Chapter 77: A New Path to Gain Emotion Points
When Clark and David hurried back to school, their classmates had lost all memory of being charmed and controlled. They remembered nothing except a stunningly beautiful woman entering the classroom, introducing herself as the new teacher, Agnes.
At Luthor Manor.
Lex Luthor, seated behind his desk, shook his head to clear it. His brain felt like a piece had been scooped out, leaving a strange blank.
"What did I forget?"
He only remembered a hot woman bursting into his office.
After that... after that...
Luthor's expression changed drastically, turning grim. He quickly lowered himself and opened the safe.
It was empty.
As expected, his worst fear had materialized: the Wishing Stone, capable of granting wishes, was gone!
"Was it that woman?!"
"No..."
Luthor frowned. His mind seemed sharper than ever, scientific knowledge about memory vivid, and inspiration for experiments popping up...
"Exoskeleton Armor, new energy sources..."
It felt as if the wish he wanted to make had already come true, but when had he made it?
Luthor knitted his brows, trying desperately to recall any fragments, but couldn't.
"What exactly happened?"
...
After Agnes left those she had charmed, they would lose all memory of her.
For years, she had used her ability to seduce countless men, tricking them out of their fortunes. If not for this, someone would have eventually noticed something was wrong and hunted her down, tearing her to shreds.
This ability, however, had helped David and Clark.
As for the entire class collectively losing a small segment of their memory, it wasn't much in a town where strange occurrences were frequent. After the police ruled out any neurotoxins in the classroom, everyone went back to school as usual the next day.
Summer was approaching, signaling that graduation was also near.
Everyone would soon be heading to university, parting ways, cherishing their classmate bonds more deeply, and feeling reluctant to leave their beloved high school campus.
Some enterprising individuals spotted a business opportunity, selling souvenirs on campus.
"David, aren't you going to buy a graduation ring to commemorate your soon-to-be-ended high school life?"
On the way home from school, in the school hallway, Clark asked David next to him.
"You've been lost in thought these past couple of days. Are you feeling sentimental about graduation?"
However, his brother didn't seem like someone who easily got sentimental or nostalgic about the past.
"You mean spending tens or even hundreds of dollars on a ring that costs a few dollars to make?"
His thoughts interrupted, David shook his head.
"No, the commemorative effect of such an action will only make me want to slap my foolish self a few years later."
"Uh..."
Chloe sheepishly lowered her hand. On it, she wore a brass ring engraved with the words "Smallville High School." She had originally intended to ask everyone if the ring looked good.
"Clark, don't mind him. As long as we think it's worth it ourselves."
Pete's enthusiasm was undeterred. He pulled Clark towards the souvenir ring stall on campus.
After he picked out an ebony ring, Clark also found one he liked. He spent his usual accumulated pocket money and chose a ring that looked like it was inlaid with rubies.
However, Clark knew the ring couldn't possibly be a real ruby.
"Probably plastic, or synthetic gemstone?"
But he didn't care. Clark glanced at the words "Smallville Middle School" on the inside of the ring and happily put it on.
This didn't diminish its commemorative value.
The moment he put on the ring, Clark felt a peculiar sensation rise in his heart. It was like being suddenly pressed by an ice block against his back, his whole body jolted, his eyes widened, and excitement surged within him, or perhaps...
Clark thought of some unpleasant things, things that made people indulge their emotions and become euphoric.
"How is it?"
Pete asked if the ring size was suitable.
"I've never felt better than I do right now."
It felt like all shackles had been released, an inexplicable excitement filled his heart, his brain had never been this active, and a smile bloomed on Clark's lips.
"Never!"
A strange light flashed in his eyes.
"David is right, as people grow, they sometimes think their past selves were incredibly foolish, wishing they could slap themselves."
He felt the same way about his past self from memories now.
He had extraordinary talent but hadn't utilized it; he could have lived a life hundreds of times better than his current one.
"I knew it wouldn't be wrong."
Pete looked at the ring in his hand with joy.
He suddenly realized one downside: while the ring looked exquisite and beautiful on display, it wasn't as easily noticed when he wore it.
Clark, with excitement flashing in his eyes, glanced at his brother not far away. His gaze flickered twice before he hid his smile.
...
It was a rare holiday. Although exams were approaching, neither David nor Clark considered them a problem; for them, it was leisure time.
He had no interest in asking about Clark's plans; as expected, it would be the usual date with Lana.
"Although Whitney's 'inexplicable disappearance' made Lana a bit concerned, it didn't affect the growing affection between Clark and Lana."
Ever since David had met Agnes, he had been curious about how significant the temporal ripples he had caused were.
Taking advantage of a holiday morning, he headed to the Natural History Museum in Washington.
He remembered that Wonder Woman had worked there after World War I, hidden among the crowds in a civilian identity.
Natural History Museum, Washington.
The lobby was paved with polished marble.
"Diana Prince?
I'm very sorry, after repeated confirmations, there is no staff member responsible for artifact appraisal and repair by the name you're looking for, sir."
The front desk receptionist finished her inquiry, hung up the phone, and replied in a soft voice.
"Thank you."
David's expression was surprised as he walked out of the museum.
He inquired further in Washington, but there was no mention of a mysterious woman who used a glowing golden rope to save people from crime.
"Did I cause rather large ripples?"
Could it be that Wonder Woman hadn't even left Themyscira yet?
"Themyscira..."
At the fountain plaza, watching the white doves fly across the sky, David looked into the distance and whispered.
For the past two days, he had been thinking about one thing: his emotional points, apart from special characters like Batman, seemed to be exclusively provided by people who possessed extraordinary powers.
"However, there are too few such people."
Even in the small town, there weren't many metahumans. To this day, he hadn't encountered more than ten metahumans, and the emotional points they provided combined were less than a tenth of what Clark gave.
"Most of the time, improving template fusion relies on Clark."
Clark, whose strength had grown again, could now sometimes provide him with sixty to seventy points of emotion.
"But, what if it were a large, numerous race of extraordinary beings..."
David's eyes brightened slightly.
I said yesterday that there would be at least six thousand characters, but I forgot that tomorrow is the Dragon Boat Festival. The word count today must be finished early because I have to visit my sick grandfather tomorrow. I'll take another short leave today. The owed characters will be fully compensated after the Dragon Boat Festival.
Finally, I wish everyone a happy Dragon Boat Festival. (〃'▽'〃)
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