Chapter 62: Ah-Zu's Masterclass in Facial Transformation

Clark sighed and said, "It's not just people; many animals in the forest are dying too."

"That's perfectly normal. Dad says everything eventually fades away. I remember a poem, something about... center not holding."

Homelander looked a bit frustrated as he spoke. "Well, I'm not much of a poetry fan."

Clark didn't notice Homelander's expression, suddenly feeling a bit low. "Human and animal lives are so fragile. Old Mr. Bill just passed away from an illness recently."

Homelander asked in surprise, "You mean old Bill, the guy who kept that zombie dog and almost bit me?"

"Yes, Godfather said he had DVT."

"DVT? What is that? Sounds like a cheap movie."

Clark explained to him, "D-V-T. Deep vein thrombosis."

Homelander had a sudden epiphany look. "Oh, oh, that sounds like a badass band name."

Clark's nostrils flared slightly as he adjusted his black-rimmed glasses with his finger.

Whenever Homelander left him speechless, he would involuntarily make this gesture.

...

At noon, in the gymnasium.

Homelander and Clark were attending PE class.

A ginger-haired girl was pretending to use her knee to attack another girl's groin, striking her throat flatly and flipping her onto a blue exercise mat.

The ground shook slightly.

The other girl, with skin as pale as porcelain and thick black hair tied in a ponytail with a hair tie, stood up calmly from the mat. Then the two girls approached each other and bowed in acknowledgement.

Clark and Homelander sat in the front, watching the two girls practice karate.

Standing in front of the students, the PE teacher was tall, lean, and robust.

He clapped his hands. "Alright, tell me the six basic strike zones again."

The students chanted the mantra in unison: "Eyes, nose, throat, groin, knees, and feet."

"Again, faster."

"Eyes, nose, throat, groin, knees, and feet."

"Again, louder."

"Eyes, nose, throat, groin, knees, and feet."

Homelander felt a bit bored. In his view, this kind of health-conscious karate was more like self-defense for girls.

Having frequently watched boxing matches with Peter, he felt this kind of training was too naive.

Sighing, he looked at the whiteboard behind the teacher.

On the whiteboard, the six words and those strike zones were listed one by one.

...

"I bet if Mr. Lane sparred with Dad, he'd get knocked into the middle of next week."

Homelander muttered quietly to Clark, "I mean, even if Dad barely uses any strength."

"Quiet!"

Mr. Lane glared in Homelander's direction. Clark immediately sat up straight and stopped talking to him.

"Next is free sparring. You can choose a partner to practice with."

Clapping his hands, Mr. Lane signaled that it was time for free sparring.

Clark stood up, preparing to choose Homelander as his training partner.

To his surprise, Homelander didn't pick him, walking straight toward another student instead.

"Hey, you wouldn't mind if we sparred, would you?"

Homelander walked up to the tall and burly Whitney and asked him.

"Back off, I'm not interested in you."

Whitney glanced at Homelander, preparing to practice with his crony nearby.

"So, are you chicken?"

Homelander looked at him with disdain. "Or are you just all show? Too scared to try the real deal?"

Provoked by Homelander, Whitney's anger flared instantly. "I'll beat you until you're calling me daddy, freak."

Seeing Homelander intended to practice with Whitney and knowing what he was up to, Clark immediately stepped up to stop him.

"Hey, John, you can't..."

"Relax, Clark, I know what I'm doing."

Homelander cast a reassuring look at Clark.

Although worried, Clark knew he couldn't persuade Homelander, so he let go and stepped aside with a worried expression on his face.

The two stood facing each other. Homelander looked at him expressionlessly. "I'm going to knock your teeth down your throat."

"Is that so? Bring it on!"

Whitney leaned his face close to his. "They say you and Clark have superpowers. I don't believe that crap. Come on, make a move!"

"Bang!"

Homelander grabbed Whitney's clothes and slammed him to the ground with a loud thud.

Dazed from the fall, Whitney felt his head buzzing.

Fortunately, Homelander didn't use his full strength this time, or he would have smashed him to death on the spot.

Even so, Whitney still felt deeply humiliated.

With a dark expression, he scrambled up as fast as he could, gritting his teeth and kicking toward Homelander's groin.

...

Homelander yanked his arm, throwing him back down to the ground. In the process of slamming him down, he landed a fierce punch straight to Whitney's lower abdomen.

Thrown down once more, Whitney felt his whole body falling apart, a sharp pain searing through his lower belly.

Clutching his stomach, his body curled into a ball as he let out a miserable groan.

Looking down at the panting figure on the ground, Homelander said coldly, "You're just an incompetent, ordinary, damn fool."

"Hey!"

The PE teacher finally noticed the situation over here.

Mr. Lane hurried over quickly, and upon seeing Whitney groaning on the floor, he hurriedly knelt down to check on his condition.

"What happened?! John!"

He asked Homelander angrily.

"I don't know, Mr. Lane. I just... wanted to practice with Whitney, and he somehow tripped and fell like this."

Homelander put on a masterclass of "face-changing" right in front of Clark, instantly shifting from a terrifying expression to one of absolute innocence.

"Maybe Whitney is a bit frail. This kind of PE class just isn't suited for him."

Homelander spoke to the PE teacher with a worried facade.

Fooled by Homelander's expression, the teacher assumed it wasn't intentional.

Too busy to investigate further, he quickly helped Whitney up and took him to the nurse's office.

Witnessing Homelander's face-changing stunt—going from a villainous expression a second ago to an innocent, sunny teenager the next—Clark was dumbfounded.

How did Homelander pull that off?!

That was even more incredible than the Godfather teaching him how to change his vibe by wearing glasses!

Unaware of what Clark was thinking, Homelander walked over and said, "Don't worry, Clark, this guy is fine. I totally controlled my strength."

Feeling rather pleased with himself, he suddenly thought of something and lowered his voice. "Clark, you've got to keep this a secret for me. Don't tell Dad."

Clark subconsciously nodded. "O-okay."

...

In the afternoon, Patrick Farm.

Martian Manhunter had gone out grocery shopping. Peter was home alone, watching a news broadcast about a wildfire on television, when the telephone suddenly rang.

"This is Patrick Farm."

Peter picked up the receiver, listened for a few seconds, and his brow immediately furrowed.