The Great War Against Mongor

The deafening roar echoed throughout the entire underground space, the sound of Jay being punched hard in the cheek and sent flying backward by the alien tyrant. His body flew across the room planted with what Mongor called "Black Benevolence" plants, crashing through four walls in one go—or maybe five, he hadn't counted clearly—then blasting back through the winding maze passage he'd taken so long to navigate, returning to the sewer outside the facility.

The water in the underground sewer continued to be pumped into the rapidly spinning water turbine, its blades whirling tirelessly, until Jay burst through the wall directly opposite and shot into the operating water turbine like a bullet. The metal casing broke as easily as if it were made of paper, and the razor-sharp blades snapped in two with a "clang" the moment they cut into Jay's body, flinging him out with a long trail of white spray. The water turbine let out a violent wail and, along with the splashing water and black smoke, ceased its operation.

Jay struggled to his feet in the current, the cold, rushing underground water washing over his burning cheek. He grimaced slightly; that last hit really hurt.

Another figure followed, smashing through the wall and landing heavily in front of him. Jay looked up, and Mongor's massive hand clamped around his neck, slamming him down onto the wreckage of the defunct water turbine. Mongor's ugly face loomed closer, his crimson eyes seeming to burn. He sneered, "You know, kid, ever since you messed with my territory that time, I've been looking for you. Let's just say, I have some unpleasant history with Kryptonians. After Kal-El died, I thought I'd lost my chance for revenge, but your appearance gave me another opportunity. You're even wearing his uniform, his symbol! So, for me, you're my entertainment, and I won't let anyone take that away."

"Uh, quite a memorable speech, but you know what? I have a few things to say to you too."

Mongor's eyes flickered. "What?"

"You talk too much."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Jay threw his right fist into an uppercut with all his might, connecting squarely with Mongor's jaw. Astonishing force surged from his fist like a ceaseless river, and Mongor's body shot up like a rocket, piercing through layers of pipes and flying out of the ground, rising dozens of meters before falling back down. His massive body landed squarely on the hood of an unfortunate sedan on the street, shattering all its windows into dust simultaneously, and caving in the roof to the seats. The severely deformed car spun and smashed into a fire hydrant on the side of the street, sending a geyser of water shooting skyward.

Jay burst out of the hole Mongor had created, landing in the bustling street. The street plunged into complete chaos in an instant as Mongor's "fall from the sky" caused a chain reaction of traffic accidents, and the high-flung water column turned into countless droplets, showering the road like rain.

The people of New York hadn't witnessed this kind of god-level battle on their streets for many years. They had almost settled into a "normal" rhythm of life, but unfortunately, that record was finally broken today.

Mongor ignored the panicked crowd, stood up, and walked over slowly, facing Jay from about ten meters away. The water from the fire hydrant washed over their bodies like a downpour, making the road glisten.

Mongor showed a slight smile and rubbed his chin. "Your fist has power, I'll admit that. But compared to Superman? You're a long way off."

"That's true," Jay shrugged. "But to deal with you? It's enough."

Mongor grunted. He hunched his massive body, placing one hand on the wet road surface, like a cheetah poised to strike. He roared, and as he sprang, the road behind his heels cracked open, the flying dust forming an air cushion that propelled his body forward with explosive force.

Jay tensed and charged forward, fists extended, accelerating towards Mongor. His crimson cape flapped behind him, and the wind pressure from his body's intense friction with the air sliced through the road like blades, long cracks extending behind him.

This was a direct collision of power against power, with no room for trickery. Two afterimages merged and shot out, tearing through a gym on one end of the street and continuing for two blocks, forcefully smashing through all obstacles in their path. The shockwaves might have even overturned three or five unlucky cars.

Mongor smashed violently into the asphalt, leaving a crater the size of his body in the ground. His head buzzed, his vision blurred, and as his sight cleared, he saw the Kryptonian kid flying high above, a brilliant golden sun behind him. He descended with immense force, his fist aimed directly at Mongor's forehead.

Mongor reacted quickly with a sidestep, and Jay's powerful punch grazed the ground almost by his side. The terrifying impact spread outwards in radiating cracks, appearing like a massive spiderweb from a high-altitude view. Mongor dodged the blow, spun around, and landed a punch on Jay's face while he was unable to retract his attack. Jay felt his body momentarily lose control again, and he unluckily slammed into the fuel tank of a truck with an oil logo. Sparks from the high-speed friction instantly ignited the full tank of oil, and a violent inferno immediately engulfed him, roaring like a clawing demon ascending into the sky.

Jay shook his head and walked out of the raging flames, leaving the roaring fire behind him. He suddenly felt that he must look very cool right now, like the Terminator emerging from flames unharmed in a movie. Then he saw all the astonishing damage caused by their battle, looking as if two fully armed armies had fought a war in the city.

Even he found it incredible. He knew what he was theoretically capable of, but he had never actually done it—unleashed his power without reservation. He had never seen how terrifying his own strength was in such a direct way.

Perhaps this would lead to a lot of questions worth pondering, but not today, at least not until that alien giant was down. At that moment, Mongor aggressively attacked him again, roaring and lifting a large yellow bus, filled with terrified children, seemingly a school bus.

He seemed intent on using the school bus as a battering ram to smash into Jay. If he did, even reinforced steel beams and bulletproof exteriors wouldn't protect those children. Jay had almost no time to think. Two thick, red heat vision beams shot out from his eyes almost instinctively, hitting Mongor squarely in the abdomen and sending him flying backward.

Mongor was pushed by the fiery laser beams, breaking several streetlights before crashing into a subway station. The school bus he had been holding suddenly sank under the pull of gravity. Jay flickered and flashed below it, catching the bus steadily with both hands. The terrified children stared wide-eyed from the car windows at their Superman big brother. Jay carefully set the bus down smoothly on the ground and tore open the deformed, jammed reinforced alloy door with one hand.

"Alright, we're here, kids," Jay managed a friendly smile. "Be careful when you get out."

A little girl in the front row asked with wide eyes, "Are you Superman?"

"No, I'm not. Okay, I am."

"Everyone said there was no more Superman, but I always said that wasn't true," a rosy-cheeked little boy said. "I always said Superman would come back!"

If he had the time, Jay might have spent more time interacting with the children like Superman used to, but he didn't have the luxury now. The ground not far away exploded with a "boom," and Mongor burst out again from the flying bricks and dust, his feet leaving deep imprints on the ground.

He watched Jay land in front of him and grunted, "Got more guts than I thought, but this makes the process more interesting."

"Face reality, Mongor," Jay said. "It's over. People will see the truth, and your puppet government is about to end. If I were you, I'd buy a spaceship and run for it in the last few seconds of your term."

"Oh, really?" Mongor's lips curled into a confident smile. "I don't think so."

"What?"

Jay sensed something odd in his eyes, a vague feeling that something was wrong. He looked up sharply and found that the sun, which had been hanging in the sky moments ago, had disappeared. The clear blue sky suddenly turned overcast, and he could see special particles filling the atmosphere, spiraling outwards towards a center beyond the atmosphere.

Soon, he noticed the center releasing these particles—the World Federal Government building, like a black launch tower, continuously emitting some kind of special wave towards the outside of the atmosphere.

"Finally noticed?" Mongor chuckled.

Jay glared at him. "What did you do?"

"Remember when I said that things developing to this point were completely outside my plan?" Mongor laughed. "Remotely controlling your so-called World Government, manipulating human society through puppets—the original plan wasn't like this at all. I never expected it to be so simple, and my further plans became unnecessary. However, to prevent someone from discovering all this someday—like now—I made the original plan an emergency contingency. And ten minutes before I met you, I activated this contingency."

Jay gritted his teeth and asked, "What exactly did you do?"

Mongor grinned, revealing a row of white teeth.

"I created a large enough space tunnel, using your government building as a marker for precise navigation," he said. "I'm about to summon 'Warworld'."