Alien invasion? Luckily, I'm Superman.

The blue-purple laser grazed Su Mo's back, leaving a huge burn.

Su Mo's skin and some of his muscles were scalded by the light.

"ah--!"

Su Mo finally couldn't hold back any longer and cried out in pain, letting out a silent scream in space. Intense pain came from behind, as if someone was scraping his spine with a red-hot iron bar. His flight path involuntarily halted, his speed plummeted, and his body tumbled in the vacuum.

This stagnation is fatal.

The escorting ships behind him seized the opportunity instantly. They had already locked onto Su Mo's position, and the moment he slowed down, a dense barrage of bullets rained down on him like a storm.

Particle beams, lasers, cannonballs, and small missiles. All weapons fire simultaneously, weaving together into an impenetrable network of fire in the vacuum.

Su Mo instinctively closed his eyes. Explosions erupted around him, engulfing him in a blinding white light.

Shockwaves pounded against his body one after another, and shrapnel and particle beams left scars on his skin.

He felt as if his body had been thrown into a blender, and every inch of his skin was enduring unimaginable pain.

The explosion lasted for a full five seconds. Then, all was silent. Su Mo's body emerged from the smoke and dust of the explosion.

His clothes were completely torn, and his body was covered with wounds of all sizes. Blackened, torn, and cut wounds of all shapes and sizes covered his entire body.

His eyes were closed, and his body continued to drift forward due to inertia.

It was very slow. His consciousness was blurred; just like an ordinary person facing intense pain, the body's protective mechanism would force them into a state of suspended animation, and Su Mo fainted. His body's instincts had taken over most of its functions; the wounds were healing, but at a slightly slower pace than before. He had suffered too many injuries and consumed too much energy, but the continuous sunlight was replenishing it.

His body was still drifting in one direction.

Facing the sun.

Dragging his weary body, Su Mo unconsciously continued "flying" towards the sun. Moving slowly due to inertia, Su Mo's speed was actually not slow in the almost unobstructed space.

The escorting frigates behind him adjusted their posture, their cannons once again aimed at him. Their main guns began charging, red light gathering at the muzzle.

Stop.

On the flagship's bridge, the fleet commander raised his hand. His voice echoed throughout the fleet via the communication channels. The commander sat in the command chair in the center of the bridge, his gray fingers pointing to the screen.

His gaze pierced through the main screen, fixed on the Earthling slowly drifting through space. His eyes narrowed slightly. The commander continued, as if discussing cargo, "This Earthling is quite interesting. His body can survive in a vacuum and withstand the firepower of frigates and even cruisers."

He stood up, walked to the main screen, and zoomed in on Su Mo's image. He paused for a moment, then turned to look at the science officer on the side of the bridge.

"Science Officer," the commander said, "this organism could be used for genetic experiments."

The science officer's vertical pupils suddenly dilated, and an "excited" expression appeared on his gray face.

"Commander," his voice was urgent, "this Earthling's genes will be the most important discovery in the history of our civilization. If we could integrate these genes into our..."

"I know," the commander interrupted him. "Go and do it."

The science officer nodded, turned and strode quickly toward the communications station to begin issuing instructions.

A few minutes later, a small research vessel slowly rose into the air from a platform on the side of the flagship. Its shape was completely different from that of the warships; it was more rounded and streamlined, and its surface lacked weapon turrets, instead featuring various sensors and detection equipment. A huge, circular launcher was mounted on the belly of the hull.

Under the command of the science officer, the research vessel adjusted its attitude and headed towards Su Mo. It flew very fast and caught up with Su Mo, who was still drifting slowly. (I forgot to mention earlier that these spaceships were basically traveling at sub-light speed, about 1/10 of the speed of light.)

The research vessel hovered a few hundred meters away from Su Mo, and the circular device on its belly began to rotate.

Then, a pale blue net shot out from the device. The net unfurled in space, several hundred meters in diameter, resembling a giant fishing net.

Its material looks like some kind of energy fiber, with each "net" glowing with a ghostly blue light. Several small flying machines are spinning at high speed along the edge, constantly adjusting the position and posture of the net.

Guided by the aircraft, the net slowly approached Su Mo.

-

On Earth, in an underground command post.

Communications Room

The only working communication device displayed blurry images transmitted from the remaining satellites. The images were of poor quality, full of snow and noise, but everyone could clearly see what was happening—

Su Mo captured a frigate. In the scene, after Su Mo left, the frigate changed course and headed towards the moon.

"He did it..." a staff officer murmured, his voice filled with unbelievable surprise, "He captured a ship, an entire spaceship..."

A suppressed cheer erupted in the command room. Commander Zhao, sitting in his chair, relaxed his tense shoulders slightly, and his lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

But this feeling only lasted for a few minutes.

Then, they saw the blue-purple light, and saw Su Mo's body being engulfed by the barrage of bullets, disappearing into the flames of the explosion.

The cheers abruptly ceased, as if someone had choked them. A deathly silence fell over the communications room.

No one spoke. No one moved. Everyone just stared at the fading flames on the screen, at the almost motionless figure that had emerged from the epicenter of the explosion.

Commander Zhao's hand froze in mid-air; he had just picked up the teacup, not yet bringing it to his lips. The teacup trembled slightly in his hand. Tea sloshed, spilling over the rim and dripping onto his uniform, leaving a small, dark stain. He didn't notice.

Then they saw the fishing net. A deep blue net unfurled in space, slowly closing in on Su Mo. The scene looked exactly like a real fishing net, and Su Mo was the exhausted fish caught in it.

Commander Zhao put down his teacup. His lips moved, but no sound came out. His eyes were a little red.

He placed the heavy responsibility of human survival on that young man's shoulders.

Su Mo could have run away. With his abilities, he could have easily flown to any corner of the solar system and hidden himself until the war was over. But he didn't. He chose to fly into space, towards that massive, sky-covering fleet.

And he, Zhao Deming, was the one who told him, "I'm entrusting the Earth to you."

He regretted it.