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[Raising Kids in DC] Chapter 144: Is There a Small World Inside the Divine Tree? John and Star-Lord’s Secret
🕑 Added 2025-03-03 15:08:17 +0000 UTC"What... what is this, Dad?"
Star-Lord swallowed hard, looking at Peter in shock.
A tree had fallen from the sky—was there anything more unbelievable than this?
John, however, glanced around suspiciously. Someone must have secretly thrown it down, right?
He looked up, scanning the sky, but saw no airplanes or anything else overhead.
“Dad,” John asked curiously as he walked over, “Is this a white ash tree?”
“Yes, it looks like a European white ash tree.”
What puzzled Peter was that European white ash trees were typically found in Northern Europe. How could one suddenly appear here?
Had something fallen from the sky this time—not a spaceship, but a tree?
What use was a tree to him?
Glancing down at the watch on his wrist, he saw that the dial had yet to reach the endpoint.
Confirming that the tree wasn’t a baby delivered by the system, Peter let out a sigh of relief.
If this tree had been the system’s idea of delivering a baby, he would have lost his mind.
“Dad, I can destroy it.”
Seeing Peter approach the white ash tree, John quickly spoke up out of concern for his safety. “This might be some wizard’s prank—like that ‘Lucifer’ we encountered before.”
As he spoke, his eyes suddenly turned red.
Before Peter could stop him, John’s laser vision blasted toward the white ash tree.
With a loud boom, the searing heat vision struck the tree—but to Peter’s surprise, instead of piercing through, the attack rebounded off it.
Before John could hit the ground, Peter moved at lightning speed, catching him before impact.
John grunted as he collided heavily with Peter’s chest.
“You okay, John?” Peter asked, setting him down.
“I-I’m fine, Dad.”
Failing to destroy the tree and getting knocked back instead left John feeling embarrassed.
Nodding, Peter released John and frowned as he approached the inexplicable tree, reaching out to touch it.
Seeing this, John and Star-Lord instinctively moved to stop him.
But to their astonishment, Peter remained unharmed when he made contact.
The moment his fingers touched the bark, a vast consciousness surged into his mind, as though his spirit had connected to an entire world.
The next second, Peter’s surroundings changed abruptly.
The familiar farm disappeared, and in its place was a world of ice and snow.
A bitterly cold wind howled through the air, whipping up swirling flurries of snow.
Standing in an unfamiliar valley, Peter stared in shock at the desolate landscape.
Was this tree responsible for transporting him here?
Or had he somehow entered the tree’s interior?
After observing his surroundings for a moment, he decided to move forward and explore whatever lay within this space.
Blizzards raged across the unfamiliar world, as if the sky itself had been torn apart, unleashing endless snowfall that obscured the distant mountains.
The wind roared like a wild beast, filling the entire space with its deafening howls.
Peter trudged through the snow for an unknown amount of time, but no signs of life appeared.
Just as he stopped to reassess his situation, a voice suddenly called his name through the storm.
“Dad!”
The moment he heard the voice, his surroundings shifted again.
The ice and snow vanished, and he found himself standing before the white ash tree once more.
Removing his hand from the bark, Peter looked around in surprise at the familiar farm and the two kids beside him.
“I… I’m back?”
“Dad, you never went anywhere.”
Star-Lord looked at him anxiously. “You touched the tree and just stood there. We thought something had happened to you. Are you okay, Dad?”
“I’m fine.”
Peter stared at the white ash tree, deep in thought.
His spirit must have entered a world inside the tree.
This meant the tree wasn’t ordinary—it contained an internal realm, capable of drawing him inside.
Was this some kind of spatial magic?
An illusion?
Or had the tree genuinely pulled him into its own miniature world?
He glanced at his watch, hoping for a system notification.
Unfortunately, the system only transmitted information once the watch’s dial reached the endpoint.
No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t wake it up now.
As Peter pondered his next move, Star-Lord, driven by curiosity, stepped forward and touched the tree’s bark.
Peter looked up, expecting a reaction, but Star-Lord remained completely unaffected.
“You don’t feel anything?” Peter asked, surprised.
“Feel what, Dad?”
Star-Lord blinked. “The bark’s a little rough, but that’s about it.”
“I see…”
Peter nodded, then turned to John. “Try touching it too.”
Though hesitant, John cautiously reached out at Peter’s request.
This time, the tree didn’t repel him.
Running his fingers over the bark, John didn’t sense anything unusual.
Watching their reactions, Peter quickly came to a realization.
This mysterious tree only responded when he touched it.
Which meant… this had to be something sent by the system.
Could it be that the next baby’s arrival was connected to this tree?
A ridiculous thought crossed his mind: What if the next baby actually grows on this tree?!
If that were true, then someday, when the child asked where they came from, would he have to say—"You grew on a tree outside"?!
Wouldn’t that traumatize them for life?
His thoughts spiraled into chaos.
A few minutes later, Peter checked the time—it was almost midnight.
Shaking his head, he turned to the two kids and said, “Alright, it’s getting late. Let’s go back and rest. We’ll deal with the tree tomorrow.”
Inside Star-Lord’s Room
After closing the door, Star-Lord took out a branch he had picked up from under the white ash tree.
Examining the strangely shaped branch that gave him an unusual feeling, he decided to store it in his drawer.
Since even John’s heat vision had been reflected by it, that meant it was quite durable.
For now, he would keep it safe—who knew, it might come in handy later.
Maybe he could even use it to create armor that could withstand John’s heat vision.
As he thought about it, he prepared to close the drawer.
But then, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something—his father's gift from before: the "Blue Frog."
Star-Lord paused for a moment, then carefully took out the "Blue Frog," placed it beside his pillow, gently wiped it clean, and lay down to sleep.
Inside John’s Room
John stood by the window, staring at the inexplicably appearing white ash tree. A strange sense of discomfort gnawed at him.
It wasn’t just because it had embarrassed him in front of his father, but also because he had an unshakable feeling that this thing posed a great threat.
No. No matter what, nothing would change his determination to inherit his father’s farm.
Shaking his head, he forced himself to push aside the uneasy thoughts.
After sitting on his bed for a moment, he glanced around cautiously.
Once he was sure Peter hadn’t come upstairs and that Star-Lord was already asleep, he quickly crawled under his bed.
From beneath it, he pulled out a certain magazine.
It was filled with glossy photographs of famous movie stars.
In the pictures, glamorous and mature actresses flashed alluring smiles at the camera, their beauty immortalized by the lens and now presented before John.
His cheeks puffed out as he slowly exhaled, trying to contain his excitement while flipping through the pages as if he were committing some grand heist.
"The me in the mirror world must be an idiot. If I knew a shapeshifter, I’d have them turn into all these actresses for me."
John muttered to himself, feeling slightly envious of a version of himself that might not even exist.
The Next Morning
Clark arrived at Padrick Farm early in the morning, his eyes widening in shock at the massive white ash tree that had appeared overnight.
The last time he was here, there was no such tree.
Had his memory somehow failed him?
"Godfather?"
Clark looked at Peter in confusion. "Did you plant this tree recently?"
Peter, who had woken up early to research the origins of the tree, put down the book in his hand.
Despite searching for a long time, he hadn’t found any relevant information.
"Yes, it’s newly transplanted," Peter replied casually.
Clark nodded. There was something impressive about this tree—it had an imposing presence.
"Godfather, my dad said there was an earthquake in Smallville yesterday. Is everything alright here?"
"No problem, Clark. The tremors weren’t too strong here."
Peter coughed lightly, knowing full well what had caused the so-called "earthquake."
"That’s good."
After confirming that the farm was unharmed, Clark hesitated for a moment before stepping closer.
"Godfather, do you have a moment?"
Glancing around cautiously, he lowered his voice.
"What is it?"
"I’ve been dreaming about flying lately," Clark admitted, his expression troubled.
"I dreamt that I floated up to the ceiling, and then—boom!—I crashed back onto my bed."
He hesitated before adding, "I, uh... kind of broke my bed."
Clark looked embarrassed. "Godfather, do you think I can learn to fly like John?"
Peter smiled. "Of course you can. The fact that you’re dreaming about flying means you’re growing—or rather, your flight ability is slowly awakening."
"But, Godfather, I’ve tried it before. I can’t actually fly."
Clark sighed in frustration. "Why can I fly in my dreams but not in real life?"
Peter stood up, patting his shoulder.
"That’s because…"
He looked at Clark meaningfully.
"Because, in your dreams, your subconscious lets go of all restraints. But in reality, you have too many concerns. For example… aren’t you afraid of heights?"
Clark looked away awkwardly. "Y-yeah, Godfather… I kind of am."
Just as he was about to share more about his fear of heights, the sound of footsteps came from outside the farmhouse.
Clark turned his head and was surprised to see a familiar face.
"Lana?!"
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