Joe-El

"Save Krypton?"

Joe-El's projection calmly mocked himself.

"You never had any such savior complex."

"He-El, you're just a monster ruled by your own desires. You want to control Krypton. You want to become Krypton's god!"

"He-El, deep down, you're far too arrogant."

Joe-El rebuked He-El in anger. The He-El who had been his son for ten years had ultimately been exposed as nothing more than someone hiding arrogance beneath a humble exterior. Beneath his easygoing kindness was merely a delusional maniac with a mad desire for control, who wanted to become a god. It pained Joe-El deeply.

He-El's thumbs, crossed over the bridge of his nose, pressed and rubbed it.

Honestly...

He had originally thought that, even until the end—even after his father died—he could preserve that "perfect" image, allowing his father to remain proud of him even in the afterlife.

Now that the deepest truth in his heart had been exposed, He-El no longer bothered to conceal himself.

His hands slowly lowered from the bridge of his nose to the armrests of the steel seat. He leaned back directly against the steel chair, its icy touch piercing through his skin and into his blood. A cold smile curled at his lips as he tilted his head slightly, his eyes looking down at the starry sky before him, ignoring his adoptive father, Joe-El, beside him.

Arrogant...

From the moment he crossed over to Krypton and learned that he was He-El, that he would become the strongest Kryptonian in the future, the seed of arrogance had already taken deep root in his heart. Indulging that arrogance, letting it burn in his heart like raging desire, had been the force driving him to conceal everything.

Although DC had no shortage of powerful gods, and amid multiverses as countless as grains of sand, he might be nothing more than an ant beneath the notice of those gods.

But the power to rule over the stars made it impossible for him, someone who had once struggled at the bottom of society, not to become obsessed.

Anyone who had entered society and experienced life at the bottom longed for such power.

He simply could not resist!

"How did you know?"

He-El suddenly found it strange.

It was not true curiosity. Rather, if he had acted so poorly that he was exposed at the very end and all his efforts came to nothing, then he needed to reflect on it.

Perhaps he really was arrogant, but there was nothing wrong with that.

So-called arrogance was merely a dimensional advantage.

Treating those inferior to oneself with arrogance.

Absorbing all the knowledge and things that surpassed oneself, then looking down upon them.

That past life of being humble, timid, hesitant, enduring the looks on others' faces, and desperately giving his life for six thousand five hundred and sixty-one dollars; that bleak existence of carrying his boss's luxurious mansion, luxury cars, and wonderful life on his back while living like a pig or dog—it was so pathetic that it made him laugh.

This arrogant heart was the truest version of himself, rooted in the foundation of human nature.

"My elder brother, Zor-El, was a stubborn, traditional scientist. Our relationship had always been tense."

Joe-El spoke slowly, as though recounting a heavy tale.

"Through your frequent interactions, the estrangement between him and me gradually disappeared."

"He had gotten drunk before me many times, emotionally patting my shoulder and saying that I had adopted a good son."

"He praised you without reservation, sang your praises, believed that you were the only choice to save Krypton, and even placed his own status beneath yours."

"At the time, I was only delighted that my relationship with Zor was improving. I praised you alongside him and paid no further attention. Looking back now, there had long been signs in everything you did."

"Only when my wife, Lara, began lavishly praising you as well did I realize that everyone around me seemed to have nothing but praise for you."

"At that moment, I suddenly became curious about what someone as perfect as you truly sought."

He-El looked down at the stars in silence.

He had not expected the flaw Joe-El discovered to be everyone's unreserved praise.

Everyone sought something—wealth, beauty, power, or fame.

And when someone appeared too perfect, as though seeking none of those things, then beneath that perfection, they must be seeking something far greater.

Joe-El's tone suddenly changed, turning cold and heavy. "I deliberately got Zor drunk and learned from him that the two of you were working together."

"And then... I discovered that beneath Kandor City, you had violated the Council of Elders' ban on cloning by creating a large number of clones with the same appearances as Krypton's upper echelon."

"You wanted to replace Krypton's upper echelon with clones. He-El, how could you dare do such a thing!"

"I also discovered that among Krypton's lower-class people, a reformist resistance army had risen to oppose the upper echelon. Their leader was called the New God who would change the face of Krypton."

"What are you trying to do, He-El?"

"You want to control Krypton. You want to become Krypton's god!"

By the end, Joe-El was filled with deep rage. He had never imagined that his perfect son, praised and celebrated by the world—He-El—would dare to stir Krypton into such chaos.

He had always thought He-El sought nothing. Even if he did seek something, it would only be scientific advancement within the Academy of Sciences, or leaving his name in history. He had never imagined that his adoptive son would be an unprecedented ambitious schemer who wanted to overturn Krypton.

Such a long-hidden ambition shocked Joe-El beyond measure.

"I am saving Krypton, Father. Do you think Krypton's upper echelon would allow you to investigate the planet's core? The Council of Elders does not believe your findings. Krypton's end is near, and those politicians whose genes have fixed them in place cannot understand the severity of the problems scientists have raised."

"Krypton has been solidified into a class structure without freedom of thought. Its destruction is inevitable."

He-El answered coldly.

Kryptonians reproduced through embryo cultivation. From the moment they were born, they were destined to be raised as politicians, soldiers, scientists, and so on—like the cells in a human body's eyes, ears, brain, and heart, highly differentiated, each performing its own role.

A mayor's son became a mayor, a general's son became a general, a banker's son became a banker, a scientist's son became a scientist, a politician's son became a politician...

This rigid class system could not be broken, because it had been locked in place from the depths of their genes.

If humans had no thoughts, such rigidity would be an immensely good thing.

But unfortunately, humans had thoughts.

That rigidity became a prison of Despair.

"Replacing the upper echelon and throwing Krypton into chaos will only hurt more people. Your choice will make Krypton suffer its gravest damage. There is more than one way to solve this problem."

Joe-El shouted in anger. He-El's ambition terrified him.

"What 'more people'? You only mean yourselves!"

"Do you see the people at the bottom as livestock?"

"Father, you do not understand the desires of the lower-class people."

"I have gone deep among the lower class. What you stirred up..."

"Is that so? Inspecting the lower class's standard of living under arrangements led by the mayor?"

"No one can truly feel another person's pain. From the very beginning, your genes destined you to stand above others. Your joys and sorrows have never been connected to theirs."

He-El said in a deep voice, both hands gripping the steel armrests tightly, his gaze cold.

"Their endurance has reached the point where they no longer care whether they live. With the slightest provocation, they worship me as their god and create the purpose of their actions on their own."

"You think I want to become their god? No. I only want to use them to control Krypton."

"But since they want a god, then after I control Krypton, becoming Krypton's god would not be so bad."

Hearing He-El's words, Joe-El knew that He-El was beyond saving. With relief, he said, "I am very fortunate that I discovered all of this while you were ready, and sent you into space."