"Ms. Cassandra passed away?"
Martha put down the vacuum cleaner in her hand and asked her husband in surprise.
"Yes, it's quite unexpected news."
After feeding the livestock, Jonathan was washing his hands and said to his wife, "Although she could see others' futures, she couldn't see her own. I don't know if that's misfortune or sorrow."
Martha didn't speak again, but a faint sadness appeared on her face.
On the other side, Eric received a call.
"Dr. Hamilton, I thought you were going to stick with your business of selling plastic meteorites."
Eric said to Dr. Hamilton on the other end of the phone.
"People always change, just as the most important quality not to hold onto in scientific research is stubbornness."
Dr. Hamilton's steady voice came from the other end of the phone, "Does your previous promise still hold true?"
"Are you referring to funding your research? Of course, it will always hold true."
"Good, then you'd best come to my laboratory. I have something to show you."
Eric raised his eyebrows, "Laboratory? Are you talking about your warehouse?"
Dr. Hamilton on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment, then said, "Yes."
After speaking, he immediately hung up the phone.
He seemed a bit displeased with Eric's teasing.
Half an hour later.
"I've already commissioned someone to acquire a laboratory and equipment in Metropolis. If you want to return to Metropolis, you can do so anytime."
Inside Hamilton's warehouse, Eric said to him.
"No, I don't think it's necessary right now."
Hamilton casually placed a newly collected meteorite on the experimental table. "I still think this town is suitable for me. If you agree, you can allocate me some money to purchase equipment, boss."
Hamilton shrugged, calling Eric "boss" in a playful tone.
Eric didn't mind his tone, nodding, "Alright."
As he spoke, he looked at a strange flower in a glass culture dish in the laboratory. "You also cultivate plants?"
"Nicotiana, a plant that grew in the eighteenth century, now extinct."
Hamilton walked to the culture dish, staring at the Nicotiana and saying, "Before the eighteenth century, this was a wilderness. Nicotiana was also called 'Devil's Flower' by the locals, and no one dared to step half a step into the places where it grew. Anyone who inhaled even a little pollen would become bloodthirsty and insane."
"Later, the local armed forces burned all of this stuff with fire. Perhaps due to meteorite influence here, I discovered this extinct flower and cultivated it."
Eric nodded upon hearing this, looking towards the glass cabinet.
"Hiss!"
The "Devil's Flower," which had been motionless, suddenly turned its head and sprayed a cloud of gas towards Eric.
But because it was behind glass, the gas only sprayed onto the glass, leaving a cloud of white mist.
"Doctor, you didn't make me come here just to see this Devil's Flower, did you?"
"Of course not."
Hamilton walked to the safe in the corner, took out an octagonal piece of metal from inside, and handed it to Eric.
The moment Eric took the octagonal metal piece, he froze.
"What is this?"
The moment he touched it, he recognized it as material from the spaceship under his own barn.
Although somewhat shocked, he quickly hid the expression on his face.
"I can only tell you, this is not 'what'."
"I don't like beating around the bush, Doctor."
"Hmm, well, this kind of thing will give you an even bigger headache."
Hamilton paused, then said, "This alloy, you can't find any substance on Earth that composes it. It seems full of strangeness and incomprehensibility."
"Where did you find this thing?"
Eric asked him.
"On a farm near your home, but Eric, believe me, I fully respect your family's privacy. It was only on the outskirts of the farm, and I did not enter the farm itself."
Hamilton replied to Eric.
"Do not go near Kent Farm again, Hamilton. This is my first warning."
Eric warned him after putting away the octagonal metal piece.
"You're the boss now, you call the shots."
Hamilton reluctantly handed the item in his hand to Eric, then turned and left.
"One more thing."
Eric called out to him, pulling a transparent plastic bag from his pocket.
The plastic bag contained many ruby rings, which were also the culprit behind Clark's change in personality.
"Hmm."
Seeing the ruby rings in Eric's hand, Hamilton's eyes narrowed.
"Graduation rings using space meteorites instead of rubies?!"
"You've seen them?"
Eric asked him in surprise.
"I've heard of them. I sell plastic fake meteorites to tourists, and schools sell meteorite rings as rubies to students. We're both in the same business."
After taking the rings from Eric's hand, Hamilton put on thick glasses and examined them for a while, then walked to the shelf and took down a red meteorite wrapped in limestone.
"The meteorite found near Hobbs Lake, characterized by its dark red color throughout, is a very special non-crystalline, glassy substance. Of course, it's not as fragile as ordinary glass."
Handing the red meteorite to Eric, Hamilton explained, "I excavated this from near Hobbs Lake. There's a crater there 17 meters deep and 124 meters in diameter. If it weren't submerged by the lake, I believe much more would be excavated from the bottom of the pit."
"Does red kryptonite, like green kryptonite, change human cell structure?"
Eric asked Dr. Hamilton.
"It's not yet certain. I haven't done much research on this type of meteorite."
Hamilton shook his head.
"Then I think you can put the plan to research red meteorites on your agenda."
Eric examined the meteorite, feeling the coolness emanating from it as he spoke to him.
Returning to the farm from Hamilton's warehouse, Eric had just pushed open the door when he saw Jonathan's upper body exposed, lying under the sink, repairing the water pipe.
Seeing Eric enter, he gestured for Eric to hand him the wrench.
"Do you need me to help you solder the pipe, Dad?"
"No, thanks."
After taking the pipe from Eric's hand, Jonathan refused his help.
"You know, if I rely on you too much, my movements will gradually become very slow."
He said, showing Eric the washer in his hand, "You wouldn't believe that the superpowers you possess now are not as useful as a copper washer."
Looking at the copper washer in his father's hand, Eric smiled slightly.
"Where's Mom?"
Not seeing Martha, Eric asked Jonathan.
"She was just here. Maybe she's outside tidying up the artichoke wood."
Jonathan said casually.
Eric nodded, walked into the courtyard, and didn't find his mother, but he did hear strange noises coming from the always-closed barn.