"Every little town with a bit of history has its share of strange tales," Clark said with a chuckle, scratching the back of his head. "This unusual event of a meteor shower probably provided the perfect opportunity for these myths to emerge and spread."
"Perhaps," Lex Luthor replied with a soft smile, not bothering to refute the statement. He had originally intended to invest in this tragically brilliant individual to thoroughly research the meteor, but he had been too late.
However, it didn't matter. He had recently stumbled upon an incredible, mysterious artifact that might bring him a different kind of surprise.
"Are those 'magic lamps' from fairy tales that can grant any wish truly real?" With a glint in his eyes, Lex paused for a moment in thought before bidding the two farewell, a smile playing on his lips as he turned to leave.
"You've improved your acting in just a few days," David remarked slowly after Lex had departed. Clark's expression had shown almost no discernible flaws.
"Of course, it would be even better if you hadn't added those unnecessary physical gestures," David added, leaving his suggestion before turning to head home. He had seen what he wanted to see.
Hearing his brother's praise, Clark couldn't muster any joy. As the body was wheeled out of the room by a nurse, ready to be taken to the morgue, he sighed, his mood growing heavy.
"Meteors..." Another victim of the meteors. If he hadn't brought the meteor, Mr. Hamilton might still have been a highly acclaimed scientist instead of being seen as a mad scientist by the townspeople.
Hiss... Crackle!
Suddenly, a series of piercing sounds assaulted Clark's ears. The hum of medical machinery, the squeak of hospital bed wheels against the floor, the pained cries of patients, the wails of infants... All sorts of sounds flooded his ears, striking his eardrums like a drumbeat, the immense noise making it impossible for him to think.
"Ah... my ears." Clark clutched his head, staggering back in pain, and sank onto a hospital bench.
"A... another ability?" He tried to control it, telling himself, Clark, there's nothing to fear. It's just another superpower, super-sensory ability. Having previously awakened super-vision, Clark had some experience. Just as David had inspired him last time, he focused his mind, constantly convincing himself that he could control it. As he exerted mental control, the roaring sounds that felt like a tidal wave in his ears gradually became less piercing.
...
Luthor Manor.
In the quiet, deserted office at night, Lex Luthor's gaze was distant under the lamplight as he intently caressed an object in his hand.
"An unexpected surprise discovered at the Metropolis Museum last time."
A cluster of yellow crystals grew from a base of gray rock, held together by a brass ancient ring engraved with dense Latin text. It appeared to be an ancient handicraft. However, the materials were unremarkable, and its age could not be determined. It was merely an extra piece included when the Metropolis Museum acquired a batch of Egyptian artifacts. An Egyptian artifact appraiser had deemed it a modern handicraft worth less than a hundred dollars. Lacking exhibition value, it was about to be casually tossed into storage with a pile of miscellaneous items by someone when Lex was browsing the Egyptian exhibition area.
"Was it a fated encounter?" As the security guard was moving it, the crystal stone slipped from the top of a stack of boxes, falling from a height of over two meters to the ground, yet it remained completely intact. Possessing some skill in jewelry appraisal, Lex was slightly surprised that a crystal could fall like that without shattering. He stepped forward, gentlemanly offering to pick it up, but didn't pay it much mind, intending to return it to the guard.
"Hold this and make a grand wish," Lex softly recited the Latin inscription on the stone's copper ring from behind his desk. He had thought of the mysteries in the small town after seeing those eight words.
"Like the magic lamps in fairy tales that grant wishes, an interesting item." Luthor, who had never believed in such things before, impulsively bought it. He brought it back to the manor and placed it on a bookshelf as an interesting decorative piece. Yesterday, while reaching for a book on the shelf, he accidentally knocked it off, and the crystal stone fell to the ground again, still without any damage. His interest piqued, he then discovered that the item's hardness far exceeded his imagination.
"Though it's crystal, it can't be smashed even by a sledgehammer, nor can it crack when exposed to fire at a thousand degrees." Lex ran his hand over the cool, hard crystal stone, a hint of fervor appearing in his eyes.
After that, he tried various methods to smash it, but none were successful. Not even a trace was left behind; its hardness was beyond imagination.
"It's like it wasn't made by mortals."
On the computer next to him, the latest report, acquired at great expense and compiled recently, was displayed, along with photos of ancient stone carvings.
"Four thousand years ago, you appeared in the Indus Valley. In 146 BC, you suddenly appeared in Carthage. In 4 AD, the Kingdom of Kush..."
"Romulus II, the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, clutched you tightly in his final moments after being assassinated, filled with unwillingness..."
Lex Luthor's tone was melancholic.
"Magic mirror, magic mirror, tell me, what secrets do you hold?"
He held the stone, reciting a wish-like incantation from a fairy tale.
One second, two seconds passed, and then nothing happened.
This was because he had no intention of making a wish, and his tone was even laced with mockery.
It could be confirmed that this was a wondrous artifact with magical power, but it either had severe limitations on wishing or came with a huge price.
"Otherwise, Romulus II would have conquered the world and lived to this day, wouldn't he?"
Under the light, Luthor, his face half-hidden in darkness, let out a scoff. Ambition, restrained but palpable, gleamed in his eyes as he murmured softly.
"No rush... I will uncover your secrets."
Only then would he make a wish, though he hadn't decided what wish it would be yet.
"To comprehend all secrets related to the meteor? Or to become a modern-day Alexander and rule the world?..."
...
After a delightful and heartwarming dinner.
The sky was full of stars, and a cool night breeze blew.
David and Kara came outside the farm. As the only one in the family who was 'familiar' with Kara, their parents had asked him to see her off.
"Thank you for today."
After walking a dozen meters, David broke the silence.
"It's nothing, Nama. I'm willing to do anything for you."
Kara's footsteps were light, and her face was filled with a faint joy.
"You are the destined savior."
"Could you please not call me Nama?"
David frowned slightly, unaccustomed to the address.
He didn't believe that prophecy. He hadn't cared much before about how Kara addressed him, but now that she was a friend to his family, his mother Martha and father Jonathan really liked this spirited and intelligent girl.
"You've had close contact with Clark. The Sergei who will destroy the world in your tribe's prophecy definitely isn't him. Giving him a girl would be enough to make him flustered; how could he possibly destroy the world?"
The so-called strength that surpassed ten men, the eyes that could shoot fire – it wasn't strange for aliens to have differences from humans. As for descending with heavenly fire, it was likely a misinterpretation by people with backward technology at the time of the ship's arrival with its flashing lights.
"And the savior..."
Helplessness flashed in David's eyes.
The indigenous people back then probably hadn't even grasped what a continent was; their world was likely just a mountain valley.
"Of course..."
Kara smiled. She also felt that the name Nama wasn't very intimate. Her eyes brightened as she tentatively suggested, "Can I call you David?"
Seeing that David didn't resist, she furrowed her brow and brought up another point.
"Your brother Clark, at this time, is indeed unrelated to destruction and devastation."
Kara recalled her interactions with Clark – his shyness and kindness, how anxious he became when his family was in danger.
"But... even cruel and cold-blooded crocodiles are innocent and cute when they are just born."
However, she still wouldn't easily believe that the prophecy passed down in her tribe for five hundred years was false.
"A lion's bloodthirsty nature is ingrained in its bones. Even if it resists its destiny, it cannot live by eating grass. Sooner or later, it will reveal its fangs."
David: "..."
...
"Nama? Sergei? Destroying the world, me?"
Standing in the warehouse attic, watching his younger brother see Kara off from dozens of meters away, Clark, who had just finished dinner and was secretly practicing controlling his newly emerged abilities, looked bewildered.
He had just accidentally overheard something.
David seemed to be discussing something strange with Kara.
During their conversation, it sounded like they mentioned what kind of person he was, that his bloodthirsty nature was ingrained in his bones, and that he would destroy the world in the future?
"You... you're kidding, right?"
David saw Kara off and returned. He ascended to the attic, the best place for enjoying the wind and stargazing. Clark watched his brother coming up the stairs, his expression shifting, and couldn't help but speak.
"David, what were you just talking about with Kara?"
-----------
Machine Translation by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
Read 777+ original & fanfic translations in English, Español, Português, Deutsch, Français, or Русский at: https:// randomtranslator.com/
Join our Discord: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua
-----------