Spring had not yet passed, and even by the cold river, it couldn't dampen the high spirits of a group of high school students for a holiday barbecue party.
[Template Fusion: 93%]
Taking a sip of fruit beer, David gazed at the frozen river surface in the distance.
A few days ago, after he had turned Tina into a vegetable, the two returned home.
His father, Jonathan, stood by the door, shotgun in hand, looking worried. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw both his sons return safely, and then he blamed David with concern, asking why he had chased after her.
To avoid worrying his parents, Clark took the initiative to say that he was the one who had knocked the person out and left them in front of the small town's police station.
Later, the police found the transferred one hundred thousand dollars in Tina's school locker.
However, due to a lack of evidence and Tina's inexplicable comatose state, she was temporarily taken into custody at the hospital as a suspect.
Clark was uncharacteristically angry with David after that day, and hadn't spoken to him for several days.
Although David felt bad about Clark taking the blame again, he didn't think it was a big deal.
"The son of Krypton, who now claims he cannot cross that line, will one day personally twist the neck of his last remaining clansman."
Clark wasn't that stubborn or rigid, but being too young now, he was a bit too idealistic about everything in the world.
By the bonfire, David clenched his fist, his muscles, like high-density alloy, meshing together, a power akin to a volcanic eruption surging within him.
The Thanos template had given him incredibly formidable strength.
"But it's not enough."
Even a fully realized Superman had faced life-threatening danger multiple times in this dangerous world, and Earth itself had narrowly avoided destruction countless times.
It wasn't even unheard of for Earth to have been completely destroyed.
He looked up at the sky, his eyes seeming to pierce through the blue expanse to the universe beyond.
He had fused with the Thanos template, but he didn't possess the ambition to conquer the universe, nor did he deem himself important enough to bear the responsibility for the universe's safety.
For now, he had only one goal in his heart.
"To continuously improve my strength, to ensure that no matter what happens, I can protect myself and my family."
This goal was both simple and incredibly difficult.
Therefore, he wouldn't miss any opportunity to gain emotional points.
"I hope the next template is a powerful one, no less than Thanos."
Due to the unprecedented events of the past period, coupled with Clark's gradual aging and rapid growth in strength, the emotional points he provided had also increased, allowing the template fusion to proceed very quickly. The next template shouldn't be far off.
Expectation flickered in David's eyes. He quietly took another sip of his drink and silently recited in his mind.
"Preferably with some superpowers that don't require using my body."
That way, after what happened a few days ago, he wouldn't have to hide things from his parents and make them worry.
In the distance, there was suddenly a slight commotion.
A beautiful figure, full of vitality and wisdom, walked into the party. She was like a sliver of silver moonlight cast upon the dark night; in everyone's eyes, there was no one else. The gazes of all the boys followed her intently.
Many boys, holding their grilled steaks, like bees and butterflies discovering a flower, scrambled to invite her to sit with them, and a few nearly got into a fight.
"Excuse me."
The girl was confident and poised, showing no stage fright, politely and courteously declining each invitation.
The four of them were also drawn to her.
"Who is that? She looks like Lana."
Clark tilted his head and asked them quizzically. Such a beautiful girl, but he had no impression of her.
"Is this your excuse for moving on after falling out of love?"
David looked at the girl, whom he had never seen at school before, and said lightly.
"I really think she looks like her," Clark argued in a low voice.
"I don't see how she resembles her at all, Clark," Chloe agreed with David, her tone a little unnatural. "Apart from her black hair, there's almost no similarity in her features or aura."
"She's a new transfer student at our town's high school. I remember her name is Kara."
Gazing at the figure, Pete's eyes were fixed on her, as if his soul had been captivated.
"Perhaps, my youth officially begins today!"
"She has the vibe of a female jungle explorer. I think she might not like a man shorter than herself."
Chloe, sitting at the edge of the party, being ignored by everyone, looked a bit dejected as she watched the figure who was the center of attention.
"Chloe, I think I smell something sour."
His most fatal flaw having been pointed out, Pete gritted his teeth and turned his head in anger. He just hadn't experienced his growth spurt yet.
Just as he finished speaking, the beautiful figure in the distance seemed to look over in their direction.
"Look, she's looking this way."
Tall and with skin closer to a healthy tan, her black hair was tied into a braid behind her. Her features held a hint of mixed-race beauty, and she wore indigenous jewelry around her neck, exuding a wild and vibrant beauty.
Pete coughed excitedly, adjusted his seating position to stop peeking at the other person, and put on a deep, thoughtful expression while grilling meat, trying a different approach to attract her attention.
But after a few seconds, when he turned his head to look again, Kara was already sitting with several girls, chatting and laughing, and had started the barbecue, as if she hadn't noticed him at all.
He immediately deflated like a pricked balloon.
[Curiosity from Kara +0.04, Confusion +0.03, Friendliness +0.02, Vigilance +0.02...]
David paused his action of drinking fruit beer, squinted, and looked at that figure.
"An ability user?"
In this small town, this wasn't too surprising.
But why would she feel both friendly and vigilant towards him, and then become vigilant after feeling close? Wasn't that too contradictory?
This series of emotional changes was confusing.
Clark didn't look at Kara like the other three; he gloomily watched Lana in the distance.
On a stone in the distance, Whitney leaned next to Lana, who was grilling meat by herself.
Whitney pestered her with several sentences before Lana occasionally replied, her expression not showing joy, but a hint of faint sadness.
However, the fact that ex-lovers could still sit together and chat spoke volumes.
For example, if Clark, who had been angry for a few days, was still as angry as he was at the beginning, he wouldn't have deliberately said "it's not cold at all" when Chloe and Pete teased him and David.
Sizzle, sizzle!
A few stones were piled up, and a grill pan was placed over the flames. Clark withdrew his gaze, flipping the beef on the grill pan half-heartedly, and glanced at David beside him.
When Tina was turned into a vegetable by her younger brother, he undoubtedly felt angry about what his brother had done at first.
But he had to admit that when Tina took on the appearance of their mother, Martha, he also felt an uncontrollable surge of anger within him.
"Especially after remembering that Tina wanted to kill Mom, I couldn't muster much sympathy for her."
Clark was more worried about his brother, and also about himself. In the current situation, if he couldn't guide his brother back to the right path, it seemed he would be changed by his brother first, slowly getting used to this kind of cold-blooded behavior.
"Clark, don't just stand there."
Pete nudged his friend, winking, interrupting Clark's thoughts.
"Whitney is making a strong push to reconcile with Lana. Are you just going to sit here like a coward?"
"I..."
Clark's personality did indeed have a touch of shyness.
He couldn't compete for Lana with Whitney when Whitney was present.
Seeing him like this, Pete shook his head secretly.
"Lana has been volunteering at the town's senior care home for the past two weeks."
David suddenly said, "Tomorrow is the weekend, and Whitney has training with the football team."
"Clark, have you completed your thirty hours of community service?"
Saying this, he turned to look at Clark.
The school regulations required every student to complete thirty hours of community service each semester to cultivate their awareness of giving back to society.
Clark's eyes lit up, and he immediately realized this was his good opportunity.
"Th-thanks, David."
He said, a little embarrassed.
His younger brother was always smarter than him and had good ideas.
"No need to thank me," David said, drinking his fruit beer.
"Think about it, you've taken the blame for me twice already. That counts as being a good brother, so how could I not reciprocate?"
"..." Clark.
"What blame?" Chloe asked curiously from the side.
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