Clark's Vision of the Future

Chapter 31: The Future Clark Saw

Clark reached out, his hand meeting the old woman's wrinkled one.

A few seconds later, his vision blurred.

It was as if the world had shifted before his eyes.

A scene of apocalyptic disaster—a blood-red dusk shrouding the sky, skyscrapers pierced through, collapsed houses, raging flames, and thick black smoke shooting skyward like pillars.

People fled in all directions; the desperate wails of thousands drilled into his ears like sounds from hell.

A deep, heavy chasm carved as if by a giant finger from the sky. Clark's entire body ached as though struck by a meteor. He lay at the chasm's end, struggling to lift his head, his body beyond his control.

Whoosh!

A black-haired man in a dark battle suit adorned with mysterious dark-golden patterns descended slowly from the sky. His body was lean and powerful.

Half a meter above the ground, the scattered pebbles rose spontaneously, orbiting him like celestial bodies.

An overwhelming aura pressed down like a majestic god descending upon the mortal world, suffocating all.

"David?"

Seeing such a horrifying scene, and his brother—both familiar and strange—Clark was stunned.

He felt as if trapped in a dream, able only to watch, powerless to change anything, unable even to speak, limited to a narrow field of vision.

"Clark, look around."

David's eyes still held a faint, lava-like red glow. He shook his head slightly.

"I didn't want to do this. You were too disobedient. You forced my hand."

"What do you mean?"

Clark was shocked and confused. Had David done all this around him?

Thoughts raced wildly—had he refused to yield to David, and David fought him, destroying the city in their battle?

"Wait, this is Metropolis!"

Clark recognized it.

In the distance, atop the Daily Planet building, the iconic golden globe statue had been used as a weapon, smashing through several buildings before crashing to the ground.

"Could it be that what I feared has come true? David lost himself to power and walked the path of evil, and I stood against him?"

Doubt churned in his heart.

As if to confirm Clark's thoughts, he felt an endless fury rising from the future self's heart, his eyes blazing like a volcano about to erupt.

"Brother, you need correction!"

His future self, with overwhelming momentum and a cold roar, leaped forward, swinging a fist at his brother—like one god charging at another hostile god.

Shing!

A golden rope, like a flash of lightning, flew in an instant and wrapped around his waist.

Almost simultaneously, several green chains, like crystal, coiled around his body like snakes. Huge nails pinned the chains to the ground, halting his advance.

His forward momentum was abruptly yanked to a stop.

His body, shooting like a cannonball, froze, only the shockwave spreading outward.

Barely a few dozen centimeters away, the two were about to collide face-to-face. David hovered midair, not even blinking.

"It's you who needs fixing, my brother."

"Who helped David?"

Clark wondered.

The future Clark turned his head in fury. A heroic, beautiful figure like a war goddess—crowned, armored in a battle skirt—shattered the ground as she gripped the golden rope tightly.

On the other side, a brown-haired man in a green glowing bodysuit, usually wearing a casual smile, now bore a stern expression. He hovered in the air, a ring like an emerald on his hand glowing, struggling to keep the manifested chains and nails from being torn apart.

Both gritted their teeth, utterly strained, unable to speak a word, barely holding the future Clark, who raged like a mad bull.

"David's allies?"

Clark's heart jolted.

Were they David's partners in evil? Or his minions?

Boom!

Before he could think further, David flashed before him like lightning, his fist crashing down like a meteor, sending him back to the ground.

The future Clark's body slammed into a crater over ten meters wide. The surging force, like a furious sea, rippled through a dozen streets, shaking nearby buildings like an earthquake, shattering glass everywhere.

Slap!

"What now?"

A deep, hoarse voice rang out.

A grappling hook struck the wall of a building, and a strange shadow, like a bat, swung over.

He spread his black cape like bat wings, landing steadily with a cold, forbidding expression. The dark aura around him was like the perpetual gloom over Gotham's skies—thick and never lifting, instinctively oppressive and fear-inducing.

Clark had doubted the truth of this future, whether his brother had truly walked down a dark path, but suddenly the scales in his heart wavered.

He studied the Bat Monster closely; the figure really didn't look like a good person, as if inherently cut off from light.

Could anyone who ran with him be good?

"Clark, if our parents saw this, they'd be heartbroken."

David frowned, raising a hand as if to do something.

Crack!

The scene shattered.

Clark's consciousness snapped back to reality. The stunned Cassandra turned her head to look.

Cassandra opened her eyes, as if the future vision had ended, but her first reaction was to stare at him in shock. David looked puzzled.

Why look at him instead of the future tied to Clark?

Did she see something like an alien form in Clark's future?

"David, you...!"

Clark, just back to reality, shot to his feet.

A thick, towering smokestack, dozens of meters in diameter, stood against the earth.

A tiny figure—Sean—withdrew his hand in ecstasy. At his feet, over a dozen factory workers had turned into terrified ice statues.

Frost and ice coated the entire massive chimney.

Cold and normalcy alternated, and with each absorption of enough heat, his power climbed another level.

A feeling close to being "stuffed" washed over him, and Sean finally stopped.

Now he felt incredibly strong!

He glanced excitedly at the dozen flattened brass bullets on the ground. They hadn't even tickled when they hit him earlier.

He couldn't imagine how powerful he was now.

He picked up a crowbar left behind by a Power Plant patrol worker as a weapon.

Creak!

A teeth-grinding sound.

The crowbar twisted into a spiral under terrifying force.

"Still not the limit."

Sean pressed his hands against the mangled crowbar, squeezing hard. Steel oozed through his fingers like clay.

Seeing this, his face lit up with wild joy, and he couldn't hold back his laughter.

Modern civilization was built on steel—there was almost nothing harder in the world.

Now he was strong enough to shake the whole world. The police couldn't touch him.

The small town was his playground from now on, free for his every whim.

"Where to start?"

Find a pretty girl and ask if she wanted to feel his strong steel arms?

No!

A figure surfaced in Sean's mind.

"David!"

That guy yesterday—just one look, one sentence, and he'd scared him off.

He spat out the name with venom. "Think you're tough?"

Remembering how he'd slunk away in shame in front of those guys, Sean—who'd wanted to forget that humiliation—now burned with uncontrollable rage and shame, grinding his teeth. "I'm not who I was anymore."

What were a few Football team players? Now he could take on an entire armed military unit alone!

Leaving behind a scene of lifeless ice statues, Sean clenched his fist and left the Power Plant, his face cold as he headed toward Kent Farm.

"I promise, you'll regret treating me like that, David!"