Clark finally found the red kryptonite ring, took the red ring out of the small box, and prepared to put it on his hand.
"Don't do that, Clark!"
Chloe reached out her hand, making a gesture to stop him.
Tears shimmered in her eyes.
She liked Clark, having secretly harbored a crush on him, and even though she knew the girl he liked was Lana, she still silently liked him.
Now seeing him like this, an uncontrollable sadness surged within her.
"Once you put that on, you won't be you anymore!"
Looking at Chloe's sad expression, Clark turned his head away, feeling a bit unbearable.
Suppressing his emotions, Clark avoided Chloe's eyes, "I'm sorry, but I don't want to be myself right now."
Clark extended his finger and put the ring on the index finger of his left hand.
Blue-red veins immediately appeared on his palm, spreading up his arm, and then disappearing in an instant.
A flash of red passed through his eyes.
All superfluous emotions were cast aside, without a trace of lingering attachment, and Clark turned and left the school newspaper office.
Chloe watched Clark's retreating back, unable to hold back any longer, and tears streamed from the corners of her eyes.
That night, after Jonathan and Martha returned to the farm, they found only Eric there.
"Where did Clark go?"
Jonathan asked Eric in surprise.
"I don't know."
Eric was sitting on the sofa, tidying his drawings, and shook his head, "He chose to exile himself."
"What?"
Jonathan seemed not to understand Eric's meaning, and reconfirmed, "Exile? Eric, do you mean he ran away from home?"
"It looks that way."
Eric put down his drawings, "If he can't solve the problems he faces, Clark chose what he considers the correct answer, which is to leave! Although he said he didn't want to see us get hurt, this might also be a form of escape."
Martha, hearing her younger son say that Clark had left, immediately stood up and said uneasily, "Clark, he—he has never left home, nor has he ever left us, he's still a child, Jonathan—"
Martha cast a worried gaze at her husband.
Jonathan sighed and slumped into a chair, "My fault, I didn't think Clark would—I shouldn't have said such harsh words, I didn't pay attention to his mental state."
"This isn't your fault, Jonathan, Clark might just be unable to accept this situation for a while, I believe—I believe he'll be back soon."
Saying this, Martha turned her gaze to Eric, "Eric, can you find Clark?"
"It's useless."
Before Eric could answer, Jonathan shook his head, "If this is Clark's idea, as long as he keeps hiding, no one will find him. Even if Eric finds him, then what? Unless Eric has a fight with him, he might only then be pulled back, and we don't want to see such a situation, Martha."
Saying this, he reached out and held Martha's hands, "Maybe he'll think it through in a couple of days, didn't I have a similar experience before?"
Jonathan smiled at his wife, "When I was in high school, I ran away from home, wanting to join the Metropolis Sharks. The result of that was that I returned to the farm a few days later, and then completely gave up the idea of joining the Sharks."
"Hmm, I hope so."
Martha nodded, but her face remained etched with an unyielding sorrow.
Dinner seemed a bit quiet with one person missing. After dinner, Eric went into his room.
Although he told Clark to calm down, Jonathan still asked Eric to try his best to find Clark and notify him immediately once he found him.
Sitting in his room, Eric used his Super Vision to look towards Metropolis.
Since the Homelander template progress was unsealed to 95%, the observation distance of his vision has also been expanded several times, at least now covering the entire Metropolis is no problem.
After searching for a while using Super Vision and Super Hearing, he did not find any useful clues.
Metropolis is too big; even with super talents, it's impossible to precisely find one person.
"Is he deliberately hiding from me?"
Throwing the pen in his hand onto the table, Eric fell into deep thought.
After thinking for a while, he decided to go to Metropolis first.
Eric activated Super Speed, left the farm through the window, moved to an unmanned corner, and after flying into the sky, headed towards Metropolis.
Thud!
His feet landed on the ground, and Eric stood in front of the Justice Society Headquarters.
After pushing open the door and entering the hall, he turned on the lights in the hall.
Eric sat on the middle chair at the round table, propping his chin with his hands, and continued to use his Super Vision to search for Clark's whereabouts.
The entire hall was silent; the hero portraits on the pillars had been torn down by him and replaced with his own "Dark Cthulhu-style" artworks.
Dark, profound, and obscure paintings hung in the hall, giving off an extremely eerie feeling.
The Justice Society's creed—the words "A new generation of young people pursuing justice and the American spirit"—originally hung on the wall, had been replaced by Eric with "God bless America, God bless you!"
Buzz!
As Eric was searching, the Cosmic Staff he carried suddenly moved, jumping into the air, radiating a golden glow.
The Staff floated in the air, seemingly wanting to guide him in a certain direction.
Eric frowned, wondering what this somewhat "AI retard" guy wanted to do.
The next second, the Staff shot up into the sky, directly breaking through the Justice Society's window.
Then the Staff transformed into a stream of light, like an uncatchable light, flying into the distance.
Eric stood up, watching the Staff in the distance, his eyes narrowing slightly.
Blue Valley.
This was the Staff's target destination.
At this moment, in Blue Valley Hospital, Courtney was sleeping in her ward, and a figure stood outside the ward.
A person dressed in a suit, with a blue face, exuding a chilling coldness, gazed at Courtney lying in the ward.
After observing quietly for a while, he reached out and touched the doorknob.
With a "click," the doorknob, suddenly covered in a layer of ice, opened.
The blue-faced man pushed open the door and entered the ward, walking to Courtney's bedside.
"Hmph!"
Perhaps sensing danger in some unseen way, Courtney exhaled and woke up from the bed.
What met her eyes was the stranger who had appeared before her!
Startled, she curled up and moved backward.
"Relax!"
The blue-faced man reached out and made a shushing gesture at her.
"If I were you, I wouldn't yell."
"Who—who are you?"
Courtney swallowed, feeling the chilling coldness emanating from the air, and asked him.
"You can call me Icicle, the leader of the Injustice Society you've been thinking about. Haven't you always wanted to find and deal with me?"
Icicle smiled slightly at Courtney, "The new member of the Justice Society, our 'Little Star'—Stargirl!"
"I'm not Stargirl, my name is Stargirl!"
Courtney immediately corrected him, "And, I've withdrawn from the Justice Society now, someone expelled me."
She spoke with some indignation.
"Oh? Hasn't the Justice Society already been destroyed?"
Icicle looked very interested.
"Of course, but someone has taken over everything from the Justice Society, and used his authority to expel me."
As Stargirl spoke, she secretly reached her hand under the pillow.
A sharp dagger was hidden there!
It was given to her by Pat for self-defense.
According to Pat, "If you lose your Staff, you always need a weapon for self-defense. Although a dagger's power is a bit less than the Staff, it can always give you a sense of security."
"Oh? Can I know that person's name? The name of the person who inherited the Justice Society. Stargirl, if you tell me his name and origin, I can consider not pursuing the matter of you killing Brainwave."
"I didn't kill Brainwave!"
Courtney firmly denied something she hadn't done.
"And he's not dead, he just had a stroke."
Icicle smiled, "For someone like him, lying in bed half-dead means already dead."
"Alright, I have no intention of getting entangled with you over who killed Brainwave. Next, you just need to tell me the identity of the superhero who inherited the Justice Society, otherwise—"
Icicle said, blowing a breath at a vase placed on the cabinet.
The vase, attacked by the cold air, immediately froze, and the extremely low temperature quickly enveloped its entire body.
With a "crack," the vase shattered instantly.
"Otherwise, your outcome will be as tragic as this vase, Stargirl."
Icicle spoke the harshest words in a flat tone.
"I—I understand."
Courtney pretended to mumble, "He is!"
Before she finished speaking, her right hand quickly pulled out the dagger from under the pillow and fiercely stabbed at the opponent.
"Die!"
Bang!
Stargirl's dagger did not stab the opponent; instead, it was lightly blocked by Icicle.
With two fingers lightly clamping the dagger Courtney had stabbed at him, Icicle let out a soft sneer.
"If it's this level of attack, it can't cause me any harm. If you used the Star Scepter, it might give me a headache, but this is far from enough!"
"Ah!"
The frostbitten Courtney let out a painful cry.
The dagger clamped by Icicle also broke in response.
"Very good, since you're not cooperating, then I can only make you suffer a bit."
Icicle was about to inflict some cruel methods on Courtney when a sound of breaking air came.
A golden stream of light flashed outside the window, and before he could react, a stick struck him on the head.
"What?"
Icicle, who uttered a surprised sound, only had time to raise his arm.
A layer of blue ice armor quickly formed on his right arm to resist the Staff's physical attack.
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