"Mhm!"
Martha awoke from her slumber, feeling a sharp pain in her head.
It was a needle-like pain, and her body felt inexplicably weary.
"Mom?"
After confirming Martha had woken up, Eric let out a long sigh of relief.
He walked over and held his mother's slightly cold hand. "How do you feel? Is anything uncomfortable?"
"I'm fine."
Martha lay in bed, calming her emotions and letting her groggy head clear a bit.
"So, what happened to me?"
She moistened her dry lips and asked Eric.
"Nothing, you're safe and sound now, Mom."
Eric gently patted his mother's hand, comforting her.
After he used the Cosmic Staff to remove the cosmic radiation from the Kryptonian spaceship in his mother's body, her suppressed life force returned to her.
Her heart, which had stopped beating, returned to normal, and her breathing gradually recovered.
"Did you save me, Eric?"
Although her consciousness was a bit muddled after just waking up, Martha clearly remembered that she had been on the verge of Death.
Her consciousness had been pulled from her mind, her heart's beating gradually weakened, and her life unfolded before her eyes like a slideshow.
Although she didn't have any particular religious beliefs, she clearly realized that this must have been her life's final moments.
After falling into endless darkness, she woke up again, with no doctors or nurses in sight, only her son beside her.
Even the most slow-witted person would realize the strangeness of the situation, let alone her, who had two superpowered sons.
"I don't know."
Eric didn't tell his mother about the Star Scepter. "I tried to neutralize the energy in your body. I don't know how effective it was, but it seems to be the best outcome—you're awake!"
Martha smiled faintly. Although she was a bit weak, she held Eric's hand. "Eric, I don't know how you did it, but thank you."
She then had Eric help her sit up halfway, took his hand, and pressed it to her face, feeling the warmth of her youngest son's body.
"Thank you, Eric. I was so close to leaving you, Clark, and Jonathan. I was afraid of that feeling."
Tears of excitement almost fell from her eyes as she spoke of her new lease on life. "I love you, Clark, and Jonathan. It's so good that I don't have to be separated from you all!"
Eric was affected by his mother's emotions, and his perpetually unchanging expression softened a bit.
"No, no matter what happens, Clark and I will never leave you."
Eric whispered, comforting her.
Outside the ward, Doctor Helen, who was worried about Eric's emotional state, had just pushed open the door when she saw an incredible scene before her.
"How is this possible?!"
Looking at Martha lying in Eric's arms, Doctor Helen's eyes widened, and she stood frozen in place.
How could someone who had died come back to life?!
Recovering from her shock and disbelief, Helen immediately performed her duties as a doctor.
She walked to the emergency button to call medical Staff, then began to examine Martha.
She used the stethoscope around her neck to check Martha's heart.
Heartbeat, pulse, breathing, and all other vital signs were normal.
"What happened?!"
Helen looked at Eric with a questioning gaze.
Ever since he entered this ward, all sorts of strange things had happened.
Bright light, shockwaves, and now the revival of someone who had been declared dead.
Besides suspecting Eric, she couldn't find any other reasonable explanation.
Then, she remembered Clark's strange blood…
A hint of fear in her eyes, she looked at Eric.
Could he and Clark both be those non-humans?
"I don't know. I just feel like I woke up after a good sleep."
Martha glanced at Eric and replied to Helen with a smile, "Maybe, like you said, a miracle happened here, just like how I couldn't get pregnant but suddenly did."
After leaving the ward, preoccupied with her thoughts, Helen hadn't walked two steps before Eric called out to her.
"Doctor Helen."
Eric walked up from behind. "I hope I can ask you for a favor."
"What?"
"It's simple. I hope you won't mention that Martha's heart stopped beating."
"I'm sorry, I can't do that."
Helen took a deep breath and said to Eric seriously, "I cannot change facts that are already recorded in the medical report."
"Mhm."
Eric nodded. "Alright, then could you please give me Clark's blood sample now?"
Changing or destroying medical records was easy for him.
"I…"
Helen hesitated. She knew how valuable Clark's blood was and what kind of earthquake it would cause once the public found out.
Watching Helen's hesitant expression, Eric took a step closer to her.
Helen, her emotions taut, stepped back.
Eric ignored her unease and continued in a slow tone, "I believe you've already tested the blood sample and know its value and uniqueness, so I think the best solution is to maintain the status quo, isn't it?"
Eric's piercing gaze fixed on her, even making her feel a sense of oppression and a hint of panic in her heart.
"This world isn't ready for the truth you've discovered, Doctor Helen."
Eric continued in a cold voice, "So give me the blood. I believe this is the best solution."
Helen hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.
She knew that if she didn't hand it over, this guy would definitely not show her any kindness.
Although it was just a gut feeling, she trusted her intuition completely.
After they entered the lab, Helen handed Eric a tube of crimson blood reagent.
"So, are you like Clark?"
Gently turning over the lab report on the table, Helen looked at Eric and asked him.
"What?"
"I tested Clark's blood. His hemoglobin content is significantly below normal standards, but his blood concentration is very high and has a certain aggressiveness. Most importantly, I detected many substances in it that I've never seen before."
"I heard you're Lex's fiancée, is that right?"
Eric didn't answer, instead asking her.
"What does that have to do with my question?"
"The connection is, if I were you, I'd carefully preserve the blood test report on your left. I understand Lex…"
Eric leaned close to Helen's ear and said in an emotionless tone, "He doesn't trust anyone, even if you're his fiancée."
After leaving Helen in a state of unease, Eric walked out of the lab.
He went to an empty corner, his eyes turning crimson, aimed at the Clark's blood reagent in his hand.
But the next second, he extinguished the red Heat Vision in his eyes and put away the blood reagent.
He had changed his mind.
Instead of destroying this, it was better to keep it with him.
Just as he put away Clark's blood reagent, he saw Jonathan frantically getting out of his pickup truck and walking towards the hospital.
Eric immediately went to meet him.
In the ward, Jonathan let out a sigh of relief, seeing his wife safe and sound.
"I got a call from the hospital, the doctor told me, Martha, you…"
Sitting by the hospital bed and holding his wife's hand, Jonathan calmed his excited emotions and asked his wife with a hint of confusion.
"You should ask Eric, he saved me!"
Martha patted her husband's hand and said with a smile, "Though I don't know how he did it."
"It was the spaceship."
Eric said to a bewildered Jonathan, "Perhaps my body was affected by the spaceship's radiation and gained some ability similar to the spaceship. I think this might explain why her body healed itself after I touched Mom."
Although the reason was a bit far-fetched, Jonathan didn't question it, only nodding.
He knew the reason couldn't be that simple, and he also knew Eric was hiding some secrets.
Compared to Clark's occasional rebellious and immature behavior, he trusted Eric more to handle these complex things himself.
This was also why he rarely questioned Eric.
"Clark is still lying at home, Eric."
Jonathan said to his youngest son, "Go see Clark. I'll stay here to take care of your mom."
"Understood."
Eric nodded and turned to walk out of the ward.
As he left the ward, he saw Doctor Helen, dressed in a blue doctor's uniform, standing in the corridor not far away, waiting for him.
"Perhaps you're right."
Helen handed Eric a lab report. "Sometimes, we have to bury some truths, especially when people aren't ready."
Eric took the report and found it was a report analyzing Clark's blood.
"I still have to fill out a complex clinical form, which will take up a lot of my time. I probably won't be able to rest before three in the morning, so I must excuse myself!"
Helen nodded at Eric, then turned and left directly.
Eric stood in place, thoughtfully watching her retreating figure.
It seemed this woman's role was not just that of an ordinary doctor and Lex's fiancée.
After returning to the farm from the medical center, he found Clark lying asleep on the living room sofa.
His body was warm, his brows furrowed, and he looked completely listless.
Shaking his head, Eric used the Star Scepter to eliminate the radiation from Clark's body.
Half an hour later, Clark woke up from his slumber.
He felt a bit dizzy and utterly exhausted after just waking up.
"Awake?"
Eric's voice came from the other end of the living room.
Clark lifted his head and saw him coming down the stairs.
"How long was I asleep, Eric?"
"About three to four hours. Glad to see you're still alive, Clark."
Eric walked down the stairs to Clark's side, greeting his "venomous-tongued" older brother.
"I…"
Standing up, Clark clenched his fists, feeling that power return to his body.
"I'm recovered? Eric, did you do it?"
"In a way, yes."
Eric picked up a glass container of iced lemonade and poured a glass. "You and Mom are both fine now."
"But how did you do it?"
Clark asked in disbelief.
He had thought that he would have to use a spaceship to cure his debilitating illness, but he didn't expect Eric to handle everything.
"Something like magic."
Eric took a few gulps of iced lemonade and replied casually.
"But, I heard you say that kind of thing can't be used casually."
Clark thought of the Black Magic book Eric had obtained when the two of them had together destroyed the Owl's lair in Metropolis.
He thought Eric had used Black Magic at a terrible cost to save himself and his mother.
Thinking of what Eric might lose due to the backlash of Black Magic, a wave of guilt welled up in his heart.
"So, Eric, what did you lose?"
Clark was silent for a moment, then looked up and asked his brother.
"That's not important."
Eric, noticing his older brother's emotions, shook his head, "When it comes to life, let's be a little bolder, because we will all eventually lose it. Alright, Clark, I wasn't hurt, nor was I taken by magic's backlash."
Eric looked at Clark, "What you should be most concerned about now is how to explain your blood problem to Doctor Helen."
Having found a new worry for Clark, he stood up and walked towards the room.
Putting the blanket draped over him back on the sofa, Clark watched Eric's back, a warm current flowing through his heart.
No matter what, Eric had ultimately saved him.
He wanted to say "thank you," but when he came to his senses from his daze, he found that Eric had already disappeared down the stairs.
"Phew!"
Clark exhaled and shook his arm, feeling a little dejected.
If he couldn't thank him immediately and in person for such a thing, he would feel very impolite.
Eric, back in his room, did not notice Clark's little thoughts.
He took out the Star Scepter, which had shrunk to the size of a wand, and aimed it at his arm.
A golden-yellow energy beam gathered at the top of the Star Scepter, emitting a dazzling light.
If he wanted to, he could extract the Kryptonian energy affecting his body at any time. This kind of thing, residing within his body, would constantly change his body's structure, giving it the physical characteristics of a Kryptonian.
If he used the Star Scepter to extract this energy, his body would gradually return to the normal "Homelander" template.
He would no longer fear kryptonite, but abilities exclusive to Kryptonians, such as "getting stronger by sunbathing" and "biological field creation and distortion," would also gradually disappear.
The golden glow at the tip of the Cosmic Staff gradually faded, finally disappearing.
Eric put away the Staff.
In the end, he still did not remove the Kryptonian radiation from his body.
Although fearing kryptonite would leave him with a fatal weakness, compared to this weakness, he valued the improvement to his body more.
Moreover,
This weakness was something he could abandon at any time!
Blue Valley.
"Are you listening to me properly, Courtney?"
"I always am."
Courtney faced Pat, "I've been listening all along, but I failed, Pat! I wanted to defeat those villains, but I failed very spectacularly."
"A very spectacular failure!"
Courtney shook her head in frustration, sitting down on the carpet, "I thought I could control everything, but the enemy's strength, I couldn't even raise any thoughts of fighting him. I lost my Staff, that was Starman's relic, and also the spiritual sustenance I was to inherit."
"I..."
Looking at the night outside the window, Courtney wrapped the blanket draped over her more tightly.
"I'm going to find him! Get the Staff back!"
Courtney, with reddened eyes, tightened her grip on a corner of the blanket she was holding.
"Do you know his identity?"
Pat patted his daughter's shoulder and asked her.
"No, I don't know his name. He initially said he was Injustice Society, but then he killed Brainwave..."
"No, no, no, Brainwave is in the hospital now, just in a coma from a stroke, although he's basically half-dead, he's not dead."
Pat corrected Courtney's wording, "And there's a very important point, that outsiders, those villains, will think you're the one who dealt with Brainwave and caused his stroke."
"Okay, you don't have to correct me, Pat."
Courtney said to her stepfather with some helplessness, "Let's not correct the minor details, the key thing is that we can now confirm he's not from the Injustice Society!"
"Of course, I understand the details of your battle."
Pat sighed and said, "He can fly without any tools, once he moves, no one can track his trajectory, and he can block the Staff's energy impact with one hand."
"And Brainwave had no power to resist him at all. To be honest, I've never seen such an existence."
Pat looked wistfully at the sky outside the storage room window, "Maybe I really am a bit out of touch with the times. After all, the Justice Society has been destroyed for many years, and I am no longer the superhero I once was—Star-Spangled Kid."
Courtney looked up at her slightly dejected stepfather, "I heard Star-Spangled Kid was Starman's sidekick, right?"
"Cough cough..."
Pat immediately started coughing, "Cough... I have something to show you, come with me."
Saying that, he stood up and walked out unnaturally.
Courtney thought for a moment and followed her stepfather's steps.
Pat started his armored robot and slowly flew into the sky.
Courtney had lost the Staff, so she could only let the steel armored robot's metal arm hold her as they flew through the sky.
Under the clear night sky, the armored robot flew over Blue Valley Town, Lincoln City, and arrived at Metropolis.
Upon reaching Metropolis, the robot stopped at the outskirts of Metropolis—on a street adjacent to the slums.
"The street behind us is Harvelin Slum, a place buried under electronic waste."
Pat operated the robot to an abandoned apartment building and opened the iron gate.
"I heard Moira from New Flying Energy Park was planning to build a power plant here, but it never materialized. Speaking of which, a few months ago, a disappearance case occurred in Metropolis, and many wealthy people and celebrities in this city went missing."
Pushing open the door and entering the courtyard covered in weeds, Pat continued to Courtney:
"If this city had fewer of these vampires, I think the lives of the people in the slums wouldn't be as bad as they are now."
Using a key to open the villa's door, they entered a spacious hall enveloped in darkness.
Walking cautiously through the somewhat empty hall, Courtney asked her stepfather, "What is this place?"
"Justice Society of America."
Pat led Courtney to a round table and pulled back the cloth covering it.
After the cloth on the round table was removed, the backup lights in the hall came on, dispelling some of the darkness, allowing Courtney to see the furnishings in the hall.
Around the round table were a circle of seats covered in white cloth, and next to them were several pillars.
Full-body portraits were painted on the pillars.
Courtney first walked to a pillar with a portrait of Starman and observed it for a while.
Then she walked to a portrait of a person wearing a golden helmet, a string of necklaces on their chest, and a cloak.
"These are all heroes of the Justice Society of America. Each of them has abilities, strength, and weapons. Just like your Cosmic Staff, they use these abilities to protect the world and fight people like Brainwave."
"Who is this person?"
Courtney pointed to the portrait in front of her, whose entire face was covered by a helmet.
"Doctor Fate, a very wise sage, but unfortunately his end was rather tragic."
"What about this one?"
She walked to a portrait similar in attire to Catwoman and asked.
"Wildcat, real name Ted Grant, he was once a heavyweight boxing champion. He once gave me a necklace, it was the closest thing he could find to a Star-Spangled Kid character doll, saying it represented good luck."
Pat sighed, paused for a moment, and said, "Hourman, Flash, Doctor Fate, they are all my friends, my family."
Courtney didn't hear Pat's later words, but instead walked to a metal shelf.
On it was a gray Owl with its eyes rolling around.
"Is this Owl real?"
"Of course, this is Midnight Doctor's Owl. Every time I come in, it flies directly to Midnight Doctor's arm. Now it doesn't know Midnight Doctor is dead and has been waiting."
Pat walked behind Courtney and said in a heavy tone, "The Injustice Society killed them all! The fact is, you and I can't defeat them! And we've encountered an enemy even harder to deal with than the Injustice Society."
"If..."
Courtney turned around to face Pat, her eyes shining.
"If we use this equipment to form a new Justice Society. And make the Injustice Society members fight that guy who stole my Star Scepter, Pat, what do you think of this plan?"
"No one can replace these heroes."
Pat disagreed with Courtney.
"And how are you going to make the Injustice Society members fight the person who stole your Star Scepter? Incite discord? Sorry, we don't even know who else is in the Injustice Society right now, only Brainwave has appeared, how do we find the others?"
"Isn't Brainwave in the hospital now?"
Courtney held up one finger, "First thing, check the list of people visiting Brainwave, and you might find the Injustice Society guys."
Then she held up a second finger, "Second thing, I know a new classmate, a transfer student like me. Uh, we're the kind of classmates who've formed a real friendship. She's seen very powerful villains before, and she seems to know the guy who stole my Staff. I can ask her for help!"