"I haven't really thought that far ahead, Uncle."
Russell appeared to ponder for a moment.
"Have you ever flown out of Earth… looked down on it from space?"
Before Russell could respond, Omni-Man smiled, threw an arm around his shoulder, and suddenly accelerated. In the blink of an eye, they were in orbit above the planet.
"Take a look, Russell. This is a completely different perspective."
They hovered in low-Earth orbit, Earth slowly spinning beneath their feet. From this vantage, the planet's full curvature stretched clearly from one end to the other.
Omni-Man gazed downward. Reflected in his pupils were the miniature silhouettes of billions of people—running, arguing, loving, dying—like an endless, chaotic ant colony.
"Think about the ordinary people down there," he said with near-pity. "Unlike us, they don't have the fortune to transcend the bounds of their planet."
"They're born indoctrinated with concepts like nation, race, and planet, and they spend their lives fighting each other over those imaginary labels. They don't even realize what a ridiculous cage they live in."
"But you, me, and Mark—we're different. With a single leap, we can escape this world, roam the universe. Sometimes, Earth is just a backwater corner that weighs us down."
"Humans are shackled by imaginary beliefs from the moment they're born. Most of it was forced on them—and they never even realize it."
Russell looked at his uncle Nolan and sighed softly.
Uncle Nolan could analyze Earth and humans with such detachment, mocking their mental prisons… but had he ever reflected on himself, or the Viltrumites?
Was Omni-Man not shackled by anything?
Quite the opposite. He was bound more tightly than anyone—so much so that he was being forced to personally tear his family apart. Why couldn't he reflect on that?
"Have you ever tried looking at Earth from deep space?" Nolan mistook Russell's question as agreement, smiling faintly, completely missing the subtext.
Sometimes it's only the bystanders who see clearly, while those in the game remain blind.
He gently patted his nephew's shoulder, gesturing toward the vast, open universe.
"From light-years away, when measured on a cosmic scale, Earth is nothing more than a speck of dust…"
The uncle and nephew talked for a long time afterward. Omni-Man kept emphasizing how small and insignificant Earth was.
He repeated that people shouldn't be bound by pointless, man-made constructs.
That morality—at least as defined by society—was just a tool created to restrain and domesticate those born different.
Omni-Man only touched briefly on that subject, fearing that if he said too much too soon, he might scare his nephew away.
"So basically—forget false morality, and abandon the trivial identity of being 'just another Earthling'?"
Back home, after shutting his bedroom door, Russell's expression turned strange as he summed up the heart-to-heart in a single line.
He suspected Uncle Nolan was grooming him to become a collaborator—maybe even the chief one.
The Viltrum Empire was built on conquest. Once they seized a planet, they needed people to govern it. But due to their virus outbreak and internal conflicts, only a few dozen pure-blooded Viltrumites remained—hardly enough to manage one planet each.
So they chose proxies on the conquered worlds to govern in their stead.
Was Uncle Nolan preparing to slowly persuade him to join the Viltrum Empire? That once Earth was conquered, he'd appoint Russell as the local proxy or part of the ruling class?
Russell raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry, Uncle… I don't have a habit of being a collaborator."
The next morning, Russell talked to his Aunt Debbie about school.
To him, school had become almost meaningless. Go to college, get a degree, then find a job at some company?
He had thought about this over dinner last night. With the power to travel across worlds and galaxies, sitting in a classroom all day seemed unbearably dull and pointless.
"Russell… you want to take a break from school?"
Debbie was clearly uncertain about his decision to temporarily drop out.
"I've seen the footage of Russell repelling aliens," Nolan chimed in supportively from behind her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "With his speed, he could finish an entire college curriculum in a single night—let alone high school."
Ordinary people spent their lives going to school, working, getting married, and raising children. Dropping out halfway was considered scandalous.
But to Nolan, Russell was taking the first bold step away from mediocrity. Of course he was supportive.
"Well… okay, if that's what you want, Russell, I support you," Debbie finally agreed, thinking about her nephew's outstanding academic record. With his grades, getting into a top university wouldn't have been a problem anyway.
"What?! I want to drop out too!"
From the living room, Mark—who had been secretly eavesdropping upstairs—rushed down in a flurry after hearing Russell's request had been approved.
"No way!" came Debbie's immediate and firm rejection.
"Why not?" Mark protested.
"If Russell can drop out, why can't I?"
"I've got super speed too…"
He could also finish college in one night, right?
Sure—if he were actually willing to do it.
"No means no," Debbie said, massaging her temples in frustration. "When have you ever put that mind of yours toward studying?"
"When you were in school, you never used your powers to learn. You were too busy playing superhero and neglecting your studies. And if I let you drop out now, I guarantee you won't crack open a single book."
Strictly speaking, school wasn't particularly necessary for Mark either. With his powers, he could conquer a planet and crown himself emperor.
Sure, knowledge is power… but in Mark's case, he could accomplish far more with a flick of his finger than with any textbook.
Even Superman had that same laziness—rarely putting his superbrain to academic use.
"Alright, you two go eat. I'll talk to your mother."
Of course Omni-Man supported his son skipping school too. He moved to calm his wife down.
"Debbie, you've just lived too long under the mindset of ordinary people. The moment our son starts deviating from their expected path, you panic."
"But don't forget—our son isn't just an Earthling. He's also a born Viltrumite…"
"Didn't you Viltrumites have to study in advance before being sent to 'nurture' weaker civilizations?"
Debbie frowned, puzzled by how unfamiliar Nolan had become. Since his return, his tone had subtly changed—as if Viltrumites were inherently superior to everyone else.
"Yes… we had to study in advance," Nolan said, eyes flickering.
Though what they studied wasn't exactly ethics or civics… It was combat strategy, subjugation tactics, how to quietly dismantle a civilization's military strength, and which cold-blooded methods were most effective in crushing any spark of resistance.
Ding-ling-ling!
Suddenly, Mark's phone rang. One look at it and his face changed. He ran upstairs to change into his suit.
"Russell! Atom Eve just messaged me. Robot's alarm went off—the Flaxans are invading Earth again! Third time!"
"So soon?" Russell was surprised, glancing in the direction of the city center.
.....
[300PS= 1Bonus chapter]
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