I, V, Gotham Legend

Superman, wearing a red cape, held up a white car and flew across the sky like a meteor at an increasingly faster speed.

NO47. Spaceship in the Arctic

Twenty years ago, a spaceship from Krypton traveled millions of light years to Earth.

Due to the loss of the command index of the mother planet, the spacecraft, which was driven only by automatic navigation and Al's residual consciousness, suffered irreparable failures after frequently running aground.

In order to ensure the safety of Clark, who was just a newborn at the time, after breaking through the atmosphere, Jor-El took the initiative to separate from the life capsule and the spacecraft that Clark was riding in.

Clark's life capsule fell into a farm in Kansas and was found by a pair of local farmers. In order to reduce the attention of the Earth's indigenous people, Jor-El took the initiative to drive the spacecraft to the sparsely populated Arctic region.

It was not until Clark came of age that his adoptive father took him to the lifeboat he once rode in and told him his life story.

Through the resonance signal that Joe had prepared in the life capsule in advance, Clark found the main body of the spacecraft in the Arctic.

Now, Clark is wearing the Superman suit that his biological father left him in the spaceship, carrying a white car, speeding through the Arctic canyon, and returning to the spaceship that brought him to this world.

Passing through the outermost mimicry barrier, the tadpole-shaped Kryptonian spaceship came into view. Superman suddenly stopped his flying speed as if he was braking, and slowly landed with the car in his hand.

However, Valerie no longer needs to rely on Superman. She started the hovercraft, and Valerie's most successful derivative invention flew away from Superman's hands and slowly landed on the ground.

Superman put his hand down and watched with interest as Valerie opened the car door and climbed out.

"How is it? Are you cold?" Superman flew to Valerie and asked.

"It's okay..." Valerie exhaled a puff of white steam stubbornly, her little face red from the cold.

It is even colder here than Mr. Freeze's laboratory, although the temperature is kept within Victor's barely comfortable range in order to ensure the survival of experimental animals and maintain experimental equipment.

Valerie took a few steps in the glacier. Although it was still a little cold at first, it was not unacceptable to her. She took the initiative to walk towards the most conspicuous building in the canyon, the tadpole-shaped spaceship with a black surface.

Clark used his X-ray vision to check the flow of Valerie's body fluids, which was theoretically blood, and made sure that Valerie was not just being stubborn, then followed her.

Although Valerie is obviously not without feelings, Superman will respect everyone's choice when it is certain that their life is not in danger.

Valerie walked over to the spaceship, which had a surface as smooth as liquid and was covered in burn marks and exposed parts.

Valerie narrowed her eyes and simply scanned the material of the spacecraft. All technological creations were within Valerie's scanning range.

The result of the scan was a bunch of incomprehensible text that didn't look like Chinese, let alone English. Valerie guessed it was the legendary Kryptonian text.

Valerie doesn't quite understand where her scanned information database comes from. She guesses that she can't find any records of the Earth language because humans haven't done any research on the spacecraft.

But it didn't matter that she couldn't understand. Valerie stretched out her little hand and pressed on the rough scratches on the hull of the spacecraft, rubbing and kneading them.

When she let go of her hands, the places where there were originally damage marks became smooth and no different from other places on the spacecraft's shell.

"Sure enough... I am invincible." After confirming that her manual skills were also effective against alien technology, Valerie puffed out her chest.

"This way, Miss V." Superman had already moved open the door on the rear hold of the spacecraft. He turned around and greeted Valerie.

At the beginning, the door of the spacecraft opened automatically, but as the energy gradually ran out, in order to extend the existence of Jor-El, Clark collected the remaining energy and only supplied the main cockpit.

Many practical automatic facilities in the spacecraft have been converted into manual facilities. Fortunately, it would not take much effort for Clark to just move a few miscellaneous items.

Valerie followed Superman into the spaceship, which had a spacious corridor. According to Superman, there used to be automatic robot defenses here, but they were shut down to save energy.

"So there's a lack of energy?" Valerie couldn't help but be curious after hearing Superman's introduction.

"One of the reasons for the destruction of Krypton was the over-exploitation of energy. My biological father's consciousness did not want to repeat the same mistake on Earth. He would rather be buried with the spaceship."

Clark said sadly.

"Uh... the residual consciousness of my biological father? It sounds a little familiar..." Valerie had a sense of déjà vu.

"Right there." Clark suddenly stopped, and Valerie realized that they had arrived at a spacious high platform.

"Carl." As if in response to Superman's words, a mature voice sounded, and Valerie saw a man in a black robe walking out.

"You brought a stranger." Jor-El's shadow flickered and appeared, staring at Valerie with a scrutinizing look.

"V is trustworthy." Clark assured Valerie.

Qiao shook his head. "You can't be sure how trustworthy a person is. Even the most loyal or close people may betray you, let alone someone you don't know."

Joe looked at Valerie with a stern look, as if he was sure she was up to something.

Valerie stared at Qiao's shadow, her expression becoming more and more strange: "I say, the real body of your projection is not just a chip, right?"

"What?" Both Joe and Clark were stunned by Valerie's sudden question.

"How did you guess that?" Superman asked curiously.

Valerie shouted, "As expected! Can you let me see your main chip? I'm very curious now!"

Joe was about to refuse, but Valerie had already turned on the scanner and identified his body inserted into the central disk of the spacecraft at a glance.

"Is that it? Can I get closer and take a look?" Valerie asked Superman.

"Carl!" Joe was actually a little at a loss. If Valerie wanted to break in by force, he alone would be of little use.

"This..." Superman was a little hesitant, not only because of his father's resistance, but he was also worried that Valerie had damaged something. The chip containing his father's consciousness was his only hope for the home planet he had never seen.

Seeing Superman's embarrassment, Valerie did not force it. She finally looked the virtual image in the eye and said, "It's not possible. I understand. It's a Kryptonian secret... Actually, I was hired by Clark to repair the spaceship."

"Can you fix my spaceship?" Joe narrowed his eyes and looked at Valerie.

It was not impossible for the technology of this planet to repair the spaceship, but he didn't think this woman could do it on her own.

He is just a phantom, and a wandering AI at that. He cannot have the insight of Superman, and cannot even communicate with the outside world. Naturally, he does not know about Miss V's magical powers.

Joe turned his head puzzledly and looked at Clark with a questioning look.

"V is very confident, and this is the only way I can fix this without exposing the ship." Superman said.

NO48. Kryptonian Spaceship

Valerie confidently came to a rectangular box that was obviously badly damaged. She wanted to show the two rustic aliens her top-notch Gundam 20 technology.

The box was embedded in the floor, and Valerie reached out and grabbed the broken shell of the box, peeling it open like a scallop.

Then, Valerie was stunned. She saw threads of unknown material tangled together like tentacles, and each thread was as thick as a wrist.

If the earth's wires are a mess of noodles, this line is like two kissing snakes, full of weird high-tech and biological feeling.

"What is this?" Valerie turned directly to Joe and asked.

"This is the line for transmitting energy... Is she really reliable?" Halfway through his words, Joe couldn't help but look at Clark.

Even Superman lost his confidence, and his eyes became worried: "Are you okay? V, don't be so stubborn."

The two's distrustful attitude successfully made Miss V anxious: "It's just my first time using this thing! Give me the design! I'll fix it for you right away!"

"This is not a problem with the blueprint. You have no knowledge of Kryptonian technology, so how can you figure it out in a short period of time?" Joe said based on common sense.

Krypton is a society like an ant colony. The future of every newborn is planned before birth. Even Jor-El, who was born as a scientist, had to be instilled with knowledge through innate knowledge devices and guided by teachers to reach his future level.

In comparison, Earth's technology is so backward that it still requires the most primitive teaching methods. Even the contact with alien civilizations so far is at an ambiguous stage, let alone the research of Kryptonian technology.

But Valerie is not an ordinary person. She spread her five fingers to Joe and said, "I am a genius. Give me the design and the rest will be no problem."

Joe felt that Valerie might be being stubborn because she couldn't save face, just like those big shots in the Kryptonian Parliament. Bad memories made him, who was now just an AI, feel a little bad.

But before he could say anything else, Valerie had already crouched down and was kneading and squeezing the tentacle-like lines, the movements so simple that they seemed ridiculous to him.

"Are you kneading mud?" Joe's shadow walked up to Valerie. Perhaps because he felt that the technology of his hometown, which he was so proud of, was underestimated, his attitude was not very good.

Seeing the black-robed figure approaching her, Valerie raised the tentacle line in her hand: "Is that so?"

Joe was obviously stunned for a moment, and then the twisted expression on his shadow froze.

"How did you..." Joe's AI connected to the operating console and felt it, confirming that it could feel the normal unobstructed line. This line had been broken for at least twenty years.

"Everyone says I'm a genius, but you didn't want to give me the design honestly, so I had to study it for a while longer." Valerie reached out to Joe again, "Now, give me the design, it will save a lot of time, okay?"

Joe didn't see how Valerie did her research. Even Kryptonians have to go through careful and lengthy research when they come into contact with something they have never seen before.

Joe sent a few more messages through this line to make sure there was no problem. He finally couldn't help but said, "Have you been to Krypton?"

"So I'm a genius!" Valerie emphasized at the end, "I'm here to repair the spaceship for Clark's sake. It doesn't matter what bad assumptions you have about me. If you don't plan to share the design of the Kryptonian spaceship, then don't bother me. I can figure it out myself."

As she spoke, Valerie squatted down again, and this time she repaired the line very neatly.

Joe hesitated for a long time. Logically speaking, the interstellar spacecraft is one of Krypton's core technologies and should not be leaked to civilizations that have not established diplomatic relations with it.

But he was soon relieved, Krypton no longer existed, and there was no point in insisting on the iron rule of non-existence.

If I can repair this spaceship, maybe I can be of help to Carl (Clark).

Joe's shadow crossed his arms and said, "I can give it to you. What medium do you need?"

"Can it be sent over the Internet?" Valerie asked.

"Network?" Joe narrowed his eyes and briefly turned on the spacecraft's network system, which had not been turned on for twenty years.

The result was surprising, he was actually able to connect with the woman in front of him.

"You are not from Earth. Who are you?" Curiosity made Joe ask directly, but he did not forget his business and was looking for the design information of the spacecraft in the spacecraft's storage files.

"I'm from Earth, so you guys are just unsophisticated aliens who have never seen the world." Valerie said pretentiously, and her vision showed that she was receiving documents.

After officially receiving the documents of the Kryptonian spacecraft, Valerie was finally satisfied. She jumped to the other side of the spacecraft, intending to repair this vehicle that had been gathering dust for more than 20 years.

Valerie's figure gradually walked away, and Joe looked at Clark silently: "Maybe my attitude before was a bit too harsh... Is she a friend you made?"

"I met her recently. She's a superhero from Gotham. You may not know Gotham? It's a very wealthy city..." Clark was happy to share things about Earth with his father.

"This planet is always full of potential, as if it is at the center of the universe." Joe expressed such an inexplicable emotion.

"As much as I love the planet that raised me, the center of the universe is an understatement." Superman thought his father was joking, and Joe's face in the image did not show any complex expression.

"How are you getting along with the people on Earth? Do you still need my help?" Joe changed the subject.

"It's been great progress. I'm trying to get along with some people on an equal footing...When the time is right, I'll tell her my identity." Clark recalled Louise's appearance.

Neither the hypocritical tyrant in the eyes of anti-superhumanism nor the god in the eyes of superhumanism is what Clark wants to be. The reason why he chooses to stand up in front of the world is because he feels that he has the ability and should do so.

Essentially, he hopes to coexist peacefully and equally with the people of Earth and become true compatriots.

Joe was still worried. He had lived in the Arctic for twenty years and knew almost nothing about the human environment on Earth. But as far as he knew, it was difficult for all intelligent life forms living in groups to accept the sudden appearance of aliens.

He wanted to learn more about his son's living conditions, but noticed that V had returned.

"What's wrong? What difficulties have you encountered?" Joe swallowed his words to Clark and turned to ask Valerie.

"No." Valerie shook her head, then proudly put her hands on her hips and said, "It's fixed."

NO49. Krypton Technology

Joe activated the spacecraft's main control room, and the chip he connected to the motherboard quickly received positive feedback.

After twenty years, Jor-El once again felt the feeling of being in control of an entire spacecraft.

"You really did it! Just using those hands? This is simply... you are the god of technology!" Joe's enthusiasm as a scientist made him put aside his prejudice against Valerie. He was now more curious about V's white little hands.

Just repairing it quickly or repairing it with hands would not have shocked him so much, but combining the two into one is extraordinary.

"Haha, that's why I said you haven't seen the world." Valerie was so proud.

Joe almost forgot to think about the logic of the group and its relationship with humans.

Through his connection with the spacecraft's data bay, he started an autonomous scan of the spacecraft and felt every corner of the spacecraft being reawakened, just like a recovering patient feeling the fresh air.

He seemed to have gone back decades, when Krypton had not yet been destroyed and the disaster was just a hidden danger buried beneath prosperity.

Back then, he was in charge of the research and development of spacecraft iterations, and he checked the condition of each spacecraft in the same way through the neural synaptic connection network.

Joe was a skilled scientist. Just by scanning, he could understand the condition of the spacecraft accurately. However, he did not stop. Instead, he scanned over and over again, allowing his consciousness to lick the entire spacecraft over and over again.

He stood there for a long time. The phantom had no tears, so he just stood with his hands behind his back and closed his eyes in silence.

Clark didn't say anything, but he noticed that Joe was in a complicated mood.

Valerie didn't care about that. She thought Joe El was still immersed in her bragging.

It was not until the main control room lit up red due to insufficient energy and a shrill alarm sounded that Joe's image finally opened its eyes, and the lights inside the spacecraft, which had been almost fully on, went out again.