Screeeech!
On the empty suburban road, the violent sound of tires scraping against asphalt echoed far into the fields.
A sharp scent of burnt rubber filled the air as the old red pickup truck suddenly drifted sideways. The vehicle swerved violently, its wheels sliding across the pavement as Victor yanked the steering wheel to avoid the figure dropping from the roadside tree.
The attack had come without warning.
In midair, the attacker twisted his body with incredible strength. His waist snapped sideways as he reached out with five claw-like fingers, attempting to grab the roof of the truck.
But he missed.
His hand scraped across the metal instead.
Screech!
A harsh metallic sound rang above the truck as his nails carved deep lines across the paint.
Victor slammed on the brakes.
The pickup skidded off the road and jolted to a stop near the grassy shoulder. Both doors flew open as Victor and Clark stepped out immediately.
The man who had performed what would have been a suicidal leap for any normal human landed easily.
Instead of crashing violently to the ground, he flipped lightly in midair and touched down on the road like a nimble flea.
Clark stared at him.
"Greg?"
The black leather jacket.
The blond hair.
Even before the man fully turned around, Clark had already recognized the familiar profile.
"Why did you attack us?" Clark demanded, his voice tense.
Seeing Greg's unnatural agility filled him with unease.
"I heard something happened to your mother," Clark continued carefully. "Was it… you?"
Greg turned slowly to face them.
His expression carried the calm confidence of someone who believed the outcome had already been decided.
Like a spider observing prey caught in its web.
"There's no need to rush," he said with a cold sneer.
"She was holding me back."
His eyes locked onto Clark.
"You're next."
Clark felt a chill run through his chest.
"Are you insane?" he said in disbelief. "That's your mother!"
Greg laughed softly.
"You and I no longer exist on the same level of life."
The timid, withdrawn boy who had once avoided eye contact with everyone had vanished completely.
Standing there now was something entirely different.
Something that looked down upon other living creatures as if they were insignificant.
"Today," Greg declared, spreading his arms wide, "I am no longer bound by morals or rules!"
His voice rose with unrestrained arrogance.
"I am ahead of you. Ahead of everyone!"
Victor glanced down briefly at the deep claw marks across the pickup's roof.
Then he looked back up at Greg and spoke with cold amusement.
"So you think you're Superman now?"
The irony was almost amusing.
Standing in front of him was the son of Krypton himself—a being from an ancient alien race whose bloodline produced godlike power.
And this insect thought he had surpassed everyone.
[Wrath from Greg +0.18, +0.17…]
Greg's face twisted with fury.
"Victor," he snarled, "you're asking to die."
Victor didn't react at all.
Interesting.
This guy generates more emotional points than Jerome.
Probably because he's stronger.
"Greg," Clark said urgently, stepping forward, "listen to me. You need help."
Clark still believed there might be a way to fix whatever had happened to him.
Maybe Greg's mind had been damaged somehow. Maybe treatment could bring him back to the shy boy he once was.
Greg vanished.
Whoosh!
His body blurred forward like a ghost.
"Treatment?" he sneered.
"You're the ones who need to be eliminated!"
He launched forward with explosive speed, leaving a faint afterimage behind him. His fist tore through the air with terrifying force as he aimed directly for Victor.
"Victor, no!"
Clark shouted instinctively.
He had seen Victor fight once before, and the expression on his brother's face now was colder than it had been then.
Greg thought Clark was shouting out of concern for his younger brother.
His eyes gleamed with cruelty.
"Let me deal with you first."
He swung his fist downward.
Victor stood completely still.
He didn't blink.
He didn't even shift his stance.
To him, the incoming attack looked no more threatening than a flying insect.
Then—
BANG!
Greg's fist struck Victor's chest like a battering ram.
The impact thundered across the road.
But the result was not what Greg expected.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Greg's body flew backward faster than he had come.
He shot across the road like a cannonball and crashed into the grassy field more than ten meters away. His body rolled several times before finally stopping.
Clark stared in alarm.
"Greg?"
He feared Victor might have accidentally killed him.
Victor stood quietly beside the road.
His skin had shifted into a faint purple tone, strange vein-like patterns running across his chin like cracks in hardened earth. His presence radiated an imposing pressure that made the surrounding air feel heavy.
Greg slowly climbed to his feet.
Shock flickered across his face as he stared at Victor.
"What bit you?"
Greg's voice carried disbelief.
He himself had mutated after being bitten by an insect contaminated with meteor fragments. His body had shed its old form and evolved into something stronger.
But Victor's purple skin confused him.
What kind of creature had bitten him?
Victor raised his eyelids slightly.
He was mildly surprised too.
Greg had taken that hit without suffering serious injury.
Seems his body is tougher than expected.
Victor had used only a fraction of his strength.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Victor replied flatly.
Were people whose genes mutated from kryptonite also suffering brain damage?
Greg snarled.
"You're not strong enough to hurt me!"
He kicked off the ground.
Dirt exploded into the air as his body shot forward like a fired cannonball. His fist cut through the wind again, the pressure compressing the air before the strike even landed.
"Did you know," Greg shouted with murderous excitement, "that a dung beetle can push twelve hundred times its own body weight?"
Clark moved.
His body flashed forward faster than a launched rocket.
"Stop it, Greg!" Clark shouted as he placed himself in front of Victor. "You've completely lost your mind!"
He intended to block the attack for his brother.
But Greg's strength exceeded his expectations.
BANG!
The fist smashed into Clark's face.
Clark's body shot backward like a meteor and flew dozens of meters before crashing into the roadside grass.
Victor glanced briefly in that direction.
Clark had clearly held back again.
He always worried that if he used his full strength, his opponents might die instantly.
So the result was always the same.
A god walking among humans…
Getting punched away like a rag doll.
Greg didn't stop.
He rushed forward again, his fist rising high like a falling boulder ready to crush Victor's skull.
Victor finally moved.
BANG!
He tilted his head slightly and raised one hand.
His palm caught Greg's fist.
The violent force slammed into his hand like a crashing wave meeting an immovable cliff.
The power vanished instantly.
Boom!
A blast of white air exploded outward from the collision.
Dust and debris erupted from the road as the asphalt cracked and collapsed, forming a crater several meters wide. Chunks of stone shot outward like bullets.
Clark, who had just staggered back toward the road, had to raise his arm to shield his eyes.
"Dung beetles?" Victor said calmly.
"Sorry."
"I'm not interested in bugs."
He squeezed Greg's fist.
His grip tightened like a hydraulic press capable of hundreds of tons of pressure.
CRACK!
"AAAHHH!"
Greg's scream tore through the air.
His hand collapsed under the crushing force. Bone fragments pierced through torn flesh as blood spilled down his wrist.
He dropped to his knees.
Victor released him casually.
The mutant stared at his ruined palm in horror.
The blood looked strangely thick, tinged with a faint greenish color.
"So you mutated after getting bitten by some insect?" Victor muttered with disgust.
The thought alone made him feel slightly nauseous.
"Die!"
Greg's eyes burned with feral rage.
Even with shattered fingers bent at grotesque angles, his instincts screamed for violence. He swung his remaining arm wildly at Victor.
Victor stepped aside.
The punch missed completely.
In the next instant—
Whoosh!
Victor appeared behind him.
Greg reacted instantly.
Despite the surprise, he spun around with astonishing speed and launched another strike.
His fist was so fast it nearly matched Victor's movement.
BANG!
Victor grabbed his arm mid-swing.
"Pretty quick," he said, raising an eyebrow.
Then he twisted.
CRACK!
Greg's second arm snapped like a dry cornstalk.
"But that makes sense," Victor added calmly. "If insects weren't agile, they wouldn't survive long."
"AAAH! My arm!"
Greg collapsed onto the ground screaming, both arms now crippled. His face twisted in agony as sweat poured down his forehead.
"This… this is impossible…"
He stared up in disbelief.
"My bones are harder than steel. How did you break them so easily?"
Victor looked down at him indifferently.
"You should know what happens to bugs that overestimate themselves and provoke humans."
He stepped forward again.
But suddenly—
A blur flashed in front of him.
Clark appeared instantly and placed himself between them.
His arm stretched out to block Victor's path.
"Don't kill him."
....
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