American comic book: My Father is Superman, am I just an NPC?

Chapter 148 New Class Unlocked! Gwen is Dying!

The Flash looked up and met Superman's calm gaze, and suddenly realized that Clark might have known about Ian's abnormal state all along, otherwise Clark would never have been so calm.

“I will keep this a secret.” Barry Allen and Superman looked into each other’s eyes, and after a few seconds of silence, he suddenly spoke up as if it were a ghost.

The other party didn't mention it at all.

But he still said it nervously, and he himself didn't know why he suddenly said it. Perhaps it was because Superman's eyes looked too intimidating.

"Better so."

Superman nodded, his tone still calm. He turned to look at his youngest son, the lights of the underground base casting dappled shadows on Ian's perfectly still body—Ian was also in that strange state of being here, yet not here, somewhat similar to the abnormality Batman was currently experiencing.

"It can't be just a coincidence."

Thinking of what the Flash had just said, Clark couldn't help but ponder for a moment. Just then, after trying to touch Ian again, only to find himself touching thin air once more.

The Flash couldn't help but ask.

"Has he always been like this? Ever since he was born and drinking milk?" It wasn't that he wanted to pry into Ian's secrets, but Barry Allen had always been very curious.

They have quite the imagination.

He couldn't imagine that if Ian, who was still a baby, wanted to drink milk at 12 o'clock, wouldn't he just turn into a phantom halfway through drinking the milk and fall to the ground from Louise's hands?

"..."

Superman clearly sensed the Flash's thoughts. He didn't want to spy on other people's minds, but this new ability was currently passive, and he hadn't yet found a way to effectively control it.

Superman either has to turn off his super hearing or turn it on with this extra effect. Since he's not in Metropolis, Superman is indeed hesitant to turn off his super hearing.

“He wasn’t like this since he was a child. I only discovered it by chance, and I don’t know when he developed this ability.” Clark’s gaze never left Ian on the ground.

"accidental?"

Barry hesitated, his expression subtly shifting. He clearly suspected that Superman might also be a voyeur at home, using his super vision and hearing to monitor his three children.

This really touches on the issue of protecting children's privacy.

In this regard.

What else could Superman do? He knew he needed to salvage his reputation.

"If one day you saw your academically gifted but somewhat eccentric child secretly cutting their wrists in their room or the bathroom, I think you would also pay more attention to the child, just like I do." Clark had indeed started paying attention to Ian after he began experimenting with his abilities and performing self-healing in the bathroom.

On weekdays.

He actually respected his eldest and youngest sons' privacy very much. As for Jordan, Clark tried his best to respect it, but the commotion Jordan caused every night was just too much.

God knows how many times his marital life with Lois was abruptly interrupted by the sound of Jordan's movements. The complex emotions Superman felt about this were something the Flash couldn't truly empathize with.

"I'm not even married yet, let alone have kids..." The Flash also longs to enter the grave of marriage, but he has been a complete bachelor for over thirty years.

Besides never daring to confess his feelings to his childhood sweetheart, Barry Allen also had some unspeakable secrets. To put it simply, he didn't know the reason for the outcome.

The day lightning struck him.

It not only made him the Flash on land, but also made him the fastest man to "run" in his own bedroom, as the Speed ​​Force always tends to gather where it shouldn't.

Barry Allen dared not tell anyone about this unspeakable secret.

"Believe in yourself, you'll eventually reach this stage in your life too," Superman responded softly, his gaze towards the Flash carrying a strange, unspoken meaning.

The Flash didn't realize what was happening.

"The premise is that I can live to that stage."

He was also worried that his life could end at any moment. If Batman and Bruce Wayne failed in their fight against the outer universe, Flash felt that he was almost certain to be killed by it.

"You said that the life form residing in your body had shown you kindness." Superman recalled the Flash's previous description and suddenly asked.

The Flash nodded.

"Yes, but I think that kind of goodwill is very likely some kind of disguise."

He stretched out his arm, which was no longer scarred.

of course.

Although the mark has disappeared.

But he didn't believe the "curse" of dying in seven days had disappeared. Even though the boy said he didn't want to corrupt himself, who would believe the words of someone of unknown origin?

Having been tricked by well-intentioned strangers at least a dozen times, The Flash was hesitant to believe it.

"Not necessarily." Superman's attitude leaned more towards the fact that the truth still needed to be verified, and the image of the figure sitting on the throne that he had seen inside Bruce's body floated into his mind.

The other person's open heart was so pure that it contained not a trace of impurity.

The Flash glanced at Superman and sighed heavily. "I hope you're right—after all, I've had so many bad years, I should finally meet a good person."

"However, even if that boy wasn't lying to me, according to him, even if he didn't actively violate me, his world would eventually crush me."

Barry Allen sorted out his thoughts. It seemed that he was doomed to die anyway, it was just a matter of whether he died sooner or later, unless he could truly solve the problem within himself, which was to help that boy and that boy's universe find his home, which no one else knew was hidden in some godforsaken place.

“If Bruce succeeds, he can definitely help you solve the problem.” Superman looked at Bruce, who was still locked in a fierce standoff and whose body was covered with more and more strange scars.

Those eerie scars are like many things hidden in the universe within Bruce's body, trying to escape, but for some reason, they can't really attach themselves to anything other than Bruce.

What exactly is Bruce experimenting with?

The Flash was unaware of what Superman had just learned, so he asked him. After organizing his thoughts, Superman told him what he had seen and heard.

"Bruce is using one form of pollution to fight another? No wonder he looked so serious before, he was going crazy again!" The Flash felt he probably wouldn't dare to make such a risky attempt.

He also looked at Batman on the hospital bed—Bruce's eyeballs, which were not being held down, had bulged out several centimeters, making him look like an abnormal face that only appears in horror movies.

“I can’t even withstand one kind of pollution, let alone two… Perhaps there are other ways. Let’s save Bruce first. Do you think Diana might have some way to preserve Bruce’s soul, and then we can throw Bruce’s body into the incinerator and burn the universe inside him together?”

This may be the moment when Batman's true villain begins to show his true colors.

"??????"

Superman couldn't help but glance at the serious-looking Flash several times.

"Let me try my approach first." As a radical in dealing with Gotham's freaks, he felt that the Flash, being a conservative, was being a bit too radical.

Have you thought of a solution?

The Flash temporarily abandoned his wild ideas.

“We can use the method Bruce used.” As soon as he finished speaking, Superman vanished instantly. When he reappeared less than a second later, he was wearing a half-finished suit of armor.

The metal surface is etched with dense, non-ancient runes. Those runes look like little emojis, still writhing, as if little figures are dancing on this suit of armor.

"Has this plan already been implemented?" The Flash recognized it as the [Ultimate Armor] that Batman had developed a few years ago, which was said to be able to withstand the riots of the entire Justice League.

“It’s only a work in progress, but I hope the runes on it are really magical runes.” Superman walked straight to the warehouse and casually dismantled the keypad door that the Flash had been trying to crack for weeks without success.

The saying "a brick flies when it's strong" illustrates this principle.

With enough strength, one could tear down the entire wall, including the combination lock. When Clark emerged again, he was carrying a test tube labeled "Highly Toxic Substance."

It contained some kind of red liquid that had not yet solidified.

"Fighting pollution with pollution?"

The Flash stared at the tube of substance.

"Is the sample you have another source of contamination?"

He thought even Superman could go crazy.

Superman didn't give a direct answer, but calmly walked back to the bedside. He placed his hand on Bruce's chest again, and his empathy once more carried his consciousness across the boundary between reality and illusion.

at the same time.

Still stuck in reality, the Flash moves back and forth between Batman in his hospital bed and Superman deep in thought, knowing he can't be of much help at this moment.

"The recent major events are getting more and more bizarre and outlandish." The Flash sighed, feeling that the speedster was a bit out of touch with the times. He sat down in a chair and waited quietly.

"The rich really know how to enjoy life."

Finding the chair too comfortable, The Flash checked the price of the same chair online and was once again impressed by its six-figure price tag, realizing that money really can be incredibly powerful.

Not only can it enhance combat power, it can also better protect the lumbar spine—sitting in a chair thinking about such boring things clearly shows how idle the Flash is right now.

He didn't dare leave easily to go back to his city to find his friends. Time ticked by, with only the ventilation system of the underground base humming softly.

Just as the Flash was getting ready to find something to do, like cleaning up the underground base.

suddenly.

"Superman's child is not in a good state."

The familiar boy's voice echoed in his mind once again.

The Flash was taken aback at first.

Then, a response was given in a somewhat taken-for-granted manner.

“The Justice League knows that Superman’s three sons are all in bad shape. His father said he’s always been like this, so he shouldn’t need you to save him.” The Flash frowned, wondering what tricks the Dream Boy, who had suddenly appeared at this moment, was up to. He was taking precautions against the Dream Boy’s possible alarmist talk.

The voice in my head sighed.

“He doesn’t need me to save him, but the world he’s invading might need your help.” Following up on what the Flash had said, the Dream Boy brought up something that the Flash hadn’t expected.

"What do you mean?"

The Flash paused for a moment.

It wasn't just because he didn't understand what the dream boy meant, but also because he found that he couldn't find a broom in the base, only a dozen or so robotic vacuum cleaners.

“Although I can’t sense his specific situation, I’m pretty sure he’s invading some universe right now.” As the Dream Boy spoke, the Flash noticed that the scars had reappeared on his arm.

It's clear that the other side has begun to re-examine this world.

"Huh? Speak clearly, don't be a riddle-maker like Bruce." The Flash was shocked. Compared to the abnormality of his arm, he was obviously more concerned about the Dream Boy's information-rich statement.

“I think I’ve made myself clear. You’ve already experienced it before, haven’t you—fighting pollution with pollution. Batman had already tried it before experimenting on himself.” The boy’s voice was unusually serious, reflecting his understanding that Batman never took risks easily.

"!!!!!!??????" The Flash's pupils dilated violently, his shock overflowing, his eyes bulging almost like Batman's. He suddenly remembered the test tube in Superman's hand, those mysterious "purifying fluids," and even Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth.

“I knew it!” Barry blurted out. “Ian isn’t Superman and Lois’s child at all! He must be the product of Superman sleeping with some alien universe itself!”

"No wonder Clark was so secretive, it seems I've finally found the truth!" The Flash has always been the most imaginative superhero in the Justice League.

His voice echoed through the underground base.

After looking at Superman, who was standing still like Bruce, with surprise and uncertainty, the Flash felt that he was gradually making sense of everything. He shuddered and immediately covered his mouth.

"I don't know anything. Stop trying to mislead me. Please shut up. I don't want to be silenced by Superman. I've hit him once, and I never want to hit him a second time."

The Flash didn't want to speculate on what Superman might do to cover up the truth; he only knew that the jaw he was hit in during his last fight with Superman would ache every year.

Oh.

And when he discovered that even in his Speed ​​Force form, Superman could still keep up with his speed, he was horrified and fell to the ground on his buttocks. Nobody wants that buttocks to be smashed into pieces.

"You're such a coward."

The boy in the dream couldn't help but make a comment.

"You could go over and try touching him."

The boy then made his own request.

"I can't touch him at all!"

The Flash responded helplessly in his heart.

In this regard.

The boy in the dream is not strange.

"That's because you didn't have my help."

He simply gave a confident emphasis with a calm and collected demeanor.

"What are you up to?"

The Flash gritted his teeth, his expression one of surprise and uncertainty.

"I'm just curious whether Superman's son is really helping your universe invade other universes." Dream Boy, of course, didn't believe the Flash's previous wild idea.

He felt that Ian might be a conqueror chosen by the DC universe itself.

"You're definitely plotting something bad. I won't let your scheme succeed. Don't even think about lying to me into agreeing to anything." The Flash was indeed quite wary.

The brief silence in his mind made him increasingly uneasy.

as predicted.

After the silence came the boy in the dream suddenly chuckle.

"Do you remember me saying I'm really, really bad?" His words sent a chill down Barry's spine. The next second, his consciousness went black as if struck by a heavy hammer.

It was as if he had been hit hard with a club.

Barry Allen's consciousness instantly went dark.

After an unknown amount of time, the Flash slowly awoke. He was horrified to find himself crouching next to Ian, his hands eerily passing through the boy's translucent body.

"what have you done!?"

The Flash was terrified that his actions might cause problems for Ian, which would not only make it difficult for him to forgive himself, but also for the most powerful man on Earth to forgive him.

"It shouldn't be!"

The boy in my mind exclaimed in disbelief.

He seemed to have tried something, but without success. Before the Flash could even recover from his daze, all the scars on his arm suddenly lit up!
Countless streams of light surged from the scars, flowing towards Ian's body as if drawn by a force. Barry felt an unprecedented sense of relief—even the previously sluggish Speed ​​Force had returned to normal!

however.

He was not happy about this.

This joy was fleeting.

There was nothing he could do; the Flash had witnessed a complete cosmic phantom peeling away from his body, like a star map slowly unfurled by an invisible hand, suspended in mid-air.

At first, it was just a tiny glimmer of light in the darkness.

Then it suddenly expanded, and galaxies surged out from it, with spiraling nebulae, burning stars, and tranquil dark matter belts all flowing across the veil of nothingness.

The projection of this universe is not static; it is being pulled by some invisible force, with its edges rippled and twisted, as if it were being sucked into an invisible vortex.

Yes.

A universe.

At this moment, he was entering Ian's illusory body. His figure was equally hazy, yet it generated gravity like a black hole, with cosmic phantoms frantically converging into his body. "Is this going to go from invading me to invading Ian?!" The Flash was horrified. He seemed to already see the future where Superman forced his head into the Earth's interior.

"Damn it! What are you doing!?"

The Flash screamed in terror at the boy in the phantom.

however.

A mysterious boy.

Franklin Richards, however, looked even more terrified than he did.

"I don't know! This guy's going to eat us!" The boy's voice was filled with fear of the unknown. "Help me! The Flash! Help us!"

This was a completely unexpected turn of events for The Flash. He had initially thought the scene before him was the work of the mysterious boy, but now the boy's cries for help didn't sound like acting at all.

The mysterious boy in the dream was indeed emitting a sharp, explosive sound.

"This is the DC Universe! It's the DC Universe!!! How could Superman's son be... No! His true nature is terrifying! I need to escape further, help me..."

The boy's abrupt scream echoed throughout the underground base.

Soon disappeared without a trace.

Along with the entire incomplete universe he carried.

……

Ian's journey this time was far longer than any other. He didn't immediately descend into the Marvel Universe, but rather seemed to first traverse a void. There was no fixed ground, no clear direction, only endless light, shadow, sound, and images flowing around him.

All the images floated in all directions, above and below, overlapping and intertwining, like fragments of a giant storybook, each "playing" a story familiar to Ian.

In the first square, Homelander stands atop a tower, looking down upon all living beings, his golden battle robes fluttering in the wind. He is declaring to everyone that he is the sun of America, not to be looked at directly.

In the second square, Omniknight, dressed in a superhero uniform, with bulging muscles and a determined gaze, coldly looks down at the humans below, his deep voice echoing in the void.

"You have no idea what real power is."

Then, more images flashed by like a revolving lantern—Megatron raised the Fusion Cannon, roaring for submission or destruction, and even Voldemort's pale face reflected a cold light.

"I can't wait to break this damn frame!" And Ian's rival Deadpool is frantically smashing non-existent "glass" windows amidst the "comic book panel"-like images.

Ian watched all of this unfold, never having experienced such a long journey before. Usually, it was a fleeting moment, but this time it felt like being stuck at some kind of boundary, leaving him in a daze.

These sounds intertwined.

It's like a symphony that transcends dimensions.

The sound kept roaring in Ian's ears. He tried to reach out and touch it, but found that his body was still falling, as if being pulled by some force through this void.

And right now.

Additional dimension data has been added and is currently being parsed.

[You have come into contact with an unknown extraordinary substance. A new job template has been unlocked. You can obtain a modified extraordinary job—[Mutant Overlord]—by fulfilling the necessary conditions for job acquisition.]

【Mutant Overlord: All that exists and mutates will become your subjects; all that possesses potential will be blessed. In the rhapsody of evolution, you will become the endless king who transcends multiple realities.】

You are the emperor of genes, the final stage of life's evolution!

An unexpected system notification.

This caught Ian off guard once again.

"what's the situation?"

Ian had no idea why he was getting new professions and extra data in the Void Zone for free. He checked his extra data and found that there hadn't been any changes yet.

"what happened?"

Before Ian could even comprehend the meaning of those words, the scene before him suddenly distorted, and all the images shattered like glass—the next second, his feet slammed heavily onto the solid ground.

Gentle sunlight streamed down.

Ian looked around.

He found himself standing on a bustling street. High-rise buildings stood all around, cars streamed by, and pedestrians hurried past, seemingly unaware of his sudden appearance.

"I've successfully gotten stuck in Marvel again! It scared me half to death. I thought Marvel didn't love me anymore." Ian saw Stark Tower and was just about to go ask his new hairstylist, Tony, about this time.

A violent explosion interrupted his thoughts. It was as if every time Ian appeared in the Marvel Universe, he was greeted by a catastrophic event happening around him.

boom--!
At the end of the street, a car was overturned, flames shooting into the sky. People screamed and scattered in panic, while in the center of the chaos, a huge green figure was climbing the exterior wall of a building at an astonishing speed.

"It's Dr. Lizard!"

Ian recognized the figure causing the destruction. The lizardman's sharp claws dug into the concrete, his thick tail swung, and he let out a hoarse roar as he lunged in a certain direction.

"Don't do this, we can talk. Can't we sit down and have a cup of tea first?" The other party was a red and blue figure who nimbly dodged the lizardman's attack with a few swift movements of spider silk.

"Gwen changed her outfit? The classic style?"

Ian quickly dismissed the idea as soon as he had it, because he saw that Spider-Man's front was unremarkable and completely different from Gwen's magnanimous and tolerant nature.

"The second Spider-Man!"

Ian was utterly astonished.

He still remembered how he had taken down a Peter Parker and how he had gained the ability to mimic spiders because of some incident. He never imagined that a second Spider-Man would emerge in New York.

"Hey, big lizard! Your new look is nice, but damaging public property will get you a fine!" Spider-Man's teasing voice rang out as he dodged the attack with a classic landing pose.

"Want to eat my fart? Sorry, no stock today." This Spider-Man was clearly a chatterbox, fighting the Lizard Monster while simultaneously launching mental attacks on it.

“Peter Parker…the second Peter Parker, the chatterbox Peter Parker…” Ian’s eyes narrowed slightly, his handsome face filled with disbelief.

His super brain easily figured out what was happening.

"Help! Monster!"

"Run! Run!"

The panicked crowd scattered and fled, some falling, some crying out, the whole neighborhood was in complete chaos. As they passed Ian, someone suddenly paused, then turned back.

"It's Superman! Superman is here! We're saved!" The survivors of the Spider-Man incident recognized Ian, and this shout instantly ignited the fleeing crowd.

"Superman? The world's first superhero?!" Spider-Man's spider-sense didn't raise an alarm, but his ears perked up, keenly catching this keyword.

He dodged the lizardman's attack with a backflip and looked in the direction the crowd was heading. There he saw a boy, about ten years old, suddenly levitate in mid-air with his hands on his hips.

The sunlight shone on him.

It seemed to be coated with a sacred glow.

“Yes, that’s right, that’s right, I am Superman.” Ian was all excited, he couldn’t have been happier. Sure enough, even people in the Marvel Universe could see his Superman family’s bloodline.

This wasn't Ian hacking his own father's account; it was the people who spontaneously called him Superman, and with the public's support, Ian had no choice but to "reluctantly" step forward.

"You guys are really good at manipulating me, but I like this kind of hero blackmail. 'I'm here, and everyone's safe and sound!'" He loudly proclaimed with a wildly upturned smile.

All eyes were on Ian, and the lizardman clearly sensed something was wrong. He growled, somewhat fearful, and turned to run away.

"You're not getting away! I, Superman, will not allow any evil creature to become an outlaw!" Ian's figure suddenly disappeared, and the next second he descended from the sky.

"Boom!"

He stomped the lizardman directly into the cracked asphalt road.

The ground collapsed instantly, creating a large crater.

Smoke and dust were everywhere.

"Good afternoon, everyone." When Ian saw someone taking pictures with their phone, he immediately flashed his standard hero's smile and even struck a pose for the camera.

The lizardman struggled frantically at his feet, but Ian's feet were like a mountain, unmoving.

“Let me go—!!!”

The lizardman's impotent rage.

It opened its blood-red maw, ready to bite.

Ian stuffed his arm into his mouth, breaking more than a dozen of his mutated teeth. In his agony, he only saw Ian pull out a tube of super glue and stick it back into his mouth.

The lizardmen, of course, wanted to resist.

Unfortunately to no avail.

The gap in strength between the two sides is simply too huge.

When super glue comes into play.

"Ugh... Ugh ugh ugh!!!"

The lizardman's roar instantly turned into a muffled groan.

"Is this... the ability of the world's first superhero?" Spider-Man, who had been dodging everywhere when debris was flying, has finally returned to the battlefield.

However, the battle was already over.

It was an instant kill.

He stared in disbelief and muttered to himself.

"Hey, Spider Boy, want to chat?" Ian noticed him, beckoned with a smile, and Peter hesitated for a moment, but still swung down on his web to Ian.

“Uh, Mr. Superman, thank you for your help, but this guy is actually my… well, mutated mentor.” Peter scratched his head, his tone a little embarrassed.

"I know I know."

Ian waved his hand, looking knowing.

"No one understands mutation better than me; I am the king of mutation."

He said this with confidence, even though he didn't know why he got a new job, but he still had a new topic of conversation that could support him in terms of mutation.

of course.

He hasn't unlocked this new profession yet.

"Oh, no, it's the Mutant Overlord." Ian looked at the information about his unlocked class and corrected himself. Unlocking this class requires collecting the blood of 12 mutated individuals.

"As expected, my luck is at its peak." Ian looked at the Lizard Man at his feet and the Spider-Man in front of him. Of course, he wouldn't let go of these two opportunities that were delivered to his doorstep.

"I need you to help me mutate!" With that, he bent down, pulled an oversized syringe from his pocket, and plunged it into the lizardman's arm.

"hiss--!!!"

The lizardman thrashed wildly, but Ian slapped his head down.

"Don't move, it's just a blood draw." Ian muttered as he drew blood. "I don't like mimicking a lizard, so I'm not killing you. You've really hit the jackpot this time."

You must remember my kindness.

Ian offered a friendly reminder.

"Uh huh!!!"

The lizardmen continue to struggle.

Seeing that the other party was still not behaving himself, Ian sighed and punched the lizardman in the forehead.

Boom!
The world is purified.

Spider-Man: "..."

He silently took half a step back.

After Ian finished drawing blood, he looked at the green liquid in the test tube with satisfaction, then turned and stared at Spider-Man. Spider-Man seemed to understand what was going on from Ian's gaze.

"Can we go somewhere else?" Spider-Man looked around and lowered his voice. He didn't want to be pinned to the ground and have his blood drawn in public.

“No problem.” Ian nodded, picked up the Lizard Man who was tied up like a giant dumpling, then grabbed Spider-Man, and soared into the sky, arriving directly in the deserted alley.

The speed was too fast.

This is a bit too exciting for Spider-Man.

"Come on, give me some of your blood, I'll pay you." Ian pulled out a wad of cash, eager to try his luck, while Spider-Man, still somewhat shaken, looked on with a hint of helplessness.

"Mr. Superman, you are the evil god that Ms. Gwen mentioned, right?" Spider-Man hesitated slightly before finally asking tentatively.

Ian was taken aback, then proudly puffed out his chest: "That's right, it's me! You should call me Lord Evil God! Sure enough, I knew you must have taken Gwen as your master."

"Stop calling me Superman, call me Lord Evil God, I like that title too." Today, the Evil God, who doesn't have much truth to say, chose to boast about his super brain.

In this regard.

Spider-Man fell silent for a moment.

I didn't know how to respond.

"Please give me some blood."

Ian spoke again, full of anticipation.

"So, you're here to rescue Ms. Gwen? Ms. Gwen's condition isn't very good right now..." Seeing Ian's expression, Spider-Man decisively chose to follow his heart.

He exposed his arm, allowing Ian to draw a small vial of his blood.

of course.

Spider-Man also accepted Ian's money.

After all, selling blood is quite common in America.

Of course, I feel perfectly justified in taking it.

"What happened to Gwen?"

After putting away the second sample of mutant blood, Ian asked the question. In his memory, Gwen was always either already injured or on her way to being injured, so he didn't seem too surprised.

of course.

This time might be an exception.

I saw.

"She's dying."

Spider-Man is known for his outrageous and thought-provoking statements.

In a word.

This left Ian stunned.

(End of this chapter)