Chapter 50: The Life Clock of a Father

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Smallville, Luthor Mansion

Lionel Luthor sat in his office, watching a video feed from the lab with a furrowed brow. Although the Luthor chemical plant had been shut down, the secret lab within continued its research on kryptonite.

"This is the corpse of a coyote we found near the meteor—or rather, the spaceship—crash site," said Dr. David Harewood, who was handling the autopsy, addressing the camera as he examined the coyote's body.

A few days earlier, Smallville residents had reported seeing what looked like an unidentified flying object descending from the sky. After hearing about it, Lionel Luthor immediately sent his people to investigate. Though nothing valuable was found, they discovered the mysteriously dead animal at the scene.

In the video, David Harewood suddenly gasped. "This can't be!"

He looked bewildered. "The coyote still has body heat. Initially, its tissues were rigid, but now they're softening, and the temperature has returned to normal."

Using a scalpel, Dr. Harewood cut into the coyote, his expression growing more perplexed. "It almost seems like it's coming back to life."

He set down the scalpel, intending to record the findings, but suddenly, black tendrils emerged from the coyote's chest wound, wrapping around David's arm.

The sticky, black tendrils yanked his right arm toward the open wound in the coyote.

Caught off guard, David's arm was pulled into the bloody cavity.

"Oh my god! Help me!"

David cried out in pain, calling for help from his assistant and the nearby guards. Startled, the assistant quickly rushed over, and the guards outside the lab stormed in after hearing the shouts.

With help from the assistant and guards, David's arm was finally pulled free.

However, before anyone could catch their breath, a new horror unfolded.

David's right arm suddenly shot out, grabbing a guard by the throat, lifting him into the air, and throwing him across the room.

Boom!

The guard's body smashed against the equipment-laden lab bench, shattering glass and creating a deafening noise.

The assistant, paralyzed with shock, stared at David Harewood in disbelief. He couldn't understand how the once-gentle doctor had suddenly gone mad.

Realizing he had to escape, the assistant turned, only to find David blocking his path to the door.

In a heartbeat, David's blood-streaked hand gripped the assistant's terrified face, lifting him effortlessly.

The assistant felt an increasing pressure and could even hear his skull beginning to crack.

"Aaaaah!"

At the same time, he could see his own face aging rapidly, like watching time accelerate.

As David's face twisted with increasing malevolence, the assistant's screams grew weaker.

Thud!

Moments later, the assistant's lifeless body fell to the ground.

After absorbing the assistant, David Harewood turned his pitch-black eyes toward the camera.

Click!

Lionel Luthor pressed pause, freezing the image on the screen.

There was a knock at the door, and Lionel closed the video feed.

"Come in."

"Sir, the police have found a body near the Smallville River."

An aide entered, handing Lionel a file.

Lionel opened it and was immediately greeted by the emaciated corpse of Don Haggerty.

The horrifyingly shriveled face looked eerily similar to that of the deceased assistant.

After flipping through a few pages, Lionel asked, "Any news on David Harewood?"

After killing the guard and assistant, David had escaped the lab. Despite dispatching a team to find him, there had been no sign of him.

"Not yet, sir."

"Then increase the search."

Just as he was about to continue, the phone rang. Irritated, he picked it up. "What's the problem, Anna?"

His secretary reported, "Sir, Lex has arrived at the mansion."

"What?!"

A few minutes later, Lionel Luthor looked exasperatedly at the beaming, bald-headed Lex in front of him.

"Lex, you should have called me in advance."

"Dad, I wanted to surprise you. I missed you."

Lex explained that he had asked the driver to bring him from Metropolis because he wanted to see his father.

"You shouldn't have come here."

Lionel didn't share Lex's enthusiasm. Picking up the phone, he instructed, "Anna, arrange for a driver to take Lex back."

Lex looked at him with disappointment. "Dad?"

This wasn't what he had imagined.

The joy and excitement he'd felt about seeing his father were quickly dispelled.

Seeing the disappointment in Lex's eyes, Lionel hesitated, but thinking of the danger at hand, he ultimately had his men escort Lex out.

Evening, Podrick Farm

Peter was away, leaving Clark and Azu alone on the farm.

Clark was feeling down about Don Haggerty's death.

"This isn't your fault, Clark," Azu said, stacking logs in a corner of the farm. "You can't be responsible for every death."

Clark let out a sigh. "I know. My godfather once said that our lives are a series of events, each moment and action, whether a loving word or an angry gesture, is just a small tick on the clock of life."

He continued, "After countless ticks, one day something finally triggers the alarm, the clock rings, and our time ends."

Azu thought for a moment, finding the idea oddly profound. "Hmm, maybe Don Haggerty's clock just ran out."

"It's so sudden. Human lives are really fragile," Clark murmured. "What if my godfather's or my parents' clocks run out?"

Azu frowned, thinking Clark was being too gloomy. "Clark, you're so dark. Dad's never going to die."

"But Socrates said that all men are mortal."

"Dad's not an ordinary man!"

"Socrates was human, and so is my godfather. Socrates died, and my godfather will die someday too."

"Dad's not a human!"

Azu, slightly annoyed, started to argue back when Clark suddenly raised a finger to his lips. "Shh! Be quiet, Azu!"

Azu stopped, and with his super-hearing, he too heard strange noises coming from the barn.

The two exchanged glances and nodded.

With a burst of super-speed, Azu reached the barn in the blink of an eye.

Inside, the barn was eerily quiet, bathed in the reddish glow of the setting sun.

Azu scanned his surroundings cautiously, taking slow steps up the repaired staircase to the second floor.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed behind him.

"Who's there?!"

Without hesitation, Azu whirled around, instinctively throwing a punch.

Boom!

To his shock, the figure calmly caught his punch.

Azu stared at the man before him, astonished, and accidentally blurted, "N—N?"

Although he stopped himself just in time, the man knew what he meant.

What a rascal!