Chapter 481 | Cousin, How About Being a Homelander?

There was no doubt that Jonathan's plan to make Clark hide himself had been a complete failure.

No matter how they explained it, it couldn't be easily covered up.

First of all, there were so many witnesses in the bank.

They saw it with their own eyes; how Clark knocked down the two robbers who robbed the bank. He was shot at with a shotgun and was still safe.

Unless Superman had a neuralyzer that could erase people's memories with one click and 'flash' they would forget everything.

Otherwise, the confessions of so many people were evidence.

Furthermore, the surveillance cameras in the bank had faithfully recorded everything that had happened before.

Hard evidence was there, and it was useless to deny it.

"Son, lying isn't a good habit."

The fat officer looked at the twisted double-barreled shotgun and secretly felt speechless. What kind of terrible force could do this?

There were two unlucky bank robbers, and their injuries didn't look light.

"Officer, I'm on the school football team, and I often do some work on my father's farm. It's reasonable for me to exercise since I was a child. I'm healthier and stronger than others!"

Clark used his quick wits to think of a reason.

After getting to know his cousin, he would find more and more excuses, and he was no longer that naive small-town boy.

Luke called this change 'growth'.

"Oh, so everyone on your school's football team can bend the barrel of a shotgun and take down two adult males who weigh over 160 pounds? You really think you're Rambo?!"

The officer looked at Clark, who posed like Mr Bodybuilder and revealed his strong muscles. He wondered if there was something wrong with the kid's brain.

"If all the children in the country were as strong as you are, we would have formed a super army and ruled the world!"

Seeing the brave young man was unwilling, to tell the truth...

The officer didn't bother to waste any more time. He turned his head and asked someone to secure the scene. They packed up the physical evidence, ready to take Clark back to the station for proper questioning.

Of course, he didn't mean to interrogate the other party as a suspect.

It was out of professional ethics and personal curiosity.

For a high school student to stop armed robbers from robbing a bank, it was sensational news.

No matter which city it was in, Clark's performance was amazing.

In this era, when superheroes hadn't flooded in, any actions beyond ordinary people's understanding would attract a lot of attention.

"Officer, people's strength can't be generalised. I've been in situations where I'm extremely angry and did things that were normally difficult to accomplish."

A calm voice with a chuckle interjected stopped the officer in his tracks.

"Clark's behaviour, in fact, can be reasonably explained scientifically. For example, because of the rush of adrenaline, the blood flow increases, sending bursts of power out. Even though he never exhibited it before, it's still not as exaggerated as you think."

Seeing the visitor, a look of surprise appeared on Clark's face as he eagerly said, "Cous... Mr Cavill!"

Only Luke could help him this time.

"Ah, it's Mr Cavill? Why are you here?"

The officer's cold attitude greatly changed 180 degrees.

He knew the young man standing in front of him. Last week, he was having dinner with the town's committee.

The young tycoon from Metropolis, the celebrity in town... All sorts of titles were on Luke's head.

The United States of America has a peculiar model of the town administration, one of which is the town committee system.

All the residents in the town meet at least once a year. Through internal discussions, various administrative measures related to public security, personnel flow and other aspects were implemented.

Another was the town representative committee system. Similar to the one above, but elected by all the residents. It was more efficient and saved a lot of time.

The town where the fat police officer was, was of the second type, with the administrative committee taking care of all the official work.

The most powerful and prestigious people were the town's police chief and members of the committee.

The latter was generally composed of rich families and elites, and they represented the 'opinions' of all the townspeople.

The tiny town was a miniature model of the American political structure.

Seeing Luke's appearance, the police officer coughed twice and spoke in a slow voice, "But he was shot and didn't get hurt. Everyone saw it ..."

"It could be that the robbers had purchased inferior firearms or that Kent had learned some kind of martial arts."

Luke's seriously spouted bullshit.

The fat police officer looked puzzled and didn't know why the topic turned to martial arts.

He scratched his head, hesitating because he didn't want to offend the other party too much, and said, "This is a big case. He still needs to come back with us to record a statement."

"Officer, are you going to take a boy who bravely stood up to protect his mother to the police station for questioning? Instead of intensifying the search to hunt down the robber who escaped?"

Luke stressed his tone and seriously said, "The man was carrying over $100,000 in cash from the bank and had a gun. If he's allowed to get away with it, then it amounts to a lack of responsibility for the safety of the town's residents' personal property."

"What you need to do now is not to embarrass this courageous boy but to immediately contact the highway patrol officers along the route and the state police. Put out an all-out manhunt for the armed man with a President's mask!"

Although Luke wasn't that much older than Clark in terms of age, he shocked the police officer with his imposing attitude, acting as if he was superior.

After all, when he was a Lieutenant General in the Pentagon and the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D, he got into the habit of giving orders. The majesty of a superior was subconsciously revealed.

"Clark is a good boy; he deserves commendation, not being interrogated like a prisoner."

With those words, Luke didn't even look at the fat officer and went straight ahead, taking Clark and his unconscious mother with him.

The other party didn't say anything and just stood there in embarrassment.

Doing so, Clark's gaze looked at Luke in admiration.

Clark, who hadn't left the town yet, had a vague understanding of social status for the first time.

"I contacted the ambulance to take Mrs Kent to the hospital first, and then call Jonathan. It shouldn't be a big deal."

Luke seemed to have been briefed on the situation and quickly took care of various issues.

Unfortunately, Mrs Kent fainted because of emotional ups and downs.

Let's just say that the incident came too suddenly.

By the time Jonathan arrived, it was already dark.

This Kansas farmer, with a strong sense of morality, first expressed sincere gratitude to Luke and then replaced Clark, who was at the bedside, holding his wife's hand and sitting beside him silently watching.

The latter closed the door gently and saw his cousin sitting in a chair in the corridor.

"Got some time to talk now?"

Luke rubbed his temples and whispered.

Maybe it's because of the 'butterfly effect', which should have been a step-by-step plot...

It felt like a speeding train that had suddenly gone out of control and was running in an unknown direction.

He thought that he could still watch dozens of episodes of Clark and Lana's love affair and then wait for Superman to fight monsters and upgrade in the novice village. But in the end, he didn't expect it to fast forward to the 'identity crisis' episode so soon.

A bank robbery had exposed Clark's strength and was about to fall into the whirlpool of public opinion.

"Cousin, what should I do?"

They went to the vending machine, grabbed two cans of coke, and found a quiet place to start talking.

Clark looked panicked. Encountering those bank robbers was purely accidental.

In desperation, he accidentally showed extraordinary strength in front of so many witnesses.

After that, a series of chain reactions would undoubtedly be triggered.

News of the town was spreading fast. Before long, Clark would become a household name.

"Don't be too nervous, Clark."

Luke soothed his younger cousin's mood.

The present situation was actually a good thing for him.

Previously, he hadn't interfered too much in Clark's life, given the resistance from the family side.

As Superman's parents, Jonathan and Martha must want their son to live a stable life.

It's best if he could inherit Kent farm, stay in Kansas as a farmer, then marry and have children.

Luke didn't think so. He wanted his younger cousin's life to be a little more interesting.

For example, becoming a Kryptonian who could use martial arts?

It's just that, on the emotional level, the relationship between cousins, who meet again after being separated for many years, was certainly not as deep as that of him and his adoptive parents.

To interfere in Clark's life rashly would inevitably cause the other party's resentment and conflict.

A stable structure will always need external pressure to break things up.

And now, it was a good opportunity to do so.

"Clark, things are far from the worst."

Luke opened the can and took a sip of the cold soda.

"I've settled the matter of the video captured by the security cameras in the bank."

"I mean, there isn't really any evidence, other than those witnesses to suggest that you are a ... Saiyan."

Luke's remark gave his younger cousin some reassurance.

When he was at the hospital bed, Clark couldn't stop thinking of horrible things, like being locked up in a lab, then having his blood drawn every day and becoming abnormally weak.

"Then again, with so many small towns across America, there are always various strange, scary, and weird stories popping up."

Luke's mouth curled up, and he continued.

"Are those all true?"

The more Clark listened to it, the happier he became. His depressed mood instantly perked up.

"So, those cops won't come after me anymore? And I won't have to be forced to drop out of school?"

His younger cousin's way of thinking was really simple.

At this time, he was no different from his peers, and his mind was full of hormones.

'He could only think about Lana and her 'youthful' appearance.'

Luke reluctantly shook his head and thought so.

Men's maturity was often due to women.

When Clark was completely lovelorn, he would understand that having emotions as a Saiyan was a good thing.

"But --"

Luke paused and said the word that Clark didn't want to hear...

"I can't erase all the influences. The residents of the town would start talking about you. They will attach some occult or religious things onto you."

"Clark, the peaceful life has left you."

"Because they saw it, you squashed a shotgun with your bare hands. You took a bullet, and nothing happened ... It's some kind of incredible 'miracle', you know?"

The smile on his younger cousin's face froze. He was completely unaware of these problems.

Thinking of the spaceship in Kent farm's warehouse and his own identity, Clark seemed to be deeply shocked and depressed.

"That's why Dad told me to hide myself ..."

He felt that he had screwed everything up.

But in that critical situation, he had no choice but to rush up and stop the robber from hurting his mother.

"Clark, have you actually thought about the fact that hiding yourself wasn't the right thing to do? "

Luke patted his cousin on the shoulder and slowly said, "Jonathan must have told you that you came to this world for something. That you were some kind of symbol, some kind of sign."

"But it's a thorny road. If you choose to be a symbol or a beacon in the eyes of mankind, you will suffer a lot of criticism."

"People who are afraid of the unknown will misunderstand you, hurt you, and treat you as an alien and a monster."

Clark bowed his head. The determined gleam that had been in his eyes seemed to have dimmed a bit.

"Then what should I do?"

He took a deep breath and looked at his cousin, who was gradually building up his trust.

"Of course, it's to debut as an idol ... ahem, I mean, you can choose not to hide yourself and tell the world openly who you are!"

Luke gave him a challenge. Luke had it all figured out with a PR plan to follow up.

As long as Clark agreed, then Superman would appear in this world.

Then, it was like pushing down the first domino.

Superheroes would spring up like mushrooms after the rain.

"Instead of being afraid of rumours and being slandered, why not be brave, stand in front of them and tell them that you came with good intentions?"

Luke's tone was full of appeal, which made Clark's dim eyes shine again.

"Do I have to admit that I'm an alien?"

The younger cousin asked hesitantly.

"You don't need to. With an alien identity, you would attract the vigilance of the government and the rejection of the masses ..."

Luke's eyes flashed for a moment. He was thinking about what kind of origin story to make up for his cousin.

'Bitten by some kind of animal?'

'Getting hit by gamma rays?'

"You came from a laboratory where a super-soldier serum was created, making you powerful."

Luke thought for a moment and spoke word for word.

"Laboratory? Serum ... isn't this a bit too far-fetched?"

Clark scratched his head. He preferred the cliche story that he was the kind of hero who was given divine powers by some kind of god.

'You can't snatch someone else's script for your own studio. '

Luke shook his head when he heard his cousin's aspirations.

That had been Copyrig... Oh no, Wisdom of Solomon, the story of Shazam's origins.

"The Vought Enterprise under my name, in the first two years, negotiated with the Department of Defense about some related biological modification business. It can serve as a suitable background."

Luke snapped his fingers; he reached out and put his hand on his cousin's shoulder, lowered his voice and said, "I've even thought of a code name for you; how about 'Homelander'?"

...

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