"Open your mouth!"
Martha held a cookie to Jonathan's mouth. "How does it taste?"
"Hmm, all we need now is a catchy name for the shop, and then we'll be raking in the big bucks!"
Jonathan gave his wife's handmade pastries an extremely high rating.
"I think it's best if you stop using 'Farm Wife' now and just use Mrs. Kent, Mom."
Eric walked out of the room and said to Martha.
"Eric!"
Seeing Eric appear before her, Martha immediately stood up in surprise.
"Eric, when did you get here?"
"Just now, when I heard you talking about opening a cookie shop."
Eric smiled at his mother.
Martha hugged Eric tightly and kissed him on the face. "My poor son, this is your and Clark's first Christmas at home. How are you? Did you encounter any trouble? Did you receive the Christmas gifts Jonathan and I prepared? Did you reheat the turkey for dinner?"
Due to her excessive worry that her son hadn't had a good Christmas at home, Martha asked a string of questions as soon as they met.
"Everything is fine, Mom."
Eric replied to his mother.
"Where's Clark?"
Seeing only Eric drive over, Jonathan asked him.
"He... was delayed by something."
"Is that so?"
Jonathan nodded.
"Eric!"
As the group was talking, a voice came from behind them.
A middle-aged man in a light gray jacket with curly blonde hair stood behind Eric, exclaiming in surprise.
"Uncle."
The person who arrived was his uncle—Dustin, an unprofessional painter whom his family considered to be idle.
"I was just about to go to Smallville to talk to you about the illustrations you drew in your book, but I didn't expect you to arrive so soon!"
Dustin walked over and shook Eric's hand, a pungent smell of oil paint emanating from him.
"I have to say, you are truly talented! No, you are truly gifted. Those chaotic things, octopuses, viscous monsters, terrifying creatures in the starry sky—how did you draw them? Also, which university will you attend? I can recommend Kansas City Art Institute, or Pratt Institute..."
"Dustin, you never even went to college."
Martha, standing nearby, exposed Dustin's bragging.
"In fact, I attended school for a few days, but then I... well, dropped out."
Dustin said seriously, "But I have a lot of connections, which might be of great help to Eric."
"Thank you, but right now... it doesn't seem to be necessary."
Eric declined him.
He wasn't very familiar with this nominal uncle, having only met him two or three times. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
He only knew that the other party loved painting, and was even somewhat obsessed with it.
He was rarely home and often acted outrageously.
"It's okay, you can always find me if you need anything."
Dustin patted Eric's shoulder and said with a smile.
"Do you want to try a cookie, Eric?"
Martha offered Eric a cookie.
"Thank you!"
Eric took the cookie and tasted it.
As he was tasting the cookie, the sound of a car came from outside the door.
Martha walked to the door, and after seeing who got out of the car, she pushed the door open with a strange expression and walked out.
Jonathan also saw the person getting out of the car through the window, but he said nothing, just stood silently in place.
Dustin, as if oblivious, continued to eat his cookie.
Eric's gaze penetrated the wall, and he saw an old man talking to Martha.
The old man, dressed in a suit and tie with white hair, should be his maternal grandfather.
But he wasn't very familiar with this so-called grandfather.
He heard that the other party had been a lawyer in Metropolis until he moved here in recent years.
And Jonathan's relationship with his maternal grandfather didn't seem to be very good.
"You look a lot more haggard."
The old man standing outside the courtyard said to Martha.
"I'm fine, Dad, I'm very satisfied with this life."
"For some people, that might truly be the case, but you had so much potential. You were always in the top ten of your class back then, and entering law school would have been easy for you. I originally hoped you would inherit my career."
The old man said to Martha with some dissatisfaction in his tone.
"I never wanted to be a lawyer. I chose my own path."
Martha said with some impatience.
She knew her father had always been dissatisfied with Jonathan, and she didn't expect his prejudice to still be so deep after so many years.
The old man shook his head. "You didn't choose your path; Jonathan chose it for you. You're just following Jonathan and joining the fun."
"This has nothing to do with Jonathan. You raised an independent daughter, and you're unhappy because of that!"
Martha raised her voice, "I will choose my own life path, and I strive for happiness. Now I have two sons, and I'm pregnant again. I'm very satisfied with my current life."
"Dad, Eric is inside. You haven't seen your grandson in many years. Don't you want to go in and see him?"
"I..."
The originally strong and capable old man suddenly became speechless.
After glancing at the house, he hesitated and shook his head. "No... Eric hasn't seen me in many years. He... he must not recognize me."
"I... prepared a check for you. ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦"
The old man pulled a check from his pocket. "I know your lives are not easy. You're pregnant and still have to take care of Clark and Eric."
"Dad, I don't need it. Our lives are good now, and we're not short on money. Eric even made some money from his book."
"All right."
The old man sighed. "I'll go back to the hotel first. Contact me if anything comes up."
This mansion belonged to the old man, but after letting his daughter's family live there, he moved to a hotel outside.
"Aren't you staying?"
Martha asked her father again.
"You can also have lunch. Eric is here, maybe you can have lunch with him."
"No."
The old man shook his head and walked towards the car.
After starting the car, he drove straight away.
After watching her father's car leave, Martha stood still for a moment, then entered the room with a worried expression.
"He left?"
Jonathan asked his wife.
"Yes, he still wouldn't come in."
Jonathan sat down and poured himself a glass of water. "Some things we say we need to look forward to, but some things are destined not to change."
"Dad, is there a big problem between you two?"
Eric asked Jonathan.
He didn't know what other entanglements or disputes existed between them.
"Yes, Eric. When your mother and I decided to get married, I went to ask him to give his daughter to me."
"Then what did he say?"
"I still clearly remember every word: 'I will not let my daughter abandon everything and marry down to a country farmer, to suffer with him.'"
"Hmm... not very pleasant words." Eric expressed some sympathy for his father.
Martha saw that her husband was in a bad mood and added, "He's like that with everyone."
Jonathan continued, "When he realized we were really going to get married, he went crazy! He tried to push me out of his office."
"Then what happened?"
Eric continued to ask.
Jonathan, silent for a few seconds, glanced at Martha. "I punched him!"
"..."
Eric fell silent, unsure how to respond.
He had indeed rarely heard of such a thing as punching one's father-in-law.
Perhaps his father used to be a hot-headed youth!
"This is nothing to be proud of. I once tried to apologize to him, but he said he never wanted to have anything to do with me again. Since then, we have never spoken a word. For over twenty years, our relationship has been like this."
After Jonathan finished speaking, he stood up. "I know I'm stubborn, but some things just can't be changed."
After Jonathan left, Martha's expression was somewhat downcast.
Eric reached out and took his mother's right hand, which was resting on the table. "Nothing is set in stone, Mom. I believe their relationship won't always be like this."
"Maybe."
Martha forced a smile at Eric. "The most stubborn thing is people's minds, I suppose! Jonathan is very stubborn, and Clark sometimes inherits that trait. In the future... if you and Clark have disagreements, even if you argue, listen patiently to each other. If two stubborn people argue, they won't think about mending the relationship, but rather making it worse."
"I understand."
Eric replied, gripping his mother's hand.
"Hey, maybe you two should watch TV."
Dustin turned on the TV and said to the two of them, "Something big seems to be happening in Metropolis."
Hearing Dustin's words, they both turned their attention to the television.
The TV screen was showing scenes from the streets of Metropolis, where many people had fallen into a dazed, immobile state.
Pedestrians on the street all stood still, cars that were speeding stopped, and shoppers and salesclerks in the mall maintained their haggling postures...
Except for children, almost all adults had become motionless puppets.
"This is...?"
Martha looked at the news report on the TV. "What is this? Some kind of virus spreading?"
"Possibly."
Eric nodded.
Things were escalating. He wondered how the Injustice Society would clean up this mess.
And... he admitted that the idea of planting thoughts directly into someone's mind was somewhat appealing to him.
Is the most stubborn thing the mind?
Using a radar diffuser to change other people's thoughts—such a thing wasn't entirely without value.
...
"So, what do we do next? If they keep broadcasting this signal, Brainwave will probably achieve his goal in a few hours. By then, not only will many people be brainwashed and controlled by Brainwave, but many will also die."
Blue Valley, Courtney, anxious, asked Clark.
"You go stop the Injustice Society, and I'll destroy the radar station!"
Clark instructed them, then immediately moved towards Blue Valley.
With his super speed activated, his figure instantly vanished from everyone's sight.
"Alright, we can put our hope in him now. It's up to us to act next."
"Are you sure you're really okay, Courtney?"
Wildcat asked her, "You don't have the Cosmic Scepter right now. You might be at a disadvantage if a fight breaks out."
"Are you saying I'd be a burden?"
Courtney shrugged. "Even without the Staff now, my physical conditioning and gymnastics skills can help me fight criminals."
Bang!
As soon as she finished speaking, a whistling sound came from the air.
Star-Spangled Kid Pat's giant robot descended from the sky.
Its feet landed on the ground, making the already uneven street even more bumpy.
"Great! Pat, you finally arrived at the crucial moment. Let's hurry to the Injustice Society's base. Midnight Doctor's glasses can help us find the entrance to the underground base."
But as Courtney spoke, she noticed something was off about him.
It seemed Pat was standing still, not responding to anything she said.
"Oh no!"
Courtney immediately thought of Brainwave's mind control, swallowed, and quickly dodged backward.
But it was too late. Star-Spangled Kid grabbed Courtney's leg and directly flung her out.
Seeing Courtney flung away, the already wary Wildcat immediately leaped up, using the powerful jumping ability provided by her equipment to jump into the air, embrace the rushing Courtney, and the two of them crashed to the ground, rolling forward.
"Yolanda?!"
Courtney, having narrowly escaped Death, looked at Wildcat who had saved her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, but maybe you should lose some weight."
Courtney: ""
Here, Courtney and the others were blocked by the controlled Pat, temporarily unable to enter the Injustice Society's base.
But another uninvited guest had already entered the intricate underground tunnels.
"How much longer?"
Icicle sat at the back of the hall, asking the head of the "New America" project—"Dragon King," who dressed himself like Scarecrow, an expert said to have participated in World War II and biological warfare in the East.
"About two hours. As long as he's not interrupted during this time, Brainwave can control everyone's brain nerves using the amplifier."
"No, it's still too slow. As soon as the federal government reacts, they'll easily discover the radar we've set up. Tell Gambler to use his hacking skills to block signals, mislead, and disrupt the federal government's information exchange."
Icicle stood up and paced back and forth in the hall.
"Control some humans and have them stop anyone who dares to obstruct our plan, understand?"
"Okay!"
Dragon King nodded and walked out of the hall.
As the preoccupied Icicle turned around, he found an uninvited guest sitting in his seat.
A person who looked not very old, radiating an aura even colder than his own, was sitting in his seat, staring at him.
"Who are you?"
Icicle took a surprised step backward.
How did the other person get in?
Why was he completely unaware?!
His originally confident and composed mind suddenly became flustered.
"Homelander!"
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