On the farm, an older man with graying hair watched a strong young man harvesting a field of golden wheat.
The most advanced combine harvester on the market was parked beside them, but the older man clearly had no intention of using it.
"Clark! Don't forget what you're supposed to finish today!"
"Dad, I don't understand. Why can't I become a hero who saves the world like Jovian? Why do I have to stay out here in the middle of nowhere, cutting wheat with this beat-up old scythe?"
Clark's expression darkened. Like a rebellious teenager, he threw down the scythe and confronted his father.
"Because your brother was ready, and you aren't."
The middle-aged man calmly answered his son's question.
"Ready? I am ready. All I need is for Jovian to give me a suit, and I can immediately start flying through the sky just like him. No, I might even be faster than he is!"
Clark looked toward the sky, his eyes filled with longing.
He wanted to fly away from this place and leave the farm behind. Like his brother, his world belonged in the endless sky.
"Ready?"
Jonathan suddenly laughed.
"Are you really ready?"
"Because I haven't seen any sign of this preparation you keep talking about."
"If being ready means throwing your scythe aside and refusing to work, then congratulations, son. You're ready. In fact, you may be the best in the entire world."
"But you need to understand something first. A hero never throws away the weapon in his hands. At the very least, your brother never would."
Jonathan stared solemnly at his rebellious son.
Clark looked down at the scythe lying on the ground. After hesitating for a moment, he finally picked it up.
"I'm sorry, Dad. Please don't tell Jovian about what happened today, okay?"
"I won't."
"But remember this, son. What you need is patience, not fear."
"I hope that one day, you'll keep hold of the scythe because you genuinely understand why you shouldn't throw it away, not because you're afraid your brother might hear something bad about you."
"There's an enormous difference between the two. You'll have to understand it for yourself."
Jonathan continued teaching his son.
"I understand, Dad."
Clark might have been rebellious, but he was incredibly intelligent, far more intelligent than any ordinary person. He understood that Jonathan was right.
"Good. Now get back to work. Take your time and appreciate the simple feeling of the blade passing through the wheat."
Jonathan turned around as he spoke.
"I'm finished, Dad!"
The moment Jonathan turned away, Clark's voice came from behind him.
Jonathan looked back and saw that the entire field had already been neatly harvested. Not only had all the wheat been cut, but it had also been tied into bundles and arranged in perfectly straight rows.
"Clark!"
Jonathan frowned at the sight. His son had obviously lost patience and used his powers again.
"Heh."
Clark Kent grinned sheepishly. He truly did not want to waste too much time cutting wheat by hand.
Jonathan sighed helplessly before speaking.
"Clark, your brother called again yesterday and urged me to move. I originally wanted to stay here and keep watching over these fields, but now I think it's time for me to make a change."
"Get ready. You're coming to Metropolis with your mother and me."
"That's great! We're finally leaving?"
Clark Kent looked thrilled.
He had always felt out of place among the people here. Now that it was finally time to leave, he could not have been happier.
"That's right. Wonderful news."
"Your brother found an Ivy League university willing to take you. Once you've studied there, the university president and your brother will recommend you for further study at MIT, Trinity College, Cambridge, and other leading institutions."
Jonathan knew his son far too well.
Clark had probably assumed that moving to Metropolis meant he would no longer have to attend school. He likely imagined that he could start a company and become a hero just like his legendary older brother.
Unfortunately for Clark, that was not going to happen.
Jonathan looked at his son with an amused smile.
"What? I still have to go to school?"
Clark's expression immediately changed. He was nearly at the limit of how much boredom he could endure from school.
"Even if the world is ready for another great hero, our hero clearly isn't ready yet."
"You still need time. This isn't something you can rush."
"All right, all right. I get it, Dad."
Clark looked aggrieved, but he was powerless to resist.
Jonathan smiled, opened the farmhouse door, and stepped inside.
"Jonathan…"
A beautiful woman was preparing dinner for her husband and son.
"Martha, your cooking gets better every day."
Jonathan smiled as he looked at the delicious dishes his wife had prepared.
"Did you finish harvesting the wheat?"
Martha looked at her husband and son.
"Yes. I'll have someone else manage the farm from now on."
Jonathan nodded.
"You mean…"
Martha froze before looking at him expectantly.
"Jovian has been asking us to move to Metropolis for years. I think it's finally time for us to go."
"Oh my God. Our family is finally going to be together again."
Tears gathered in Martha's eyes.
She could barely remember how long it had been since she had last seen her beloved eldest son, Jovian.
"Yes, it's time for the family to be reunited."
"Do you think we should buy some new clothes? We're going to a major city, so we should dress properly. We can't embarrass our son."
Jonathan frowned thoughtfully.
"I think we should ask him."
Martha nodded and immediately made the call.
The phone rang several times before someone answered.
"Hello?"
"Jovian?"
Martha asked tentatively.
"Mom?"
A questioning voice came from the other end of the line.
"Jovian, your father and I have discussed it. We've decided to bring Clark to Metropolis and live with you. Is there anything we need to prepare?"
"That's wonderful! I've been telling you for years that you should move to Metropolis."
"You don't have to prepare anything. I'll send people to pick you up tomorrow morning."
"As for the farm, I'll arrange for someone to manage it. Tell Dad he can relax. My employees definitely have more energy than a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, and they'll take excellent care of the place."
Jovian's voice carried a teasing note.
Martha chuckled and glanced at Jonathan, who stood beside her.
"I can hear you! And I'm not old!"
"Besides, your people might not be able to protect my farm as well as I can. I…"
"I know, I know. I still have work to do, so I'll see you tomorrow."
Jovian ended the call before Jonathan could continue.
It seemed Jovian had no intention of giving Jonathan a chance to argue. Perhaps he was worried Jonathan would suddenly change his mind and refuse to come.
Jonathan listened to the disconnected tone and sighed.
His eldest son had been different from everyone else since childhood, almost like a god. Jovian could do everything perfectly.
To be honest, raising him had given Jonathan almost no sense of accomplishment. Jovian always gave him the impression that even without a father, he would have grown up perfectly fine.
Clark was not nearly as perfect, but helping him mature gave Jonathan a genuine sense of satisfaction.
Perhaps that was the fulfillment a father was supposed to feel.
"Everything is settled with your brother. He'll send people to pick us up tomorrow."
Jonathan turned toward Clark, who was secretly helping himself to dinner.
Clark had not expected Jonathan to turn around so suddenly. He stuffed an entire fish into his mouth and swallowed it in one gulp.
Jonathan sighed again.
His two sons truly represented opposite extremes.
Late that night, Clark lay in his room, unable to sleep.
He had often dreamed of becoming a hero, flying through the sky and protecting everything in the world.
It seemed like his destiny, perhaps even his responsibility. Somewhere deep inside, he could vaguely hear a voice guiding him toward that path.
But throughout his entire childhood, whenever he was bullied or saw someone else being bullied, the one who protected them was always Jovian.
His older brother bore a name reminiscent of Jupiter, king of the Roman gods, and he was powerful, kind, and far too perfect to seem human.
While Clark was still wondering which high school he should attend, his brother was already wearing a skintight suit and flying around the world, protecting people everywhere.
Sometimes Clark felt as though he had spent his entire life living in Jovian's shadow.
No matter how hard he struggled, he could never escape it.
That troubled him deeply.
"I'm going to Metropolis tomorrow. What kind of city is it?"
"Will Jovian finally acknowledge me? Will he let me fight beside him and protect the people of this world?"
Clark continued thinking.
He wanted to wear a suit of his own someday and fly across the sky.
The following morning, sunlight shone through the window and fell across Clark's face.
He slowly opened his eyes.
He could not remember when he had finally fallen asleep, but he had slept exceptionally well.
Clark stretched, walked downstairs, and discovered seven or eight men in black moving around inside the house. They appeared to be packing up the family's belongings.
"Hey! What are you doing?"
Clark glared at the men carrying the furniture.
"Clark, you're awake. We're getting ready to move!"
Martha was carrying a potted plant when she noticed her son and smiled at him.
"These are Jovian's people? They're already here?"
Only after hearing Martha's explanation did Clark notice the emblems on their clothes.
The words KENT GROUP were printed on every man's uniform.
"We work for Mr. Jovian. He ordered us to come and move your furniture."
"Afterward, we'll escort all of you to the Kent Group's private airport, where you'll board a private plane."
The leader smiled and explained the arrangements to Clark.
"Oh, all right. Thanks."
Realizing that he had misunderstood the situation, Clark thanked the men.
"Hahaha."
"There's no need to thank us. This is our job."
The man shook his head and smiled.
"A private airport and a private plane? Jovian's company must be much larger than I imagined."
Clark remained shocked.
Having spent almost his entire life in the countryside, he still had no idea just how massive Jovian's business empire had become.
Elsewhere, high above Metropolis, Jovian stood on the roof of Kent Tower in his skintight suit and looked down over the entire city.
This was his city.
Metropolis.
Its people worshiped him as a true god.
In other cities, powerful and influential figures privately referred to Jovian as the mayor of Metropolis.
"There you are, Jovian."
As Jovian surveyed the city, a soft, seductive voice came from behind him.
A tall woman walked toward him with a graceful, feline stride.
"I'm admiring the city."
Jovian turned around and smiled at the beautiful woman.
"Heh. I still remember when you arrived here five years ago."
"You were just a little squirt who came to this city alone. Then you approached us and declared that the world needed a hero, and that you were going to be that hero."
"We all thought you were a clever little troublemaker who had come to make fools of us."
"But five years later, you really have become the hero of the entire world."
The woman smiled faintly at Jovian.
She still remembered the arrogant child making that declaration and causing the entire board of directors to burst into laughter.
She also remembered how the arrogant child had slowly floated off the floor while they were laughing.
The entire boardroom had immediately fallen silent.
"That's because this world needs me."
"I don't need the world. The world needs me."
Jovian clasped his hands behind his back and continued looking down at the city below.
Before long, his foolish younger brother Clark would arrive in Metropolis.
Then Jovian could begin preparing his next move.
"We need more heroes."
The moment Jovian finished speaking, he disappeared from the woman's sight.
"I know, Mr. Jovian."
The woman smiled as she looked toward the office door that had suddenly swung open and the documents scattered everywhere by the violent gust of wind.
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