Chapter 18 - Hank Pym (Edited)

Outside the quantum realm, in Clark's living room.

Hope and the white-haired old man were frantically searching for traces of Clark when suddenly, a burst of light shimmered above the sofa. The light gathered at a central point, around which space seemed to be twisting irregularly.

In the next moment, a tiny figure wearing the Ant-Man suit appeared in their view and then returned to normal size in the blink of an eye.

Clark, by copying the second generation Ant-Man's method, finally managed to escape from the quantum realm!

Glancing at the familiar furnishings in the room and then at Hope in front of him, Clark finally let out a sigh of relief. Right after that, he lost all his strength, felt darkness before his eyes, and his body softened, falling directly from the sofa.

Quick-witted Hope caught Clark, opened his mask, and saw a handsome face completely stained with blood.

"Clark! How could you do this to yourself, Clark!?"

Clark didn't respond because at that moment, he had completely passed out.

...

When Clark woke up again, what caught his eye was a sea of white.

White walls, white sheets, white quilts, white curtains, white furnishings... From the nearly uniform color tone in front of him, Clark guessed he must be lying in a hospital bed.

"You're awake!"

Suddenly, a slightly surprised voice entered his ears. Turning his head, he saw Hope and a white-haired old man walking through the door.

Seeing Hope again made Clark feel uneasy.

I almost died because of you, do you know that?

Frowning slightly, Clark didn't hide his dissatisfaction: "About that suit, I need a reasonable explanation. Don't tell me it was just an ordinary costume. I wouldn't be sent to the hospital for a costume party!"

Hope felt a wave of guilt upon hearing this. The result was obviously not what she had wanted!

"That's the Ant-Man suit, my proudest invention in my life." The white-haired old man was more composed, promptly speaking up on behalf of Hope: "First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Hank Pym, Hope's father. She approached you and handed the Ant-Man suit to you under my orders."

"Why?"

Clark loudly questioned. Seeing the old man and Hope together, he had already guessed the other's identity and wasn't surprised. What he didn't understand was what about him could possibly interest this genius.

Is it because of the system's existence being exposed? That's even less likely!

Since the alley attack, Clark always carried a Walkman with him, which stored several background music tracks from when the system was activated. Although others could hear these tracks, it would take a huge leap of imagination to connect them to the system's existence.

"Take it easy, it's a long story," Hank Pym said with a slight smile, then continued: "According to the hospital's tests, about thirty percent of your capillaries have varying degrees of damage. You need to rest for a while to recover. During this period, you need to rest more."

After finishing, Pym gestured to Hope, and they were about to leave the room.

Then, suddenly, Clark calmly said a name: "Janet van Dyne."

Hearing this name, both Pym and his daughter stiffened, then turned back to face Clark, Hope anxiously asked: "Clark, what did you just say?"

"Janet van Dyne." Clark repeated the name: "This name shares your surname, so I thought it might be important to you. But my memories are currently very chaotic. If you want to know more clearly, it's better to first tell me about the 'long story' Mr. Hank mentioned, so I can sort things out."

Hearing Clark's words, Hope looked at her father, who then shook his head slightly at Clark: "Clark, believe me, I don't intend to hide anything from you, but your current condition indeed requires rest. So..."

At this moment, the door to the room was pushed open again, and a nurse came in saying: "The patient's latest test report is out. Congratulations, his recovery speed far exceeds our expectations. The previously damaged capillaries have largely recovered. If this rate of recovery continues, he can be discharged tomorrow."

Hank Pym immediately took the medical report from the nurse's hands, carefully examined it for a moment, and then a knowing smile appeared on his lips: "It seems you're no ordinary person. This rate of recovery is at least twice that of a normal person. Perhaps even Captain America didn't have your level of health."

What's going on?

By this time, the nurse had already left the room, and Clark knew this must be the result of the "Calories" BUFF under persistent exercise, not too surprised, he calmly said: "So now, my body should be strong enough for us to have a heart-to-heart chat, right?"

"Alright!"

Hank Pym pulled up a chair to sit beside Clark's bed, then turned to Hope: "You've been brooding over your mother's affair for years, now it's time you knew the truth."

Then, Hank Pym began to share his experiences.

It all started with the Pym particles, the source of the Ant-Man suit's transformative abilities, a great invention that can alter the size and structure of matter.

Specific details: Omitted.

Notably, the Ant-Man suit can shrink someone to subatomic levels, making a person smaller than an atom, entering a realm where time and space lose their meaning, which is the quantum realm Clark previously entered.

During a mission, Hank Pym needed to shrink to subatomic levels to sabotage the internal structure of an intercontinental ballistic missile. However, his controller was severely damaged and malfunctioned.

At that moment, his wife bravely removed the controller, shrunk herself to subatomic levels to sabotage the missile, and never returned.

Since then, Hank Pym has been dedicated to researching the quantum realm but hadn't made significant progress until Clark's arrival.

Through years of research, although Hank Pym couldn't fully understand the quantum realm, as one of the smartest people in the Marvel Universe, he had some contact with quantum energy. In a previous test, he detected quantum realm energy fluctuations in the real world, followed them, and eventually found Clark.

This explained why Hank Pym and his daughter sought out Clark.

After hearing Hank Pym's explanation, Clark couldn't help but frown and ask: "So, does this mean I always carry the unique energy of the quantum realm with me?"