Which one is better if the officials are forced to die together [Comprehensive British and American]

Connor was one of those -- definitely not intimidating little boys.

He's actually pretty smart.Carl has read the test papers and homework he made. In terms of IQ alone, Connor is undoubtedly the best among the intelligent life on earth, but although Connor is smart, he doesn't like to study for a long time.

Connor disliked them even more than Carl.

Carl is just not very obsessed with scientific research, he can still make some small inventions in the laboratory if necessary, and Connor, he doesn't want to go even a small step into the laboratory, as if the laboratory can kill him of.

Considering where he was born, this may not seem surprising.

"You skipped class." Carl said dumbfoundedly, "Don't try to deny it, baby, I know what you're thinking."

Connor said nothing, just stared at Carl nervously.

He did grow taller—isn't a child of this age particularly able to grow taller?

Carl is not very clear, but he knows that Connor has grown much taller than the last time he saw him. The last time he squatted down, he was even taller than Connor. Now if he squats down, Connor will be fully taller. Give him a head.

But specifically... I don't know what happened to other people's children, but Connor is still chubby, with a soft and sweet smell all over his body.

Carl tucks Connor into his arms.

"I'm back, little one," he said slowly. "I remember I gave you a book of fairy tales... The Nightingale, don't you? Do you still want me to read you stories?"

Connor buried his face in Carl's chest, and hummed triumphantly and unhappily: "I've memorized "Nightingale"."

"Do you like this fairy tale?"

Now Connor's answer became a little hesitant: "...I like it quite a bit."

"You don't like it," Carl understood. "You've read it many times, but only because it's the story I gave you."

Connor did not deny this: "I don't like it, but I don't hate it either. It is very attractive, but many things are not what I expected, and many things are very illogical."

Carl almost wanted to laugh out loud: pursuing logic in fairy tales?

Are you serious?

Fairy tales certainly have logic, but that is the logic of fairy tales rather than the logic of reality.

Carl is not at all surprised that Connor cannot understand this "fairy-tale" logic. After all, Connor is a little boy born with a biological age of five. His IQ is not low, he is just very Rough and clumsy.

But on the other hand, he doesn't quite believe that Connor really can't "understand" the logic of fairy tales.

He's more inclined to think that Connor understands it, but utterly— utterly, refuses to trust it.

Before reading fairy tales, Connor had been indoctrinated with not-so-at least not-so-beautiful values ​​as the basis for understanding himself and the world.

To some extent, Carl felt that Connor was even irritated by the developmental law in fairy tales, the ubiquitous value of "good over evil, prince saves princess" in the family happy happy ending.

Interesting.

A little boy about to turn seven is enraged by a fairy tale.

Carl doesn't think too hard about the little problem with Connor's personality...it's a small problem, of course, there is no doubt about it.

Disdain for fairytale logic isn't a sign of evil, though Connor's age makes it seem a little dangerous.

But it's nothing.

"Fairy tales are different from reality, baby." Carl said softly, "Under normal circumstances, fairy tales are responsible for instilling the most basic views of good and evil in children, but you don't need what they instill, do you? "

"Ah."

Connor admitted it reluctantly but tamely.

"For you, these stories seem to be too didactic." Carl mused, "You don't seem to like your teachers either—don't deny it, Xiaokang," he called softly Connor's nickname, "I can probably see why you don't like them."

Interestingly, when Alexander selected tutors for Karl, the people he hired had complex personalities, including good people in a general sense, but also people with a very vague concept of good and evil, who were on a certain boundary, and even some who did all kinds of bad things. mercenary.

But Connor's teachers are all good people, the only difference is that they go all out in different directions.

Connor obviously felt constrained by the thoughts shown by these teachers intentionally or unintentionally.

"I will sift through your list of new teachers, Xiaokang, and I promise they will make you a lot more comfortable." Carl continued, "But learning can't be a completely comfortable thing, so you also need to be patient."

Connor considered it seriously for a while, then nodded in agreement: "Okay."

Carl was a little surprised that Connor didn't dwell on why he hadn't shown up for so long, something Connor didn't even mention.

But it was this way of coping that made Carl feel that he should have a good talk with Connor.

Do you want to talk to Connor about this now?Discussing similar topics is very important for a Superman kid, who needs to understand at an early age what stands behind the "superhero", good or bad.

Yet it seems cruel to talk to a child about such serious matters and expect him to understand and, above all, to bear the consequences.

——The sense of guilt that Karl had ignored that had existed since the beginning of the whole incident hit him, making it almost impossible for him to maintain a steady smile.

Yes, Carl is sorry to every single one of his friends for what happened to him, for his death, but honestly, he's not very, very sorry.

The identity he chose meant companionship with danger, and he knew it, and his friends knew it too, they were warriors ready to fight at all times, so in the face of his death, Karl knew, they would try to adapt. And adjust your emotions.

It definitely didn't mean he took it for granted and was justified, but for Rao's sake, he did his best to avoid failure.

After all these years, since his early days as Superman, he's tried his best to make everyone—whether it's those waiting to be rescued or his friends—feel at least roughly satisfied. .

But he knew very well that sooner or later he was going to face a huge failure, and no matter how he tried to make up for it after the fact, it didn't help.

As for Connor, in dealing with Connor's problem, what he faced was undoubtedly the ultimate failure.

Because only Connor, who has just been born in this world, is completely innocent, completely implicated, completely unaffected by his own choice, and forced to bear all this.

It may be a little extreme to say this, but for a child as old as Connor, his thoughts, freedom and power belong completely to his parents.

And Carl, he was painfully aware, had failed to shoulder that responsibility.

He took a deep breath in his heart, finally made up his mind, and asked Connor softly, "Do you know why I haven't seen you for so long, Xiaokang?"

"I know." Connor's attention has gone to the creek, and he is staring at a small fish in the water that is putting its lips on the rock and devouring microorganisms. "You are dead——"

He draws out the syllables of the word "dead," which gives his answer a sweet and paradoxical flavor.

Carl found that he couldn't hear Connor's emotions at all.

Now things are getting more and more interesting. More than a year of freedom has caused some changes in Connor, or in other words, some of the buried qualities in him have been exposed.

He was dull and rough, but that's because he wasn't interested in those details at all.

He seems to be capable of being quite crafty when it comes to matters of concern.

But Karl didn't intend to directly mention the matter of "death". Please, even if Connor's understanding is high enough and his tolerance is strong enough, it would be too much to directly expose the cruel truth.

He planned to talk to Connor from another direction, a direction that was more likely to arouse Connor's interest and easier for Connor to accept-starting by telling his own psychological journey.

"Since we haven't been together for a long time, Xiaokang, I think I can talk to you about myself." Carl pushed Connor lightly, and the little boy jumped out of his arms obediently, and sat opposite him. down, "Do you want to hear it?"

This trick definitely worked for Connor.

God knows how many strange things Lex has instilled in him. The only thing Karl is sure about is that Lex has indeed established the authority of "father" in front of Connor. Connor obeys this hierarchy very much. He respects his two Father, he is only in awe of Lex, and respect and love for Carl.

"I want to hear it," Connor said sure enough, squirming excitedly like a student fidgeting at the end of get out of class.

Then Karl laughed and said slowly:

"I was very young when I became Superman, very young, and I have to admit, when I first put on the uniform and the cape, I knew I wasn't ready to be 'Superman', I was forced to In battle..."

He has seen so many truths and so many parallel worlds, and in the parallel world, Rao, he is a superman, but he is also a dictator, a tyrant and a madman.

Although from what he sees today, he himself in other parallel worlds is trying to do what he thinks is right and building a better world no matter what the means are, and this mentality has never changed, but at that time he Didn't think much of it.

He can only see how things are gradually derailed, and Kal, who has good wishes. How El (or Kal.L, similar names, but he is himself in the parallel world) went to the wrong abyss, because he was completely in the perspective of a bystander, and Karl was more able to understand how the trend of slow decline was irresistible.

"...just like you skipping class, you may just be perfunctory in class at first, and once you are not satisfied with perfunctory, you will start to be late, leave early, or find excuses to escape from class, and in the end, you I don’t even bother to find excuses. Degeneration is such a process, the bottom line is gradually reduced until it is completely out of control.”

Connor curled his lips angrily.

"I am very aware of my weakness of character, I am a little weak." Carl said calmly, "It is difficult for me to hurt others, so once I start doing it, it means that I have difficulty controlling myself—"

Some people can coordinate this feeling, such as Nini, such as Diana.

But some people can't coordinate.

They either don't do it, or they do, and it spirals out of control.

Carl describes, as vaguely and precisely as possible, the stress and fear he was under and what it was like to be Superman in the first place.

"It's actually not that good. It's nice to do good things and get compliments and be respected, but at the same time it's very easy for me to start doubting myself... I mean, based on what I've been taught , if I want the world to be a better place, I have an easier and faster way."

He did not elaborate on the simpler and faster methods.

Because those are methods that… well, bloody, and a lot of bloody.

"Loneliness, hesitation, and self-doubt accompanied me throughout my teenage years, and my way of distracting myself was trying harder and harder to emulate a saint, pretending that I was born that way."

Connor listened with great concentration.

At first he listened to Carl with an attitude of listening to stories, but he soon realized that every word Carl was telling him was very serious, and basically, it can be said, except for some special private parts Besides, Carl has no reservations about him.

He feels valued, affirmed, and favored.

Papa will also make him feel this way, but Papa's attention, affirmation and preference are a kind of reward, a kind of reward, and he needs to work hard to get it.

And daddy's attention, affirmation and preference are aimless and unreasonable.

Carl whispered: "And, let me tell you a secret, when I was young, I thought 'Superman' was stupid-lack of aggression, lack of timeliness, and always put himself in a dangerous whirlpool of public opinion."

"Superman chose the most difficult method, and it is impossible to change the world with the means he chose." Under Connor's astonished eyes, Carl, as Superman, calmly concluded all his actions, "Superman is a failure. revolutionaries."