Are there any of those supermen you've been longing to see right here?

The master of the estate... Although his name was Bruce Wayne, Eria really struggled to associate a man with Superman's curly hair with the Mr. Wayne he knew, so let's just call him the estate master for now. What the estate master said was actually quite easy for Eria to understand, and it was something Eria had vaguely anticipated in the past.

To reiterate: were Gale, Bob, Ophelia, and even Simon appearing by Eria's side really just a coincidence?

No. He firmly believed that under the banner of destiny, there were no coincidences—only deliberate designs.

Especially after Simon mentioned that the Lord of Destiny was once able to travel to parallel universes, or rather, visit different timelines, and later when Ophelia's ability evolved and gave him a familiar feeling, Eria became even more certain of his guess:

These four individuals (and dogs) had all, to a greater or lesser degree, been arranged by 'Destiny'.

According to the estate master, the Insight Eye that pierces through thousands of destiny lines referred to Gale's ability to observe the 'editorial department', which was 'planted in the middle of rotting flesh carved from his own body'—currently, this piece of 'flesh' presumably referred to Gale, though it was uncertain whether it was literal flesh or a metaphor;

Traveling through time at will referred to Bob's three heads leading to the past, the present, and the future, with the estate master calling it Eria's 'most loyal friend';

Incomparably powerful magical strength—Eria felt this referred to Simon the thread, because he guarded immense power yet never lost himself within it, making him worthy of being called a 'shining soul';

And finally, this 'power to traverse parallel universes'...

The first person who came to Eria's mind was Ophelia.

However, the estate master's choice of words was extremely precise, leaving no room for misunderstanding—he meant a lover, a partner, rather than a family member. Of course, the estate master also mentioned another phrase, which was 'in the beginning'. 'In the beginning, the Lord of Destiny handed His power to the one He loved,' and later, for various reasons, this power came to Ophelia. This left Eria extremely bewildered, triggering all sorts of bizarre associations worthy of a cheesy soap opera.

Keep in mind that Ophelia's appearance bore a seventy percent resemblance to Eria.

However, both Eria himself and Gale considered the causal relationship the other way around: precisely because Ophelia looked like Eria, she had been found and adopted by the Lord of Destiny.

Clearly, on the one hand, both of them subconsciously felt that the Lord of Destiny did not have such worldly desires, and on the other hand, they felt that the dignified Lord of Destiny would not lose his own cub. Beyond that, although they spoke of how there were no coincidences under destiny's banner, when faced with things they were unwilling to accept, even the Lord of Destiny himself would resort to escapism.

Now, Eria finally could no longer evade a certain possibility:

What if Ophelia wasn't just some wild child?

Could she be biologically related to the Lord of Destiny?

And then, that unique parallel universe power transferring from the 'lover' to the 'daughter' sounded entirely reasonable—genetic inheritance, right? It didn't sound too far-fetched for a daughter to inherit her old man's aptitude, did it?

As for who that poor, unfortunate other half might be, Eria's thoughts drifted, instantly connecting it to Superman. This was definitely not because Son of Red had left such a profound impression on him, leaving him immersed in a strange aftertaste that lingered for a long time, but rather because when he perceived the evolution of Ophelia's ability, he had used a metaphor:

Much like other children growing taller during puberty, she did nothing every day except eat and bask in the sun, yet suddenly, as if overnight, she could carry people across parallel universes...

The problem was that Ophelia wasn't the only one who grew stronger simply by basking in the sun.

The much more famous sentient life form capable of absorbing sunlight to grow stronger was Superman, or rather, the Kryptonian bloodline he represented!

Previously, Eria had also wondered whether Ophelia's recovery from a malnourished bean sprout to a normal eleven-year-old girl's physique was happening a bit too fast. But he hadn't thought deeply about it; after all, having no prior experience in raising a cub, he simply assumed all growing human children were uniquely gifted. But thinking about it now, was there any possibility that Ophelia had once looked so scrawny because she was locked away in the castle of what Eria had previously assumed to be her 'birth parents' and rarely had contact with sunlight?

Once she arrived in Metropolis and absorbed the light of the yellow sun, did she suddenly grow as rapidly as a plant absorbing ample water?

The more Eria connected the dots, the more seamless it felt, until finally he even began to perceive that Ophelia's appearance genuinely shared a two or three-tenths resemblance to Superman.

Yet being logical didn't mean it should happen!

A person should not, at the very least must not, encounter such bizarre developments in their lifetime!

The estate master felt as though 'Destiny', despite sitting there safe and sound, had its soul drifting off to who knows where. He couldn't help but wonder: was it because of the 'beloved one' he had just mentioned? Even after so much time had passed and so many things had happened, had He still not forgotten that original obsession?

With complicated feelings, he wanted to say something, but before he could, Eria had already quickly recovered, asking in an uninflected tone, "You haven't answered how you figured out I don't remember my past. Is that mentioned in the Book of Destiny too?"

"...Not quite. Even for someone like me who learns a Terran language in just ten minutes, the language in that book requires a long time to study," the estate master replied slowly. "I only saw a small section, knowing that you not only separated your humanity from your authority and responsibilities, but also divided your power into many parts. And that obviously wasn't without cost—after all, you aren't complete right now.

"The last person who carved up their soul went mad, and I am glad to see you haven't descended to that state, but merely lost your memories."

To be honest, Eria didn't feel much of it.

Listening to it as if it were a story, he asked, "So, before you met me, you were already prepared to see a madman?"

Staring at his featureless face and those azure-blue eyes, the estate master fell silent for a moment before admitting, "Yes."

"Yet you still helped me persuade Omega to back down."

Eria said thoughtfully, "..."

The estate master seemed provoked by his words—or perhaps driven to anger by embarrassment. His expression darkened instantly, and with a look rarely, or rather never, seen on Superman's face, he said coldly to Eria, "I believe you could have extricated yourself from Omega without help; I was simply meddling. However, aren't you curious about the task you assigned to me? I can tell you right now.

"You asked me to help you investigate Superman, the Superman of every single universe."

He suddenly stood up, pacing back and forth in the estate's parlor like a sullen beast: "You must be wondering why I possess this appearance yet bear the name 'Bruce Wayne'. The reason is simple: back then, a Kryptonian spacecraft landed on Earth, but the ones who found and adopted me weren't Jonathan and Martha, but the Wayne couple of Gotham City."

Eria did not interrupt him, calmly committing the names 'Jonathan and Martha' to memory. Clearly, they were the adoptive parents of other Supermen. Since Superman had human parents, he naturally had a human name and a human identity. Whatever was hidden behind the brilliance of the Son of Tomorrow seemed ready to emerge.

Yet the estate master, immersed in intense emotions, failed to notice this, continuing with a hint of bitterness:

"But my superpowers didn't awaken from childhood. I knew nothing of my alien identity, so when I was eight years old, and a mugger shot and killed my adoptive parents right in front of me, I couldn't provide any help at all..."

"This wasn't your fault," Eria said immediately, for the sake of Omega having been persuaded to retreat.

The estate master did not appreciate it: "Comfort from the Lord of Destiny sounds like an executioner trying to comfort a victim after the fact."

Hearing you say that, the allegedly amnesiac Lord of Destiny was displeased. Placing the silver-white book that never left his side onto his knees, Eria spoke in the flat tone of the Book of Destiny: "It sounds like you have a lot of opinions about me, but please save your childish venting for after I become 'complete'."

"...The estate master looked at him, took a deep breath, and calmed himself down. "I'm sorry, that's not what I meant. I got a little emotional."

He returned to his high-backed chair and sat down:

"Where was I? Oh right, the death of my adoptive parents. The mugger who killed my parents also died—burned to death by my accidental heat vision, though I didn't realize it at the time. After my parents died, I spent many years in a daze. Guilt and shame filled my chest, blood covered my eyes, and I could no longer see anything, living in the darkness like a corpse, cared for only by Alfred.

"Then one day, a blind man visited our estate."

"A blind man?"

"A blind man," the estate master said, word by word. "Alfred told me that a stranger in robes, holding a book with closed eyes, had come to the estate, saying He wanted to see me."

Eria immediately thought of the 'Destiny' with closed eyes in the comics, guessing that this represented a time before the Lord of Destiny's humanity and authority had been separated.

"He couldn't see, and neither could I... We both lived in the darkness," the estate master's voice gradually lowered, as if sinking back into the past. "I regarded Him as my teacher, and He truly taught me a vast amount of knowledge, such as how to reconcile with one's own suffering, and how to pursue the light in a world filled with resentment... To be honest, for a period of time, I deeply revered and loved Him, and He was almost entirely unreserved toward me, full of expectations. I thought He loved me like a student and His own child; I thought I had found a second father.

"But the story didn't unfold the way I imagined," the estate master said expressionlessly. "On the day I was carefree and on the verge of adulthood, He suddenly sought me out and told me that He had 'made a mistake'."

Eria frowned, an intuition forming in his mind—a very unfortunate one:

The Lord of Destiny had been searching for Supermen across various universes back then.

Yet the Kryptonian before Him... the 'Bruce Wayne' before Him, apparently would not become Superman.

Sure enough, the estate master said, "He told me I would become a great person, a hero who would change the world, but I was not Superman, and I never would be Superman."

Ah...

Eria found the situation rather awkward to listen to. From an outsider's perspective, he felt that 'Destiny' had acted rather dishonorably. Even if He had mistakenly found the wrong person by accident, couldn't He at least have phrased it more tactfully or invented an excuse that didn't hurt people's feelings?

However, considering that the Lord of Destiny was still a blind man with closed eyes back then, it was very likely that He either didn't realize He was acting improperly or was constrained by circumstances.

Eria could think of a hundred pretexts to absolve Him, yet his conscience prevented him from uttering a single one in front of a victim whose emotions had been betrayed.