Superman and Canary, who now wielded the Green Lantern ring, left the Daily Planet building and headed for Central City. Before they departed, Superman told everyone that Wonder Woman Diana had responded to his broadcast. She would soon arrive in Metropolis from Washington to join them.
Until Wonder Woman arrived, these young heroes needed to stabilize the survivors Superman had brought and stay vigilant against attacks from the infected. After all, no one knew how many superheroes had been turned by the virus.
These tasks weren't difficult. Though Damian was young and lacked experience, his personality mirrored Batman's, and his mother's influence had made him even more ruthless. It was no problem for him to keep the ordinary survivors in line.
At least as long as the number of survivors didn't increase, the current group wouldn't dare to cause trouble under Damian's watchful eye.
However, Damian had his own responsibilities, and Green Arrow, as the senior hero, had his own ideas and soon left to patrol various areas. Young Jonathan and Clark, left alone, exchanged glances, both visibly awkward.
For young Jonathan, having his father's childhood self right in front of him was incredibly embarrassing. Ever since he was born, his father had been the towering Superman, bringing hope to the world.
But the Clark in front of him was the opposite: lacking firm will and superpowers, confused, and even more helpless than Jonathan himself. Yet, separating Clark from Superman was difficult for young Jonathan.
Their blood connection constantly told him that this child, younger than himself, was undeniably his father. Though their lives were different, Clark and Superman were genetically the same person.
Clark was equally embarrassed. How would anyone understand? What do you do when you see your future son at just eight years old?
But as he thought about it, Clark had an epiphany. It was like a blind monk suddenly seeing the light. It seemed certain that he was young Jonathan's father, and that couldn't be changed. However, it wasn't certain that young Jonathan was his son.
After all, it was highly probable there wouldn't be a reporter named Lois in his world. In other words, his future son was unlikely to be Jonathan. Even if they shared the same bloodline, the other half would be different.
"I am your father, but you are not necessarily my son." This was the current situation.
Thinking this, Clark's expression involuntarily became strange, so much so that young Jonathan couldn't help but speak first.
"It feels like... you seem to be thinking of something very rude."
Superman could use his super-brain to observe countless subtle human body changes, achieving an effect similar to mind-reading. As Superman's son, young Jonathan might not be as capable, but he had learned what he needed to.
Facing someone like Batman, who could even deceive himself with lies, this alternative form of mind-reading wasn't very effective. Still, young Jonathan could figure out what Clark, an eight-year-old boy, was thinking.
"Ha...haha...sorry, I just can't help but think that way."
Young Jonathan rolled his eyes at Clark, but at the same time, the awkwardness between them lessened significantly because of this small, strange moment. Clark's behavior was completely unlike Superman, helping young Jonathan separate him from the image of his Superman father.
"You and my father are both named Clark, so from now on, I'll call you by your last name. How about Parker?"
"Of course, no problem."
With the barrier gone, young Jonathan began patrolling with Clark. As someone with superpowers, even though he was just a child, young Jonathan needed to take on certain responsibilities.
Clark also used this opportunity to ask young Jonathan about Kryptonian superpowers. After a simple check, young Jonathan determined that because Clark hadn't yet realized he was Kryptonian, and firmly believed he was human, his Kryptonian physique was actively suppressed.
Most of the sunlight he received in his first eight years was wasted, and his body hadn't been stimulated at all, so he couldn't control his bio-electric aura and naturally couldn't fly. Learning to use heat vision after training would already be his limit.
Along the way, the two patrolled and practiced at the same time. Young Jonathan was different from Clark, and even from his father. Even the current Superman wasted a lot of time when he was young because he didn't realize he wasn't human.
But Jonathan was different. Since he could remember, he knew he had Kryptonian blood. His Kryptonian physique and superpowers had never been suppressed.
So, even though young Jonathan was only a few years older than Clark, he was fully capable of controlling Clark's heat vision when it got out of control, allowing Clark to learn it without worrying about hurting anyone.
Gradually, just as Clark began to learn to control his heat vision, the ground began to tremble with a roar. At the same time, Damian's voice rang out from the Bat-Pager young Jonathan had with him.
"Jon! Infected approaching! It's the Giant Woman! The Giant Woman is coming here with a large number of infected! Hurry to the rooftop!"
Clark and young Jonathan both heard Damian's words. After looking at each other, Jon flew directly out the nearby window, while Clark ran to the roof at full speed.
When he arrived, he found the battle had already begun. Clark didn't know the Giant Woman. He didn't like reading comics in the first place. But now, even without a comic introduction, he knew what kind of superpowers she had just from her code name and appearance.
Her body was larger than the Daily Planet building, and it wasn't just a mortal body. Green Arrow's explosive arrows only made small wounds on her. It was clear that as her size grew, her body had also strengthened.
Otherwise, if it were just a different bone structure from humans, even if the bones became proportionally thicker, they wouldn't be able to bear the increased weight.
Clark's analysis was quick, but he didn't come up with anything useful. It only allowed him to quickly understand the current situation. Green Arrow's explosive arrows could damage Giganta, but his attention was drawn by the ordinary infected she had brought.
He had to stop them from entering the Daily Planet building. The same was true for Damian. Before the virus outbreak, he had come to Superman's house to play video games with young Jonathan.
Though he brought his Robin uniform, he hadn't brought many weapons, so he could only join Green Arrow in fighting the ordinary infected. For a while, the only one who could fight the Giant Woman was young Jonathan, who was clearly not skilled at fighting and couldn't bring himself to do it.
It seems things are escalating quickly! What will Lucian and young Jonathan do against Giganta and the infected, especially with Green Arrow and Damian tied up?