Chapter 51 The Martian Hunter's Resentment

"Ahem!"

The Black man gave a light cough to greet Homelander, "Hello, John Patrick."

Homelander took a deep breath, looking warily at the guy in front of him who had managed to block his punch.

He was filled with extreme shock and suspicion!

The full-force punch he had thrown just a moment ago had actually been easily intercepted by this person?

The tall Black man with dark, bushy eyebrows seemed to sense what was going on in Homelander's mind. He took a step forward and said, "No need to be so defensive. I'm not a bad guy."

Just at that moment, Clark came upstairs and, seeing a stranger in the barn, immediately stepped defensively to Homelander's side.

Seeing the two wary young boys, the Black man pulled out his badge. "I'm John Jones, a member of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Kids, relax. You don't need to keep your bodies so tense."

Homelander didn't believe a word of the guy's nonsense.

After all, last time a Black man had impersonated a police officer—who knew if this guy was just pretending to be an FBI agent?

Besides, he didn't even know what an FBI badge looked like.

With that thought, Homelander concentrated and perked up his ears, intending to use his super hearing to listen to the other's heartbeat.

Strange... the heartbeat sounded completely normal.

Next, following Peter's teachings, he observed the man's eyes.

According to Dad, when people lie, they blink unconsciously, or look upward and to the right to access the creative parts of their brain.

Pupil constriction and eyelid twitching were all signs of panic.

To Homelander's surprise, the man's eyes were completely normal, with no twitching or sudden eye movements.

"Dad isn't home," Homelander said with a tight little face. "Maybe you should come back after Dad returns."

"Well, I'm quite interested in visiting Mr. Patrick as well, but you wouldn't mind if we had a little chat first, John, and..."

He shifted his gaze to Clark, "...Clark."

Clark looked at him in surprise, "You know my name?"

"Uh-huh, I can even guess what you're thinking right now."

John Jones smiled as he looked at Clark, "Clark, are you wondering right now if I'm here to arrest you? And if you ended up in prison, how many cigarettes would you be worth, right?"

(Clark was also a viewer of the TV show *Prison Break*.)

Clark's jaw dropped.

The guy had actually guessed what was on his mind.

He really had thought the man was from the FBI, here to arrest him because of Dan's death.

"As for you..."

With that, he turned his gaze to Homelander, activating his telepathy to see what was truly going on inside the boy's mind.

The moment he heard Homelander's thoughts, his expression instantly turned even darker.

Although this brat possessed formidable abilities, why was his mind filled with such chaotic thoughts that violated all proper values!

The kid was actually plotting to forcibly detain him—a fellow super-powered individual—and make him do unpaid forced labor on their family farm!

Had he somehow traveled back from the twenty-first century to the era of eighteenth-century plantation owners?

How on earth were this brat's parents raising him?

That Peter Patrick fellow was a hundred percent a scoundrel!

Though he hadn't met Peter yet, he mentally slapped the label "scoundrel" onto him in advance.

"Ahem..."

John Jones gave two unnatural coughs, changed the subject, and asked, "When will your father be back?"

"Hard to say."

Clark didn't notice anything unusual about him. After giving that reply, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Mr. Jones, are you here to investigate the alien spaceship?"

"What?"

John Jones froze for a moment.

Clark said excitedly, "Lately everyone's been saying an alien spaceship landed, and our class even formed a science investigation club to look into aliens. Mr. Jones, are you here to investigate the aliens?"

"No."

John Jones shook his head, his expression turning serious as he told the two boys, "There are no aliens, and there is no alien spaceship. A parasite has landed here. Tell your classmates not to go outside at night, or the bugs will eat people."

"Man-eating bugs?!"

Hearing those words, Clark swallowed nervously.

"Yes, so for everyone's safety, it's best to stay indoors."

He looked up at the last trace of the sunset lingering on the distant horizon. "Well, kids, I have to go. Good luck."

Waving at the two boys, he turned and walked downstairs.

Once his figure completely melted into the night, his body began to change.

The black skin gradually faded, replaced by green skin covering his body.

With glowing red eyes, draped in a cloak, and radiating an overwhelming sense of oppression, John Jones let out a boom and soared into the sky.

Hovering high above the entire town of Smallville, he closed his eyes and used his enhanced senses to scan for any suspicious presence.

John Jones, originally known as J'onn J'onzz, was the "Martian Manhunter" from Mars. He possessed super strength, super speed, and super stamina, along with formidable telepathic and shapeshifting abilities.

The Black police officer persona he had just used was an appearance he adopted to fight crime.

His purpose in coming to Smallville this time was to capture the alien parasite.

He hadn't expected that right upon arriving in the town, he would run into two extraordinarily gifted brats.

Clark was a Kryptonians, so what on earth was John?

Closing his eyes, the Martian Manhunter pondered Homelander's true identity.

At the same time, his enhanced senses remained active, tracking the trail of the alien parasite.

After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes.

His contemplation yielded no answers, and no trace of the parasite had been found.

Shaking his head, he turned and flew away from the town.

...

Meanwhile.

"Huff! Huff!"

Lex Luthor panted heavily as he walked rapidly along the road.

Unwilling to leave Smallville and return to Metropolis, Lex had flown into a rage and secretly snuck out of the estate.

Originally, he had just wanted to hide outside for a bit before heading back, but to his misfortune, he had gotten lost.

Holding a flashlight, he wrapped his coat tightly around himself, looked at the road ahead, forcefully suppressed the fear in his chest, and plucked up the courage to keep walking.

As he briskly walked forward, Lex occasionally raised his head to see the stars moving above the jagged tips of the dark forest.

In some places, the road was nearly blocked by thickets, and the branches of the bushes constantly snagged his shoulders.

Lex kept switching the flashlight from hand to hand, his inner terror growing more intense.

He felt as though something was creeping up right behind him.

Swallowing hard, Lex summoned his courage and spun around abruptly.

A rustling sound suddenly came from his left rear, and a sickening stench wafted into his nostrils.

Filled to the brim with dread, he immediately broke into a full sprint forward.

"Thud!"

With his feet pounding frantically against the ground as he ran, Lex failed to pay attention and tripped over a tangled mass of vines on the earth, crashing down hard.