Three Months Later

Three months later.

The thermosphere.

Roughly 400 kilometers above the ground.

From here, one could see the majestic, towering curve of the horizon, the azure ocean interwoven with enormous cloud banks, a sight vast and magnificent.

Earth's natural grandeur, the ecosystem formed over ages untold—here, all of it could be seen and felt clearly.

He-El, who could easily take in the whole of it, could only marvel. If it had not been deliberately created by a god, then what were the odds—trillions upon trillions to one—that life could emerge from proteins and nucleic acid molecules? It was a long process, requiring sufficient chance, or perhaps life was simply destined to evolve within an ecosystem.

Observing the results of such vast stretches of time, one would discover both the coincidence and greatness behind the birth of life.

And with the emergence of intelligence, living things came to believe that the universe had meaning.

That was the extent of He-El's reflections on Earth.

The International Space Station.

This International Space Station, jointly built, operated, and used by sixteen countries on Earth—the largest, longest-running, and most internationally involved space station in history—had now become He-El's bed.

He-El chose the most comfortable spot, on the side facing the sun, and lay down leisurely on a flat surface to bask in the sunlight.

Inside the International Space Station, automated mechanical spiders and mechanical tentacles were modifying the station, gradually transforming it into a Space-Based Weapon.

Dawn reported on the progress of conquering Earth every moment.

"Master, 173 countries and 25 regions on Earth have completed the transition. The selected administrators are now managing their respective cities, maintaining order and carrying out reforms. Everything is proceeding well."

Naturally, everything was proceeding well.

Those selected were all highly intelligent humans—people who wanted superpowers to fight He-El, or idealists filled with passion who longed to change the poverty gap in their cities and improve the lives of ordinary people.

With limitless funding, decrees that could kill, and Dawn's supervision, the rulers worked passionately for their hometowns, their people, superpower genes, and their new authority.

As for the old capital powers and entrenched networks, they had already come to an end when they could no longer even access the internet.

Too many had committed suicide or been hung from streetlights.

Large amounts of capital were frozen and confiscated outright. Banks, finance, the economy, and the internet were all under Dawn's control. Nearly every day, confiscated capitalists jumped from buildings. Even though Dawn's subsidies and protection ensured that they could survive and become ordinary citizens, they still could not accept eating Shaxian snacks, street food, hamburgers, fried chicken, and fries alongside these peasants.

As a result, crematoriums became unbelievably busy.

Following He-El's orders, Dawn unified the internet after confiscating the funds, enacted laws, lowered prices, and created a new currency to replace Earth's old money.

The world's food production could feed 15 billion people, yet out of a global population of over 7 billion, 800 million were starving.

Dawn calculated everything directly and redistributed food evenly, ensuring that every ordinary citizen had enough to eat.

Every citizen registered under the He-El Empire received a trivial reward of ten thousand from He-El for conquering Earth. With prices lowered, the purchasing power of ten thousand new currency units was equivalent to fifty thousand old dollars.

Sometimes, when He-El heard of strange customs in certain regions, he would casually order Dawn to change them.

For example, in one country, buying a commercial apartment came with the bizarre practice of shared public-area charges. What the hell?! It reminded He-El of unpleasant memories, so he casually abolished the charges and clearly defined the responsibilities of real estate companies in maintaining public areas, as well as the duties of property management as service personnel.

He-El had driven the real estate industry into collapse. Some people used the ten thousand he had given them to buy homes that had previously required decades of future mortgage payments. Some fell to their knees and wailed. Some wore complicated expressions. Some thanked the gods. Some abandoned the ideals of resistance in their hearts, their faces blank, no longer able to clench their fists and resist.

Mandatory paternity tests for newborns, immediate execution for human traffickers—every rule and law He-El had once imagined was implemented with a casual word from him, regardless of how great the impact might be.

Some countries had strange hierarchies based on surnames, so He-El casually had those changed as well.

From the moment he conquered this Earth, this Earth could have only two classes.

Me!

Humanity!

Some countries were even stranger. For example, on the wedding night, a bride had to sleep with every male member of the groom's family before the marriage was considered valid.

In others, people of the opposite sex had to wrap their entire bodies in towels whenever they went outside, unable to reveal even a trace of skin.

Many such strange practices were not customs or rules at all. They were purely for amusement and oppression, methods of ruling through culture. In the end, they were all about domination.

Only humans oppressed humans. That oppression was the preservation and maintenance of rule, control over both mind and body.

And He-El had no need for any of that—no need for humanity's wealth, status, power, or reputation.

What he needed was humanity's wisdom and ideas. Those brilliant, shining sparks of inspiration were the greatest treasure possessed by Earth's humans.

He-El had no objection at all to letting humanity live happy, fulfilled lives.

It was precisely because of this way of thinking and acting that, within only a month, the lower classes across Earth willingly submitted to He-El's rule. They shouted their thanks to him, wept tears of joy at his arrival, cooperated with him, and became the foundation of his rule.

This newly established Earth government received unprecedented fervent support and love.

Even lying on the International Space Station, He-El could hear praise from all over the world. The voices of praise directly crushed the wails of curses into unfathomable depths, suppressing them until they were extinguished.

"Earth has 193 countries and 31 regions in total. There will always be people who refuse to see reality."

For instance, drug dealers and criminals who had harmed others for personal gain through their own efforts, along with the many power-hungry people who refused to believe that He-El would travel all that way to kill them—they still harbored delusions of luck.

"All criminals on Earth have been deported to the triangular border region of Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos in Southeast Asia; the Andes Mountains and Amazon regions encompassing Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil; and the triangular border region of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. Stacker has been ordered to station Imperial troops there. From now on, these areas are designated Human Experiment Sites One through Ten."

"Anchorage Medical City has gathered every biological genetics expert on Earth. The affordable superpower gene drug led by Dr. Ciri has begun to show results, and the second-generation optimized gene drug is currently undergoing testing."

"567 humans have already been granted superpower gene drugs. Their knowledge has produced astonishing applications."

Having heard what he wanted to know, He-El straightened his waist and sat up. His right hand rested casually on the knee of his raised right leg as he lifted his head toward the sun and smiled.

No matter when it was, the warmth of sunlight always made one feel close to it.

"Let me see their wisdom."

The next moment, He-El's body radiated light, and an illusory version of him stepped out from within it.

A psychic field projection.

Through control over his powerful body and the biological magnetic field he could naturally manipulate, he used psychic power to command that field and create a psychic field projection with tangible effects, influencing others physically and mentally while delivering real physical attacks.

He-El's psychic projection manipulated air molecules, splitting them alongside the biological magnetic field to the molecular level. From the inside out, through the molecular movement of air and biological magnetism, it arranged a cellular structure, skeletal structure, internal organs, sensory organs, solidifying into a powerful psychic field projection body.

The psychic field projection leaped from the International Space Station and flew toward the Golden Triangle, Human Experiment Site One.

Washington, D.C.

This place had become the political center of the He-El Empire overnight, and a grand palace worthy of His Majesty the Emperor's deliberations and decisions was under construction.

For now, there was only a vast, brightly lit cabinet conference hall.

Jupiter and her more than three hundred elite secretaries from around the world were here handling reports sent by mayors from every region after Earth's unification, coordinating approval plans for ethnic disputes, laws, culture, shipping, agricultural products, local specialties, exchanges of goods, city exchanges, funding, and more.

They did their utmost not to force Dawn into taking the final step, while also trying to satisfy the masses as much as possible.

She had completely become a tool for maintaining the enormous He-El Empire. If she had not been among the first to take the superpower gene drug, she probably would not have had the physical stamina to handle such massive political decisions concerning the entire Earth.

A familiar member of the Hero Self-Rescue Association entered through the main doors. Jupiter looked up, handed the funding review in her hands to the nearest secretary, then, under the secretary's envious gaze, flashed away and teleported to the entrance, leaving through the doors with the arriving member.

They came to a shaded construction site without cameras.

Jupiter wearily lit a slender ladies' cigarette. After exhaling a ring of smoke, she narrowed her eyes at the bustling construction scene in the distance. That would likely become the greatest palace in human history, combining the styles of designers from around the world with Dawn's design.

She shook her head, cast aside those irrelevant thoughts, and began an encrypted exchange with the member before her.

"I've decided to start running and build up kinetic energy," the member said calmly, his gaze steady.

"This might not be a good idea."

"Gaia has already begun merging with Earth's magnetic field. Everyone is developing their superpowers, all toward one goal. Only by running can I deliver the most powerful strike. This is the destiny my superpower has given me, and the ideal to which I can devote my life."

Gaia was a Hero Self-Rescue Association member from the first batch to take the superpower drug. He possessed the ability to control electrical energy and magnetic fields, and he had named himself Gaia.

The slender cigarette between Jupiter's fingers paused, sparks glimmering at its tip.

"I will start running. Kinetic energy will grant me incomparable strength and reinforce my body without end.

On the first day, I will suffer terribly.

On the second day, I will sink into confused darkness.

On the third day, I will die, yet continue running.

After one month, the propulsion built through kinetic advancement will be complete.

I will become a massive kinetic particle, absurdly durable. I will run for one year, two years, five years, ten years,

Until one day in the future, I will charge into the aliens with the force of a Supernova Explosion."

"If Gaia awakens in time and truly manages to control Earth's magnetic field against the aliens, have him establish an orbit and use me as a shell."

"If Gaia does not awaken in time, Jupe, guide my direction. Let me charge into the aliens."

"I will." Looking at the youthful face before her, Jupiter nodded heavily and firmly.

The young Lazarus wore a satisfied smile, still holding hope for the future.

Silence hung over the place, and Jupiter felt an indescribable sorrow in her heart.

"I wonder who will be the first to strike at the aliens," Lazarus said with a smile, his eyes full of hope, breaking the silence.

What a pity he needed time to accumulate power. Otherwise, he could have been the first to attack the aliens and test a portion of their strength for those who came after.

Just as he and Jupiter advanced without hesitation toward the road ahead, a beam of psychic light sprang over their minds like a rabbit kicking off with its hind legs.

The two looked at each other in shock.

"Edward!"