Chapter Summaries

He-El’s psychic projection was trapped in Edward’s Dreaming dimension, but He-El severed the connection and left his power inside it rather than destroy the dimension. After the Humanity Self-Rescue Heroes Association celebrated his apparent defeat, He-El restored the projection, leaving Edward with no hope of another chance.

• He-El fell through the Dreaming dimension’s layers and recognized its potential, then severed his psychic power’s connection to his projection, leaving that power inside Edward’s dimension.
• The Humanity Self-Rescue Heroes Association members watched He-El’s projection fall and celebrated, believing Edward had defeated him.
• Jupiter watched He-El fall and struggled between her desire to kill him and her judgment that it was not the right time.
• He-El restored his projection with more psychic power before it hit the ground and faced Edward, whose power had nearly vanished.
• Edward sighed as his remaining psychic power dispersed, realizing He-El had survived and would learn to counter the Dreaming dimension.

Edward entered the transformed Dream Dimension and discovered that the psychic fragment there had become a separate life-form. The fragment absorbed Edward, named itself Jor-El, and expanded the Dream Dimension to record He-El’s memories and experiences.

• Edward endured the backlash from using the brainwave amplitude amplifier, then fell asleep under the butler’s care to recover.
• Edward entered the Dream Dimension and found that it had expanded from ten layers to one hundred, with the new layers filled with overwhelming information.
• Edward met He-El, who explained that his severed Psychic Power had formed a new life-form within the Dream Dimension.
• Edward realized that He-El needed a physical body, but He-El questioned why he would want to take over the original’s body.
• He-El touched Edward’s brow, transforming Edward into Light Points and absorbing him.
• He-El named himself Jor-El and expanded the Dream Dimension to thirty-three thousand three hundred thirty-three layers.

The Humanity Self-Rescue Heroes Association met at the President Wilson Hotel to discuss the Crystal Core Energy Aggregation Accelerator and their dwindling options against He-El. The meeting ended with the members confronting how their attempts to gain power had sent their strongest allies down dangerous paths.

• Jupiter and seven Association members checked the conference suite for surveillance devices and discussed how He-El had moved the world's major particle accelerators to Mount Jura.
• Jupiter warned that scientists worldwide would finish the Crystal Core Energy Aggregation Accelerator in three years, and that each activation would consume 40% of humanity's resources.
• The members said sabotage had failed and that Gaia had merged with Australia's geomagnetic field, while Edward and Lazarus could no longer help them fight He-El.
• They learned that Molecule Man and 130 scientists had entered the microscopic realm with the global species gene bank to pursue a microscopic civilization.
• The members argued over whether their superpowers and scientific research could still produce a way to destroy He-El.

He-El prepared Earth’s scientists to build an accelerator that could restore his ship’s energy, while considering the civilization he intended to create and monitoring resistance against his rule. The chapter ended when an invisible infrasound wave began emanating from the Pacific Ocean.

• He-El ordered Dawn to gather the world’s accelerators and scientists in Geneva to build the Crystal Core Energy Aggregation Accelerator.
• He-El toured Earth’s major cities and considered how their cultures might shape New Krypton, while condemning humanity’s cruelty and the people who worshiped him for treating them fairly.
• He-El resolved to perfect the Thought Imprint so his future people would remember that he had created them.
• He-El secretly listened as the Humanity Self-Rescue Heroes Association discussed using invisibility and other powers to resist him, and Jupiter urged them to investigate Dr. Ciri.
• He-El judged the group’s resistance weak and continued watching the accelerator project before an invisible infrasound wave began emanating from the Pacific Ocean.

Ciri struggled to develop a targeted superpower agent when the Precursors used infrasonic waves to control her and make her approach a Lantern Goldfish Monster. He-El rescued her and began crushing the monster, but Ciri asked him to stop so she could enter it and join the Precursors.

• Ciri failed to make a targeted superpower agent and began reexamining the Original Blood samples.
• Infrasonic waves activated Ciri’s hidden Precursors genes and controlled her as she left the laboratory for the coast.
• Ciri resisted the control but was forced to leap toward the Lantern Goldfish Monster’s open jaws.
• He-El halted the area, pulled Ciri to safety, and confronted the monster, which served as a viewing organism for the Precursors.
• He-El began compressing the Lantern Goldfish Monster, and Ciri asked him to stop so she could enter it and go over to the Precursors.

Ciri asked to study the Precursors’ genetic technology, and He-El agreed to give her four and a half years before leaving Earth. He knocked her unconscious and sent her into the Lantern Goldfish Monster, leaving the bewildered Precursors to decide whether to take her.

• The Precursors panicked over He-El’s power and considered using Ciri to obtain his genes, but He-El froze the surroundings and lifted their Lantern Goldfish Monster from the sea.
• Ciri recovered from vomiting and told He-El she wanted to study and record the Precursors’ genetic science.
• He-El approved Ciri’s ambition and said he would leave Earth in four and a half years.
• Ciri tried to call for protective gear before entering the Lantern Goldfish Monster, but He-El knocked her unconscious and infused her with blood and psychic power.
• He-El threw Ciri into the monster’s buffering fluid, returned the creature to the sea, and told the Precursors, “The survival of a civilization rests on her.”

He-El was crowned emperor of the newly founded He-El Empire in a lavish ceremony attended by Earth’s mayors and watched by people around the world. As Jupiter led the celebrations, He-El reflected on the compassion that had kept him from forcing humanity to develop superpowers, and the chapter left Earth preparing for his eventual departure with Ciri.

• Washington, D.C. hosted a worldwide celebration as the coronation ceremony began at He-El Palace.
• Jupiter presided over the ceremony while 13,861 mayors knelt before He-El and pledged their respect.
• He-El told the mayors to rise, then laughed as the crowds across Earth celebrated his coronation.
• He-El reflected that he had spared Earth from being pushed into developing superpowers through the threat of destruction.
• Jupiter led Earth in cheering for He-El, unaware that he would leave the world with Ciri four and a half years later.

Four years after He-El made knowledge the path to wealth and superpowers, Jupiter learned that he planned to leave Earth with Ciri. She asked Dawn where Ciri was and learned the doctor would arrive on Anchorage's coast the next morning.

• He-El’s worldwide education programs led millions to become Ability users and ushered Earth into an age of Knowledgeism.
• Jupiter reflected on the peace and prosperity she had helped maintain under He-El’s rule and decided he could remain emperor as long as he behaved himself.
• Jupiter asked Dawn what He-El planned to do next, and Dawn revealed that he was packing the Crystal Core Energy Source and waiting for Ciri before leaving Earth.
• Jupiter questioned why He-El was taking Ciri and privately insisted that he could not leave or take anyone with him.
• Dawn told Jupiter that she, Jupiter, and Earth were merely tools to He-El, then said Ciri would reach Anchorage’s coast at about 11:34 the next morning.

After He-El returned with Ciri, Jupiter demonstrated that her Instant Transmission could place a coin inside any material and threaten his life. He-El challenged her to try, but she could not act, and he left Earth with Ciri, leaving Jupiter and humanity behind.

• The Lantern Goldfish Monster brought Ciri back to Anchorage Coast, where Jupiter appeared and transported her to He-El Palace.
• Jupiter demonstrated Instant Transmission and embedded a coin in a blue diamond, showing how the collision destroyed both the diamond and the coin.
• Jupiter threatened to place a coin in He-El’s brain and urged him to remain on Earth, but He-El rose from his throne and dared her to act.
• Jupiter froze, overwhelmed by fear and her belief that humanity depended on He-El, and let him pass without attacking.
• He-El and Ciri dissolved into Light Points and left Earth; Jupiter collapsed and learned from Dawn that it would continue recording superpowers for He-El, leaving her alone to face humanity’s needs.

He-El took Ciri through the Traversal Vortex into deep space and spent 190 days flying toward the Starry Sky Explorer while keeping her alive by supplying her brain with nutrients from her atrophying body. He reached the ship and passed Zero’s Level Zero verification, reestablishing himself as its master.

• He-El adapted to deep space and used his biomagnetic field to protect Ciri from the vacuum’s effects.
• He-El calculated that reaching the Starry Sky Explorer would take about 190 days at a sustainable speed, then put Ciri to sleep and began their journey.
• He-El carried Ciri and their supplies through space, evading meteor streams while considering how to obtain a larger spacecraft.
• As they traveled, He-El gradually diverted Ciri’s body’s oxygen and nutrients to her brain, causing her limbs and organs to atrophy.
• After 190 days, He-El reached the Starry Sky Explorer and entered its outer airlock.
• He-El passed Zero’s Level Zero verification by answering its questions and singing Love's Offering to the tune of the Great Compassion Mantra.

He-El entered the ship and exposed himself to Kryptonian gas to build resistance while arranging for Ciri to learn Kryptonian biological sciences through a brain-in-a-vat system. He donned his modified black battle suit and left the House of Jor-El crest in place, saying he would create his own symbol after dealing with everything.

• He-El inhaled Kryptonian gas and found that it reduced his powers by thirty to forty percent, while his cells began slowly adapting to it.
• He-El ordered the ship assistants to convert the ship’s energy, prepare nutrient solution, and configure a brain-in-a-vat learning mode for Ciri.
• He-El placed Ciri’s head in the nutrient tank and connected her brain to a learning system covering 121 disciplines of Kryptonian biology and genetic engineering.
• A ship assistant brought He-El the House of Jor-El crest, and he reflected on his memories of Krypton and his anger at Jor-El.
• He-El put on his modified nanotechnology battle suit, which shielded him from the Kryptonian atmosphere and restored his strength.
• He-El considered removing the S crest to replace it with his own symbol, but decided to wait until he had dealt with everything.

He-El postponed his trip to Krypton’s ruins to repair the damaged Star Explorer on wandering planet MT745. After reaching the barren planet, he discovered that its core had been dug out.

• He-El set aside his plans to modify his suit and delayed the Krypton trip because the ship was badly damaged and Ciri’s Brain in a Vat procedure could be endangered.
• He-El ordered Zero to prepare the Star Explorer for repairs and chose to stop at wandering planet MT745 for materials.
• He-El pushed the damaged ship through space and reached MT745 a week later, landing safely on its icy, rocky surface.
• He-El analyzed MT745’s atmosphere and geology, then detected that someone had dug out the planet’s core.

He-El discovered that an unknown civilization had recently extracted MT745’s planetary core and stripped nearby meteor streams of minerals, leaving him wary of a possible encounter. After reinforcing the Starry Sky Explorer, he approved Ciri’s new body and ordered the ship to warp to Krypton.

• He-El investigated the enormous hole in MT745 and learned from Zero that the planet’s core had likely been extracted ten to twenty years earlier.
• He-El used enhanced vision to search within ten light-years, found traces of warp travel and mined meteor clusters, and concluded that a resource-poor interstellar civilization had operated nearby.
• He-El decided he was not ready to risk a confrontation, returned to the Starry Sky Explorer, and spent two months reinforcing it with Zero’s help.
• Zero reported that the Brain-in-a-Vat Learning System was complete and that Ciri wanted to use the remaining nutrient solution to cultivate a body; He-El approved.
• He-El prepared the repaired ship, confirmed it had enough energy for at least two warps, and ordered Zero to travel to Krypton.

He-El reached the ruins of Krypton, mourned its destruction, then resolved to gather resources and build a new Krypton. Elsewhere, a hidden intelligence discovered him and reported that he was worth collecting.

• The Starry Sky Explorer emerged near Krypton's irradiated ruins, and He-El saw that his homeworld had been destroyed.
• He-El overcame his grief and declared that he would end Krypton's legacy of loss and raise New Krypton across the universe.
• He-El ordered Zero to repair a volcanic continental fragment and search the ruins for spacecraft materials, genetic archives, and Genesis Chamber components.
• He-El left the Starry Sky Explorer to search for useful resources among the debris.
• A hidden green-headed intelligence spotted He-El, identified him as a living Kryptonian with ancient power, and received an order that he was worth collecting.

He-El explored the debris around Krypton, reflecting on how the red sun and Kryptonian atmosphere had suppressed his people's powers. While gathering valuable wreckage and supplies, he was suddenly attacked by a molecular drone and crushed it, leaving an unknown assailant's presence unresolved.

• He-El saw the Krypton debris under a red sun and realized its light shut down his ability to absorb outside energy until his Black Suit blocked it.
• He-El found the Little Beetle containing a dead House of Zod colonel and his adjutant, then collected ships, weapons, food, corpses, and over a million tons of supplies.
• He-El was struck in the chest by a blue biomagnetic reaction beam, released the supplies he was towing, and scanned for its source.
• He-El detected a molecule-sized drone, intercepted it at high speed, and crushed it as it expanded.

He-El fought off molecular drones at the Krypton ruins and realized their attacker intended to capture him using weapons tailored to Kryptonian weaknesses. Enraged that someone was plundering his ruined home, he broke through the drones’ proton barrier and charged toward their source.

• He-El detected hundreds of thousands of molecular drones and destroyed their attacks, surviving paralysis beams, nuclear-scale explosions, and Kryptonian-targeted poison gas.
• He-El deduced that the drones’ controller wanted to capture him and had gathered resources from Krypton’s ruins to build its forces.
• He-El became enraged that someone was plundering Krypton and charged toward the incoming drone reinforcements.
• The drones formed a proton barrier, but He-El used Heat Vision from the thirty million threads of his Compound Nanomechanical Prism to pierce it.
• He-El pursued the dispersed drones and used enhanced vision to look beyond them toward their source.

He-El found Brainiac’s base inside a former Kryptonian moon and discovered an unfinished Stellar-class Engine and the preserved Kandor City. After He-El broke through Brainiac 7’s drone barrier, Brainiac 7 threatened Kandor to stop him from attacking.

• He-El tracked the molecular drones to a former Kryptonian moon and discovered that its core had been extracted to make room for a military-industrial base.
• He-El saw that the base was building a Stellar-class Engine and decided to seize it to speed his journey to Earth.
• He-El found Kandor City and its people preserved in the command room, recognized Brainiac as his enemy, and resolved to rescue them.
• Brainiac 7 deployed a strong-interaction drone cage, but He-El blasted through part of it with his Heat Vision.
• The moon broke apart as the Stellar-class Engine activated, and He-El waited outside the base’s dangerous gravitational field.
• Brainiac 7 projected Kandor City into space and threatened He-El against making a rash move.

He-El studied the gravitational distortions around Brainiac 7’s base while Brainiac 7 challenged him to grow stronger within three years or be captured, with Kandor City held hostage. He-El found a safe route through the warped space and broke into the central command room, where he attacked Brainiac 7 and declared he needed only three seconds.

• He-El analyzed the base’s electromagnetic spectra and gravitational waves to find a route inside without damaging the stellar engine or Kandor City.
• Brainiac 7 explained that it intended to capture He-El and proposed a three-year contest, threatening to keep Kandor City and the Kryptonian survivors unless He-El rescued them.
• He-El calculated the stellar engine’s gravitational-wave fluctuations and found a safe path through the distorted region.
• He-El crossed the warped space, broke through the base’s protective shield and steel exterior, and entered the central command room.
• He-El tore into Brainiac 7’s head and declared, “Three years? Three seconds!”

He-El defeated Brainiac 7 after breaking into its base and rejecting its attempt to bargain for its life. Brainiac took control of the damaged unit, but He-El destroyed its connection, triggering destruction at the base and damaging Brainiac’s colossal technological planet.

• He-El seized Brainiac 7 and confused it by refusing its predicted three-year competition and attacking despite the gravitational collapse and its threats to Kandor City.
• Brainiac 7 begged He-El to spare it and let it serve him, then its infantile mind vanished as Brainiac took control through its residual information.
• Brainiac called He-El an unusually powerful Kryptonian and threatened to capture him as a collectible, but He-El destroyed Brainiac 7’s core with his psychic power.
• The base lost control and exploded, while the stellar engine’s protection program stopped the gravitational collapse and the molecular drones returned to normal size.
• Two stellar-class engines on Brainiac’s colossal technological planet exploded, and Brainiac felt pain as it realized a Kryptonian possessed such power.

He-El took control of Brainiac 7’s damaged base, assigned Zero to rebuild it as a combat-focused space mothership, and planned to restore Kandor’s seven million Kryptonians. He left through the Traversal Vortex to seek sunlight, a way to defeat Brainiac, and technology to shorten the ship’s seventeen-year construction time.

• He-El connected Brainiac 7’s exposed circuits to Zero’s key, bringing 208,012 drones back online and sending engineering machines to repair the base.
• He-El ordered Zero to replace Brainiac’s control code and convert the base into a space mothership; he chose the second design, which would take seventeen years to build.
• He-El decided he would use his size-altering power to restore Kandor City’s seven million Kryptonians once he had absorbed enough sunlight.
• He-El told the Traversal Vortex he wanted sunlight, a way to defeat Brainiac, and help speeding up construction, then activated it and vanished from the base.