At night, in Clark's home.
"Clark, honey, are you saying Dilos has superpowers just like you?" A beautiful middle-aged woman stood beside Clark. She was Martha Kent, Clark's adoptive mother. Though she was middle-aged, the traces on her face still showed that she had been a lovely, captivating woman in her youth. She stared at Clark wide-eyed, disbelief filling her eyes.
"And his powers are even stronger than yours?"
The middle-aged man beside her was Jonathan Kent, Clark's adoptive father. He wore a slightly worn shirt and jeans. Though his clothes made him look a little disheveled, he had a steady, composed air about him. After hearing Clark's words, the man couldn't help asking in confusion,
"Clark, are you sure you didn't see wrong?"
Clark helplessly rubbed his forehead. "Yes, Dad. I couldn't fight back against him at all. You know that even when a tractor ran over me before, I was fine, let alone passing out. But when he shoved me away, I actually lost consciousness. That's not normal."
"You know, all kinds of strange things have happened in this town over the past twelve years." Jonathan tried to help Clark relax.
"You're special, Clark. Maybe your powers were affected a little while they were growing, and their brief disappearance just made you imagine things."
Clark nodded, but said nothing more.
After Jonathan and Martha left Clark's room, they returned to their own bedroom and exchanged a look, worry showing in both their eyes.
"Jonathan, do you think Dilos could be like Clark?"
Jonathan knew what Martha meant, but he still shook his head.
"I doubt it. I've met Dilos's parents. He may be as tall as Clark, but I'm sure he looks a lot like them. He definitely isn't a visitor from outer space. Besides, we saw him before that meteor shower, didn't we?"
Martha nodded, her gaze drifting toward Clark's bedroom, worry and hesitation in her expression.
"Jonathan, I know Clark has always felt lonely because of his abilities. That's why he's always hoped to find someone like himself."
"Maybe..." A flicker of uncertainty crossed Jonathan's eyes. "We should tell him the truth."
"But..."
Martha had just started to say something when Jonathan interrupted her. "No matter what, he's our son. That will never change. And he's grown up. He really should know the truth."
Two days later...
With only the rudimentary equipment Dilos had on hand and his limited knowledge, two days weren't nearly enough to uncover anything. Even so, what he learned from examining the samples with the microscope and various chemical reagents was enough to leave him amazed.
Never mind that the cells' structure was almost nothing like a human's. Just look at the biological value of this blood!
Once he removed the blue Kryptonite, the blood, its energy depleted, began absorbing energy. His instruments showed that it absorbed everything: infrared rays, ultraviolet rays, and even other forms of radiation.
His equipment wasn't advanced enough to test whether the blood absorbed other types of radiation, too. But this alone proved that Kryptonians had bodies capable of absorbing energy.
Although Kryptonian cells differed greatly from human cells, Dilos still found mitochondria in them. That's right, mitochondria—the kind that could only be observed with an electron microscope. Yet these were so large that Dilos could see them through an ordinary microscope.
Setting everything else aside, if a life-form could function in a healthy, stable way with mitochondria that large in its cells, a rough estimate put its lifespan at seven or eight hundred years at least.
If he acquired a Kryptonian's physique, he'd have the guts to take on even the Hulk if they stood face-to-face!
Of course, Dilos wouldn't waste blood by using it for experiments every day. It was far too precious. Even from the vial he'd gotten earlier, he'd only dared to use a few drops for observation and testing.
But after seeing how fascinating Kryptonian blood was, Dilos couldn't stop thinking about it. He had other ideas about Kryptonian blood, too. To have a living, breathing Kryptonian right beside him and not draw his blood would be a terrible waste!
So for the past two days, Dilos had been looking for a chance to draw a few more vials of blood from Clark. But for some reason, Clark kept looking at him from time to time, making Dilos feel guilty and leaving him unable to make a move.
Did he find out about something? Dilos wondered. In the end, he decided to put it off for now and wait a while.
Chloe, however, saw things differently.
"Why has Clark been staring at Dilos so much these past two days?" Chloe frowned, feeling a little annoyed. "Aren't guys supposed to like looking at beautiful girls? Could it be that he's switched teams?"
The more Chloe thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Since she had a crush on Clark, her sense of danger grew stronger by the minute. Unable to keep her thoughts to herself, she immediately cornered Clark and questioned him. His answer left her both exasperated and amused.
"You think Dilos might be a relative who's related to you by blood?" Chloe stared at Clark in utter confusion.
Clark nodded like a clueless idiot. Then, realizing how ridiculous that sounded, he looked at Chloe awkwardly. "I mean... it's just possible. I'm not saying it's definitely true."
Chloe rolled her eyes.
"Then why don't you go to the hospital with him and get a paternity test or something? If you're from the same family line, they'll be able to tell." But once the thought sank in, Chloe rubbed her forehead and said,
"I must be losing my mind. Why am I thinking up all this nonsense? It's just impossible."
In the end, nothing came of it. When Dilos found out, all he could do was sigh. Kids really could get up to the craziest things.
There was something else that puzzled Dilos, too. Someone had given him a car.
It was a gold Lamborghini sports car. Dilos remembered that this model cost more than twenty million yuan.
"Lex Luthor sent it to you." Gabe handed Dilos a letter. It read:
Dear Dilos: Drive carefully. I can't thank you enough.
It was signed: The maniac in the Porsche.
Dilos felt a lot of pressure. "Even as a reward, this is way too extravagant."
He looked at Gabe. "Shouldn't we return it?"
Dilos was certainly tempted by something so nice, but that didn't mean he could accept it with a clear conscience. He hadn't done anything to deserve it. Besides, Lex Luthor was the one who'd given it to him. He couldn't help being suspicious.
Gabe smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "It was given to you, so you get to decide what happens to it. Besides, you've grown up. You need to make your own decisions."
Before you continue