Devourer of Heaven clicked his tongue regretfully, "But the Star Scepter in her hand suddenly came into your possession, so I had no choice but to involve you. We are not enemies, are we?"
"The only one who hated you was that little girl, and I've already sent her to hell. How about we establish a friendship, or we can each do our own thing without interfering with each other?"
Devourer of Heaven's seemingly sincere words did not cause any ripples in Eric's heart.
"Excuse me, I've never been very fond of negotiating with people who try to use me."
A crimson Heat Vision shot from Eric's eyes towards Devourer of Heaven.
Bang!
The Heat Vision was dodged by Devourer of Heaven.
Devourer of Heaven had just landed and hadn't fully recovered from dodging when Eric activated his superspeed, moving to where Devourer of Heaven landed, and his fist unhesitatingly struck out towards him.
Puff!
The fist did not hit Devourer of Heaven.
Devourer of Heaven's body turned into a wisp of smoke and immediately dissipated into nothingness.
Eric stood where Devourer of Heaven had disappeared, looking at his empty swing.
"Did he run away?"
Feeling the gradually fading aura of Devourer of Heaven in the air, Eric frowned.
Clark looked up at the black mist that Devourer of Heaven had finally become as it disappeared, his expression serious.
"What was that?"
After seeing the "demon" disappear, Chloe walked over and asked Eric.
Her face was pale, and the nightmare she had just experienced in the illusion left her still somewhat disoriented.
"A demon rumored to have been born from the Shadow Land."
Eric shook his head, then turned to look at the other unconscious students lying on the ground.
"He is best at manipulating people's minds. Whatever you saw just now, it wasn't real. He showed you the darkness in your hearts, but as long as you don't harbor the desire and thoughts to deny yourselves, then his fear cannot affect you. If your beliefs are shaken, I think it will be easy for him to take advantage."
"Is that so?"
Lana thought of the scene she had seen in her illusion, and a bewildered look appeared in her eyes.
Her Aunt Neil had deemed her a burden, believing she had dragged her down. Was this thought truly Aunt Neil's inner feeling?
The sound of police sirens echoed in the distance; it seemed the police were heading this way.
Eric's super vision pierced through the walls, glancing at the rapidly approaching police cars in the distance, then he turned to Clark and said, "Let's leave here first."
Clark turned to Chloe and Lana, "Sorry, Lana, Chloe, we have to go."
After bidding them farewell, Clark activated his superspeed, following Eric, and in an instant, they disappeared from the tutoring classroom.
Lana and Chloe exchanged glances, seeing worry in each other's eyes.
Lana took a deep breath and walked towards Mr. Dikes at the podium.
Seeing the gruesome sight of Dikes without a head, a frightened Lana let out a scream.
Hearing Lana's scream, Chloe immediately hurried over.
Upon seeing Dikes's body on the ground, she also gasped and covered her mouth.
"Oh my God!"
A feeling of nausea rushed to her throat.
After returning to the farm, Clark was somewhat restless.
"Eric, I…"
Looking at the increasingly gloomy sky, with faint rumbling thunder, Clark exhaled and asked Eric, "Did we do something too much?"
"What?"
Eric was about to go rest when he heard Clark's words and turned around.
The two of them were talking outside the barn.
"Courtney once mentioned the Justice Society's disintegration. Bruce Gordon, the first host of Devourer of Heaven, just like Mr. Dikes who was controlled, he… he was innocent. The Justice Society voted on whether to kill Bruce Gordon, and we…"
Clark looked up, his gaze complex as he stared at his brother, "And we killed Mr. Dikes without a vote. Are we, like the Injustice Society, constantly testing the bottom line?"
"Not us, it's me, Clark."
Eric interrupted Clark, "I killed him, not you."
"Do you know the trolley problem?"
He suddenly asked Clark.
"What?"
"A trolley is speeding towards ten people tied to the tracks. If you change the track, you can save them, but you will hit and kill one person. If it were you, what would you choose?"
"Me?"
Hearing Eric's strange question, Clark was stunned.
He hadn't expected Eric to suddenly ask such a question.
"I… I don't know."
Clark said with some confusion.
He vaguely had an answer in his heart, but he wasn't sure if it was something he could commit to.
Eric was silent for a moment, then said, "Some choose to pull the lever, sacrificing the few to save the many; some choose to act as the trolley at the end; some realize that the trolley's power is humanity, and humans are heading towards their end in self-destruction, but they cannot stop the trolley, only numb themselves with absurdity; and some are the people tied to the tracks, short-sighted and numb."
"And I, Clark, I am the person who can never be sure how to operate it, because the standard I use to measure is not the life of one person or ten people on the tracks."
Eric looked into Clark's eyes, "I know what choice you would make, Clark. You would choose to save ten people, but you wouldn't abandon that one person, right?"
Eric understood Clark's temperament and character very well.
Clark had experienced a scene in the future where he had to make a choice for the entire universe.
To exchange the Death of a little girl for the peace of a universe.
This was more like an upgraded version of the "trolley problem."
A somewhat ugly, gravely ill alien little girl lay in bed, awaiting the arrival of Death. She was a fan of Superman and was genuinely happy to see her idol, Superman.
And she told Clark that she would be very happy if she died by Clark's hand.
This seemed like a very easy choice: on one side was a dying little girl, and on the other was the entire universe. It seemed anyone would know how to choose.
But Clark said nothing, sitting by the little girl's bedside, quietly staying with her for a day and a night.
It was a simple choice, but he could never make that decision.
As for the reason, it was simple: because he was Superman.
Although Eric wasn't particularly fond of Clark's spirit, it didn't mean he would force Clark to change his life path.
"Dikes's Death wasn't because of you, but because of me, and the only issue you had in this was choosing to trust me, Clark."
After a moment of silence, Eric said to Clark, "If trust makes you feel guilty or uneasy inside, then…"
Saying that, he turned and left, "You can choose to follow your inner voice."
Clark was stunned, watching Eric's retreating back.
He hadn't expected Eric to say that to him.
Under the dim moonlight, watching Eric's back disappear into the barn, Clark's eyes brightened somewhat.
"Yes, instead of a path where we might gradually diverge due to baseless trust, if there's something I feel uneasy about, even if I trust Eric, I should express my opinion instead of suppressing it inside and confronting my suppressed emotions."
Clark, having instantly understood everything, felt much of the gloom in his heart dissipate.
With a touch of joy in his heart, he quickened his pace, following Eric's footsteps.
Meanwhile, on the other side, just a wall away from Eric and Clark in the barn, Courtney, who was resting on her bed, suddenly opened her eyes.
She had heard their entire conversation.
"Killing the host Devourer of Heaven parasitized without hesitation?"
Courtney's eyes flashed with a complex expression as she thought of the Justice Society's handling of the first host, Bruce Gordon.
She had always thought it was wrong, that superheroes had an uncrossable bottom line.
This bottom line was a clear standard to distinguish between good and evil, heroes and villains.
But now, after listening to their conversation, she felt a sense of bewilderment.
She suddenly recalled her previous argument with Pat.
She had insisted that the "Shadows" (Injustice Society members) were bad guys, but Pat disagreed that the "Shadows" were completely bad; he said they were "bad" but not "evil."
Although, in her view, both had complete definitions.
But now, she had a slight doubt.
Are "bad" and "evil" truly not the same attribute?
She couldn't sleep, tossing and turning with these messy questions in her mind.
Finally, she sat up abruptly.
She glanced at her stepfather beside her, saw that he was sleeping soundly, so she got out of bed, put on her boots, and prepared to go for a walk outside.
Leaving the warm covers, she gently pushed open the door, trying not to make a sound as she walked out.
The entire night was completely covered by the pitch-black sky; Courtney could barely see a sliver of moonlight as she took two steps forward along the farm's path lights.
Suddenly, she heard a sound near the cow shed.
"?"
Was it a cow thief coming at this hour?
Thinking it was a thief, Courtney immediately became alert.
She grabbed a stick from nearby and tiptoed towards the cow shed.
There weren't many cows in the shed, perhaps due to reconstruction, which led to a sparse number of livestock on the farm; there were only two dairy cows inside.
Courtney tiptoed towards a dark figure near the dairy cows.
It turned out to be Eric, wearing gloves and milking a cow!
He was concentrating on the cow's udder, frowning, and milking the cow again and again.
Fresh white milk sprayed out with a "sizzle" under Eric's technique.
Eric seemed not to notice someone spying on him. After milking very carefully, he stood up, holding the iron bucket.
He frowned, looking at the freshly squeezed milk in the bucket, brought his nose closer to smell it, and showed a somewhat complex expression.
After shifting his attention from the cow, Eric looked at the stunned Courtney beside him.
"Courtney, what are you doing here?"
Although Eric was a bit flustered that Courtney saw him milking, he immediately adjusted his emotions and put on a poker face.
"Uh…"
Courtney pointed to the iron bucket in Eric's hand, "Are you preparing for tomorrow's breakfast?"
"No."
Eric shook his head, putting on a serious expression, "This cow is a bit uncomfortable. I'm milking some milk for it to make it feel better."
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