Looking up at the sun in the sky, Eric lowered his head and clenched his fists.
Why did his Heat Vision feel more powerful than usual when bathed in sunlight?
He checked the Homelander Template within him; it was still stuck at 85% progress.
The template progress hadn't unlocked, so why was his power increasing?!
After a moment of thought, Eric came up with a hypothesis.
To test this hypothesis, he used his super speed to move to his room and retrieved a lead box from under his bed.
The moment the lead box was opened, the green kryptonite inside was exposed to the air, and Eric instantly felt a wave of weakness rapidly wash over him.
His eyes and fingers felt a stinging pain, and his skin burned as if it were being scorched.
Closing the lead box, Eric couldn't help but curse Jonathan's classic American swear word—"Sour Radish Bitch"!
It was just as he had suspected; the spaceship emitted a kind of radiation after it activated.
His mother, Martha's, body was that of an ordinary person and couldn't withstand this harm, which was why she had fallen unconscious.
Clark lost his strength and became even weaker.
And this harmful radiation or energy caused damage to his own body structure.
Perhaps this unknown energy, upon detecting his body's similarity to a Kryptonian, added certain Kryptonian elements to his body.
This would explain why he became stronger under the sun and felt uncomfortable when exposed to kryptonite.
Although not as intense a reaction as Clark's, he was indeed affected by green kryptonite.
So, what did this mean?
He had previously used psychological suggestion to make himself fear kryptonite.
Now, he didn't need to pretend to be a "Kryptonian" anymore.
Because, in some ways, he had indeed become a "Kryptonian."
An existence modeled after Homelander, possessing certain "Kryptonian" characteristics.
After muttering a curse, he paid no mind to further research his body and instantly moved to the barn with super speed.
Clark's situation was a bit bad at this point; his nose had started to bleed.
Wiping his nosebleed, he asked Eric in a somewhat panicked tone, "Eric, am I bleeding?!"
This was Clark's first time bleeding, so his voice was filled with panic and helplessness.
It was like a swimmer who was suddenly proficient in water, then suddenly found himself losing his swimming skills in the vast ocean, panicking and drowning.
"Yes, I see it."
Eric looked at his panic, shook his head, and pulled out a tissue from his pocket, handing it to him.
"Wipe it first; you'll be fine. Now I need to move this thing out and temporarily hide it in a safe place."
With that, he grabbed the spaceship and slowly lifted it.
Clark wiped the blood flowing from his nose with a tissue and asked Eric, "Why hide it?"
"People from the CDC suspect Mother has contracted some unknown toxin, so they're coming to the farm for a thorough inspection. They can't find the spaceship.
"I know a safe place."
Clark, despite his physical weakness, told Eric, "Pete's house has a bigger cellar. If we hide the spaceship there, not even Dr. Indiana Jones would be able to find it."
"I'll call him right away."
With that, he disregarded his own physical condition and ran towards the living room.
Eric, carrying the spaceship, slowly flew out of the barn, then suddenly accelerated, tracing a path through the air before disappearing above the farm.
The CDC personnel, who had been involved in a car accident, also drove their car onto the farm after Eric left.
Jonathan, who had rushed over from the hospital, breathed a sigh of relief when the "DCA" people didn't find the spaceship.
However, staff in biohazard suits still found something unusual in the soil of the cellar.
"Some kind of radioactive spores are in the soil of the basement. We suspect Mrs. Kent came into contact with this substance."
The "DCA" representative explained to Jonathan, "We will conduct a thorough disinfection of the basement. If you find anything, you can contact us."
"I will."
Jonathan nodded in response.
Night soon fell.
The living room was dim; Jonathan hadn't turned on the lights and sat on the sofa, one hand covering his forehead, lost in thought.
Thump-thump!
Hearing footsteps, he looked up at Eric walking towards him.
"Is the spaceship hidden well?"
Jonathan composed himself and asked Eric.
"Yes, it's hidden in Pete's cellar."
After a moment of silence, Eric told his father, "Clark knows about the spaceship."
"I had planned to find an opportunity to tell him and talk to him properly, but under these circumstances, Clark knowing will surely hurt him deeply."
Jonathan sighed, "I'm always so stubborn and bad at understanding others, especially Clark."
Facing his father's self-reproach, Eric didn't answer, merely watching the night grow darker in the room.
After a moment of silence, he asked Jonathan:
"How is Mother?"
"The situation isn't good."
Jonathan wrung his hands together, helplessly, "The doctor said her condition continues to worsen, but they can't find any effective treatment. She woke up once today."
Jonathan said, his eyes red, "She told me that one night she went into the cellar, and a strong light passed through her body, which might be why she was able to conceive. I then asked her why she went into the cellar again later."
"She told me she was very scared, afraid that if one day you and Clark opened the spaceship and discovered your true identities, you would want to leave us."
Jonathan looked up at the ceiling, trying hard not to lose his composure, "I comforted her, telling her no, that such a thing would never happen."
"Eric, have I ever told you about the first time Martha and I met?"
"No, you haven't."
Eric shook his head, his heart filled with an unshakeable gloom.
"At the time, I was taking a finance course at Metropolis University, sitting by the fountain, munching on an apple and looking at my notes. A girl, I remember very clearly, she was wearing a blue wool coat, asked to borrow my class notes. I knew she was responsible for the class notes that day, but I didn't say anything. Martha still doesn't know to this day."
Wiping the corner of his eye with his thumb, Jonathan paused for a moment.
"She was truly beautiful then. I lent her my notes, and she asked me, 'Aren't you afraid I won't return them?' I said, 'I'd rather trust people.' She smiled so happily, and at that moment, I thought, how wonderful it would be if I could marry her, make her my wife. I've always thought that, and I haven't given up that idea even today. Every day my heart tells me, I want to marry her and make her my wife!"
After Jonathan finished telling the story of his first meeting with Martha, Eric was silent for a few seconds.
A moment later, he looked up, his gaze fixed on his father.
"I promise you, Dad, I will make sure Mother is safe. I swear to you, no matter the cost!"