Mike's car emitted black smoke and slowly came to a halt.
All it took to go from a Speedster to an old farm tractor was to accelerate the car to a hundred and eighty and add three excited kids to the mix.
The three of them sat in the car, looking at each other with a little panic.
How could this car ... be so unreliable?
They'd only just gotten excited and it had broken down?
"What do we do?"
Charles panicked.
Clark pressed his forehead with a headache.
Eric said nervously, "What are we going to tell Dad?"
Clark took a deep breath and said, "Tell him that I broke the car when I drove out."
"But it's definitely not because it was going too fast." Charles added, "If Dad finds out, Clark will be in deep shit."
Clark nodded hesitantly, then the two men looked at Eric.
Eric scratched his hair in anguish and nodded.
"Okay, it's settled!"
The three men agreed.
Just then, a police car stepped in front of them and a smiling policeman approached them.
The three men tapped their heads in unison and Charles said, "Leave it to me or you'll lose your licence."
"Tuk Tuk!"
The policeman knocked on the glass window and looked at Clark's boyish face and said, "Let me see your license, son."
Clark took his license out and handed it over.
The cop took it and sneered, "That's impressive, I couldn't catch you with my car."
Clark laughed dryly while Eric showed his head and said, "Thanks!"
The policeman squinted at Eric and said, "Do I look like I'm complimenting you?"
With that, he opened his driver's licence and took a look.
"Yoo-hoo, it's only the first day." The policeman sneered at Clark and said, "Do you know how dangerous it is for you to drive like that just now?"
"I'm sorry." Clark scratched his head and said, "I just thought it was slow at first, but then I got too excited."
"Then you should calm down, your license was ..."
At that moment, Charles reached out and gently pressed his temple with his index and middle fingers and said, "Officer, we're not doing anything, are we?"
The cop froze and without hesitation said, "Yes, be safe."
He handed Clark his driving licence.
Clark took it and breathed a sigh of relief.
After the policeman had walked away, the three men looked at each other with frustration at the smouldering front of the car.
Eric said worriedly, "If this car breaks down like that, it's going to cost Dad a fortune."
At this, Clark and Charles also looked worried.
Although their family had a farm and enough money to spend, it was hard for their father to support the three of them.
They were not exactly poor, but they were still very upset when they broke a car.
"How about it, Charles?"
Eric cocked his head and looked at Charles.
Charles pursed his lips, but Clark said solemnly, "Don't even think about it!"
At those words, Charles and Eric breathed a sigh of relief.
"Don't worry, it's okay." Clark reassured them, "It's probably nothing serious, so let's go home.
Charles and Eric breathed a sigh of relief; if Clark said it was okay, then it must be okay.
"Which one of you is coming?"
Charles looked at the two men with some expectation.
Eric and Clark looked at each other and tacitly held out their hands in a scissors, rock, and roll.
"Ha ha!"
Eric let out a gleeful laugh.
Clark shrugged indifferently and said to Eric, "You'll get the bearings in a minute."
He stepped out of the car, stood behind it, looked around, saw that there was no one there, and then, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised, said, "Watch out!"
The next second, Clark pushed hard and the car disappeared in a flash.
"Ah!"
Two ear-splitting screams seemed to remain in place.
When the car stopped, Charles and Eric felt like their souls were going to be lost.
It was so fast that Eric couldn't get a grip on the car, and Clark had to steer it alone.
The two men staggered out of the car, pale and vomiting as they held on to it.
Just then, Mike came out and laughed at the scene, "What's the matter? Motion sickness?"
Motion sickness?
No!
They were seasick of Clark!
The two men shook their heads, looked at Clark and threw up again.
Clark had an innocent look on his face.
"Hmm?"
Mike noticed the smoking front end of the car and said, "The car?"
"Uh, something's wrong!"
Clark said stiffly.
Mike's eyes narrowed and he looked at the three men suspiciously, noticing Eric's evasive look, he said, "Is everything all right?"
The three men nodded their heads.
Mike murmured and said, "Not again."
The three men sighed in relief.
Eric muttered, "I knew I couldn't keep it from Dad."
"Dad!" Clark couldn't resist, "Well, if you want to fix the car, take it out of my pocket money."
Eric and Charles nodded their heads.
Mike was stunned and laughed, "It's only a car repair, it doesn't cost much, we're not so poor that we need your pocket money."
With that, he turned and walked into the house, but muttered in his mind.
He was pleased that the children were so sensible.
As for telling them the true state of the family's property ...
Mike thought better of it and waited until they were adults.
Looking at Mike's back, the three Clarks were touched.
It's great to have a dad like that!
...
Drizzle ...
The world was quiet as the rain continued to fall outside.
With a puzzled look on his face, Mike stood in front of his wardrobe, pulled out a black suit and a white shirt, changed into them and stood in front of the mirror to straighten them up.
The suit fit well, the body was straight, and Mike smiled slightly as he noticed the increasing amount of grey hair on his sideburns.
He was still as handsome as ever, only he hadn't realised he was middle-aged.
He had tried to manifest elixirs and cultivation secrets, but he couldn't manifest them at all.
His powers are very strong, but he is not God, he can't manifest anything he wants.
In the end, there are many limitations to this power, and in a way, it's not omnipotent.
But ...
Mike did the math on his fingers.
He'll live long enough to see Clark and the others marry and have children, which is more than enough for him.
Today, it was The Howard's funeral.
After more than a year of perseverance, he had had left this world, happy and satisfied.
Before Howard died, he made a phone call to Mike to thank him again and left him a gift.
Thank you, gift ...
Mike didn't feel that Howard owed him anything.
Over the years, Howard had acted as a friend, covering up and clearing up the traces he had inadvertently left with the three children, for which Mike was very grateful.
Friends ...
Mike turned around and walked out of the room.
He was on his way to give this friend a final send-off.
...