Clark, utterly astonished, looked at his finger, which had fully recovered, then at Rachel, who was looking at him with wide eyes in his arms, a look of disbelief on his face.
"Little Rachel, she...!"
Clark said to Eric, who was walking over, "Eric, you wouldn't believe what just happened. My finger's wound is completely healed. Little Rachel seems to have healed my finger."
"I know."
Eric looked at Rachel, who was kicking her little white legs in Clark's arms. "She was born to be extraordinary."
He reached out and gently stroked the red dot in the center of her forehead.
Eric, of course, knew about Raven's abilities.
Besides possessing vast and constantly suppressed magic, Raven also had healing abilities.
However, her healing wasn't like a Holy Light Priest glowing to heal wounds; instead, it achieved its purpose by absorbing the other person's pain, and she herself would bear an equal amount of suffering.
In other words, Raven would heal through the method of pain transfer.
If she absorbed Clark's pain, then Rachel would suffer the same amount of pain.
Eric frowned as he looked at Rachel.
The next second, after absorbing the pain of Clark's finger being hammered by a nail, little Rachel opened her mouth wide and burst into tears.
Hearing the crying, Martha quickly rushed over, took Rachel from the bewildered Clark, and gently comforted her.
"It seems this miracle comes with a price, so you'd best not let her try to heal you again, Clark."
Eric said as he walked out of the room.
Clark looked at his finger, then at Rachel, who was crying in his mother's arms, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
Rachel is so young, does she already have to deeply understand the meaning of 'price'?!
The next day.
After Clark had taken care of Rachel for half the day in his room, an old acquaintance of Clark's arrived at Kent Farm.
"Pete!"
After opening the door, Clark found it was his old friend Pete, and he was exceptionally delighted.
Happily hugging Pete, Clark's eyes felt a little sore.
"After the Witch incident, you were injured and hospitalized, and later I learned you left Smallville because your parents changed jobs."
Clark, overjoyed to see his old friend, looked at Pete's familiar face and blurted out everything he wanted to say, "I'm sorry, Pete, I didn't go to the hospital to see you before you left."
Little Pete happily patted Clark's shoulder, "No, it's not your fault. I left too hastily. Haven't we been talking on the phone all this time?"
Pete said, pounding Clark's chest, "Friendship doesn't grow distant with increased distance, does it?"
"Of course."
Clark, after bumping fists with Pete, asked him, "Pete, you also graduated from high school successfully, right?"
"Uh-huh, you guessed it!"
Pete said proudly, "And with excellent grades. Maybe Kansas Central University will offer me a scholarship. I participated in many extracurricular activities, especially the social activities around Smallville with Chloe and you, our trio, and I was a regular player on the high school football team, Clark—"
Pete smiled triumphantly at Clark, "Maybe my activity evaluation form will be even better than yours!"
"Is that so?"
Clark didn't directly mention that he had already received a full scholarship from Kansas Central University. Instead, he turned and walked into the room, taking out a basketball.
"Football is impossible due to limited conditions and equipment, Pete, so how about a friendly basketball match?"
"You know I've always been bothered by not getting a regular spot on the football team, so why don't we settle it with basketball?"
Clark smiled at Pete and said, "To prove who is truly suited for the football team!"
"OK!"
A smile appeared at the corner of Pete's mouth. "I'll warn you beforehand, you can't use your strength that exceeds a meteor to collide with me, or I'll be fractured."
"Of course not!"
Clark threw the basketball to Pete, and the two walked to the makeshift basketball hoop behind the barn for a 1-on-1 basketball skill competition.
Clark took the ball first, dribbling it quickly towards Pete.
Pete, familiar with Clark's strength, immediately took a quick step to intercept him, blocking Clark's path.
As a result, Clark, unable to brake in time, crashed heavily into Pete, who was blocking him.
To avoid stepping on the basketball, Clark's feet slipped, and he fell to the ground.
Pete looked at Clark lying on the ground with a surprised expression.
Clark fell to the ground just from a slight bump from him?
Was this still the Clark with super strength and super speed?
With a bewildered feeling, Pete walked over and extended his hand to Clark.
"Slap!"
Clark grabbed Pete's hand and stood up from the ground.
Although he had fallen, his face was beaming with a smile Pete had never seen before.
"Clark, you look very happy?"
Pete asked him, puzzled.
"Am I? I'm just freely enjoying the joy of sports. Continue, Pete!"
Smiling, Clark handed the ball to Pete, and the two continued the next round of offense and defense.
As a result, the skilled Pete easily dribbled past Clark.
After making the shot, Pete turned to look at Clark, "Clark, your speed has also slowed down. I must warn you beforehand, telling you to restrain your strength doesn't mean you should go so easy."
Pete felt that Clark was going easy on him.
"No, I'm not going easy. This is my current strength."
Clark made a standard shooting posture, but the basketball hit the rim with a thud.
Clark truly enjoyed his current life.
He no longer had to worry about hurting others, no longer had to carefully control his strength, and no longer had to fear being discovered.
He didn't have to constantly remind himself that he was that unique and special person.
Although he was initially unaccustomed to losing his powers, he had now fully adapted to and was enjoying the life of an ordinary person.
"Alright, Clark, don't tell me you've become an ordinary person now."
Pete frowned as he watched Clark happily playing basketball.
"Maybe. Perhaps the life of an ordinary person is a new challenge for me too."
Clark caught the ball that bounced back from the hoop, shrugged, and replied to Pete.
"No, Clark, you are not an ordinary person."
Pete looked at Clark with a serious gaze, "When we first met, I knew that you and Eric were not ordinary people. Do you remember? The school sports day, I don't remember which autumn it was held, but I remember one scene very clearly: you were far ahead in the first half, like a gust of wind, and then you slowed down like a snail."
"Clark, I know why you do this; you're hiding your abilities. Your abilities can sometimes cause harm to others and yourself, and sometimes you face painful choices, just like my parents' divorce, where I had to make a painful choice. But this is not a punishment for you; it is your gifted glory. Gifted glory is not a burden!"
Hearing Pete's serious words, Clark was stunned.
"I have to go, Clark. This was just a stopover. Next time, let's play basketball together again."
Pete smiled at Clark, threw the basketball in his hand to Clark, and turned to leave.
"And, if you're still this bad next time, I won't hold back, Clark!"
Pete left the farm, his words echoing in Clark's ears.
"Divorce?"
This was the first time Clark had heard about Pete's parents' divorce.
While feeling sad for his friend's plight, he lowered his head and looked at his hands.
"Gifted glory is not a burden?"
Luther Manor.
Lex looked at the alien spaceship in the underground secret laboratory, suppressing his anger, and asked the surrounding staff:
"Don't tell me you've spent all this time and can't even open this thing!"
It had been over half a month since this alien spaceship was moved into the laboratory.
Forget about analyzing and researching the ship; they couldn't even get it to open.
This made Lex, who was exhausted from waiting, almost unable to contain his anger.
"Mr. Luthor, we have tried many methods. The materials that make up this spaceship do not belong to any known element on Earth. We are currently studying their characteristics. Perhaps with just a little more time, we can figure it out."
A person in charge came up to report to Lex.
"I don't want to hear your nonsense; you've already wasted too much time. Also, not only do I know that the materials on this spaceship are different from Earth's, I also know that your work progress and results are very disappointing to me."
As Lex was venting his dissatisfaction with the researchers, his phone rang.
After answering the call, he hung up after a few words.
Lex said to everyone standing in the room, "Your research work ends here. Everyone, leave this place. You will sign new non-disclosure agreements. Our business relationship ends here. Finally, I hope you will be smart!"
After Lex finished speaking, he had his security and staff escort the research experts out.
After everyone had left, Lex took a deep breath and gently stroked the cold, dark hull of the spaceship.
"Whatever you're hiding inside, I will uncover it. What I lack is not wisdom, but time!"
Removing his hand from the spaceship's metal hull, Lex turned and walked out of the laboratory.
After he left the laboratory, a few drops of black viscous liquid flowed out from the spaceship's cracks.
The slime dripped onto the ground, quickly forming a puddle of black substance.
And the dripping speed became faster and faster, and the spaceship's hull also vibrated slightly.
A few minutes later, the black viscous liquid stopped dripping, and the black liquid on the ground began to move.
As the black slime continuously wriggled and deformed, it finally formed a human-like entity.
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