Although Jonathan had warned Clark that even when faced with a classmate's death, it was best not to reveal his abilities to save them, he had said so to protect Clark.
There was no doubt that Jonathan was a kind man, and Martha was just the same. Otherwise, Clark, who had been tormented by his own abilities, wouldn't have been able to keep his kind heart. Even when he saw a classmate who'd bullied him in danger, he was still willing to save them...
Almost instinctively, Jonathan and Martha didn't want to leave such a small child out in the wilderness. They were even less willing to let the authorities find him and subject him to round after round of experiments.
Moreover, from Clark's actions, Jonathan and Martha had come to understand something.
Jonathan and Martha exchanged a glance, and they knew what the other was thinking. Before the excited Clark could say anything, Martha stepped forward and picked up the baby.
Only then did Jonathan and Martha notice that although the baby looked exactly like a human infant, he had a short, monkey-like tail behind him. The two couldn't help but freeze for a moment.
"Hyah!" Just then, a loud shout rang out nearby. Jonathan and Martha reflexively looked over and saw their son Clark hoisting the spherical spacecraft into the air. He looked at them excitedly and said, "I think this little spaceship should go next to my spaceship. I remember there's still some room there..."
The Kents:
(′`)(ω｀)
w(Д)w(||Д)
→_→←_←
(︶︿︶)ヘ(__ヘ)
"Fine... Fine!" Seeing that Clark had already lifted the spacecraft, the Kents' expressions shifted through a whole range of emotions, but they had no way to argue with him. The family hurriedly cleaned up the traces around them, then went home and carefully hid the spacecraft and the baby.
The Kent Family had no idea that someone had been watching their every move. A black-haired little girl floated in another space, mysterious golden magic light swirling around her.
Beside the black-haired little girl was a naked, blue-glowing humanoid being, strolling beneath the moonlight. Blue light flickered in his eyes as he watched everything too.
"A variable." After a long pause, the black-haired little girl spoke softly. "Jonathan should have had only one child, Clark. He was destined to become God of Humanity, but now everything has changed! Doctor Manhattan, what do you think?"
"Jonathan's future was originally set: he would die in a tornado. But now, I can't see his future—or rather, I can't see the future of this family at all. That's clearly not right," Doctor Manhattan said solemnly, shaking his head.
"From the moment I came into existence, the timeline I observed had never branched. In theory, there are countless possible futures, but this universe had only one predetermined path. Now, with his arrival, the future has once again become countless possibilities..."
"Ancient One, can the Time Stone show every possible future for him?"
"He seems utterly ordinary, yet he's full of variables." Green light glimmered faintly around the little girl Ancient One. She shook her head and spoke cryptically.
"His appearance was abrupt. His spaceship doesn't belong to this universe. And some of the cities in this world are strange, too. They're like twins: they have identical layouts, but different names, and they're located close to each other..." A flicker of confusion crossed Doctor Manhattan's eyes. From the moment he'd gained his abilities, the universe should have held no secrets from him, yet he'd discovered there were still far too many things he couldn't understand.
"Hum!" As soon as Doctor Manhattan finished speaking, a rule beyond his ability to resist bound him.
"Congratulations. Those upstairs have taken a liking to your abilities and promoted you to Observer. We'll be colleagues from now on!" A bald Observer suddenly appeared, smiling as he shook Doctor Manhattan's hand. "Starting today, your job is to observe and record what happens in this universe from beyond the cosmic dimensions. You're not allowed to interfere..."
The bald Observer didn't give Doctor Manhattan a chance to speak. He shot the little girl Ancient One a slightly teasing glance, nodded, then disappeared with Doctor Manhattan.
"Honestly! Serves him right for running around without clothes. It's indecent—especially when he's so small! He deserves to be locked up! Did he really think he'd transcended everything? How could he just say whatever he wanted?" Seeing Doctor Manhattan disappear, the little girl Ancient One curled her lip and mocked him scornfully in her thoughts.
I only thought I shouldn't look like this. A bald woman or a white-haired old man would both suit my identity better. But did I say anything wrong?
The little girl Ancient One's thoughts stirred, and at some point, she vanished.
At the Kent home, Jonathan had gone to town in the middle of the night to buy all kinds of baby supplies. After feeding the baby formula, the family watched him fall asleep before finally letting out a collective sigh of relief.
"Clark, go get some sleep. It's late, and your mother and I still have a few things to discuss..." Though Jonathan could see that Clark was more excited than ever, he still pretended to be heartless and sent him away. Clearly, Clark wasn't invited to the family meeting that was about to begin.
"This is so undemocratic," Clark muttered under his breath. But his eyes kept darting around, and it was obvious he was plotting something.
Ever since discovering the spaceship and the alien baby, Clark had become much more lively and cheerful. It seemed the school bus incident had finally stopped affecting him.
"Are we going to adopt this child?" After a long pause, Jonathan was the first to speak as he looked at the sleeping baby.
"Have you not already made up your mind?" Martha smiled gently and spoke softly. "Clark is different from everyone else. Even if he doesn't say it, we can tell he's quite lonely and doesn't have many friends..."
"Besides, to us, Clark is the best gift God could have given us. He came into our lives when we were lost, and brought us warmth."
"Now that Clark was lost, this child had arrived and helped him emerge from the shadow of what happened today. Isn't he the best gift for Clark?"
"That's true! I've never seen Clark so excited and lively. Before, he was too quiet, and with the pressure his abilities brought him, I worried he might develop psychological problems..." Jonathan smiled and shrugged. "Besides, if we don't adopt him, what else can we do—hand him over to someone?"
"It'd be good for Clark to have a companion. I bet he'll be fighting to take care of him, which would save us a little effort..."
"But what about his tail?" Martha noticed the tail curled up behind the baby and hesitated. "What should we do about it? Clark looks no different from us, but this child is fine in every other way—except for that tail."
"Let's ask Clark. If it can be removed without hurting him... No, let's just hide it for now. His clothes can cover it, and we'll just have to be careful when we change his diaper," Jonathan said, looking at the baby's tail. He'd been about to suggest cutting it off, but couldn't bring himself to do it. In the end, he could only shake his head helplessly.
Before you continue