"Of course," Eric said, as if it were obvious.
He casually carried the iron bucket filled with fresh milk and walked out of the cow shed.
"It's best not to go out in this kind of weather."
He warned Courtney before leaving.
"You encountered Devourer of Heaven at Smallville High School, didn't you?"
Courtney asked Eric as he brushed past her.
Eric stopped. "Yes, the information you and Pat provided was wrong. Devourer of Heaven was not actually released from the dark heart."
"How could that be?"
Courtney looked surprised. "Shadow told me."
"It seems one of you two lied. But it doesn't matter now. Devourer of Heaven has already been released from the dark heart. In a sense, you were right, it was just the timing that was off."
"Also,"
Eric paused, then said, "Devourer of Heaven's host—Cindy Berman—has gone to hell."
"Gone to hell?"
Courtney immediately stepped closer to Eric, her voice a little flustered. "What do you mean? Are you saying Cindy is dead?"
She and Cindy used to have a good relationship. Although they became mortal enemies after she became Stargirl, she couldn't help but care about her situation.
"Yes, literally."
Eric glanced at the milk in the bucket and said, "Devourer of Heaven has dragged her to hell, or some Shadow Land. Wherever it is, she's definitely dead, right?"
"Is…is that so?"
Courtney lowered her head, a little distressed. "Did Devourer of Heaven kill Cindy?"
"I…"
After a moment of silence, Courtney's eyes filled with tears. "First Taylor, then Beth, everyone has left me. Devourer of Heaven made them see the darkness in their hearts. I don't know how to deal with it. I tried to persuade everyone, but I found that no one could turn back. Maybe Eric, the enemy we face has never been Devourer of Heaven, but ourselves."
"The fact that you can think this way shows that the brainless Courtney from before has grown a bit."
Eric continued his "sharp-tongued" assault on Courtney.
"Go back and rest. This isn't something you can figure out in a short time."
Saying that, he carried the iron bucket and walked into the barn.
After a few steps, Eric said to Courtney with his back to her, "Don't go back to Blue Valley for now. Also, don't tell anyone about what happened between us tonight."
Under the gloomy, dark sky, only a few faint beams of light, barely penetrating the darkness of the night, shone down from the streetlights, illuminating the spot where Eric had stood, now empty.
Courtney watched the place where Eric disappeared, let out a breath, covered her lips with her slightly cold hand, and scurried to the bed.
She suddenly felt that perhaps Eric was not as detestable as she had imagined.
The next morning.
As soon as Courtney opened the door, she found a group of police officers standing outside.
The chubby police officer in charge showed his police ID and arrest warrant to the stunned Courtney, introduced himself, and then asked her, "Is this Eric Kent's house?"
The chubby police officer, whose nose was a little red from the cold but whose face was tense, asked Courtney.
Courtney recovered from her daze, glanced at the chubby police officer, then at the two police cars outside, and stammered, "Yes, this is Kent Farm, but who are you looking for?"
As Courtney was talking to the chubby police officer, two more police officers with bulging waists walked over and stood on either side of him.
"Are Mr. Kent and Mrs. Kent not home?"
Seeing his two colleagues arrive, the chubby police officer's nervousness eased a bit, and he asked her with a slight smile.
"They're not here."
Just as Courtney was about to say something more, Eric and Clark walked over.
They were also a little surprised to see so many police officers at their door.
Upon seeing Eric come out, the chubby police officer immediately stepped forward and said to him, "Eric Kent, we now suspect you are involved in a murder case, and we hope you can come with us to the police station for investigation."
"Murder case?"
Eric frowned. "I don't think you can arrest me without concrete evidence."
He had destroyed all key evidence related to Dikes last night and had prepared contingency plans for all situations, so he wasn't particularly worried about the police coming to his door.
"This is the arrest warrant, guaranteeing our right to investigate you for at least 24 hours."
The chubby police officer said to Eric sternly.
Eric, however, remained silent, staring coldly at the other party.
Pat, after washing up, walked to the door and noticed the tense atmosphere of the two groups confronting each other.
Clark, standing next to Eric, saw the increasingly hostile police officers, reached out and grabbed Eric's arm, shaking his head slightly.
He motioned for Eric not to expose his abilities in front of the public.
Eric was silent for a moment, then replied "Okay" and followed the police into the police car, heading towards the Smallville police station.
Just as the police car was leaving Kent Farm, a black business car, a Chrysler, passed the police car and drove over.
Lex, inside the Chrysler, saw Eric in the police car and his face showed a look of astonishment.
Screech!
Stepping on the brakes, Lex quickly got out of the car, watched the police car carrying Eric drive away, and shook his head helplessly.
Was he still a step too late?
"Lex."
Seeing Lex, Clark immediately walked over and greeted him, "Aren't you recovering in the hospital?"
After Eric rescued Lex from the deserted island, he spent most of his time recuperating in the hospital.
The previous malaria and fever, as well as various physical problems caused by unhygienic diet and malnutrition, required him to be treated well in the hospital.
Clark had visited him before, so he knew his situation.
Wearing a black trench coat and standing tall, Lex had regained his usual elite demeanor in the human city.
Shaking his head, he said, "This kind of physical problem that requires slow conditioning doesn't suit my pace of life, Clark."
Lex turned around and looked at Clark. "You know exactly what happened last night, don't you? The scene at the Smallville High School tutoring class."
Looking at Lex's serious face, Clark thought for a moment, and finally decided not to tell Lex the truth.
"I… I don't know."
"Hmm."
Lex nodded. "It's not too bad now. Besides Lana and Chloe, the testimonies of the others at the scene cannot harm Eric, as their mental state is a bit problematic right now."
"What's wrong with their mental state?"
Clark asked somewhat nervously.
"Varying degrees of paranoia, and mild psychological trauma."
Lex explained to Clark, "It seems that the scene they described was too bizarre, so the doctors initially judged that their minds had been stimulated. However, this is just preliminary information my friend at the police station told me, and I cannot verify its authenticity."
Hearing Lex's explanation, Clark breathed a sigh of relief, but his tense heart did not completely relax. "We have to find a way to get Eric out of the police station."
He said, looking anxiously at the disappearing police car in the distance, "Eric can't stay in the police station. He's never been to a place like that."
Now that Martha and Jonathan were not home, Clark, who felt he had to take on family responsibilities, was determined to get his brother out of the police station by any means necessary.
He had promised his parents before they left that he would take care of Eric no matter what.
Now that his brother was in the police station, and he didn't know what he would encounter, it made him feel uneasy.
"Don't worry, Clark."
Lex reassured him, "Don't forget, Luther Group has a team of lawyers, and I will also hire the most famous lawyers from all over the country. I promise you, no matter what happens, I will ensure Eric's safe return."
Upon hearing his friend's assurance, Clark's tightly furrowed brows relaxed a bit.
"Thank you, Lex."
Lex said nothing more, just smiled at Clark.
His left hand was in his trench coat pocket, caressing the phone case, his thoughts already far away.
Smallville Medical Center.
After hanging up the phone, Amanda, dressed in white casual wear, with one arm folded across her chest and the other hand resting on her chin, looked at the persistently bad weather outside the hospital, her heart filled with gloom.
She didn't like this town, not because she had lost a lot of personnel right away, or even because Deadshot had suffered an accident, but because she detested the weather here.
Since she came to this town, she had never seen the sun overhead.
The gloomy and ominous sky always gave off an uncomfortable aura, and it had been getting worse recently.
Looking at Deadshot lying on the hospital bed, she shook her head and turned to walk out of the ward.
Although Deadshot still had vital signs when he was found, it was a miracle that he was alive after such severe injuries.
She couldn't expect him to wake up anytime soon.
Standing in the hospital corridor, she suddenly received a call.
"Smallville High School?"
After hanging up the phone, Amanda said to her subordinate next to her, "Arrange a car to Smallville High School. Also, have those forensic experts go with them."
The woman acting as her secretary immediately nodded and went to arrange the vehicle.
Twenty minutes later, Amanda arrived at the Smallville High School and frowned when she saw the police gathered outside the perimeter.
After having her secretary communicate with the police, Amanda led her team into the tutoring classroom.
She gently pushed open the door and her expression became serious when she saw the various disturbing oil paintings and graffiti on the walls and blackboard.
Countless paints and black, ink-like substances were smeared on the floor and walls, forming dense patterns that were unsettling to look at.
Especially the eyes on the blackboard, which gave her an evil and chilling feeling.
Moving her gaze from the blackboard, Amanda looked at the oil paintings drawn in the classroom.
She vaguely saw the outline of a woman's head.
The girl held a black diamond between two fingers, placing it before her eyes, which glowed with a chilling gaze.
After observing the smeared oil paintings for a while, she looked at the only deceased person.
"How is it? Any findings?"
Infected by the negative atmosphere of the room, her temper worsening, she asked the expert examining the body.
"It can be basically confirmed that the wound formed by the incision on the victim's head is very similar to the wounds of the deceased members of the 'Falcon Task Force'. This means that there may be a certain connection between these two incidents."
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