Do Kryptonians Even Count as Kryptonians If They Can't Take a Nuke?

Anchorage City.

This was a city, not a mecha base built along the harbor.

Average temperature: -5°C.

Anchorage Avenue No. 2 was cold and desolate, utterly devoid of people.

He-El wore white laboratory shorts and a short-sleeved shirt, exposing his long, powerful limbs. Beneath his glossy black hair was a hard-edged face with deep, handsome features. He walked calmly through the empty city, actively using his biological magnetic field to absorb sunlight at high output, his entire body glowing.

He resembled a flawless deity from classical mythology, stepping out of legend. The difference in the essence of life made him seem completely out of place beside ordinary humans.

A little behind him was Ciri, dressed in a filthy white lab coat, a gray sweater, a red classical leather skirt, and long black stockings. On her feet were bottomless high heels whose thick soles had been knocked off.

She had only slept for a few hours before waking with a start. Without even changing clothes, she had followed He-El to Anchorage City.

Like a little girl, she held her chin high and hummed an unfamiliar tune behind He-El. Every so often, she stretched out her arms like an airplane and flew from side to side.

"Are you really that happy?"

He-El asked in confusion. Even he could not understand Ciri's choice—this somewhat erratic woman who had willingly become his loyal hound.

Still, considering that Ciri was an outstanding doctor of biological genetics, arguably the finest biological expert on Earth, having her under his command was barely acceptable.

He needed subordinates to conduct research and handle various matters. A leader intending to establish New Krypton could not possibly have to personally kill someone every time. That would be far too beneath him.

As long as he lowered his vision enough not to see the mites crawling through the creases of her skin, he could tolerate having her around as a biological expert to research living organisms for him.

"Of course I'm happy. I've never felt this relaxed or free before. I don't have to choose between humanity and the Precursors. You are my choice." Ciri sang the words out in a cheerful voice. Under the warm winter sun, she beamed so broadly that her gums showed, her eyes narrowing into crescents.

The Precursors she spoke of were the race within the wormhole in the abyssal trench, which frequently released monsters to invade Earth.

He-El laughed soundlessly.

"That's merely running away. You hand all the sins and burdens to someone else, and your mind feels lighter? Because you no longer have to bear the choice between humanity and the Precursors?"

"Yes. It's wonderful that you're so powerful, He-El. I don't need to make a choice. I'm simply a tool in your hand. It doesn't matter whether you destroy humanity or the Precursors. I only need to follow behind someone as powerful as you."

The instant Ciri admitted how weak she was, she felt invincible.

Since she could not choose and had been struggling in an ocean of spiritual pain, she could simply hand every decision to a powerful, terrifying supreme being and let him bear the sins for her.

No need to think or choose. She could happily become a tool.

For such a dreamlike life to truly descend upon her one day, she was so moved she could have cried herself to death.

He-El shook his head with a laugh. He had never heard of such... such... such a unique choice.

What kind of life experience could forge a personality like Ciri's?

"Would you mind telling me about your past? I'm rather curious."

Ciri placed both hands behind her head and kicked her feet along. Her chest, outlined by the filthy gray sweater, bounced and trembled as she spoke carelessly.

"It's actually nothing much."

"My father was apparently some kind of bishop in the Coexistence Faction among the Precursors. He altered his own genes, came to Earth long ago, and used my mother to create me."

"My father taught me everything I know about genetics. Even my intelligence, my innate talent for biology—I suspect he altered that too."

"My father went on and on all day about biological coexistence, biological prosperity, the universal biosphere, and all that. I can't deny that I was influenced by him to some degree."

"Later, my mother discovered that my father was an alien. She was frightened out of her mind and sent to a psychiatric hospital."

"My father kept demanding that I remember the great prosperity of biological coexistence. He wanted me to return to the Precursors, become the bishop who inherited his position, and carry on his unfinished will. The future of two planets depended on me. He dumped everything on me, then died when he could no longer hold on on Earth."

"I was desperate too. What could I do?"

"Stuff the hope of peaceful coexistence between two planets into a four-year-old girl?"

"What could I possibly do? I could only crack open my father's skull and see what kind of brain he had to come up with such an absurd idea."

"Later, when I grew up, I encountered plenty of disgusting things. Humanity really is ugly."

"But then I thought about the other side of the wormhole. Not only are their hearts ugly, their bodies are ugly too."

"How was I supposed to choose? They're both so rotten. Earth might as well explode and let them all be destroyed."

"It's wonderful that you appeared, He-El!!!"

"As long as He-El makes the choice."

As Ciri spoke, her smile became increasingly delighted. Behind He-El, she reached toward him as though touching the light of hope, yearning to touch the future.

She did not touch He-El. Her hand stopped halfway, and she continued humming a little tune through her nose.

"Fine. Then I'll bear all your sins."

He-El smiled, not taking it seriously at all.

He headed straight into a boutique clothing store with decent fabric and rather classical decor. His biological magnetic field entered the lock and opened the door directly. He went inside and began choosing clothes.

After all, he was still wearing laboratory clothes.

"Hehehe!!"

Ciri happily followed him in. Her gaze shifted away from He-El and toward the women's clothing section. She tilted her head in thought, then sniffed the unpleasant smell on herself. It seemed she had not bathed for more than ten hours, and then she had sweated and been soaked in Blue Poison toxin. It was fortunate He-El could endure standing beside her.

Ciri casually found a set of women's clothing, underwear, and the like, then located the washroom and went in to bathe.

Neither of them was particularly polite about it.

He-El casually picked out a suit suitable for a formal occasion, then put on a greatcoat with comfortable fur around the collar. Its hem reached his heels, making him look domineering and imposing.

"He-El, what plans do you have for coming to Earth? Are you going to destroy Earth?" Ciri shouted from the washroom.

"No. In fact, I'm only passing through."

Seeing that Ciri was in the washroom, He-El sat broadly on the sofa, spreading his arms over its backrest and tilting his head as he replied.

"But I still need to kill a few people, then... conquer Earth within a year and test the planetary system I intend to establish in the future. Grant Earthlings superpowers and collect data. Of course, most importantly, I'll spend a few years gathering some energy for my spacecraft."

"Conquer Earth in one year? That's impossible, isn't it?" Ciri rubbed her body with shower gel. No matter how powerful he was, she felt that conquering Earth within a year was impossible.

"It doesn't matter. If this world isn't operating according to my wishes after a year, I'll blow apart Earth's core and make the planet explode." He-El sounded unconcerned. He did not think of himself as bloodthirsty, but that was contingent on everyone properly carrying out his ideas. Otherwise, there was no point in keeping them around.

He would certainly establish an unprecedentedly great power in the future.

This Earth was perfect for testing certain systems.

He could also spread superpowers and let humanity's collective wisdom research the effects of their applications.

"He-El really is terrifying." Ciri sighed. She began rubbing shampoo into her hair until it foamed heavily, then slid her slender fingers into her locks and scratched her scalp with her nails. "When that time comes, you'll take me with you, right?"

"Of course. You're my subordinate now. Prepare yourself for wandering among the stars in the universe. It might bore you insane."

He-El was quite easygoing, answering Ciri's questions back and forth.

He was not some cold and heartless person. On the contrary, he was exceptionally easygoing and peaceful. It was simply that few people understood that—not even his father, Joe-El.

Yet on this Earth, Ciri understood him best.

"That's wonderful."

Ciri was satisfied with his answer.

Before long, Ciri emerged from the washroom in a new outfit: a thick white velvet blazer, a black leather skirt, red knee-high leather boots, and an oversized green trench coat draped over her shoulders. Her fashion sense was not much better. She was still walking down fashion's dead end.

"So we came here just to wash up and change clothes?" she asked, spreading her hands.

"I'm waiting for a nuclear bomb."

He-El answered with a smile.

The military had long since evacuated Anchorage City. They had already made the worst preparations and readied humanity's ultimate weapon.

"Why?" Ciri seemed to have question marks popping out of her head.

He-El pondered for a moment before replying, "If a Kryptonian can't take a nuclear bomb, it doesn't feel like he's a Kryptonian."

In truth, He-El wanted to take a nuclear bomb so this world could see that even a nuclear bomb could not kill him, and obediently accept his rule. After all, he did not want to kill more humans over the coming year.

All of Earth's struggles against him would be futile.

This counted as his final mercy toward humanity.

"Is your planet really that terrifying? It actually has a tradition of taking nuclear bombs!" Ciri sucked in a cold breath.

What kind of planet could have such a perverse tradition?

He-El silently accepted it.

Could a Kryptonian even count as a Kryptonian if he could not take a nuclear bomb?

Besides, taking a nuclear bomb could reduce ninety percent of the trouble. Why would He-El not do it? With his power, nothing would happen to him.

"Now?"

"Looks like they don't think the timing is right. We can only return to Anchorage Base and begin ruling Earth."