Relic:
Clark leaves Smallville to pursue his new passion as an anthropologist. He has a mildly fulfilling career making discoveries that have absolutely nothing to do with Kryptonian technology or anything else out of the norm.
Meanwhile Smallville falls into chaos without its protector. A triumvirate of Zod, Lex, and Doomsday now rule the world and they actually do a pretty good job. Jor-El keeps bugging Clark to “fulfill your destiny” but he’s like “nah, I’m good.”