"There was someone in the basement of that house just now."
Damian typed what he wanted to say on his phone. Wearing a pair of lead gloves, he shielded the phone with his palm and showed it to his father.
Deathstroke, flying at the front of the group, slowed down and had Strangle link its tendrils to everyone's bodies so they could communicate telepathically. He replied soundlessly, "I know. There was another person's scent in the basement; Strangle smelled it. But that person had no intention of coming out to meet us. Their breathing was steady, as if they were asleep."
"That's normal, right? Kryptonians can sleep during the day too." Bobo covered his stomach, clearly sucking it in hard to make his gut look less obvious. "This planet can't be full of Clark's distant relatives, can it? Every farmer we run into is from House of El?"
He seemed to suspect it was not a coincidence, but some sort of arrangement.
They had come here to deal with Rao, and the guy called himself the Kryptonian God. The word "God" made people uneasy, because he could always arrange certain things.
"Don't overthink it. House of El does make up a large proportion of Krypton's population. That family produced countless Speakers throughout history. In terms humans can understand, it's like the planet's presidential family. Think about House of Habsburg among humans. They didn't even rule Earth, yet their bloodline spread everywhere. Then think about the Jews. If you really trace it back, they are all descendants of Judas."
Members of small families married into large families, and their descendants often took the larger family's surname. It was a practical choice: a prestigious name brought advantages in connections and resources.
Why had Clark been the only baby sent away when Krypton