Smallville, Luther Manor.
Leno Luther sat in his office, watching the internal video of the experimental research lab, his brows slightly furrowed.
Although the Luther Chemical Plant had closed, the secret laboratory within the plant continued its research on Kryptonite.
"This is the body of a dead coyote we found at the site where the meteor, or rather, the spaceship, crashed."
Dr. David Harwood, in charge of the dissection, said to the camera while examining the coyote's body.
A few days prior, residents of Smallville had observed what appeared to be an unidentified flying object landing in the sky.
Upon receiving the news, Leno Luther immediately dispatched his subordinates to search the site.
Although nothing valuable was found, the strangely deceased animal bodies were discovered at the scene.
In the video, David Harwood let out a gasp.
"This is impossible!"
He had an incredulous expression, "The coyote still has body temperature. Initially, the tissues were hardened, but now they've softened, and its body temperature has returned to normal."
Using a scalpel to cut open the coyote's body, David Harwood's expression was full of confusion, "It looks like it's regained life."
He put down the scalpel, preparing to record the experimental data.
Unexpectedly, black tentacles suddenly extended from the opened part of the coyote's chest, wrapping around David's arm.
The viscous, dark tentacles violently pulled his right arm towards the coyote's wound.
Caught off guard, David's arm was directly pulled into the bloody, mangled wound.
"Oh my! Help me!"
David, in pain, cried out for help to the assistant and guard beside him.
The startled assistant immediately came to help, and the guard outside the laboratory also rushed in upon hearing the cries for help.
With the help of the assistant and the guard, David's hand was finally pulled out.
However, before the two could even breathe a sigh of relief, a sudden change occurred.
David's right arm suddenly grabbed the guard's neck.
The unprepared guard was directly lifted into the air, then thrown away.
"Bang!"
The guard's body heavily struck the instrument-filled experimental table, shattering the laboratory equipment and producing a deafening sound.
The stunned assistant looked at David Harwood in amazement. He never expected the normally gentle Dr. to suddenly go mad.
Realizing what was happening, he wanted to escape. As soon as he turned around, he saw David had appeared at the only exit of the laboratory.
He blinked again, and a bloody hand had already grabbed his terrified face, easily lifting him up.
The strength in the hand increased, and the assistant could even hear the sound of his own skull bones colliding.
"Ah!!!"
At the same time, the appearance of his face was aging at a visible rate!
As the expression on David's face became more distorted, the assistant's screams grew weaker and weaker.
"Thud!"
A moment later, the lifeless assistant fell heavily to the ground.
And David Harwood, who had absorbed the assistant, suddenly looked at the camera with his dark eyes.
"Click!"
Leno Luther pressed the pause button.
The distorted face of the other party was frozen on the screen.
"Knock! Knock! Knock!"
A knock sounded from outside the room. Leno Luther pressed the off button, turning off the recorder.
"Come in."
"Sir, the Police found a body near the Smallville River."
His subordinate walked in and handed a stack of documents to Leno Luther.
Leno opened the documents, and the first thing that caught his eye was Tang Hagerty's shriveled body.
The other party's horrifying, shriveled face was very similar to the deceased assistant's.
After flipping through a few pages of the documents, he asked his subordinate, "Is there any news about David Harwood?"
After David Harwood suddenly attacked and killed the guard and assistant, he escaped from the laboratory.
Although Leno had dispatched almost all his available personnel to search for him, there had been no news.
"Not yet, sir."
"Then speed it up."
Just as he was about to say something more, the phone suddenly rang.
Impatiently, he picked up the phone, "What's the problem? Anna."
His secretary reported to him: "Sir, Rex has arrived at the Manor."
"What?!"
A few minutes later, Leno Luther looked at the excited bald Rex in front of him, speechless.
"Rex, you should have called me in advance."
"Dad, I wanted to surprise you. I missed you."
Rex said it was because he missed his father, so he had his driver bring him from Metropolis.
"You shouldn't have come."
Leno was not as happy as Rex had imagined. He picked up the phone, "Anna, arrange for the driver to take Rex back."
Rex looked at him disappointedly, "Dad?"
This was not what he had imagined.
His initial joy and excitement at seeing his father were instantly dampened.
Leno Luther saw Rex's disappointed gaze and hesitated for a moment.
But thinking of the dangerous situation he was facing, he ultimately had his subordinate take Rex out.
Evening, Patrick Farm.
Peter was not home; at this time, only Clark and Mark were at the farm.
Clark was feeling a bit down due to Tang Hagerty's Death.
"Clark, this has nothing to do with you."
Mark said to him, "You can't be responsible for everyone's Death."
He helped stack the Korean logs in a corner of the farm.
Clark sighed dejectedly:
"I know, my godfather said that each of us, from birth to Death, is woven from a series of events. Every moment we live, every action we take, a loving word or a resentful gesture, is just a tiny vibration on the clockwork of life."
"After countless vibrations, until one day, something triggers life's alarm clock, the bell rings, and our lives come to an end."
Mark thought for a moment. Although he didn't quite understand, he felt it seemed very reasonable. "Mm-hmm, Dad's right. Maybe Tang Hagerty's life alarm clock rang."
"It's too sudden. Human life is really too fragile."
Clark said with a worried expression, "What if Godfather and Mom and Dad's alarm clocks ring?"
Mark felt that Clark was too gloomy.
"Clark, you're too gloomy. Dad will never die."
"But Socrates said that all men die."
"Dad is not an ordinary man!"
"Socrates is a man, and Godfather is also a man. Socrates will die, and Godfather will also die."
"Dad is not a man!"
Mark was suddenly confused by Clark, "No, that's not right. I mean Dad is not a mortal."
Just as Mark was getting angry and preparing to roll up his sleeves to teach Clark a lesson, Clark suddenly made a shushing gesture to him with a serious expression.
"Shh! Quiet, Mark!"
Mark's movements immediately stopped. His Super Speed also heard the strange sounds coming from the Barn.
The two looked at each other and nodded in understanding.
"Whoosh!"
Mark activated Super Speed, and in just a blink of an eye, he was inside the Barn.
The Barn was completely silent, with the red light of the setting sun shining in, spreading a tranquil atmosphere.
Mark cautiously looked around while slowly stepping onto the repaired stairs, going up to the second floor.
Suddenly!
A Shadow stood behind Mark.
"Who?!"
Without hesitation, Mark turned and instinctively threw a punch.
"Bang!"
Unexpectedly, the other party steadily caught Mark's punch.
Mark looked at the White man in front of him in shock, uttering a word that almost made the other party go berserk: "Nini?"
Although Mark quickly shut his mouth, the White man knew what he wanted to say.
This racist brat!