Reborn as Superman's Son: Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Eden: Just How Strong Is My Dad?

While the two Cecil Stedmans from different universes were engaged in their strategic games with each other, Mark brought Eden back to his home.

The Grayson residence.

"This is my mother, Debbie."

"This is my brother, Oliver."

"And my girlfriend, Atom Eve."

"Mom, Oliver, and Eve, this is... Eden Kent."

Mark introduced his mother Debbie, his half-brother Oliver, and his girlfriend Eve to Eden.

Unfortunately, he didn't have much information about Eden himself at the moment.

Mark then turned to his family, originally intending to give them a more detailed introduction to Eden's identity.

"My name is Eden Kent."

"My father is Clark Kent, and my mother is Nolanne Kent, formerly Grayson."

Eden understood Mark's predicament. He picked up where Mark left off, introducing himself to Mark's family.

"Your mother is Nolanne Kent?"

"Nolan? Damn it!"

"So Nolan is a woman in your universe?"

Debbie froze, her voice filled with disbelief.

"Yes."

Eden nodded.

"So in that universe, I didn't fall in love with Nolan, right?"

Debbie pressed her hand to her forehead, her tone incredulous.

"That's right."

Eden gave a slight nod, shrugging as he explained, "After all, whether it's you or my mother Nolanne, you're both straight."

"So unfortunately, you never got together."

"But even though you never became a couple, you became very close friends."

Eden explained.

"Haha!"

"That's just wonderful!"

"You should tell her that the Nolan in my universe is a complete scumbag! He actually called me his pet!"

"Damn it! Has he already forgotten how he courted me? And all those sweet nothings he whispered in my ear? What a heartless bastard."

Debbie cursed Nolan a few times, then looked at the innocent Mark and Oliver beside her. She sighed helplessly and shook her head. "But I've heard Nolan has reformed now."

"Ahem."

"Sorry, I drank too much."

"You young people play together."

"I'm not feeling very well, I'm going to rest."

Debbie seemed to realize she'd lost control of her emotions today. She apologized to Eden before pressing her hand to her forehead and heading upstairs.

"Your mother is really strong, Mark."

Eden watched Debbie leave, then turned to Mark beside him.

"Yes."

"I'm lucky."

Mark nodded.

"Speaking of which, if Nolan and Debbie never met in Eden's universe, doesn't that mean Mark Grayson was never born there?"

Eve tried to change the subject.

"That's correct."

Eden thought for a moment and nodded.

"Eve, saying that makes me a little sad."

After getting Eden's confirmation, Mark felt his emotions swirl in complex ways.

"But think about it from another angle."

'Eden Kent does not exist in any other universe except for the one I'm in.'

"My birth was something of a miracle."

Eden patted Mark's shoulder, consoling him. "But you, my friend, Invincible, exist in every universe except mine. Though in most cases, you're a complete bastard."

"Hey!"

"You're not so good at comforting people."

Mark's eye twitched, and he shook his head like a rattle drum, saying weakly, "Honestly, I wish those universe's Nolans had never met my mother Debbie. Then at least those bastards wouldn't have been born."

At this, Mark and Eden exchanged glances and laughed.

"Hahaha!"

For a moment, the atmosphere in the Grayson family's living room became cheerful and pleasant.

"Whoosh!"

Just then, accompanied by a spatial distortion, Oliver suddenly appeared in the Grayson family's living room.

"Oliver! I told you not to just teleport into my family's living room. Even you need to knock first. That's basic manners!"

Mark couldn't help but snap at Oliver for barging in uninvited.

"Sorry. But now's not the time for manners. Just turn on the TV and you'll see what happened."

Oliver said helplessly.

"Huh?"

Mark's eyes flashed with confusion, but after a brief hesitation, he followed Oliver's instructions and turned on the television.

"Come out! Son of Nolan! It's time for your evaluation! If you're qualified, I'll kill you. If you resist, I'll still kill you! I am Conquest!"

On the television, above the center of New York City, a burly figure that looked like an Olympia champion who'd abused every steroid known to man stood howling madly. He had a metal prosthetic for his left hand and a scar running through his right eye.

"Conquest?"

Eden looked at the strongman on the television and spoke.

"Eden, you actually know him?"

When Oliver saw Eden calmly speak the strongman's name, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He said weakly, "According to Robot's calculations, this Viltrumite called Conquest may be even stronger than Nolan in terms of pure power alone."

"What?"

Mark's eye twitched.

They'd just dealt with Variant Invincible, and now they had to face a Viltrumite even stronger than Nolan?

Earth was truly plagued by one disaster after another.

"Conquest has plenty of strength but no brains."

"In terms of overall capability, he's still not as good as Nolan."

"In fact, Nolan's stats on paper aren't outstanding among Viltrumites."

"Nolan isn't as fast as Anissa, not as strong as Conquest, not as skilled as Lucan, but he's absolutely unwavering in his will. Overall, he's still the most excellent Viltrumite below Thragg."

Eden didn't seem to take Conquest seriously, evaluating him objectively.

At the same time, Eden looked at Mark with some pity. If the Viltrumite sent to Earth hadn't been Nolan, but Kregg or General Lucan instead, there would never have been any father-son drama. They would have joined forces against the Empire long ago.

"Can you handle him, Eden?"

Oliver looked at Eden, his tone uncertain.

"Of course. But this is your universe. Are you sure you want me to intervene?"

Eden looked at Oliver, Mark and Eve.

"Please help us."

Oliver bowed to Eden.

"Do you want him alive or dead?"

Eden looked at everyone and asked.

"If possible..."

Oliver's brow furrowed. He couldn't quite make up his mind.

Before Oliver could finish speaking, Eden had already disappeared from everyone's sight.

"Damn it!"

Oliver stared in shock. One second Eden was standing with them, the next second he'd flown into the television screen. The man was completely dumbfounded.

Above New York.

"Who the hell are you, boy?"

Conquest stared at Eden, his left eye twitching wildly.

"Shut up!"

Too lazy to waste words, Eden simply slapped him with a massive backhand.

The Grayson residence.

"Whoosh!"

Another gust of wind swept through!

In less than three minutes, the Grayson family's living room now had one additional occupant: Conquest, his limbs broken by Eden.

"Oh my God!"

Oliver was stunned.

"Incredible!"

Not only was Oliver stunned, but Mark was too.

"What just happened?"

Even Eve hadn't yet reacted to what had just occurred.

Everyone felt only a gust of wind sweep past. Conquest, who'd been on the television, who'd been howling above New York City's center, now appeared before them, his limbs broken by Eden and unable to move.

"I'll leave him to you."

After speaking, Eden found himself a chair in the room and sat down.

"Eden, the Viltrumites of your world..."

Oliver didn't bother with the collapsed Conquest. He looked at Eden and asked urgently.

"I've subdued them. Now the Viltrumites serve as Earth's bodyguards. The Guardians handle internal threats to Earth, the Viltrumites handle external threats."

Eden explained.

"Exactly that, Eden, exactly that! Please, help our universe's Earth too!"

Oliver grabbed Eden's hand excitedly. This was exactly what he'd been waiting for.

"Are you sure?"

Eden looked at Oliver.

"Of course! I'm completely certain and positive."

Oliver nodded repeatedly.

"What do you think?"

Eden then turned to look at Mark.

After all, Mark was the protagonist of this universe, right?

Eden always respected the world's chosen children.

As for those Marks and Invincibles that Eden had killed in simulation universes: "What the hell is this guy talking about?"

"If possible, we'd appreciate your help."

Mark bowed to Eden, his expression sincere.

"Hm."

After thinking for about a second, Eden looked at Conquest on the ground and frowned. "Take me to Viltrum's home planet, Conquest."

"Boy, I will never betray my race! Even if you kill me, I will never betray them. Thragg will avenge me."

Conquest sneered. Even with his limbs broken, even knowing he was no match for Eden, he still glared at Eden with a vicious expression, his eyes filled with hatred, as if he wanted to tear Eden apart.

"Understood."

After getting Conquest's answer, Eden simply chopped off his head with a hand strike.

"Oh my God!"

Seeing the bloody scene before her, Eve couldn't help but let out a scream.

After unconsciously killing Conquest, Eden realized there were other people in the room, and this wasn't his universe. He might need these people's help to return to his own universe.

So Eden frowned and said, "Well... I just got a little careless and killed him. You don't mind, right?"

"Would we dare to mind?"

Eve and Mark exchanged glances, swallowed hard, and shook their heads after calming their nerves.

"I actually think it's a shame you killed him."

Oliver felt it was somewhat regrettable, but Conquest was already dead. Did his opinion even matter?

"May I have that corpse?"

Oliver asked Eden.

"Take it."

Eden said nothing more.

"Since Conquest can't take us to Viltrum, we'll have to find another way to get there."

Eden said this, then looked at Oliver and Mark. "Can either of you contact the Coalition of Planets?"

Oliver and Mark exchanged glances and fell into thought.

That evening.

Eden settled into the suite that Oliver had prepared for him at the Defense Agency.

"Oh right!"

As Eden looked at the darkening sky outside, he suddenly thought of something and snapped, "System, get your ass out here."

[Master, I am here.]

The System immediately responded to Eden's call.

"Send me back to my universe immediately. You owe me that, System."

Eden said firmly.

[I cannot do that, Master. I cannot do it!]

The System AI seemed to glitch, answering strangely.

"Why not? Don't tell me that even Levy could do something you can't. Don't embarrass OBA, System."

Eden's brow furrowed as he snapped.

[Master, I truly cannot do it.]

[Angstrom Levy's method of crossing universes is vastly different from yours. You don't rely on brute force to break through universe barriers, or create entirely new universes. Angstrom Levy uses the universal key permitted by the IMAGE universe rules to open the doors to various dimensions and the multiverse. This is a rule recognized by all supreme beings.]

The System explained the differences between him and Angstrom.

"Are you bragging about your power to me, System?"

Eden's eye twitched slightly. Breaking through universe barriers and creating single universes was way more powerful than Angstrom using a universal key to open barriers, wasn't it?

[Not at all.]

The System answered.

"Then hurry up and break through the barrier between these two universes. Right now. Just like when you helped me return to the main universe during simulations."

Eden urged.

[That's exactly where the problem lies, Master.]

[Under normal circumstances, you could break through the barriers of any universe, unless that universe already has an owner and that universe's master is more powerful than this System.]

[Furthermore, in fact, Master, you have never actually left the main universe. The simulations are just simulations.]

[For your safety, the System has always projected your power into other universes. After you kill your target, the System retrieves your projection and uses it to feed back to your main body. That's why you're immortal in the simulation universes.]

[And during simulation battles, Master sleeps within the System's space to ensure your safety.]

The System answered weakly.

This was already the best result after negotiating with "It."

"Are you kidding me? You're OBA's creation. Is there really something more powerful than you?"

Eden's heart sank after hearing the System's words.

[Master, I am merely OBA's creation, not OBA himself.]

The System was truly helpless. It had really tried its best.

"Who is the master of our universe?"

Eden asked the System investigatively.

[Master, that's a good question.]

[I cannot directly speak their name.]

[But Master, you might want to think carefully with your super brain.]

[Why is it that when you're at the Kent residence, especially when that person is around, I never say much to you?]

The System trembled in fear.

"Are you saying the ownership of the universe I'm in belongs to my father Clark?"

"Jesus Christ."

Eden's eye twitched. He understood roughly what was going on, pressing his hand to his forehead and saying weakly, "What does 'Master of the Universe' even mean?"

"No! Wait! According to DC terminology, shouldn't it be 'Hand of Creation'?"

Eden broke out in a cold sweat.

Good news: Through indirect questioning of the System, Eden learned a glimpse of his father's true nature.

Bad news: His father was so powerful that even standing on the System's shoulders, Eden couldn't see where he stood.

The System dared not say more.

Cannot speak, cannot say, cannot describe.

Otherwise, major problems would arise.

"Forget it. These things are still too far beyond my current level. System, open the doors to those variant Invincible worlds for me. I'm going to destroy their empires."

Eden said this.

Eden had always been a petty person. Now that these Invincibles had come knocking on his door, if he didn't go back for revenge, that would be unacceptable. More importantly, he needed to go to these worlds to find clues about Angstrom.

Yes, although the System couldn't interfere with the rules of Eden's universe, interfering with and distorting the rules of other universes was all too simple.

[As you command.]

The System immediately assured him.

Accompanied by a surge of rule-based power, Eden disappeared from the room.

"Whoosh!"

Speaking of which, this was Eden's first time conducting a simulation while fully conscious.

Since everything was out in the open now, there was no need for the prerequisite of sleep anymore.

Eden's universe.

"Clark, what's wrong?"

Nolanne turned to look at Clark, who stood beside her in a daze, and asked.

"Some little guy was talking too much."

Clark turned to look at Nolanne and smiled.