The Kryptonian ship was nearing Earth's orbit, which meant the battle between the Justice League and the Kryptonian refugees was still going badly—they couldn't control the ship.
"Kal, you can't save those humans," Zod said with a laugh. "Soon we'll drop the gravity converter, and Earth's gravity will increase 10 times. Humanity will be completely wiped out."
Superman stayed silent.
Zod's grin grew wider. "I was born a soldier. My goal has always been to defeat my enemies. We've already studied Earth's military thoroughly—you're no match for us. At first, I thought we'd keep humans around as livestock, but now I've decided it's better to kill them all." He turned to his crew. "Prepare to launch the gravity converters."
"Understood."
Two small devices detached from the ship, heading toward South Africa and North America.
This was bad. Superman flew forward, slamming his body into the wall with all his might. His arms trembled, but he couldn't break through. This was a spaceship that could withstand a nuclear blast—he needed more force.
Superman fired his heat vision, trying to melt the wall, but Zod grabbed him from behind and locked an arm around his neck.
"I told you long ago, you can't stop me from restoring Krypton. And Kal, on the battlefield, turning your back on your enemy is a fatal mistake. Didn't your father teach you that?" Right now, if Zod snapped Superman's neck, it would put him into a state of suspended animation.
Superman couldn't be judged dead by human standards. His breathing and heartbeat could stop, but that was just a coma. Even if his whole body exploded or he ignited a sun, he wouldn't really die. Basically, there was almost no reliable way to kill Superman. Theoretically, any Kryptonian exposed to a yellow sun would share this trait—even having their neck snapped wouldn't kill them.
Killing Superman had been Lex Luthor's lifelong research project, but he'd never found an answer. Kryptonite might work, but it had never actually succeeded.
Kid and Wonder Woman tried to rush to help, but they were blocked. But Superman wasn't someone who could be taken down so easily. A deafening roar suddenly erupted.
"Let—go—!"
Boom! The words themselves were like an explosion. When they hit everyone's ears, it felt like their eardrums would burst. This was Superman's Lion's Roar.
It was an indiscriminate attack. Everyone was affected. Kid clutched his ears, stunned. He hadn't expected Superman to have such a loud voice—it was enough to knock people flat.
Freed, Superman swung around and punched Zod, sending him stumbling back. Without wasting time, he used his heat vision to melt a hole in the ship's wall.
Outside was the vacuum of space. Air whooshed out through the hole, pulling everything toward it.
The unconscious Faora was sucked out, but the big Kryptonian grabbed her hand just in time. Meanwhile, Zod, determined to chase Superman, threw himself out into space for a battle beyond the atmosphere.
Luckily, the spaceship had repair systems. Dozens of sticky spheres flew to the hole, bursting into glue that quickly sealed the breach and stopped the deadly suction.
Kid seized the moment, darted forward, and punched the big Kryptonian in the face, knocking him out cold. He pulled out his dark energy gun and started firing all around with quick blasts. Back when Zod had targeted the dark energy gun with his laser, Kid had swapped the weapon with a small explosive dummy, hiding the real gun just in case.
Now he and Wonder Woman faced the remaining 5 Kryptonian warriors together.
Liu A'dou braced himself alone against 4 of them, fists and kicks crashing into each other in a thunderous barrage of thuds and booms.
Their punches and kicks were blindingly fast. Liu A'dou couldn't let his mind wander for even a second, or he'd slip up. Two fists against eight hands—every strike was at supersonic speed. He felt like his own hands were disappearing from the sheer velocity. He couldn't afford the slightest pause. As he burned his ultimate microcosmos, Kid felt every incoming punch like shooting stars in the universe, sensing their exact paths.
Eight raging snakes, faster than the blur of a whip. Fast, faster, even faster—Liu A'dou's eyes darted wildly in their sockets, and his hands moved faster than teleportation.
This was an unprecedented feat: one Earthling holding off 4 Kryptonians alone.
"You've had your turn. Now it's my turn to attack," Liu A'dou said. Before he even finished speaking, his hands spread apart, and his fingers pressed down. "Five Senses Deprivation."
With his mastery of the ultimate microcosmos, Liu A'dou could now use every move of the Saints.
The Kryptonians who had been attacking him suddenly lost all sensation. They dropped to their knees. They couldn't see, hear, smell, or feel anything. It was like only their consciousness remained. They stayed completely still, probably thinking they were already dead.
Meanwhile, Wonder Woman kept fighting, Flash was still fleeing, and Batman stayed hidden. There was no way they could win in this state. But where were the other Kryptonian refugees?
Liu A'dou suddenly realized he couldn't find the others—where were the remaining 10 Kryptonians? Could they have gone to Earth with the gravity converters to protect them? If so, he couldn't waste another second.
"Bunny, take me after Superman."
Bunny heard the order and appeared next to the ship, but before it could teleport, a dazzling beam of light shot from the Kryptonian ship, aimed straight at it. It had to be one of the Kryptonians hiding in the shadows.
The attack hit dead center. Bunny was badly damaged, disappearing into space and cutting off contact—it clearly needed time to recover.
Kid hadn't expected this. He whispered a quick apology, then rushed off to find the gravity converters' landing sites, hoping he could still catch up.
He tracked down a hiding Kryptonian—an old man, surprisingly. But given Kryptonian lifespans, he was probably over 100 years old. After basking in the sun, Kryptonians lived even longer.
This was another control room, full of strange machinery. The old man was clearly a researcher. "What are the gravity converter's landing coordinates?" Liu A'dou demanded.
"You'll never find out," the old man said. He smashed the control panel with a punch. Despite being a scrawny old guy with glasses, his strength was staggering.
"No need to get so worked up at your age," Liu A'dou said calmly, though he stayed on guard. There was something off about this old man. Even young Kryptonians hadn't given him such a bad feeling.
Then the old man pulled out a syringe filled with glowing yellow liquid. Liu A'dou's sense of danger spiked.
He injected all of it into his veins. Dropping his glasses, he clenched his teeth as his muscles twitched violently. His body started to grow taller, and Liu A'dou could hear his bones cracking as they expanded.
"This is the essence of the sun," the old man said, opening his eyes. His pupils had turned golden. "It's still experimental, but it's clearly effective. I feel like I'm young again."
The Kryptonian armor couldn't contain his bulging muscles anymore. It split apart, revealing a tight suit beneath with a giant "L" on his chest.
Liu A'dou didn't have time to wonder why Kryptonian family symbols looked so much like English letters. He had to face a super-Kryptonian now. This old man, boosted by the sun's essence, had completely surpassed Superman, becoming an even higher-level being.