Clark's Discovered Abilities

Chapter 36: Clark, Whose Ability Was Discovered

"..."

The smile on Lex Luthor's face stiffened slightly. Clark patted him on the shoulder, easing the awkwardness with a laugh.

"Lex, life doesn't have to be about ruling the world to have meaning."

In the distance, a slender silhouette caught Clark's eye—Lana. A smile unconsciously crept onto his face, and he was about to step forward to greet her.

But another familiar figure appeared beside Lana: Whitney.

Daytime football practice was already over. Whitney had heard Lana would be here and managed to get a ticket too, sticking close to her in hopes of reconciling with his ex-girlfriend.

Seeing that the two seemed to be on better terms, chatting now and then, Clark's expression darkened.

"Life needs a bit of drive, don't you think, Clark?"

Luthor patted his shoulder in return.

"Only a brave warrior who dares to charge forward wins a lady's favor."

He offered the advice with a smile, hoping to bond with Clark over tips on pursuing girls.

Setting aside other matters, Clark had saved his life, and for that, he felt some genuine gratitude.

"I'm going out for some air."

Not far away, Lana wore a light pink dress, a striking green crystal necklace hanging conspicuously around her fair neck. Clark said gloomily.

David shook his head silently. You reap what you sow.

Leaving Clark to himself, he continued wandering through the museum. A few Egyptian artifacts here, unlike that gaudy armor, carried a unique, ancient charm.

"You still think you can run?"

In the park's bushes, Jax Fran's face twisted with cruelty as he punched a man to the ground.

"I can't find it. I don't know where the company's confidential client files are. Please, let me go," the man begged, blood trickling from his mouth.

"If you won't work for me, then get ready to spend a few years inside."

He flipped the man over roughly, pulled out handcuffs, and threatened him viciously.

Everyone had secrets they wanted to keep hidden.

Jax Fran was a detective who walked the line between black and white, digging up others' secrets to control them for his own purposes.

But being a detective was just his job. What he truly loved was the crisp, green cash.

As long as there was profit to be made, he would stop at nothing.

Whoosh!

Leaving the museum, Clark descended the steps.

He took a few deep breaths of fresh air and looked up at the towering steel forest of skyscrapers around him.

"Compared to Smallville, this place is practically another world in its bustle."

His gaze shifted. The streets were empty at night, silent and desolate.

Under a nearby bus stop sign, a homeless man in tattered clothes lay curled up on a bench with his small dog, shivering as he slept.

"Well... I guess there's not much difference after all."

A hint of helplessness flickered in his eyes.

Swoosh!

A public bus approached from the distance. Just as it neared the stop—

Suddenly, the driver seemed to have a heart attack. His face went pale, and he collapsed unconscious. The wheel swerved, and the bus hurtled straight toward the bus stop sign, about to smash it to pieces and crush the homeless man on the bench.

"No good!"

In that split second, Clark's eyes widened. He instantly crossed dozens of meters to stand between the bus and the sign.

He reached out to stop the bus, thinking only of shielding the homeless man.

Sometimes the body reacts faster than the mind. Clark forgot one thing, and his face twisted in horror.

Under normal circumstances, the massive inertia of a ten-ton bus would slam into him, crushing its front end. He might save the homeless man, but the driver wouldn't survive.

"No!"

At the critical moment, just as the collision seemed inevitable, a strange, invisible force field emerged, enveloping the entire bus.

Boom!

The speeding bus crashed into what felt like an impenetrable wall of bronze and iron, jerking to a violent halt. But the front only dented slightly where Clark had touched it.

The homeless man was spared from being turned into paste, and the driver was unharmed.

"This..."

Clark let out a sigh of relief, staring blankly at his own palm.

How had he done that?

It defied all science!

"Well, have you changed your mind?"

In the distant underbrush, after a vicious round of punches and kicks, Fran caught his breath. Like an owlman toying with its prey, his face twisted with malice as he pressed on.

"I... I..."

Boom!

Before the man could answer, a deafening crash rang out. Fran looked up and witnessed something unbelievable.

Snapping back to reality, the driver's pained groans jolted Clark awake.

Clark tore open the bus door, rushed inside, scooped up the driver suffering a heart attack, and vanished in a flash, speeding toward Metropolis General Hospital.

Seeing Clark disappear, Fran's face froze in shock. He dropped the man he'd been beating, hurried to the bus, stared at the clear dent, then at the missing driver.

He looked left and right. An empty street.

He was certain he hadn't seen a ghost, but his heart wouldn't stop racing.

Everyone had secrets.

And this time, he seemed to have stumbled onto a huge one.

"So, kids.

Does bustling Metropolis make you reluctant to leave?"

At the breakfast table, Jonathan and Martha were eating. Their mother, Martha, smiled.

"The museum was great, but..."

Clark walked downstairs, hesitating.

"What?" Jonathan paused, spoon in hand.

Seated at the table, David handed over a newspaper and said softly, "Just a little incident."

The headline read: "Runaway Night Bus Nearly Crushes Homeless Man."

"I stopped it."

Clark recalled the bizarre scene last night, still baffled by what had happened.

"Are you okay, Clark?" Martha asked urgently.

A mother's concern. Clark, with his steel-like body, was naturally fine. He scratched his head.

"I'm fine, Mom."

"Clark, you saved a life. I'm very proud of you."

After reading the paper, Jonathan frowned. "But, did anyone see you?"

This was bustling Metropolis.

"It was late at night. The avenue was empty. Everyone was in the museum. The noise didn't alert them."

"The paper doesn't mention any witnesses. It should be fine."

Martha reassured him.

"Good." Jonathan smiled.

"Eat up and get to school, kids. You'll miss the bus."

David had already heard the story from Clark last night and guessed the Bio-Field had done its work.

Superman's flight relied on the Bio-Field anyway, so it wasn't surprising.

But Clark was a bit shaken. A strange new ability had surfaced, and he'd barely paid attention in class all morning.

At noon, school let out.

Clark pulled David along, planning to head to the woods outside town to test the new ability and make sure it didn't spiral out of control.

As they passed a small alley in town—

"Clark Kent, David Kent, right?"

A middle-aged figure stepped out slowly, flashing a badge. A playful smirk hung on his face, like a hyena that had found carrion, blocking their path.

"Gentlemen, Detective Jax Lalan, Metropolis PD. I need your help with a traffic accident investigation."

"Traffic accident!"

A cop from Metropolis. Clark's heart tightened.

Was it about last night's incident?

But why had he been tracked down?

Seeing the smug look of someone who'd caught a tail, David narrowed his eyes.

Five hundred extra words written—please keep reading!