The air over rural Kansas was as fresh and clean as if the world had just been created. A gentle breeze rolled across the endless golden wheat fields, bending the stalks in slow waves like the touch of a quiet, invisible hand. It was a cool autumn night, and the countryside felt peaceful and alive all at once.
A red pickup truck moved steadily along a narrow country road that cut through miles of farmland. On both sides of the road, wheat fields stretched toward the horizon, and the soft chorus of insects rose from the darkness like a quiet hymn to life. Fireflies drifted lazily above the fields, blinking like scattered stars that had fallen closer to the earth.
Above everything, the night sky was packed with real stars, shining clearly without the interference of city lights. Inside the pickup truck, the warm glow of the dashboard illuminated the small cabin while a gentle melody played from the radio. The scent of wheat fields mixed with the earthy smell that lingered after rain, filling the air with a familiar rural comfort.
Jonathan Kent sat behind the wheel, driving slowly as he stretched one arm out the window. He let the cool wind slip through his fingers, almost as if he were trying to feel its shape. A proud, uncontrollable smile curved across his face.
"Jonathan, this is God's gift to us."
Martha Kent sat in the passenger seat beside him, holding a small bundle in her arms. She had only just left the hospital after giving birth, and her face was still pale from exhaustion. Despite that, her eyes shone with deep, overwhelming affection as she looked down at the quiet baby resting against her chest.
To her, the child felt like the most precious treasure in the entire world. Her voice came out soft and slightly hoarse, but it carried a warmth that was impossible to miss.
"I barely had time to wish for a child," she said gently. "And then he arrived like an angel."
"A gift from God? And my mother's name is Martha?"
Inside the blanket, the baby blinked slowly.
Victor Kent—though the world had once known him by another name—felt an almost absurd sense of disbelief. Even after everything that had happened, the reality of his situation still refused to fully sink in.
When he had opened his eyes again, he had become a baby.
In this life, his mother's name was Martha, and his father's name was Jonathan Kent. Even more unbelievable, he had been born in a hospital called Metropolitan Hospital.
Anyone who knew anything about comics would immediately recognize what that meant.
He had transmigrated into the notoriously dangerous DC Universe.
More specifically, he had been reborn as the biological son of Superman's adoptive parents.
"Of course he's a gift from God," Jonathan said with a laugh as he glanced into the rearview mirror. "He'll grow up strong and healthy, just you wait."
He was halfway through the sentence when everything suddenly changed.
Boom!
A blazing streak of red light tore across the sky.
The meteor shot downward from the distant darkness of space, carving through the atmosphere like a burning blade. For a brief moment, the firelit trail illuminated half the night sky.
Then more lights appeared.
Meteorites began raining down like scattered sparks from a massive cosmic explosion. Some slammed into the distant fields while others streaked toward the hills beyond the road, sending dirt and stones flying everywhere.
One particularly large meteor plunged directly toward the road ahead of the Kent family.
It struck the ground with terrifying force.
The impact carved a massive trench across the asphalt, splitting the road open like a scar and sending dust and soil erupting into the air.
"Oh my God!"
Jonathan slammed on the brakes. The tires shrieked as rubber burned against the pavement, and the truck skidded violently sideways. The vehicle rocked dangerously, but by sheer luck it stopped just short of sliding into the deep ravine that had suddenly appeared across the road.
The engine rattled as the truck came to a halt.
Jonathan's first instinct was to look back.
"Martha! Are you and the baby okay?"
"I'm fine," Martha replied quickly.
When the truck had lurched, she had instinctively curled her body around the baby in her arms, shielding him from any possible impact. Now she checked him carefully.
The child was perfectly safe.
"The Son of Krypton has arrived on Earth as scheduled."
The ground trembled faintly as distant impacts echoed across the farmland. The air still vibrated with the roar of falling meteorites, yet the baby in Martha's arms remained calm and quiet.
His skin was soft and pale pink, and his bright eyes blinked slowly as he looked around with curiosity.
He didn't cry.
He didn't panic.
Instead, he simply watched the world.
"Jonathan, look at him," Martha said with surprise. "He's not scared at all."
Her eyes sparkled with amazement.
To her, the child's calm reaction felt almost miraculous. In her mind, it only confirmed what she had already believed—this baby truly was a blessing.
Victor, however, had very different thoughts.
Through the truck window, his small eyes stared eagerly toward the smoke rising from the impact site.
There was no fear in his mind.
Only anticipation.
"Host birth detected. Beginning Thanos Template initialization."
He still remembered the emotionless electronic voice that had echoed in his ears shortly after he was born.
That voice had awakened something inside him.
A System.
The moment it activated, Victor had received the Thanos Template, granting him the powerful physique of an Eternal.
Of course, the integration level had started at only thirty percent. To increase that percentage, he needed something called emotion points.
Emotion points were gathered by influencing the feelings of individuals who were either extremely powerful or played critical roles in the fate of the world.
Even during the short time since his birth, he had already gained a small number of points from his parents.
But that was barely the beginning.
Because tonight, something much bigger had arrived.
Victor's gaze burned with excitement as he stared toward the smoke drifting across the road.
"The arrival of the Son of Krypton is where the real opportunity begins."
In the entire DC Universe, who could possibly generate more emotional reactions than Superman?
If he could influence Superman's emotions…
That would be like discovering a massive gold mine.
"And once the template reaches one hundred percent," Victor thought eagerly, "the next template will unlock."
"What is that?"
Martha's voice suddenly cut through the quiet.
Jonathan leaned forward slightly, narrowing his eyes toward the smoke-filled trench ahead of them. Through the drifting dust, he could barely make out a dark shape lying at the far end of the ravine.
"Martha, stay in the truck with the baby," Jonathan said firmly.
Concern filled his voice as he opened the driver's door. "Don't get out. I'll go check what that thing is."
The night air felt colder outside.
Sparks from scattered meteor fragments still burned across the dirt like tiny candles, casting flickering light across the broken ground.
Jonathan stepped cautiously toward the trench.
Then he saw it.
His eyes widened.
He froze where he stood.
"Jonathan? Jonathan?"
Martha called his name twice from inside the truck, but there was no response.
Worry quickly replaced her patience. Carefully holding the baby against her chest, she stepped out of the truck and walked toward her husband.
When she reached his side and looked ahead—
She froze too.
At the bottom of the trench, something incredible rested quietly among the torn earth.
It was a dark spacecraft shaped almost like a cradle.
The strange vessel was built from some unknown metal and was roughly the size of a pickup truck. The soil around it had been pushed aside where it had crashed through the road.
The transparent hatch had already opened.
Inside the capsule sat a baby.
The child had soft curly hair and bright blue eyes. His tiny legs kicked happily as he looked out at the strange new world with innocent curiosity.
When he saw the couple standing nearby, he smiled.
"Martha… we should leave," Jonathan said slowly.
He swallowed nervously as he grabbed his wife's arm, urgency creeping into his voice.
"Let's go."
Since ancient times, humanity had stared up at the stars wondering if they were alone in the universe.
Now the answer had appeared in front of them.
And apparently, aliens looked surprisingly human.
"Officials will arrive soon," Jonathan continued. "This kind of thing will be locked down immediately, and I don't want us caught up in whatever happens next."
"Leave?"
Victor nearly choked in disbelief.
Only then did he realize something important.
In the original story, the Kent family adopted the alien child because Martha desperately wanted a baby.
But now she already had one.
Him.
"So what happens to Superman if they leave?"
Victor's mind raced.
Without the loving couple who were meant to raise him, what kind of future would await the infant in that spacecraft?
Would the government take him away?
Would he become some laboratory experiment, locked away from the world and studied for years?
That outcome existed in more than one alternate storyline.
"That can't happen," Victor thought urgently.
Not only would it create a completely different world timeline, but without Superman protecting Earth, countless disasters would go unchecked.
And from Victor's perspective, Superman was the single biggest source of emotional energy he could ever hope to harvest.
"No… this absolutely cannot happen."
At that moment, Martha's eyes returned to the smiling baby inside the spacecraft.
Something stirred inside her heart.
"Jonathan… maybe this is another blessing."
She hesitated for a moment before speaking again.
"Maybe God didn't send us just one angel tonight."
"Martha?" Jonathan said in surprise.
"Think about what will happen if officials take him away," she continued quietly. Her expression softened with compassion as she tried to convince her husband.
"They'll lock him in some cold laboratory. He'll grow up surrounded by experiments instead of love, without parents, without toys, without anyone who truly cares about him."
Jonathan rubbed his forehead.
"Stop, Martha."
He understood exactly what she meant.
And that made the decision even harder.
Just then, something unexpected happened.
Victor stretched one tiny arm out from his blanket and waved toward the alien baby. His chubby hand moved enthusiastically as he babbled happily.
He looked like he had just discovered a new playmate.
"See that, Jonathan?" Martha said excitedly. "Our son already likes him."
Her eyes sparkled as if she had just found the perfect argument.
"It looks like he's asking us to bring him home."
Jonathan stared at the two babies for a long moment.
Then he sighed deeply.
"Two votes to one."
He raised his hands in mock defeat before leaning over to kiss his wife gently. After that, he looked once more at the lonely child sitting in the space capsule.
"Well," he muttered with a helpless smile.
"With two kids around, the farm's going to be very busy next year."