw."
She extended her hand to Eric, "But I can see your fate and tell you."
Eric glanced at her outstretched hand and smiled slightly, "I don't want to know my fate. I prefer to believe that a person's future is created by themselves."
"Then aren't you curious what kind of future you've created? Perhaps you'll see Clark, or something else, who can say?"
The old woman extended her hand to Eric, gesturing for him to take it.
Eric was silent for a moment, then finally took the old woman's right hand.
His consciousness was rapidly drawn out, and his vision before him twisted.
Boundless darkness engulfed him, and when his vision returned to light, he found himself standing amidst ruins.
A red moon slowly rose, and beneath the red moon was a dilapidated city.
Desolate, ruined, lifeless, a deathly silence enveloped everything.
Clark's cape flapped in the wind behind him as he slowly descended from the sky.
And he himself stood in mid-air, holding a steel trident, on which was impaled a grotesque, dark head.
Wonder Woman, clad in red and gold armor, roared, her Vulcan Sword slashing towards him, but it was instantly repelled by his Heat Vision.
A woman with black curly hair, wearing a black swallowtail uniform and fishnet stockings, resembling the sorceress Zatanna, flung her Staff, and a crimson energy surged towards him.
But the next second, he waved his hand into the air, and a golden Staff flew towards him.
A majestic golden energy erupted from the Staff, instantly dispersing Zatanna's magical energy attack.
The scene shifted again, and Wonder Woman and Zatanna under the crumbling walls suddenly disappeared.
He found himself in a dark underground place, a hellish existence.
Piles of white bones rose from the ground, and countless streams of foul blood swept across the land.
In an instant, Eric's consciousness returned.
Opening his eyes, Eric instantly withdrew from the illusion.
He held Ms. Cassandra's cold right hand and looked at her.
Ms. Cassandra leaned motionless in her chair, her eyes devoid of light.
"Ms. Cassandra?"
Seeing no response, Eric shook his head and slowly released her hand.
The old woman had lost her vital signs.
Eric stood up, left the garden, and walked towards the hospital.
After briefly informing the doctors and nurses, he left the hospital directly.
Was that his future self?
Although somewhat incredible, it was not an impossible future to achieve.