Kindness?

The sun was blazing, and the air was scorching.

Capitol Building Square was bustling and noisy. Jupiter, dressed in a small business suit and black-stockinged skirt, looked beautiful and professional behind her black glasses. She busily arranged camera after camera as reporters from every media outlet, television station, and country rushed here from Anchorage once again without pause.

She coordinated with the police officers sent to maintain order. Seeing the huge crowds raising flags for kindness, she revealed a satisfied expression. Then she turned to look at He-El sunbathing atop the Capitol Building, smiled knowingly, and continued maintaining order in the square.

Masses of people held signs reading "Justice," "Divine Being," "Welcome Your Rule," and more. Their gazes burned as they eagerly looked toward He-El, who was sunbathing on the Capitol Building.

He-El's actions throughout the night had all been reported on television and the internet.

More than eight million criminals had committed atrocities so horrifying that they shocked the world. Before He-El killed them, people had never known that humanity's moral bottom line could sink so low, that people could torment one another in so many twisted ways.

As the revelations spread through television and the internet, vast numbers of civilians raised the banner of justice and surged forward in a frenzy to support He-El.

Once everything was ready, He-El finally opened his eyes lazily from where he had been sunbathing. He floated into the air and flew toward the podium crowded with microphones.

The fanatical crowd below, as if seeing the god of their faith, stretched out both hands straight upward. It seemed as though they would dislocate their joints just trying to touch He-El's feet.

In just one night, public opinion of He-El had made a complete reversal. From a terrifying alien, he had risen to become an angel of justice, a god of justice, humanity's guardian deity, and all manner of overwhelmingly positive titles.

He-El's arrival at the podium triggered an intense wave of cheers.

He yawned lightly. Lazily basking in the sunlight, He-El could not even be bothered to acknowledge this group that cared only about getting excited, and began to speak.

"First, I conquered this country in seven hours merely to let the world understand what I am capable of. Now, leaders of every nation, please cooperate voluntarily and hand over your authority. I cannot be bothered to start a massacre."

"Second, Dawn has already selected a group of humans to be promoted to mayor and manage cities on my behalf."

"I have transferred ten million dollars into your accounts. This is your salary for the first month, ensuring you have no worries. At the same time, each mayor possesses one hundred death quotas. Whether you have a grudge against someone or not, whether they offend your eyes or were once someone you hated or envied, as long as you feel they hinder your management of the city or obstruct my orders, you may instruct Dawn to execute them using one of your hundred death quotas."

"Work hard, mayors. I look forward to seeing you manage my cities better. And obey my laws. Mayors can be replaced."

"I have no intention of forcing anyone. If the humans selected by Dawn are unwilling to accept promotion and work for me, they may leave voluntarily."

"At the same time, regardless of whether you are sincere, anyone talented enough to help me forge a grand empire may join my ranks."

"Third, once Earth is unified, Dawn will calculate the one thousand subordinates with the greatest contributions and grant them superpowers."

"This will not take long. At most, it will happen within a year."

"In other words, one year from now, there will be one thousand superpowered individuals."

"Work hard for me, and work hard for yourselves, everyone."

Whoosh—

He-El's words caused an earth-shaking uproar.

If ten million dollars for mayors inspired envy, and one hundred death quotas inspired fear, then superpowers awakened naked, frenzied greed and desire.

Anyone who had watched He-El walk out of a nuclear explosion and casually unleash attacks on the scale of nuclear blasts could not help coveting such godlike power.

Even if they could not become as powerful as He-El, the ability to fly, shoot lasers from their eyes, possess immense strength, and so on were already powers humanity desperately dreamed of having.

Across the world, people before their televisions breathed rapidly, goosebumps rising all over their bodies as excitement overwhelmed them.

He-El's momentum had become unstoppable, sweeping across the globe.

No one was still thinking about defeating or stopping He-El. Instead, they were thinking about becoming his subordinate and adding a brick to the empire he would build.

After all, there were one thousand slots. That number was tiny compared to Earth's seven billion people.

But only the truly clever understood that, though it appeared they were competing with seven billion people, that was not actually the case.

The remnants of the old era could not compete. The various leaders He-El had forced to step down immediately after displaying his overwhelming power would regret it for the rest of their lives. They would not even have the chance to pledge loyalty to him.

Meanwhile, the money and one hundred death quotas granted to the new mayors would allow their decrees to pass without obstruction, giving them an unstoppable momentum to fully display their talents.

The only people competing with them were those among the seven billion who had the ability to be selected by Dawn as mayors, or to become other subordinates.

They were all independent, new people whose interests belonged to He-El and who thirsted to build a new empire for him. These people would support He-El with all their strength and discard everything from the past.

They were full of vigor, passion, impulsiveness, and ideas. Under He-El's encouragement, they would charge forward without hesitation to fulfill their personal ambitions and pursue superpowers.

He-El would turn them into a new interest group.

One thousand ability users—this number was too great, so great that everyone felt they had a chance to obtain it, as though it were within reach.

Seeing the people before him flushed red with excitement, He-El smiled in satisfaction.

The crowd erupted into immense cheers. Some waved flags bearing the words "Angel of Justice" and cheered fervently, treating him as a god who had opened the heavens and remade the world.

Waves of sound surged into the sky, fiery and stirring.

It took a long time for the noise to settle. Then everyone stared intently at the smiling He-El with burning eyes.

"Now, reporters may ask questions."

Jupiter stood elegantly at the side, holding a microphone and guiding the proceedings. Her grip on the clustered microphones was slightly tight as she suppressed the faintly quickening beat of her heart.

The surrounding crowd, flushed and overheated, fell silent and looked toward the reporters.

A young man rose from among the reporters. He was excited, dressed in a plaid shirt and slacks, with a thin face that made him look like a bookworm.

"I know, I know! The leaders of the major nations and the whole world have misunderstood you. You are not evil. On the contrary, you have brought new life to humanity on Earth. You will unify Earth and lead humanity into a new realm. You are humanity's friendly friend, humanity's guardian deity. You are kind. Everyone, let us applaud warmly and formally welcome the kind god who has descended upon us!"

The young man was so excited that spittle flew from his mouth. His face reddened as he shouted himself hoarse. After finishing, he began clapping forcefully, leading all the reporters in applause, which then spread to the watching crowd.

The entire Capitol Building rang with thunderous applause and cries of approval.

He-El looked deeply at the young man. When he saw the name on his badge—Kevin—the smile on his face faded into calmness. He replied flatly, "I am not kind."

"Eight million criminals have been put to death. In one night, you saved countless families. You are an angel of justice, Jesus sent down by God in mercy for mankind. You are a deity worthy of the people's sincere devotion, merciful and kind..."

Kevin was fervent, crazily devout like a fanatic who had glimpsed the true god. Before he could finish—

Bang!

An enormous pressure descended upon everyone like a roaring tsunami.

The air seemed to gain weight, becoming thick and tangible, choking everyone's breath. He-El's eyes turned crimson, Heat Vision entering its pre-activation state. He looked at Kevin and said coldly, "I said, I am not kind."

Everyone at the scene seemed to have their throats gripped. It was as though dark clouds had fallen over their vision. The pressure was so immense that no one dared breathe. The red glow of Heat Vision in He-El's eyes instantly dragged everyone's fervent mood into the abyss.

Only then did they remember that He-El had emerged unharmed from a nuclear explosion, casually created nuclear-scale blasts, and killed eight million humans. Silent trembling and fear began to rise again.

Under He-El's gaze, Kevin immediately felt as though He-El were a mountain crashing straight into him, as though the impact had frozen the blood flowing through his body.

He forced up his seemingly frozen heart. Determination filled his eyes as he viciously bit the tip of his tongue. The pain and bloody taste freed him from the crushing pressure of fear.

Determination rose onto Kevin's face, along with an even more intense fervor than before. He widened his eyes and shouted passionately, "No, you are kind."

"Your actions have already told us so."

"You slaughtered eight million criminals and brought a brand-new opportunity to this country."

"You conquered this country to warn all nations on Earth not to resist. You hate bloodshed, hate war, and hate killing even more. That is why you began with this country—to prevent large-scale bloodshed from spreading across Earth."

"You granted the mayors of every city the special privilege of one hundred death quotas, allowing these new mayors to use the strongest backing possible to crush the forces of the old system."

"With the most resolute attitude, you are swiftly ruling Earth, maintaining order, and protecting civilians. The faster it happens, the fewer civilians will die."

"You say you are not kind, yet you have never actively harmed civilians. You have warned us repeatedly and maintained order time and again, all to protect civilians."

"You possess superpowers beyond ordinary people, yet you are not stingy with them. You are willing to share them with humanity."

"You are humanity's guardian deity, an angel of justice sent to Earth by God, a deity leading humanity into a new era. You are so merciful and kind. In this world, there is no one greater or kinder than you."

Kevin was practically insane. He stiffened his neck and faced He-El's blazing crimson gaze. His entire face was flushed almost purple from excitement as he bellowed himself hoarse.

Only Kevin's impassioned voice remained at the scene. His voice seemed to pierce through the heavy atmosphere in the air and break through the clouds.

He-El remained expressionless. His increasingly dazzling Heat Vision stared fixedly at Kevin amid the frozen atmosphere where no one dared breathe.

It was as though he were about to use that gaze, capable of piercing tank armor, to destroy the human who had seen through his true nature.

Suddenly, he did not know whether to laugh or cry.

He-El lightly shook his head and laughed. The Heat Vision gradually faded from his eyes.

Sunlight fell across his face, coating it in a layer of golden radiance.

The heart Kevin had been holding up finally fell back into place. A smile could not help appearing on his face as he roared inwardly, Success!

Seeing the Heat Vision fade from He-El's eyes, he watched He-El shake his head and laugh.

The reporters behind him lit up with excitement and began applauding for Kevin. The applause spread contagiously into a fervent roar. The distant crowd became even more excited, waving their flags madly and loudly praising Kevin.

Amid cheers and celebration more impassioned and blood-boiling than ever before.

The next moment.

He-El, still shaking his head and laughing, had his eyes flare scarlet. Two beams of Heat Vision shot out, slicing the smiling Kevin diagonally in half. The beams continued into the reporters behind him, cutting through them like wheat. Limbs flew everywhere, blood sprayed wildly, and terrified chaos erupted.