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Chapter 1078: The Reunion of the Kent Family
🕑 Added 2025-01-07 20:00:03 +0000 UTC"Even after obtaining the Anti-Life Equation, I still failed. The enemy I encountered this time is quite interesting!" Darkseid's voice continued to echo in the vast cosmic space.
"But it doesn’t matter. The enemies that defeated the other versions of me will eventually be conquered by me. You may have defeated the power of the Anti-Life Equation within the cosmic rules, but you cannot resist my power. I look forward to you emerging from the universe soon…"
"And perhaps I should start a true multiversal war. If entering the universe has limitations and I can’t defeat you, then I’ll target the universe itself from the outside. The power of the so-called Five Cosmic Entities has already been deciphered by me. Let’s begin…"
"This multiverse wasn’t supposed to be like this. Too many things are intertwined. Those Avengers shouldn’t have appeared in the same universe as us. This multiverse is a mistake. I will end it all! I will create a multiverse that truly belongs to us!"
…
As for what was happening outside the universe, Robert had no idea. His gaze now swept across the dimensional realms, as the events within the dimensions were more pressing than those outside the universe.
Although Robert wasn’t aware that the dimensional beings had been plotting against him, Clark, and Darkseid, he was well aware that they had been watching the battle.
In Robert’s eyes, the dimensional realms were like Darkseid and Thanos—threats to Earth’s dimension. Dimensions friendly to Earth were few and far between.
With Darkseid and Thanos both dealt with, Robert felt that the universe no longer posed a significant threat. Apart from the Super-Skrulls, Earth seemed to have no other enemies. Only those coveting Earth’s dimension from outside could pose a threat.
"Well? Have you seen enough?" Robert’s calm voice spread out, carried by his power directly into the various dimensions, causing the dimensional beings’ expressions to darken.
To be honest, Robert’s tone was highly provocative. But the problem was, Robert was indeed a true powerhouse, someone who made many dimensional beings wary.
Not only had Robert now displayed even greater strength, killing Darkseid even after he had gained new power, but even before this, Robert had been a major headache.
After all, no one had yet found a way to counter Robert’s instant teleportation. If a direct conflict were to break out, unless they were willing to abandon their conquest of Earth’s dimension entirely to threaten Robert, there really was no way to deal with him.
If Robert were to use his instant teleportation to wreak havoc across the dimensions, it would be something no dimensional being or dimension itself could withstand. These dimensions didn’t want a repeat of Robert’s past rampages.
Moreover, Robert’s strength had increased even further. Even without the bug-like skill of instant teleportation, Robert’s power was now among the top in the dimensional realms.
And most crucially, the previous Robert could only threaten the worlds and continents within the dimensions, not the dimensions themselves. Dimensions were entities born from energy and rules, making them difficult to destroy.
But now, things were different. Robert’s destructive power could threaten the dimensions themselves. Unlike beings with smaller bodies who could dodge, dimensions, with their massive scale, couldn’t evade so easily.
No one knew the limits of Robert’s destructive energy. What if Robert gathered a massive blast, used instant teleportation, and destroyed an entire dimension in one go?
Thus, the dimensional beings weren’t angered by Robert’s message. Instead, they remained hidden, pretending they hadn’t heard Robert’s voice or witnessed his battle with Darkseid.
"No reaction at all? How can they be so cowardly?" Robert raised an eyebrow, feeling a bit disdainful. He then began to ponder, "Should I randomly pick a dimension to destroy and make them fear me a bit?"
To be honest, Robert was quite tempted by the idea. After all, during his final battle with Darkseid, he hadn’t enjoyed the fight at all.
Because Clark had been controlled, Robert hadn’t been in the mood to savor the battle. He had only wanted to kill Darkseid as quickly as possible to restore Clark.
After all, Robert didn’t know if prolonged exposure to the Anti-Life Equation’s control and the reversal of Clark’s power would cause irreversible damage.
Now that Clark had been restored, and the dimensions themselves were enemies of Earth’s dimension, Robert naturally wanted to have a good fight within the dimensional realms.
With his strength having increased once again, Robert realized that there might be no suitable opponents left in the universe. The so-called Five Cosmic Entities rarely appeared, as they were part of the universe’s rules, even more mysterious and elusive than the cosmic void.
Take Galactus, for example. Robert had previously locked onto Galactus’s energy signature and even teleported to his location several times after Galactus left.
But once Galactus was sated and fell into slumber, Robert could no longer sense his energy. In a sense, Galactus had merged with the universe itself, making it extremely difficult for Robert to find him.
This also meant that encountering the other Cosmic Entities would be equally challenging, if not impossible.
Thus, Robert now turned his attention to the dimensional realms. Only here could he find opponents strong enough to let him fight without restraint, without worrying about harming the universe or other civilizations.
"Let’s head back first. I’ve been asleep for so long. I need to see Martha and the others…" Clark shook his head, telepathically communicating with Robert. "As for the dimensional realms, you can deal with them later. There’s no need to push things to the point of outright hostility and tension."
"Alright." Robert nodded at Clark’s message, deciding not to act immediately. As Clark had said, there was no need to rush.
After all, the dimensions weren’t going anywhere, unlike the Celestials who could flee. Moreover, the dimensions weren’t united. If they were forced to band together, it would only create more trouble.
Besides, Clark had been asleep for so long and was unaware of many things that had happened on Earth, especially since the Kent family was no longer on Earth. There was indeed a lot to catch up on.
"Whoosh!" With that thought, Robert placed a hand on Clark’s shoulder and vanished, first appearing next to Sentry to bring him along, and then the three of them returned to the Avengers’ base on Earth.
"Huh?" The moment they returned to Earth, Clark’s expression changed. Not only had the population decreased significantly, but he also noticed that the land around the Kent farm in Smallville had vanished.
Yes, even after all this time, the authorities hadn’t done anything to alter the terrain. After all, America was vast, and losing a bit of land wasn’t a big deal.
Moreover, the government rarely involved itself in unprofitable endeavors, especially when it didn’t concern the interests of various factions. Thus, everyone had tacitly agreed to ignore the situation.
This left the area around the Kent farm in Smallville exactly as it had been when Robert had moved it, with the only change being the influx of tourists.
That’s right. Although the authorities hadn’t addressed the situation, the strange phenomenon had attracted many visitors, especially after Robert’s identity had been revealed. People came from far and wide to see the site.
The other residents of Smallville, after a brief period of fear, quickly succumbed to the allure of profit. In their eyes, since the Kent family had left, there was nothing wrong with using the area to earn some tourism money.
Thus, while the Kent farm remained as it was, Smallville had developed some tourism-related industries, ensuring that everyone had enough to eat and drink.
"What’s going on? Where are Martha and the others? Are they on Savage Land?" Clark quickly turned to Robert and asked.
"No, they’re on New Earth," Robert shook his head and explained softly. "You’ve been asleep for quite a while. A lot has happened on Earth and in the universe during that time. JARVIS?"
"Understood. Summarizing the events that have occurred since Superman’s death," JARVIS’s voice promptly responded. An image then appeared before Clark, starting with Robert’s first Super Saiyan transformation and his return to defeat Doomsday.
After that, the footage showed the major events that had occurred on Earth and in the universe, including battles with the Skrulls, Thanos, Steppenwolf, Parallax, Ego, the High Evolutionary, Galactus, and more.
Of course, JARVIS didn’t hide the events of the Ultron incident either, including the subsequent government crackdown on the Avengers and the reason behind the Kent farm’s disappearance.
"So much has happened?" Even with his superhuman intellect, Clark’s mind momentarily went blank.
The main reason was that before his death, Clark had been fully committed to his role as Superman, with little time for a personal life.
But now, it seemed that the role of Superman was no longer welcome… No, it was worse than that!
If Clark were to reappear now, he would likely face the same public backlash as the Avengers, with many people targeting him and trying to uncover the secret of his resurrection.
After all, in the eyes of the world, Superman had died. His sudden reappearance would undoubtedly fuel conspiracy theories, linking him to the Avengers and further tarnishing their reputation.
But if he didn’t continue as Superman, Clark wasn’t sure what else he could do. More importantly, could he really stop being Superman?
Clark’s determination and commitment to the role were even stronger than Peter Parker’s. If Peter had struggled to give up being Spider-Man, how much harder would it be for Clark, who had just woken up to a completely changed world?
"You can take your time to look around and think things over. Of course, if you want to go to New Earth, the Avengers have a portal. The Guardians’ portal, enhanced by the Space Stone, can perform inter-universal teleportation," Robert patted Clark’s shoulder and said gently.
"Then let’s go see Martha and the others first!" Clark snapped out of his thoughts. He decided that his future plans could wait. The priority now was to reunite with the Kent family and Lana Lang.
Soon, Clark followed Robert and Kara to New Earth, not through the portal but via instant teleportation.
"Clark?!" When Clark appeared before the Kent family, exclamations of surprise rang out. Lana Lang was the first to rush forward, but she quickly stopped and looked at the Kent family, deciding to let them reunite with Clark first.
"It’s alright, dear. Go ahead," Martha gently patted Lana’s shoulder and gave her a slight push.
In Martha’s heart, Lana was already part of the family. In fact, she loved Lana even more than Kara, as Lana had spent far more time with the Kent family than Kara had.
