Chapter Twenty-One: Persuading Clark to Change Careers

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Peter had no idea that Lionel Luthor was investigating him. At the moment, he was too busy reprimanding Homelander.

Clark, standing nearby, was also within range of the scolding.

“Why were you fighting?”

Peter directed the question at Clark first.

With an aggrieved expression, Clark replied, “Homelander said the leaf I drew looks like a dog’s rear end.”

“Did he?”

Peter turned toward the guilty-looking Homelander.

“It… it does, Dad,” Homelander admitted miserably, rubbing his still-aching bottom.

His skin was thick enough that ordinary people could not hurt him, but Peter could make him experience what pain felt like.

Peter casually picked up the plant leaf Clark had drawn with crayons.

“You shouldn’t say that, Homelander,” Peter lectured him.

“But Clark’s drawing really does look like a dog’s rear end.”

“Many things in this world look like a dog’s rear end. That doesn’t mean you should go around announcing it.”

Peter closed the sketchbook and said to Homelander, “Sometimes you have to conceal what you’re thinking, because your words may hurt someone.”

Listening to his godfather, Clark suddenly felt a little dejected.

He did not quite understand what Peter meant, but it sounded as though his godfather also thought his leaf looked like a dog’s rear end.

Peter sat down on the sofa and asked the two boys, “Do you know why I don’t agree to let you go to school?”

Generally speaking, American children began school at the age of five or six.

Of course, the exact requirements varied from state to state and from one school district to another, depending on local education policies, resource allocation, and family choices.

But in Smallville, most children between the ages of five and six had already started school.

Lana, for example, had begun elementary school at the age of five. She was already a first-grader and would soon become a second-grade senior.

“I don’t know,” Homelander said, shaking his head in confusion.

“Because neither you nor Clark is ready yet—not ready to avoid hurting others, and not ready to be hurt by others.”

Jonathan and Martha had previously spoken with Peter about sending the two boys to school.

He had refused, telling them that the children were not prepared.

He could already imagine the scene: the two of them being mocked as freaks after enrolling.

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That was exactly the kind of environment Clark had grown up in during his previous life.

Because of their physiques, neither boy had ever been injured. They also had no control over the amount of force they used, and therefore had no real understanding of physical harm.

Add their immature personalities, and then expose them to discrimination from their classmates…

Peter was genuinely afraid that Homelander might lose his temper and kill one of the other children in a single blow.

“Dad, are we human?”

Homelander remembered the scene of his father hacking apart zombies and asked in confusion.

“Of course. We’re all human—you, me, and Clark. We’re all human.”

Homelander continued, “If we’re human, then why are we different from everyone else?”

“This is our gift. Haven’t I told you before? It is also a responsibility—the responsibility to protect our family.”

At the words “the responsibility to protect our family,” Clark’s eyes immediately lit up.

Homelander nodded, but still asked, “Then why do we have to control ourselves?”

Peter fell silent for a moment, thinking of the way Jonathan had educated Clark.

A being like Superman was not an ordinary child. He had no understanding whatsoever of how destructive he could be.

If ordinary parents tried to raise him, it would be like a chicken teaching an eaglet how to live as a chicken. Once the eaglet realized that it was not a chicken, the repression of its instincts would collapse completely.

Jonathan and Martha, however, taught Superman to limit his use of his powers. They did not ask him to live as a chicken. Instead, they told him that he did not yet know how to be an eagle, and that his mind was not ready to bear the consequences of possessing such strength. Therefore, he should live as an ordinary person and cautiously control his abilities until the day he could truly master his power and accept responsibility for it.

Peter would not educate Homelander and Clark exactly as Jonathan and Martha had educated Superman, but he could certainly draw on some of their methods.

He stroked both boys’ hair and said, “Because you are not yet capable of bearing the consequences that would result if these powers went out of control. Before you start school, I have to teach you how to control yourselves.”

“So that means…”

Clark looked up at him, filled with anticipation.

“You’re going to be our teacher, Godfather?”

“Mm-hmm. I’ll be your first teacher.”

“Then can you teach me how to draw, Dad?”

Clark did not even call him “Godfather” anymore. He went straight to calling Peter “Dad” in an attempt to get him to teach him to draw.

Peter lowered his gaze to the “rear end” Clark had drawn and felt utterly weary.

“I think journalism might be a more suitable career for you, Clark.”

Peter solemnly advised him to change professions.

…

The following day.

Nearly everyone in Smallville had gathered at the town’s central church to attend the funeral.

The fire and terrorist attack at the auditorium had killed more than a dozen people and injured over twenty. It was the town’s greatest loss of life since the tornado of 1950.

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Wearing a black suit, Peter brought Clark and Homelander to their second funeral.

Compared with the last time, the two young boys had clearly grown accustomed to the atmosphere of a funeral. They imitated the adults and maintained solemn, grave expressions.

“Peter, thank you. If it weren’t for you, Clark might already have…”

Martha and Jonathan thanked Peter.

“I’m Clark’s godfather. It was the right thing to do.”

After exchanging a few pleasantries with the couple, Peter asked, “How is the government viewing the attack?”

“I heard the governor has commissioned a special committee to investigate it. The media’s current conclusion is that it was a bioterrorist attack—that the poisoned victims lost their minds and began attacking people indiscriminately. But we all know they were terrifying zombies.”

By then, Jonathan had become a firm believer in Peter’s theory about the zombies.

“I never imagined that zombies would appear in our town.”

“Jonathan!”

When she saw someone approaching, Martha immediately tugged at her husband’s sleeve, signaling him to watch what he said.

“I hope I’m not interrupting.”

A distinctive-looking man with long hair approached and greeted them. It was Lionel Luthor.

“Mr. Padrick, and Mr. Kent, correct?”

He addressed them by name at once, then said to Peter, “My company has dealt with Mr. Padrick before, over a business matter.”

“And you are?”

Peter studied the overly familiar stranger.

“Lionel Luthor.”

Upon hearing that this was the entrepreneur whose reputation in town was less than admirable, Jonathan had no desire to become involved with him. He simply excused himself and left.

Lionel Luthor did not mind. Jonathan was not his target anyway.

“Mr. Luthor, are you still planning to buy my farm?”

Peter frowned as he looked at the future Superman’s greatest enemy—Lex Luthor’s father.

The man was unlikely to be a good person. Otherwise, how could he have raised a ruthless figure like Lex?

“No. In fact, we have abandoned plans to build the chemical plant. We are now preparing an agricultural subsidy program intended to help the farmers in town.”

Peter stared at him in surprise.

Had this man suddenly changed his ways?