On Monday afternoon, as usual, he was organizing the books on the shelves when Billy Batson walked in.
Billy gave him a mysterious wink and, with his hand inside his bag, asked, "Hey, guess what I found?"
Billy, with his brownish-black hair and features still in the process of maturing, had big, expressive eyes, thick eyebrows, and a strong nose—he was the type of kid anyone would find likable.
This sixteen-year-old member of the Justice League had, in just a few months, formed a deep friendship with Soren.
When they first discovered Billy's powers and invited him into the Justice League, he was only twelve.
But with a single shout of "Shazam," he could transform into the adult hero Shazam, endowed with the powers of ancient gods.
His strength came from magic, and even Clark was cautious of his raw power in a single strike.
Thankfully, Billy chose to stand by Clark's side.
From a young age, he idolized Superman, and like most members of the Justice League, he believed they were on the right path.
But because of his youth, the Justice League didn't assign him too many missions.
Most of the time, Billy had little to do at the Justice League, acting more like a mascot than a fully active member.
That boredom ended the day Soren arrived at the Justice League headquarters.
He and Soren hit it off immediately.
They spent an entire afternoon chatting nonstop about golden-age comics, cartoons, and sci-fi movies, with their heads close together, until Clark returned and forcibly sent them back to their rooms to rest.
Soren set down the book he was holding and, rubbing his chin, guessed, "Could it be... you found that legendary misprinted issue of the Batman special where they forgot to blacken his suit?"
Billy jumped in surprise, his eyes widening, "I don't have that!"
He looked around cautiously, seeing only two seven- or eight-year-old boys roughhousing in the corner, then boldly pulled out his mysterious treasure from his bag—
A deformed bullet casing, crushed by some immense force.
"A bullet fired at Superman!! I asked Barry Allen to pick it up for me from the battlefield! Barry swore to me, one hundred percent, that this bullet fell off Superman's chest. Right after it hit him, Barry secretly used the Speed Force to scoop it up and shove it in his pocket... Oh my god, look at it! Look at the crumpled edges—this is a medal of honor from colliding with the Man of Steel!"
Billy babbled excitedly.
Soren blinked: "Huh?"
He couldn't help but gaze at Billy with a fond, amused expression, as if seeing a younger version of himself on New Earth—obsessively collecting anything related to his idol, down to even the tiniest keychain.
But now Soren could proudly lift his right hand and, with a playful flourish, blow on his fingers before showing it off to Billy.
"See this hand? This hand has punched Superman."
Billy rolled his eyes, "That's not the same! This bullet is a work of art, a collectible, a badge of battle! You have no idea what an authentic bullet like this is worth on the black market these days…"
Soren raised an eyebrow, trying not to burst Billy's bubble of hero worship.
Little did Billy know, that hand of his had done more than just punch Superman...
While Soren drifted off in thought, a loud "bang" suddenly erupted beside him.
Both he and Billy flinched, instinctively turning their heads.
The two rambunctious boys had accidentally knocked over a small DVD rack, sending discs scattering across the floor.
One of the boys, a brown-haired kid, had tumbled down with the rack and was now sitting on the ground, stunned for a few seconds.
Then his mouth opened wide, his face scrunched up, and he let out a piercing wail, "Waaaaah—It hurts so much—!!"
The boy sobbed uncontrollably.
Soren rushed over immediately, picking him up off the ground, "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did you hit your head? Let me see, be a good boy, where does it hurt?"
Tears streamed from the boy's eyes like pearls falling from a broken string, and his cries filled the store.
Soren's ears were ringing from the volume, and he anxiously checked the boy all over.
Thankfully, he found no injuries, just a slight redness on the boy's forehead.
"Don't cry, don't cry, I'll blow on it and the pain will go away, okay?" Soren gently comforted the boy, softly blowing on his forehead, "It won't hurt after I blow on it, see? You're fine, sweetheart, the pain will be gone soon."
Holding the little boy in his arms, Soren called over to Billy, "There's an ice pack in the mini fridge by the door where the drinks are. Billy, can you grab it for me?"
Billy nodded and quickly ran to fetch the ice pack.
Meanwhile, Soren continued soothing the boy, "It's alright, little warrior. I'll put the ice pack on for you, and the pain will go away soon."
On the other side, the blond boy who had accidentally caused the brown-haired boy to fall was also filled with panic.
His big eyes welled up with tears, which began to spill over and drip onto the floor.
The blond boy was clearly overwhelmed with guilt.
After the rack toppled over, scattering DVDs everywhere, the room looked like a mess.
He glanced around helplessly, first at the chaos, then at Soren, who was busy comforting the brown-haired boy.
Unable to hold back any longer, he burst into tears, wailing loudly: "Waaaahhh—! I didn't mean to knock Eddie down, waaahhhh!! Please don't let the government troops come get me, waaahhhh!!"