Chapter 45: Mutual Protection

"Fortunately, Robert wasn't influenced by my teachings. Robert, you did well, don't carry any psychological burden, you're a good kid! No, you're a real man. You not only protected yourself but also our home!" Jonathan looked at Robert with some relief and praised him.

Jonathan saw that Robert was only fifteen years old, an alien, and even though he described killing people in a nonchalant way, Robert's heart must not be at ease. So, Jonathan wanted to encourage Robert, to let him not carry any psychological burden.

Jonathan even turned his head to look at Clark, thinking that dealing with the Brotherhood should have been Clark's responsibility.

After all, just as Jonathan was willing to sacrifice his life to keep his sons' powers a secret, Clark should also take on the responsibility as an older brother to protect Robert...

But Jonathan quickly thought of Clark's character and his previous teachings, and ultimately, he did not speak up.

Jonathan had to admit, in teaching Clark, he had simplified many things, not considering the complex situations Clark might face. Fortunately, Robert was there today; otherwise, given Clark's character, he might have really let those two assassins go or taken them to the police station...

"This is what I should do. I believe if it were you, Dad, you'd also protect our home without hesitation, right?" As Jonathan was reflecting, Robert looked at him, smiled, and said softly.

"So, I hope Dad won't say things like 'even if I were to die in front of you, you shouldn't choose to save me' anymore. Such a thing is impossible. The exposure of our powers and Dad's life, these two things are not equivalent at all!"

"Besides, if you, Dad, are willing to sacrifice your life to keep our powers a secret, why can't we expose our powers to save your life? You're also a member of the family, it shouldn't be just you protecting us and not allowing us to protect you."

This was one of the reasons Robert chose to be open and honest. He could never agree with Jonathan's previous notion of hiding their powers at the expense of their family's safety.

"You, kid, who seemed so dull for the past fifteen years, now you can speak well and understand flexibility..." Jonathan laughed heartily upon hearing this, patting Robert's shoulder, and said seriously to both of his sons, "You're right, we are a family, and we should protect each other!"

"Clark, it was my fault for not considering you would face such complex situations. You've grown up, make the choices you think are right!"

"Didn't I already make the right choice?" Listening to Jonathan and Robert's conversation, Clark felt somewhat emotional and after a while, he shook his head and smiled.

At that moment, Clark suddenly felt much more relaxed inside. He didn't know if he could stand up to everything, but he felt that he didn't need to hide his powers so cautiously anymore!

Suppressing himself like that before was really too exhausting! "So, did you figure out why that broken loom targeted you?" Robert looked at the codebook in Clark's hands and asked.

"From the translation of the codebook... it predicted a scene: me floating in mid-air, with people worshiping me below." Clark flipped through the codebook and explained, "The loom didn't want a deity to appear in this world, so it had the Brotherhood kill me before I became a god."

"That's it?" Robert looked at the codebook with some surprise, "It saw you floating in the air and thought you could become a god? Why didn't it think I could become a god? And, it just saw a scene, not clear about your strength but dared to have someone kill you?"

"Based on the available information, it seems so. And it appears that this Fate Loom can't decide what it specifically predicts; it can only randomly see some scenes and then direct the Brotherhood to act..." Clark analyzed softly.

"These predictive scenes may or may not be related to it, so rather than saying it's the Brotherhood's belief, it's more like a predictive machine with self-awareness. You wouldn't know, when you appeared in front of it, the things it begged for were something I've only seen in my life..."

"So it was begging for mercy!" Robert scoffed, dismissively saying, "But even knowing that, I wouldn't have spared it. Such things that plot behind people's backs should be completely destroyed!"

"So, it's not because you were exposed that you were targeted?" Jonathan sighed in relief and asked Robert and Clark.

"It seems we weren't exposed. Robert didn't leave any traces at the Brotherhood's place, and the police didn't find any clues. However, the police have discovered that the textile factory was hiding the Brotherhood, a killer organization..." Clark's gaze flickered as he looked into the distance and said softly.

"So, the police think that some people from the underworld seeking revenge caused the Brotherhood's downfall. Plus, Robert's actions were a bit... um, traceless, so the police couldn't continue their investigation."

In front of the Kents, Clark slightly changed the description, not mentioning that Robert had obliterated most of the assassins. Although Robert seemed not to care much, Clark still wanted to maintain Robert's image.

Clark didn't know if the Kents could get used to Robert's ruthless way of killing, at least Clark was somewhat uncomfortable... But Clark had to admit, perhaps sometimes, Robert's way of doing things was more effective in eliminating future threats.

If Clark had to deal with the Brotherhood himself now, he could probably kill the snipers targeting their family to protect them, but he might not have the heart to personally kill all the Brotherhood's assassins, even though he had changed his views and lifted the suppression on his powers. Killing was not something Clark liked...

"Let me handle the ending of enemies' lives from now on!" Clark thought of what Robert had said before, feeling that leaving these matters to Robert might be a choice, at least until he found his own path, this way of handling was the best option for the Kent family now.

Thus, the Kent family's alarm was temporarily lifted, but the Brotherhood's downfall stirred quite a ripple in the underworld.

For Clark and Robert, the Brotherhood was easy to deal with, the action taking less time than the journey, but for the underworld, especially the assassin world, the Brotherhood was already an organization with extraordinary abilities, and its downfall alerted everyone...