Of course, at Alex's current level, he had seen more beautiful women than he could ever count—
and not just ordinary beauties, but those who truly stood on the level of gods.
Not the kind of "goddess" worshipped by fans on magazine covers or online forums,
but the real, divine kind—Hela, the ruthless queen of Hel whom he'd once beaten into submission,
or Diana of Themyscira, a woman whose strength was matched only by her compassion.
These weren't women one simply admired; they were forces of nature he had faced head-on.
So naturally, Lana Lang, as radiant as she was, stirred no romantic thoughts in him whatsoever.
He only looked at her a second time out of curiosity—because she happened to be Clark's first love.
Nothing more.
After that single glance, she was no different from the countless passersby he'd met through the years—
no more significant than the young man standing beside her, Whitney.
Still, as he listened to their conversation echo faintly through the cave,
Alex quickly pieced together the story.
It seemed the Kryptonite he'd just found had actually been unearthed by Whitney first—
then buried here deliberately.
Otherwise, why on earth would a teenage boy bring his girlfriend
to a lonely, pitch-dark cave in the middle of nowhere just to "show off"?
Obviously, Whitney wanted to impress Lana.
To someone who knew nothing about Kryptonite,
that glowing green crystal must have seemed like some mysterious, precious gem—
something rare, powerful, maybe even magical.
Alex's eyes swept over the cavern floor.
The subtle marks in the dirt, the uneven patches of disturbed earth—it all fit perfectly.
The Kryptonite had indeed been dug up before, then reburied by human hands.
If that was the case…
> "Fine then," he murmured under his breath.
"I'll just ask them a few questions."
He slipped the crystal into his hand more securely,
his expression calm and unreadable, the faintest trace of amusement in his eyes.
After a moment's thought, he made his decision.
---
Rustle… rustle…
The faint crunch of shoes against gravel echoed through the darkness.
Within seconds, the silhouettes of two teenagers appeared at the cave's mouth—
a boy leading confidently, a girl following close behind, her flashlight beam cutting through the dust.
> "Lana, I've got something really special hidden in here—"
Whitney froze mid-sentence.
The words died in his throat the instant his eyes landed on the stranger inside.
A man—calm, composed, and utterly foreign—stood in the center of the cavern.
Worse still, that stranger was holding his "treasure" in one hand.
Whitney's expression twisted from confusion to fury.
Lana's brows furrowed as she blinked in shock,
her gaze darting between the glowing green stone and the mysterious intruder.
The stranger didn't look like anyone from around here.
Tall, lean, dark-haired, his face was sharper, colder—
and definitely not someone who belonged in quiet, peaceful Smallville.
She could count the number of Asians in town on one hand, and she knew all of them by sight.
This man wasn't one of them.
> "Put down that gem!" Whitney snapped, voice rising with anger.
"It's mine!"
Alex's sigh was soft, almost disappointed.
Then came the faintest smile.
> "You don't even know what that thing really is," he said mildly,
"and you dare call it yours?"
Whitney froze for half a heartbeat.
He didn't actually know what the glowing stone was—
but pride overruled reason almost instantly.
> "Listen, pal, I'm not in the mood for games," he growled,
taking a threatening step forward. "Hand it over."
Alex didn't even bother moving.
He let Whitney approach, let him reach out—
that same small, knowing smirk still playing at the corner of his mouth.
> "Go ahead," Alex said lightly.
"If you've got the strength, take it."
An uneasy silence followed, broken only by Whitney's labored breathing.
He gritted his teeth and yanked at the crystal with all his might.
Nothing.
He tried again—both hands this time—muscles straining, face flushing red.
Still nothing.
Desperation turned to frustration.
He hugged the rock to his chest, bracing his legs,
every vein in his arms bulging as he gave one last violent tug.
It didn't even tremble.
Alex held it as effortlessly as if it weighed no more than air.
Then, without warning, Whitney's feet left the ground.
Alex had reached out with his free hand,
grabbed Whitney by the collar,
and hoisted him into the air as though he weighed less than a child's backpack.
Lana's sharp gasp echoed through the cave.
Her heart pounded in disbelief as she watched—
this quiet, unassuming stranger had just lifted Whitney like a toy.
> "W–what the hell—!" Whitney choked, kicking and twisting helplessly.
But Alex's grip was iron. Unshakable.
Calm eyes met Whitney's panicked ones.
> "Enough," Alex said evenly.
"The clown show's over. Now I ask, you answer. Understood?"
Whitney's lips curled into a defiant sneer, even as fear flickered behind his eyes.
> "Heh… I get it now," he said hoarsely.
"No wonder you won't hand it over—you've already tapped into its power, haven't you?"
A sharp, almost manic glint flashed across his face.
> "But don't think you're the only one who's changed!"
The cave trembled as Whitney roared, his whole body shaking violently in Alex's grip.
> "HRAAAAH!"
A low rumble grew into a deafening quake.
Pebbles began to roll, then levitate—stones and boulders ripping themselves free from the ground,
drawn as if by some invisible force.
> "What the…?"
Alex raised an eyebrow, genuine intrigue flickering in his gaze.
He hadn't expected much from this cocky high-school jock,
and yet—here he was, showing signs of mutation.
A meteor freak, then.
The thought crossed his mind almost lazily.
He let Whitney drop to the ground, curious to see what would happen next.
The stones kept gathering—layer after layer wrapping around Whitney's frame,
melding into a crude but formidable armor of rock.
Within seconds, a 2.5-meter stone giant stood before Alex,
its heavy footsteps cracking the cave floor with every movement.
> "Whitney… y-you're a meteor freak!" Lana's voice trembled,
half disbelief, half horror.
Her shock only confirmed Alex's suspicion.
So that's what this was—a human mutated by Kryptonite radiation.
And judging from Whitney's words and the obsessive way he clung to the "gem,"
there was no mistaking it.
That so-called "meteor" he'd found was indeed a shard of Krypton—
Superman's home world.
> "Lana," the stone giant rumbled, his voice echoing like thunder,
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I'll explain later."
His glowing eyes turned toward Alex.
> "But right now—"
"I'm taking back my gem!"
He bellowed and charged, each step shaking the earth.
The entire cave shuddered from the force of his momentum—
enough to send smaller rocks tumbling from the ceiling.
To an ordinary man, it would've been terrifying.
To Alex, it was nothing.
> "Pathetic."
He barely moved.
With a flick of his wrist, invisible force lashed out—
a burst of telekinetic power.
BOOM!
The stone armor shattered instantly.
The shockwave sent fragments scattering in all directions.
Whitney's real body went flying across the cave,
slamming into the dirt wall with a sickening crunch.
> "How… how is that possible…?" he croaked, staring up in disbelief.
His mind reeled, his confidence shattered in an instant.
Alex brushed a bit of dust from his sleeve,
expression unchanging—cool, detached, utterly unimpressed.
> "So that's what passes for a 'meteor freak,' huh?"
"How disappointingly weak."
> "Whitney!"
Lana's cry cut through the silence.
She rushed to his side, kneeling beside the fallen boy, her face pale with fear.
Her voice trembled as she looked up at Alex—
her eyes wide, filled with a mix of awe, confusion, and terror.
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