Snow drifted through the air.
Nolan stood in front of the house, seemingly waiting for someone.
"Still not here?"
Debbie stood behind Nolan and gently slipped her arm through his.
"Not yet..."
Nolan gave a slight nod.
Boom!
Not long afterward, a thunderous sonic boom split the air as Mark descended from the sky.
"Hey, Dad, Mom! Were you waiting for me?"
Mark landed in front of Nolan and Debbie with a smile.
"That's right. Yes, we were waiting for you..."
Nolan answered calmly.
Mark smiled faintly.
"I get the feeling you're just humoring me..."
Mark's sharp instincts told him that his father definitely hadn't been waiting for him.
"Actually, we were waiting for your brother."
Debbie finally told him the truth.
"Of course..."
Mark shrugged.
He had already expected that answer.
At this point, he was used to it and didn't really care anymore.
Boom!
Another thunderous roar came from the sky.
Mark didn't even need to look to know who had arrived.
"You're pretty late, bro!"
Mark turned toward the figure descending from the sky.
"Actually, I'm not late at all."
Jovian landed and casually patted Mark on the head.
"Hey! Don't pat a warrior on the head."
Mark leaned away, dodging Jovian's hand.
"Heh..."
Jovian didn't say anything and merely smiled.
"Anyway, let's talk inside."
Nolan stepped aside and opened the door behind him.
"Hahaha..."
The family of four suddenly burst out laughing before heading inside together.
"Mark, let's start with you. What have you been doing all these years?"
After casually hanging up his coat, Jovian turned toward Mark.
"Me?"
"I've been traveling through space, exploring, fighting villains, that sort of thing..."
Mark thought about it.
His life hadn't really been anything special. He was either fighting someone or traveling somewhere in search of the next fight.
"Oh, right! Check this out!"
Mark suddenly pulled off his shirt.
"Look at this scar!"
He proudly pointed to a scar across his chest.
"An ancient god on some planet gave me this one!"
"Because of the curse that thing placed on me, the scar was supposed to stay there forever."
"And this spot over here came from the stomach acid of a planetary life-form. You can probably tell the skin's a slightly different shade from the rest. Its stomach acid burned straight through my abdomen back then!"
Mark pointed out scar after scar across his body, enthusiastically recounting stories from his travels through the universe.
To Mark, those scars were symbols.
They represented his courage and fearlessness.
That was why he proudly explained every one of them to Jovian, Nolan, and Debbie.
"Heh..."
"Mark, maybe you've misunderstood something."
"A true warrior shouldn't let his enemies injure him in the first place."
Nolan smiled at him.
"If you're getting hurt while fighting your enemies, that just means you're still inexperienced."
Jovian picked up where Nolan left off.
"Hey..."
Mark looked thoroughly annoyed by their response.
Bzzzt.
Jovian said nothing else.
He merely raised a finger toward Mark.
A green beam shot from his fingertip and struck Mark. In an instant, every scar across Mark's body disappeared.
"Oh!"
"Bro, you erased my medals!"
Mark stared unhappily at his now flawless chest.
To him, those weren't scars.
They were proof of what he'd survived.
"The fact that you still need scars to prove your manhood is exactly what shows how immature you are."
Jovian smiled.
"Tch..."
Mark turned his head away, no longer interested in looking at Jovian.
"Speaking of which, neither of you is getting any younger. Surely you've found someone by now?"
Nolan looked between Mark and Jovian as something occurred to him.
"You should ask Mark that question."
Jovian smiled and turned toward him.
"Huh?!"
Mark raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
Why did everything somehow end up becoming his problem?
"What about you, bro?! You don't have anyone either!"
Mark shot back.
"That's true."
"I don't have one."
"I have several."
Jovian smiled.
"You really live up to the god you were named after. You leave women behind everywhere you go!"
Mark was speechless.
"See, Mark? You're way behind your brother!"
"If you meet a beautiful woman you like, don't let her get away!"
Debbie brought everyone freshly brewed black tea while simultaneously lecturing Mark.
"Uh..."
Mark pursed his lips but said nothing.
"Speaking of which, they should be arriving soon."
Jovian checked his watch.
A moment later, a loud roar came from outside as an aircraft landed in front of the house.
"Who's here?"
Debbie looked toward the door in confusion.
Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang.
Jovian got up to answer it.
When the door opened, Clark stood outside with his wife and two children.
Jonathan Kent and Martha Kent were with them.
"Dad, Mom..."
Jovian first ushered Jonathan and Martha into the house.
"Hey!"
Nolan and Debbie immediately went over to greet them.
The two sets of parents seemed to have plenty to talk about.
"Say hello to your uncle."
Clark gently nudged his children, reminding them to be polite.
"Hi, Uncle Jovian!"
The children greeted him together.
"Clark, go get the kids some cake."
Jovian patted Clark on the shoulder, then affectionately pinched the children's cheeks.
With the arrival of the Kent family, the house became a lively family gathering.
"Principal Nolan, Instructor Mark..."
"Seeing the two of you here suddenly makes everything make sense."
Clark looked at his former principal and the man who had trained him in combat.
Memories flashed through his mind, and suddenly everything clicked.
"Hahaha!"
"Clark, you really were a good kid. One of my best students!"
Nolan laughed and praised him.
"Clark, don't take it personally that I beat you up so badly during training back then. The first time I trained with my brother, he beat me way worse! He literally knocked my intestines out!"
Mark gave Clark a helpless look.
"He knocked your intestines out?!"
"You can survive that?"
Martha stared at Mark in shock.
"Heh..."
"Martha, you know what their species is like. Even if someone punches a hole through their skull, they can survive."
Debbie laughed.
"Powerful regenerative abilities are essential for our species to survive in the universe."
Nolan sighed helplessly.
"We're sort of like Saiyans. We're built for combat, and we can remain young for thousands of years. Once we reach adulthood, our bodies stay at their physical peak until we die. Our internal anatomy is also different from an ordinary human's. Even if our intestines get ripped out, as long as you put them back quickly enough, they'll heal on their own."
Mark thought for a moment and used a famous fictional warrior race as an easy comparison.
"That sounds absolutely insane..."
Martha nodded.
Mark's explanation finally gave her a much clearer understanding of what Kryptonian-Viltrumite hybrids were capable of.
"Want a drink?"
On the other side of the room, Jonathan approached Nolan.
"Of course."
Nolan nodded.
A couple of older guys sitting together inevitably ended up drinking.
"Speaking of the future, what are all of you planning to do? I've heard people say the entire universe practically belongs to our family now, and it's left me wondering what I'm supposed to do with myself."
Martha looked genuinely uncertain.
"Martha, you could do what I do and sell real estate!"
"My business isn't limited to Earth anymore. Now I sell homes between planets, between star systems, between species, even across universes and different periods of history. I never could've imagined doing something like this before."
Debbie smiled and walked over to Martha.
"You sell real estate across universes and through time?!"
Martha froze.
She had never even considered anything like that.
"That's right! Helping people find better places to live is something I genuinely enjoy."
"And besides, we all need something to keep ourselves busy."
Debbie sighed.
Sometimes an extremely long life wasn't necessarily a blessing.
Eventually, it could make a person gradually lose patience with everything around them.
"Could I really do that kind of work too?"
Martha asked curiously.
"Of course! I'll teach you."
Debbie suddenly found herself excited by the idea of taking on a new partner.
Maybe it would be fun.
"Heh..."
Jovian smiled as he watched Jonathan, Martha, Nolan, and Debbie getting along so well.
"Bro, what are you planning to do next?"
Mark looked toward Jovian.
"Me? I don't really have anything I need to do. I'll probably keep visiting other worlds."
"There's an enormous universe out there, and countless worlds beyond it."
Jovian answered casually.
"Same here. The universe is huge. I haven't even finished exploring the Milky Way yet! My goal is to visit every corner of the universe."
Mark had already decided on his future.
He wanted to become an explorer who traveled throughout the cosmos.
"Compared to you two, my life is probably going to sound pretty boring."
Clark held a beer in one hand.
"Right now, I just want to be a good husband and a good father. I want to watch my children grow up. Maybe once they're all grown, I'll eventually set out on a journey of my own."
In truth, Clark was somewhat envious of Mark and Jovian.
He wanted to travel through space too.
The difference was that Jovian and Mark didn't have wives or families tying them down.
Clark did.
"You're making the right choice."
Mark patted Clark on the shoulder.
"Yeah."
Jovian nodded in agreement.
"Everyone has their own path. Right now, your priority isn't adventure. It's spending time with your wife and children."
Jovian smiled at Clark.
"That's true. Talking to you about it actually makes me feel a lot better."
Clark nodded and let out a relieved breath.
"But Clark, someday you're going to fly out into the universe."
"It's in your blood. Men like us can never stop exploring. As long as we're alive, there's always going to be a part of us that wants to go out there and see what's beyond the horizon."
Mark smiled as the thought came to him.
"I understand that feeling."
"When that day comes, I'll come find you out there."
Clark knew exactly what Mark meant.
He really did feel that urge.
So Clark made up his mind.
Once his children were a little older, he would leave Earth for a while and explore the universe himself.
"Hahaha!"
"I've got no problem with that. I'd just be worried about whether your wife agrees!"
"If you travel through space with me, you might be gone for months, maybe even years."
Mark laughed.
"I'll convince her."
"And if that doesn't work, we can all go together."
Clark thought for a moment before arriving at the obvious solution.
"Uh..."
This time, Mark was the one who stopped smiling.
The thought of traveling through the universe with Clark only to spend the entire trip watching Clark and his wife shower each other with affection made his chest hurt.
"If you're really that lonely, just go find someone."
Jovian laughed and patted Mark on the shoulder.
"Get lost..."
Mark took another sip of beer.
It wasn't that he didn't want to find someone.
He simply had no idea how.
Ding-dong.
At that moment, the doorbell rang again.
Debbie stood up, walked over, and opened the door.
Then she froze.
There was an entire crowd of women standing outside.
"Hello, Mrs. Grayson!"
The women all politely greeted Debbie.
"Oh! Hello..."
Debbie froze for a second before quickly returning their greetings.
"And you are...?"
She looked at them curiously.
"We're here to see Jovian!"
Tatsumaki and Eve, standing at the front of the group, glanced at each other before speaking at exactly the same time.
"Yes, Mrs. Grayson. We're all here to see Jovian!"
With a thunderous boom, a golden giant descended from the sky and spoke to Debbie as well.
"Jovian..."
Debbie remained silent for several seconds before turning toward him.
"You have visitors."
"Hahaha..."
"Looks like my guests finally made it."
"Mark, let me introduce you. These are all part of your brother's family."
Jovian laughed and patted Mark on the shoulder.
"Ah..."
Mark fell silent.
Some guys really did have all the luck.
"You guys keep talking. I'm going to spend some time with them."
Jovian got up and walked toward the women gathered outside.
There was Tatsumaki.
Eve.
Starlight.
Mother of Ultra.
Erii Uesugi.
And many, many more...
"Come on, my girls."
True to the god he had been named after, Jovian was a man with affection to spare.
"Looks like I need to work harder too..."
Mark sighed.
Sure enough, he still couldn't compete with his brother.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 10 extra free chapters //[email protected]/Razeil0810