Hawks from the Land of Light are calling me a dove and an undercover agent in the chat group.

Zod smiled: "Of course, even though your father isn't on my side, I won't hold a grudge against his child. As long as you cooperate, I'll have the doctors do their best to save your life."

"Spare my life?"

"Yes, although I don't know if you know this, listen, you have the Codex of Life hidden within you. It is the most precious treasure in Krypton's history, containing all the secrets deep within Krypton's genes. I need that thing to rebuild Krypton."

Zod observed Clark, who was indeed surprised when he heard that his life was in danger, but did not show any obvious resistance. In other words, he was willing to risk his life to let him take out the Book of Life, which pleased Zod quite a bit.

"You make me proud, kid. You are a true Kryptonian."

Zod was delighted with the peaceful ending. He had no intention of lying; if he could save Karl El's life, he would do so, of course, with the Codex of Life as the top priority.

“…If it’s for Krypton, I’m not afraid of death.” Clark took a deep breath, preparing himself mentally. “But I have to say goodbye first.”

"bid farewell?"

“My adoptive mother, my fiancée, and my friends.”

"I'm afraid there's no need for that, child."

"--What?"

"There's no need for that, child."

Zod repeated Clark's question, his face expressionless, as if proclaiming some kind of domineering dictatorship.

Clark's unconditional concession stopped at that moment. He looked at Zod and asked carefully, "Why?"

"That planet, child."

Zod looked at Earth and said, “With its abundant resources and this yellow star, it is destined to be the starting point for our Kryptonians to rise again. After I take the Codex of Life out of your body, I will transform that planet and make it the most suitable planet for our Kryptonians to live on.”

"As for those lowly, backward monkeys up there? I think they have no reason to exist."

The smile that had been unconsciously appearing on Clark's face upon seeing his fellow kin slowly disappeared. He stood still, his ears clearly understanding Zod's meaning.

A rift appeared between the two in an instant.

"You mean you want to take over the Earth? And you want to kill all of humanity?"

“It’s not just those monkeys.” Zod noticed Clark’s displeasure, but he still made an irrefutable statement: “No animal, however lowly, is worthy to share this precious and special star system with us.”

Immediately, the tone shifted, and perhaps considering Clark's identity as a fellow member of the same race, a slight concession was made.

"In consideration of your voluntary sacrifice, I will allow you to preserve all those random Earthlings you know, and let them live as slaves on this planet that will soon belong to us Kryptonians."

Clark fell silent.

He didn't say anything more about that matter, but instead started talking about Zod's past.

"The spaceship in the Arctic told me that you were exiled to the Phantom Zone because you foresaw the destruction of Krypton. After seeing that the corrupt high command was indifferent to this, you raised an army to rebel, preparing to replace those high command and thus save Krypton, but you ultimately failed."

Zod didn't understand what he was trying to say.

Clark continued, "This is a heroic act. You are not a criminal, but a hero. If you succeed, perhaps Krypton will not become dust in the universe."

This is praise, a heartfelt recognition.

Whether viewed from the perspective of a Kryptonian or from the viewpoint of a completely unrelated outsider, no one can deny that General Zod's actions were absolutely heroic, driven by entirely positive motives and methods.

Zod smiled, feeling a pang of sadness, after receiving recognition: "I failed, that's the truth, child. I'm so sad. If I had succeeded, you wouldn't have had to wander, and you wouldn't be so lonely."

“But now you’re preparing to turn Earth, to turn humanity, into the next Krypton and its inhabitants.” Clark asked, puzzled and confused. “Why? How could you go from a hero of a rebellion to such a ruthless and evil person? Did your exile in the Phantom Zone change you?”

Zod's face fell; now he finally understood that it was all a setup.

Clarke did agree with his heroic efforts to save the corrupt and decadent Krypton, but he dared to criticize his judgment on Earth and humanity, and to criticize this valiant Kryptonian general for the sake of some lowly monkeys!

"This is a necessary step to rebuild Krypton and make the Kryptonians great again," he said coldly.

“There isn’t just one yellow star in the universe, nor is Earth the only planet that can be transformed into the next Krypton.” Clark shook his head. “You can certainly go and find new unclaimed planets. It will only take some time. You have the power and technology to do so.”

"There's no need for that!"

Zod's voice grew colder, and he waved his hand to stop Clark's earnest advice. "You want our great Kryptonian race to yield to a backward race? Do you want to be a traitor, Kal'el?"

"I just want Krypton to become a peaceful civilization!"

Clark, who was willing to die for Krypton and its people, clenched his fists. Some things are always more important than life, and more important than the narrow distinction between species and nations. He originally had a good impression of Zod, but now he suddenly rebuked him!

"Krypton should not be invaders! If you want Kryptonians to become that kind of race, I must stop you, Zod!"

Zod's lips curled into a mocking smile: "It seems you don't know what kind of civilization Krypton originally was. Did that idiot Jor-El keep all this a secret? Well then, let me tell you."

"Throughout history, we Kryptonians have always been invaders! We have always been invading other star systems, other civilizations, and other races, turning them into slaves of Krypton, or utterly annihilating them!"

"The friendly Kryptonian civilization you imagine, the one you believe in, the one you think is so self-righteous about—a civilization that, like you, is a guardian of a backward civilization—never existed in the first place!!!"

Boom!

Like a bolt of lightning striking his heart, Clark's gaze froze, and all his expectations for his fellow Kryptonians shattered!

……

"Did you all hear that?"

Earth.

It was a desolate wilderness, with no cities or villages within a radius of a thousand miles. Even the few people who originally lived there had been relocated.

The jet-black Bat fighter jet was parked on the ground in this wilderness.

Barry the Flash, already donning his armor and wielding both sword and shield, along with Wonder Woman Diana and Aquaman, who had been contacted to meet him there, all listened to the entire meeting and conversation between Superman and Zod through images and sounds transmitted from an unknown device on Batman's body.

Not even just them.

In the dense forests near this plain, the nations, having been alerted by Batman, quickly deployed their strongest forces there.

There were also ordinary superhumans around who had come spontaneously after being contacted by Batman. They were either mutated, naturally possessed special powers, or had learned magic.

While they are far from possessing the powers of the Flash or Wonder Woman, each of them falls within the realm of common sense, but having them is better than not having them at all.

Even as consumables, these ordinary superhumans are more effective against Kryptonian soldiers than the current Earth army.

All the preparations began a day and a night in advance.

When Batman heard Zod, who had hijacked the global channel, claim to be a Kryptonian, he knew something was wrong and quickly began contacting all possible superhumans.

Although he couldn't find Constantine and Wonder Woman, who stood at the pinnacle of the superhumans, the traces of ordinary superhumans were still very obvious, and these people often appeared in certain areas, making them very easy to find.

Even for those whose locations cannot be completely pinpointed, Batman only needs to send a Bat-Drone to continuously broadcast the message "Earth is in grave danger, humanity needs your power" along with this address in the suspicious area, and that's enough.

As it turns out, the number of extraordinary individuals gathered here seems to be even greater than expected, which is already the best-case scenario.

This might be because each of his drones is loaded with various Superman actions, and it implies that there is a whole spaceship of malicious Superman outside.

A very useful method of working together in times of difficulty.

As long as they want to live, these superhumans have no choice but to come here; otherwise, the entire spaceship of malicious superhumans could destroy the whole Earth, and these ordinary superhumans would have no chance of escaping.

And it's clear that Aquaman was also fooled by this tactic.

The lively and energetic Barry blinked his eyes, scratched his ears and cheeks, and finally couldn't resist his curiosity. He asked in a fast-paced voice, "More than Superman and Zod's conversation, uh, to be honest, I'm more curious about why you had a surveillance camera that could evade that Kryptonian's detection?"

Although he is far inferior to Batman, Barry is capable of building his own mechanical armor and has some scientific expertise. Therefore, he understands that Zod is not only incredibly powerful as a Kryptonian, but also that Kryptonian technology far surpasses that of Earth today.

In this situation, even with cutting-edge technology that surpasses modern technology, Batman simply couldn't create a technological product that could fool Zod.

To his confusion, Batman merely glanced at him and, as if completing a routine task, said matter-of-factly, "Because I am Batman."

Okay, actually, that was the Land of Light version of the miniature surveillance camera that he asked Kassadin for on the spot after he finished talking about the Kryptonian invasion in the group chat.

Krypton's inspection vs. the Land of Light's concealment: it now seems clear that the Land of Light's technology is superior, surpassing Krypton's.

Given that the upright and honorable Land of Light would not have created such an insidious thing in the past, it must have been that Kasa simply handcrafted it for him in less than a minute. If it were a Blue Clan expert from the Science and Technology Bureau, they could have even created something more advanced.

"Give up! That damn Batman will never come clean with you. He's a miser, a capitalist even more stingy than Grandet!" The chubby Penguin, still leaning on his umbrella, spat and spit viciously.

Yes, the Penguin.

In fact, aside from villains like the Joker and Bane who are unlikely to cooperate at present, many supervillains from all over Gotham have now gathered here, including the Penguin, Crocodile, and Scarecrow.

"You piece of shit, Batman! I've almost come up with a better and more promising IP than your crappy Ultraman, and you still dragged me into this mess! This is a crime, a crime!"

The fat penguin was trembling with anger. He had been behaving himself lately, doing nothing wrong, and his business was even more legal than before, yet he still got come knocking on his door to cause trouble!

Faced with condemnation, Batman nonchalantly shifted the blame: "I prefer to call it an employment, and I will pay you a sufficient commission afterward."

"Bullshit! I need your commission? I'm a mob boss! The great Penguin, the greatest godfather in all of Gotham! I'm the one who hires others, nobody hires me!"

"One hundred million."

"You think this little bit of money is enough...?"

"US dollars."

Oh, this.

The penguin hesitated, then coughed violently, "Ahem, although, well, it's true, after all... um, yes, it's all what I deserve!"

"Just you wait and see. I'm going to use this hundred million dollars to develop new IPs. When that happens, I'll definitely crush your worthless partner Bruce Wayne's terrible Ultraman and Land of Light IPs, which are utterly awful, childish, nonsensical, and full of logical flaws!"

It's not good at all; it's childish, nonsensical, and full of logical flaws.

Batman glanced at the Penguin.

How did you, the biggest fan who watches the latest episode of Ultraman every day without fail and has a house full of Ultraman merchandise, say such a thing?

Sigh, a split personality.

Since he's already like this, why not obey him?

Batman's husky voice seemed anything but sarcastic: "Whatever makes you happy."

“Uh… okay.” Barry scratched his head and gave an awkward laugh. “At least it’s pretty much the same as the Batman stories I’ve heard.”

The story has become reality.

Although he was far away in Central City, this young man had been listening to Batman stories for several years, and he was very familiar with all the classic villains like the Penguin. Now, to fight alongside them was truly a novel experience.

Although he was a bit of a coward, the thought of fighting an entire spaceship full of superheroes made him feel like he was asking for trouble.

But, you know, Batman even came to him and invited him himself, right?

Barry rubbed his hands together, looked around, and to hide his nervousness, nudged Arthur beside him with his elbow: "Hey buddy, you said your name is Aquaman, so your superpower is, is it, controlling the ocean?"

"..." Neptune Arthur remained silent, but his expression worsened.

“Uh, it doesn’t seem so.” Barry became cautious. “Then it’s water control?”