Wearing a full suit of armor, and you tell me that's Spider-Man?
You might as well say it's Iron Man.
Barry reacted, stunned, "Are you saying he is the Superhero Spider-Man from Gotham City?"
Bruce nodded expressionlessly.
Barry slowly lowered his head, muttering to himself, "How could this be..."
He had long since seen reports about Gotham City's Spider-Man.
As a veteran Marvel fan, he was quite an admirer of this Spider-Man who had appeared in the real World.
It was precisely Spider-Man's heroic deeds that had inspired him shortly after he gained his powers, giving him the courage to come to Metropolis to fight for the protection of Earth.
Yet he never expected that the first time he met his idol, it would be a final farewell.
Diana also walked up to the two of them, gazing at the empty sky, her face full of regret.
This scene of heroic self-sacrifice reminded her of Steve, who had sacrificed himself many years ago.
No matter when or where, humanity never lacks the courage to step forward.
Just as the atmosphere was incredibly heavy, a massive alien warship tore through the clouds and landed on the ruins of Metropolis.
Several smaller Kryptonian ships followed closely behind, landing around the main vessel as the hatches slowly opened, and General Zod walked out with four Kryptonian soldiers.
His cold gaze swept over the devastated city, his expression so grim it looked like it could drip Water.
"I didn't expect you Earthlings to be capable of this; I truly underestimated you."
Bruce frowned deeply.
He recognized the person who had arrived as General Zod.
But the problem was, Darian and Clark were no longer by his side.
His anti-Superman armor had been severely damaged in the previous battle, Barry was clearly a rookie with no real combat experience, and only Diana in the entire team could go head-to-head with a Kryptonian.
The opposition not only had the unfathomably powerful General Zod, but also four fully armed Kryptonian soldiers.
If a real fight broke out, they probably wouldn't stand a chance.
General Zod didn't even pay attention to the three of them, his tone devoid of any warmth.
"Hand over Kal-El, or I will destroy your cities one by one and slaughter all of you Earthlings."
Not long ago, General Zod had found the Kryptonian Genesis Chamber in the North Pole.
His next step was to find the codex, input the Kryptonian genetic code into the chamber, and thereby rebuild the entire Kryptonian civilization.
They had long since detected from Clark's blood sample that the codex was hidden within his body; as long as they captured Clark, they could seize the codex and complete the great revival of the Kryptonian.
However, before the plan could even be implemented, bad news arrived one after another.
First was the world engine in the Southern Hemisphere.
It had the engine's built-in nano-weapon system and was guarded by four Kryptonian soldiers; it was supposed to be foolproof, and even if the Kryptonian traitor Clark made a move, it wouldn't be easy for him to succeed.
Who would have expected that Clark, for some unknown reason, would come charging in, shouting things like "Metropolis!" and "Lois Lane!", forcefully breaking through the line of defense held by the Kryptonian soldiers and smashing the world engine with an Iron Head.
By the time the Kryptonian soldiers reacted and tried to capture Clark, he had inexplicably vanished, leaving them no choice but to return empty-handed and report to General Zod.
Upon receiving the news, General Zod immediately led several Kryptonian soldiers to Metropolis.
But as soon as they arrived in Metropolis, they saw with their own eyes that the world engine here had also been destroyed, and all the stationed Kryptonians, including his lieutenant Faora, had been sucked into the Phantom Zone.
General Zod was absolutely furious.
He just went out to farm, how did he come back to find both his front teeth gone?
The consecutive failures filled General Zod with rage, but he hadn't completely despaired yet.
As long as he could obtain the codex, they could use the Genesis Chamber to cultivate countless new Kryptonians.
Given time, given time, they could still transform Earth into a Kryptonian World.
However, searching for Clark aimlessly like this was no different from looking for a needle in a haystack.
General Zod chose the most convenient method; he knew well that Clark cared about Earthlings, so he would use the lives of everyone on Earth to force him to appear.
"He's out of contact; we don't know where he is," Bruce said in a deep voice.
He wasn't lying; Clark hadn't had any messages in the chat group, and he didn't know if the other party was alive or dead.
Murderous intent surged in General Zod's eyes, and he remained firm: "That's irrelevant to me. As long as he doesn't appear, we will keep slaughtering Earthlings until he is willing to stand out."
As he spoke, he waved his hand casually.
A nearby Kryptonian soldier immediately turned and charged toward the civilians who hadn't yet evacuated to a safe area.
"Stop!"
Diana charged out without hesitation, wanting to stop the Kryptonian soldier.
But before she could get close, two scorching red beams shot rapidly toward her.
Diana was quick-eyed and nimble-handed, raising her shield to block them.
General Zod's eyes were crimson, and he slowly floated into mid-air: "You must be Kal-El's companions. If I kill you one by one, perhaps he will come out on his own."
As soon as he finished speaking, his figure flashed, and accompanied by a deafening sonic boom, he punched toward Diana.
Diana took the punch head-on with her shield, her arm vibrating until it went numb.
Before she could adjust her posture, Zod followed up with a whip kick to her waist, sending her flying backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into the wall of a half-collapsed office building and kicking up a large cloud of dust.
Bruce immediately threw several batarangs at General Zod, but they were intercepted midway by two Kryptonian soldiers.
Buzz—a series of sharp, high-frequency sound waves emitted from the batarangs.
The two Kryptonian soldiers immediately covered their ears in pain.
Kryptonian hearing far exceeds that of humans; to them, these sound waves were like someone screaming with a loudspeaker right next to their ears.
Another Kryptonian soldier saw this and immediately charged out, his fist aiming straight for Bruce's face.
Barry was startled, immediately activating the Speed Force, lightning flashing over his entire body, and everything around him instantly slowed down.
Seeing that the fist was about to strike Bruce, Barry gritted his teeth, his figure instantly appearing in front of the Kryptonian soldier, using all his strength to push him away.
As the saying goes, speed is power.
The force formed at high speed was extremely astonishing, and the Kryptonian soldier was sent flying dozens of meters away.
But Barry had charged too fiercely and couldn't stop at all; after pushing the person, he immediately lost his balance, tumbled on the ground for a dozen rolls, and finally dove headfirst into a pile of rubble nearby, lying there dazed and unable to climb out for a long time.
"Useless struggle."
General Zod watched all of this with cold eyes, floating in the air and looking down at Bruce: "You seem quite familiar with Kal-El; you must be good friends. If I kill you, he will surely be very pained."
Bruce: "..."
You might not believe it, but I've actually known him for less than a day, and I've even been thinking about how to kill him.
General Zod did not know Bruce's thoughts, only regarding him as one of the main culprits who ruined his plan, wanting only to kill this detestable Earthling and let that Kryptonian traitor Clark taste the pain of losing a companion.
The next moment, General Zod's eyes burst with blinding red light, preparing to melt Bruce with heat vision.
"Watch out for the hidden weapon!"
Suddenly, a black Shadow shot toward General Zod at high speed from the distance.
Hearing the sound, General Zod immediately changed the direction of his heat vision, blocking the incoming hidden weapon in mid-air, which then fell heavily to the ground.
Looking closely, this hidden weapon was actually the Kryptonian soldier he had just sent to slaughter civilians.
His entire body gave off a charred smell, his head burned black by the heat vision, and he lay on the ground, already lifeless.
Darian, wearing the ultron armor, landed on the ground and acted shocked: "I told you to watch out for the hidden weapon, not to use heat vision to watch it. You really don't even spare your own people; that's truly ruthless."
General Zod: "..."
Bruce saw Darian's appearance and was stunned for a moment: "You're okay?"
Darian shook his head: "It's a long story. I just took a tour of hell, and Satan thought I was too handsome, insisting on passing the position of Satan to me, but I refused, so I came back."
Bruce: "..."
It was indeed quite complicated; with his intelligence, he hadn't understood a single word.
Bruce didn't waste any words, immediately saying: "We must stop General Zod, otherwise everyone will be killed by this madman."
[NPC Bruce Wayne has issued a new quest to you]
[Quest: The Crazy Kryptonian]
[Objective: Stop the crazy General Zod and protect the peace of Earthlings]
[Reward: Depends on the player's contribution]
At this moment, the two Kryptonian soldiers had already shaken off the sonic attack, and the Kryptonian soldier who had been sent flying by Barry also stood up.
Darian scanned the battlefield: "Leave General Zod to me; you all handle the other Kryptonians."
Bruce nodded, said nothing more, immediately yielded the main battlefield to Darian, and threw various small gadgets at the Kryptonian soldiers to draw their aggro.
"Arrogant Earthling, you think you can stop me just like that!?"
General Zod was furious.
There were already few Kryptonians left, and they had suffered consecutive losses after arriving on Earth. Now, only he and four soldiers remained, and in the blink of an eye, he had watched one be sent away by his own hand.
He roared, his eyes shooting out two crimson heat rays, aimed straight at Darian's face.
He naturally knew that Darian had means involving Kryptonite, so he didn't choose close combat.
Darian immediately raised both palms, shooting out two blue energy beams from his palms, blocking General Zod's heat rays.
Sizzle—the two energies collided violently in the air, emitting a sharp tearing sound.
The surrounding air was instantly heated until it was scorching hot, and the Impact spread in all directions, sending the rubble on the ground flying into the sky.
After only three seconds of stalemate, the red light began to slowly push forward.
As the highest military commander of the Kryptonian, General Zod possessed the top-tier Kryptonian warrior genetic template.
The yellow Sun's amplification of his abilities far exceeded that of ordinary Kryptonians; in less than half a day of absorbing solar energy, he had already mastered all the abilities he had gained, and his combat performance was even better than Clark's, who had been basking in the Sun for decades.
Of course, this did not mean that Clark's own strength was inferior to his.
General Zod was a perfect product of genetic engineering, peaking from the moment he was manufactured, all his stats maxed out, but his potential was completely locked; it was basically impossible for him to have any further improvement in his lifetime.
While Clark was the only naturally born child in hundreds of years of Kryptonian history, without any genetic restrictions, equivalent to a newbie account starting from zero, with infinite potential; as long as he was willing, he could keep getting stronger.
The difference between the two was just like playing an early-game character versus a late-game character.
It's no wonder the Kryptonian Planet was destroyed; the entire Planet was full of these finished accounts that were maxed out from the start, their potential completely locked, making a late-game collapse inevitable.
But it had to be admitted that the current Zod was indeed ridiculously strong.
Seeing the red heat rays pressing in step by step, the shoulder hatches of the ultron armor automatically popped open, and dozens of enchanted miniature missiles whistled out, attacking General Zod in an overwhelming barrage.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—
Continuous explosions rang out, and Fire light shot into the sky.
Before the thick smoke could dissipate, a concrete floor slab weighing several tons whistled out from the sea of Fire, smashing toward Darian with a sonic boom.
Darian's feet ejected two streams of blue energy, and he soared into the sky, dodging the concrete floor slab.
The next second, two crimson heat rays attacked again.
General Zod rose from the Fire light, his eyes continuously shooting out heat rays, chasing Darian's figure and firing wildly.
Kryptonians don't have a concept of mana; they can keep releasing heat rays, and even if their stamina runs out, they can absorb solar energy to recharge, almost with zero consumption.
But Darian couldn't; his mana couldn't maintain sustained output for long, so he could only keep changing directions in the air to dodge, and only when he really couldn't dodge would he raise his hand to block with an energy beam.
Darian taunted: "Only knowing how to output from a distance, what kind of Kryptonian are you? If you have the guts, let's have a man-to-man brawl!"
General Zod was unmoved, sneering: "If you have the ability, you first throw away that green stone."
Darian was not to be outdone: "Fine, if I throw it, you come over."
"No problem."
"Then I'll count three, two, one, and we act together."
"Can do."
"Three, two, one."
The countdown ended, and neither person made any move.
"Hmph, I knew you couldn't be trusted!" * 2
Both snorted coldly, expressing disdain for the other's backpedaling behavior.
Seeing that he was about to be kited infinitely again, Darian began to persuade him kindly: "General Zod, why must you be obsessed with so-called genetic engineering? The fate of your Kryptonian Planet is enough to prove that this path is not viable; natural birth like Clark's is the righteous path for civilization."
"Why don't you learn from Clark's biological father, find a female Kryptonian to live a stable life with, have several children, and when the children grow up, find other partners—descendants without end—wouldn't that also be able to rebuild the Kryptonian civilization?"
General Zod was expressionless: "The only female Kryptonian on our Planet was Faora, but she is no longer here."
Darian: "..."
Oh right, the only female Kryptonian had just been banished by him to the Phantom Zone, and everyone left was just a bunch of rough, burly guys.
This was awkward.
Darian coughed twice, trying to save face: "Actually, you don't need to be so rigid about gender. With Kryptonian technology being so advanced, maybe men can have children too. Uh, what do you think of Clark's looks?"
General Zod: "——"
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