"You mean time travel?"
Kara's mouth opened in astonishment.
She admitted that for a moment, she was swayed by this beautiful fantasy.
But even for Kryptonians, who possessed the universe's most advanced technology, time travel was as fantastical as a fairy tale.
"Time is the most terrifying force in the universe. It can dry up oceans, turning them into deep valleys, and burn out stars into withered, dim white dwarfs.
A Kryptonian scientist once said that conquering time means conquering everything."
"If time travel is achievable, then there's nothing that can't be done, and saving Krypton would be effortless. But how can you do it?"
Seeing Kara retreat as if facing an unpredictable madman, H'el looked calmly at the blue planet in the distance.
"I know you must think I've gone mad during my long drift through the universe and started fantasizing about traveling through time and space to save Krypton.
For the humans on that planet, isn't flying without external help also a crazy thing?"
He turned back and smiled.
"And we Kryptonians can escape gravity just by basking in the yellow sun."
"You mean, to me, you're like a human and a Kryptonian? Am I doubting you based on my narrow perception?"
Kara's expression darkened.
"No, I don't mean that. But in a sense, I can indeed be considered a Super Kryptonian."
H'el shook his head.
"I can feel that I have that potential. I am separated from time by a thin film. I can see it, but I don't have enough energy to break through and transition."
He waved his hand, and the scene around Kara abruptly changed.
The Middle East, above a battlefield filled with smoke and gunfire.
Between abandoned buildings, two groups of people hid behind cover, firing their guns. Flames spewed from the barrels, and everyone's eyes were blood-red, like madmen. Bullets tore into flesh, blood splattered, and bones shattered.
"Look at all this. Is this the compatriots and world you are familiar with?"
Human beings fighting for survival often looked the most ferocious. And now, H'el was showing Kara the most ferocious side of humanity amidst corpses and ruins.
"Humans may look similar to us, but chaos and brutality lie dormant in their bones."
"How did he do it?"
Kara had lost consciousness when she appeared on the sun. Now, awake and teleported back to Earth, she was greatly alarmed.
A grim-faced man wearing a mask threw a Molotov cocktail towards another position. The exploding flames splashed onto several people, shattering their assault and causing them to writhe and howl on the ground.
"Kill!"
The man who threw the Molotov cocktail panted, his face filled with cruel excitement, calling for his teammates to charge with their guns.
The battlefield strewn with severed limbs and broken arms, the smell of blood mixed with gunpowder rose into the air. Amidst the clouds, Kara's face involuntarily showed discomfort, rejection, and disgust.
"Jor-El and your father sent you and your cousin to this galaxy. The yellow sun grants you god-like abilities. But this is not Krypton, after all. It's not your home!"
H'el waved his hand again, transporting himself and Kara to a world covered in snow.
Kara looked around, trying to confirm where she had been teleported again, but when she turned, she noticed H'el's appearance had changed.
He was dressed in Kryptonian noble attire, his face handsome, his eyes like two flawless sapphires, exuding an intelligent scholarly aura that made one feel unconsciously reliable. This was completely different from his previous deathly pale complexion and terrifying black eyes.
"This is how I looked originally. If I wanted, I could have appeared with this face and gained your trust."
H'el waved his hand, summoning a block of ice from a distant iceberg. He looked at his pre-transformation appearance with sadness in his eyes.
His voice had also changed, no longer cold like a lonely dead star in a corner of space.
"In fact, I wouldn't even need to say these words."
H'el gestured with his hand, and Kara was startled to find a memory appearing in her mind. She uttered a few strange and complex syllables.
"What... what is this?"
She was speaking a language she originally didn't know.
"This is the language of the tribe of one of the factions fighting where we just were. I helped you learn it, just now, in a brief moment."
Kara finally realized the terrifying nature of the man before her. It wasn't just his powerful body that could repel her attack and break her wrist, but also his psychic ability to directly alter her memories.
If he truly had a conspiracy, there was indeed no need to exert himself further to gain her trust.
"If there's even a sliver of a chance to save Krypton, to save your parents who died in the explosion, would you be willing to gamble everything to try, Kara Zor-El?"
"Of course," Kara gritted out.
"Then I promise you now, it's far more than just a sliver of a chance."
H'el brought up that request again.
"Kara Zor-El, will you help me go back to the past to save Krypton?"
"What... what can I do to help you?"
Kara's expression softened.
Undeniably, in the few days she had been on Earth, her cousin's adoptive parents had shown her a great deal of warmth. They were a simple and kind couple, capable of warming others like sunshine, and being with them almost made her forget her sorrow.
But only almost.
When she was alone, she could never forget her deceased parents or the happy times they spent together as a family.
However, Kara couldn't help but wonder, H'el's strength was unfathomable, what help did he need from her?
"There is much you need to do, Kara.
That is, to support me."
In the howling cold wind, H'el, having returned to his original form, had a loneliness in his dark eyes, like a wolf that had strayed from the pack.
"I drifted through the universe for too long. When you are the only one among myriad stars, darkness is the permanent background color, and you can't hear anything but your own heartbeat. You will understand that loneliness can drive people mad. I want someone to give me encouragement and support, especially when I discovered the son of my mentor, Jor-El, on this planet might never be willing to go back to the past with me to save Krypton and save my mentor. I feel even more alone and need someone to validate me and tell me I'm right."
Originally, Kal-El, being closer to him, was the companion he wanted to win over.
"Cousin?
Why wouldn't he go back to the past with you to save Krypton?
That's his father, his people, and he hasn't even met his mother yet!"
Kara frowned, skeptical of this claim.
"Ever since I arrived on Earth, he's often asked me about Aunt Lara!"
She had originally planned to take H'el to find her cousin and David.
David would definitely help them too once he learned about the situation.
Kara had thought H'el teleporting her to the Arctic of Earth was precisely to persuade her so they could find Kal together.
"No."
H'el shook his head forcefully, his eyes icy.
"I observed him for a long time, even before you arrived on Earth.
I can confirm one thing: apart from his body being Kryptonian, Kal-El's spirit has long since become Earthling. You grew up on Krypton, you have memories of every blade of grass and tree there, you have the happy times spent with your birth parents day and night, but he is different.
His feelings for those Earthlings far exceed his feelings for his true kin."
"How could..."
Kara wanted to argue, but she remembered Zod, who had wanted to rebuild Krypton and was jointly defeated by David and Clark, along with his subordinates.
And that kind couple, she had to admit that their acceptance sometimes made her forget Krypton and past pains, let alone Clark, who was raised by that couple.
"Clark never spent a single second with his people, his birth parents..."
"You've noticed this too, haven't you?"
H'el smiled.
"But it doesn't matter, your support is enough for me. Now, let's go retrieve what we need for time travel."
"What is it?"
Not wanting to dwell on whether Kal was willing to save Krypton, Kara's eyes lit up.
The hope of returning home was right before her.
"A long time ago, Zod brought his army to try and terraform this planet into Krypton. They brought one of Krypton's highest technological achievements—the World Engine."
With Kara as his companion, H'el's cold, resolute gaze fell on the several spaceships quietly docked in the distance amidst the wind and snow.
He hadn't dared to look there casually before because that Earthling named David had senses that were too sharp. As long as he got too close, David could detect his prying, and he had been forced to retreat beyond the solar system several times when David flew out of Earth.
But now, it was no longer a problem. It was time to act.
"The World Engine has the ability to terraform planets. The energy crystal that powers it contains energy as vast as the ocean. I need the energy within it."
...
In the Fortress of Solitude, David had just handed the energy interference technology he obtained from Karrano and his daughter a few days ago to Jor-El, wanting the great Kryptonian scientist to see its application prospects and potential.
"Brainiac is a powerhouse in terms of technology.
Although he appears in his powerful biological shell and rarely uses technological means against enemies, we cannot be careless."
In the spaceship's main control room, David's eyes flickered.
The technology Brainiac used on the Mechanical Superman, if applied to raising a mechanical army, would pose a significant threat to him if the numbers were large enough.
Also, the technology to shrink city lights, if turned into a weapon, would be even more troublesome.
"The energy interference device manufactured according to this technology is effective, but it is indiscriminate and lacks fine manipulation capabilities."
Jor-El's holographic projection, after an inspection, deemed the energy interference technology novel, covering aspects not explored by Kryptonian science, and concisely stated its advantages and disadvantages.
David knew this wasn't because Karrano's technological research level surpassed Krypton's. It was because this uncontrolled weapon wouldn't be prioritized by Krypton. Jason's research was a last resort after his own side lost its energy weapons.
"It's fine, this is enough."
David smiled.
He hoped Jor-El could improve upon this foundation, in case Brainiac's super mechanical army attacked one day.
Just as he was about to voice his concerns, he suddenly focused his gaze outside the spaceship.
"Kara? And..."
Who is this guy?
Seeing Kara bring an unfamiliar outsider here, David flashed and disappeared from the spaceship with a frown.
Amidst the swirling snow of the Arctic.
With an ear-grating sound of metal deforming, an invisible giant hand plunged into the Kryptonian mothership and pulled out the World Engine.
H'el hovered in mid-air and grabbed again from a distance.
An energy crystal emitting a blue light was extracted from the very center of the World Engine and flew into his hand.
Gazing at the swirling light within the crystal, resembling a deep nebula, H'el's face was filled with excited anticipation.
"The crystal is in hand. The first step to returning to the past has been achieved."
"Who are you?"
A cold voice came from the bitter wind. A figure appeared in the sky above. H'el and Kara looked up.
David glanced at the Kryptonian mothership, violently breached, and then turned his gaze to H'el.
"This guy..."
Not only was he walking shirtless in the heart of the Arctic, where the cold could shatter steel, but his body was unharmed, and his strength allowed him to effortlessly break through the Kryptonian mothership's armor and retrieve the World Engine as if it were a package. Who was this guy?
"Kara, he's..."
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am H'el."
Just as Kara was about to speak, H'el spread his arms, speaking first with a smile on his face.
However, his eyes locked with David's, his gaze glinting with an arrogance that suggested he didn't consider David an equal.
It was like a human encountering a lion or a zebra of a different species.
As for whether he was the lion or the zebra, H'el felt he would know soon enough and no longer needed to hide himself.
"H'el?"
David's eyes narrowed, and he silently repeated the name, finding it very familiar.
Super Kryptonian H'el?
Pale skin, covered in scratches and scars, as if he had passed through a dense field of meteorites, and dark pupils – these were indeed the exact characteristics of that H'el.
Upon hearing the name, he almost instantly recalled who the person before him was.
"After all, there aren't many Kryptonians more powerful than Clark, especially much more powerful ones."
This explained why this person could stand with Kara, a Kryptonian who had only arrived on Earth a few days ago.
"You are H'el?"
A security robot flew out of the spaceship, and Jor-El's image was projected. He looked at H'el with surprise.
"You... you're still alive?"
"What are you?"
H'el's face showed disgust. He waved his hand from a distance, and a powerful telekinetic force flung the security robot away. It crashed into the snow in the distance, emitting a string of sparks. Jor-El's projection flickered unstably, becoming distorted.
"H'el, what are you doing? That's Uncle Jor-El!"
Kara exclaimed in shock.
"Kara, he is not my dear friend and mentor at all."
H'el's gaze was like that of someone looking at an insect destined to be crushed.
"He's just a simulation of emotions, data. Turning a person into an electronic life is a forbidden falsehood.
His simulated expression of surprise and joy just now was truly disgusting to me!"
With that, he reached out and grabbed the security robot again from a distance, about to crush it.
"H'el? Was that you skulking around the moon earlier!"
A brilliant energy beam struck his chest, blasting him away. The purple light lingered in David's eyes, like a dying furnace, emanating a terrifying aura.
If the person before him was H'el, there was no need to guess who had given him that sense of being watched earlier.
Super Kryptonian H'el, a friend and mentor to Jor-El, and Krypton had long forbidden launching spaceships from the planet. H'el was the Kryptonian launched before Clark, but the experiment failed. He drifted in the vast darkness of space with his ship for a long time.
"During this time, he was exposed to the radiation of many celestial bodies, especially passing through the center of a violent quasar. This granted him abilities far exceeding those of ordinary Kryptonians."
David recalled the information about H'el before him, his gaze growing colder.
Ultimately, H'el, driven by the desire to travel through time and change the past, came to Earth seeking Clark. However, after a period of observation, he was disappointed to find that Clark was unlikely to agree with his plan to save Krypton.
That plan was to find Kryptonian energy crystals, build an energy-absorbing device, and drain the sun to provide him with the vast energy required for time travel!
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