Genes

He-El slowly withdrew his Heat Vision from the podium. The scorched-red skin around his eyes gradually cooled and returned to normal.

His gaze was merciless. Severed limbs and broken bodies littered the scene, bright red blood flowing across the ground. The stench of blood mixed with the roasted scent of burnt flesh, rising from this hellscape. In the distance, terrified civilians stepped back in panic, trampling fallen flags beneath their feet. None of them dared shout that He-El was kind and benevolent anymore.

Kevin's appearance reminded him of coworkers and bosses from his previous life who called themselves "kind, diligent, honest, and helpful."

The unpleasant memory stirred a trace of dissatisfaction within He-El, as though something inside him was swelling, about to overflow.

Would more destruction—destroying everything—make him feel better?

His eyes turned scorching red again. Heat Vision began charging as his gaze swept over the panicked crowd with nowhere to escape. Before him were faces filled with terror, people desperately trying to retreat only to be blocked by others.

Whenever those crimson eyes passed over someone, they could not help but tremble, their legs going weak with fear.

He-El was very satisfied. A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he wanted to slaughter them, to destroy them all.

But he did not do so.

Bang!

The podium instantly exploded, and the microphones flew in every direction.

A sonic boom cloud burst from where He-El stood, leaving a white sonic trail as he shot into the sky and flew into the distance.

He did not fly particularly fast. He enjoyed the gale that cut across his face like blades, feeling the contempt for life that had arisen after slaughtering tens of millions of lives in a single night.

The urge to destroy everything still churned within him, spilling out bit by bit, as though it might suddenly erupt with terrifying power.

"I haven't lost myself because of my immense power. Then why is there such turmoil within me?"

He-El rationally examined himself and discovered fluctuating emotional changes deep within, yet he did not know what they were.

He slowly flew through the sky toward Anchorage Base, calming his thoughts.

He realized that his emotional fluctuations were very likely caused by interacting with others and being affected by them.

He could not help but ponder.

Was he really someone so easily influenced?

Anchorage Base.

The clear night sky here was still filled with a brilliant river of stars.

He-El streaked across the sky, leaving behind a trail of sonic boom clouds. The airflow tossed his black hair, while his eyes remained deep and his expression calm. Beneath the dazzling starry sky, he plunged through the large hole in the dome he had previously broken.

The reconstruction engineers at Anchorage Base were quite perceptive. They had noticed that He-El had entered through this hole in the sky several times, so they deliberately chose not to repair it. Instead, they reinforced, repaired, and beautified it, directly turning the hole into He-El's exclusive entrance and exit. They built passageways leading throughout Anchorage Base beneath the dome, allowing He-El to reach anywhere from there after entering from the sky.

They could hardly expect a god like him to enter through the front door with everyone else!

He-El moved quickly. His feet landed on the steel passageway, and the scent of motor oil and metal reached his nose.

A powerful gust blasted outward toward the surrounding workers, making their cheeks ripple and their eyes sting shut. When they saw He-El appear, they hurriedly stood against both walls and lowered their heads in terror.

He-El strode toward the biological research lab. His black greatcoat billowed behind him like waves as he looked down upon the world.

The biomedical lab had been damaged during He-El's battle, so its walls had been torn down and it had been expanded to become even wider than before. White-coated research experts moved constantly between the rows of white compartments.

Ciri wore white canvas shoes, black dress pants wrapped around her long legs, and a fitted T-shirt stretched into a three-dimensional shape across her chest. Her hair was styled into two buns, though they were crooked, one higher than the other.

She wore a white lab coat over it all. Her nimble, tough tongue made a faint sucking sound as it stirred a lollipop around her mouth, occasionally puffing out her beautiful cheeks. Standing outside the biomedical lab, she looked through the transparent glass wall with interest at the white mice inside displaying all kinds of superpowers.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Hearing those familiar footsteps—heavy, firm, and so imposing they seemed like a planet taking strides—Ciri turned with a lollipop in her mouth and saw He-El emerge from around the corner.

He was still that elegant, mountain-like, shining He-El.

Ciri silently praised him. Then she slipped her right hand into her lab coat, pulled out a lollipop, and tossed it toward He-El.

Whenever she had something delicious, she wanted to share it with He-El.

He-El walked over and caught it instinctively. Opening his palm, he saw an Alps lollipop in it, ice cream chocolate flavored. A question mark immediately appeared in his mind.

"???"

Even as the question marks appeared, He-El's emotions calmed somewhat.

Compared with all of humanity on Earth, subordinates he acknowledged naturally made He-El feel a little closer and gentler toward them, even though they had only known each other for a few days.

Interacting with subordinates he acknowledged was always more peaceful than dealing with certain incomprehensible people.

As He-El walked, he tore open the wrapper, casually tossed it away, put the Alps lollipop into his mouth, and came to stand beside Ciri. The two of them sucked on Alps lollipops together while looking into the biological research lab through the transparent glass.

Inside, the white mice were dancing wildly. Lasers shot everywhere, frost spewed from mouths, flames covered bodies, and all kinds of metal formed over their skin.

He-El lightly licked the Alps lollipop twice with his tongue. His overly refined sense of taste could not find any pleasure in it, so he adjusted his taste buds to an ordinary human level. Now it tasted normal.

Savoring the long-lost flavor with a slight sense of nostalgia, a pleased smile appeared on his lips.

He felt very relaxed.

Seeing He-El sucking on a lollipop with her made Ciri very happy. She gave the Alps lollipop a hard suck, took it from her mouth, and quickly began her report. A stream of professional biomedical terminology poured from her red lips. Whenever she paused, she stuffed the Alps lollipop back into her mouth, sucked on it again, caught her breath, and continued reporting.

He-El quietly sucked on his Alps lollipop and listened to Ciri's report.

The general meaning was this: the balance and stability of He-El's foundational genes were practically unshakable, something difficult to understand or unlock. They had created a He-El far more powerful than Ciri had imagined, and she truly had never encountered such a case before.

Yet above He-El's foundational genes was another genetic layer: open genes. This was why Ciri could so easily develop serum from He-El's cells and grant white mice superpowers.

Because of those open genes, He-El should possess many more kinds of superpowers, as well as the ability to grant superpowers to himself or others.

He-El nodded. In an instant, he understood.

There was no longer even a trace of worry about the fluctuations in his emotions.

He casually tossed away the white stick of the Alps lollipop that had melted in his mouth. Ciri pulled out a strawberry-flavored Alps lollipop from her pocket and handed it to him. He-El accepted it and continued sucking on it.

He was not surprised.

As a Super Kryptonian, he actually possessed many more superpowers than comics had shown: telepathy, Mind Control over matter, size alteration, force-field projection, planetary projection, Instant Transmission, Time Movement, and more.

They had not yet evolved or awakened because the stability and balance of his foundational genes would coordinate every powerful superpower and allow them to awaken gradually.

Thus, the current He-El only possessed the ordinary abilities common to Kryptonians: super strength, super endurance, super vision, Heat Vision, Freeze Breath, and so on.

In the future, as he absorbed sunlight, the superpowers in his body would awaken one by one under his control.

As for now, He-El felt that he was still very weak. Compared to Golden Superman, Darkseid, the Highfather, Rao—the chief god who could laugh and converse with the Endless—and the many great gods stuck to the Source Wall or within God's Domain, he was nothing. He could not even leave a single universe.

That was why He-El was extremely satisfied to have come to this Earth in Pacific Rim. He could use a safe Earth as an experiment, give every human on Earth superpowers, and use the collective wisdom and flashes of inspiration of an entire planet to develop more applications and stronger methods for all kinds of superpowers.

"He-El, were you manufactured too?" Ciri asked, pulling the lollipop from her red lips and holding it in her hand.

"Hm?"

Ciri's words stunned He-El.

Was I manufactured?

Krypton's highly advanced biotechnology had caused it to abandon natural reproduction. Everyone was born in the Life Origin Chamber.

From the moment of birth, one's genes determined one's identity and profession.

Although He-El could easily blow up Earth and withstand nuclear bombs, he was actually just an "ordinary" genius researcher who had been manufactured.

So yes.

Holding the lollipop in her right hand, Ciri unconsciously rotated her wrist in circles. Her pupils drifted upward as she voiced her guess.

"Look, your foundational genes are like the foundation of a towering building. They're solid and powerful, constantly growing stronger. Once you become strong enough, you'll awaken the ability to control all kinds of superpowers one by one."

"He-El, your foundational genes make me feel as if they were built to bear an overwhelmingly powerful gene. The foundation was laid incredibly solidly, all to support a skyscraper meant for you."

After finishing, Ciri put the Alps lollipop back into her mouth.

In an instant, He-El felt as though lightning had struck his mind. Ciri's speculation left him dazed, but then he reacted. His eyes narrowed slightly, radiating an extremely dangerous presence. Even Ciri felt the surrounding air turn cold and shivered.

He had never considered the issue of his own genes, because on Krypton, all his attention had been focused on planning his escape. He had only wanted to survive first.

Now that he had heard Ciri's speculation, He-El could not help but think deeply about himself.

He truly was far beyond ordinary Kryptonians, possessing immense strength and various superpowers that ordinary Kryptonians lacked.

Then who had created someone as powerful as him?

Who had given him open-gene superpowers and such exaggeratedly solid, balanced foundational genes that surpassed those of ordinary Kryptonians? What were they meant to bear?

He-El thought about it for a moment, then stopped speculating.

On Krypton, there were only a handful of people capable of creating someone as powerful as him. There were so few that he did not even need to guess.

So the one who created him...

Was...