Return

DC World.

In the vast, boundless depths of space, beneath a curtain of brilliant stars.

Vastness, coldness, and silence were the eternal themes of the universe.

He-El and Ciri suddenly appeared in deep space.

After sunbathing, He-El had never gone into space in Pacific Rim. Even when he had lain in the International Space Station, four hundred kilometers above Earth, basking in the sun, there had still been air around him.

Suddenly arriving in the deep void of space, devoid of even a trace of Earth's atmosphere, made his body feel unwell. The blood inside him tried to boil, but before it could, the powerful energy within his body adapted. Moisture and gas brought out from the Traversal Vortex froze into a thin layer of ice on his skin. Cosmic radiation—high-energy photons, subatomic particles, and more—began damaging his cells and organs, only to be neutralized by the energy within his cells as they began a new round of adaptation, absorbing the cosmic radiation.

In no more than a breath, his body began absorbing cosmic radiation such as high-energy photons and subatomic particles, adapting to deep space.

"Whew."

He-El exhaled deeply in space, releasing the Earth's air he had absorbed in Pacific Rim. The gas froze into ice and shot forward through the void like an arrow.

Beside him, Ciri was still an ordinary person who had not taken the superpower serum. Her bodily fluids immediately began boiling from the sudden drop in pressure, bubbles forming throughout them. The fluids beneath her skin began freezing, her eyes filled with blood vessels, and just as her tissues started rapidly swelling, preparing for circulatory collapse and flaccid paralysis—

He-El wrapped her in his biomagnetic field, preserving her physical condition.

He looked into the distance, activating his telescopic vision and sweeping his surroundings until he found the Starry Sky Explorer, still drifting toward the rogue planet MT745.

The Starry Sky Explorer had been drifting at roughly Mach 10 per second. It had already been drifting for five years: five years equaled 157,680,000 seconds, Mach 10 per second equaled 3,403 meters, and 157,680,000 × 3,403 equaled 536,585,040,000 meters. He-El estimated that he was roughly 536,585,040 kilometers away from the Starry Sky Explorer.

If he moved at Mach 100 per second—34,030 meters per second—and accounted for the Starry Sky Explorer's continued movement, he could catch it in around 190 days.

Mach 100 was the balanced speed He-El had calculated: while absorbing cosmic radiation in space, he could still maintain his physical condition at its peak.

Space was vast and boundless. Though lifeless and empty, that did not mean it was free of danger. On the contrary, when danger came in the unpredictable universe, it was even more perilous and mysterious.

He-El would not greedily pursue momentary speed and leave himself fighting for his life when faced with a sudden crisis.

Maintaining a balance between absorbing cosmic radiation and flying speed, staying in optimal condition at all times to handle and prevent possible threats, was the correct choice in space.

There was no need to burst forward and catch up to the Starry Sky Explorer immediately.

The only problem was that they had brought no food. As an ordinary person, Ciri certainly would not last the 190 days needed to reach the Starry Sky Explorer.

"Ciri, you need to sleep for a while."

Ciri covered her mouth, her bloodshot eyes wide as she nodded.

He-El began using his biomagnetic field to regulate Ciri's circulatory system. She slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep.

As long as Ciri's brain remained active, that would be enough.

Over the next 190 days, He-El would precisely divide Ciri's limb muscles, bones, organs, and the remaining cellular oxygen and nutrients within her body down to the molecular level, gradually delivering them to her brain.

That would ensure her brain suffered not the slightest damage by the time they found the Starry Sky Explorer.

As for her limbs and organs, it would not matter if they atrophied.

Ciri would need to board the Starry Sky Explorer and study Kryptonian biology anyway. When the time came, she could make herself a body capable of adapting to space and all kinds of harsh environments.

He-El took the large black travel bag Ciri carried on her back. It was filled with research materials and personal belongings Ciri had collected on Earth.

He-El also carried a large travel bag, containing the Crystal Core Energy Source and three thermonuclear reactors, all energy supplies prepared for the Starry Sky Explorer.

The opening of the Traversal Vortex was only around two meters in diameter, and it lasted only an instant.

Technology in Pacific Rim was not particularly advanced. He-El had gone to considerable effort to make the three thermonuclear reactors 1.9 meters in size, just enough to pass through the vortex.

He tied Ciri's large black travel bag to his own. His biomagnetic field formed something like a domain, enveloping the bags and Ciri as he took the lead like an arrow and flew toward the Starry Sky Explorer.

There were no shortage of rogue meteors in space, and they followed no pattern.

The Starry Sky Explorer had chosen the sparsest and safest route, with few obstacles. Even when small meteor streams passed through, He-El moved through the starry void as nimbly as a fish, weaving past them one by one without slowing, flying straight toward his destination.

In space, beneath the brilliant stars, there was only solitude and coldness.

Even intelligent beings capable of traversing the universe alone would not wander through space in loneliness. A safe, stable, large spacecraft—a home in the universe—was indispensable.

He-El had already made plans for his next objective.

With the Crystal Core Energy Source he had brought back and the three thermonuclear reactors, the Starry Sky Explorer had enough energy to jump to the ruins of Krypton, gather materials and resources that even Krypton's explosion could not destroy, and build a true spacecraft capable of reaching Earth.

The Starry Sky Explorer was still too small and too damaged.

"Or perhaps I could go to another world and get a spacecraft?"

He-El pondered as he flew.

The Traversal Vortex had changed slightly when he returned to the DC World.

It could now expand to a diameter of ten meters, and he could maintain it for two seconds.

But that was still too small.

Even if he went to other worlds, he could probably only bring back spacecraft parts. How many worlds would he have to travel through to assemble a large spacecraft of his own?

"If only the Traversal Vortex had a radius of ten thousand meters."

Then he could go directly to other worlds, seize one—or several—massive spacecraft, and refit them into his own ship.

He-El shook his head regretfully.

He continued onward toward the Starry Sky Explorer.

Thirty days later, Ciri's arms had atrophied to the size of an infant's.

Sixty days later, Ciri's legs had atrophied to the size of an infant's.

Ninety days later, Ciri's organs began to atrophy.

One hundred and twenty days later, all of Ciri's internal organs had atrophied to the size of an infant's.

One hundred and fifty days later, Ciri's body had become that of an infant, while her head still retained an adult appearance.

One hundred and eighty days later, Ciri's infant-like body had withered like a tree. She looked like a ginseng root topped with a human head.

One hundred and ninety days later, He-El finally caught up to the Starry Sky Explorer and entered its outer airlock.

He let out a sigh of relief.

But Zero could no longer identify him as he was now.

After sunbathing, everything about He-El—from his cells to his pupils and fingerprints—had changed beyond recognition. Ordinary methods could not possibly identify him as the original owner.

"Activate highest-level verification..."

"No. Activate Level Zero verification."

He-El gave the order.

The so-called highest-level verification was merely meant to fool outsiders attempting to control Zero. The true highest verification was the five-tier authorization system He-El had established.

"Activating Level Zero verification."

He-El immediately answered more than three hundred and forty questions, then sang Love's Offering to the tune of the Great Compassion Mantra.

"Verification passed. Welcome back, my master."